Gemma

"She is huge," Christian said as soon as he saw me.

My face fell because he was right, but Alaric never made me feel any different than before I was pregnant. The next thing I knew, Alaric's fist was inside Christian's hoody as I heard a thud and then a crunching noise.

"Ow, fuck. I'm only pointing out the obvious," he said, trying to straighten his nose, but Alaric grabbed him and held him by the neck in a headlock before he began to pummel him with punches.

I moved back from the crazy assholes because I didn't want my babies getting hurt.

"You're only getting the better of me because of 's blood," he groaned before he tried to look up at me. "I'm sorry that he decided to impregnate you with quintuplets."

"No wonder people want to kill you," Alaric said, choking him harder.

"Low blow, bro. But can you choke me a little harder? I'm almost there."

"You nasty fuck," Alaric said in disgust as he dropped him on the floor.

"Hi, Christian," I said as he stood up.

"Hey, . How are our babies?"

Alaric came back at him and smacked him on the back of the head.

"What the fuck? They are our family's babies, which means they are mine too," he said as he stopped rubbing his throat to hold the back of his head.

Alaric told me Christian had premonitions that had helped to protect them all, but for some reason, he couldn't see anything about blood mates. Nothing surprised me anymore. Vampires, premonitions. I had a feeling this was only the beginning.

"The Charon babies are good, if not a little busy. Do you want to feel them?" I asked him.

He hesitated before he slowly walked towards me. I held his hand and placed it over my belly while watching Alaric, but he didn't rant or rage. He walked towards me and kissed my cheek.

"Woah, I'd heard their heartbeats a few months ago, but they are going for it in there," he said as he put his other hand over my belly. "They are probably squashed up and sick of listening to their dad's voice," he added.

I felt Alaric tense up beside me, and I put my hand on his cheek to pat it.

"Let's go to the appointment before you guys destroy another house," I said.

Christian grinned at me, and Alaric grunted. I seriously couldn't believe they had lived this long without killing each other. I wondered if there had been more than three of them originally and if some siblings had been murdered along the way.

Apparently, our children would be a mixture of human and vampire DNA, and they weren't the first hybrid species. I didn't know much about the parents of the others, only that they lived in the UK. It gave me peace of mind to know our children would be normal. I glanced at the brothers, who were chatting as if nothing had happened and prayed they would be normal.

∞∞∞

Alaric was making the medical staff nervous, and it didn't help that Christian stood guard outside our room. I really wanted to elbow him to get him to chill out. I was too excited to hear and see our babies on the equipment they had me hooked up to.

"Please relax. I want to enjoy this moment," I whispered quietly to Alaric.

He looked at me in surprise, making me realise he hadn't been aware of his menacing appearance. He nodded and stroked my thigh. I almost burst out laughing when he smiled at the technician because it looked painful.

"Try thinking of when our babies are born, and you're holding both of them," I whispered quietly again, but this time, the technician had turned towards the screen.

My heart melted when I saw Alaric's expression. He was going to make me bawl.

Gah, he was going to be such a good Daddy .

I put my hand over his and squeezed it as tightly as possible.

"I love you, Master," I whispered.

He gently kissed me on my lips.

"Nowhere near as much as I cherish you, my little fuck slave," he whispered back before he kissed my neck and collar.

I was ready to pop and sitting in a room strapped up to machines, yet he still managed to make my heart race with his filthy mouth.

"As soon as we get home, I will show you how much," he said with a dark promise in his eyes.

Oh, yes, please .

∞∞∞

We were in Alaric's treasure vault. It was like walking through a history museum. He had numerous artefacts, with some modern pieces, but it must have been millions of pounds worth of items.

"You can touch them," he said, amused by my awe, no doubt.

"I'm too scared. This one looks as if it's about to crumble," I said, staring at an ancient piece of pottery.

"I only collect them as a hobby and investments for the future."

I shook my head about his blasé attitude, but since he told me this was only one of his many vaults, I guess you would lose the appreciation for the history and art. It was difficult to imagine him living in without all these modern luxuries. Their wealth gave them the power to assume various identities throughout time. Their current names weren't the only ones they had. I walked towards a large canvas that had a cover over it.

He strode towards me and uncovered the canvas. It was a painting of a pretty lady. The paintwork was new, but her white and green layered dress had an ancient Greek influence. She looked neither sad nor happy, but her dark eyes drew you in.

"Who is she?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I commissioned the painting years ago. I left it titled ‘The Lady.' She is either someone from my past or from a weird dream I had."

"I'm glad you had her painted. It—she feels right," I said, confused, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why it felt right. "Have you shown Damien?"

"Only the artist and you have seen it," he said.

"Aren't you a sweetheart?"

We were going to stay on the mainland until the babies were born, and once we'd settled back on the island with the babies, Alaric promised he would bring my parents over. As much as Alaric took extreme care of me, I missed my family, especially my Mum.

"I will show you a sweetheart once I get you back upstairs," he muttered.

I grinned and walked to the next piece, which was a sculpture. He couldn't use the clamps or spank me, but I did wonder if he made a note of all my offences so he could deal with me after the babies were born. I only had a few short weeks left, so I may need to ease off with my sass.

He slipped his hands around my protruding belly and caressed our children. I no longer saw him as the monster in my life. He was my protector, lover, carer and Master. I leaned back on his chest, and I felt him kiss the top of my head. His earlier words rang in my ears because he cherished me to the point of obsession, but I loved him all the more for it.