Chapter 98 Ryan’s Injured.
Raya’s pov.
“One of us needs to find out what’s happening!” I snap, pacing the room while holding Wren and Aspin in my arms.
“We can’t just leave!” Alex says, “we can be sure it’s safe.”
“I’ll go,” Eric says suddenly, already heading for the door.
“Wait!” Alex rushes up, getting up from where she’s sitting with Mazikeen and Athena.
“Don’t try to fight me on this,” Erik chuckles, “I’m the one who trained Lily. I know how to defend myself, don’t worry about me. I’ll find out what’s going on outside.”
“He’s right,” Lily's grandmother adds in, rocking little Juniper back and forth, “he needs to find out if it’s safe to leave the room.”
“Go!” Alex’s mate, Beatrice says, soothing a crying Maddox.
Eric leaves before I can say anything else.
I sigh as I look down into my son's eyes.
Wren, my beautiful second born son. His black hair and brown eyes…
While my first born, Aspin has green eyes and brown hair.
I smile as I stare down at them, feeling so much love for them already.
“How’s the quads doing?” I ask, looking around the room at all of the babies, “are they hungry yet?”
Just as I ask, Maddox and Juniper let out loud, hungry wails.
“I guess that answers your question,” Glenda chuckles, walking over towards me with Juniper.
I grab a bottle and hand it to her, grabbing another for Maddox and handing it off to Beatrice.
“Can you feed them?” I ask Alex, raising one eyebrow at her.
“Of course I can,” she replies with a small smile, reaching her hand towards me for a bottle.
I hum while sitting down on Lily's bed, propping Aspin up against my leg while holding Wren in one arm.
I manage to hold a bottle against my chin while using my free hand to hold Aspin's bottle to his mouth.
They both greedily gulp down the entire six oz bottle, screaming for more.
Soon after they start, all four of the quads also start wailing for more.
I quickly get up, handing Wren off to Beatrice, needing the one hand to make more bottles.
“Shh, shh,” I try soothing Aspin, bouncing up and down while shaking bottles together.
I hand bottles off to every other baby in the room before finally popping Aspin's bottle into his mouth.
His cries die down as he realizes he has more food.
Halfway through his bottle his eyes close slowly, finally falling back asleep.
I walk over towards the three bassinets in the room.
Placing Aspin down beside his brother.
He snuggles as close to Wren as he can, sleeping peacefully beside his brother.
Alex walks over, placing Mazikeen and Athena done in a bassinet together, smiling as they fall asleep beside each other.
Glenda continues to rock Juniper, not wanting to put her down.
Beatrice also in bliss with Maddox, rocking him gently, smiling at his little face.
“Come on, guys,” I sigh, “they have to get used to these things. We can’t always be holding them, it can create a bad habit! At least they have each other, they aren’t alone!”
“But she’s so previous,” Glenda whispers, looking at Juniper with so much love in her eyes.
It makes me smile to myself, knowing Lily has people who care and love her so much.
“I don’t know why but I can’t put him down… like- like I need him just as much as he needs me,” Beatrice sniffles, “I… I was pregnant once… with a boy pup. He died… I had a miscarriage. They said my body wasn’t strong enough for the pregnancy. That it wasn’t meant to be… but I had his name picked out and everything. I was so ready for him…”
She was so quiet, along with the rest of the room.
She wipes her tears away, chuckling slightly.
“It’s okay, really. It was a long time ago but- looking at little Maddox’s face I just, I can’t put him down yet, just let me hold onto him a little longer,” she whispers with a lopsided smile.
“I’m sorry,” Alex says softly, placing her head on Beatrice’s shoulder, “what was his name?”
Beatrice smiles, looking down at Maddox again.
“Max,” she whispers, a tear slipping from her eye, “his name was supposed to be Max. Max Hutchins. His father… passed away before I knew I was with child.”
“Wow,” I say, truly impressed with her strength, “you’re strong. Remember that.”
I look at my sleeping babies.
Wondering what their future looks like.
“So… My father talked to me last night. I guess I’ll be getting my powers when I turn twenty one and shortly after I’ll go to be the goddess,” Alex breaks the silence, everyone turning their heads to look at her.
“Oh,” Beatrice says, looking down at the ground, “I almost forgot about all of that.”
“Yeah,” Alex mutters, an awkward look on her face, “me too.”
“How about we talk about something else?” I say, changing the topic, feeling the tension in the room.
“How about we talk about these babies, and how cute they are!” Glenda gushes, unable to take her eyes off of the babies, “and do think we have six of them to take care of at once! It’s truly amazing. The best part too is that at the end of the day we can give them back to their parents!”
Everyone starts chuckling at her joke, including me.
I wouldn’t trade it for anything…
I’m proud to be their parents and I’m proud to be the quads' aunt.
Just as we all sit there, laughing while telling jokes, a warrior bursts through the door with Erik behind him.
“Lily’s at the healers, she’s used to much magic and it’s taking a roll on her body. And… Raya, I’m sorry but Ryan is also at the healers,” he says sadly, sympathy in his eyes.
“What the hell happened to him!” I demand, feeling my heart beat faster in my chest.
Erik’s face softens while he looks me in the eyes.
“He lost his arm, Raya. He only has one arm now.”