Adam returned to work right away, not wanting to give the Great Elders a chance to find any excuse to use against him. He continued enchanting the weapons for the Iyrmen to complete.

“What is this?” Adam asked, shocked, staring at his twins who were on all fours, their heads pointed up towards their father as he returned from work. “No! You cannot do this! This is not right, not right!” Adam hoisted the pair up into his arms. “How could you do this to daddy, you silly little babies.” Adam kissed their foreheads all over. “You should stay small and cute forever. Why do you need to crawl?”

Jarot remained silent, but he nodded his head from nearby. Even if Adam was a fool, he was also right whenever it came to this topic.

“They are growing well,” Sonarot said, smiling as Adam continued to pepper them in his kisses, causing his triplets to rush over towards him for some affection too. “It may be time for them to eat solid food.”

Adam’s despair hung in the air as he embraced his children. “How can you do this to me, Jirot? Jarot? How?”

‘Cringe,’ Nirot thought, wondering how Adam could dare to be sad about his children growing well. She shared a look with her cousin, who bowed his head simply, agreeing with her thought.

“You truly are close with your children,” Morkarai, the Fire Giant Prince, said, sipping some alcohol from beside Jarot.

Adam blinked. ‘Did he just pop out from nowhere?’ He thought back to when he arrived at the estate. No, there was a general blob to his periphery around his twins. “Good evening, Lord Morkarai.”

“I see you are well,” Morkarai said, smiling at the Half Elf.

‘Damn. Why did he have to see me being cringe?’ Adam sat down opposite Morkarai, holding his twins who stared up at their father, their eyes trailing across his familiar features. “I see you’re doing pretty well too.”

Morkarai nodded. “I have been enchanting for some time. I hear you’ve been crafting too.”

“Well, you know, the Iyr asked me to assist and so I assist.”

“We are similar in that regard, one might suppose,” Morkarai said, speaking further with his eyes.

Adam smirked, winking at the Giant. “I suppose that is one way we are similar.”

Morkarai poured Adam a drink. “I have never seen anyone as close to their children as you.”

“You can’t blame them, Lord Morkarai, for their children certainly weren’t as cute as mine,” Adam stated, as though it were fact.

“I suppose we cannot blame them if that is true,” the Giant said, staring at the two children, whose eyes fell onto his form, admiring his fiery red beard. “May I hold them?”

“I can’t believe you would try and steal my children right in front of their greatfather,” Adam said, shaking his head lightly.

Morkarai exchanged a look with Jarot for a moment, who took baby Jarot from Adam, allowing Morkarai to pick up Jirot. He held the baby carefully, holding the back of her head with one hand, and her entire body with the other. She was so tiny, much tinier than even Human babies, though they were growing quickly, rapidly approaching the size of the other Iyrmen babes around.

“Do you find it difficult to raise the children?” Morkarai asked.

“How can I find it difficult when everyone else is doing the hard work?” Adam asked. “I don’t breastfeed them, I don’t entertain them in the day, I barely change their clothies.”

Morkarai could hear the slight guilt within Adam’s voice. “You work hard every day, Adam. You should not forget it.”

Adam sighed, leaning back. He looked around to the other Iyrmen around. There was a sad joke, a joke which would probably give the Great Elders a reason to eject him from the Iyr, and another sad joke which caused greater ache to his heart. For once, Adam decided to be wise, and kept his mouth shut. “Yeah.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“The children are growing up well in the Iyr,” Morkarai said. “I, as a Prince, was afforded such tender care.” Jirot coughed out a laugh and smiled up at Morkarai, cooing loudly, reaching up with her hands for his beard.

That thought crossed his mind.

Morkarai spent many days stressed out, as Emperor Hadda, who went by Lord Strom within the Iyr, refused to give him his peace. There were times he would speak of his old tales, with a great yearning, but there was something else which Lord Strom spoke about with an even greater passion and excitement.

Morkarai’s eyes fell to the triplets, and then to Lanarot, who was babbling away to her papa, pointing out towards the snow, before shrugging her shoulders, no doubt speaking slander about the snow. Jurot would reply with short phrases, pretending to understand the girl, as Adam would.

I heard you were trying to steal Adam away from the Iyr, you damn brat. If you dare to ruin my fun, I’ll send someone to haunt you.

It was a threat by the Lord of Storms, one which was no doubt completely true.

Morkarai sighed. He supposed the Lord was right. Even if the Giants assisted Adam, there was nothing like the Iyr when it came to birthing terrifying monsters. “Your children are truly the most adorable.”

“You know, Lord Morkarai, you’re a great guy,” Adam said, nodding his head slowly at the Giant.

Omen: 2, 3

Adam spent the day with his children, not realising what he had done, and the consequences of his actions.

“Adam,” Jarot said, brushing baby Jarot’s hair, the tiny boy yawning as he made to sleep. “My life is truly difficult. I have two cute greatchildren, but only one arm to hold them.”

“Don’t worry,” Adam said. “One day I’ll find a magical item which will give you an arm and then you can carry all five of them.”

Jarot hummed quietly, nodding his head. “My grandson has been raised well.”

“Who is your grandson?”

“Jurot,” Jarot replied, smiling slyly.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

“Yum,” Lanarot called, pointing to Konarot. The girl walked over to her aunt, who picked up some snow, formed a ball, and then handed it to the girl. She pointed to the wall, making a noise. Konarot blinked, before tossing the ball to the wall, but the ball crumbled before it could reach the wall. “Oo,” Lanarot said, before hugging Konarot, kissing her forehead, and she made the girl another snowball.

“My sister is such a cute little aunt,” Adam said, smiling as he gazed over the children. His eyes then fell to the little babies who were laying beside one another, near their mothers. They were roughly three months old now, and had grown so much bigger. It appeared that Gurot was taking much of Inakan’s growth, as the boy had ballooned, and Inakan was still fairly small. Then he spotted a pair of figures approaching.

“When will you return?” Mulrot asked, ignoring the others.

“It was the family who refused the one called Jarot first,” Jarot replied, brushing Churot’s hair as the teen embraced his grandfather.

“These are delicate matters,” Mulrot stated. “We need to tread carefully.”

“What is right, is right. What is wrong, is wrong.”

“You must return before the festival,” the Family Elder said. “It is expected of you.”

“I know what is expected of me,” Jarot shot back. “Unlike you and those brothers of mine.”

Adam sat between them awkwardly, keeping a hand on Jirot’s leg, mostly to centre himself. He kept whatever thoughts he had about Mulrot within his mind, not wanting to curse at the old woman. She was still Jarot’s wife, and Jurot’s grandmother, so he couldn’t think poorly of her, even if she rejected his kids, which she had every right to do.

“Jarot…” Mulrot said, staring down at him. She sighed, before motioning a hand, calling Churot back to her.

“Goodbye, cousin Adam,” Churot said, before they left, leaving the aura of awkwardness behind.

Adam sighed, wondering if the boy would get into trouble for calling him a lower case cousin.

“How awkward,” Strom said, floating down towards the group.

“Baba,” Lanarot called, before rushing over to him, tripping into the snow, before picking herself up to cover Strom in snow.

“What a big girl you are now, Lanarot,” Strom said, lifting the girl up. The old man was the thinnest Adam had ever seen him, though he still held his typical grace. Lanarot smiled, pointing at the wall near them, before babbling and laughing at her joke.

“Of course she’s a big girl, she’s…” Adam frowned. “No, what am I saying. Lanarot should also stay small and cute forever.”

“You should have Dwarf children,” Strom said. “I’ve been told they stay quite small for some time.”

“Really?”

“They grow slow, but well,” the old Emperor said, sitting down near them, with Lanarot on his lap.

“Papa,” Lanarot said, pointing at Adam, before looking up to Strom.

“That’s right, it’s your papa,” the old man said, before noting the awkwardness on Adam’s face. “It’s the Rot families fault for not recognising the boon you are.”

“Is it really their fault?” Adam asked.

“Well, it’s your fault a little too…” Strom ruffled Lanarot’s hair. He noted how the triplets remained some ways away, narrowing their eyes at him. ‘After all I’ve done for you, you’re still going to look at me like that?’

Konarot held onto her siblings, taking them away from Strom’s gaze. She formed a wall of snow which they could hide behind.

Adam sighed.

“It’s always your fault, Adam,” Strom said. “You’re always making a mess in the Iyr.” The old man smiled wide with mischief. “I’d have to try hard to make the mess you made.”

“What do you mean?” the Half Elf asked, obliviously.