“Do it, Princess. Go with it.”
She grabs her thighs and pulls them towards her while pushing as hard as she can. The pain I feel increases, so I move my hand lower to counter it as much as I can. She screams before lying back on the pillows and panting up at the ceiling. “This shit is hard.”
I feel bad for laughing, but I see her smile. She really is such a ray of sunshine to all of us.
‘I love you.’
Her dark eyes find mine. ‘I love you.’
Dagger moves from beside her to between her legs, so the rest of my brothers surround her. Blade sits where Dagger just was and mimics what I’m doing to manage her pain, and Pin and Axe sit close to her head and stroke her hair.
She quickly sits up to push again, though.
“The head’s coming,” Dagger tells her, and both Blade and I look down to see. “Remember what I told you. Nice and slow.”
“I—I can’t stop it!” She screams. “I’m trying.”
My brother rushes to ease the head out, and when Mikka falls back again, he checks to make sure the cord isn’t wrapped around her neck, but it isn’t. “Next push and we’ll have our first baby.”
I stare at all the curly hair. I can’t quite see her face yet but seeing her there is enough to make my heart pound out of my chest.
So close…
My brothers and I look at each other, our feelings each reflected in our expressions. For months and months, we’ve longed for this, and now it’s so close, we can almost taste it.
I look back to Mikka as she pulls herself forward again. She pushes, hard, but then she cusses me in my mind and tells me I’m looking in the wrong direction. I look back down and watch as Dagger pulls our daughter from inside her, and she’s finally born into the world.
He rests her straight onto Mikka’s chest and tells her to rub her back while he clamps the cord and clears her nose and throat. I can’t breathe waiting to hear her take her first breath or even better, to cry.
I lean over to see her. She looks just like me.
Please breathe… Please…
“Come on, baby girl,” Mikka coaxes, rubbing her back a little harder. “Don’t make me break my promises to your daddies.”
My heart stills as her eyelids flutter and her mouth opens. Then I see the rise of her chest, hear her first breath, and we all hold ours while we wait for the next one.
And finally, it comes, right before the sweetest cry I’ve ever heard.
I can’t put into words how I feel.
My brothers erupt with happiness around me, hugging and cheering like mad men, but I can only stare at Mikka who’s comforting our crying daughter, wondering how the fuck I could love her any more than I already did.
Dagger slaps my back as he hands me the scissors. “Cut your daughter’s cord, brother.”
I nod and cut where he tells me to, still feeling like this isn’t real.
It feels too good to be true.
“Congrats, bro,” Blade says after I hand Dagger back the scissors. He’s holding his hand out.
I shake it, and the rest of my brothers’ who do the same. “Respect.”
There are tears in all their eyes, but mine are full of them, too. Shit, I can’t help it.
I turn my head and my eyes meet Mikka’s. ‘See?’
I nod, and she smiles. “Thank you.”
She shakes her head. “Take her.”
I lift her off her chest and onto mine, then I get up so Pin can help Blade control Mikka’s pain for the birth of his son.
I stand by the window and take a second to gather my shit. I wipe away a few tears as I relish how my daughter’s warm body feels against my chest. How her little squawks and cries make me feel weak to her already.
I kiss her head. “I love you so much, Angel. So much.”
I never thought we’d get here. I never thought I’d ever have the chance to raise a child of my own, but Mikka’s made it happen. She’s made all our dreams reality.
And now I need to work to protect us all.
I hold Raeni in the crook of my arm and look down into her hazel eyes. ‘I swear, I’ll never let anything happen to you.’
She blinks, and the way her pupils dilate, tells me she understands.
Seventeen
Blade
I stare at my son, crying like a drama queen on his mother’s chest. He’s got a full head of hair, a birthmark on his right shoulder, and he is a spitting image of me, except his nose. Jaden’s definitely got his mother’s nose. That’s too cute to be mine.
Mikka smiles while soothing him, and I know she’s heard my comment.
Shit, she's everything to us right now. She's so strong, not just physically, but mentally, too. I always forget she's only twenty. She’s the youngest of us all, but you would never think it. Our lives have been forever changed by this woman in front of me, and she doesn’t even realise it.
She really is an angel.
Thorn rests a hand on my shoulder as Dagger passes me my boy.
My boy…
Damn, he’s so tiny. He looks like a doll in my arms. He opens his mouth to release a little cry, but when I kiss his head, he settles again.
“I’m a Dad,” I say to anyone who’s listening. “We’re fucking dads, brothers.” A few of them laugh, but I look at Mikka. “I love you so much. Thank you doesn’t feel like enough.”
She shakes her head and her eyelids drop a little. She’s tired, but she’s still got one more baby left to deliver. “Stop thanking me. I wanted this, too.”
Axe gets up and asks me to move. “Jump up, bro. Let me help our baby momma here.”
I move off the bed and stand with Thorn behind Dagger, but I’m worried about Mikka. She really does look exhausted. ‘Thorn?’
‘She can do it. Don’t underestimate her. We’ve done that enough.’
I nod before looking back to Mikka on the bed. Axe and Pin have their hands on her belly, controlling her pain, but Axe is also stroking her hair and telling her how amazing she is.
“You're incredible, babe. I know you’re tired, but I promise, after you kick Thorn’s son out, I’ll run you a hot bath, Pin will rub your head, and then you can sleep with the babies, alright?”
She looks up at him. “That sounds amazing.”
He kisses her. “Just a few more pushes.”
“Yeah.” She suddenly sits forward to push again, but Thorn’s son’s head stays where it is.
That’s when everyone else starts to worry.
“Why don’t you shift, babe?” Axe looks at Thorn. “She can, right? That will help her, won’t it?”
“Yeah. I didn’t even think. He’s right, Angel.”
“Okay,” she breathes, and then her eyes turn red, but just like all the other times she shifted since the babies changed her, her skin only mottles.
She no longer sheds.
“Now push, Princess! As hard as you can… That’s better… A little more… Harder, Mikka. The head’s almost out. Just a little more.”
We’re all relieved when the head finally enters the world.
“I told you, you are incredible, babe. Now just one more.”
She closes her eyes to push, and Dagger guides Thorn’s son out and onto her chest. More relief comes when he cries, and it’s no more evident than on Mikka’s face.
“Welcome to this crazy world, Theo,” she whispers to him. “And look at you. Finally, one of you look like me.” She looks up and smirks. “Your mouth belongs to a few of your daddies, though.”
We laugh, but I’m more glad she’s finally decided on a name for Thorn Junior. She’s been going back and forth between two names for days. Personally, though, I’m glad Theodore won out. Not only did I prefer it, but it was her father’s name.
It means a gift from God.
We were all a little sentimental over the names, that’s why there were so many arguments deciding them. But Thorn and I finally decided on Raeni and Jaden late last night. Raeni means Queen, and Jad
en means Thankful.
The six of us have also decided to raise the babies as brothers and sisters. None of us are going for that uncle shit. As far as we’re concerned, the kids are all of ours, and they’ll all be loved and raised the same.
“Thorn?” Dagger says, “are you taking your boy? I need to take care of Mikka.”
“You take him, Axe. Pin, come take your daughter. I’ll help with Mummy.”
We all feel how much Mikka loves that.
I still can’t believe the sight in this room. Every time we’ve held our blood in our arms, we’ve felt a sadness that's cut us deeper than any knife could. But now, the feeling in my heart that’s always longed for this, that’s been guiding me for months, has gone.
And although Pin’s, Axe’s, and Dagger’s longing is still there, the births of these three have lessened it. But soon, we’ll all have babies in our arms, alive, breathing, and stronger than we could've ever imagined.
I look down at my son and he blinks up at me, his eyes already eager to focus on what’s around him. We can feel them, too, already connected to us. I’m sure Mikka is feeling them the strongest still, though.
But I think she will until we become like them.
Whenever that may be.
Eighteen
Mikka
Our babies are bathed, moisturised, and fed.
And so am I.
I thought I knew pampering before, but the last few hours have been next-level worshipping. I still feel tired, but I can’t sleep. I can’t stop watching the babies being passed around in their fathers’ arms so they can get to know them all.
The bonds have already been made, and although they’re new-born, they already alert and capable of telling us what they want in their own way. I can’t wait to see if I’m right about me changing my kings. Then they can be as deeply connected to them as I am.
Even to me again.
I keep replaying the moment each baby was born and the looks on their father’s faces. There was, and still is, so much love in this room. They’re all so happy, I couldn’t help but have a little cry in the bath. This feels so good. So right.
Best. Decision. Ever.
I’m a mother of three now, and by the end of next month, God knows how many more will be arriving. I know Dagger is desperate for his own blood-child, and I can’t wait to give him one. And Pin and Axe. I want them all to feel as complete as they’ve made me.
They were all amazing during the births. Axe surprised me by how supportive he was, right from the get-go. He was whispering encouragement into my mind from the moment he came back from sneaking out to get my ice cream. He’s much more complex than I initially thought he was.
I healed pretty quickly after I passed the placenta’s, but I still have a slight belly that’s contracting as we speak. I think the hardest thing I’ve found so far is the breastfeeding. My head was spinning from all the terms and phrases, latching on and unlatching, positioning…
Thank God we have a doctor in the house.
Thorn’s turned into a lioness. And yes, I know what I said. He’s already made promises to all the babies to protect them from the world. He’s also Raeni-whipped already. He doesn’t stand a chance with her. She’s already got him wrapped around her pinkie. One look at her and Thorn was instantly smitten.
“I’ve got your cupcakes, babe,” Axe says as he walks in. “I put extra frosting on yours.”
I sit up a little higher against the headboard before he passes me two. I rest one on my knee before unwrapping the other and devouring the hell out of it.
I moan. “More chocolate heaven.”
He throws me a wink. “You know that’s right.”
“And there you were, saying you couldn’t cook.” I lick my lips. “These are amazing. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, babe.”
He hands out the rest to his brothers, and we all have a few moments of quiet while we demolish them. They really do taste amazing, and the frosting is to die for.
“You’ll be levelling up in no time, babe.” I smile because I know he likes when I call him that.
“I’m ready.”
“Let’s hope you’ll be ready for something else soon, huh?” Pin says. He’s smiling down at Jaden.
“You’ll be the first to know.”
“You’ll be more fertile over the next few weeks, Princess.”
“I’ve heard that before. I don’t know how that’s gonna work…”
Thorn passes Raeni to Axe near the edge of the bed. “Me and Blade have been thinking about that.”
“Oh, yeah?”
He nods. “We think it’s best if we stay away from you until you’re pregnant again.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” He begins to smile. “Besides, I wouldn’t want my seed to destroy the competitions’.”
I snort a laugh, but his brothers begin to cuss him.
“How do you feel about that, Princess?”
I shrug as I look at Dagger. “I guess there’s no other way to guarantee that one of you three will reach the egg first.”
“It’s gonna be so hard to stay away from you, sweetness.” Blade turns to Thorn. “We’re gonna have blue balls, bro.”
Thorn shakes his head and looks at me. “Nah, Mikka won’t let us suffer, will you, Angel?”
I hold back a smile. “Of course not. You know the Queen always takes care of her Kings.”
They like that.
“I need to talk to you about something. What are we going to do about me biting you? The urge lessened a little after the birth, but it hasn’t gone away. I know none of you want to miss out on the babies, but we do need to decide when it’s going to happen, ‘cause I can’t resist it forever.”
“We know,” Thorn muses. “Let’s get you pregnant again first, then we’ll decide. Besides, we don’t know how quickly these babies are going to grow yet.”
That’s true. “What if they grow as fast as they did in the womb until they reach adulthood?”
Everyone looks at Axe. He’s good with numbers.
“Uh, eight weeks, fifty-two…” His eyes widen. “They’d be almost nine this time next year, adults in two.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Pin and the rest of us pretty much have the same reaction.
“Yeah.”
I frown. “But that would mean they could be a few months old by the end of the week.”
“Jesus,” Blade breathes. “This is some fucked-up shit.”
“Yeah,” I agree, “but if they do, it begs the question, why? I think we all know how important they’ll be, but what’s the rush?”
Thorn looks over to Theo in Dagger’s arms. “I wish I knew.”
Our eyes meet.
So do I…
Nineteen
Mikka
“Uh…” My God…
“Well,” Dagger starts, “I guess the aging theory was right.”
I look at the babies in Thorn’s, Axe’s, and Blade’s arms. They look about a week old, even though they were only born yesterday.
I don’t know how I feel about this. I do know that I’m feeling a little robbed of the new-born stage, though. I mean, they’re still tiny; Dagger weighed them all last night and there was barely anything between them. All around the four-and-a-half-pound mark.
But still, they’re not that anymore.
“Well, I suppose I better see about getting some exchanges on the nappies, at least.”
The brothers laugh, and after a moment, so do I. What else can we do?
I take Jaden from Blade, kissing his head before resting him against my chest. He’s definitely heavier. He starts rooting, so I tell them to come downstairs so I can start feeding them.
I settle onto the couch and Blade passes me my pillow so I can begin feeding. Jaden eats the most, so I always feed him first. Then I top him up after the others have fed.
The brothers talk about football around me while Thorn flicks through the TV channels, but we all turn ou
r heads when we hear the mention of zombies.
“…The country’s new Head of Defence, Kay Hughes, is under increasing pressure to close all borders of the UK this morning, after a mass attack at the Glastonbury festival on Saturday night, by the elusive day-walker zombies.”
“The unprovoked massacre by these ‘sane’ zombies, is being branded an ‘attack on all of humanity’ by world leaders around the globe, as the hospitals the injured patients were being treated in were subjected to their own attacks last night, after they turned into zombies themselves.”
“It is believed that these zombies were not day-walkers, but this is yet to be confirmed by officials. Scientists are now scrambling to find a way to stop these zombies, with the late Myers’ brother promising to be the first to find a cure…”
What the fuck?
“…In an interview with SKY NEWS this morning, he candidly revealed that his brother had already carried out a number of studies on the ‘zombie hybrids’, and that the new ZoNaR lab in Cambridge had already begun work on a vaccine that he is positive will rid the world of all zombies for good…”
“This is not happening,” Axe says, being the first to speak.
“What the fuck are they trying to do?” Blade asks the rest of us. “I don’t get this.”
“They’re trying to draw us out,” Thorn and I say. We look at each other, and I know he’s thinking the same as me.
“It’s what they always wanted,” Thorn continues. “Between what Myers saw on that server and what Gia knows, they know they need Mikka to put all the pieces together, or worse, to find a way to make them like us. Think about it. Mikka is known for her studies on genetics; even the damn NHS asked for her thoughts on zombies when they first rose. Gia said they can’t hear thoughts or control others, so of course they’d want that.”
I feel sick to my stomach. He’s right. They want me. Or if not me, the babies they think we’re having. “This is all my fault. I should never have told Gia. I’m so sorry.”
“Hey,” Dagger says, resting a hand on my arm, “this isn’t your fault. You didn’t make them do this.”
Babies For My Zombie Kings: A Reverse Harem Romance (Zombies Rule The World Book 2) Page 10
