Chapter 339 – Nele Family Meeting

*** Fluvis ***

"Push," my midwife says, yet again, the word drilled into my head over the past many hours. Just two girls are out, despite having spent the majority of the day in labor. "You're so close. One more good push, and I can pull your next baby out. You're doing so well, Duchess. Just give it a bit more."

"I know," I huff. I made Alzi do triple this much; I can handle it. To think I was impatient with her as well. "AAAAHHHHH!"

"Well done, I've got her. Estralle, would you like to hold her? We have just one more to go, Duchess."

"I'll take her," my dear wife says. Was it going too far to kick Lottie out of the room? It's now three kids she hasn't gotten to see yet. No, she has Alzi's children to watch over.

"Don't get distracted," the midwife says. "There is more to do here. I will not be known for letting a Champion die as a newborn."

"This one is also a dragon," Estrella says. "Three for three so far."

"I can feel it," I say. These little girls are tearing their way out through me. My bed has gone from white to blood red to now a swirl of black and red as the old blood dries. Another contraction comes, and I do what I can to push. The kids seem to be undecided about whether they are done hiding away in their Mother or not.

"More little horns. Just like before, Duchess."

"I know," I groan. "I've known for a while that they're all going to dragons."

"There's a rumor going around that Lady Inanos is pregnant, so we'll start to see if elementals and dragons are a bad mix. But for now, we get to focus on getting this kid out of you."

I would love nothing more.

...

I'm going to have to get on my hands and knees alongside Lottie if Alzi comes to visit after my letter. She did far more than this, and I just stole them from her arms. I saddled her with all that hard work and just ran off with the reward.

"Oh dear, you're fine. It's over," Estrella says, helping me keep two of the babies in my arms and latched onto my breasts.

"I hurt Alzi."

"Yes," Estrella says, confirming the obvious. "We hurt Alzi, dear. We're doing what we can to fix it. Your Mother and sister arrived a bit ago and are sleeping in their rooms. Tomorrow, I'll handle them while you take care of the kids. The day after that, they can meet the four little ones. They have plenty of other children to meet, so there's no need for them to bother you. Now relax. We all have to recognize our mistakes and move to correct the wrongs we have committed. And that is what we're doing. You need to convince your Mother that Elora is the right choice, or hope that Alzi can fix your sister. Neither of us wishes to force Alzi to get more women in this family pregnant. So sleep. I'll take care of the kids with Petunia."

I close my eyes and let my mind sail off to my dreams. My last thought was that I should introduce Sea to my children.

...

"I want to see all of my grandchildren. Why would I wait until tomorrow? This waiting nonsense you have going on just won't do. This house is drowning in children, and you wish to hide some from me? Don't tell me that my stupid daughter got her kids killed in labor or something. Is that what this is about? Are you trying to buy some kids to hide her failure?"

So much for waiting, however, the light coming through the curtain does hint that Mother at least waited until lunch before trying to burst into my room. Boundaries aren't exactly her strong suit, though not having control may be the better way to put it. Sometimes I wonder if she ever tried to overthrow the Queen. It must have hurt her to have to answer to the Queens and sometimes even the Princesses.

I'd better do what I can to keep her quiet before she wakes the kids. I'm sure she'll find a way past the sound runes if she isn't let in soon.

"Fine," I call out. "Be the ass you normally are and walk in on your tired daughter, whose labor lasted an entire day. Walk in and disturb her and her newborns because seeing twelve children and talking to my pregnant wife just isn't enough for you." Alzi, please, oh please, have a way to fix my sister. She'll be so much better for the Queendom than my damn Mother.

"I was just going to poke my head in and make sure your wives aren't lying. I know I've sent a few other women out to meet you. Couldn't you have picked one of them? They would be much better for your house than these women," Mother says, stomping in. As usual, she's all done up like she's going to meet the Queen. I would be happy that she showed me such respect by dressing up just to meet my children, but everyone knows she does it so that she stands out, needing to be the best-dressed person in the room. It isn't hard to see why I made the mistake I did with Alzi, but it does nothing to fix it. Alzi won't, and shouldn't, care about how my Mother treats me. I'm sure she's pretty tired of nobles with shit mothers causing issues for her.

I wonder what Alzi's life would have been like if one of us had a good Mother. Would she have been able to stay in her village? She probably just wouldn't have been kidnapped, raped, and forced off to war, only to get kidnapped again. I hope they didn't rape her again just for good measure.

"You've seen them," I say. "There are four, and they are all dragons. Now let me rest."

"That is all I wanted," Mother says. "Congratulations. I am happy to see all the kids. If you let me train them, I know our line will continue to be strong."

"No. You can show them love, but I will train them. I'm not letting you turn them into my sister. She deserved so much better than you," I say. "Out."

"I'm going, I'm going," Mother says, waving me off.

Alzi, we'll find a way to make this work so that you don't fuck that bitch. I don't know how, but I'll do it for you.

...

Sooner than I would like, I have to stop ignoring that bothersome woman, though it'll be nice to talk to my sister again. I wish I could get Mother to just let her live with me. But no, it is better for Sis if she stays with the one who broke her.

At least one doesn't have to think long and hard about why we're in this mess.

"It's good to see you out of bed, Fluvis," Petunia says, tying up my blue dress.

With Mother always dressed up so fancy, I can't walk out of here in anything but an actual dress. I have to try to at least walk back my statements from before, blaming them on the stress of the new kids rather than me expressing my normal thoughts, and for that, I have to match her outfit somewhat to show her the 'correct' amount of respect. Maybe one day she will learn to show me some respect.

"There we go," Petunia says. "Ready?"

"Petunia, have I told you how pretty you are?" I say, my eyes wandering over the petite maid in the mirror.

"Yes, a number of times. But I will say, I do not carry pregnancy nearly as well as you do. Now, we don't have time to mess around in bed, so pick a child and let us greet your Mother."

"Fine. You look fine while pregnant. I see why Alzi asked me to join her in bed back then," I say. I move to the nearest child. Alzi would be mad if I cared about which happened to get pushed out of me first, so I'll just tell Mother that I forgot to ask which was first. All of the babies have blue scales. I know that the color of the dragon says nothing about their affinity, but I really do wonder if maybe it will be different for my kids. Alzi gave me a rainbow of elementals with the first set; perhaps I'll give her a mix of elements for the second batch. It'll be interesting for them to all be water dragons, if that is a thing.

Petunia picks another, and two more maids come to pick up the last of the batch. I wish they could keep resting, but I've said that enough already.

A slow walk down my beautiful halls, and I meet my Mother and sister. Mother is her normally overdressed self, sipping on some tea. My sister is still shaking in a chair. Barely, but it's enough that you can't miss it. Her eyes are stuck looking between her feet, and she's even hiding her breasts from the world. That part, I'm sure, is because my Mother is demanding it. You can't let the world see how powerful the woman you ruined is. It wouldn't look good at parties.

"Hello, Mother. As you were meant to see them, my thirteenth through sixteenth child," I say. "Clearly dragons, and clearly not stolen but birthed by your daughter. The Duchess. The one with power."

"Yes, yes, dear. You can never be too careful when dealing with those prostitutes. I can't believe the Queen has let them become so prevalent, one of them breeding what seems like a quarter of the next generation. Sad to see."

"Until you get in bed with her, and then it'll be the smartest thing you can do. Why would anyone think that she's a bad choice for that? You're just mad that your daughter has plenty of strong children, while you'll just be known as the woman who ruined what could've been the strongest house."

I move over to my sister, coming up beside her chair. "Hey, Sis. Want to hold one of my children?"

"Nnno... I i i... Wouldhurther."

"Sis, I'll help you. How about that? You've got strong arms, I know you do. Just relax your arms for a bit, and let me move them into the right position," I say. It feels so good to have my mana just flow out of my body instead of having to negotiate with the little bundles to let it pass my womb. "Just cradle them in your arms. Relaxed, but firm; you can do that, and I'll help you."

I'll have to keep her arms stable, but she has at least moved on from only looking at her feet, instead watching her arms shake before her belly. I kneel down and slowly slide my child into her arms, doing what I can to keep her arms still. "Isn't she cute? Her eyes kind of remind me of you."

"Yyyees."

"See, you can hold a baby. She looks so happy to meet her Aunt."

I wonder if the kids feel any kind of bond to my sister. I don't know if that bond thing works for those who aren't a dragon. Alzi hasn't experienced that situation, and the only kid of hers I know of that is old enough to talk about it would be Irlo, and she isn't a dragon.

Of course, getting too close to my family may not be the best thing, but Sis is a trustworthy woman. I know if she had to, she would be willing to die for my kids, and she wouldn't go down without first taking more than a few of the attackers with her. She can calm down in those moments; she just can't handle anything else.