Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 0 Weeks •✧•
Grian made sure that Pluto was secure on his own and all taken care of before his jittery excitement got the better of him and he leaped into the air, heading for his and Scar’s shared home.
Their bases were no place for a one year old so in the first week on the server they had built a small house that they could live in with Peanut. It was small but Grian loved it, and the fact that he and Scar had made it together made it even more special to him.
Grian couldn't help the squeal of excitement that came out of his mouth as he thought back to earlier that day.
[Xisuma]
Player breeding will be remaining enabled for the foreseeable future
Grian had been meaning to talk to Xisuma about turning player breeding on once again so that he and Scar could try for another baby. Just so happened they could have been trying this whole time!
He landed gracefully in front of the front door and walked inside, finding Scar at their dining room table with Poppy as she finished her dinner. There were a few pieces of cooked carrots and chicken bits on the floor around her high chair, but it looked like she had eaten most of what she'd been given. Grian smiled softly and walked over to the two, his daughter's face lighting up as she noticed him.
“Mama!” she cried out, hands reaching for Grian as he came closer. His heart felt like it was going to burst as he picked her up out of the chair and she nuzzled against the side of Grian’s neck instinctively, having missed her mama.
“Hi there darling,” he said, trying not to get emotional over this daily occurrence that he loved so much, “How was my baby bird's day?”
“Quite exciting,” Scar said, standing up from his chair to press a kiss to Grian’s head, “We went on a little adventure outside and ran into Auntie Pearl. Little postmaster Peanut then went around delivering some letters to the other hermits.” Grian exaggeratedly went “Oh!”, getting a squealing laugh from Peanut.
“Sounds so fun!” Grian said, checking the clock on the communicator on Scar’s wrist, “How long has it been since she finished eating?”
“Hasn't been long,” Scar said, starting to clean up the mess left behind. Grian wanted to whine, he loved his daughter and enjoyed spending time with her, but now that he knew player breeding was still on he wanted to start trying for another now . He pressed a kiss to the top of Poppy's head and headed for the living room, sitting down on the couch and settling in for some snuggle time with his daughter.
Before he knew it an hour had passed and they went through Poppy's bedtime routine, ending in tucking her into her crib with her favorite warden plushie from Tango. As soon as the door to Poppy's room closed, Grian excitedly backed Scar against the nearest wall and kissed him, not wanting to waste any time. Scar seemed to have other ideas however, as he chuckled at Grian’s actions.
“Well, hi there,” he said, voice deepening as Grian’s arousal laced floral scent hit the alpha's nose. Grian whined when the kiss was broken, trailing down Scar’s neck and pressing kisses along the skin, nibbling until he bit down on the mating mark.
“Player breeding was never turned off,” Grian said in explanation and Scar, the tease , just hummed in response.
“I did see that,” he said, a teasing smile making Grian want to kiss that stupid look off his face, “What's got you so worked up? Your heat isn't for another week.”
“Scar, Scar ,” Grian whimpered, “Please.”
“Please what?” This damn bastard .
“ Scar, give me a baby ,” Grian mewled, “ Breed me, knock me up, make me pregnant. Please .” With a sharp inhale, Scar flipped their positions, pressing Grian against the wall, the alpha’s body trapping him there and settling his instincts, feeling safe and protected. Grian moaned as Scar returned the favor, biting at his throat and marking his skin.
“It would be my pleasure .”
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 2 Months •✧•
Zedaph extracted himself from his sleeping boyfriend's arms, moving slowly and quietly out of earshot. He sat down in his armchair and let out a slow breath, leaning over and putting his head in his hands.
He was exhausted. Not only from the fatigue his apparent pregnancy had been causing, but from the emotional roller coaster of that day. He’d let himself feel his emotions, let himself cry and sob and allowed the impending panic attack to happen. Impulse had been there the whole time, soothing scent enveloping him and whispering loving words and coaching him through breathing through the omega’s panic.
That man was Aether sent and Zedaph thanked Notch everyday that he was lucky enough to call the alpha his.
He checked his communicator, scrolling back up to when Xisuma apologized for forgetting to disable player breeding, reading the messages he had missed afterwards.
[impulseSV]
it’s been on this whole time??
It seemed like Impulse had realized immediately what that had meant, and that's why he had come over so fast. Zedaph smiled softly, his heart feeling so full of love for the alpha.
[Rendog]
Is that why we got Elsa?
[Mumbo]
and crumbo?
Zed frowned, now that he thought about it… how did Elsa and Crumbo come to be? What exactly were the settings on the player breeding game rule?
[iskall85]
I still can’t believe that’s what you named them mumbo
Same, Iskall.
[Grian]
wait don’t turn it off!!!! I was just gonna come talk to you X Scar and I wanna try for another!
[Xisuma]
Player breeding will be remaining enabled for the foreseeable future
Well, at least Zedaph wouldn't need to have that conversation with the pack leader.
[Grian]
oh that was fast, thanks X!
[Tango]
that was fast… got something to tell us X?
[Keralis]
HOG lunch meeting tomorrow!!! got happy news to share!
[BdoubleO100]
👀 DOES THAT MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS
[Etho]
shhhh let him have his moment B
Zedaph smiled at the server’s antics as the topic changed in the following messages. Bdubs had a point, if that meant what Zedaph thought it meant then he was ecstatic for Keralis and Xisuma. He wasn't going to take that moment away from the omega at the HOG meeting by announcing his own pregnancy (he knew he had to announce it, the others would kill him if he didn't). They all knew that Zedaph was still dealing with the trauma from assisting Grian’s labor and they knew how he felt about getting pregnant, he didn't want to sour the mood if Keralis was going to announce he was pregnant.
But… he felt like he needed to talk to someone about this. Someone other than Impulse… someone who might understand…
He glanced at who was still awake and saw that both Etho and Bdubs were. Before Colt and Ash were born, it would've been sacrilegious to see Bdubs awake so late, but with newborns it was no surprise to see one or both of them up and taking care of them.
Zedaph debated just waiting, knowing that Bdubs was only awake right now because of the twins, but he really needed someone to talk to right now. He sighed and switch to his private messages with Bdubs.
[Zedaph]
Hey I know you're busy rn but can I come over? I really need to talk
He waited impatiently, his leg bouncing, until Bdubs responded.
[BdoubleO100]
as long as ur ok with etho listening in then sure
Zedaph didn't mind really, so he sent a private message to Impulse to let him know where he was, then equipped his elytra and took off, hoping the sound of his rocket didn't wake the sleeping alpha.
He circled in the air above Etho’s base to slow down and stumbled a bit upon landing before walking up to the door and pausing before the door. Did he knock? But wouldn't that upset the twins who were supposed to be asleep right now? Did he just walk in or would that be rude? His comm dinged with a notification and he glanced at the screen.
[BdoubleO100]
just come on in we heard you land
Zedaph quietly laughed to himself and stepped inside, following the path he remembered headed to the nursery. He peeked inside, finding both parents were just settling the twins back to bed, Etho having just placed one in the crib while Bdubs had the other on his chest.
“Hey Zed,” Bdubs said, quieter than he had ever heard the omega before, “Just give us a sec and we'll be out there soon.” Zedaph nodded and retraced his steps to the living room and made himself comfortable. He tried to come up with how he was going to bring up the topic. He couldn't even say it in his head! Let alone out loud! By the time Bdubs and Etho joined him in the living room, Zedaph still had no idea how to tell them that he was… nope. Can't do it.
The couple made themselves comfortable on the couch opposite Zedaph, Bdubs sitting back while Etho laid down with his head on the omega’s lap. They looked exhausted and Zedaph felt guilty for keeping them up longer.
“What'd you n-” Bdubs inhaled as he got a good look at Zedaph, “Shit, you okay Z? You look awful.” Etho snorted, eyes closed.
“Nice way to start off a conversation B.”
“Well he does!” Bdubs whisper shouted, “It's got me concerned is all!” Zedaph gave a half smile.
“Makes sense I suppose,” he said, “Given what happened earlier today.” He hoped the couple could piece together what he was saying without him actually saying it. Bdubs frowned.
“What happened earlier today…” he mused, “Gonna have to be more specific than that Z. We don't have eyes and ears everywhere.” Zedaph closed his eyes and took a calming breath in.
“In public chat?” he said, “What X apologized for?” Bdubs's eyebrows furrowed as he thought.
“About player breeding?” Bdubs said, “Why would-” Etho inhaled sharply and his eyes opened, meeting Zedaph’s eyes.
“You're not…” Zedaph bit the inside of his lips and nodded, trying not to start crying again.
“Yeah.”
“What?” Bdubs asked looking between the two of them, “What is he not but actually is?” Etho looked up at his mate, a soft fondness in his eyes at his messed up wording.
“Player breeding was never turned off,” Etho said, “Zed and Impulse didn't know.” Zedaph cursed himself as a tear fell. Dammit. Bdubs took another second before finally getting it.
“You-” he inhaled, “You're pregnant.” Zedaph let out another sob and covered his mouth. Bdubs swore and oh so lovingly shoved Etho off of his legs so he could get to Zedaph, wrapping himself around him in a comforting hold as the other omega trembled.
“Shit, it's okay Z,” Bdubs said, “It's gonna be okay.”
“I'm scared,” Zedaph said, repeating what he’d said probably a thousand times already, “I just… I just wanted… I needed to talk to you or Grian…”
“You want to talk to someone who's gone through it already,” Bdubs said understandingly, “You want all the information you can get, right?” Zedaph nodded.
“It… maybe it would help me feel better about it?” Zedaph didn't have high hopes for that but it couldn't hurt.
“Alright,” Bdubs said, shooing Etho away so the two omegas could talk in private, “Ask away, Zed.”
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 3 Months •✧•
Keralis was excited. No, that was an understatement. He was vibrating with joy.
In all honesty, he wasn't sure if he and Xisuma would ever have a baby. They'd talked about it before of course, but the time was never right and they were both so busy. But they'd once again had the discussion of having a baby when player breeding was turned on for Bdubs and they'd decided to give it a go. It hadn't happened immediately, Keralis had actually been a bit worried that one of them couldn't have children. But then he felt queasy while working on his yacht and he figured it wouldn't hurt to check.
Once he saw the two lines on the test he had immediately gone to Xisuma’s base, forgoing taking a horse all together in his excitement and using an elytra to get there as fast as he could. He had a feeling that the alpha had forgotten they'd been trying, since he’d been about to disable player breeding before Kerakis got there, but no harm done. He was surprised more things didn't slip the admin's mind with all his duties and everything that had happened in the past couple months.
To his amusement, Xisuma had shot up in bed after Keralis had finally gotten him to settle down and had joined him, insisting that he check Keralis's code to make sure everything was going well. Keralis just rolled his eyes and let his mate check his code. Turns out Keralis was further along in his pregnancy than they had thought, three months in, and had been lucky enough to have minimal symptoms until now. Once Xisuma had joined Keralis in bed once more, they quietly talked about how to proceed from there. They decided that they would tell the others soon, but Keralis wanted to let HOG know first so Xisuma agreed, smiling fondly as he watched Keralis send out the HOG meeting announcement in chat. They didn't bother to see what else was said after that, Xisuma was tired and Keralis wasn't going to turn down a chance to cuddle with his alpha and take a nap.
The next day, Xisuma sent Keralis off with a kiss and the omega flew back to his base to set up the HOG meeting on his yacht. Grian had messaged ahead that he would bring fish for their lunch since he had so much from fishing for that mending book and the others debated over who would bring what to complete the meal. It'd seemed like no time passed at all when Gem turned up with a shulker box of lemonade bottles. Soon enough the others were turning up, Stress with baked potatoes and carrots and Grian with several shulker boxes full of cooked cod and salmon.
“Eat as much as you want,” he said, “I'm begging you we have so much fish we'll be eating it all season.”
Cub showed up with a shulker box full of fireworks, “For a demonstration!” He explained. Zedaph showed up so quietly Keralis hadn't even realized he was there until he was right in front of him.
“Didn't have any time to make or gather anything to bring,” he shrugged. And finally Bdubs came flying in with a huge grin on his face!
“Whoo! HOG party!” he cheered, “Thank you for the excuse to get out of the house!” Keralis chuckled as Bdubs put the shulker of sweet berry tarts next to the rest of the food.
“Now that we're all here,” Keralis said, “Let's dig in!” All of the omegas put together their plates and relaxed in some lounge chairs as they ate.
“So!” Bdubs said with a clap of his hands, “Not that I'm not grateful to get a chance to get out of the house and let Etho take care of Colt and Ash for a bit, but you said you had an announcement Papa K!” Keralis smiled as the other omegas joined Bdubs in his inquiry into what Keralis had to say.
“Alright!” Keralis laughed, “I wanted to let you guys know first that Shishwammy and I are having a baby.”
“CALLED IT!” Bdubs shouted over the other omega’s cheers of congratulations, Keralis smiled as he soaked up the joy, pausing briefly when he noticed that Zedaph was oddly quiet before being swooped into a hug with Grian and Bdubs.
“Welcome to Mama Club!” Grian laughed and Keralis forgot that there could possibly be anything to worry about.
Chapter 2
Notes:
I wanted to write fluff for scarian but noooo, they took my phone and said they were gonna fuck.
Thank you again Scream for dealing with all my questions.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 1 Week •✧•
They were all set for Grian’s heat, they'd made sure there was someone available to watch Poppy, they'd stocked up on food and water so they wouldn't have to leave the house for the next week, they had everything ready. Except…
“Shouldn't it have started by now?” Scar asked, nose pressed against Grian’s neck two days after they'd handed Poppy over to Pearl, “You don't smell like you're even in pre heat.” Grian grinned.
“You know what this means right?” he asked, “No heat means I'm pregnant!” Scar inhaled.
“Already?!” Grian nodded, heading to the bathroom with his alpha right on his heels. Honestly, his fingers were itching to just check his own code to confirm it but then he'd have to ask Xisuma for permission to temporarily have access to admin rights and Xisuma would have questions and it would be a whole thing. Not worth the trouble and if the pregnancy was as new as he thought it was he didn't want to tell anyone yet. He wanted it to be something for just him and Scar, just for a little bit. He hadn't had the chance to fully experience pregnancy and what came with it with Poppy. He wanted that this time.
He dug around in the cabinet under the bathroom sink until he found the box he was looking for. He read over the test's instructions, checking to see if it could even detect a pregnancy this soon.
“Can find pregnancy hormones as early as ten days after unprotected sex,” he read aloud, muttering under his breath, “Still too early to even use a test then.” He whined, “I just wanna know for sure.” Scar stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around Grian's middle, hands resting over his abdomen, and pressed his nose into the omega’s hair. Grian could feel the alpha's erection pressed against him.
“You just have to be patient, Gri,” he said, “And we could always pass the time by really making sure you'll be pregnant by the end of the week.” Grian sputtered at how forward Scar was being.
“You sure you're not going into rut?” Grian laughed, turning in the alpha's hold and pressing their fronts together, shuddering at the small amount of pleasure the touch was giving, “You're pretty worked up for someone who's not.”
“Can you blame me?” Scar asked, “All I can picture in my head right now is you with a baby bump and it's the hottest image I've ever conjured up in my head.” The alpha's hands snaked around to Grian’s backside, squeezing his ass briefly before hefting him up by his thighs and setting him down on the bathroom counter. He pressed his nose against the scent glands in Grian’s neck, trailing kisses around before biting their bond mark, sending shivers down Grian's spine.
“Guhhh, Scar,” Grian moaned, “Fuck. Just… I didn't show much the first ti- ahh, time. Might not show much this time either.” Scar growled and bit down roughly, earning a high pitched sound from Grian.
“I'll just have to make sure to give you more than one then,” he said, kissing up Grian’s neck again and trailing across his cheek, “You're gonna be full of my children if I have anything to say about it.” Grian shuddered under his alpha’s touch, growing wetter by the second. He still wasn't in heat, but void, did he feel desperate for Scar’s knot right now.
“Fuck me,” Grian begged, “Please! Please Scar!” The omega let out a squeak as Scar lifted him from the counter and held him against his chest, Grian’s arms wrapping around his neck and legs locking behind his back. It wasn't long before he was being pressed into their bed and Scar was shedding both of their clothes with more coordination than he'd ever seen from the alpha.
“Void, you're so beautiful,” Scar said, voice deep and sultry as he trailed kisses down Grian's throat and to his chest. He spent some time there, teasing one nipple with his fingers while latching onto the other with his mouth. Grian moaned as Scar sucked on the sensitive bud, hands latching onto the alphas hair, unsure whether to pull him off or keep him there. He could feel Scar smile against his skin before his mate continued his path down, paying extra special attention to his abdomen and continuing down to press a single kiss to Grian’s straining cock before moving away. The omega whined.
“Scar!”
“Patience, birdie,” the alpha teasingly chided, “You'll get what you want soon.” Grian bit his bottom lip and wiggled his bottom half in a poor attempt to get Scar to hurry the fuck up. The alpha moved Grian’s body like he weighed nothing more than a block of wool, scooting him further onto their bed and climbing in between his legs. He reached down and his fingers were met with the omega’s slick soaked hole. Grian shuddered at the touch as Scar teasingly collected some of his slick and lifted his fingers into his mouth, licking up the fluid.
“Mmm,” Scar hummed, “You taste so good, birdie, maybe I should eat you out…”
“Scar if you don't put your dick in me in the next ten seconds I will kick you out of this room.” Grian grit out and Scar had the gall to laugh in response.
“Alright, alright,” The alpha gripped his own hard cock in his fist and used some of Grian’s slick to lube himself up, rubbing the head of his dick against the achingly empty hole.
“Scar!”
The alpha slowly pushed forward and Grian threw his head back at the sensation of finally getting his alpha’s cock, filling him up so good as he pushed in. Scar didn't hold back, once his hips met Grian’s cheeks he immediately pulled back out, starting a brutal pace. Grian could only hold on as the alpha gave him exactly what he'd asked for, his eyes rolling back as the pleasure in his gut continued to build.
“This what you wanted?” Scar grunted, “Gonna take my knot and let me fill you up? Want me to knock you up?” Grian’s eyes watered as he nodded, the pleasure so good with his alpha giving him everything he wanted.
“Please,” Grian said, voice breaking, “Gimme your babies Scar, wanna have your babies…”
“And I will,” Scar’s voice softened as he reached with one hand to wipe the tears now falling down Grian's cheeks, “Want you to come for me first though. Can you do that for me birdie?” Grian nodded, reaching down to grip his cock but Scar tutted, “Ah ah ah, I want you to come just from me fucking you.” Grian whined but nodded.
“Yes alpha,” he said, mind fully in the mindset where he just wanted to please his alpha, “So close.” Scar sped up his thrusts, the head of his cock dragging deliciously against the omega’s prostate and Grian cried out as his orgasm hit, pleasure washing through him in waves. He heard Scar growl as the alpha gripped his hips hard enough to bruise, pace picking up and finally halting as his knot popped. Grian shuddered at the feeling of pulses of come filling him up and his cock twitched in interest at the thought of Scar breeding him.
He blinked slowly up at Scar as the alpha came down from his high and accepted his kisses gladly.
“So good Gri,” he praised, “Love you so much.” Grian hummed in contentment arms going behind his alpha’s neck and hands toying with his hair.
“Love you too.” he said, body tired and a little sore, “Love you more than words can express.”
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 2 Months •✧•
Zedaph couldn't stop his leg from bouncing. He was sitting in Impulse’s base and he was waiting for Skizz and Tango to show up. Of course under normal circumstances he wouldn't be so nervous but… he'd decided to tell them.
It made sense, they were his and Impulse’s best friends, and he would need their support when the time came to tell the rest of the server. Not that he thought anyone on the server would react badly, just… this was hard for him. The support of his closest friends would do wonders to help him get through this.
“Zeddy?” Zedaph jumped at Impulse’s voice, not having heard him walk over to him, and the alpha frowned, “What's on your mind, darling?”
Zedaph sighed, “Just nervous I guess. I know they'll be completely supportive but… void I feel like a broken record at this point but I'm scared.”
“And that's okay,” Impulse said, sitting down beside Zedaph and draping his arm over the omega’s shoulders, allowing the omega to cuddle into his side, “I'd be more concerned if you weren't scared after just a week. But we'll get through this.” Zedaph turned his head and kissed Impulse sweetly.
“I love you,” he sighed against the alpha’s lips. Impulse kissed the omega again, smiling.
“I love you too.” He sighed and pressed their foreheads together, “Do you ever think about what you want for the future?” Zedaph hummed, wondering where this question had come from and where it was going.
“Sometimes,” he answered, “Not sure how realistic it would be for me to visit the moon though.” Impulse snorted out a laugh.
“You're ridiculous.” He pressed another kiss to Zedaph’s forehead, “I mean like, before everything that happened did you ever want kids?” Zedaph sighed and settled back in against the alpha’s side.
“Yeah,” he said after a moment, “Wanted to wait to find the right person of course, but I think I did alright.” He winked at Impulse and the alpha snorted.
“Again, ridiculous.” He paused for a moment, “What about a bond?” Zedaph’s heart felt like it skipped a beat.
“I- yeah,” he said, “Yeah, I wanted- want the whole package. Someone I love and who loves me just as much, someone to spend the rest of my life with, start a family with.” Was Impulse really saying what he thought he was-?
The door to Impulse’s base opened and the couple jumped at the intrusion. Impulse growled lowly until he saw that it was Tango and Skizz finally showing up. Right, they'd been expecting company.
“Not interrupting anything are we?” Tango asked, teasing grin giving away that he definitely knew they'd interrupted something. Zedaph cleared his throat and sat up straight, reluctantly leaving the warm embrace of his boyfriend's arms.
“No, we were just waiting for you two to show up,” he said, grinning. Skizz cheered and flopped down on the couch next to Zedaph.
“Long time no see buddy!” he said, “What's up?” Zedaph stiffened a bit but Impulse saved him from an awkward moment by speaking up.
“Been working on the cyberpunk city!” Impulse said, “Wait til you see some of my plans for what I wanna do.” Zedaph sat quietly as he listened to the three of them talk about plans for their mega bases and what they wanted to do this season. He wanted to join in with some of his own plans but he couldn't shake his anxiety over telling them. Maybe it would be best to rip off the bandaid…
“So Doc is still trying to get me to give him my wood permit!” Skizz exclaimed, “The nerve of that m-”
“I'm pregnant.”
The three went quiet as they turned their attention to Zedaph, Impulse giving him a proud smile for telling them while Skizz and Tango’s eyes widened.
“What?” Skizz breathed out, quieter than he had heard the beta be in a long time. Zedaph swallowed.
“I said I'm pregnant,” he repeated. Tango glanced between the omega and Impulse.
“Soo,” the blazeborn started, “Has the castration happened already or…?” Impulse went red and sputtered but Tango’s words had done their job in making Zedaph laugh.
“No castration,” he laughed, “Impulse’s bits are safe.” Impulse let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
“Thank Notch,” he said, pretending to wipe sweat from his forehead, “Was worried for a bit there.” Skizz hadn't said anything more and was looking at Zedaph, making the omega kind of worried.
“Skizz?” he prompted, and the beta let out a long breath.
“That's- wow, congrats guys,” he said and Zedaph didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, he half wanted someone to freak out over it just as much as he had, but to have such a normal response was comforting.
“Yeah! Congrats you two!” Tango said, clapping Impulse on the back. Impulse smiled at Tango’s words and Zedaph’s stomach did a flip. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, not if it made Impulse look so happy like that.
The four of them made plans to go caving together sometime soon and Tango and Skizz headed off with the promise to not tell anyone else until Zedaph was ready. The omega let out a sigh of relief at having gotten through that and Impulse hugged him from behind, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.
“I'm proud of you,” the alpha said, “I know that was hard but you did it and I'm so proud.” Zedaph turned in the alpha's hold and kissed him.
“Thank you Impy,” he whispered quietly against the alpha’s lips, “I love you so much.” Impulse held him close as the kiss broke.
“I want to be your mate,” Impulse said, “And I want you to be mine. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Zedaph.” Zedaph’s breath hitched at the alpha's words and he nodded.
“Yeah,” he whispered, “Yeah, I want that too.” There was a small voice in the back of his mind that told him that Impulse was just doing this because he was pregnant, but the rest of his mind punched that voice until it was no longer audible. Impulse would never do that, he wasn't the kind of man to jump into something as important and life changing as a bond without having thought it through. He wouldn't and didn't take this lightly, “Should we do it today?” Impulse looked at him with wide eyes, sparkling with emotions that Zedaph could feel in his own heart.
“Okay,” Impulse smiled, “Today.”
Impulse gathered a few shulker boxes worth of supplies from his base, food and water so they wouldn't have to chance running into anyone in the next month or so. They decided it'd be best to be at Zedaph’s base since it was more isolated than Impulse’s, which was so close to magic mountain that there was no way someone wouldn't accidentally get too close. Zedaph quickly gathered some medical supplies for after the bite, it would need to be cleaned and bandaged after all and he was sure they wouldn't want to separate afterwards. It wasn't too long before they were in Zedaph’s bedroom sitting on the bed, facing each other.
“You're sure about this?” Impulse checked, “I won't be mad if you've changed your mi-”
“I've never been more sure about anything in my life,” Zedaph interrupted, reaching out and cupping the alphas face in his palms, “I love you, Impulse, so much. I haven’t and won't change my mind on this.” Impulse surged forward onto his knees and kissed Zedaph, towering over him and making the omega squeak briefly before he relaxed. He'd never stop kissing Impulse if he had the choice, he loved how adored the alpha made him feel and he never wanted the feeling to stop. Soon, the alpha was trailing kisses down his neck toward his scent gland and then he bit down.
Zedaph’s breath hitched at the pain but soon he felt a rush of emotions from Impulse.
Love, adoration, fondness, devotion.
Excitement, joy, bliss, exhilaration.
Zedaph felt like he was floating above the clouds. It was a high that he had never experienced before and it all centered on Impulse. His partner, his lover…
His mate.
Zedaph didn't even register when Impulse had let go or when he'd bandaged his shoulder. He didn't care that when his mate kissed him he could taste his own blood. All there was in that moment was Impulse.
“Hi,” he said, smiling at his alpha, and getting a smile in return.
“Hi,” Impulse parroted back, “Your turn.” He tilted his head to expose his neck to Zedaph and the omega struggled to stop the tears in his eyes, overwhelmed by all the emotions he was feeling.
He leaned forward and nosed at the alpha's scent gland briefly before biting down and once again, he was on cloud nine.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 3 Months •✧•
Keralis was thriving.
His mate was doting on him, giving him all the love and attention he could ever want, he was healthy and three months pregnant and he was on a server and had a pack who loved him…
He loved his life.
He was working on the landscape of his area when Xisuma rode in on his horse, NameTag. The alpha jogged up to him and Keralis smiled as his mate pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
“Hello love,” Xisuma said, slightly out of breath, “Your area looks wonderful but should you really be working this much?”
“I'm perfectly fine Shishwamm,” Keralis chuckled, “I can keep working for a little while and I'm going to take advantage of that while I can.”
“I know you're the midwife here but I'm not so sure I agree,” he said, “I wish you would take it easy.” Keralis had stopped at Xisuma’s words, remembering something very important that he really should have thought of earlier, “K? Love, what's wrong?”
“I'm an idiot,” Keralis groaned, “I can't be my own midwife!” Xisuma let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew,” he said, “I thought something was seriously wrong.”
“There is something wrong!” Keralis said, “Oh, I need to find someone to be a midwife for me. And I can't have Zedaph do it, the poor thing is still dealing with what happened with Brian.” Keralis walked back to his yacht, leaving Xisuma standing there.
He had work to do now.
Notes:
The sections may be different lengths BTW, that's why Keralis's has been so short but I think his will be longer at some point.
Chapter 3
Notes:
For the sake of this AU let's pretend that it doesn't take six to eight years to become a midwife.
If you're in the WTEWYNE discord server, there are polls in a thread on the wtewyne-extended-universe-ideas channel for what the genders should be for all couples children. Please go give your opinion bc I can't choose.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 1 Month •✧•
“No.” Grian glared at the landscape he was working on, specifically the loose dirt with worms wriggling about, before glaring down at his abdomen, “No! You stop that! I may be a bird hybrid but that doesn't mean I'll eat worms!”
Grian and Scar had taken advantage of the assumption that he was in heat and used that week as a chance to refresh themselves and fuck. A lot. And at the end of the week, Grian had taken a pregnancy test and lo and behold, it was positive. He was pregnant!
Of course, they hadn't told anyone yet. It didn't matter that it was confirmed, it was still so early and they wanted to be able to bask in the knowledge by themselves for a little while. So they went about their normal activities, which brought Grian here.
The developing embryo must have a sense of humor, because as much as his cravings were telling him to pick up one of those worms and eat it, he wasn't going to.
Grian grumbled and dusted himself off, deciding that he'd had enough landscaping for the day and flew to the shopping district, flying to xB’s food shop to try and find something that would satisfy his hunger that wasn't worms.
Having the All Food permit, xB had really gone all out, selling every single standard vegetable, fruit, and meat, along with many packaged and processed foods brought in from off server. He walked past the candy selection and briefly considered getting some gummy worms for shits and giggles before deciding against it. The baby wanted some kind of protein and gummy worms definitely didn't fit that description. In the end he settled for a stack of steak and ate one on his way out. Seemed it was good enough for the baby as well, because he was no longer fixated on wanting to catch fucking worms .
He was starving, having been violently sick this morning and unable to keep anything down. He'd almost considered just staying home until the nausea had subsided enough to allow him to leave the bathroom, and by the time he had reached his base it was gone.
Thank void he could actually eat something now.
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 3 Months •✧•
Zed threw his head back as he dropped himself back down on his alpha’s cock, moaning out as the head brushed up against his insides in just the right way. He gripped Impulse’s legs to give him more leverage, Impulse’s hands digging into his hips as the omega rode his mate.
One thing he was enjoying about the pregnancy: the increased libido. Impulse was definitely enjoying it as well, with the amount of times Zed had been knotted in the past month he was surprised he didn’t have a permanent little bump from all the cum that’d been pumped into him.
“Void, Zed,” Impulse groaned, “You feel incredible, baby. You look so good riding me, knot’s gonna pop soon.” Zedaph whimpered as pleasure shook through his core. His thighs were trembling from the combination of the exertion and the euphoria.
“Please,” he whined, “Please knot me Impy.” Impulse moaned as his knot inflated and he came, Zedaph following quickly at the feeling of his mate’s cum filling him up. Void, he felt so good, it was a shame they would be returning to normal activities after this last isolation romp.
Zedaph leaned forward and laid down on top of Impulse, the alpha's arm moving to rub at the omega’s back as they both caught their breaths. Zedaph nuzzled into the crook of Impulse’s neck, his iron scent enveloping him in a cocoon of safety and love. He didn't want this to end honestly, but their isolation period was up and it was time for them to interact with the server again and get back to their projects.
There'd only been one minor incident that whole month. Turns out they had forgotten to let anyone know what was happening and Doc had swung by to restock his first aid kit. Impulse had gotten territorial, growling when the creeper hybrid was just at the edge of the crevice and Doc had put together immediately what was going on, flying off quickly. Zedaph had needed to wrap himself around Impulse and let the alpha scent him to get his instincts back under control.
Their comms had been flooded with congratulations since and Zedaph was kind of dreading what the server’s reactions would be to their next big announcement.
That's right, they were going to announce Zedaph’s pregnancy and they were going to use the upcoming server meeting to get it all done at once. In all honesty, with the month of isolation giving him time to get used to the changes his body was going through, he was learning to be okay with the pregnancy. He was kind of excited, even. He'd wanted this before, had been looking forward to having a family with someone he loved. He was doing that now.
Impulse’s knot went down and Zedaph whimpered softly as he lifted himself off of the alpha's softening cock, falling onto the bed beside him and cuddling into his alpha's side. Impulse chuckled and pressed a kiss to his mate’s sweaty hair.
“We gotta get up and get ready, sweetheart,” Impulse reminded him, “C'mon we don't wanna be late for the server meeting.” Zedaph whined and pressed himself further into his alpha’s side.
“Or we could just skip it,” he countered, “Who says we need to be there? Let's take another month off while we're at it!” Impulse chuckled again before extracting himself from the clingy omega. Zedaph pouted as he watched Impulse stretch, then got distracted, his arousal bloomed in his gut once more as he watched Impulse’s rippling muscles as he stretched his arms in the air. He bit his bottom lip as Impulse paused, sniffing the air before looking over his shoulder at Zedaph.
“Again?” Zedaph shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
“I can't help it,” he said, “Blame the hormones.” Impulse smiled as he stood up, further distracting Zedaph as the omega stared at the alpha's ass. He was so tempted to just reach out and grope him-
“How about this,” Impulse said, glancing at the omega as he walked towards their bathroom, “You get up and join me in the shower and I'll eat you out.” Zedaph audibly whimpered, pressing his legs together briefly for some relief before he scrambled out of bed and followed his alpha inside.
Impulse turned on the shower, adjusting the knob until it was the perfect temperature for the two of them, and they stepped in. Impulse immediately crowded his mate against the wall and knelt behind him, wasting no time in spreading Zedaph’s ass cheeks and licking over his hole. The omega cried out in pleasure as he struggled to keep his knees from buckling from the feeling, already overwhelmed. Gods, he felt so sensitive all over, his alpha’s tongue finally dipping into his hole making him scramble for purchase against the smooth shower wall.
“Void,” Zedaph keened, “So- so good, Impy. Ahh!” Impulse hummed against his entrance as he tongue fucked the whimpering omega and just those vibrations were enough to send Zedaph over the edge, sobbing in pleasure as his second orgasm of the day washed through his body. When it was over he wasn't sure if he could keep standing much longer, he was shaking so much. Impulse seemed to sense that as he stood up and assisted Zedaph in maneuvering to the shower bench. He helped the omega wash up, lathering soap over his body and washing his hair for him before turning his attention to washing himself. Zedaph had to avert his eyes to stop himself from staring at Impulse’s behind. If he kept getting turned on by just looking at his alpha they'd never get to the meeting.
Finally, Impulse finished his shower and stepped out to grab towels, wrapping one around his waist before handing one to Zedaph. The omega stood on shaky legs and Impulse’s scent spiked with worry as he stepped forward, hands out in case Zedaph fell.
“Are you okay?” he asked, “Maybe I shouldn't have-”
“I'm fine,” Zedaph said, taking one of his alpha’s hands to help guide him out of the shower, “Just a bit shaky from what was basically back to back orgasms.” He then winked at Impulse, “You're just that good at getting me off, Impy.” Impulse blushed all the way down his neck and Zedaph laughed at how flustered the alpha was, “C'mon we're gonna be late if we don't get going.”
They got dressed and flew off, getting to the server’s community building with plenty of time to spare. Bdubs caught Zedaph’s eye and waved him over, and he gave Impulse a quick kiss before stepping away.
“I see congrats are in order,” Bdubs smiled, eyes on the bite on Zedaph’s neck and the sheep hybrid grinned.
“Thanks,” he said, “I love him so much, it was about time I think.” Bdubs cooed in response.
“Oh that's just adorable!” he squeaked before his smile fell and he took a deep breath, “How're you doing with… you know…” Zedaph’s smile also fell and he sighed.
“Better,” he answered, “I think it's been pretty easy on me so far, so that's helping, but I'm still pretty nervous about the… final step.” Bdubs gave him a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder.
“It'll all be fine, Zed,” he said, lowering his voice before saying, “There were no issues with the twins, it just hurt a lot but that's normal.” Zedaph gave a small smile before looking around, he saw Tango and Skizz talking to Impulse and he took a deep breath in.
"Well, we’re announcing it to everyone today,” he said, “So there'll at least be that weight off my shoulders.” Bdubs smiled again.
“Everything'll work out.” He said goodbye to Bdubs and headed over to the remaining members of team ZITS. Tango grinned when he saw Zedaph coming over.
“Congrats man!” he said, hugging Zedaph briefly before stepping back and looking at the two of them, “A bit of a warning would've been great but we're happy for you guys!” Zedaph rolled his eyes, smile growing.
“Weren't exactly thinking about warning you guys at the time.” Skizz chuckled and clapped his shoulder.
“We're just teasing,” he said, “How've you been though?”
“Feeling better about it,” Zedaph sighed, “Did Impulse tell you guys we're announcing it today?” Tango and Skizz both nodded.
“Yeah, and we've got your back,” Skizz said, “Not that anyone here would have anything bad to say about it but… ya know, support.” Zedaph smiled and opened his mouth to say something when Xisuma called for everyone to come in and sit down.
Ren was in charge of babysitting duties this time, making sure all the kids were taken care of while the parents sat in for the meeting. Doc would be able to fill him in later.
Everyone took their seats around the table, Zedaph noticed that Bdubs had switched with Beef to be next to team ZITS, and Zedaph smiled at the show of support.
There wasn't really too much to go over, some minor bugs Xisuma had found and a reminder that player breeding was still in as a warning for any of the group who didn't want kids just yet. Apparently Xisuma and Keralis had told the rest of the server that they were pregnant during his and Impulse’s isolation, because no one seemed shocked when the pack leading omega brought up needing to find a midwife.
“I can't midwife myself,” Keralis said, “So I'm asking if anyone is willing to study to become a midwife in the next five months. Come talk to me after the meeting please?”
“Why can't Zedaph help?” Beef asked, getting an elbow to the arm and a glare from Bdubs, “What? It's a valid question! Didn't he help with Grian’s?” It seemed like everyone was about to argue in his defense and as touched as Zedaph was by that, now was actually the perfect time…
“Actually I won't be able to,” he said, “I'll be eight months pregnant myself when Keralis is due.”
Silence.
And then…
“Oh my gods!” Gem cried out, running from her seat on the opposite side of the table to hug both Zedaph and Impulse, “Oh my gods, congrats you guys!” Several of the other hermits also said their congratulations and Xisuma called for everyone to quiet down.
“That's enough now everyone,” he said, “As Gem and several others have said, congratulations Zed and Impulse, both on your bonding and on your impending arrival.” The pack leader clapped and the rest of the pack joined in, Bdubs, Tango, and Skizz even whistling and whooping for them. Zedaph's smile grew so big that his face hurt.
He really did love his pack.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 4 Months •✧•
“Hi Papa K!” Keralis looked up to see Gem walking towards him after the meeting was finished. Keralis was still sitting in his seat, looking up alternatives in case no one in the pack volunteered to train to be a midwife. It certainly wasn't ideal, and it would have him and Xisuma on edge, but his last option was to bring in an outsider to help during his labor.
“Gem! Hello!” he said, smiling at the younger omega. She pulled out the chair beside him and sat down.
“You said you were looking for one of us to maybe train to be a midwife,” she said, “I have a nursing degree and experience as a nurse, so I figured I might be best equipped to help out? I'd just need some specialty training in midwifery.” Keralis relaxed, leaning back in his chair.
“Oh thank Notch,” he said, “I was afraid we'd have to bring in an outsider.” Gem looked horrified at the idea. The hermits were close and social with each other, sure, but they were all pack. There were very few exceptions where they allowed outsiders in (the Empires pack, for example).
“Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore,” she said, “I'd be happy to volunteer for the part. Probably will need to assist with Zedaph too… how wild is that by the way?” Keralis let out a breath. Yeah, that was definitely a surprise.
“Wild,” he repeated, “Poor thing must be anxious out of his mind. Shishammy actually went to apologize to him by the way.” Gem blinked in confusion.
“What for?”
“He feels bad about forgetting to turn player breeding off,” Keralis explained, “Feels like it's his fault somehow that Zedaph’s being put through one of his worst fears.” Gem rolled her eyes.
“X needs to learn that not everything that goes wrong involving the coding of the server is his fault,” she sighed, “But what's done is done and Zedaph seemed to be okay with it for now. We'll just have to keep an eye on him.” Keralis nodded.
The server was in for a wild few months.
Notes:
Zedaph got the bulk of this chapter this time.
Next chapter’s a doozy.
Chapter 4
Notes:
TW for this chapter will be listed in the end notes. This whole chapter is basically one big trigger warning.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 2 Months •✧•
Grian groaned curled up into a ball in their nest. He felt absolutely awful, he didn't remember feeling this sick with Poppy, even if he had blamed it on the bond breaking. It'd been his turn once again to work on his base but he could barely get out of bed without doubling over from the cramps and nausea.
Scar was watching Poppy and taking care of Grian and it was at moments like this when his love for his mate grew tenfold. He whimpered as another wave of pain went through his abdomen. He didn't remember the pain either? There had only been the time with the King Games but this couldn't be related, he hadn't died or respawned in a while. Plus with player breeding on it wouldn't happen anyways, so what was happening?
He slowly sat up as the not trigger the morning sickness and eased himself to a standing position. He hated being in bed all day, he wanted to be able to do something.
He made his way to the bathroom and dropped his pants, getting ready to relieve himself, when an out of place color caught his eye. Red
There was red on his underwear.
That… that was blood . Emptying his bladder was completely forgotten as Grian’s breath hitched and he backed up against the wall, kicking his pants and underwear off and sliding down to sit on the floor, staring at the red stain in horror.
This hadn't happened last time. Surely this didn't mean…? Panic rose in his throat as he opened his mouth to call for his mate, but the words got stuck.
“Grian?!” Thank Notch for their bond, “Grian what's wrong?” He squeaked in his attempt to speak up, still unable to call out to his mate for help. He needed help .
“Grian…?”
“Help,” Grian whispered and that seemed to break the floodgates, “Oh gods, Scar… Scar! HELP!”
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 4 Months •✧•
Zedaph was standing in front of the floor length mirror, staring at his reflection in awe. He had his hands smoothing out the fabric of his shirt and with the clothing flush against his skin, he could see his bump. It was still small, not noticeable if one wasn't looking for it, but now that Zedaph knew it was there, he couldn't stop looking at it.
That was his baby. His child. He was growing and nurturing his baby there. Zedaph had the strange urge to cuddle his stomach, wanted to protect this baby from every horror the world would throw at them.
He was gonna be a mom.
“Zed?” The omega looked at the reflection of his mate coming up behind him, wrapping his arms around his middle from behind, his hands resting over Zedaph's, framing the bump in his protective hold, “Are you okay?” Zedaph smiled, nodding.
“Yeah,” he said, “I'm really good. I'm- I'm excited. I can't wait to meet them.” Impulse smiled brightly, kissing their mating mark.
“I'm excited too,” he said, “We're gonna be parents, Zed… we're having a baby!” Zedaph’s heart felt like it'd burst from the love and fondness he felt for the alpha holding him. He was doing well, all things considered. The pregnancy had been going easy on him, with maybe a couple days of morning sickness bad enough to send him to the toilet, some pretty mild pain in his back and feet, and some fairly odd cravings. The most noticeable symptom was the increased sex drive and Zedaph and Impulse had been having plenty of fun with that.
He was enjoying himself, something he was afraid he wouldn't feel during this pregnancy. He was happy . Impulse smiled, able to feel Zedaph's emotions through their bond, and he kissed Zedaph's cheek.
“I'm so proud of you,” he said, “You're growing our child and you're doing so well, I'm in complete awe of you.” Zedaph's eyes watered, he supposed that was another thing, the mood swings and heightened emotions.
Zedaph’s communicator pinged and he lofted his wrist to check it, finding a message from Keralis.
[Keralis]
Please bring your portable ultrasound machine to Scar and Grian’s, it's an emergency
Zedaph's eyes widened at the message and he wriggled himself out of Impulse’s arms.
“Zed?”
“I gotta go,” the omega explained as he walked, his mate right behind him, “There's an emergency at Grian and Scar's and they need my portable ultrasound machine.” He dug around in his medical equipment chest and transferred the machine into his inventory when he found it. He equipped his elytra as he left his storage room.
“I'll come with you,” Impulse said, equipping his own wings.
“You're not going to be able to come into the house with me,” Zedaph warned, “Grian and Scar are probably going to be on edge and Xisuma and Keralis will probably be a bit as well.” Impulse pursed his lips, looking conflicted.
“I- I need to come with you,” the alpha repeated, “Please?” Zedaph could only assume Impulse’s protective instincts were triggered just by the mention of there being an emergency on the server, so he nodded.
He needed to hurry.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 5 Months •✧•
Keralis and Gem were poring over the pack leading omega’s textbooks on the subject of midwifery when his communicator pinged. He was tempted to ignore it, this was pretty important after all, but he got a glimpse of the message and needed to read the full thing.
[GoodTimesWithScar] to [Xisuma] & [Keralis]
need youth comeiver soemthigns worngits an emergency plese
Just the way Scar had typed, as if he was typing as fast as he could, told Keralis that this was something he couldn't ignore.
“Ah, sorry,” Keralis said, “There's something I need to take care of, will you be alright to study by yourself?” Gem nodded.
“I'll be fine,” she said, waving him off, “Go on, I've got this.” Keralis gave her a strained smile in response before rushing out of the building and climbing onto Coconut, taking off galloping as fast as he could get his horse to carry him.
He's not sure what he's going to find when he reaches the couple's home but he's scared to find out. Did something happen to Poppy? Was there a virus attacking them? Was a glitch happening? Were those dang Watchers involved?
His horse got him there in no time, arriving just as Xisuma was landing. Scar was pacing on the front lawn, breathing heavy and eyes red. He looked up at the pack leaders’ arrival and immediately started talking.
“Something’s wrong, Grian’s- he's two months pregnant but there's blood,” he started rambling, heading inside and expecting the pack leaders to be right on his tail, which they were, “He's been cramping all day and he just saw the blood and he's panicking. I don't know what to do .” He led them to their bathroom, where Grian was hyperventilating, stare caught on a pair of pants in the middle of the floor. Keralis stepped further into the room and sure enough, there was blood staining the inside.
First thing he did was remove the pants from Grian’s line of sight, handing them over to Xisuma to dispose of. Next he dug around under the cabinets of their sink and found a towel, going over to the hysterical omega and draping it over his lap to preserve some of his modesty.
“Brian, sweet face, I need you to breathe with me okay?” Keralis inhaled and watched the younger omega try to copy him, “That's it, now exhale.” Keralis let out an exaggerated breath and Grian did as well, breath shaky and hitching. He did this for Grian a few more times, sending a message to Zedaph during so they could confirm if the worst scenario had happened. Keralis could smell Xisuma’s calming icy pheromones filling the room and Grian responded to those as well, his breathing evening out, only hitching with his crying every once and a while.
“Very good Brian,” Keralis said, offering the avian a small smile, “Let's get you off the cold floor, shall we?” He struggled a little to stand up, his belly round and offsetting his center of gravity. But he stood straight and offered Grian his hand, the avian taking it slowly, and helped him stand up. He block the view from the door as the towel fell, waiting for Grian to pick it up and secure it around his waist before leading him from the bathroom and back into the couple's bedroom. He was going to lead him to the bed, but saw another blood stain on the sheets and decided that maybe it would be better to go somewhere else.
As he led Grian to the living area, he heard rockets outside and in no time, Zedaph had burst through the door, Impulse standing just outside. Scar let out a weak growl, too worried and scared to really put the effort in, and Xisuma sent out another wave of soothing pheromones.
“Easy Scar, it's Zedaph. He's here to help.” Xisuma walked over to the new arrival and quickly and quietly filled him in, the omega’s face falling as his eyes widened. Keralis could see Zedaph swallow nervously and he could only hope that this didn't set back the omega’s progress.
“Okay,” Zedaph sighed, “Grian, lay down on the couch for me, alright?” Keralis guided the omega to the couch and stepped back as he laid down. Zedaph pulled the ultrasound machine out of his inventory and set it down, getting it set up quickly. With shaky hands, the sheep hybrid lifted Grian’s sweater up to expose his abdomen, requesting him to hold it so it didn't fall back down. Zedaph took some deep breaths before squirting some gel onto the ultrasound wand and pressing it to Grian’s abdomen.
After a moment of searching, Zedaph located Grian’s uterus and…
It was empty.
The scent of wilting lavender began to overtake Xisuma’s scent and Grian’s eyes widened as he recognized a souring scent.
“No,” he said, starting to shake his head violently, “No, no no no no no.”
“Grian,” Zedaph said, taking the wand away from the avian’s skin, “I'm sorry-”
“NO!” Grian shouted, sitting up quickly, not even bothering to wipe off the remaining gel, “It can't- just- X!” The omega turned to the admin, eyes wide in desperation, “Check- check my code!” Keralis sighed.
“Brian…”
“Xisuma please!” the avian pleaded, not bothering to butcher the admin's full name in his upset state, “Check my code.” The pack leader gave him a sorrowful look but did as he was asked, checking Grian’s code for an embryo that was no longer there. He found the stat and shook his head.
“I'm sorry Grian…”
Grian’s anguished scream echoed in the house, Scar quick to sit beside his grieving mate and bring him into his arms. The alpha looked up at the others in the room, new tears falling.
“Can-” Scar tried to compose himself enough to speak, “Can someone w-watch Poppy for a little while? I- think we need s-some time alone.” Xisuma nodded.
“Of course, Scar.” he said, Zedaph heading further into the house to find the child, coming back a moment later with Scar and Grian’s sleeping daughter in his arms. Keralis had broken down the ultrasound machine in the meanwhile, wanting to leave the couple to grieve as soon as possible, “If you need anything, and I mean anything at all, don't hesitate to let me or Keralis know.” Keralis nodded in agreement.
“Whatever you need,” Keralis echoed gently. The three left the house and shut the door behind them, the scent of wilting flowers and burnt spices following them out.
Notes:
TW: miscarriage
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧•0 Months •✧•
Their home had smelled of wilted flowers the whole month. Scar had tried a lot of things to get Grian to open up, to leave their nest for longer than a few minutes, but nothing helped.
How could anything help? Their baby was gone, there was nothing that could change that!
Word had gotten around the server, everyone knew. Everyone knew that he couldn't keep his baby alive.
He let out a sob and curled his blankets more tightly around him, a new wave of wilted flower scent coating the room in the scent of sadness, grief, and anguish.
“Gri?” Scar’s soft voice came from the doorway, “Songbird? Will you please join us in the living room?” Grian didn't respond and Scar sighed, walking away. Grian’s heart ached and a new wave of tears fell. He wondered if he'd finally done what he had feared he'd do and drove the alpha away. He wondered if Scar had finally given up on him, he was broken after all, why should Scar have to put up with a broken omega?
“Mama?” Grian froze for a moment before lifting his head. Sure enough, in the doorway was Poppy, standing there with her warden stuffie. She took shaky steps forward, waddling over to the nest. Grian’s instincts couldn't let him ignore this and he cooed as he unwrapped himself from his blankets, standing up and meeting his daughter halfway. He picked her up and brought her to the nest, wrapping the both of them in his blankets before kissing her head. She cooed and Grian thrilled back, smiling softly as she snuggled in close to him.
“Mama sad?” Grian let out a teary laugh as his heart broke at the words, void, his baby bird was so smart.
“Yeah,” he said quietly, his voice rough from disuse, “Yeah, Mama sad.” He pressed his nose to the top of her head and let himself be soothed by the scent of his daughter, the combined smells of him and Scar, floral and spices.
The door opened behind him and the scent of mixed spices grew stronger as the alpha walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. The alpha draped one arm over Grian’s middle and the omega scooted back, allowing Scar to spoon him from behind while he cuddled with their daughter.
It was a small comfort, but it still helped. He wasn't alone in this, his mate grieving just as much as he was, his daughter knowing something was wrong and trying to help her Mama.
He still had his pack, he still had his family.
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧•5 Months •✧•
“Come on,” Zedaph growled, rubbing his fist along the baby’s back vigorously. “Come on! Breath, dammit!”
Everything was overwhelming, with the bitter scents of everyone in the room mixing together, the baby not breathing, and the blood he could see running down Grian's legs as the omega struggled to turn around to look at his child. It was pooling, soaking into the fabric of Grian's nest, and Zedaph didn't know what else he could do. He had to focus on the baby right? If they didn't start breathing he wasn't sure they would respawn and he couldn't handle that. Couldn't handle that the reason Grian and Scar’s baby was permadead was because he couldn't get them breathing. But Grian was also fading fast, the blood stain on the bed getting larger the longer Zedaph tried to resuscitate the newborn in his hands. Player breeding wasn't enabled on Hermitcraft, right? Would the server even be able to recognize a death in childbirth? Would the server be able to handle it or would it glitch trying to respawn a player from a death that, according to the code, didn't exist?
“Oh my gods.” Zedaph spared just a second to look at what Keralis was saying that about, what else could have possibly gone wrong? But the pack leader omega was staring at him, eyes full of horror and fear.
“Keralis?” Zedaph strained as he still tried to get the baby breathing, “What? What is it?”
“You're… you're bleeding, Zedaph.”
Zedaph was confused. No he wasn't? He wasn't the one who'd just gone through traumatic childbirth, why would he be bleeding? But in the outskirts of his vision, he saw another red stain meeting the edges of Grian’s, and he looked down at himself.
There was a trail of blood running down the inside of both of his legs, pooling at the knees as he was knelt at the foot of Grian’s bed. How long had he been bleeding for the stain to already be so big? His vision wavered, his own blood loss catching up to him.
It was over, wasn't it?
Zedaph jolted awake with a scream, startling Impulse out of a deep slumber in the process.
“What? What's wrong? Zedaph?” The omega couldn't answer as he started sobbing and his mate quickly opened his arms for him as the omega broke down in tears.
He was still shaken from what had happened last month. Grian’s screams of anguish and grief still echoed in his mind. He could still smell Scar’s protective and devastated scent that cleared the house of anyone who wasn't him or his distraught omega.
Zedaph really felt awful, he didn't want to imagine what they were going through. He was already so attached to the little baby growing inside him, he couldn't even fathom what it would be like to lose them.
But his own trauma from Grian’s first labor had come back with a vengeance, bringing with it horrible nightmares where either Poppy or Grian or both of them didn't survive. But this one… this one was new in a horribly personal way.
He struggled to calm down, even with his mate’s soothing pheromones and scent around him. He snaked a hand down to his bump, as if to reassure himself that it was still there, that the nightmare wasn't real. He hadn't lost his own baby.
“Zedaph,” Impulse spoke, “Talk to me, please? What happened? Was it another nightmare?” Zedaph nodded, waiting for his breathing to return to normal enough that he could actually talk.
“It- it was more of the same,” he explained, having told Impulse what his nightmares were about before, “But this time- this time I was bleeding too.” Impulse inhaled sharply and held the omega closer, as if reassuring himself that Zedaph and their baby were okay, “On top of everything, I was bleeding too and I couldn't do anything.” A renewed wave of sobs overtook him and Impulse rubbed at his back in soothing circles.
“I- I can't promise that nothing will go wrong,” Impulse started and Zedaph’s scent soured in response, and he was quick to continue, “That's just not a realistic promise I can make. What I can promise is that I'll be there every step of the way. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you're healthy and safe. Whatever I can to ensure that our baby is healthy and safe, I would tear the world apart if it would guarantee both of your safety.”
Zedaph’s sobs eventually died out and his tears stopped flowing. He was so tired, physically and mentally. He just wanted to feel okay again. He pressed a soft kiss to where his bite mark on Impulse’s shoulder, and he let the security of being in his alpha’s arm lull him back to sleep.
He didn't have another nightmare that night.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧•6 Months •✧•
Keralis leaned against their new kitchen counter, breathing through the Braxton hicks contraction. He needed to keep going, he was running out of time to get things finished and ready for the baby.
It'd been a rough month for the server as a whole. When two of their pack are dealing with a devastating loss such as the one Grian and Scar have gone through, the server seemed to come to a stand still, unsure how to continue onward. They'd never dealt with something like this before, the closest they'd gotten was a distant family member permadying, never something, someone, so close to home.
At least they were offering their support in any ways they could, bringing the couple shulker boxes of food and supplies, hard to farm resources, and offers to babysit Poppy if they needed more time alone. Keralis was proud of their little community, banding together to help two of their own in need.
He and Xisuma had been busy, offering their own support and making sure that the others didn't overstep in their concern. They had needed to make sure Cub and Mumbo didn't overwhelm the couple, while the two had good intentions there was a point where their help would be too much.
Keralis and Gem had even taken a small break in making sure that Gem would get certified in time, at least until Keralis had started to feel braxton hicks contractions and his nesting instincts kicked into overdrive. Gem had taken up studying once more while Keralis and Xisuma started building their own house in the Suburbs, since neither of their bases were baby friendly.
Xisuma had tried to build the majority of the house himself, not wanting Keralis to strain himself too much, but he couldn't stop the omega when he really wanted to do something. And the nesting instincts were strong, knowing he needed to start from literally nothing.
So here he was, working in a now completed building, furnishing the inside and making sure they had the basic amenities all properly working. Xisuma was back in his base, either working on a farm or monitoring the server at his admin panel, so Keralis was currently on his own. He was alright with that though, his mate had important jobs to do and he didn't expect to have him hovering around him 24/7. It just kind of sucked dealing with the braxton hicks on his own, he wouldn't mind a hand to hold, a comforting presence to soothe.
“Keralis?”
The omega stiffened, his mind taking a moment to process whose voice he'd heard, and then taking another moment to push down his instinct to growl at the intruder.
“In here.” Keralis winced as his voice cracked, he sounded worse than he thought he would. Footsteps grew closer and Mumbo entered the room, baby Crumbo strapped to his front. That child was something else, their red eyes seeming to be able to see into your very soul. Tango had even swore that he once saw the baby hovering in the air, although no one believed him when he couldn't provide the evidence. Pearl was apparently convinced that the baby was an alien and Mumbo often had to deal with the alpha stealing Crumbo under the guise of “experimentation” and “making sure the server was safe from extraterrestrials”. Everyone knew though that Pearl never did any of those things, more she was fascinated by the little creature and liked taking them with her to perform postmaster duties.
Mumbo walked over, seeing Keralis leaning against the kitchen counter, concerned.
“Are you alright Keralis?” The omega nodded, waving a hand in dismissal of the beta's concerns.
“Perfectly fine,” he said, “Just a bit tired is all.” Mumbo’s frown just seemed to deepen.
“Maybe you should take a break, mate,” Mumbo said, stepping closer and placing a hand on Keralis's lower back, guiding the omega to sit in a nearby chair. He undid the straps securing Crumbo to his chest and passing the child to Keralis, “Watch them for a moment for me? I'll fetch you some water quick.” The beta stepped back towards the kitchen counter and went about filling a glass bottle from the sink.
Keralis was surprised by a small hand touching his arm and he looked down to see Crumbo staring up at him. They reached the same hand that had touched Keralis's arm up towards his face, like they were asking for permission to touch his cheek and assistance to reach that far. Keralis raised an eyebrow at the child, not seeing the harm in it, and moved the child so instead of being on his lap they were sitting on his bump. Crumbo touched Keralis's cheek and the omega could only describe what happened as receiving visions.
Well, maybe visions wasn't the right word exactly, but Keralis felt impressions of emotions, as if they weren't his own. Moments of overwhelming grief, then trepidation with a hint of excitement, then adoration and parental love. Keralis didn't know where these emotions were coming from until he felt concern and worry, with some fond exasperation. He recognized that as how Xisuma had been feeling lately in regards to Keralis, the omega having felt glimpses of them through their bond. What was happening here?
“Crumbo,” Mumbo sighed as he walked over, placing the glass bottle on a nearby surface, “What have I told you about doing that?” The baby's face scrunched up as they turned to Mumbo but they didn't cry, and Keralis got a brief glimpse of admiration and respect before Mumbo picked up the child.
“What was that?” Keralis asked, taking the glass bottle and drinking the water, “That was-”
“Bizarre?” Mumbo finished for him as he restrapped Crumbo to his front. Keralis nodded, “I'm… not exactly sure. He's freaked a few of the Hermits out by what I can only assume is channeling the emotions of those around him? Sometimes he tells me how he's feeling by doing that. I'm not sure why or how but I'm beginning to think Pearl's onto something with that alien theory.” Something about the way Mumbo said that didn't sit right with Keralis but before he could address it, the beta sighed and continued, “Anyways, should I call X? I feel like he doesn't know that you're pushing yourself like this.”
“No,” Keralis sighed, “I think I'm done for the day anyways. Those braxton hicks have taken a lot of energy to deal with. I'll head back to my base and get some rest.” Mumbo nodded.
“Well, feel better K,” the beta said, heading for the door, “And sorry about Crumbo.”
“It's no problem,” Keralis said, standing up and following Mumbo out of the house, “I think they're just trying to help.” Mumbo looked down at Crumbo and smiled fondly.
“They're really something special,” he said before walking back towards his own house. Keralis used a couple blocks to climb onto his horse and made the journey to his base, finding Xisuma waiting for him outside.
“Shishwammy!” Keralis smiled as the alpha came over to help him off his horse, “What brings you here?”
“What, I can't spend time with my pregnant mate?” The alpha asked in a joking tone, “I missed you today, wanted to spend some time with you.” Keralis smiled and leaned forward to kiss his alpha sweetly.
“I missed you too, let's head inside and get cozy. I'd like to rest some I think.”
Notes:
You know, this was meant to be an angsty chapter following the aftermath of last chapter… and then Crumbo stole my phone from me and went “BUT LORE”
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 0 Months •✧•
Grian took a deep breath in, reaching into his enderchest and bringing out the intricately carved box that he’d been putting off burying until now. It had been a whole nother level of traumatic when he had gone into the bathroom after everyone had left that day and seen… the remains. He doesn’t know how he hadn’t noticed when it had happened, he must’ve been too panicked, but just seeing what was left of his baby was- it broke him again.
Scar had found him kneeling in front of the remains and had offered to take care of it but Grian had refused. He had pushed Scar out of the bathroom and shut the door before going to find a wooden log and crafting the box. Scar had let him be while he took care of it, transferring the remains into the box and putting it in his enderchest, leaving it in stasis until he was ready to deal with it, which he certainly hadn’t been at the time.
Now he was ready though, having dug a hole and carved a small gravestone, and he just kept breathing in deeply to try and keep his emotions in check. He needed to do this, to give himself some closure, to start to move forward.
He knelt down and placed the box at the bottom of the hole, covering it with dirt, patting and packing it down. He stuck the gravestone into the ground, making sure it was immovable before placing down several smaller rocks around the gravestone. He bonemealed the area so the grass spread on top of the grave before standing up, stepping back and trying to think of something else to do. It felt like there was something missing and he wouldn’t be able to leave it how it was.
He heard footsteps coming closer and he glanced over his shoulder to find Scar walking over, Peanut held on his hip with a lilac in her hand. Grian’s breath caught in his throat as the alpha set their daughter on the ground, his baby bird waddling over to the grave and dropping the flower on top before turning back around and walking over to Grian. She wrapped her arms around his leg and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Mama better?” Grian couldn’t stop the tears this time when he looked at the grave. That had been what it was missing. He sighed and placed his hand on the top of her head, petting her hair.
“Not yet baby bird,” he said, crouching down to pick her up and place her on his hip, “I will be though.” She let out some trills and pressed her face into the crook of Grian’s neck, the omega cooing in response. Scar wrapped his arms around the both of them and kissed the top of both their heads.
Grief, proud, love
Grian sighed, relaxing into his alpha’s hold, feeling lighter for the first time in two months.
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 6 Months •✧•
Zedaph huffed as he continued digging and mining, pausing briefly to wipe the sweat from his brow before bringing the pickaxe down again. The crevice needed to be bigger, he had built so many games and contraptions that he had run out of space.
He'd been busy this month, keeping himself occupied so he didn't have the chance to think about… bad things. He was struggling to sleep through the night, not only because he was growing more and more uncomfortable the further along in the pregnancy he got, but also because the nightmares just wouldn't go away. Poor Impulse was also not getting enough sleep, because whenever Zedaph woke up in a panic, the alpha was right there with him, comforting and soothing him enough to try and sleep some more. The only way either of them had gotten a decent amount of sleep was if Zedaph was in Impulse’s arm's after already having had a nightmare. His brain just didn't seem to want to let him forget and move on. That was all he wanted to do… forget and move on.
He shook his head, breaking through more stone, pausing again as his back twinned painfully. That was another thing, he was starting to feel the strain of the pregnancy on his back, feet, and hips, but at least he didn't have it as bad as poor Keralis did.
As he straightened up, his vision blurred and his head spun. He staggered to the side, catching himself on the stone wall as he waited for the feeling to pass. He took a deep breath in and shakily lifted his arm to check his communicator.
Oh. His hunger was low. And… now that he thought about it, when had he last drank some water?
He pushed himself off the wall and started the trek up to his storage. If he could just get there he would be fine. He… he had to be fine.
He hadn't had the chance to set up the elevator yet, and he didn't trust himself in this state to climb a ladder. He glanced through his inventory, of course he didn't have scaffolding, but he had plenty of blocks to pillar up.
It was his only option, really.
He jumped and placed a block of cobblestone, his head throbbing with the movement. With each jump, he felt shakier, dizzier. There were moments where he nearly lost his balance and had to sink to his knees to keep himself from falling to his death.
How could he have let it get this bad? It wasn't just him suffering the consequences of his actions now, his baby would as well. Would his self neglect negatively affect his child?
Maybe he wasn't cut out for this. Motherhood that is. He was already messing up and the baby hadn't even been born yet.
Finally, he reached the level where he could get to his storage and he stumbled off of the pillar, reaching out to catch himself on the wall. His head was spinning again, and he was lightheaded, his knees feeling like they were about to give out under him.
Just a bit further he thought almost there…
He turned into his storage room and he stumbled, falling to his knees and just managing to catch himself on his hands before he could fall the entire way to the floor. His vision was tunneling, dots dancing around his sight.
All he could do before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out was lower himself to his side so he wouldn't fall on his front.
When he once more became aware of his surroundings, he heard a familiar voice, filled with panic.
“I just found him like this X!” the person spoke, “What am I supposed to do?!” Zedaph stirred, eyes fluttering open.
Skizz was kneeling beside him, a hand on his shoulder while he spoke into his communicator, presumably to Xisuma.
“Okay,” Skizz said, sounding slightly calmer, “Alright, I'll stay here with him until Cub gets here then. Impulse should be coming soon anyways. Void knows he was panicked enough in chat when he asked if anyone was close to Z- Zed?”
“Hmm,” the omega hummed, still feeling weak, “Yeah, m'wake.”
“Oh thank fuck,” Skizz sighed, “He's awake, X.” He hummed, “Alright thanks again, man.” Skizz ended the call and looked back at Zed, “What happened dude?” the beta asked.
“Passed out,” Zedaph said, “Might not have had enough water today? Or food?” Skizz hummed and looked around.
“I can get you something now,” he said, “Where's your food chest?” Zedaph shook his head.
“Not sure its a good idea to eat until Cub says I can,” he said, “Just as a precaution, he might want to do some tests or something. Though I will take a water bottle.” Zedaph tried to sit up but Skizz quickly stopped him.
“What are you doing dude?!” Skizz exclaimed, eyes wide, “You just passed out, don't get up!” Zedaph grumbled. He knew that, didn't mean he liked having to rely on others to help him. He pointed Skizz to his food chest where he stored his water in and soon was sipping some of the refreshing liquid.
“I tried splashing some potions of healing and regen on you before I called X,” Skizz stated, and now that he knew that Zedpah could see the splatters nearby on the floor from the potions, “Do you feel any different than you did before?” Zedaph shook his head, wincing as it throbbed in protest of the movement.
“Don't think potions would help with this,” he sighed, “Cubs probably gonna want to give me an IV for the dehydration. And all we can really do for hunger is have me eat something.” Zedaph let himself relax as much as he could on the cold stone floor, guilt eating at him from the inside. Horrible, horrible mother.
Rockets fired nearby and soon Impulse and Cub were both swooping into the crevice. Impulse wasted no time, running past Cub and dropping to his knees beside Zedaph.
“Void, Zed,” he exhaled.
“Hi Impy,” Zedaph said, and Impulse growled in his chest as he lifted Zedaph into his lap and held him close, combing his fingers through his hair as the sounds turned into a snarl. For a brief moment, Zedaph thought that Impulse was growling at him . He was the one to put their baby at risk after all, but then Skizz backed away quickly, hands raised.
“Alright dude,” the beta said, “Got it, backing away from Zedaph now.”
“Impy,” Zedaph chided, “Stop that, I'm okay. Let Cub come over here.” It took a moment, and some calming pheromones from Zedaph to get Impulse to stop growling, and a few more minutes for him to let Club come near them. Cub smiled reassuringly at Zedaph as he was finally allowed to kneel next to him.
“Hi Zed,” the other omega said, “Can you explain what happened?”
“I think I just lost track of time,” Zedaph sighed, “Didn't eat or drink as much as I should have.” Cub nodded and held a hand out, cautious as Impulse started growling again. Zedaph smacked the alpha's chest before letting Cub take his hand. The omega pinched the back of Zedaph’s hand and when the skin took over ten seconds to return to normal, Zedaph winced. Yeah, that wasn't great.
“What's your hunger level?” Cub asked, and Zedaph glanced down at his communicator, which was still on his status screen from when he'd checked it before.
“Half a bar left?” Zedaph guessed, he was having a hard time focusing on the screen and his head was still pounding. Cub nodded.
“I'll set you up with an IV to get you rehydrated,” Cub said, “And while you've got the IV and you're resting, I want you to eat something. Just some bread for now so you don't get an upset stomach. Wait about an hour to eat anything else but after that you should be fine to eat regular meals again. Can you carry him to his bed, Impulse?”
Once he'd gotten settled into a reclined position in bed, Cub set up the IV drip and told him to take it out when the bag was empty, since he knew Zedaph knew how to do it on his own. Skizz and Cub then headed off, leaving Zedaph to rest and nibble on his bread while Impulse stayed nearby, protective instincts still raw.
Zedaph couldn't stop his mind from spiraling. What was he doing?? All this fear that something would go wrong and here he was, making things go wrong. If he hadn't been able to lay on the floor before he passed out…
“Talk to me,” Impulse said gently, moving close enough to wrap an arm around Zedaph's shoulders, mindful of the IV tube, “I can feel your guilt, what're you thinking?” Zedaph’s face crumpled as he turned into the alpha's chest.
“I'm a terrible mother,” he murmured, and Impulse growled in response.
“Who said that?” he demanded, “Who told you that? I'm gonna kill them.” Zedaph couldn't help but chuckle. Impulse was a gentle giant, he only ever hurt others on accident or in self defense.
“No one, just… I haven't been taking care of myself lately, have I? What if by neglecting my health something worse had happened? What if I'd fallen on my front instead of my side? What if-?” Impulse cut him off by lifting his face with a hand on his chin and kissing him, effectively shutting down his worried rambling.
“That doesn't make you a bad mother,” Impulse said, after breaking the kiss, “We all have our struggles, and you're no different. And you know now, you can do something about it.” Zedaph frowned but didn't refute his statements. It was true, now that he was aware of it he would take better care of himself, if not for himself then for his baby.
Speaking of…
Zedaph inhaled sharply and set a hand on his bump. He'd felt an odd movement and it had startled him, but his reaction had Impulse immediately worried.
“What's wrong? Do I need to get Cub to come back?” Zedaph shook his head, hand wrapping around Impulse’s arm to keep him from leaving the bed. It didn't hurt, it almost felt like a fluttering in his lower abdomen. It happened again and Zedaph gasped, realizing what it was.
The baby was kicking.
“I'm getting Cub.” Impulse lifted his communicator to make the call when Zedaph grabbed his hand and brought it down to the bump. They were still for a few moments, just waiting, and it wasn't long before their baby moved for them once more.
Immediately all the stress left Impulse’s body as he gasped softly, both hands now encompassing Zedaph’s bump. He looked from the bump up to Zedaph’s face, eyes teary, and he leaned forward, pressing a sweet kiss to Zedaph’s lips. He removed his hands from the bump and scooted down the bed until his face was level with the bump. He moved Zedaph’s sweater slightly, asking silently if he could lift it, and at Zedaph’s nod he uncovered the bump. He pressed a kiss to Zedaph's skin, a hand once more caressing the stretched skin.
“Hi there,” the alpha said quietly, “I'm your daddy.” Impulse started whispering to the bump and Zedaph’s eyes teared up, his emotions going wild with the picture before him. How could he have ever been scared of doing this if this was a part of it?
“I love you so much, Bee. I'm so excited to meet you. You stay in there for now though, grow nice and strong and healthy…”
“Bee?” Zedaph inquired, wiping tears away as they fell, “Where'd that come from?” Impulse looked up at the omega sheepishly.
“I don't know, I've just kinda been calling them that in my head. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” Zedaph said, getting choked up again as his emotions continued to run wild, “It's perfect.” Impulse continued talking to the baby as Zedaph closed his eyes and rested.
He couldn't believe he would’ve never had this if he'd stuck to not wanting to ever get pregnant. It felt like this moment alone was worth everything he'd gone through to get to this point and so much more.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 7 Months •✧•
The pregnancy had been fairly easy on Keralis up until this point. Sure there had been some nausea and aches. And yeah, the braxton hicks were awful.
But nothing compared to the pain in his hips. He felt like someone had stuck their hands into his pelvis and was pushing it apart from the inside. It felt like his hips were breaking and he was in agony .
He was gripping the table tight as he sat with Gem. He'd been trying to help her with her training but his pain was just getting worse and he couldn't help the whimper of pain that escaped his mouth. Gem's head snapped up from her textbook and she looked at him with concern.
“Are you alright Keralis?” she asked, “More braxton hicks?” He grit his teeth and shook his head.
“No,” he said, voice strained from the sheer amount of pain he was in, “My hips are really hurting.” Gem slid some paper into her book before closing it, her full attention now on Keralis.
“Can you explain what it feels like?” she asked and Keralis tried, but honestly no words could describe just how horrible the pain was, “That sound like pelvic girdle pain, I can show you some stretches that might help out?” Keralis looked at her with wider eyes and nodded.
“I'll try anything,” he said, voice taking on a desperate tone, “Please.” Gem stood up and moved over to where she had been collecting equipment, rolling an inflated ball over to them.
“This is a birthing ball but we can use it for some of these exercises,” she said. She helped Keralis move to sit on the ball, letting go once she was sure he had his balance, “Alright, I want you to sit as tall as you can, emphasizing the curve of your lower back.” Keralis did as she instructed and his back cracked before settling, “Hold for five seconds, then relax again.”
They repeated that four more times before moving onto more exercises. By the time they finished, Keralis's body felt lower than it had in weeks, and the pain had even lessened a bit. He stood up and walked around, finding the movement easier to do than before.
“It worked!” he said, smiling wide as he quickly hugged the other omega, “Thank you so much!” Gem laughed and patted his back.
“It's no problem at all Papa K,” she said, “It's what I'm training for after all.” Keralis stepped back and the two of them sat down once more. Gem was so close, she was sure to get certified soon.
Chapter 7
Notes:
This chapter fought me nearly every step of the way but I got it done!!
Only because my hands hurt too much to continue playing on the WTEWYNE minecraft server but not enough to type this up on my phone.
*DING DING DING* DINNER'S READY Y'ALL!!
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 0 Months •✧•
“It's like he doesn't even know that we're trying to court him,” Jimmy groaned, sprawled out over one of Grian’s chests.
“Mhmm,” Grian hummed, wiping the sweat from his brow, not really even paying attention to what the other omega was talking about. He was just really focused okay? It's not his fault he was spacing out as he worked. Upon hearing Grian’s answer, Jimmy narrowed his eyes and sat up, staring at the other avian.
“Okay, now I know something’s up with you,” he said, “By this point you would have been going on about how trying to add Scott to Tango’s and my relationship was the worst idea you'd ever heard.” Grian just hummed again, not processing what Jimmy was saying. He stood up straight and stretched, his back cracking as he did, before rolling his neck, getting some satisfying cracks from that as well. Maybe he needed to take a break, he was starting to feel sore and he didn't want to overdo it.
“GRIAN!”
“Huh?! What?!” Grian jumped, spinning to look at Jimmy, who was now heading in his direction. The blond just looked at him with concern as he approached, stopping just a couple blocks away as he sniffed the air.
“G, when's your heat supposed to start?” Grian furrowed his eyebrows and counted in his head. It'd been three months now since the pregnancy was lost, and he wasn't expecting his heat for another month. But given how he was feeling right now, his body growing uncomfortably warm and his body aching… maybe he was already in preheat.
“I-” Grian blinked, head already starting to feel foggy, “In a month but-” Grian shook his head to try and clear it but it was a losing battle. Jimmy took hold of Grian's arm and pulled him away from the build, understanding that Grian was quickly falling into an unexpected heat and needed to get home now . He typed on his communicator on the way out, Grian unsure who or what was being messaged.
Jimmy hoisted the other omega up onto Pluto's back and climbed onto the horse as well, knowing they'd be unable to fly with how quickly Grian was transitioning into full heat.
The ride to the Suburbs was a blur to Grian, and in what seemed like no time they were stopping in front of the couple's house, Scar already waiting outside with Poppy.
“Thank you Jimmy,” the alpha said, eyes trained on his mate, “I packed her bag as quick as I could but I don't know if I missed anything.” Jimmy helped Grian off of Pluto's back and helped support the omega as they moved towards Scar.
“I'm sure if you missed anything someone will be able to help,” Jimmy said, passing Grian to Scar as the alpha set Poppy on her feet and dropped a backpack on the ground beside her. Jimmy immediately crouched down and opened his arms as Poppy exclaimed “Uncle Timmy!” and made her way over to the omega.
“There she is!” Jimmy said, picking her up and distracting her from her parents quickly going inside, waiting to grab the backpack until the door was closed behind them.
Inside, Grian’s legs were giving out beneath him and Scar scooped the omega up in a bridal carry, Grian’s nose immediately seeking out the alpha's scent gland. He immediately felt his body relaxing, reacting to having his mate nearby. It allowed his mind to clear just that little bit, knowing Scar would soon be taking care of him.
“Where's Poppy?” his voice slurred a bit but he knew he needed to make sure his daughter would be taken care of. They hadn't been able to plan ahead this time… how'd he even get back home?
“Jimmy’s gonna take care of her," Scar said, setting Grian onto the bed and checking to see what they had in arm’s reach in terms of supplies. Scar liked to keep some water and easy to eat food nearby during heats and ruts so that while they were stuck waiting for his knot to go down they could have something to keep their energy up. They hadn't yet replenished their stocks following Scar’s last rut, so all they had were some water bottles and two granola bars, but it was enough to get them through the first wave of heat. The alpha took what they had and set it nearby before turning his attention back to his omega, finding Grian had already stripped down to the nude and had two fingers in his slick soaked hole, eyes glazed over as he tried to relieve some of the heat that had overtaken him.
“Oh, songbird,” Scar said softly, “This is gonna be a rough one isn't it?” Grian only trilled in response, adding a third finger as he tried to give himself what his body craved.
“Please Scar,” he pleaded, “Need your knot.” Scar didn't waste any time as he quickly rid himself of his clothes and climbed in between the omega’s legs, watching as Grian continued to fuck himself on his fingers.
“All stretched out for me, pretty bird?” Grian let out a little desperate noise as he nodded, eager to please the alpha, “Good boy.” The alpha removed Grian’s fingers from his hole, the omega whimpering at the loss, and Scar soothed his mate, “S'alright birdie, I'll give you what you need now, just relax.”
He guided his cock into the omega’s sopping hole and he eased forward, pausing for just a moment as their hips met before beginning a slow thrusting rhythm. Grian’s eyes were wide and his mouth as agape, the sensations and pleasure driving him wild. Scar steadily sped up, their bed rocking with the motions as the headboard repeatedly smacked against the wall. Grian couldn't keep himself quiet, moans spilling from his lips as the pleasure coiled in his gut, it's peak rapidly approaching.
“Can you cum for me birdie?” Scar asked leaning forward and speaking into the omega’s ear, voice rough with the exertion of the motions and his own building pleasure, “Wanna see you cum, pretty bird. You look so gorgeous like this.” Grian whimpered, the head of the alpha's cock dragging and hitting all the right places to send him over the edge. He cried out, his spend landing on his bare stomach, “Good boy, such a pretty bird.” Scar’s pace didn't slow and Grian’s eyes rolled to the back of his head at the delicious stimulation, overwhelming in the best of ways.
Scar mouthed at Grian’s mating mark, sucking and nibbling at the area and sending sparks of pleasure through the omega’s trembling body. He sped up further, his thrusting eventually growing erratic as he approached his own release. Grian was already close to cumming again as he felt the alpha's knot beginning to grow, his hole stretching deliciously until Scar could no longer pull out entirely. The alpha kept grinding until his knot finally popped and he bit at the mating mark, growling and groaning. The pleasure from the alpha's knot filling him up combined with the pain of the alpha's bite sent Grian over the edge as well, the omega sobbing and tears falling at the overwhelming ecstasy.
The two of them took their time coming down from their highs, Scar releasing Grian’s skin from between his teeth and kissing the area softly to soothe. Grian hummed at the tender actions, heat wave finally satisfied for the next couple hours. Scar lifted himself up and gently wiped the tears that had fallen down Grian's cheeks.
“You okay, Gri?” The omega nodded.
“I'm good,” he said, smile growing as the alpha fretted over him, “So good, Scar.” The alpha smiled and pressed a sweet kiss to his omega’s lips, savoring it as the omega responded, lips moving in sync.
“How're you feeling, songbird?” Grian sighed and stretched, arms lifting above his head before resting on Scar’s shoulders, wings splayed out wide on the bed that made him look like a bright, colorful angel.
“Really good,” he replied, “Could use a bit of water though.” Scar wrapped his arms around the omega’s middle and Grian tucked his wings in tight as they maneuvered in a motion so in sync and smooth that it really showed that they've done this a lot, flipping themselves over so Grian was now sitting on Scar’s lap. The alpha's knot seemed to sink into him further at the change of position and Grian shuddered as a wave of pleasure shot through him at the movement.
Scar reached over and grabbed one of the water bottles he'd set to the side, handing it over to Grian who took it gratefully, taking small sips so as to not make himself sick. Scar couldn't help but take the time to run his hands over the omega’s body, loving how smooth he felt under his touch. He ran his arms along Grian’s legs, briefly grabbing two handfuls of the omega’s plump rear before moving to stroke his sides. He ran his hands over his still swollen pecs, which hadn't returned to their original size after Poppy was born, even after his milk dried out. He briefly brushed his thumbs over the omega’s sensitive nipples, earning another shudder from the omega, before trailing his touch down to Grian’s stomach. He wondered if it was too soon. Too soon to hope that this heat would be the one to give them their second child, their little Lilac. Grian seemed to be able to tell exactly what was on his mind, because he smiled gently, setting the corked water bottle to the side before covering the alpha's hands with his own.
“I hope it happens too,” he said softly, eyes full of love and fondness, the bond practically yelling the same emotions, “I want it to happen so bad.” Scar looked back up to Grian’s face, frowning when he saw fresh tears falling. He took one hand from the omega’s abdomen and wiped them away.
“I love you, songbird.”
“I love you too, alpha.”
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 7 Months •✧•
Zedaph had taken a step back and reevaluated what he was doing. He couldn't continue like he had been, it wasn't healthy for him and it wasn't safe for his baby. He wanted to do this right, wanted to be a good mother.
He stopped his expansion of the crevice first, it was too strenuous on his body and he wouldn't be building any more contraptions or farms for the foreseeable future. Well, that wasn't exactly true, he would be building safer farms, where he could just sit by them and let them do the work for him. That way he could at least keep up with his shops and keep his supplies topped up without risking respawns. Second, he kept a close eye on his stats and made sure to drink plenty of water, he didn't want a repeat of what happened last month if he could help it. And lastly, instead of focusing on projects like games and contraptions, he focused on preparing for their upcoming arrival.
Impulse helped as much as he could, gathering supplies for his omega when Zedaph thought the risk was too high and reminding him to eat or drink water. When Zedaph's back was hurting or his feet were killing him, Impulse did whatever he could to make the omega more comfortable, giving him back rubs and foot massages.
The two of them had worked together to build a house in the Suburbs (Zedaph's base was a giant hole in the ground and Impulse’s was a dystopian cyberpunk city, neither of which were exactly child friendly). Impulse had done most of the work, building the actual house itself and any redstone work and amenities they needed. Zedaph was left to furnish, directing the other members of Team ZITS where he thought furniture should go and sorting through items and putting them away where they belonged. They were finally moved in and every night Impulse would talk quietly to the baby, getting responses in the little movements they made. The alpha was so in awe of it and Zedaph loved to watch him, able to feel even the smallest movements as the baby reacted to their daddy’s voice. It was by far the omega’s favorite thing about being pregnant.
The nursery was solely Zedaph's project, only allowing Impulse to paint the walls since they agreed neither of them wanted Zedaph inhaling the fumes. He used decorating the nursery as his outlet to distract him from bad thoughts, and just immersed himself in going through everything the others had gifted them.
Tango was starting a tradition of giving every child born to the hermits a warden and ravager plush, made out of smooth materials and pain stakingly hand crafted to make sure there were no small pieces to pose a hazard to the babies. Ren also had his tradition of crafting beautiful wooden cradles to be beside the respective parents’ beds and although the cradle he had made for Poppy was beautiful, when given time to work on it the alpha liked to go all out, carving intricate designs unique to each one. The HOG members all made plenty of blankets, despite four of the seven members being the recipients of those blankets, and there was no shortage of soft materials to swaddle their babies in. Several of the hermits, including Cleo, Joe, and Skizz gave newborn and baby clothes, with promises from Cleo and Joe to make as much clothing as they needed for them if what they'd been given wasn't enough. The redstoners created musical mobiles and baby monitors and all sorts of technology the parents would need, the builders worked on furniture, everyone gathered baby supplies and items to help the mother's recovery go as smoothly as possible. They were a community who took care of each other, and Zedaph once more found his heart full to burst of love for his pack.
He finished folding some of the clothes and tucked them neatly into the drawers, deciding that he needed to sit down for a moment and rest. He eased himself into the rocking chair Scar had gifted them and pulled up the public chat, catching up on the messages he missed, scrolling all the way up to yesterday's messages.
[Keralis joined the game]
[GeminiTay joined the game]
[PearlescentMoon]
You're back! How'd it go?
[GeminiTay]
You're looking at a certified midwife!!
That's right, Gem and Keralis had gone off server for a while to get Gem certified as a midwife, which couldn't have come at a better time, poor Keralis looked ready to pop at any moment.
There were several messages of congratulations and plans to have a quick celebration dinner at magic mountain. Zedaph had been invited but he was already asleep by the time the invitation had been given, and Impulse declined it for him because he was resting. Keralis had also excused himself, stating that he needed to rest as well, they'd been away for a few hours, it was no wonder the pack lead omega was so tired.
Then the messages from the next day started and it was all normal until…
[VintageBeef]
Xisuma you need to come over to Keralis's yacht now
Zedaph frowned, reading through the messages of concern that poured in after Beef's. There wasn't any further explanation, if there had been any further communication it had been done in private messages. Zedaph was seriously tempted to head over to Keralis's yacht to see if everything was alright when he received a private message from Gem.
[GeminiTay]
Not sure if you've seen main chat yet but you and Impulse need to stay away from Keralis's. Some virus latched onto him yesterday and we don't know how or if it spreads. Keralis being sick is horrible enough, we don't need you falling ill either.
Zedaph took a deep breath. Shit, that was… really bad was putting it lightly. Depending on what the virus could do… Keralis was in serious danger. If it managed to spread to the others…
Zedaph shook his head. He needed to keep his mind off of that, he couldn't let himself stress over what he couldn't control. He heaved himself up and went back to sorting through the baby supplies, the best method to distract himself from the bad thoughts.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 8 Months •✧•
Maybe Crumbo was right…
That was a thought Keralis hadn't even imagined he'd be thinking until the child was much older and could actually talk. But here he was, thinking it because Crumbo had been adamant about seeing Keralis off to leave the server with Gem. Mumbo had rushed over to meet Keralis before the omega had even met up with Gem. He had been reassuring Xisuma that it was okay for him to stay on the server, a glitch had come up which meant that the pack leader needed to stay behind. He understood that with the pregnancy reaching its final few weeks, Xisuma’s instincts were probably screaming to not let his mate out of his sight, but Keralis needed to go to support Gem.
Xisuma had just (reluctantly) gone back inside their Suburbs house when Mumbo rushed over to him, looking frazzled and out of breath.
“Good morning Bumbo!” Keralis said, smiling at the beta as he fought to catch his breath, “I wasn't expecting you to come see me this morning.”
“I- um. Crumbo needed to see you.” It almost sounded like an excuse, but one look at the child in Mumbo’s arms told Keralis that it wasn't. The child looked visibly upset, face red with tear tracks on his face. Keralis was immediately concerned and stepped towards the two.
“Oh no,” Keralis said, “What's wrong with sweet little Crumbo?” As the omega stepped closer to the pair, the child began squirming to get to Keralis, nearly wriggling out of Mumbo’s hold. The mustached man was freaked out over the child's behavior.
“I don't- they've never done anything like this before,” Mumbo explained, eyes wide in concern for his child, “Keralis, what do I do?” The pack omega frowned and reached out to hold Crumbo, Mumbo passing them to the omega immediately. He began to gently bounce, trying to get the child to calm down.
“There, there sweetface, you're okay,” Keralis soothed. Instead of calming them at all, Crumbo reached up and touched Keralis's face.
Fear, dread, alarm, panic.
His body began to feel warm all over, almost like a heat but in an even more unpleasant way, like he had a fever. His mind flashed images of Gem looking upset and Cub preparing surgical tools.
Keralis gasped as he forced himself to not drop the child, Crumbo pulling their hand back and staring up at Keralis with pleading eyes.
Don't go.
There was no way Crumbo had said that, but Keralis could tell that's exactly what they were telling him. Don't go.
“What?” Mumbo asked, “What emotions did they show you?” Keralis opened his mouth floundering for an answer. What was he supposed to say? How could he even begin to explain that Crumbo wanted him to stay on the server because they was afraid something was going to happen?
“I'm not sure,” Keralis said carefully, glancing down at the child in his arms before passing them back to their father, “I think he just doesn't want me to leave today?” Crumbo made an upset sound as Mumbo got a hold of them and Keralis backed up a step. They glared at the omega and Keralis wondered what on earth was going on.
---
Keralis eased himself down onto his bed and laid down, ready to get a good night's sleep. He'd opted to sleep on his yacht, knowing that even he couldn't pull Xisuma away from his admin panels when there was a glitch threatening the server, and he wasn't ready to sleep alone in their Suburbs home.
It'd been a long day, but Gem was finally a certified midwife and that was a huge weight off of Keralis's shoulders. There's be no need to bring some stranger to their server, everything could be done by someone in the pack. He was exhausted though, so he did the bare minimum in self care before bed and he was out like a light before his head even hit the pillow.
He woke up in the middle of the night, sweaty and feeling achy. It wasn't anything new, the temperature he was comfortable in always seemed to fluctuate and he wasn't surprised that sleeping on the yacht was really warm. And the aching was normal at this point as well, though, maybe he'd just walked too much that day and his muscles were sore, because it felt different than the usual pregnancy aches. He shrugged it off, still exhausted, and drifted back off to sleep.
Next time he woke up, he felt hot, like he was in heat but it wasn't right, his body sore and hurting. There were several people in the room with him and he whined, feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable. All conversation stopped and even through his blurry vision he could tell that the whole room’s attention was on him. He wanted to shrink, curl into his nest and hide away. He wanted his mate there, protecting him and their baby from all these people he didn't know.
Someone approached and Keralis's lips curled in a snarl until he caught the scent coming from them, his mate's soothing scent enveloping him in a warm blanket of comfort.
“K, love?” Xisuma spoke, his voice full of emotion, “How are you feeling darling?” Keralis frowned, trying to gather his thoughts.
“I-” he spoke, his voice hoarse and he whined, finding it painful to talk. His eyes watered, he was starting to feel scared, what was happening to him? He stared up at his mate and the alpha seemed to understand, reaching out and cupping his face in his hands, wiping away one of the omega’s tears as it fell.
“You don't feel well, do you love?” Keralis shook his head and he opened his mouth, pushing through the pain to talk.
“What's happening to me?” One of Xisuma’s hands trailed up to the top of Keralis's head, petting the omega’s hair to provide some comfort. His other hand left Keralis's face and reached out of the omega’s sight, bringing back a damp cloth. Xisuma draped it over Keralis's forehead, the cool towel easing the omega’s discomfort just a bit.
“We think you caught some kind of virus while you and Gem were off server,” he explained, “We're working on finding it and getting rid of it and Gem and Cub are here to help you with any symptoms and keep you comfortable.” It went unspoken that they were also there in case something went wrong. Because who knew what this virus could do to him or the baby. Everyone had heard horror stories of a player's code being ripped apart by a nasty virus. Keralis was terrified.
“Hey,” Xisuma soothed, likely reacting to Keralis's scent changing, pine wood burning, and he continued to pet his omega’s hair, “You let us worry about it okay? Just rest and you'll be better soon.” Keralis nodded, his eyes already heavy as his energy ran out. He slipped back into a deep slumber.
When he wakes up next, it's to frantic voices.
“His temperature’s getting too high,” someone said, “I don't know how much longer he can handle this.”
“And the baby's heart rate is starting to drop,” another person said, “If this fever doesn't get under control and the baby's heart rate doesn't stabilize we'll have to do an emergency c-section.” Keralis whined and whimpered. He was so scared, for himself and for his baby. He felt like he was burning alive, set on fire or thrown into lava. It felt similar to those but almost worse, because he couldn't just put himself out or get out of the lava pool, it was internal. There was no escaping it.
And then a soothing ice scent hits his nose and he relaxes.
“That's it darling, just go back to sleep.”
Alpha wanted him to rest, so he did, letting himself fall once more.
---
He blinked awake and took a moment to take in his surroundings. He was still in his yacht but things had been added. There was a fetal heart rate monitor strapped to his bump, heart rate steady and strong. He was also hooked up to a couple more machines, his own heart rate shown on a screen alongside his pulse ox and core temperature. He reached up to touch his face, having felt something foreign there, and felt a thin tube entering his nose, a feeding tube maybe? There was another device strapped around his bump that he didn't recognize and his gaze moved past that, finally resting on the IV drip connected to his arm.
There was only one person in the room with him, Xisuma, and the alpha was sleeping, dark bags beneath his eyes as he slept upright in an armchair that'd been shoved into the small room with all the other equipment. Keralis cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“X?” His voice was rough, barely a whisper, but Xisuma immediately shot upright and looked around before his eyes settled on Keralis.
Relief, comfort, happiness, love.
“Oh thank Notch,” the alpha breathed out, standing from the armchair and maneuvering around all the equipment to sit down beside the omega, “How're you feeling now, love?”
“Much better,” Keralis replied, “What… what happened shishwamm?” Xisuma reached out and brushed loose hairs out of Keralis's face, a fond look in his eye and they were crinkled, like he was smiling under his helmet.
“Beef was working outside and noticed that you hadn't left the yacht all day, “ the alpha explained. “He was worried that something was wrong and went to check on you.” His scent soured slightly as his eyes lost the crinkled, “You were unresponsive when he tried to wake you up and had a high fever. How much of what you heard while you were sick do you remember?”
“Not much,” the omega answered, “Just… fear.” Xisuma inhaled sharply and grabbed Keralis's hand.
“I'm sorry, love,” he said, “Everything's okay now though. I was able to find the virus attached to you and killed it off through the admin panels. Unfortunately it didn't stop the symptoms, your body had to fight that off on its own.” Keralis nodded and Xisuma paused and even through the visor Keralis could see the alpha's eyes tearing up. Xisuma rarely allowed himself to show such raw emotion like this so the fact that he was now…
“We almost lost you,” he said, voice choked up, “The fever got so high that Cub was worried you wouldn't make it. And the baby wasn't doing well either and Gem was talking about an emergency c-section and if Beef has not thought to check on you-” Xisuma cut himself off, shaking his head, and Keralis squeezed his alpha’s hand.
“I'm right here, Shishwamm,” he soothed, “And from the look of that fetal heart rate monitor, our little one is doing well now. We're okay.” Xisuma exhaled shakily and nodded.
“Right,” he said, “You're right.” The door to Keralis's room opened and the alpha snarled until he saw Gem, and he quieted down.
“Papa K!” Gem beamed, closing the door behind her and walking over to the opposite side of the bed from Xisuma, “Thank Notch, are you feeling alright?” Keralis nodded and Gem's smile seemed to grow even larger, and brighter somehow, “I'm so glad, you scared us for a bit there.”
“Scared myself too.” Gem quickly explained that she and Cub want him to continue to rest and recover from the virus. She only wanted to see him out of bed if he had to go to the bathroom or for the pelvic girdle pain stretches or really short walks. Keralis was all too happy to follow those orders, whatever he could do to get well again he would.
Chapter 8
Notes:
Hoooo boy this one fought me tooth and nail but I'm happy with the final product!!
COME GET UR DINNER YALL!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 1 Month •✧•
Grian opened his eyes and had to bite back a groan as he saw that the sun was already high in the sky and he was alone in bed. He didn't get how he could still be so tired. Sure, he'd been working overtime to catch up on his builds but surely after a few days of rest and some good nights’ sleep he'd feel normal again? But no, here he was after a week of just resting, feeling just the same as he had the first day of his break.
He sighed and sat up, wrapping himself in a soft blanket before he shuffled out of the bedroom. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but Scar seemed to have already fed Poppy breakfast and the two of them were in the living room. The alpha was keeping a close eye on their daughter, as one of her favorite pastimes as of late had been climbing onto things and jumping off of them, effectively giving her father a heart attack. Scar glanced away from Poppy as he heard Grian enter the room and immediately their little girl was climbing onto the armchair. Grian smiled, knowing that it was just part of the process of developing her wings and her ability to fly. He wasn't as worried as Scar was about it, knowing he'd also gone through a similar phase as a toddler, and he'd turned out fine!
Well, that part was debatable but the point still stood!
Scar smiled softly as he lifted his arm to let the omega sit beside him, draping it over Grian’s shoulders as the avian sat down, “Feeling any better songbird?” Grian whined in frustration, drawing Poppy's attention from her perch on the back of the armchair.
“Still exhausted,” he groaned, “I feel like I could sleep for a whole week and I probably would if I didn't have things I needed to do.” Poppy let out a chirp, drawing Scar’s attention just as their baby bird leaped from the back of the armchair. She landed on the couch beside them as Scar let out a startled shriek. Poppy let out peals of laughter at the sound her father had made, something that always seemed to amuse her, and she crawled over to the two of them, letting herself be wrapped in Scar’s protective hold.
“Poppy, darling, you're gonna scare me to death at this rate.” She just giggled before she set her eyes on Grian, her laughter fading out as she crawled over her father's lap to get to the omega. Grian opened his arms and Poppy settled into her mother's hold letting out more chirps and trills. Grian instinctively chirped and trilled back and Scar just watched his family, a soft smile on his face.
Grian’s mind drifted off as he began to preen Poppy's wings. With all the climbing and jumping and running around she'd been doing her feathers were in a messy state and Grian’s instincts were screaming at him to make it better. He moved on autopilot, straightening out the downy feathers. Poppy began to relax further into her mother's hold, the preening making her sleepy as it always did. Grian smiled fondly as Poppy began purring in contentment, her eyes sliding shut as she held onto his sweater.
Grian was just about ready to fall asleep himself by the time he finished preening his daughter's wings and stretching out the appendages to keep building the muscles. He yawned and Poppy stirred, eyes blinking open briefly before falling shut again. Grian’s eyes burned as his vision blurred, tears welling in his eyes. She was growing up so fast, soon she'd have her first molt and then she'd be trying to fly as well. Where had all the time gone? Grian blinked the tears away and they slid down his cheeks.
“Gri?” The omega turned his head and saw Scar watching him in concern, “Why're you crying, songbird? Are you alright?” Grian nodded, carefully lifting a hand to wipe the tears away so as to not agitate Poppy too much.
“I'm okay,” he sniffled, voice a little strained, “I don't know why I'm crying like this.” He laughed a bit, wiping again at his face, “Literally the only reason I can think of is because of how tired I've been.” Scar nodded and went to lift Poppy from Grian’s hold, but the omega shook his head, holding onto his daughter just that little bit tighter, “S'okay, just, just wanna keep holding her.” Grian couldn't explain why but if Scar took Poppy from him for even just a little bit Grian felt like he would burst into tears. What the fuck was going on with him?
“Alright birdie, how about you and Poppy go take a nap then?” Scar suggested, “It's time for her nap anyway and you could use the rest.” Grian nodded and stood up, keeping a steady hold on Poppy as he did, and walked back towards the bedrooms. He paused for a moment as he passed Poppy's room, internally debating for a bit before deciding to just go to his and Scar’s bedroom. He wasn't ready to let go of his little girl just yet and maybe he'd feel better with some Poppy cuddles.
He settled the two of them into bed and smiled softly as Poppy yawned and shuffled close into Grian’s sweater. It didn't take long for the omega to drift off into a happy dream.
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 8 Months •✧•
Zedaph counted himself lucky that his pregnancy hadn't been difficult until the final month. He figured it was only a matter of time before it took a toll on his body. He was definitely feeling pain in his back, feet, and hips now, and he felt just generally uncomfortable all the time. Even without the nightmares (which had gotten less frequent at least), he was having trouble getting to sleep. The baby was running out of room and was pressing uncomfortably against Zedaph’s internal organs, each movement very noticeable. It was honestly fascinating to watch his baby move from inside him and Zedaph couldn't help but wonder if this was what it looked like when Crumbo was growing.
Now though, he'd give just about anything for his baby to sleep, or at the very least calm down just a little so he could get some sleep. He was exhausted and was kind of envious of his alpha beside him, snoring away.
He decided to just wait it out, eventually Bee had to calm down, so he had a small froglight to give off some dim lighting so he could flip through a ridiculously thick baby name book they'd acquired from a villager. He was about halfway through the “B” names when Bee shifted again and he groaned lowly and placed his hand on his bump, the feeling of the movement uncomfortable.
“What're you doing in there Bee?” he whispered, “It's bedtime baby Bee, please sleep?” The movement died down but didn't stop completely, which was an improvement Zedaph would gladly accept. He reached out to put the froglight away when he felt a fluttering movement. He paused and a rhythm began from the repetitive movements. He couldn't help it as he smiled, recognizing the movement as hiccups. He absolutely adored the little hiccups when they happened. It meant that Bee was practicing the movement of breathing, the hiccups being part of a baby's lung and diaphragm development. He couldn't explain it, but it made him feel more connected to the little being growing in his uterus.
He'd been so focused on the baby’s hiccups that he hadn't noticed Impulse’s snoring stop, didn't notice that anything was different until Impulse groggily asked, “Can't get to sleep?” Zedaph glanced at his alpha and found him watching him, eyes tired as he smiled softly.
“They've been moving a lot,” he said quietly, nodding, “And they have hiccups now.” His mate smiled and reached out to place his hand over Zedaph's bump.
“Bee, sweetie, you gotta let your mama sleep,” Impulse said quietly, shuffling down to rest his head around Zedaph's middle. Zedaph smiled as Impulse talked away, the alpha’s voice calming both him and Bee. He glanced down at the page he'd stopped on and was about to turn the page when a name caught his eye.
“Brielle,” he said quietly, making Impulse glance up at him.
“What was that Z?”
“Brielle,” Zedaph repeated, “I really like that name, it's pretty.” Impulse smiled again and turned his attention back to Zedaph’s bump.
“What do you think, Bee?” he asked, “What do you think of the name Brielle?” Zedaph felt movement and the two of them watched in fascination as the baby pressed their foot out enough that they could see the shape of it against Zedaph’s skin.
“I think they like it,” Impulse breathed out, a finger touching the imprint of their baby's foot, “Is that your name, Bee?” Zedaph smiled as Impulse continued to talk quietly to the baby, his voice soothing. Zedaph closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer, his alpha’s voice lulling him into a calm slumber. He knew they'd need to find a name if the baby was a boy, but something told him the baby was a girl. Their little Brielle.
*.·:·.☽✧ K ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 9 Months •✧•
The past month had been difficult. Between the recovery from the virus, the typical pregnancy symptoms, and the pelvic girdle pain, Keralis had really been struggling. He knew that it would be worth it in the end but he wasn't sure if he could see himself going through this again. Even dismissing the virus from the equation, the pelvic girdle pain was horrible on a good day and he was struggling with the other pains added on top of that.
It'd been a nightmare to move from the yacht to the Suburbs. The heat of the nether was too much for his body to handle, he couldn't use his elytra because his bump was too big and would throw his flying off, it was too far to walk and Xisuma didn't trust himself to carry Keralis there the whole way, walking or flying. What they were able to do was use Keralis's horse and while it was still a long trek, at least Keralis got there safely.
And now here he was, at the expected final week of the pregnancy, and Keralis was ready to pop. It was just a waiting game, as he was still on bedrest to recover his strength after the virus and he couldn't get up and move around to try and start labor like he wanted to.
Keralis woke up, unable to tell why he'd been pulled from his slumber for a moment. Then he registered the cramping and he winced, a hand going to rest on the bump until the contraction passed. He glanced over at Xisuma, debating whether or not he should wake the alpha. The contraction hadn't lasted very long, and it could still be a false one, but it would be a good idea to have the alpha awake if another one happened so they could time it.
He puts it off as long as he can, trying to get back to sleep, but he just ends up laying awake for the next few hours, contractions happening regularly. He finally decides to just wake up Xisuma when he sees the sun rising from the window.
He reaches over and gently shoves at Xisuma’s upper arm, “Shishwamm.” The alpha grumbles a bit as he stirs awake, taking a moment to gain some awareness of what’s going on before turning his head to Keralis.
“K? What’s going on, love?”
“Been having contractions,” Keralis said quietly, “Think it’s time to call Gem.” That got Xisuma to wake up, the alpha reaching for his communicator immediately and beginning to type.
“How far apart have they been?” Keralis thought for a moment.
“Somewhere between half an hour to an hour apart,” he said, “I’ve kind of been watching the clock but I haven’t been timing it.” Xisuma just nodded as sent his message, getting a reply back almost immediately.
“Gem says she’ll head over now,” the alpha read, “She wants to make sure she’s here if you need anything.” Keralis smiled at the other omega’s thoughtfulness and watched as Xisuma began to get out of bed and go about his morning routine. Keralis shut his eyes, tired from his interrupted sleep, and grimaced as another contraction began.
It didn’t take Gem long to get to their house in the Suburbs, and Keralis smiled tiredly at her when she walked into the room.
“How’re you doing, Papa K?’ she asked, placing a couple shulkers against the wall.
“Just tired,” he said, “Might just nap while I can.” Gem nodded.
“That sounds like a good idea,” she said, “You’ll need as much energy as you can get later.” Gem went about looking through the shulkers while Keralis drifted off into a fitful slumber. He was able to nap in roughly twenty minute intervals before another contraction began, Gem timing it for him each time. It was another few hours before the contractions started getting even closer together and Keralis couldn’t get more than maybe a minute of actual sleep before another contraction began.
“How close together are they?” he asked groggily, and Gem looked at the times.
“About twenty minutes apart now,” she said, “Can’t get any more sleep?” Keralis shook his head, as his mind woke up more his instincts started to act up. He needed to get up and clean, make the nest look better, make sure the room he was going to give birth in was ready for his baby. He glanced at Gem, who was sitting in a nearby chair on her communicator, then at Xisuma, who had some admin panels up and was studying them.
“I need to walk around,” Keralis said, shifting so he was sitting up in bed. Xisuma was by his side in an instant, helping him up from the bed. The alpha hovered nearby as Keralis moved around the room and let his instincts take over, fixing the nest and room just how he wanted it. He’d tried to do a more thorough cleaning himself but Xisuma had insisted that he do it for him, sweeping the floors and picking up everything that Keralis pointed to. By the time Keralis’s instincts had deemed the room perfect, it’d been two hours and the contractions were now fifteen minutes apart.
“X, why don’t you cover the bed and nest with this?” Gem said, handing the pack leader a folded up tarp, “Keralis, would you like to take a walk? Maybe get some fresh air?” The pack lead omega found that to be a very appealing idea, he’d barely been outside while he recovered and wanted to be able to feel the sun on his skin for a bit.
“Yes, I’d like that.” Xisuma started unfolding the tarp as the two omegas made their way through the house and out the back door. They’d made sure to fence off a backyard for themselves, wanting to have a space to make a garden and patio, but it would work in letting Keralis get out of the house during labor without his instincts screaming at him to get back to his own territory.
“Things are progressing pretty smoothly,” Gem said as they began walking along the circular path, “At this rate you should be holding your baby by nightfall.” Keralis smiled, hands resting on his bump as he waddled more than walked.
“I can’t wait to meet them,” he said, his voice going soft and Gem smiled back.
“I’ll bet,” she said, “You hoping for a boy or a girl?” Keralis shrugged.
“Doesn’t really matter to me,” he said, eyebrows furrowing. The gender discussion made him feel like he was forgetting something, “I just want them to be healthy.”
“Any name ideas?” Keralis's eyes widened. Of course… of course they hadn’t even thought about it, “Are you okay Keralis?” The pack lead omega shook himself out of his thoughts.
“I’m good,” he said, “Just- just thinking…” He didn't want to admit that they hadn't even discussed name ideas, then grimaced as another contraction began, stronger than the ones before it. He groaned and reached out for the other omega, Gem stepping closer to provide support through the cramping. Then he felt a pop and a stream of liquid running down his legs.
“Oh.” Gem glanced down and saw a growing pool of fluid.
“Okay, let's get you back inside,” she said, “Things should hopefully progress quickly from here.”
Xisuma was already pacing when they came back in, head immediately turning to the two of them. His scent turned sharp when he took in the sight of Gem leading Keralis into the room.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, “What happened?” Keralis gave his mate a fond smile at his worry. He must've felt Keralis's upset at not having names picked.
“My water broke,” the omega explained, “Can you help me out Shishwamm?” The alpha stepped forward and hovered as Keralis grabbed a new pair of loose pants. Gem passed a towel over before turning to give Keralis some privacy (he appreciated the thought even though she'd be seeing quite a bit more later). Xisuma helped Keralis keep his balance as he cleaned himself up and changed pants, leading him back to the bed so he could get himself comfortable. Gem had started setting up some sensors to monitor the contractions and the baby's heart rate, putting them on him once Keralis gave the okay.
Gem left the room for a meal, knowing that if anything happened Xisuma would immediately contact her and she should take the chance while she could. It gave Keralis the chance to bring up the name issue.
“We never talked about names,” he said and Xisuma tilted his head.
“No, I suppose we didn't,” he said, “With everything going on I guess we just didn't find the time.”
“It's one of the things everyone talks about though,” Keralis said, “‘Oh when I have a family I wanna name my kid this’ or “I'm going to name my baby this when they're born’. It should have been one of the things that would be exciting to do but we forgot!” Xisuma held his hand out, giving Keralis the choice to take it in his own.
Of course he took the alpha's hand.
“You were busy making sure Gem was trained as a midwife,” he reminded Keralis, “That was the most important thing to do and it took a lot of time and energy. And then there was what happened with Grian and we were both looking out to make sure both him and Scar would be okay, that was something we couldn't not do. And then there was the virus, and nothing was more important to me than making sure you and our baby would survive. And during the last month your recovery took priority over everything else. We did what we could when we could and I'm not surprised we never got around to that conversation. Look at Poppy, Grian and Scar didn't name her for a couple weeks after she was born.” Keralis nodded, relaxing for just a moment before a contraction started up. He grit his teeth and squeezed his alpha’s hand, Xisuma taking it in stride as he spoke soothing words and made soothing sounds, his comforting icy scent enveloping Keralis in a blanket of safety. When the contraction finally passed, Keralis had tears in his eyes, the pain was ramping up and he didn't know how anyone did this without some form of pain control. They just didn't have epidurals available on the server, only basic pain management. They had a few stronger painkiller potions but they were only to be used if the situation was life or death.
Labor didn't count as life or death.
“Let's talk about it now then,” Keralis said, body tight with tension, slowly relaxing further the more time passed, “No time like the present, right?” Keralis could see Xisuma’s smile through the tinted visor of his helmet .
“Of course,” the alpha said, “Do you have any names in mind?” Keralis thought for a moment before nodding.
“There's a name I found one time when we were first courting,” Keralis said, “I found it in a story and when I went to look it up it meant empty, or void.”
“Like my username?” Keralis nodded.
“Yeah. I haven't been able to forget it since then. Cassius, for a boy.” Xisuma nodded.
“I like that.”
“What about you?” Keralis asked, “Do you have anything in mind?” Xisuma hummed.
“I like the name Violet,” he said, “It's your favorite flower and it's a nice name for a girl.” Keralis smiled.
“Perfect.”
---
Things progressed quickly after that, by the time Gem returned, Keralis's contractions had gotten longer, stronger, and closer together, only around seven minutes apart. And it wasn't long after that that Keralis felt the need to push, contractions coming every five minutes. Gem let him get settled into the position Keralis felt most comfortable giving birth in, on his knees, legs spread, arms on Xisuma’s shoulders with the alpha's arms around his middle. Gem checked how dilated he was and deemed him ready to go.
“Just push when you feel the need,” she said, “I'll tell you if you need to stop for any reason.”
From being present during both Grian and Bdubs's labors, Keralis expected to birth his child in half an hour, maybe an hour if he grew tired. But he knelt there, pushing with all of his might, for almost four straight hours. Xisuma did all he could to soothe and comfort him through the process but something in the back of Keralis's mind told him that something wasn't working out. It didn't make sense to him, he'd chosen this position to allow gravity to help with the process but it felt like he wasn't making any progress.
Time seemed to blend together and it felt like forever and no time at all all at once. With each push, Keralis grew more and more fatigued and he felt like each following push was weaker. His eyesight whited out with the strain of each one, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Was he just too weak? Was this his fault?
As his own scent turned sour, rotting pine pouring from his scent glands, Xisuma kept pumping out his own calming scent, crisp ice after the first frost, cool icicles on a snowy day. As time passed however, another scent threatened to overtake both of theirs, wilting cherry blossoms, coming from the midwife monitoring Keralis's progress and the baby's heart rate.
“It's time to call in Cub,” Gem finally said just after the four hour mark, “You're not making the progress you need to be and the baby isn't tolerating the stress well anymore.” Keralis whined, his pine scent turning more distressed. It was his fault, wasn't it? First he insists on going out and ends up catching a virus, nearly killing himself and his baby, and now he's too weak to do one of the things omega’s bodies are made to do. He was a failure…
“Shhh,” Xisuma comforted as Gem got in contact with Cub, “It's not your fault, love. These things happen sometimes regardless of the circumstances.” Keralis shook his head, unable to get words to form. Xisuma’s hands cupped Keralis's face and he pressed their foreheads together, having taken his helmet off and replaced it with a cannula, “You've done so well, darling. You've pushed yourself beyond your limits and it has nothing to do with anything you did or didn't do.” Keralis still couldn't find it in himself to believe those words, but the emotions Xisuma was radiating through the bond spoke volumes. The alpha believed his words completely and entirely, he was proud of him, he loved him.
Cub must have been nearby or had rushed over, because the door was opening and the smell of mint was intermingling with the other scents in the room. Keralis felt a wave of protectiveness through the bond and he himself felt uncomfortable with another person coming into their den at such a vulnerable time. He could feel Xisuma’s own protectiveness flare up as well, an uncharacteristic aggressiveness bubbling at the surface. But the two of them managed to stomp their instincts down, not reacting as Cub closed the door.
Gem slowly reached out to the couple, aware of the delicateness of the situation and the hair trigger of their instincts, “We need you to lay down Keralis,” she said, “And we’ll get started on the c-section and you'll have your baby in your arms in no time.” Keralis nodded and leaned away from Xisuma, the alpha moving to help adjust their positions in the nest, getting Keralis on his back and Xisuma by his side. Cub reached into his enderchest and passed a corked potion bottle to Xisuma.
“That's a combined potion of slow bleeding and painkiller potion,” Cub explained, “Keralis has to drink that all before we get started.” The two omegas continued their work on prepping tools and materials for surgery while Xisuma helped Keralis sit up, uncorking the bottle and holding the lip of the bottle to the omega’s mouth. Once Keralis had emptied the entire bottle, Xisuma helped him settle back down as Cub and Gem put a partition just under Keralis's chin and secured it so that neither Keralis nor Xisuma could see anything beyond it.
“Don't look past the partition, X,” Cub still warned. The alpha just gave a thumbs up, his attention entirely focused on his laboring mate. The potion worked quickly, the pine scent becoming fresher with each tick. His mind felt floaty, only barely aware of what was going on around him. He felt something cold on his belly and the only thing stopping him from touching it was something around his wrists, keeping them in place. Soon the cold went away and the skin of his bump went numb.
“Alright,” Cub said, “Can you feel this Keralis?” Keralis waited a few moments for something to happen but there was nothing. He assumed that no, he couldn't feel whatever Cub had done.
“No.”
“Good, we’ll start then.” Xisuma had to fight with everything he had to keep his instincts in check. Just knowing that his mate was being cut into rubbed at his instincts in all the wrong ways, but he had to keep himself in check. He leaned forward and pressed his nose into the crook of Keralis's neck, inhaling his fresh pine to soothe himself. Keralis giggled, the potion making him just a bit loopy.
“Tickles, Shish.”
“Sorry, love,” he murmured quietly against the omega’s skin, “Need the reassurance right now.” Keralis hummed in response and Xisuma smiled as the omega continued humming a nonsensical tune, allowing it to tune out the squish and squelch of whatever was happening behind the partition.
It seemed to come out of nowhere, but it wasn't long before a cry pierced the quiet and Xisuma’s focus snapped to the new sound, a chorus of four comms going off with a player joining notification following not long after. He had to fight the urge to just peak over the partition, wanting to get a glimpse of their newborn.
“Congratulations!” Gem said, a smile evident in her voice, “It's a boy!” Keralis felt something warm be placed on his chest and he failed to fight off tears as he glanced at his alpha.
“He's… he's here,” Keralis just barely managed to speak, voice quiet with awe that their baby, their son , was finally here. Xisuma wasn't bothering to fight off his tears either, letting them fall freely as he smiled sweetly at his omega, petting his hair.
“Yeah, he's here,” Xisuma repeated, “Cassius is here.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Cub said, “Just want to let you two know that everything’s gone well, maybe just half an hour more and I'll be done.” Gem hummed.
“And your baby looks perfectly healthy from a quick look over,” she said, “I'll give you some skin to skin time before I have to do a proper check up and do some tests. Won't take long, maybe twenty minutes tops before you'll have him back in your arms.” Keralis appreciated the warning from Gem, it gave both him and Xisuma time to get their instinct to not let anyone touch their baby under control when it was time for Gem to do the tests. Xisuma seemed to still be antsy though and kept looking between Cassius and Keralis, as if he couldn't decide who he needed to stay with more. Keralis got his alpha’s attention on the next look towards him.
“Go on,” he said, “Cub is helping me out, go be with Cassius.” Xisuma’s eyes softened and he pressed a kiss to Keralis's forehead.
“I love you,” he whispered softly, “I'm so proud of you, love.” Keralis tilted his chin and the alpha gave him a quick peck on the lips before disappearing from the omega’s sight. It eased some of Keralis's own anxieties and instincts, having his alpha watch over their newborn. They both trusted Gem and Cub wholeheartedly, but instincts were nothing to scoff at and didn't discriminate. Keralis closed his eyes and tried to relax for the first time in hours. He was exhausted… beyond exhausted actually. One child was the perfect number, he didn't regret getting pregnant one bit, Cassius was more than worth it, but he sure wouldn't be repeating the experience if he could help it.
“Okay,” Cub sighed, pulling Keralis from his thoughts as the other omega began taking down the partition, “You're all stitched up, I'll just apply some healing potion to the wound and I'll be done.” Keralis was surprised to see such a small amount of blood on the tarp, but he supposed that was thanks to the slow bleeding potion. The skin of his stomach was wiped clean, a neat wound stitched evenly going across his lower abdomen.
It was odd, his bump no longer being as prominent as it had been just an hour before. He was just so used to it being bigger, it was weird to see it so much… smaller.
Cub helped prop Keralis up on some pillows, putting them under his upper back and behind his neck.
“Do you think you can drink a potion on your own?” the omega asked and Keralis nodded, moving his arm after they'd finally been freed from their restraints. He took the bottle handed to him and drank down the regen potion. Cub waited until he was sure Keralis had finished the potion before taking the bottle from him and returning to the stitches, using a healing potion soaked cloth to dab the treatment onto the wound.
Finally, Cub finished his work and began packing up his equipment. Keralis was alone in the nest for maybe a minute before Xisuma and Gem returned, the younger omega holding their son. Keralis's instincts flared up at the sight. Why was Gem holding Cassius and not Xisuma? Better yet, why not him ? Why wasn't he holding his baby right now? His questions were answered when Xisuma gingerly picked him up and allowed Cub to get rid of the tarp and finally uncover the nest. He was placed back onto the bed gently and he turned his head to Gem, who was already stepping close enough to pass the bundled up newborn to his mama. Cub had finished packing up everything that he and Gem had brought and the moment Cassius was in Keralis's arms, they gave the couple some more quiet congratulations before slipping out of the room. The itch in the back of his mind that he hadn't even realized was there was finally settled.
“He's perfect,” Xisuma said, his awe being reverberated through their bond, “Absolutely perfect.” Keralis smiled down at Cassius, his white hair only just peeking out from under the tiny blue beanie. Cassius's eyes opened and Keralis saw his own looking back at him, wide with brown irises so dark they looked black.
Keralis couldn’t agree more.
Notes:
Aaaand that's Keralis's parts all finished! Next chapter: Zedaph's turn!!
And Grian, Grian really, put the pieces together I know you got this lol.
Chapter 9
Notes:
Sorry for the wait! This one really fought me. I'll try to get the next chapter done quicker but I make no promises.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*.·:·.☽✧ G ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 2 Months •✧•
The tiredness and mood swings never really went away and Grian had a feeling he knew what was going on. He was choosing to ignore it however, because if he didn't acknowledge it then maybe things would turn out alright this time. It worked when he was pregnant with Poppy, it could work again.
It got more difficult to ignore as he began experiencing morning sickness, needing to rush to the bathroom or hastily grab a trash can to vomit into more and more frequently. Yeah, he couldn't really deny it any longer, could he? He'd had his heat two months ago and all the symptoms were pointing to him being pregnant again. And he'd wanted this! He wanted it so bad! But he was just… scared. What if he lost this one too? He couldn't handle going through that again, it'd break him.
So he ignored it, hiding his symptoms from Scar as best as he could, but he could tell that his alpha knew something was up. It all came to a head a couple days after he'd put the pieces together. They were enjoying the Christmas-y weather from the comfort of their bedroom, cuddling in bed while watching the snow fall outside their window It was the perfect moment of domestic bliss, right up until Grian had to pry himself from Scar’s warm hold as his stomach turned.
“Gri?” Scar was basically on the omega’s heels until Grian dropped to his knees in front of the toilet and threw up. Grian’s eyes watered as his throat burned from the acid and in between bouts of being sick, he could tell Scar was sending out calming pheromones. He could feel the alpha's hand brushing hair out of his face and the other rubbing comforting circles on his back. He almost couldn't remember why he'd hidden this from his alpha, while still awful, this was so much easier to handle with him there than going through it alone.
After his stomach was done torturing him, he leaned against the wall, body shaking from the exertion and breathlessness that came with getting sick. Scar quickly wetted a rag and passed it to Grian, who offered a small smile in return before he wiped his mouth.
“How long has this been going on?” the alpha asked softly, no hint of any negative emotion behind the words, just concern. Grian sighed.
“A few days now,” he said sheepishly. Scar pursed his lips briefly before offering his hands for the omega to take. With the alpha's help, Grian stood up then washed his mouth of the foul aftertaste. They made their way back into their bedroom, the cozy feeling from before having disappeared. Scar waited until Grian was once more settled into bed before talking again.
“Why didn't you tell me you were getting sick?” he asked. Grian took in a shaky breath before speaking.
“I was scared,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, “I just- I can't lose this baby too.” Scar inhaled sharply, eyes widening.
“You're-?” Grian chuckled, of course Scar hadn't put the pieces together until now.
“I think so,” the omega said, “I've… I've been too scared to take a test. I just thought that… maybe if I don't confirm it it wouldn't hurt as bad if-” Grian trailed off, not wanting to even speak the words.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt as bad if I lost this one too.
Scar let out a little whine and Grian could feel the sadness and heartbreak through the bond as the alpha opened his arms and enveloped Grian in his hold.
“We need to know,” Scar said, “Because if, no, when it's a healthy pregnancy, we need to be able to prepare. And you'll need to take extra good care of yourself, which you should be doing regardless but anyways…” The alpha sighed, pressing his forehead to Grian’s, the avian closing his eyes as Scar’s spiced scent enveloped him in a blanket of serene comfort, “It's better to know. Please, G?” Grian sighed as he opened his eyes, his alpha’s pleading look just the final nail in his decision.
“Alright,” he sighed, reluctantly extracting himself from Scar’s comfortable hold, “I'll take a test.”
He seemed to be on autopilot as he took the pregnancy test and set the timer, opening the door as he waited so that Scar could be a part of it. He spaced out, leaning on the wall with his hand up by his mouth, the back of one finger pressed against his lips as he lost himself in thought.
He knew it would come out positive, that was really the only outcome that made sense here. He couldn't just be feeling like this for no reason, and there was no way he'd caught some mild virus. So the test would come out positive… then what? He'd have the confirmation and he'd need to talk to one of the midwives in the pack. Keralis had only given birth about a month ago so he'd have to talk to Gem. Maybe after Zedaph had his baby though, she needed to focus on him right now and Grian didn't want to add any more stress to her shoulders. After that… he would get to experience the pregnancy this time, no loss, no “bond breaking symptoms” to pass it off as, he'd know, and he'd cherish every moment he could. Scar would spoil him, he'd gotten just a glimpse of that last time but with a healthy pregnancy… there was no way Scar would be able to help himself. He was just like that, he was such a loving man with a heart of gold and he'd want to take care of Grian in any way he could. His mind put together an image, him and Scar cuddled up in bed with their daughter between them, her little arms wrapped around a noticeably larger bump than he'd had with Poppy. Scar with one hand caressing Grian’s bump as their daughter talked nonsense to the baby. Grian inhaled shakily, eyes watering. He wanted that so badly…
He was startled out of his thoughts by the alarm going off and he pushed himself off the wall and took a deep breath as he reached for the test.
Two lines. Not that he'd expected anything different but seeing those two lines sent a jolt of excitement up his spine and he couldn't help but smile.
“You're pregnant,” Scar said as he peeked over Grian’s shoulder at the test, his voice full of awe and wonder. The emotions coming from him through the bond were nearly overwhelming. Excitement, happiness, joy, love, adoration. The alpha's arms snaked around Grian’s middle and rested against his abdomen, over where their child was growing. It brought tears to Grian’s eyes and he let out a shaky laugh.
“There's nothing there yet,” he chuckled, turning in Scar’s hold, only to have his breath taken away as the alpha kissed him passionately. His eyes fluttered closed and he melted into the kiss, his body finally relaxing for what felt like the first time in days. He was left breathless when Scar finally pulled away, Grian instinctively leaning to try and chase the alpha's lips.
“Our baby's there,” Scar said, “I hope you know I'm not going to be leaving you alone for a second. My instincts are screaming to just… keep touching you, keep you close and safe.” Scar glanced down at Grian’s torso and once more placed his palms against the still flat skin, “You and our children are the best things that have ever happened to me, I just want to keep holding you like this. We didn't get the chance with Poppy or… we didn't get the chance before, I'm going to take the opportunity as much as I can this time.”
The moment was broken as Grian’s comm dinged and the omega sighed before checking his messages, Scar's arms snaking around to hold him close. He'd ignore it any other time but he was waiting for news on Zedaph. The poor sheep hybrid had been traumatized while assisting in Poppy's delivery, Grian was going to be there for him when it was Zedaph’s turn to go through labor.
[Zedaph]
My water broke
“What's it say?” Scar asked, trying to tilt his head to read the upside down screen of Grian’s comm. Grian chuckled and lightly swatted Scar’s arm.
“I gotta go to Zed and Impulse’s,” he said, turning his screen off, “Zed's water just broke.” Grian tried to step away from Scar, only for the alpha's hold to keep him right where he was, “Uh, Scar?” He glanced up at the alpha, finding his cheeks tinted red with a blush.
“You know how I said my instincts are screaming at me to keep touching you and keep you close?” he said, embarrassment coming though in his words and the bond, “Yeah, I need a moment to get that under control.”
*.·:·.☽✧ Z ✧☾.·:·.*
•✧• 9 Months •✧•
The day had been wonderful, full of Christmas music from the jukebox, lights twinkling as they were hung on the wall, the jingle of ornaments as they were put on the tree, and Impulse carrying around a mistletoe to use as an excuse to kiss Zedaph at every opportunity. By the end of the day they had a beautifully decorated house and a crackling fireplace to sit by as they drank some hot chocolate. But as wonderful as the day had been, it'd been exhausting, and all Zedaph wanted to do was sleep.
He was able to get to sleep quickly, unlike most nights the further along in the pregnancy he got, and just when it seemed like he might finally get a full night's rest, he was jolted awake by a contraction. He winced and breathed through it, drifting back to sleep after it had passed. He assumed it was just more false contractions, they'd been happening more frequently the further along he got in the pregnancy.
Except it happened again. And again. And again.
Zedaph was so tired, unable to completely fall back asleep, and feeling so out of it, he couldn't tell if the contractions were regular or irregular, if there was any pattern forming at all. His sense of time was thrown off and he didn't know how long they were lasting or how far apart.
“Ah!” he cried out in pain as another contraction began, unable to keep the sound from slipping out, before gritting his teeth. Impulse startled awake at Zedaph’s cry but immediately went about comforting the omega, holding his hand through it and whispering soothing words. When the contraction ended, Zedaph sagged in relief as Impulse continued to provide comfort, softly rubbing the back of his hand.
“More braxton hicks?” he asked and Zedaph furrowed his eyebrows, trying to clear his thoughts.
“I don't know,” he admitted, voice still a bit hoarse from sleep, “They've been happening for the past couple hours now I think, but I've been too out of it to time them or figure out if they're coming regularly or not.” He should know this, shouldn't he? He was just so tired . Bad -
His scent must've been souring because Impulse opened his arms, gesturing for Zedaph to come to him. The omega was more than happy to accept his alpha’s embrace, pressing his nose to Impulse’s scent gland and allowing the soothing pheromones the alpha was exuding to calm him down.
“I know it won't be easy,” Impulse said, “But try and get some more sleep, okay sweetheart? We'll start keeping track when we're both more awake. If it's braxton hicks then they'll probably have stopped by then, if it's not… well, we'll deal with that in the morning. Either way, you're going to need as much sleep as you can get.” Impulse’s hand found its way into Zedaph’s hair and the omega melted into the touch, letting out a soft bleat as he relaxed and his eyes slipped shut.
It wasn't the best sleep he'd ever had, still waking up to contractions, but he felt more rested once the sun had risen. He awoke to yet another contraction and whimpered at the pain, waking Impulse up with the sound. They hadn't separated during the night so the alpha simply soothed his mate with touch and pheromones.
“Still feeling contractions?” Impulse guessed as the pain eased up. Zedaph nodded, “We'll start timing them then.” Zedaph whined as Impulse extracted himself from the omega’s hold, even with a kiss pressed to his forehead Zedaph already missed Impulse’s embrace, “C'mon Zed, let's get up, can't stay in bed all day.”
“I could certainly try,” Zedaph mumbled under his breath, grunting as he sat himself up. As Impulse walked around the room Zedaph watched him, admiring his muscles as he changed and if the omega hadn't been feeling so awful he definitely would've tried to initiate something. But he sighed as he pushed himself up and waddled over to his dresser, using his alpha as something to balance on as he changed his clothes.
By the time they'd left their bedroom it had been almost twenty minutes since the last contraction. Impulse went about making breakfast while Zedaph made his way to the counter. He was just a couple steps away from reaching his destination when he felt a pop and he squeaked in surprise. Not even a second later he felt fluids run down his legs, soaking his pants and puddling on the floor around him. Impulse had spun to look at him at the omega’s surprised squeak and was now looking at him wide eyed.
“Did- did your water just break?” he asked, voice quiet as if speaking any louder would kickstart everything faster. Zedaph nodded, eyes equally wide, before groaning and scrambling for purchase on the kitchen counter, gripping the marble surface as another contraction ripped through him. He had just enough sense of mind to carefully step out of the puddle of amniotic fluid to avoid slipping before leaning forward and bowing his head, breathing deeply as the pain peaked. When it finally subsided, he took a deep breath and looked up, finding Impulse still frozen when he'd been before.
“Impy?” The alpha snapped out of his shock and dropped what he'd been doing to make his way over to his mate.
“Right, right, that was… about twenty minutes since the last one? I didn't even think to time how long it was-” Zedaph straightened his posture as Impulse fretted about the room and went to message Gem and Grian, sending the simple message of “my water broke” to the both of them. He immediately got a response from Gem as Impulse got a mop out to clean up the floor.
[GeminiTay]
Omw!!!
He didn’t get a message from Grian right away, and Zedaph wondered if the other omega would still be able to be there during Zedaph’s labor. The avian had been acting odd the past couple days and Zedaph had meant to reach out to him, ask him if if he was okay, but they’d both been so busy-
The sound of rockets firing mixed with the sound of a notification going off from Zedaph’s comm.
[Grian]
Heading over now!
Zedaph sighed as another rocket fired nearby. Impulse had finished cleaning the floor when the door opened and Gem walked in, heading straight for Zedaph.
“Hey Zed,” she said, voice soft and warm, “How're you doing?”
“Uh,” Zedaph breathed out, his anxieties starting to creep back in. Oh void, he was about to give birth. He pushed down the mental images of Poppy's birth and the ever fading memories of nightmares where things went horribly wrong, “Well, starting to feel a bit nervous, but I'm excited to finally be able to hold her.” Gem smiled, reaching out to take Zedaph’s hands in her own and squeezing them in support.
“It's alright to be nervous,” she said, “Perfectly understandable, even. I'll be here every step of the way, and so will Impulse and Grian.” Gem tilted her head, “... hold her … Did you find out the gender?” Zedaph shook his head.
“No,” he said, “It's just a feeling, but…” Gem chuckled.
“Mother's intuition?” Zedaph chuckled, not agreeing exactly but not arguing it either. He was a man of science, but he'd seen some incredible things, who knew the power of an expecting mother's intuition. Impulse walked over, having left the room without them noticing to grab a change of clothes for Zedaph.
“Let's get you changed out of those pants, Z,” he said, offering his hand for his omega to take. Right, he was still wearing amniotic fluid soaked sweatpants. Impulse hovered near him as he went into the bathroom, cleaning himself up and changing into clean clothes. By the time they returned to the kitchen, Grian had arrived. He looked a little paler than normal but otherwise he seemed okay, cheerful even, which was a welcome change from the past few days. Grian smiled at him as Zedaph walked over to the dining table to sit down.
A nauseating teleport. Pack leaders panicking. Two broken mates panicking.
“Hey Zed,” Grian said, sounding tired, “Doing alright?”
Grian screaming in pain. Scar's protective growls and the sharp spike in his scent. The room just smelled like panic and it burned his nose.
“I can't do this!” Grian gasped out, starting to hyperventilate in his panic. Which was reasonable considering he only just found out he was pregnant and now he was in labor, fully dilated, about to give birth, “I can't do this! I can't!”
“Pretty good all things considered,” Zedaph answered, lips curling into a strained smile. C'mon brain, don't do this now.
“Anyone hungry?” Impulse asked, “I was about to make Zed and I breakfast but I can make more if you two want anything.” Gem and Grian both shook their heads.
“I ate something before I got Zed’s message,” Gem said and Grian nodded, though he looked a bit green.
“Same here.” Zedaph didn't quite believe that but he wasn't going to call the avian out. He was sure he had his reasons.
The three omegas chatted amongst themselves and Impulse cooked, the alpha piping up every once in a while. Zedaph was still trying to battle the anxiety trying to creep around his lungs and strangle him. He could do this. He knew he could…
Zedaph was in a position he never thought he'd be in, knelt behind Grian as the omega screamed in agony, pushing out a baby no one had known existed until today. And after Ren and Doc's interruption soon the entire server would know.
“Hey, Grian!” Zedaph shouted over the commotion from the protective alphas growling, “I need you to focus on me, okay? Just focus on me! Don't worry about anything else! You need to give me another big push, come on!”
Grian’s screams drowned out everything as he begged for the pain to stop, Scar doing his best to soothe the laboring omega. Zedaph tried to separate his emotions from the situation but it was hard when one of his packmates was in distress like this. His heart wrenched with every pained scream that tore from the avian’s throat.
“Zed?”
Zedaph startled as he looked up, Impulse placing a plate of eggs, toast, hash browns, and bacon in front of him, looking concerned.
“You okay?” Zedaph mentally sighed, he was getting sick of that question.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” he said, reaching out to pick up a piece of bacon just before a contraction began. He whimpered and doubled over, resting his head on the table in front of him. The others in the room were talking, either to each other or trying to soothe him, but it was just a dull hum in his ears until the pain faded away.
“That's about twenty minutes since the last one,” Impulse was saying as Zedaph was finally able to tune back into the conversation. Gem was typing something on her comm.
“Alright, I'll keep track of that then,” she muttered, glancing back up at the sheep hybrid, “Still feeling well enough to eat? You should eat something to replenish your hunger while you still can.” Zedaph weighed his options, taking stock of how he was feeling, before nodding, Gem smiling in return, “Good! After this you should go arrange your nest how you want it.” Zedaph nodded, finally starting to devour his meal. He was already feeling the itch to nest, to clean the whole house from top to bottom even though it was already as clean as it could be. His baby deserved to come into a world that was spotless, made perfect just like her, all for her.
He finished eating fairly quickly, sitting for a bit longer to make sure his body wouldn't reject the food it'd just been fed. Another contraction came and went, Gem timing it and recording the data on her comm. After that, he stood up and waddled back towards the bedroom, leaving the others to hang out while he settled his nesting instincts. They knew better than to try and intervene when a laboring omega was nesting, things could get nasty.
He stripped the bed and changed the sheets, grabbing all the blankets he could find, both from his nesting cupboard and from around the bedroom. He would've gone searching around the house for more but he wasn't sure if he would be needing anymore. He meticulously arranged the pillows and blankets, creating a wall around the edge of the mattress and layering blanket after blanket over it to smooth it out, cushion the barrier. He'd just shaken out another blanket to throw over the part of the wall he was working on when another contraction began. He let out a startled cry of pain as he dropped the blanket, hands going to his bump. He felt the muscles harden under his palms as he tried to breathe through the pain. There were hurried footsteps as Gem, Grian, and Impulse barged into the room. Zedaph let out a quiet growl, still in his nesting mindset.
There were other omegas near his nest. Near his mate.
Impulse went up to him and rubbed his back as the contraction subsided, shooing the other two away. Zedaph felt better once the floral and cherry blossom scents faded from the nest and he sighed, straightening up and glaring down at the blanket he had dropped.
Not good enough for his nest anymore…
“Seventeen minutes now,” Impulse muttered, typing on his comm, “Still working on the nest Z?” Zedaph hummed, letting out a small bleat as he walked back to his blanket pile, picking out another one. Impulse chuckled, going over to place a kiss into Zedaph’s hair, “You're doing great, sweetheart. Looks beautiful.” Zedaph let out a pleased bleat, leaning back into his mate, “I'll leave you to it now.” Impulse left the room and Zedaph focused back on building his nest.
After another ten minutes, Zedaph's instincts were finally satisfied with his nest, it looked perfect!
“Can we come in, Zed?” He glanced at the doorway, where Gem and Impulse were waiting for his answer. He nodded, and with a smile, Gem walked over to him and handed him a nest cover. Finally, after three births and six babies, the inventors of the server had come up with something more practical to cover a laboring omega’s nest than a tarp. Zedaph passed the cover from hand to hand, trying to figure out if his instincts were okay with it. He bit his lip and rubbed it over his wrists and along his neck, getting his scent to stick to the soft material and cover up Gem's scent. He paused once again and looked at Impulse before passing it over to him. The alpha got the message quickly, scenting it before passing it back over to Zedaph. The omega struggled a bit to get the cover over the nest in a way that he was okay with, and then had to pause when another contraction rippled through his muscles, but he finally got the cover on and stepped back, smiling at it.
Perfect.
He turned to the other two, only now noticing that the avian omega wasn't with them.
“Where's Grian?” he asked, glancing down the hallway. Gem grimaced.
“He wasn't feeling the greatest,” she sighed, “He's sitting down with a bottle of ginger ale.” Zedaph frowned as well, heading back down the hall with the other two on his heels. Sure enough, Grian was sitting on the sofa, breathing slowly with his eyes closed, hands cupped around a bottle of fizzy liquid.
“You don't have to stay here, G,” Zedaph said softly, sitting down next to the other omega, “If you're not feeling well…”
“I'll be fine,” Grian said, his eyes opening and a small grin forming, “I want to be here.” He reached out and took Zedaph’s hand, squeezing gently. Zedaph sighed, knowing just how stubborn the avian could be when he set his mind to it, and decided to let it go. He looked around the house, finding that his nesting instincts weren't entirely satisfied with the rest of the house. He heaved himself up and began his rounds, washing dishes, watering plants, wiping down surfaces, sweeping floors. Whenever anyone tried to get him to take a break, he'd instinctively curl his upper lip in a snarl before catching himself, telling them he was fine, he wanted to do this. Finally, Gem said that as long as his contractions were more than five minutes apart, she didn't see an issue with him walking around and doing light chores. It could actually help his labor progress quicker. Zedaph let out a pleased bleat at that and continued his nesting.
It was when his contractions were ten minutes apart that Grian’s face went a sickly shade of green and he scrambled across the room, heading for the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind him and even through the thick oak doors they could hear him retching. Zedaph winced at the violent sound while Gem went to check on him. Impulse looked uncomfortable, as though he wanted to help an ill pack member but also stay close to Zedaph. His mind was made up for him when another contraction began and Zedaph whimpered at the pain. Impulse immediately closed the distance between them, offering his body as support and Zedaph gripped at his shoulders and pressed his forehead against his chest, breathing heavily through the pain.
“You're doing great sweetheart,” Impulse soothed, rubbing Zedaph’s lower back, “Doing so well.”
“Another contraction?” Gem asked, stepping back into the room with Grian right behind her, looking pale but better than before. Impulse nodded and he and Gem discussed timings while Zedaph watched Grian. He actually looked a lot better than he had before, color returning to his face and the sickly green no longer there. He'd been trying to ignore the intruding scents before while he nested, but now he honed in on Grian’s. It was off, but not in an upset or distressed way. Sweeter, and a little milky. Zedaph’s eyes widened and when Grian unconsciously placed a hand over his abdomen, Zedaph came to the conclusion…
“You're pregnant.”
Impulse and Gem stopped talking and Grian’s head snapped up, eyes wide. The scent of wilted flowers began to permeate the air and Zedaph quickly backtracked, “Sorry! Sorry for bringing it up, I shouldn't have-”
“It's okay,” Grian said, looking nervous, “And you're right anyways, just didn't want to tell anyone yet…” Zedaph let out an upset bleat and slipped out of Impulse’s hold, going over to wrap his arms around the avian.
“It's okay to be scared,” Zedaph said quietly, “But we'll monitor the baby closely, okay? Make sure everything's healthy.” Grian nodded and wrapped his own arms around Zedaph, accepting the comfort.
“I can't lose another,” he said, voice cracking with raw fear, “I can't…”
“Would you feel better if you could see them right now?” Zedaph asked, glancing over at Gem, and she nodded, placing down her pink midwife shulker, “One quick ultrasound?” Zedaph got a flash of irritation through his bond and he glanced over at his mate, finding him already looking at him. When their eyes met, the alpha’s body relaxed slightly and Zedaph could feel the conflict, the worry and concern. Zedaph smiled and made sure to send back his own feelings. How he was alright and just wanted Grian to be okay right now. Impulse sighed and nodded. Meanwhile Grian was mulling it over.
“I don't know,” he sighed, stepping back from Zedaph’s hug, “You're in labor right now, we should be focusing on you…”
“It's just a waiting game right now,” Zedaph shrugged, “Can't really do much besides time my contractions anyway, might as well do this now to try and ease some of your stress.” Grian relaxed, shoulders falling from their tensed up position.
“Okay,” he said, glancing at Impulse and Gem, “If you're really okay with it…” Gem was already setting up her portable ultrasound machine beside the sofa and the other two omegas moved to where she was.
“Alright Grian, let's have you lay down and we'll take a look,” Gem said, voice light and cheery. Grian hesitated, looking at the sofa for a moment, and Zedaph picked up a hint of wilting flowers before the avian took a deep breath and laid down as instructed. Gem was fiddling around with some of the controls when Zedaph hissed through his teeth, another contraction starting. Impulse was immediately by his side, guiding him to the opposite end of the couch to sit down. This one was stronger, Zedaph could tell, and he squeezed Impulse's hands to ground himself.
“Eight minutes,” the alpha said, “Longer than the last one too.”
“Maybe we shouldn't do this,” Grian muttered, starting to sit up. Zedaph growled quietly, nerves shot from the last contraction.
“Lay back down,” he snapped.
Grian’s eyes were wide as he lowered himself back down, Gem and Impulse also looking shocked at the uncharacteristically harsh tone Zedaph had spoken in. The laboring omega took a deep breath in, blowing it out slowly.
“Sorry,” he apologized, “It's already set up, might as well go through with it, yeah?” Grian just nodded and Zedaph placed his hand on Grian’s ankle, squeezing it gently in silent support.
“Okay!” Gem spoke, clearly trying to shift the focus away from Zedaph’s outburst, “Lift up your sweater please… thank you!” She pressed the ultrasound wand against Grian’s skin and searched for the embryo, finding it quickly and smiling, “There you are!” Zedaph smiled as he looked at the screen. At a quick glance, everything looked fine, and the longer Gem looked and the more she moved the wand to see, he couldn't find anything to be concerned about. Soon enough, Gem withdrew the wand and handed Grian a small towel to wipe himself off with.
“Everything looks great,” she said, “Healthy size based on when your last heat was and there was absolutely nothing I saw that concerned me.” Grian’s eyes were misty as he smiled at her.
“Thanks, Gem,” he said before glancing over at Zedaph, “And thank you, Zed.” Zedaph smiled back, once again squeezing the avian’s ankle.
“It's no issue at all.” As soon as he finished his sentence, another contraction started and Zedaph groaned. Impulse offered his hands once again and Zedaph took them gladly, holding them as the pain rippled through his abdomen and back.
“Seven minutes apart,” Gem said when Zedaph sighed, contraction fading, “Nearly a minute long now.” Zedaph nodded, looking around the room. The ultrasound machine had been put away but his nesting instincts were surfacing once more. He hefted himself up, Impulse hovering nearby as he moved around the room. He was struggling to think of more things he could do to make the house perfect, but his instincts just kept telling him that it wasn't enough yet. There had to be more he could do. He dug around some chests and pulled out a vase and was about to leave the house to get some lavender before he was stopped. He grumbled a bit before relenting and requesting one of the others get some for him. Two contractions and a scrubbed stove top later, Grian returned with some freshly cut lavender. Zedaph fiddled with them a bit before his instincts finally settled. It was Gem and Grian’s scents, he realized, that's what was making it so his nesting instincts wouldn't settle completely. He asked Impulse to smelt up some iron and, while a bit confused, the alpha happily set up a furnace.
Finally, finally , the house smelt of lavender and iron, covering Grian and Gem's scents completely. He let out a happy bleat before he braced himself for another contraction, the pain coming on like clockwork.
“Five minutes apart now,” Gem said when it passed, “Time for you to be in your nest.” He was ushered into the bedroom and he climbed into his nest, Impulse joining him when Zedaph made grabby hands at him. The alpha chuckled, climbing in and letting his omega cuddle up to him and get comfortable, nose pressed to the alpha's neck. It seemed to make the following hour easier, with Zedaph’s contractions getting closer and longer. Zedaph instinctively worked on kicking off his pants, getting help from the others when they realized what he was doing, taking his jumper off not long after that.
It was when his contractions were three minutes apart that he felt that it was time. Bee was coming now .
“Gem,” he spoke, teeth grit from the pain, “Need to push.” The others immediately sprung into action. Impulse helped Zedaph maneuver himself as the omega moved, instinct getting him on his knees and facing his alpha. He couldn’t see what the other two were doing but he knew what was happening behind him.
There was so much blood. Grian was screaming. The baby’s head was out! But the cord was around the neck…
“Okay! Stop! Stop!” Zedaph commanded. He needed to take care of the cord otherwise the baby could… “Scar, help him regulate his breathing! Just like you did before! The cord’s around the neck, I need to ease it off!” Zedaph trusted Scar to take care of Grian while he worked on getting his fingers under the cord, getting some room for the baby’s airway to expand.
No, no, no, no, not now…
“Alright Zed,” Gem said, “Next contraction I want you to push as hard as you can.” In no time at all, his muscles contracted and he pushed, a scream ripping from his throat as the pain intensified.
“You’re doing great, Z,” Impulse said, pressing a kiss to his forehead as the contraction ended and Zedaph slumped from the effort.
He worked the cord over the baby’s head and he let out a sigh of relief. Okay, one hurdle taken care of, they needed to hurry though, he didn’t like how much blood there was…
“Okay, Grian. We’re good to go! We just need one more push,” he said, getting the other’s attention, “Just need to get the shoulders and then I can get the baby out. Make it count!”
With a scream louder than any of the others before, Grian pushed, his wings spreading out. Zedaph kept telling him to push, trying to ignore the sight of Grian tearing, blood flowing rapidly. He just had to focus on getting the baby out and then he could help Grian.
The baby slid out the rest of the way and Zedaph was quick to catch them, shouting that he had the baby as he looked over the tiny newborn. He immediately felt his stomach sink when he saw that the baby’s chest wasn’t moving. He went to work immediately, vigorously rubbing his fist against the small baby’s back.
“Come on,” he growled, “Come on! Breath, dammit!”
Zedaph could’ve laughed from relief when the newborn in his hands let out a cry, finally breathing on her own.
“That’s it, Zed!” Grian encouraged from behind him as the laboring omega screamed, another contraction ripping through him as he pushed again, his whole body burning with the stretch, “The head’s out!”
“Hear that?” Impulse asked, “Bee’s head’s out now, you’re doing incredible Zed. You’re incredible.” Zedaph sobbed, his body feeling like it was at its limit, “You’re almost done, sweetheart.”
With the next contraction, Zedaph screamed his throat raw, pushing with all of his might. And then the pain eased and Zedaph slumped forward, breathing heavily and crying tears of joy as a loud healthy cry pierced the air. His baby…
“Good job Zed,” Gem said, “Stay right where you are, okay? We’ll pass her to you in a moment.”
Her?
In a recreation of what Zedaph had done during Poppy’s birth, his little girl was passed through his legs and he took her in his arms, cautiously bringing her to his chest. He was vaguely aware of Gem clamping the umbilical cord and Impulse clipping it but he couldn't have cared less at what was happening around him. All that mattered was his baby. His little Brielle.
“Hi there,” he said quietly, fingers brushing against the soft hair at the top of her head, “Hi, Brielle.” His mind was a flurry of hormones and emotions and he wondered why he had been so scared to do this. Why would he not want to go through this when she was the result? Brielle was everything.
He grunted as another cramp began and he sighed, having been brought back to reality.
“Afterbirth,” he said, voice quiet and raw from his previous screams. It pained him to do so, but he passed his baby to Grian, his brain only allowing it because his instincts could sense another parent, knew that Brielle was safe with this omega.
It was a quick process, Gem guiding him through the uncomfortable process and pushing down on his abdomen to get the placenta to move along. Only a couple pushes and it was over.
“All intact,” Gem said, “You did great, Zed. You didn’t even tear, so we’re all done. Just need to clean the two of you up.” Grian stood just to the side with Brielle, gently cleaning her while Gem helped Zedaph get cleaned up. Impulse supported Zedaph's weight as the omega let Gem do what she was doing, too tired to do much else and his mind too focused on Brielle to spare a thought for his surroundings.
“There we go,” Gem said, “Impulse can you lift Zed up so I can remove the cover? After that we'll leave you three alone.” Impulse nodded and carefully picked up his mate. Gem was quick to take the cover off the nest and Impulse set Zedaph down in the middle. The omega was getting impatient now, a low growl building in his chest as he kept his eyes on the omega hiding his baby.
“She's right here, Zedaph,” the omega said, stepping forward and gently placing the newborn onto Zedaph's chest, “All yours, congrats you two, we'll be off now. If you need anything we're all just a message away.” The two intruding omegas left the room and Zedaph's mate climbed into the nest, pulling a blanket over the now shivering omega.
“She's beautiful,” Impulse said, voice full of awe, settling beside the omega and pressing a kiss to the top of Zedaph’s head before kissing Brielle's hair, “I can't say enough just how incredible you are, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you.” Zedaph let out a pleased hum, unable to take his eyes off his newborn.
“She has your nose,” Impulse continued, hand resting atop their newborn’s back, “And she has a little tail.”
“She'll probably grow horns too then,” Zedaph said, a finger softly caressing her little cheek as she snuffled, “And her hair is the same color as yours.”
“I hope she has your eyes,” Impulse said, “I love your eyes so much.”
“Even if she doesn't,” Zedaph said mulling over how to admit what was thinking, “Our next one might.” It was quiet, the only sounds were Brielle's little movements and noises.
“Our next- you'd want to-” Zedaph chuckled, the movement disturbing Brielle and making her protest with a quiet whine.
“Yeah,” Zedaph said, “I'd be okay with another. Maybe a couple more.” Impulse’s hand slipped beneath Zedaph's chin and the alpha pulled him in for several kisses, murmuring praises between each one. Zedaph's heart was so full of love, he wanted to bask in this moment forever.
Notes:
Had to give Zedaph the easiest labor I could after all the trauma, poor thing deserves it.
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Blu_Jayc on Chapter 1 Thu 14 Mar 2024 02:21AM UTC
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Last Edited Sat 14 Jun 2025 05:06AM UTC
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