Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 238: Special Valentine -

[System Event Triggered: Valentine’s Day.]

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Roxy woke up to the smell of grass and sizzling grilled meat. Was she dreaming? Clearly she saw the system message and knew that surely enough today was Valentine’s Day.

Was this a system reward for everything she had suffered?

That was the first thing she thought.

She blinked, sitting up. She was sitting on lush, vibrant green grass. Above her, a blue sky stretched endlessly, meeting a crystal-clear lagoon that shimmered with the colors of the Deep.

"What the..." Roxy murmured, touching the grass. It was dry.

"Hey! Watch the tail, you over-grown lizard!"

The voice was familiar. Painfully, wonderfully familiar that Roxy’s heart leapt to her throat. Fearing that once she closed her mind, the voice would disappear.

So Roxy quickly scrambled to her feet and spun around.

There, in a clearing between the forest and the beach, was a scene of absolute, beautiful chaos.

A massive stone grill had been set up. Zarek, in his human form but with his dragon wings flared out in irritation, was trying to flip a whole roasted boar. He looked rugged, his dark hair tied back, sweat glistening on his tanned skin.

Ren, the Red Fox, was darting around him like a little troublemaker, poking Zarek in the ribs and trying to steal a rib from the grill.

"I need a taste test!" Ren cackled, his fluffy ears twitching. "It might be poisoned! I’m saving the Alpha!"

"Get away from the meat, Ren, or I will roast you," Zarek snarled, a bit agitated that the fox was up in his nose. If he wanted to, he would have truly grabbed the fox by his tails and swung him away into space.

But he knew that Roxy loved the fox.

"Mama!"

Two voices shouted in perfect unison.

Axel and Onyx, the wolf twins, tackled her. They were in their human forms, boys of about ten now, but they still moved like puppies.

"You’re here!" Axel yelled.

"You’re home!" Onyx shouted.

They hugged her waist, burying their faces in her dress.

Before Roxy could even process the hug, a small, fierce projectile launched itself at her.

"MAMA!"

Iris hit Roxy’s legs with the force of a cannonball. The little wolf-girl clung to Roxy’s thigh like a limpet, growling softly at her brothers to back off.

"Mine," Iris declared, her eyes flashing yellow.

"Iris, let go, I can’t walk!" Roxy laughed, tears pricking her eyes.

"No," Iris said simply.

Roxy looked around. Kaelen was standing by the tree line, arms crossed, watching the chaos with a faint, proud smile. He looked as if he didn’t want to pull Roxy in and slobber her with kisses and even take her in a bushel and make her remember who owned the mark on her body.

On a large, flat rock basking in the sun was Syris. The Snake Beastman was barely awake, one eye open, looking thoroughly unbothered by the noise. They were all acting as if they didn’t see Roxy just come in, but Roxy knew better.

Their children were growing terribly fast and they couldn’t just behave like newly weds.

"Five more minutes," Syris mumbled, flicking his tongue. "The sun is good."

"Where is Torian?" Roxy asked, scanning the area.

"Right behind you," a deep voice whispered.

Roxy jumped. Torian was standing directly behind her. He hadn’t made a sound. He circled his hand around her waist and then pulled her in.

"You look well," Torian grunted. He Kissed into her hair and she leaned into his touch. "Sea-silk. Very rare. High market value."

"Torian!" Roxy swatted his arm. "Stop appraising me!"

"I just misssed you," Torian chuckled as he pulled her in and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. Zarek was quick to come over, and kiss her too, feeling jealous that Torian had to do it before him.

"Not fair, what about me?" Ren came into the picture and Roxy chuckled pulling him in for a kiss. His cheeks reddened as he blushed, feeling slightly disoriented.

When last had he felt so much happiness just by being with Roxy again?

Kaelen and Syris came in late for their own kiss, and Roxy gave them equal attention until Iris had enough and shooed them away, since they were taking up space with her mama.

Suddenly, the water in the lagoon rippled and everyone paused in what they were doing.

A figure emerged from the water.

It was Caspian.

But he wasn’t swimming. He was walking.

The King of the Deep strode out of the surf wearing loose white linen pants that rolled up at the ankles. His chest was bare, his scales shimmering in the sunlight.

He looked down at his feet as they sank into the sand. He wiggled his toes, a look of profound confusion on his face, and then there was a satisfied smile as if this was what he had been waiting for all his life.

"Caspian!" Roxy gasped.

She ran to him, dragging Iris, who refused to let go of her leg, and threw her arms around his neck.

"You have legs!" she cried.

Caspian caught her, his arms wrapping around her waist instantly. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling deeply.

"Roxy," he breathed. "Shouldn’t you be resting?"

He looked up and saw the audience.

Zarek was glaring at him, as if he was this close to killing Caspian. The others also looked like Caspian as if he never belonged here and should just be gone, now that they were being nice, but since Roxy was here, they could only glare.

Caspian stiffened. His social anxiety kicked in immediately. He tightened his grip on Roxy, practically trying to hide behind her despite being seven feet of shark-muscle.

"Who are these mammals?" Caspian whispered loudly. "Why are there so many of them? And why are they looking at me like they want to eat me?"

"Those are my husbands," Roxy said, pulling Caspian forward. "Come on. Play nice." Immediately she told them who they were, Caspian’s eyes narrowed in understanding.

Because he had seemed to remember how he diverted them from getting to Roxy before.

She dragged the mer King toward the Dragon Alpha.

The two apex predators stared at each other.

Zarek looked at Caspian’s gills. Caspian looked at Zarek’s wings. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You smell like brine," Zarek grunted.

"You smell like burning grass," Caspian retorted, his golden eyes narrowing.

"Okay!" Roxy clapped her hands. "Stop measuring dicks! It’s Valentine’s Day! We are eating!"

Whatsoever reason the system put me here with my favorite people, I must enjoy myself to the fullest!

She motioned to the stroller that had materialized next to the grill. Zale was inside, wide awake, staring at the sky.

Tanith, Syris’s daughter, walked over on her own two legs. She was a beautiful, slender girl with emerald scales on her cheeks. She peered into the stroller.

Zale blinked at her.

Tanith leaned in close. Suddenly,her forked snake tongue shot out, flickering inches from Zale’s nose. Planning to scare the little child.

Zale didn’t flinch. He just reached out and tried to grab her tongue.

Tanith recoiled. She ended up being the one crying, from the sudden fear that gripped her that Zale was about to grab her tongue. She ran to Roxy and threw her hands around the little child, and Roxy’s heart ached.

Even when she had been gone for a long time, her baby still knew how to run to her.

"Everyone sit!" Kaelen commanded, his Alpha voice cutting through the noise. "The food is ready."

They gathered around a massive wooden table that seemed to grow out of the ground. It was a feast of contradictions: roasted boar next to kelp salad, spicy ramen next to raw tuna.

It was chaotic. It was loud. It was perfect.

Axel and Onyx sat on either side of Caspian, bombarding him with questions.

"Do you eat people?" Axel asked.

"Only bad people," Onyx finished.

Caspian looked terrified. "I... prefer squid."

Iris sat in Roxy’s lap, refusing to move even when Roxy tried to eat. She glared at Zale, who was in a high chair next to them.

"Mama is mine," Iris told the baby shark.

Zale just cackled and offered Iris a his bottle of milk. Iris hesitated, sniffed it, and then took it. A truce was formed. She then laughed and feed the child the milk.

Roxy’s eyes warmed over at the sight.

Syris slept through the first course, woke up to eat a whole raw egg, and went back to sleep.

Ren and Zarek spent the meal bickering.

"Pass the salt, Lizard."

"Get it yourself, Vermin."

"I hope your wings cramp."

"I hope your tail gets caught in a trap."

Roxy sat at the head of the table, watching them. She watched Caspian awkwardly trying to use a fork while Ren laughed at him. She watched Zarek secretly cutting up meat for the twins. She watched Kaelen pouring wine for everyone.

Her heart felt so full it might burst.

"A toast," Caspian said suddenly, standing up. He looked wobbly on his legs, but he held his goblet high.

The table went quiet. Even Ren shut up.

Caspian looked at Zarek, then at the others. He didn’t look hostile anymore. He looked... grateful.

"To the Queen," Caspian said, his voice thick with emotion. "Who bridged the worlds. And to the strange... pack... that keeps her safe when the tide is low."

Zarek stood up. He clinked his cup against Caspian’s.

"To the Queen," Zarek rumbled. "And to the fish who didn’t let her die."

"To Mom!" the kids cheered.

Before Roxy could say a word of thanks the scene warped and she gasped, jerking awake to realize that everything was truly a dream.

She was back in the Pearl Wing. She sat up on the climb bed, her heart racing, the smile vanished replaced with deep disappointment and heart ache.

She looked over at the crib. Zale was sleeping soundly, exactly where she had left him. Then, she looked at the coral table beside her bed.

There, resting on the smooth stone surface, was a single, vibrant red wildflower that only grew in the deepest parts of the surface forest.

And next to it, a perfect, black pearl from the abyssal trench.

They were lying side by side, touching.

[Happy Valentine’s Day, Host.]