‘He truly is a father,’ Rick thought, his eyes glued to Adam as he embraced his children so publicly.
Adam held onto his triplets, though it appeared he was wearing his children rather than that he embraced them. He rubbed his cheeks against his children, feeling their weight within his arms. They had certainly grown since last he had left, each slightly taller and heavier. He had barely noticed it previously, but with all three of them atop him, he could definitely feel the weight difference.
Konarot’s arms kept her father pinned to her, wrapped around his strong neck. Her gentle breath tickled across the side of his neck, her eyes glued to his skin, which had tanned under the noonval sun. Her siblings each clutched at their father’s back, their legs clamping against his front and back, their father the filling within the taco of love.
Adam’s entire body swirled with complex emotions. Though he had been acting a fool in front of everyone, he was not immune to the embarrassment which his actions brought. He was a fool, and everyone knew that much, but this had gone a step further than just being a simple fool.
‘Cringe?’ Adam thought. ‘How can this be cringe when they adore me so much?’
The adoration of his triplets in front of everyone caused him to flush red, but he could only adore them deeper. Compared to all the children in the Iyr, his children were truly those that displayed their love most. He squeezed them against his body a little tighter, before pressing his lips against each of their foreheads.
“Okay,” Adam finally said, pulling back slightly so he could speak. “Now that I’m done adoring my children, allow me to introduce them to you properly.”
Konarot slowly peeled away from her father, not wanting to, but she did as was expected, with her siblings following after her. Adam brushed their heads, brushing a finger along Konarot’s scar beside her eye.
“These are my eldest children. The eldest is Konarot, then it’s Kirot, and finally Karot. They’re my children, and they’re Executive Jurot’s nieces and nephews, and the President’s grandchildren. It’s a little awkward, but they’re the Little Executives of the business. Konarot, no doubt, will grow up to be one of its greatest…”
They could feel it grow within the air.
“They’ll remain small and cute forever,” Adam whispered, remaining still for a long moment.
The farmers and porters remained focused on the half dragon children. The tiny horns, the scales, the tails.
‘He has half dragon children…’ Rick thought, though all those around him thought the same thing.
Half dragon children were extremely rare, but almost all of them became great warriors when they grew up. They had silver scales, meaning their mother was no doubt a dragon from the north.
These triplets had a dragon as a mother. They had a crazy fool like Adam as a father. They were apparently related to the Iyrmen too? All of such, with the education the business, these children would no doubt grow up to become more than simple great warriors.
“Then we have my twins. They’re so small and cute, but be careful, Jirot is quite vicious. She’s the one who is currently hiding within her nano’s chest, while my Jarot is cuddling up with her. My Jarot is so sensible and so well behaved, unlike his greatfather who he was named after.”
“You are too close to be speaking so poorly of me,” the Iyrman snarled.
“Speaking of their greatfather, the adorable little baby within his arms is almost my son, Larot, my youngest. All of my children are quite special, as you can tell, but even if they’re cute, you can’t steal them from me.” Adam reached down to brush his triplets’ hair, tickling the top of their skulls tenderly, causing them to purr quietly.
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Cobra’s eyes fell down to the pair of children, noting the lack of tusks. ‘They must be…’ Her eyes snapped to the red skin child, noting the lack of tiny nubs which would form into horns. At first she had thought it was a devilkin child. ‘Do devilkin not grow horns when they’re babies?’
She knew the answer to the question. Larot, the youngest of Adam’s children, was too old not to have horns.
“I hope you all understand how important my children are to me and my family,” Adam began, his voice growing darker. “Even if they aren’t the children of Iyrmen, know that they hold Rot in their name. You should hold the appropriate fear when dealing with the Iyrmen children, but you shouldn’t gain any courage when speaking to my children. I have no illusions to what my children will be perceived as by the Aldishmen of the land, and I hope you do not make the same mistake as them. It would be awkward for me to act because you had some thoughts about my adorable children.”
“They’ll be fine, since Ray Vonda is here,” Dunes said.
Ray Vonda smiled warmly. “Mother Soza’s will does not extend only to Aldishmen.”
“Greetings, Little Executives!” Fred called out, causing Adam’s children to glance his way, before the others began to join in, though it was quieter than previous, and filled with apprehension.
Even so, Adam’s heart filled with the warmth of great joy. He could feel something deep within him stir. His eyes burned lightly, his entire body flashing white hot, as though a prayer had been cast upon him.
‘Finally!’ Adam thought, bringing his children in for a tighter hug. ‘If this isn’t the best gift I can give them, what is? No… I’ll definitely have to do more!’
Dunes let out a soft sigh, realising it had only just begun.
‘I probably shouldn’t keep them here for long… or should I keep them here for a while so they get used to my children?’ The anxiety crept within Adam’s heart.
“Likkul Zecutiff?” Jirot whispered towards her nano.
“Your father is an Executive of the business and you are his children.”
“Daddy is portent man?”
“Yes.”
Jirot gasped, her brows raised in surprise, before she reached up to grab her nano’s face. “I am daddy’s dohta.”
“Yes.”
“Yes,” the girl confirmed, smirking slightly before she buried her head into her nano's bosom once more.
With all the important matters dealt with, Korin quickly turned everyone's attention to the food. The children were becoming familiar with the food, with the spices of red and brown playing on their tongues.
'That should be good, right?' Adam thought, feeding Karot from his fingers. The boy sipped his drink as his elder sister was fed, with her doing the same once her eldest sister was fed.
"Okay?" Jurot asked, tearing his flatbread in half, offering a portion to his younger sister, before scooping the food with another smaller chunk of flatbread.
"Yeah," Adam replied, in the way that stated he wasn't entirely okay, but he needed to think. "Just, we've got so much to do."
Jurot dropped the topic any further, noting his brother had fallen into such thought, he was no longer feeding his children.
“Daddy,” Karot called, bringing his father out of his thoughts, opening his mouth.
“Oh dear, how can your father be so silly, thinking so hard when he still needs to feed his adorable son?” Adam nuzzled his son’s head gently, before returning back to feeding him.
As the minutes continued to pass, Adam’s thoughts fell towards the fort. ‘I need to show off more to my kids.’ Adam glanced around towards the other children, those sitting beside their trio of snake sisters. They spoke in hushed whispers, glancing around, especially towards Adam and his children.
‘Hold on… did I buy enough supplies for them?’ Adam thought back to how many items he had brought. ‘I didn’t really buy any books, for them to read or write. How didn’t I buy more colours and paints from East Port while I had the chance?’
“Adam,” Korin called, taking a seat opposite the half elf, wrapping his grilled meat within his flatbread.
“Korin.”
Korin glanced down toward Adam’s children. “Are you enjoying the meal?”
“Yes,” Konarot replied, sipping more of her water.
“That’s good.” Korin beamed down towards her, before his eyes met Adam’s once more. “Congratulations on the fort.”
“Thank you.” Adam returned a smile towards the Aswadian. “What do you think? Are you impressed as a member of Black Mountain.”
“It is a good fort. It is well built, especially considering how quickly it was formed. I understand now why they call it Iyrmen efficiency.”
“Right? They’re so scary.”
“They are…” Korin glanced around towards the Iyrmen. There were many about them, and quite a number of them were elderly. Though many of them did not wear armour, he could feel the aura of death emanating from them.
Cobra furrowed her brows as her thoughts came to her. ‘Konarot. Karot. Kirot. Jirot. Jarot. Larot.’ She thought back to what Adam had said, and the laughter of the old man. Her eyes trailed towards the one armed Iyrman who had given up the… red skinned baby to the President, and was currently sitting beside the figure with the greatsword.
‘Is he…’