Kat PoV

"Y’know, when people told me that time would pass quickly because of you five, I never really believed them... I mean, sure, I’d be kept busy, but Goddess above you five are just..."

Shaking my head and letting out a sigh, I stared at each of my pups before hoisting them up one by one, plopping them into their crib for their midday nap and trying to get my own in before something else happened.

Of course the instant I dropped them onto their fluffy bedding with all their favorite toys and lit the soothing, wonderfully scented incense stick nearby, all five of them threw their little heads back and just started screaming.

Getting older had somehow just enlarged their batteries by an impossibly high amount despite not being that old just yet, and as such every single time I thought they might just be worn out... they proved me completely and utterly wrong. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Letting out another sigh, I just stared at the five of them for few moments before erecting a gentle wind barrier around them, trapping the noise to just the crib and causing me to smile gently as peace and quiet descended around me once more.

Being able to just silence the noise like that was honestly such a cheat that I almost felt guilty doing it, yet when I saw them just wailing in there I shook my head yet again and leaned back in the chair, taking a few moments of peace now that I had them.

One eye was left cracked open so that I could make sure they weren’t actually upset, and seeing that they were slowly winding down I let out another sigh, only to jolt upright when a sharp scream echoed through the house once again.

For a split second I thought my spell had somehow failed, but when that scream was immediately followed by a long string of expletives I immediately realized what was happening... because Anput never shouted like that even when she accidentally shattered her work into hundreds of dangerous little shards.

Even when she had dropped a hammer on her foot and failed to really react in time because she was worried about the still hot weapon in her hand she had never shouted this loudly, so that meant that right now... she was going into labor.

Indecision grabbed ahold of me right then since I couldn’t just leave my five pups here while I went to Anput, but I also really shouldn’t bring them with me since seeing their Mom in such a state was... probably not a good idea.

As if sensing my indecision and deciding that it was useless, Leone rushed into the main room and began to arrange the bed while Jahi carried Anput inside, holding the writhing Jackalkin in her arms as she waited for the Vampire to get everything situated.

Seeing that, I rushed to grab all of the other things they might need before nodding when Jahi tilted her head towards the door, letting me know through the Soul Bond that I needed to go inform the others about what was happening.

Finding Kavya took little time, and the older Demoness rushed into the house without any hesitation, heading to help right away while I made my way to the Transportation Circle and began to activate it.

It was my first time using it on my own so I wasn’t really certain of what I needed to do, but thankfully Cali appeared beside me and murmured something before taking me straight to the Palace, where I rushed into the throne room and interrupted whatever important meeting was being held.

The Empress nodded and went to find her own Vampire while Lady Igna and Lady D’Arcon rushed to Anput and Leone immediately; finding the Transportation Circle for the March, I glanced at Cali and watched as she rolled her eyes and murmured something else before being whisked away yet again.

Having your vision warp and your body tingle all over while also going numb and then on top of that flipping between being hot and cold was definitely... a sensation of all time, but the concern I had outweighed all of that as I slammed Mom’s doors open and shouted "Anput’s in labor!"

The Demoness at the desk just looked up at me before sighing, while Mother and Mother Ria nodded and followed behind me; we all went back to the Palace before splitting up again, because I had one final place to go...

The Sultanate’s heat hit me like a hammer when I arrived, and I realized that they had placed their Transportation Circle outside in the middle of their large courtyard behind their home, leaving me to get beat down by the sun immediately.

The guards on either side jumped and rushed to aim their spears at me, but when I shouted "Anput’s in labor!" they both jumped again before one began to sprint towards the palace, only for them to be spun around when a blur zipped past them.

Lady Kio didn’t even say anything to me, just activating that Transportation Circle and leaving me there in a daze, while the Sultana arrived beside me and gently walked me back to it, her hand resting on the small of my back.

"When?"

We walked back through all of the Transportation Circles, and although I wanted to run the Sultana decided to take our time instead, asking me questions and waiting for answers as she kept her hand right where it was to prevent me from leaving.

As we made it to the door she murmured "Trying not to overwhelm her would be best... so after I step inside to take a look-", to which I finally mustered the courage to shake my head and say "You aren’t going anywhere."

That surprised her, but she just shrugged, opened the door and immediately got met with a loud "FUCK YOU!" before a book crashed into the wall beside us; we both slowly turned to see Anput heaving on the bed, her lips curled back in a snarl as she glared daggers at Kavya.

"Lady Anput, please, you need to-"

"NO! Give me something already! This-! GODDESS ABOVE!"

Her pained shriek made me flinch, though the moment she laid eyes on me she calmed down a little, only to stare right at me and snarl "Get the fuck over here already!", her eyes flickering between obsidian and silver every few heartbeats.

When I arrived by her side she immediately grabbed my hand and squeezed it, letting out another sharp cry as her stomach clenched and writhed around, giving me a view of what I had gone through and causing me to pale quite a bit.

Living it had been one thing, but as I sat here watching her... knowing that I couldn’t do much else for her... it was an entirely different batch of agony that washed over me.