Page 41 of Doom

“Oh God!” I whispered, my hands flying to the small bump of my stomach.

“No way!” Anita exclaimed.

“Oh shit!” Peter said almost simultaneously.

Pushing my consciousness at the growing life inside of me, I followed the thread of the psychic signature that had nudged me. My breath caught in my throat as I entered, for the first time, the psychic void of my child whose soul had finally sparked. Although small and delicate, the dancing lights of his soul enthralled me as they swirled around along a loosely spherical pattern. I gently wrapped my consciousness around them. Bright, rainbow lights burst around them, and a wave of joy and love blasted through me. Choking with emotion, I cried and laughed at the same time, hearing the drowned-out voices of Dr. Shivani and Dr. Landon bombarding me with questions I couldn’t make out.

I jumped to my feet and rushed out of the room, holding my stomach with both hands.

“DOOM!”I mentally shouted to my husband while running towards the war room where he and his brothers were discussing the next battle plans.

Concerned faces turned towards me, a few of their owners worriedly calling out my name as I stormed past them. I couldn’t stop to explain, but I could only imagine what I looked like, holding my stomach, running as if the Devil himself was on my tail, and with my face drenched in tears.

The war room’s door burst open revealing a nearly panicked Doom, quickly followed by his closest brothers. They had recently returned from the various continents where they’d been leading the battle now that the worst of the war had dwindled. My steps faltered, and I stood in the hallway, a stupid grin plastered on my face, still covered in tears. Fear gave way to confusion on my man’s face as he hurried towards me.

“I touched his soul,”I mind-spoke to Doom, not trusting myself to form words out loud.

Shock, gave way to wonder, and then to a powerful emotion on his face that broke the dam again for me. Doom’s usually graceful and lethal gait became hesitant and clumsy as he closed the distance between us, his obsidian eyes locked on the small bump of my stomach. The small hairs on my arms and along my nape stood on end from the wave of psychic energy emanating from my mate. Doom scrunched his face, overwhelmed by emotion, and tears poured down his face—a sight I’d never imagined I would ever behold.

“My son…” Doom whispered, falling to his knees before me. “My beautiful son, you’re magnificent.”

He carefully wrapped his arms around me, as if fearing to break me, then gently kissed my bump before pressing his forehead against it. I slipped my hands through the silky strands of his wavy black hair. Feeling the weight of so many intense gazes on us, I looked up, stunned to find us surrounded by too many Warriors and others to count.

“He… He sparked?” Legion asked in a trembling voice, displaying the most vulnerability I’d ever seen from him.

The same powerful emotions and overwhelmed expressions were reflected on all of his brothers.

I nodded through a wet smile. “He nudged me. His soul is so beautiful.”

Doom finally stood, pulling me into his embrace, the love in his eyes melting me from the inside out.

“I love you, my mate,” he whispered with such adoration my knees felt weak.

Doom’s kiss, full of devotion, moved me to my core. He then pressed his forehead against mine before wrapping his consciousness around my soul. I don’t know how long we remained like this. By the time we parted, I was shocked to see the Warriors were still standing around us, every other alien and human having left.

“May I?” Legion asked timidly, gesturing with his chin at my stomach.

The longing on his face tugged at my heart. The same ache could be seen on the stunning faces of his brothers. Doom glanced at me, leaving the choice up to me. But he didn’t have to speak for me to know what he hoped, on their behalf, that my answer would be.

How could I refuse them?

I nodded. He approached and raised a shaky hand towards my stomach. His touch was light, but I could almost feel the sizzling of his psychic energy as he made my son’s acquaintance. It was unsettling to watch the face of such a powerful and fierce Warrior dissolve into an expression of pure wonder, and his inky eyes mist with unshed tears. After a few seconds, he refocused on me with such love that it, too, messed me up.

Lifting his hand from my bump, he cupped my right cheek and placed his other hand behind Doom’s nape. “My beautiful sister, my beloved brother, you cannot begin to understand what you have done for us and for the galaxy as a whole.”

My throat hurt from being constricted so tightly. Legion leaned forward and kissed my forehead then Doom’s cheek. Letting go of us, he took a couple of steps back, only to be immediately replaced by Chaos who also greeted our son. One by one, Wrath, Rage, Steele, and Fury—the Warriors of the six X-Girls—and all the others took turns touching minds with my baby. I didn’t realize it then, but the overwhelming joy that infused every cell of my body in that instant, and most of the time over the following months, stemmed from my son broadcasting his emotions to me.

As it turned out, that same day, his second heart started beating.

If I had found everyone to be overly protective with me before, now it just became flat out absurd. The Warriors were almost rabid in their need to look after me and my unborn child. He wasn’t only the hope of our future, but for many of them, he might be the closest thing to a son they would ever have.

With all of them fighting for a chance to touch my belly and to connect minds with our son, I had to threaten to chop off their hands and even murder a few if they didn’t give me some peace. But even then, I constantly felt like prey surrounded by a pack of hungry predators the way they kept eyeing my bump and fighting the urge to cop a feel. Imagine being stuck in an elevator with five massive piles of muscles towering over you, their fathomless black eyes staring at your belly while their fingers twitched.

Wrath was the smart one, finding ways to corner me in private and making such adorable puppy eyes I couldn’t resist letting him touch my belly. Chaos one-upped everyone by managing to find me gummy bears, which I’d been craving something fierce. As my son’s future Godfather, Legion had special privileges. Yet, that didn’t stop him from earning extra brownie points by sweettalking the ship’s cooks into adding to the menu some of my favorite Earth recipes, including such treats as kettle cooked potato chips.

Stran got extra special treatment as far as my baby was concerned. Just like his father, my son formed a unique bond with the Creckel who made him feel safe. It also didn’t hurt that whenever he was around, Stran would share with both my baby and me images from his homeworld and his people.

However, while the Warriors behaved in keeping their hands to themselves, they weren’t as disciplined with their minds.

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