Chapter 116: The naming
Aira’s POV
My head tilts to the side with amazement, and so does Carla’s. The both of us stand above the crib holding our children in silence. Arnold and Alex had left as well as the doctor’s; it was just Carla, our babies, and me.
My entire attention is on my sun. He is quite squeamish. His limbs kept moving in all directions, and his mouth kept opening and shutting, revealing his teethless mouth. The scent of newborn babies fills the room, filling me with this odd sense of comfort.
I couldn’t tell exactly who my son resembled-if it was Alex or me. He looked like the perfect mix of the both of us; our genes really did fight for dominance in this battle. But I suppose I will know who really won when he opens his eyes. He hasn’t opened his eyes yet.
My attention shifts to Carla’s girl. She was absolutely beautiful. She was a spitting image of Carla; Richard’s genes didn’t even try at all. But she did have Richard’s eyes, that was for sure.
“They are so… small,” Carla says, breaking the deafening silence that plagued the room. “I thought the ultrasound said you are having a girl.”
“That is what I thought as well,” I sigh, but then a grateful smile lifts my lips. “But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he is here now. Healthy and alive.”
“That is true. And he is very handsome. I am sure he is going to break quite a lot of hearts,” Carla jokes, which makes me chuckle.
“You never checked the gender of your baby; why?” I finally ask her, and she shrugs.
“I don’t know. I wanted it to be a surprise,” she says. And a surprise it was; even I that checked the gender got a surprise myself. The door opens just as Alex walks in. He frowns at me when he sees me standing.
“What the hell are you doing out of bed? You should be lying down,” he scolds me, and I roll my eyes.
“I am fine, Alex. I feel no pain at all, and neither does Carla,” I say, and his eyes shift to Carla, who is still staring at her little girl, completely mesmerized. Alex’s dark eyes shift to our son, and I see something flash within his eyes. For a moment, I almost thought he was going to cry; the joy on his face was incomparable to the ones I have seen.
He tears his gaze away from our son and clears his throat. “As always, you are stubborn.” There is a moment of silence between us before he finally turns to Carla. “Congratulations, Carla.”
She smiles at him in appreciation and says, “Congratulations to you as well, Alpha.” Your son is quite charming; he is going to be quite the heartbreaker.”
“Hmm, and I am sure your daughter will have the eye of every boy in town,” Alex sighs and shakes his head. “It is going to be a hassle keeping them all away from her, but I will keep on doing it until she is twenty-five years old. Perhaps by then she will be mature enough to have her first boyfriend.”
Carla and I’s mouth had fallen ajar, and we shared a glance. I do not know why I felt more pity for her daughter than our son Alex, who is going to be quite the overprotective dad.
Carla and I share a glance and burst out laughing. Alex frowns, but we dare not say anything to counter him. He became a father to two angels on the same day; he had the right to make some ground rules. Even though we all knew that none of us were going to abide by it.
“What are you going to name her?” Alex asks Carla, and I wait in anticipation for the name she had chosen for her child.
There is a hint of sadness in Carla’s eyes as she says, “I had actually been hoping to have a boy so I could name him after his father. But since it is a girl, I have decided to name her something that means strong and noble. I will call her Adira.”
“That is such a beautiful name,” I tell her honestly before shifting my attention to her daughter. “Welcome to the world, Adira.”
And then she does something that instantly warms my heart and makes me fall in love with her in a second. She smiles at me.
“Aww,” my heart melts at the sight as I place my hand over my chest. Adira shows off her teethless gums, and her dimples pop out. Her eyes sparkled with so much innocence and light. I swore to keep it that way for as long as I lived.
“And what about you guys? What will you name him?” Carla asks, nudging her chin towards our son.
Alex comes to stand by my side and he takes my hand in his. “Actually, we have thought of baby names long before we even knew of the gender of our baby. I thought we would be having a girl, so I would have named her Audrey. But I knew that if there was even the slightest chance that my child would turn out to be a boy, Then I would name him after the man who has saved my life twice.”
Grateful tears swell in Carla’s eyes. She grins and turns to our son. “Welcome to the world, Prince Richard.”
Unlike Adira, Richard didn’t smile. Instead, he did something far more charming.
He smirked.
It was slight, but it was there. He really is his father’s son.
Alex claps his hands together and says, “Alright, I think Adira and Richard are tired of staying in the infirmary.”
“Ah right,” I say before picking up Richard. I held him like an egg, like he was precious cargo. And that was because he was.
He was so small in my arms, I feared that he would slip through my arms. Oh Lord, I have only been a mother for an hour, and I was already doing a horrible job.
Carla takes Adira perfectly into her arms, and I envy how she is so good at it. She starts to leave the room when Alex stops her by asking. “Where do you think you are going?”
“To my chambers,” Carla replies slowly with her eyebrows creased; it seemed like an obvious answer.
“With my niece? No, you are not. Come with me,” he says before leaving the room. Carla shoots me a questioning look, and I shrug.This content © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
“I do not know what is going on either,” I tell her. We follow Alex to the room beside Richard’s, and I am in awe by what I find. Another baby room. It is similar to Richard’s room; the only difference was that there was a larger bed right next to the crib.
The room was filled with toys and gizmos, and the ceiling was decorated in a way that made it seem one was staring straight into the heavens.
“From henceforth, this will be you and Adira’s room. When she grows older, I will give you a room of your own if you wish,” Alex says, and my heart warms at his words. I loved this side of him. The kind and considerate side.
“Thank you, my friend,” Carla says, and I just want to scream with excitement.
“No need to thank me. It is my duty,” Alex says before placing his hand on the small of my back. “We will live with you to have your time with Adira; we will be in the other room,” he informs Carla, and she nods.
We leave the room and head straight into Richard’s room. “That was sweet of you, you know?” I tell Alex, who just shrugs.
“It was nothing. What kind of alpha would I be if I let a nursing mother return to the maid’s chambers with her child? It is improper,” Alex says, but I shoot him a playful glare.
“You and I both know that wasn’t the reason you did this,” I pause just as he opens the door for me to step in with our son. “You did this because you are changing. You are no longer that heartless king I knew two years ago.”
“Oh, I am. I just learned how and what to love. Doesn’t mean it is applicable to everyone,” he tells me, and I purse my lips and hum. I suppose that is true. I remember him brutally torturing a prisoner in the dungeons about three months ago.
I couldn’t tell if it was him doing the dirty work in particular, but I could hear the probably dead fella’s screams. I need to speak to him about that.
I do not want such activities taking place anywhere near Richard. I place him in his crib and stare at his sleeping form with much adoration.
“We are moving this crib to our room. He is too young to be sleeping alone,” I state, and Alex nods in agreement.
“Already thought of that. There is a crib waiting for us in our room as we speak,” he reveals, and my brows hike a bit.
“Well, it seems everyone is ready for this parenting journey except me,” I mutter, and Alex chuckles lightly. He stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
He places his chin on my shoulder and says, “I know you will do a great job. You already mother the rest of us; you will have no trouble with him.”
I manage to give a lopsided smile, and the room falls into a deep silence. Alex and I stare at our son in silence, and that is when my mind travels back to the moment I pushed him out of me.
I could have sworn that I had seen Ana…
I haven’t seen any of those damn spirits in months. I thought they all would have left me alone by now.
That is when Sasha’s words come flooding back into my mind. And a shiver goes down my spine.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asks, clearly sensing my change in demeanor.
I gulp, my voice lower than usual as I ask, “Do you think the prophecy would come to reality?” I ask him, and for a moment he grows silent. His hands wrapped around my waist tightens.
He was scared.
There are very few points in my life where I have witnessed Alex get scared. And those times were when I was on the brink of death.
His words contradict his body language, and I knew he was only being this way because he didn’t want to get me worried. “Stop it, Aira. Look at this kid; does he look like someone that could bring the rebirth of the dead?”
My gaze falls on Richard, and my heart skips a beat when he does something I will never forget. Not for as long as I live.
He opens his eyes and smiles at me.
He didn’t have Alex’s eyes. He had mine.
That alone should serve as an answer to Alex’s question.
Josie 117