by A. B. Marie
“I’m going to head downstairs and grab a few things. I’ll be right back.” I call out to Ross, Troy, and Graham and let them know that Maya is in labor. After I crap a big cup of ice, I pick up extra towels and blankets from the hall closet and sit back down with her. “Do you want some ice?” She shakes her head and just has her eyes closed. I call Collins and Nolan, leaving them voicemails telling them to come home when they can. We’re having a baby. During her contractions I show her everything I bought for her today. She tries to laugh while looking through the random shit and thanks me. She organizes all of the new toys for the BDSM room into one bag, makeup in another, and her new shoes in the last bag.
After several hours of Maya slowly walking around the bedroom, her contractions are a few minutes apart and her water broke. Maggie cleans up the mess and I get her into the tub.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like fucking shit!” She relaxes into the tub and I get in behind her and rub her back. All of the guys are spread out between the bathroom and the bedroom, helping Beatrice set everything up. She has medical equipment all over the place in here, and a stack of towels and clothes for the girls to be dressed into after they’re checked over. Getting closer.
Beatrice leans over the tub and checks how far dilated Maya is. “Getting closer, probably another hour. You’re eight centimeters dilated, and baby’s head is dropping down nicely.” Maya scowls at her and nods and we relax. I had to put Marie, Polly, and Lola into Nolan’s bedroom so they would calm down and not try to get into the bath with Maya. Every time she has a contraction, the animals got anxious and tried to comfort her.
I focus on rubbing Maya’s lower back and kissing her head. “You’re doing fantastic, baby.”
“Yeah, this feels fucking fantastic.” She leans her head back against me and Graham feeds her some ice chips to keep her hydrated. “When can I fucking eat?”
Beatrice chuckles at her. “As soon as that baby comes out and I check you over.” She winks at Maya and walks back into the master to sit and relax and gives us some space. The twins come and sit next to the tub and try telling her jokes or stories to try to lighten the mood. She tries to relax but seems to be in a lot of pain.
“Christ, how big is this kid? It feels like my bones are breaking.” She breathes hard in and out as another contraction hits. I wish there was more I can do for her.
Another hour later and Beatrice says it’s time to push. I lean her back so she can get into a more comfortable position as she arches her back and spreads her legs. Ross and Troy each hold onto a leg and I give her praise and kiss her neck.
“You got this, Maya. She’ll be here before we know it!”
She growls and pushes several times before collapsing back while panting heavily.
“Almost there, Maya! Next contraction, give me a huge push… Good, good, there’s the head!” Another few pushes and Beatrice pulls the baby out of the water and shows her to us. Fuck she is fucking gorgeous. Her hair is wet so it’s hard to tell the color, and she’s screaming her head off. Beatrice suctions out her nose and throat and places her on Maya’s chest. “Congratulations, mama, she’s beautiful!” Maya cries and stares down at the baby.
“My goodness, hello sweet girl.” She looks around to all of us and we are all watching with rapt attention. “Luna Ray Strom, meet your daddies.” We all smile at the name. Troy and Ross get tears in their eyes, she chose their dad’s name as her middle name.
“She’s so beautiful.” I give her a kiss on the head. As soon as Beatrice finishes up with the afterbirth, we help her move to the bed to see if she needs any healing. She places Luna on her breast, and I help get her cleaned up, a diaper placed, and wrap a blanket around them to stay warm.
“Not bad, I just need to heal you up and you’ll be right as rain.” After about ten minutes Beatrice asks for the baby to check her over. She uses a blanket attached to a dial at the top to weigh her. “Luna girl is eight pounds and fourteen ounces! What a whopper.” She chuckles to herself and measures her length and checks her temperature, her glucose, rubs her stomach, and checks her eyes. “Twenty-one inches long, temperature is perfect, glucose is perfect, and everything else is PERFECT!” We all chuckle with her.
I look over to Maya and she looks exhausted. I get up to get her hairbrush and brush out her hair and let her get comfortable sitting up on the pillows. I kiss her on her head, and she starts to close her eyes. We all take turns holding and rocking Luna. I look down at her sweet, chubby face and she opens up her eyes. They’re such a bright green with small flecks of violet. Wow, I have a daughter. I look at her hair, and it’s a dark brown mixed with strands of purple hair that matches Maya’s. I look around and all the guys clap me on the back and smile at me. I sit next to Maya and both girls fall asleep.
As soon as Maya closes her eyes again, her entire body starts glowing a bright white and she lifts off the bed. We all jump back, and Beatrice is knocked over from where she was standing over Maya checking her temperature.
“What the fuck?” I’m holding the baby, so I stay back and nod to Collins to get closer to her to make sure she doesn’t drop down. “What the hell is this shit?”
The glowing gets so bright that I shield my eyes as it starts pulsing out of her body around the room. After a few minutes another flash and all six of us get hit with a ball of light to our chests. Thank fuck I’m against the wall, or I would have been knocked on my ass. Cradling the baby, I slide down to breathe. That shit hurt.
All of the guys start talking at the time, and running up to Maya. She softly floated back down to the bed and we see that she’s still lightly glowing.
Beatrice has wide eyes as she slowly steps up to Maya. “A goddess. A freaking goddess?” She checks her over and slowly nods her head. “I don’t see anything wrong with her, but she is PULSING out power.”
I walk closer and see that her hair is brighter, her skin is luminescent, and she’s breathing deeply in her sleep. I look over to Graham. “Can you go grab her journal or the book that has the prophesy in it?” He nods and grabs Collins to help him look in the library. I look down to Luna who has her eyes closed, “I’m guessing your mama’s powers just unlocked, little one. She’s a damn goddess now.” I shake my head and get comfortable in the bed. I can’t stop staring at both of the girls. Ross gets impatient and softly takes the baby from me and he cuddles up with her next to me on the bed.
“Look at this gorgeous girl.”
I smirk at him and rest my head back to close my eyes.
Graham comes back in with Collins. “You’re right. If we are deciphering this correctly, then the birth is what caused her goddess powers to unbind.” He places everything on the nightstand and drags in the glider from the nursery to sit on. “I wonder what the hell we were hit with?” I lean over Maya to grab the book and read the prophesy over.
“A child born from Wrath and Love
Here on Earth, powers are tied, yet true
She bears the new beginning
Eyes open for the doom
Goddess powers unlock, mates are bonded
The next prophesy is awakened
War is ended, gloom, then light
Seek your souls, darkness is not the only path.”
“I think her magic bonded us to her.” I close my eyes and feel around my magic. “I don’t feel any different.” I look around and all the guys shake their heads.
Beatrice walks over to the baby and rubs her hand over Luna’s head. “I’m going to stay here for the night so I can check them over in the morning.” Troy nods to her and shows her out to a guest room down the hall. Gerard, Maggie, and Malek walk in from where they were waiting in the hall and start talking all at once.
“What was that light?”
“The whole house pulsed!”
“Are they okay?”
I chuckle. “Our little goddess has unlocked her powers. She’s going to be fine.” They take turns holding and talking to Luna and give us all hugs b
efore they go back to their quarters.
What a day.
Luna falls back to sleep after we roll over and help her eat from Maya, and Collins places her in the bassinet next to the bed. We all get changed and ready for bed and spread out to go to sleep.
Chapter 13
Maya
_________
Luna girl. She’s fucking precious. She has a mixture of dark brown hair mixed with purple strands, soft, emerald green eyes, and pink chubby cheeks. She has my little button nose and Mark’s plump lips. I knew from the beginning that Mark would be the dad, it seems like everything else with him in my life, it was just meant to be. After Beatrice cleaned us up and I settled Luna on my breast to eat, I relax and start to close my eyes.
The guys are all talking animatedly around me and cleaning up the rooms. Mark brushes out my hair and I smile softly at him while I start to fall asleep. I feel someone lifting Luna out of my arms, then everything goes black.
When I open my eyes, I look around and see that I’m not at home. Spinning in a circle, I see that I’m in a fucking garden? My body is translucent and I’m wearing a soft purple, sparkling, floor length gown and my feet are bare. My hair is braided down my back and I stare down at all of the flowers and trees surrounding me. Where the fuck am I?
“Maya?” I hear a soft, tinkling voice call from behind me. I look, and walking towards me is the couple from the photo from my safety deposit box. The God of War and the Goddess of Love. My parents, I presume. “My goodness, you are so grown up!” She walks up to me and gives me a long hug. She’s about the same height as me, her soft, sky blue eyes are glittering with tears, and her golden, blonde hair is in soft waves that swish around her hips. She’s wearing the same dress I am, but in light blue. I look over to my father and he’s bare chested, wearing cargo pants and combat boots. His red hair is in a crew cut and his dark brown eyes look almost black. This man is huge, he has to be around seven feet tall.
He nods at me and smiles. “Welcome home.”
“Home? Where are we?” I look around again and just see fields of flowers and trees in all directions.
My mother smiles at me. “You unlocked your goddess powers and your spirit traveled to our realm. Don’t worry, your body is still on the mortal realm.” Ah. So, this is Heaven? I was wondering why they look like real people here, and I look like a damn ghost. “We have so much to talk about, but not much time. I wish that we could have stayed with you.” She frowns and looks over to my father.
He nods at her and looks back over to me. “We knew of your existence about one hundred years before we got pregnant with you. After getting what we could settled down as much as we could on this realm, we traveled to the mortal realm to prepare for your birth. We thought the council would help us, but unfortunately, we didn’t know until it was too late that they chose Hell over us. The demons got to them first.” He glowers and takes a deep breath. “We left you with the Strom’s, we had met them around the town and set up a plan for one of my brethren to move close to them. They got pregnant a few months before us. You know them as Richard and Gretchen Kreuss, but Richard is actually the God of Thunder. He traveled around the mortal realm with us and fell in love with a witch.”
I nod my head. “After the council turned against us and we had to move again, we decided it would be safer for you to have your powers bound and to grow up as a witch. The Strom’s already had three kids and were a lovely couple, and we put plans into motion for you to bond with Markus and be trained.” He gives me a big smile and a nudge. “And as they say, the rest is history. We have been in various wars with the demons for millennia, and when we received a prophesy from a seer and read about the war finally coming to an end, we did everything we could to ensure it’ll come to pass.”
“So where is Richard? When my parents, sorry, the Strom’s, passed away with the Kreuss’s, we couldn’t find his body. Just ashes.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, we’re immortal. If we die on the mortal plane, our bodies come back here to our anchor point. The ashes are just what we leave behind when we’re moved across the realms.” I nod slowly. They both give me another big hug. “It’s time for you to go back. It isn’t safe here. By now, Hell would have felt your pulse of powers on the mortal plane and know there’s a goddess there. Be careful, stay with your bonded men, and take care of that sweet baby. We can’t come to the mortal plane without them coming after us again.”
“If we’re all immortal, then why so many wars with Hell? Isn’t that just redundant?”
He gives me a frown. “Yes, but not everyone in the Heaven and Hell realms are immortals. Sometimes we fall in love with humans, witches, or warlocks. After a soul bond, they can come to the other realms. They also want to take over all three realms, that’s the majority of our wars – the fucking demons trying to kick us out to the mortal realm and make everyone slaves.”
My mother smiles sadly at me. “We’re running out of time. See you soon, my sweet Maya. Give a kiss to our granddaughter for us. Good luck and we love you.” She shoves my spirit and all I see black.
I hear quiet voices talking all around me and tiny baby cries. I slowly open my eyes and look around to see Ross rocking Luna and trying to calm her. “Hey baby, Luna is hungry. Just changed her diaper and rocked her before we were going to put her on your breast again. Welcome back.” I turn to my side and put my arms out for him to pass her over.
“Hey.” I smile at him and get Luna settled. “How long was I out?”
He looks over to his phone on the nightstand. “About twenty-four hours. Some crazy shit happened when you went to sleep. You started glowing, pulsing power, your body changed, and then you slept. We’ve been rotating and taking turns to move you around and get Luna to feed. Beatrice is still here, waiting for you to wake up.” He gives me a long kiss and pulls my hair out of the bun that’s sitting on top of my head. “I’ll brush out your hair and help you shower when she’s done eating.” He nods down to Luna and pats her head.
“Bring all of the guys in here, we have some shit to talk about.” He leaves the room and I hear him calling for everyone to come in. Beatrice comes with them and checks me over and gives me a big smile.
“You look amazing, Maya. I’m going to take my leave. I’ll be back in a few days, but you call me if you have any concerns, you hear?”
“Thank you.” She nods and leaves the room.
“Gather around, fuckers. Mark, you need to sit for this.” They settle around me and I explain to them everything from what I saw and talked about with my parents.
Mark looks like he’s going to pass out. “My dad is alive, and my mom might be on that realm with him? Did you see him?”
I shake my head. “No, we didn’t have much time to talk, it felt like I was only there for five minutes. I’m sorry. I’ll get more answers as soon as I can. They said it’s not safe for me there, and with the pulses of power from my powers unbinding, Hell and the council will know there’s a goddess here.”
We all sit in silence and I let them absorb all of the information.
“So. I’m half-god. A godling? Didn’t that douche Don that guided us around campus last year call them demi-gods? Fuck. No wonder why my magic was always a little weird like yours.”
Collins gives him a glare. “What are you talking about?”
Mark smirks at him. “I hid it well, but I’m still mostly a warlock. I just don’t need to say incantations out loud. I’m not as freaky as Maya.” I roll my eyes and let them talk for a bit. Luna fell asleep and I hand her over to Collins. He cuddles her and sets her in the bassinet.
I clap softly. “Alright, shower time, and someone fucking feed me!” Ross helps me up and he gets both of us undressed. I give him a kiss on the cheek. “I love you.” I see myself in the mirror and do a double take. My hair is brighter and in glossy waves, my violet eyes are sparkling and look like they’re glowing, and my skin is sparkling and luminescent like a damn glitter bomb went off. I have wide eyes when I look
over to Ross.
He gives me a heartbreaking smile that reaches his dark brown eyes, “I love you, too, baby. You’ve been like this since you fell asleep and unlocked your powers.” I just shake my head and will think about this more later. He helps me shower and get dressed when we’re done. Collins picks Luna up and Mark grabs the bassinet to take downstairs.
“I think I’ll order a few more of these. One to keep downstairs, another for outside, another for the gym…” He starts listing more and more that he’s going to double or triple up on. I just let him, he loves to be organized and thinks ahead. Malek has a full buffet set out for dinner and we get settled around the living room. I eat two plates and sit back and groan.
“Fuck, that was delicious. We should have an Italian buffet every week.” The guys chuckle and my eyes start to droop. “Someone wake me up when Luna is hungry, I’m going back to sleep.” Someone kisses my head and helps me lay down on the couch. This time when I fall asleep, it’s just my normal massacre dreams of killing my enemies. I wonder how I even get to the other realms?
Luna wakes up twice over night and the first time I wake up in bed, confused about how I got here.
Nolan brings Luna to my breast. “Hey baby, I just changed her diaper and put her in a new sleeper. She’s hungry, think you can stay awake?” I nod to him and rub my fingers through her soft, short fuzzy hair.
“Yeah, thank you. How are all you guys holding up?”
He chuckles low. “There’s so many of us that we all just trade off helping you or taking care of Luna. You were smart when you forced us all to be your baby daddies.” He gives me a wink and I glare at him. I flick him on his ear and settle back down and stare at my sweet baby.
