“It’s okay, Arim. I wanted to do this without any outside influence.” Because I’m an idiot. I clearly heard her thoughts, though I knew she was unaware of broadcasting them. “If you’d just —”
“Uncle.” I stilled at Darius’s message. “Samantha’s giving birth. Two sons! No wait, here comes another.” I relayed the information to the others as Lexa nearly broke my hand. I tried to coax her into deep, measured breathing, but she nearly bit my head off, so I refrained from commenting.
“You know,” Aerolus said with a twinkle in his eye. “I had a feeling Darius would be the next overking. Since we, and Cadmus, are now out of the running,” he said to Marcus. “There’s just one arrogant, explosive Storm Lord left.”
“Wait,” I said, holding up a hand.
“One more! Three boys. We have three perfect little Storm Lords.”
I frowned. Something wasn’t right.
“They’re coming,” Lexa cried out and gripped hard. No matter what she said, I refused to let her take the whole burden. And when I lent her my strength, she didn’t protest.
“We’ll, uh, wait outside.” Marcus hustled Aerolus out the door despite his protests.
An hour later, I left the cottage to find all four of my nephews waiting. Though all four looked pleased, they also looked worried.
“Uncle Arim?” Aerolus ventured forward. “Are Lexa and the babies okay?”
“Not that we were trying to be nosy, but we didn’t hear anything.” Marcus cleared his throat, concerned.
“We didn’t have the twins I was expecting.” I didn’t understand what any of this meant.
“I’m so sorry.” Darius came forward, a somber expression darkening his face, and he grabbed me in a tight hug. He let go, and the others offered their support.
I took a deep breath, trying to muddle through the cloud of joy tangling my thoughts. “We had four girls. Four identical daughters.”
They froze and looked at each other, and then my nephews burst into delighted laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I still couldn’t get over this happy yet nerve-wracking situation.
“You’re the next overking,” Cadmus said with a chuckle. “Mr. Diplomacy,” he mocked. “Take one step closer and I’ll fry your sorry ass,” he mimicked my baritone. “Oh, we are in for a world of hurt.”
“Now wait a minute,” I tried, but Darius cut me off.
“Thank the Light. I was worried when Samantha kept popping them out.”
“‘Popping them out?’” Marcus frowned. “Really, Darius.”
Darius grinned. “They’re perfect. I was excited at one, then two, but at three I was getting nervous. Light be praised, she stopped.”
“You know, this actually makes sense,” Aerolus mused. “There’s no greater balance between us than Arim and Lexa, a Storm Lord and a Dark Lord. As we all know, Tanselm has always had a more feminine temperament.”
Cadmus grimaced. “Though I hate to agree with the professor, here, he has a point. Arim, you and Lexa were clearly made for each other, and well, no one else can really handle either of you. Imagine how difficult your kids will be.”
We all chuckled, though I didn’t know if that was exactly something to laugh at.
Marcus nodded, a wide smile on his face. “We each deal with the headache of running a territory, and big bad Uncle Arim gets the entire kingdom. Sounds good to me.”
I groaned. “I don’t think Lexa’s going to be very happy about this.” She already had issues being so much in the public eye. I knew it would take both patience and understanding until she finally put the past behind her.
Though annihilating Nohjen was a good start. I shook my head, so pleased with my scary wife.
“Look at it this way,” Cadmus said, his eyes sparkling. “Four girls with Storm Lord and Dark Lord magic won’t take crap from anyone, ever. Especially with you for a father and Lexa for a mother. Hell, they’ll probably have their own affai eating from the palms of their hands when the time comes.”
“Just like us.” Darius wiggled his eyebrows and gave me a smug smile I wanted to wipe off his face.
I shuddered at thoughts of dating and suitors for my daughters. My daughters.
