I reached over and picked up this adorable baby of mine, giving her a kiss on the forehead as she continued to laugh and squeal.
"Mmm...! Mama!"
"Oh Fate. You too?"
"Aaaaiii~!"
Fate reached her arms out, a smile spreading across her cheeks the moment our eyes met.
Of course I picked her up in my other arm, giving her a kiss as well as squeezing my oh so cute twins.
If cuteness could spike one's blood sugar, I'd have long since fallen into a permanent diabetic coma.
""Mmm...mmm!""
"Oh, are you hungry?"
Both infants started to squirm around like a cat that's had enough of being confined between its owner's arms. That said, I was pretty sure that Alicia and Fate hadn't ever gotten fed up with how much I doted on them.
Though then again, that might be my mommy glasses masking any dissatisfaction.
(Probably not. They love the skin-ship I give them.)
That said, I didn't want them to suffer from hunger pangs for longer than they had to. I quickly opened my robes up and helped them into position.
I looked down at my little babies, gently supporting them as they pressed their faces into my bosom as they ate.
While logically it was something easy to understand, actual experiencing them growing so big and so quickly, I had difficulty wrapping my head around how it was being done with nothing but the milk my body was producing.
Not only were they grown from a single cell inside my belly, but after they were born, their bodies continued to grow at such a rapid pace that one day they would become too big for me to hold both of them in my arms.
There was a large part of me that didn't want that day to come, as it would mean that the time when they would leave me and become independent would be coming close. But at the same time, there was another part that couldn't help but look forward to that day. To see how much they grew and how far they would be able to reach without my help.
Perhaps that was a vital part of parenthood. That desire to support and monopolize one's children, but at the same time to want to see them stand on their own feet without needing their parents help.
But as to whether I would be able to let go of my daughters when the time came, I didn't know. The very thought of it was terrifying, even if it was also something full of hope.
I shook my head.
Anything along those lines would be years in the future. More than a decade, perhaps even more than two.
Alicia and Fate still hadn't even seen their first year yet. Those sorts of thoughts were far too premature.
For now...
(They're really eating up. Less than six months ago, each feeding session only took less than half an hour, but now they keep going on for so long.)
While they didn't eat as often as before, now more like six or so times a day, each feeding session had grown twice as long. I wasn't entirely sure about how much they were eating nowadays, I could feel that they were able to suck in milk at a much faster rate than at first. In addition to spending more than twice as much time feeding than at first, they were really sucking in the milk.
It really was to the point that I was worried that soon they wouldn't be satisfied with how much I was producing.
(Maybe that's a sign that I should be introducing raw blood into their diet?)
But I didn't really like that idea. Feeding them was a major highlight of my days, so if I could keep on going for a bit longer, I'd like that. They said that breastfeeding was a special bonding time between a mother and her babies after all.
There wasn't a time I felt more connected to them, both emotionally as well as literally.
"Puuhaa!"
"Paaa!"
"Oh? Are you two full now?"
Detaching themselves from me, Alicia and Fate looked up at me and gave me a full faced smile.
"Oooh!"
And in return, I pulled them into a hug before even bothering to cover myself up again.
I rubbed my cheeks against theirs as they giggled. The light pressure on my cheeks suggested that they were enjoying the skin to skin contact.
A part of me wanted to keep this up forever, perhaps in compensation for losing the connection while feeding, but it wasn't possible. Just like cats, these two would eventually bore of being exposed to the same action and want to be stimulated in a different way.
Reluctantly, before it got to that point, I pulled back and placed the two of them onto the soft fur carpet so I could fix up my outfit.
Almost immediately, they both turned around and went off crawling.
"Zoom zoom, huh?"
Like that one old car commercial, their quick movements looked as if they were racing off across the countryside. They were fully taking advantage of the stats which were far beyond what was age appropriate as they explored around the room.
I warmly watched over them as they checked out their surroundings, practically a daily routine for the two of them. Despite the fact that I rarely changed anything they could reach in my room, the two of them loved to check and recheck everything they could.
Maybe it was less exploration, and more the feeling of moving around and manipulating their environment with their own strength? I couldn't say for sure. It wasn't like they were able to string together sentences to tell me that, but once that thought came to mind, a part of me couldn't help but think that it was the right one.
I warmly held on to that thought as I buttoned up my robes.
It made me wish that I could understand how these two were seeing the world around them. But it wasn't simply just how they saw with their eyes, but further than that. How they interpreted what they saw, how they thought about everything.
The perspective was just something which a fully grown adult just wasn't able to imagine.
I had simply lost the innocence required to be able to understand.
The thought was a little depressing, as it was one spot where I could never connect with Alicia or Fate.
That said, even despite all of that, watching them as their clumsy and awkward crawling grow more and more confident, with less banging of their knees and more bending of their elbows made a warm tingle grow in my chest.
Not only that, but seeing them move around like this made me glad I had altered their robes so that the lower fronts could be tied to the back and I had pants made for the two of them. Before, their knees would catch on their baby robes as they tried to crawl, making those early clumsy movements even more awkward than they had to.
It was definitely good to have made this change to their wardrobe.
That said, it wasn't like their wardrobe was that extensive in the first place. Just three sets of robes each along with some pants to go with them.
It wasn't like we vampires sweat, so there wasn't exactly much need to change our clothes nearly as often as the other races. And being able to dry clothes instantly meant that they could all be easily cleaned while I was relaxing taking a bath.
Though, that said, not even we were as convenient as the spirits. Claret, as a greater spirit, didn't even change her clothes as they were actually a part of her body. Technically she was nude all the time and nobody really notices. And that wasn't taking into consideration that the fluffballs were always nude like wild animals. Though they were far cuter than any animal I've ever seen.
As I continued to watch my adorable little twins wander around, pushing and pulling on random objects and furniture scattered around the room, I refilled myself popping globules of kobold blood. A couple of times I almost got up as one of them pushed a chair or something far harder than they should have, but caught myself and stopped when I realized that it wasn't going to be anything dangerous to them.
I've been warned quite a few times by quite a few people that letting my girls do what they want and see what happens when they act on things was important to their upbringing. Stopping them before they could learn that lesson in fear that they might hurt themselves was doing nothing but stunting their growth.
That said, if it really looked like they were about to get hurt, then that piece of advice could go to shit for all I cared.
"Hmmm?"
As I was being slightly distracted, Alicia and Fate joined up at the bookcase. There wasn't anything lining the lower shelves just in case, and the bookcase was secured to the wall so that it wouldn't fall over since the two of them liked to grab the shelves and use them to balance themselves on their feet.
The bookcase itself wasn't anything interesting, but every time either of them got onto their feet, it got my heart pounding.
Maybe, just maybe they'll be able to take their first step this time?
Time and again they got to their feet the last month, but usually nothing came out of it. Either they gave up after keeping their stiff legs held awkwardly apart, or they'd take some clumsy steps while holding onto an object.
The first time that happened, I made the mistake of picking the both of them up, ruining their attempt at walking with assistance.
I swore to myself that I wouldn't make that mistake a second time, and eagerly watched from a distance.
Usually they rose up to their feet separately, but for once they did it together at the same time.
Whether it meant something, I didn't know, but it was adorable how it looked like they were competing against each other.
Both of them turned their head towards me almost as one before taking a step away from the bookshelf.
(Could this be it?!)
They still had one hand on the shelf to help keep their balance, but their legs should be more than strong enough to support their bodies. The issue was their ability to control those same legs, as well as the rest of their bodies.
They might have high agility and dexterity stats for a pair of babies, that didn't seem to entirely translate to their ability to control their bodies. It might be because it was more connected to their brain's ability to issue commands to their bodies rather than their nerves and muscles ability to answer to the demands placed on them.
I certainly never had my worst fears regarding having such a strong body come into reality. I've never used too much force when doing something at all, with the worst being simply overestimating the amount of strength I should have put into something. Like lifting a box thinking it was going to be heavy, only to discover it was empty. That sort of thing was the worst I've ever had to deal with, and that wasn't exactly something unique to someone with over 100k strength.
Being able to crush an iron ingot like it was a marshmallow didn't mean that I'd crush a person's hand while shaking it. Accidentally at least.
When I realized that no such event had transpired, it brought quite the amount of relief to my mind.
That said, Alicia and Fate had things different. They were born strong, and would continue to grow even stronger. Especially Fate would never know what it would be like to have little strength. I hoped that they would learn to avoid abusing the strength of their bodies.
It was unfortunate that I wouldn't be a very good teacher when it came to controlling their physical strength and abilities. Only others far weaker than them would be able to do such a thing.
But going back to Alicia and Fate's current situation, they were nervously stamping their feet with jerking motions. They kept glancing at the ground below them before snapping their eyes onto me, their hands never leaving the shelf they used as support.
Eventually, Alicia gathered her courage, and took a quick, clumsy step. Her arms splayed out to the sides to maintain her balance. For a moment, I thought that she might fall over like every time she had done so in the past.
But tempering myself and sitting still rather than rushing over as she wobbled, I got to see the amazing sight of Alicia standing on her own without any support.
"Waaa! Aaauuu!"
Seeing what her sister just did, Fate jumped up and down on the spot. But even then, she clung to the shelf as her support.
After calming down from her excitement, she too took a cautious yet awkward step, letting go of the bookshelf.
Even though the two had done virtually the same thing, a part of me was more impressed at Fate's act as she didn't have the benefit of memories of a previous life.
Then again, I didn't know how much Alicia's previous memories were helping her at this juncture, so despite her getting a head start in many of the baby milestones, she might have actually been a genius beyond such a cheat.
But in the end, I admonished myself. By babies were cute. That was what was important. Who was able to develop faster didn't matter. They were both equally my daughters, and that was all that was important in the end.
Cute is justice, which meant that both Alicia and Fate were unparalleled existences.
That was all that was important.
Both Alicia and Fate took two, three steps away from the bookcase. My heart soared as I grew ever more excited at the sight and I held my arms out towards my brave babies.
"Here's mommy! You can do it!"
Even as their confidence was growing, it was clear that they were still struggling to keep their balance. I didn't want to see them fail, that hit to their courage that they were slowly building up.
Every fibre of my being hoped that they would succeed, that they would be able to walk the distance towards me. I desperately wanted to congratulate the both of them as I hugged them.
But to my dismay, as Fate moved to take her fourth step, her arms jerked wildly up and down as she lost balance and she tipped forward.
I rushed my shadow out towards my baby in order to catch her, but surprisingly, before I reached her, she managed to catch herself.
Or rather, Alicia caught her, unintentionally. Or, to be exactly, Alicia and Fate caught each other.
"Wah!"
To the older twin's surprise, the younger twin's hand landed on her arm, and as they swung against each other, they managed to lean against the other and act as a counter support.
I let out a sigh, glad that the worst didn't happen. If things were like this, there was a chance that they could recover, and continue their landmark walk.
With a close eye, I watched as Alicia and Fate pushed off of each other, slowing their wobbling as they regained their balance. And very soon, aside from the fact that they were still leaning on each other, all traces of the loss of balance Fate suffered was all gone.
Now that confidence was returning to their eyes, both girls turned towards me, and I in turn stretched out my arms encouraging them to take another step towards their mother.
""Mama!""
And take a step forward they did. Or, at least Alicia did.
With a wide swing of her arms, she took a strong stride forward.
Whether accidental or deliberate, most likely the former as I refused to believe that it was the latter, the motion caused the elder twin to push off of the younger.
Fate's eyes stretched wide open at the delayed realization that she had lost her balance.
I once again stretched my shadow towards the little baby, but my own delayed reaction caused by the shock at seeing the unexpected sight made me a little late, and the little baby fell onto her butt. My shadow at the very least managed to catch Fate before she rolled down onto her back, potentially hitting her head on the fur covered floor.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I focused on the two of them again.
Alicia, unaware of what had happened to her sister, had a bright smile on her face as she took another awkward step towards me with her arms stretched out towards me.
On the other hand, I was filled with mixed emotions, due to the state of each sister.
"Waaah!"
Just as I stuck trying to decide how to feel about the current situation, Fate burst out crying. It seemed like her surprise caught up with her and she had grown upset over being pushed down.
"Ah, Fate!"
I lifted her up with my shadow so that I could comfort her. But it was at that timing that I noticed something more urgent.
"Alicia?!"
Perhaps it was the sudden crying, but Alicia lost her footing as well and pitched violently forward. Her arms stretched out and waved in front of her as she tried to jerk a foot forward to catch herself.
"Wah!"
She successfully kicked off the ground with her advanced foot, but against her expectations, she wasn't able to catch her fall and right herself. Instead, the kick vaulted her body into the air, a full stamp with the strength of an adult against the mass of a child, the result was a given.
A projectile baby launched herself into the air as Alicia's eyes widened into saucers, her arms and legs flailing in desperation as she panicked.
On the other hand, I felt like my heart had stopped as I desperately shot out my shadow to catch my precious baby.
Fortunately, despite my delayed reaction at seeing what I normally imagined to be impossible happening right before my eyes, I was able to catch Alicia midair. Winding back my shadows, I pulled my two babies into my arms as they both let their tears run freely as they let out their voices.
"It's okay. There there. It was scary, wasn't it? But you're safe now."
I pulled open my robes and tucked them into the baby sling hidden underneath.
The two of them clung onto me as they cried their hearts out, all the while I rubbed their backs and kissed their heads.
"There there. You're safe."
I continued to do everything I could to reassure the two of them, and after a short while, exhausted after such a bout, their open crying had devolved into soft sniffling as they buried their faces into my chest. Even that slowly faded away as I continued to share my warmth with them the best I could.
(Hmm...maybe it'll be a little while before they try that again.)
Keeping my dour thoughts to myself, I gave my twins another kiss.
Ninetailed_Furball
Hi everybody! It's your usual furball! (≧∇≦)/
Sorry for missing another chapter. Between the recent steam sale and issues rectifying my plans regarding this arc, I've been having trouble punching keys on my keyboard. m(_ _)m
That said, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Once I got going, it was a blast to write! (´∇｀)/
For those of you concerned about the lack of story progress, the next arc will start up soon, and past consequences will rear their heads, ugly or not.
Hope everyone is still doing well, and I'll do my best to get back on track!
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login