Pregnant With Their Babes

by Kelex

Showoff.

  Llyr chuckled inside his mind.

  Nearby was an oyster reef, with small schools of fish. They explored it, swimming around the collection of seaweed, mussels, and other assorted sea creatures.

  We really need to find a way to bring Dagr under the water with us.

  “Maybe I can help,” a voice called out.

  Oz spun to see they weren’t alone.

  A mermaid swam closer to Oz, eyeing him close. She smiled at him—and it was then he comprehended. Dagr’s mother.

  “Yes. I am Jade. Dagr’s mother,” she said. She lifted a hand, a jewel-encrusted pendant hanging from her fingers. “Have him wear this—and he can swim as you do.”

  Oz swam a little closer to her without taking the necklace. He eyed the woman, so many questions circling his mind. She had sacrificed herself for Dagr so long ago… and had she not, he would’ve never known the man’s love.

  She lifted her free hand, cupping his cheek. “I am so happy to see you’ve loved him so well when I couldn’t.” A shine came to her eyes. “But I wish to see my baby again. Please.” She placed the pendant in Oz’s hand. “Bring him to me.”

  Oz nodded before eyeing Llyr. Together, they raced back for the beach.

  To their Dagr.

  As soon as Oz reached the beach, he saw Dagr stand and walk closer. He lay on the sands, his tail to the side. Llyr lay behind him, watchful.

  “How was your swim?” Dagr asked, brushing sand off his bottom.

  “Better if it was with you,” Oz said before lifting the necklace in his hand. “Wear this and you can join us.”

  Dagr frowned. “Where did you get that?”

  “Your mother gave it to us. She’s anxious to meet you,” Llyr said.

  Dagr’s smile faded. He stared at the pendant a moment before taking a step back. Tears welled in his eyes for a moment before he rubbed his face with both hands. “I’m not sure that I can.”

  Oz lowered his hand. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. I can go tell her you need more time, if that’s what you want.”

  Dagr stood silently a moment before shaking his head. “No. Thirty-five years is more than enough time to wait.” He peeled his shirt off and tossed it to the sand. Once his bottom was bare, he reached for the necklace and pulled it over his head. “Here goes nothing.”

  Dagr plunged into the ice-cold water and swam a few lengths before he sensed a tightening in his lower body. Like theirs, his legs fused together before a tail took form. He dove under the waves, but had to break for the surface a few moments later, gasping for air. After a few more strokes, he shot under again, seeing if he could breathe as Llyr, and now Oz, could.

  He took a breath, gasped, choked… but after a moment, his lungs stopped burning. He breathed. Looking down, he saw his silver tail was slightly different than theirs. The skin was smooth, like that of a whale or shark. Glancing at his wrists, he lacked the same feathery fins as Oz and Llyr.

  Pausing to investigate a moment, they gave each other a perusal.

  “We’re going to get into so much trouble down here,” Oz murmured in Dagr’s head. “By the way, think and we’ll hear it, according to Llyr.”

  It’s probably a good thing we didn’t have this ability when we were sailing the world. We got into enough trouble.

  Oz laughed.

  “Someone’s waiting on us,” Llyr’s voice sounded. He waved them along.

  He and Oz trailed behind Llyr, passed the crashing waves and toward a reef of oysters. There, immediately before the reef, swam a familiar-looking woman. Dagr stopped a couple of feet away and searched her face.

  Tears shone in her golden eyes. “Hello, Dagr. I’ve waited a lifetime to meet you.”

  Words failed him. The moment was too overwhelming. But then he felt Llyr on one side and Oz on the other… and their strength lent to his. When his mother opened her arms, he swam into them, clutching her tight.

  “My dear, beautiful boy,” she murmured into his head as he held him close, sobbing against him. “I love you so much, Dagr.”

  His eyes closed tight and squeezed her. I’ve spent my years waffling between love and hate. Love because you were my mother. Hate because you left me. He pulled back. How are you still alive?

  “I’m not sure. I’ve reached out to other sorceresses under the sea, and none have an answer. I used everything I had to save you—or so I thought. I drowned in that water and expected to die. When I awoke some time later, I was as surprised as anyone else.”

  And father?

  She shook her head, sadness welling in her eyes. “I never found him… or… his remains.”

  Dagr lowered his head.

  His mother tipped it up with her finger. “He loved you, from the moment you were born. And he was excited to bring you home, to show you off to his family. I’d ask if they treated you well, but given the fact you ran away, that’s doubtful.”

  Dagr eyed her. You knew I ran away?

  “I’ve checked in on you from time to time. You almost saw me once. At the port in the Eirish Isles a few months back.”

  That was you?

  She grinned. “I might not have been able to leave these waters, but I’ve done my best to watch over you and Oz.”

  Dagr hugged her tight again. We wed soon. I wish you could be there.

  “I’ll be there. You might not see me, but I will be there.” She leaned back. “I have to see that all my hard work paid off and you ended up with the men you were destined for.”

  Dagr grinned at her.

  She waved him off. “Go enjoy that tail of yours with your mates… we can talk again soon.”

  I have so many questions.

  “And I will be here to answer them. Soon. You have a new love to nourish now.”

  Dagr kissed her forehead before floating back some.

  “Oh, wait one moment,” his mother said before swimming closer to Llyr. She rubbed Llyr’s swollen stomach, murmuring something. “A blessing for the young.” She cupped Llyr’s cheek. “Take care of them… my boys and yours.”

  “I will,” Llyr said, gripping her hand to his cheek.

  She hugged Llyr and Oz before watching them race through the water.

  They swam, swirling around one another. Dagr smiled as he propelled himself forward, never happier than he was in that moment. He had everything he could ever desire.

  And more.

  Llyr swirled around his mates, spinning with joy. They would live their dreams, together—on land and in the sea. He couldn’t ask for more.

  As they approached the shore, something hurtled toward them. Llyr spun to get a better look, just as that something crashed into Oz. Llyr and Dagr raced after the pair, watching a merman take Oz to the bottom of the ocean while punching him.

  Another merman shot past him, forcing himself into the melee. Oz reared back and glared at the two. “How? How are you alive?”

  Llyr searched between the three.

  “His brothers,” Dagr murmured to Llyr. “Oz’s supposedly dead brothers—Tyne and Brandt.” He swam closer, pushing Llyr behind him. “Stay back. Brandt can be volatile.”

  Llyr’s gut clenched.

  “I have no clue how we’re alive,” one of the brothers said.

  “Oz won’t be for much longer,” the other said, storming closer. Brandt, Llyr assumed.

  “Will you give it a rest? He was not responsible for our mother!” Tyne roared, pushing Brandt back. “We’ve been handed a second chance, and you wish to waste it on vengeance?”

  “Vengeance not deserved,” Dagr added.

  “You stay out of this, Dagr!” Brandt roared.

  “Do you really think you could’ve saved her had you been there?” Dagr roared at Brandt.

  Brandt’s eyes widened in anger. “I was supposed to be there! I could have saved her.” He turned to face Oz. “But Oz whined about wanting to go and she let him.”

  “You were little older than Oz,” Tyne said. “You couldn’t have done an
ything differently. Other than the fact you probably would’ve died, too.”

  Brandt scowled at Oz. Oz scowled right back.

  Tyne eyed Dagr and Oz. “Any ideas why we’re suddenly alive… and all three mermen?”

  Llyr spoke up. “I think it has to do with your mother’s curse.”

  “Our mother’s curse?” Brandt asked, frowning. “And who the hell is this?”

  “Prince Llyr of Aegeaus,” Oz spat. “One of my mates. He was born a merman—so he’d be the most knowledgeable one here.”

  Brandt swam a little closer. “So sorry, Your Highness.”

  “Do pay him any mind,” Tyne said, swimming closer and offering a hand. “What can you tell us?”

  “Your mother was a mermaid. She was exiled… and cursed, taking away her tail. Your father asked for her curse to be lifted as the condition to allowing Oz and Dagr to wed me.”

  “But she’s already gone,” Tyne murmured. “Why ask it now?”

  “We have little knowledge of what happens after we’re gone… and I think your father desired her spirit to be able to return home, if possible,” Llyr answered. “Your uncle, King Claus—he left last night to ask for the exile to be lifted.”

  “King Claus?” Tyne said. “I have an uncle named King Claus?”

  “The King of Atlantia,” Llyr said. “Queen Deandra’s brother. When her curse was lifted, it seems Oz was able to shift into a merman under the water.”

  “That explains him, but not us. We’ve been dead…” Tyne focused on Oz. “For how long?”

  “A little over a year,” Oz answered.

  “I have few answers… but I know who might have more,” Llyr said. “We can go to her.”

  “Later,” Tyne said. “I wish to see home and my father again first.” He spun to face his brothers. “Brandt—are you ready to go home?”

  Brandt dragged his scowl from Oz and glared at Llyr. “Who cursed our mother?”

  “My—”

  “The culprit has died for his sins,” Oz said, talking over Llyr.

  Brandt swam closer to Llyr, an evil grin forming over his lips. “My what, pet?”

  “Back away from our mate,” Oz growled as both he and Dagr put themselves between Brandt and Llyr.

  Brandt grinned. “Your mate? Are you gay? I’d heard rumors.”

  “Brandt,” Tyne warned. “Stop accosting our brother and his… mate. Leave them be.”

  Brandt spun to face Tyne. “You still don’t wear a crown, big brother. So stop barking edicts and orders.”

  Tyne shook his head as Brandt swam for shore. “Best hurry and follow him. We don’t need him to be the first one of us father sees. It might kill him.”

  They all then swam for shore. As soon as they reached it, exhausted, Llyr clawed himself up the beach, attempting to get himself out of the water. Dagr was suddenly there to help pull him farther up the beach. Next, he pulled both Tyne and Oz higher, leaving Brandt to crawl out on his own.

  Their bodies morphed back into human forms, and they rose to stand on the beach. A thought crossed Llyr’s mind as he followed them to the tunnels. “You and Brandt drowned, correct?”

  Tyne gazed his way. He looked so much like Oz, it almost hurt to regard him. “We did. Something I never wish to experience again. Nor the months spent as King Augustine’s deadly servant.”

  Llyr shivered, realizing these men had been under his father’s spell all this time. It took him a moment for his mind to unjumble his thoughts enough to spit out his theory. “Had the curse not been in place, you would never have drowned. Your tails would’ve appeared, your gills come out… and you would’ve simply swum away. Perhaps the curse being lifted altered your destiny, saving you from the fate that shouldn’t have been yours.”

  “Sounds logical enough,” Dagr said. “In the most illogical of circumstances.”

  “We can, of course, speak with Dagr’s mother about it. Perhaps she has more information.”

  “I thought Dagr’s mother was dead?” Brandt asked as he joined them.

  “How sympathetic of you,” Tyne said to Brandt through clenched teeth.

  “Well. She was,” Brandt said with a shrug.

  “She survived somehow, thank you,” Dagr said to Brandt. “Only, she cannot leave the water.”

  “Is she still a witch?” Brandt asked.

  Llyr noted Dagr’s hand tucking the necklace behind him. “She is.”

  Brandt chuckled. “Is that how you ended up a merman, too? Wiggle those magic fingers of yours? Or did mommy do that for you?”

  “Any way we can throw him back in the water?” Dagr growled.

  “Be my guest,” Tyne said. “Only he’ll come back out angrier, which does us no good.”

  “One would think a chance to breathe above the water and be out from under King Augustine’s thumb would bring you some joy,” Llyr said to the middle brother.

  Brandt ambled a little closer. “I remember why you seem so familiar, Prince Llyr of Aegeaus. You’re Augustine’s son.”

  “What of it?” Llyr asked, lifting a brow.

  Brandt rushed forward, as did Oz and Dagr. Llyr curled inward to protect their pups—but Brandt bounced off an invisible barrier before getting close enough to touch him.

  “A blessing… for the young,” Dagr murmured, parroting his mother’s words. “A protection spell.” Dagr knelt beside where Brandt lay in the sand. “Attempt to touch our mate again and I’ll kill you myself. This time… I promise it will last.”

  Brandt didn’t answer. He only grunted in his attempt to rise to his feet. When he stood, he glared at Llyr, Oz, and Dagr. “I think I prefer it under the sea.” With that, he spun and marched back out, disappearing below the waves.

  “I’m glad he’s gone,” Llyr said, taking a deep breath.

  “At least here, we knew where he was,” Tyne said, shaking his head. “Who knows what trouble he’ll cause in that world without someone to watch over him.”

  “He’s a grown man. He doesn’t need a babysitter,” Oz said.

  “True,” Tyne said. “Now let’s go see father.”

  Two months later…

  Llyr held his brother’s elbow as they slowly marched across the beach to meet his mates at the temporary altar built for their special occasion. He was glad for the assistance. His belly grew larger by the day, to the point Llyr struggled to see his feet. He lifted his stare to the end of the aisle of flower petals. How they’d gotten so many this early in the spring, he had no idea—they’d likely claimed every poor flower barely sprouting from the warming earth.

  His Ozzy and Dagr stood waiting for him to arrive, broad smiles on their faces. Guests lined the beach and the water. Merfolk from far and wide had come to witness the marriage of a merman to two men—the fathers and papa of heroes to come. He rubbed his palm over his swollen stomach, nearly five months along. By summer, his sons would be born and he anxiously awaited their arrival.

  Amyr smiled down at him as they traversed the petals. “You’re sure this world is what you wish for?”

  “It is,” Llyr murmured happily. “I can still visit whenever I wish, as you recall.”

  “True, but living here most of your days? It has to be odd to walk on two legs for longer than a few hours. Even now I itch to return to the sea.”

  “I have a very good reason to remain here. The men I love call this place home. They were away from it longer than I was alive. I refuse to pull them from it now.”

  “Did they even consider living in your world?”

  “I never asked—largely because Dagr isn’t one of our kind.”

  “Yet I’ve seen him swim under the waves with you.”

  Llyr nodded. “Magic. And it takes a lot of out of him to do so. We can swim for an hour or two, but after that, he struggles to continue.”

  “Weak human,” Amyr murmured.

  “You sound like father.”

  Amyr grumbled. “Never say that again.”

  “Don’t force me to,” Llyr whis
pered.

  Amyr chuckled.

  As they neared the front of the makeshift cathedral, he smiled at Oz’s new family—King Claus and Queen Simerelda. He even gave a brief smile to Alphonse, who had so thus far been on his best behavior—as their ring bearer. Llyr’s other brother, Eammon, was there as well—carrying a small glass fishbowl with Prawnsby inside. There were other assorted merfolk royalty in attendance, at the behest of King Claus—many Llyr only vaguely recognized.

  On the other side was Oz’s father, King Reginald, and his brother, Prince Tyne—who since his homecoming had reclaimed his title of Crown Prince Tyne, much to Ozzy’s approval. Dagr’s grandmother sat beside the king—though the Duke was too ill to join the festivities. Other distant family members and aristocracy were in attendance—minus Brandt, whom they had not seen since that day on the beach.

  Llyr turned his attentions to his two gorgeous mates. The love he saw in their eyes took his breath away. Finally, they would truly be his, although they’d been spending all their nights together since he arrived. Somehow the ceremony seemed like a binding of their souls.

  Their nights had been a binding of the flesh.

  His brother stopped them at the end and gave him a glance. “Last chance.”

  “I have no reservations,” Llyr whispered back.

  “Good answer,” Amyr whispered back. “I wish you the love and happiness you deserve, brother.”

  Llyr lifted his stare to Amyr. “And to you, too, brother.”

  Amyr pressed his forehead against Llyr’s before leading them up one last step. He took Llyr’s hand and gazed at Dagr and Oz. “Who claims the hand of my brother, Llyr Xavier Augustus, Prince of Aegeaus?”

  “We do,” both Dagr and Ozzy declared before all there, their voices loud and clear.

  Llyr met their gazes, one after the other, as they took his hand from Amyr. His mates led him forward to where both a human priest and a merman cleric stood, awaiting to lead the dual service. As they began, trading off part after part, Llyr could barely hear the words they spoke. He could only look into his mates’ eyes and see the love growing for him there. Lost in their regard, he was spellbound.