[Astedia]And then there were five

Babies!

1st of Cylus 718

The capital city of the of Rynmere, here is seated the only King in Idalos.
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Xander Andaris
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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1st of Cylus, Arc 718

Apparently he had been in the way, at least that was what the doctor had said when he forced him to leave the room. Now he was stuck outside of the locked door pacing as he waited for news, frustrated that he didn't know what was happening. The Duke leaned against the wall, forehead pressed against the hard surface as he sighed. His mind started to wander. What if something was wrong? What if Celeste didn't make it? He shook his head, it had been a long time but not that long, they would have told him something by now if it was the case. He paced again crossing forward and backward in front of the door.

Forwards and backwards, over and over until finally he heard it. The sound of a crying baby filled the air but not just one, it was soon followed by the sound of a second. His heart felt like it stopped as he was frozen in place, standing before the door mid pace he could hardly believe his ears. Xander managed to turn at the sound of the door opening to see the doctor beckoning him in, the sound of crying babies was overwhelming as he passed the threshold.

There was a woman by Celeste, someone he did not recognise who held one of the babes in her arms the other was with Celeste on the bed. Xander felt his breathe catch in his throat as he saw them all, the babies and his wife, his lover. Each step felt like an eternity until he reached the bedside and the woman who had been by Celeste's side. She looked at Xander and inclined her head before offering him the child.

His heart raced as he looked at the tiny being, allowing the woman to guide him in holding the child correctly. A wide smile managed to crawl its way into his face as he peered down at the screaming baby, wrapped tight in a blanket to protect from the cold it wriggled in his arms. The innocent blue eyes stared up at him, the hair like wisps of cloud on her head. Tears breached the confines of his eyes as he watched the baby's face move. He would never be able to explain the joy he felt in that moment as he held his first child in his arms.

It felt like a long time but in reality it was just moments before he looked to the other child in Celeste's arms. The doctor had said it was possible but he had almost refused to believe it until this moment. The other child was more like Celeste, her stark brown eyes deep and warm and the delicate features of her face were much less Krome like. The young father's heart was beating at double time, he was speechless as he let the tears run down his face.

Leaning forward he kissed Celeste's forehead, then the child in her arms and then the one in his own. His mind was a blur of pure joy and excitement it took all his will to finally conjure up a sentence. "I...I can't believe it, I love you Celeste and these babies, I love this." He perched on the bed beside her and his lips tightened into a thin line as he finally tried to hold back his tears.

He failed however as they came back with renewed vigour. The wolf finally had a pack, a true and complete pack, him, the twins, Celeste and Ala'ni. They were the family he had never truly realised he wanted, the family he needed. "Are you okay my love?" His head turned from the child in his arms to look at Celeste, blue eyes locking with her brown. "Are you happy?"
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Celeste Andaris
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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"Xander!" Celeste was laying in the bed, back propped up against the headboard and resting on thick pillows. She was pale, her hair, which she had insisted on pinning up once labour had started for reasons which only made sense to her and even then only at the time, matted to her head and falling out of the pins and her cheeks were bright red, but before they let him in, they had changed the bed and made her more comfortable and so she was wearing a fresh and clean nightgown and her face lit with delight as she saw him. She looked exhausted, but then it had been breaks. Later, she'd question whether they'd done all that before letting him in for her sake, or his and her conclusion would be both, especially since Xander might well pass out, Celeste thought with a smile.

But right now, she did not care about any of that, it did not occur to her to think it, to ask or to wonder. In this moment, she held the baby in her arms and watched as the midwife handed Xander the other. She watched him as he looked down at the child in his arms, and she knew that there was no doubting which bloodline that their first child, "Our daughter looks like you," she said, her voice just above a whisper. "Although this one? This daughter looks like me." He kissed her forehead and she lifted her face to his, holding on to him and her tears mingled with his.

Brown eyes searched out his blue as he spoke and Celeste let out a quiet sob. "Happy? I.. Xander, there is no word for what I am. Look at them." They were perfect, unique and wonderful and more than anything she just wanted to hold them. "I feel complete. I love you so much, and I.." she what? She had been difficult to live with and emotionally unstable? Flighty and paranoid? Needy, but then what had he been? All the troubles they had experienced in the last few seasons had not been one of them, but both of them she knew. So how could she tell him? How could she explain? "Everything I have ever wanted and more than that, so much more is in this, our family. You, our children our three beautiful children" Looking down at the baby in her arms, then in his Celeste chuckled. "You and four women? Oh, Xander, what are you going to do?"

Now probably wasn't the time to tell him, she thought with an inward smile, that what he wasn't doing was putting her through that again. No. No, that whole experience, as wonderful as the end product was, would not be something she was going to repeat, she thought to herself. That resolve would wane in time, although in the moment, she was quite sure but she said nothing, too busy being entranced. They were two beautiful beings, they were her and his and they were made with love. Celeste looked down at the children and, already, she was starting to think that maybe there would be more children. Yes, as she looked at those two children, she leaned into her husband and she spoke to him quietly. "Xander? I really am sorry that I've been so difficult. I love you. I do." She lowered her head against his shoulder and whispered softly. "We made them. Our babies." Yes, she thought, they could do this again. More than that, she was already thinking that this might just be the beginning, not the end as far as their children was concerned.
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Xander Andaris
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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"Me and four women indeed." He gently stroked the cheek of the blonde haired babe and then chuckled. It was surreal, the whole thing felt like a dream and even though he knew it wasn't he held onto the baby as if it might vanish any moment. "I suppose I will have no choice but to be the man of the house?" The warm smile spread across his lips as he gently rocked the child in his arms, watching them calm.

"This family is the world to me Celeste, I hope you realise that because I know I can be cold and distant." He gritted his teeth, looking at the children and then at her. "I know that sometimes it doesn't seem like I am putting it before all else but everything I do and everything I risk," The father paused for a moment turning to sit facing her on the bed hand reaching out for hers, "it is for this, for all of it."

It was clear he believed what he said and if Celeste did or not remained to be seen but his motivation was pure. Not only did he work to do what was right but he did it to preserve his families future and the give them a world worth living in. "What should we call them?" He smiled at her, hand still out in hers if she took it before. "A name is important it can define a person, although I think these two will define themselves." especially if they are as stubborn as their mother. He smirked, clearly an inside joke had gone through his mind.

"I told you once I would like to call one of our children Zara, after my sister, this one definitely resembles her." For a moment he was sure a memory of holding his baby sister for the first time passed through his mind eye. Of course it couldn't be, he doubted it possible to remember something so long ago so clearly but either way he could not help noticing the similarities to the memory. The emotions and the sight of the delicate tiny human in his arms.

"What do you think?" Xander looked to Celeste, happy to give her the final say in it, after all she had just struggled for breaks on end to deliver the two. It suddenly occurred to him how exhausted Celeste must be, he wondered how she was even staying awake. "They are beautiful." The Baron stood and turned himself sideways, climbing onto the bed and sliding over to be beside his wife.

He continued to cradle the hatchling, she was a dragon after all, in his arms. Peering down now not only at one but at two fresh faces, both sleeping for the time being. How long that would last would remain to be seen. "I never thought I would see something truly perfect in my life, the notion seemed impossible." The wolf leaned his head against Celeste's beside him. "But we did it, in fact we did better. We made two perfect beings, how did we do it?"
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Celeste Andaris
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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He would have to be the man of the house? Celeste smiled at him as he said that, but her eyes turned back to the baby in her arms and her expression changed again, softening as she considered that she held her daughter. "You will always be my wolf pup, Xander. But we will tell no one else." It was true and yes, he was surrounded by women now. Poor man, she considered, would they all be a temperamental as his wife?

Then, from nowhere it seemed, Xander spoke. He hoped she knew. Did she know, Celeste wondered and she realised that no, she did not. She had been chosen for him, not by him and they loved each other - of that there was no doubt. But they were both so broken by what had gone on before, by what they had lived and experienced. Could they ever make this work? Celeste had to believe it, had to. His hand reached for hers and in turn she grabbed and held on tight. "Xander...", she couldn't say she knew because she did not, but she wanted so much for his words to be true. "We can make it work, Xander. We can. If we start at loving each other, then nothing is impossible." She didn't want to let his hand go and Celeste lifted it to her lips, kissing his knuckles.

At the question of the names, though, Celeste looked down at the blonde-haired daughter and she nodded. "Zara is a beautiful name, I think it's perfect for her." As for the second one, Celeste looked down at her and she smiled. "I think her name is Katharine. I don't know why." Yes, she considered, Katharine. That was her name. Celeste looked up in surprise as Xander made his way and then he slid into the bed with her and the four of them were together. She was more than content to lean against him and look at their girls there, in their parents' arms. "I don't know, Xander, I really don't." Celeste felt tears threatening behind her eyes and she spoke in the quietest of whispers. "Can we make it work, Xander?" She sighed slightly and added, "us, I mean. I want to, I truly do." Her sigh was deeper and then she asked what was in her mind. "Do you ever get afraid?" She did, she grew afraid and she was worried that she was the only one. Or did he grow fearful of losing her the way that she was so terrified of losing him?
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Xander Andaris
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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Xander looked at the child in Celeste's arms and smiled, Katharine was a good name not one he remembered ever seeing in the noble family trees. Perhaps she would one day be the first Katharine to sit on the throne of Andaris or to lead an expedition beyond known lands. The future of his children remained to be seen but he could only imagine something great, they shared two powerful bloodlines and the blood of two incredible individuals in their own rights. "Hello Katharine." He smiled at the baby and then nodded. "Katharine it is."

Xander leaned in closer to her as she whispered his mind processing her words slowly and carefully. "I am always afraid, of myself and what I could do wrong or what another might do to ruin our future. My fear is always of losing you though, everyday I struggle with the truth of our love it is hard for me to believe that you would feel for me that way when I was once an emotionless machine." He chuckled, knowing that version of him was in the past, now he was anything but that he was arguably over emotional mostly when his wife was involved. "I suppose I really am better for meeting you, because now I can understand your love for me, sort of." He took his hand from her and placed it on her chin, turning her head to face him.

"I am afraid but I do not let it stop me because I look at you and me and now our children and I know we could take on anything, together we are more, together we have the strength to defeat even the darkest of immortal given dangers." Xander kissed Celeste then, a kiss like they had not shared for some time, one fuelled with powerful emotion and passion. "We are the future and in that future we are together."

He leaned his forehead against hers and inhaled, taking in her scent and enjoying the closeness. "My dearest Celeste, there is so much I could vow to you, so much I could offer as a promise but mine is simple. I vow to be honest to you from this day until my last. I will never lie to you, never keep secrets from you and never leave you uninformed." He spoke the vows he had spoken on his wedding day and smiled, kissing her again after he was done and then saying something else he had said that day again. "I will never stop loving you."

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Celeste Andaris
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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He answered her question and Celeste looked at him with brown eyes under which were the shadows of exhaustion, yet she had to speak, had to tell him. "I am afraid. Afraid that I will lose you. That is my only fear, Xander, and I do not care for anything else. May the Immortals and the seven forgive me, but it is true. You and our children." He cradled her chin with his hand and turned her to look at him and as he did, Celeste's eyes watched him. "It's so hard, Xander. So hard to be the people we need to be, but yet to keep hold of who we are. I love you, my husband and I promise you, I never thought to say that and mean it." Cradling the child in her arms, she reached and took the fingers of the one in his, watching with delight as those tiny digits wrapped around hers. "Our babies. Born with our love, Xander. Not duty, not necessity. Messy, noisy, unplanned and utterly inappropriate. May we always be that together, you and I." Would they? She did not know but in this moment Celeste believed they could be.

Together they had the strength they needed? She considered it and nodded. "Sometimes, I feel like I am losing myself in who I must be, who I pretend to be. Even who I think I am. Yet you see me and know, Xander." She rested her head against him and smiled. "Always remind me of who I am, at my core, and I will do the same, love." He told her that his fear would not stop him and then he kissed her. But it was more than that, it was a kiss like he had once planted on her lips, before the Barony and the pregnancy and the Ducal council. Before the Venora gala and the hundred other things which took them from each other, from who they were. One hand held their daughter but Celeste's other hand reached up and tangled in his hair as she returned the kiss in a manner which had been lacking from her embraces for some time. "Xander..." she breathed, and when he said that they were the future and in that future they were together? Tears threatened her brown eyes.

But when he repeated his vows to her, they did more than threaten. They spilled and Celeste looked at him. "I didn't say what I wanted to that trial. I was... I was afraid it would not be appropriate. But I had it prepared." Looking at him, she whispered the words she had wished to vow to him. "I promise you that I will walk with you all the trials of our life. You are my love, my husband and my king. Always." She smiled then and added the last part, eyes clear as she spoke. "And I will love you every trill of every bit, each bit of every break and all the breaks of the trials, seasons and arcs. From this moment, to my final moment." Resting against him, Celeste felt her eyes grow heavy. "Xander? I don't want to sleep in separate rooms any more. I miss you."
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[Astedia]And then there were five

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Celeste:

Knowledge:
Discipline: Hearing the words spoken to you.
Endurance: The lengthy process of birth
Endurance: Birth continues to have a toll on the body for a long time after
Endurance: Fighting tiredness.

Loot: Babies!
Injuries: N/A
Renown: + 10 for giving birth
Magic XP: no

Points: 15

Xander:

Knowledge:
Discipline: Waiting to hear the cry of your child
Discipline: Not being allowed to be somewhere you really want to be.
Discipline: Patience and emotions do not go hand in hand.
Intelligence: Servants have a lot of power, especially in times of high emotion

Loot: Babies!
Injuries: N/A
Renown: + 10 for becoming a father
Magic XP: no

Points: 15

- - -
Comments: This was a beautifully written thread. Xander and Celeste seem so happy and content. It's a good thing that they don't know what will happen soon, otherwise they probably wouldn't be able to enjoy the birth of their daughters. I wasn't aware that they slept in separate beds though!

Either way, well done!

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