Damon smirked at me as he was eating his bowl of my pea soup, or it had been my idea, but since Number Four had mostly made it, I could not really take credit for it. Men had returned from their culvert work, teleporting back to the house to have a meal and maybe go back some more later on, but not yet sure, as they were so excited about our pregnancies.
What surprised me was Damon's proposal for Mariella and me. He suggested that since we were early in our pregnancies, working in our shops would be beneficial. He explained that they could care for the children and babies, and with an upcoming evaluation, it would be an excellent opportunity to see how the children would benefit from an early education program. This program would involve four hours at a daycare center, three times a week, which he believed would be amazing for them, especially since it would be entirely free.
Essentially, Damon was urging us back to work, stating that we didn't need to take maternity leave just yet, as working during early pregnancy would boost our benefits. He had consulted with Charles, and together they had focused more deeply on this, making several calculations. I was simply flabbergasted. We were among the lowest earners in our pack, so why us? Perhaps he thought it might calm us down or help with our hormones.
He did mention that some of the men would also be working. Damon himself had a private practice, and once our schedules were finalized, he would see what work hours he could manage. However, he explained that his workload at the hospital was decreasing due to less demand in our isolated location, and they were already cutting his hours.
I wasn't sure how I felt about this pregnancy in the first place, and now Damon was taking charge, ordering us to work. It was certainly a novel experience, and I had to admit, he seemed to be truly stepping up as both a husband and a pack leader. Nevertheless, a part of me resented being ordered around.
Since I wasn't in the mood to overthink it, I decided it would be fine. After all, I had several in-house projects in mind, including cake decorating. However, that would have to wait until tomorrow. Perhaps I would bake the cake bottoms today, in the evening, when the men were tired and wouldn't bother me. If I prepared them earlier and filled them, my overeager husbands—all fourteen of them—might end up decorating my cakes before I even had a chance.
I was planning to make small cakes, but many of them, and I had recently found my special cake decorating kit, my recipe books, about all things buttercream and cake decorating, as well as find suitable boxes where I could put those cakes and place them in the freezer if needed.
I could also take one of two to work from time to time, sell them as well, the world was my oyster, and I was not going to tell my husbands about my plans, nor remind Mariella about them either, as she might blurt them out to damon.
As I sat there and ate, I could not help but reflect on my life, my choices, and everything that had happened to me over the years, and what the future might hold. I mean, once upon a time, Salvatores had caused me pain like no other. I don't mean physical, but emotional, as they had always chosen Mariella over me. But now, it was almost scary to realize just how many of them had really chosen me. Was I worth it? Sure, in some way, I was a bit more even, but then again, I was hardly a perfect wife or even spouse, but my mind kept on spinning, pros and cons, flickering in my mind.
Wulfe sent me a steady stream of his love, as to show me, I would always have him love me no matter what, as well as a similar transmission came to Adam, Charles, and the boys, but as we were hive, and I had taught salvatores all things hive, they sensed this, and soon several floods of pure love came from them too.
I was literally bathed in love. I sat there and realized that it might be that mariella had never felt this kind of pure love, as she had always been a creature of lust, and Salvatores, being lust wizards, had more or less seduced her body, but her soul, not so much, and maybe it was one thing that had made her jealous.
I was pregnant again and feeling hormonal, but I managed to mask it somewhat.
Via our private channel on Hive, I asked Mariella, "Do you want to feel something amazing? I'm not sure if you've ever felt anything like this, or if it's even important to you. You're a creature of lust, but do you want to feel this stream of pure love that I'm experiencing?"
Her reply was hesitant.
Telepathically, she said, "Sure, but I've felt love before, Damon. Many of the Salvatores love me too, not just you."
I kept my expression neutral as I connected her to my sensations, letting her feel the overwhelming love I was experiencing. Mariella's expression became thunderous as she realized that what she had considered love was merely seduction and the allure of physical pleasure. She was literally a sex toy for most of Salvatores. A set of holes, if you put it crudely.
This soul-deep love I was feeling was something entirely unique, and it hit her hard in her hormonal state. A pouty frown formed on her lips as she began to scheme how she could make everyone feel the same way about her.
As I was eating, I remarked aloud, "It's amazing how much my life has changed. However, I still have my issues. I must admit, despite having my ways of coping with certain troublesome aspects, I realize I'm not really doing myself any favors."
Number Two, sitting nearby, asked, "Care to elaborate, my love? Details, what are you referring to so I can maybe help you out?"
I rolled my eyes. "Mainly medical stuff. As you know, I have my issues. Even though I use my pretender abilities to take on a role, not being myself when I need medical attention, it doesn't really make me tolerate procedures any better."
Wulfe commented calmly, "I can help you out, too. A few tweaks, and it might be easier, but no guarantees, as your mind can somewhat resist my manipulation."
Number One added, "Yeah, and I guess it's much about your own attitude, too."
I nodded. "Remember how Samuel made it safe for me? He hid as much medical paraphernalia as possible and established certain routines. As a creature of habit, I needed to know what would happen, and it had to follow a specific path."
Number Two nodded, recalling the time he first drew my blood. He had to restrain me and talk to me almost constantly to prevent my panic. I wasn't sure why I'd blurted this out; perhaps it was due to my pregnancy, or perhaps I simply wanted them to know.
Maybe I was finally learning to confide in them about my problems, or perhaps I just wanted them to understand that I might be a handful if they planned frequent blood tests. Mariella, ever jealous and needy, watched me, and I could sense her strategizing how to claim as many Salvatores for herself as possible. However, I had a little demonstration planned for Wulfe, showing him how to use a pack leader as a mere boy toy.
So, by the way, I reminisced, "Do you remember, Damon, when you were cooking, and I was wearing that shirt with plenty of buttons and my granny panties? I wonder if you could hold back as long as you did then?"
Damon smirked dangerously, looking at me heatedly and saying, rather lazily, "Why don't you try it one day, baby? Let's see. No guarantees, though."
Mariella pursed her lips even more and asked, "How about me, my love? Could you keep your hands to yourself if I were to do something like that?"
It was Number Two who remarked softly to Mariella, "Darlin', you lack the mental discipline for that. If you attempted something like that, you'd be all over Damon in minutes, like a cat in heat. Baby here, she's a master of slow seduction, but if she were to do that to me, I wouldn't wait very long. We might just sanctify the kitchen once more."
Mariella snapped her mouth shut, trying to devise a plan to secure the men for herself. I, meanwhile, was lost in thought, recalling past events.
As one memory surfaced, I spoke aloud to Number One, "Do you remember Mandy and Mindy, my fox kits with many tails?"
Damon, being Damon and now, so to speak, finding his balls again, said a bit sharply, "Yeah, I remember our fox kits, my wife. What about them?"
He stressed the pronoun ever so slightly. It was always like this with him; he wanted me to refer to them as our kits, our babies. But in my mind, they were solely mine, just as he had been for most of my breeding time–a mere breeder, not much of a father. However, occasionally, he had risen to the challenge.
"Well, they are chaos foxes, thus tails," I stated neutrally. "I heard this from Dresden when this was all starting; he mentioned it in passing. So, my chaos is also hereditary. I'm not sure how it's passed to my human children, but for cubs, it's hereditary. Colin promised to look into it if he had time, but I suspect their world-saving tour would be one nasty bit of business and keep them all quite busy."
Number Four spoke extremely softly. He felt he should know everything immediately, and this was just another thing he hadn't known. He also found it difficult that Colin was taking on so much.
He locked eyes with me, his pheromones sharpening as he hissed, "It would be pertinent if you would kindly share these details earlier, Mimi. My wife and I could then perhaps test the babies and children, check them magically. As you know, being chaos isn't easy, and it would be rather helpful for us to know the extent of their powers." His tone was now clipped, and he spoke sharply and crisply, clearly annoyed.
He, along with Number Two and One, began brainstorming testing methods. Since others in the pack also possessed a degree of chaos, it seemed wise to test Mariella's broods as well, and the older girls, too.
Wulfe joined the conversation, not overly upset, though he hadn't known about this, as Colin had informed me, and Wulfe hadn't been present. It seemed I had just given the pack doctors another problem to solve, and they might even test me to understand how to detect chaos power.
As it turned out, Damon also now possessed an actual rage gene that could be passed on to females, no longer solely male-driven Salvatore rage. I wasn't sure if it was fundamentally different, but I had given them something new to focus on.
Tomorrow would be my cake-making day. I was already planning which sponges and fillings to use, aiming for deliciousness and good looks, with taste being paramount. Consulting my decorating books, I intended for the decorations to complement the cakes' fillings and flavors.
I knew we had freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries, for example. Now, if you crush those and add them to sponge cake, you get an incredible hit of flavor. Enhance it further with a filling—not just buttercream, but a cream and curd mix thickened with gelatin.
With moist sponges, your cake would be sublime. Of course, being a mommy, I was planning to let the kids witness my art, and naturally, I would let them taste the cakes as well. I could even make them small cakes, like cupcakes, as treats.
However, Wulfe was very attuned to me; he looked at me very sharply, as if making sure he might be stuck with me tomorrow, and he also wanted to do some decorating and make cake fillings. I wasn't sure how many of the Salvatores were catching on to my plan, or if my little exposé about my chaos was making them focus on that aspect.
Oh, I hoped so, because what I had planned would be so much fun! I wasn't in need of overeager, loving husbands wanting to do this with me. I was being selfish, pregnant, sassy, and, as usual, trouble with a capital T.