“Yes.”
I can see she’s checking my work. “Hmm, looks good.”
“I am an orc. We wait all our lives to raise a son. This is the greatest joy of our lives. I have trained for this. Males who never have a son live with a deep sadness.”
She takes Owen off her breast and we again switch babies. I hand her Bran to hold and I take Owen to change his diaper too. I repeat the same ritual with him as I did with Bran, giving him time to burp and then reassuring Owen that he is now rejoined with his father and can also sleep in peace.
I return to the bedroom and see Drew can barely keep her eyes open.
I turn off the light and rest on the bed and take both babies in my arms. She snuggles into my side and quickly falls asleep with a look of utter contentment on her face. I can’t help but feel content too, even if I believe this family tableau is short lived.
My eyes blink open at the sun light filtered through the curtains.
One baby gurgles in one arm and the other in another. Their gorgeous mother is still snuggled next to me, asleep. I love the sight of her brown hair against my green skin. I should be tired and wanting more sleep but I’m energized with the reappearance of my boys. Learning I have twins was the happiest moment of my life.
I very carefully move out of the bed with both babies, allowing Drew to continue sleeping. She needs her rest after the last few months of raising orcs without their father and I’m looking forward to alone time with my sons.
Many orcs would lose their minds at the sight of their Bride who’d run from them. But I think the difference is that she brought back my two sons. And she’s told me she wants to stay. This has calmed my chasing instincts. She’s right here with me, her scent in my lungs along with the scent of her arousal. And all I think of is joy at the sight of my boys.
This helps to decrease my animosity towards the female who kept my sons from me.
Their diapers are reasonably dry so I walk with them out into the front room. I find breast milk in bottles, still fresh, in the fridge. Perfect. I sit down with them on the couch. I place one infant between my thighs and the other in my arm and feed him with the bottle. When the bottle finishes I switch them. After they are fed I spend time giving them each a bath in the kitchen sink with a tiny bathtub. And then I give them fresh diapers and clothing. This time alone with the both of them is wonderful for me and my sons. They smile and gurgle the entire time. And I can already tell them apart. Bran has taller horns and Owen has a thicker chest. I leave them in their cribs, quietly listening to their mobiles, while I take a quick shower and sneak into my room for clothes.
Drew is still asleep.
Then I go back into the nursery and hold my sons in my arms and proudly step outside onto my front porch and out to the path. My father joins me as well as Urdan and Kelt. I scented their arrival prior to stepping in the shower. I hand Owen over to my father, who obviously wants to hold a grandson.
“How did it go?” Urdan questions.
“It went well. It was good you stayed outside because I could have easily lost my mind and hurt her. If she’s ran. If she’d tried to keep my sons from me. But I think it helped that I went into the nursery first and inhaled their scent. And she also immediately told me she wanted to stay and she never tried to run from me.”
“Good.”
“She says she wants to stay and give this a chance.”
“Hmm. She said that yesterday too, which is why we let her enter and speak to you, because we thought you’d want to hear her request.”
A growl rumbles in my chest. “I cannot trust the female who tricked me and took my sons across the country.”
“Maybe she didn’t trick you?”
I shake my head in disagreement.
“My grandsons already look happier and settled,” my father comments.
“Yes,” Kelt agrees, “both infants immediately smiled when they scented us from the car at the gate.”
I shake my head. “Three months without me.”
“But at least they’re here, to stay.”
“I’m letting her stay for now,” I confirm. “Because she wants to give this a human ‘chance.’ But she says I threatened to kidnap her and that’s why she ran away. I can’t trust her because she’s still lying to me.”
“Maybe you did say this.”
“I didn’t.”
They all three stare at me as if they don’t believe me.
“I would never say that to a female. You know I would never threaten a mate.”
“She told us you said this while half asleep. It’s possible this happened and you don’t remember.”
My jaw clenches because I’m irritated that these males who know me the best would believe a female they recently met over me.
“We’re going back to our cabins and we’re going to leave you two alone now,” Urdan announces.
I nod. “This is acceptable. I am calm. I’ve slept the night with her at my side and my sons in my arms. If she chooses to leave I will calmly allow her to go. I told her that if she leaves my sons remain with me. She knows the rules.”
“Yes,” my father answers as he hands Owen back to me, “she understands that once she entered commune space with the babies, they were legally ours. If she leaves, she leaves behind your sons. But she sounds very certain that she’d never leave her children.”
“Sometimes the women say that at first…” I remind them.
“We know. But this seems different. I think she’s serious in wanting to stay at your hearth. I think you should give your Bride a chance,” my father says. “She might surprise you.”
I return to the sound of the shower running.
I sit at the kitchen table with both of my sons in my arms because I can’t stand the idea of being separated from them.
Finally, Drew strides into the front room with damp hair and skimpy new clothes. Her feet are covered in thick gray socks—my socks. And she’s wearing shorts that barely cover her ass and a long sweater jacket of some sort. Her large nipples poke enticingly through her thin t-shirt.
“My babies!” she cries out. “They look so cute in your arms.” Then she rushes forward and gives each of them a kiss on the face. “Sorry I slept so long. You should’ve woken me up. Bran and Owen must be starved. I’m ready to feed them.”
“They’ve already been fed.”
She blinks. Her blue eyes wide and mesmerizing.
“They each took a bottle earlier.”
She swiftly opens the fridge and gasps with surprise. “You fed them?”
“Yes.”
“And you bathed them and changed their diapers and even dressed them in new outfits? And you took a shower too?”
“Yes.”
She places a hand against her chest and gives me a watery smile. “You’re wonderful.”
I let out a grunt.
“Well, give me a minute to express some milk. My breasts feel really engorged. Then I’ll make some coffee and then breakfast for us,” my female says. “Since you did all of that work earlier, it’s the least I can do.”
“No,” I grumble.
“No?”
“You know that males like their Brides to cook home-cooked meals and feed them by hand. You are trying to trick me again.”
“Maybe I just like to cook, and I’ve always wanted someone to cook for?”
“I don’t trust you.”
She tosses her damp hair over her shoulder. “Obviously.” Then she takes out a small, clear plastic object out of a cabinet and glances at the windows. “Do I need to close the curtains? Are the guards still out there?”
“No, the others went home. We are alone. This corner of the commune is very private.”
“Good.” Then she sits down and lifts her shirt and fixes a plastic object to her luscious breast. “At first, I had a fancy breast pump and this manual one was supposed to be something quick for the middle of the night, but I decided I like this little thing better. It does the job and it’s easier, doesn’t leave me sore and there aren’t a bunch of tiny parts to clean. It’s all I need.”