“Vonda!” Jirot declared, pointing towards the woman adorned in her full garb, covering her almost head to toe, save for her face.

“Yes?” the young woman replied, leaning back within her seat while Dunes shifted awkwardly opposite her.

“You ah fightin’ me?”

“No.”

Jirot jerked away from the response, blinking as her mind processed the denial. “Good. I am stwong.”

“Yes, you are.”

Jirot snorted, standing up taller. “I am daddy’s dohta.”

“That is right.”

“I am not nana’s dohta. I am nano’s ganandohta.” The girl smirked, raising her chin smugly towards the Ray.

“You are so smart, Jirot.”

“Jirot,” the older Jarot called, carrying his greatson within his arm. “You must call her Ray Vonda.”

“Way Vonda?”

“She is a Ray now,” Jarot said, taking a seat between Vonda and Dunes. “You must show your respect.”

Jirot narrowed her eyes towards the woman, her lips forming a wider smirk.

“Jirot,” her greatfather called, his voice lowering slightly.

Jirot pouted. “Okay, babo. I am good girl.”

“That is right.” Jarot reached out with his arm to ruffle his greatdaughter’s hair. “Even if you are to be wild, you must be appropriately wild.”

Little Jarot held onto his greatfather’s neck, sucking his thumb. He glanced over towards Dunes, noting the Aswadian’s gaze fell elsewhere. Jarot’s eyes remained firmly focused on Dunes’ face, and though the Aswadian could feel the burning gaze of the goblin, he remained intensely focused on the cup of milk before him.

“You are Way Vonda?”

“That is right.”

“I am Way?”

“No, you are Jirot, daughter of Adam.”

Jirot snorted once more. “No… I am babo’s daughter.” The girl cackled, glancing back towards her greatfather.

Jarot wanted to tell her off, but how could he do so when she was so cute? ‘Just this once, because you are so cute.’

“Way Vonda!” Jirot accused, pointing at the woman. “Why?”

“I became a Ray because I grew closer to Mother Soza.”

“Mutha Soza?”

“She’s the Goddess of Life.”

“Mahtu?”

“Yes, that is what the Iyrmen call her.”

“I know Mahtu! Is Baktu’s mama.”

Vonda smiled. “That is right. Mother Soza is the mother of many of the Divine.”

“Mahtu is your mama?”

“No, she is a Divine.”

“You are mama?”

“No, not yet.”

“Is okay,” Jirot said, walking over to to the Ray, patting her hand gently. “Is okay, you can be mama. I am mama.”

“You’re a mother?”

“Yes.”

“Who are you mother of?”

“I pay with Jawoh and I am mama and he is, mmm, Jawoh is my papa.”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“You are Jarot’s mama?”

“No. I am mama and Jawoh is papa.”

“You play as the mother and he plays as your brother?”

“Jawoh is my papa,” the girl confirmed.

“So who are you the mother of?” Vonda asked, curious to the girl’s innocent thoughts.

“Me!”

“You are your own mother?”

“I am Jiwoh!” The girl stood taller.

“Jirot, are you bullying Ray Vonda?” Adam called, carrying the tired form of her youngest brother.

“No! I good girl, you smelly daddy!” Jirot pointed at her father, before quickly retreating towards her greatfather, climbing up his lap.

“Do you see how she bullies me?” Adam asked, dropping down opposite the older Jarot, who rubbed his cheek against his greatdaughter, while the tiny Jarot glanced towards his father, flashing a small smile. Adam held Larot up to his chest, allowing the boy to relax within his arms.

“Your daughter was just telling me how proud she was to be your daughter,” Vonda said.

“Really?” Adam asked, his eyes snapping to his daughter.

“No!” Jirot cackled once more.

“Did she say she was proud?” Adam asked, his eyes falling to the Iyrman.

“She did not say she was proud,” Jarot stated.

“She said she was your daughter so confidently and eagerly,” Vonda assured.

“Is that what she did?” Adam asked, narrowing his eyes towards the older Iyrman.

“She was so proud when she said she was my daughter,” Jarot replied, smirking towards the half elf trying to cause trouble.

“Jirot, who is your father, babo or daddy?” Adam asked.

Jirot’s lips formed a wicked smirk as she stared at her father, but little Jarot pointed towards their father and called out to him.

“Jarot, you’re such a good boy, aren’t you?” Adam called out, reaching out with a finger, while little Jarot reached out to hold it, smiling shyly.

“Daddy! Is Way Vonda!” Jirot said, pointing to the Priest.

“That’s right, Vonda is a Ray now, so you need to show proper respect, okay? You aren’t allowed to bully her, you can only bully me, since I’m your father.”

“I not bully, I am good girl,” Jirot replied, hiding her face into her babo’s neck, giggling into it. She lost herself to her giggling and cackling.

Adam let out a long sigh, before leaning back into his chair, glancing between both Vonda and Dunes. He wondered if he should tease Dunes, but it felt awkward mentioning it in front of the children. Adam reached up to brush through his son’s hair gently, feeling the boy snoozing against his chest.

‘What am I going to to do with you?’ Adam thought, before closing his eyes. He had spent the morning going about checking on the children, but other thoughts filled his mind.

‘We spent so much money this year… I need to secure more money so the business doesn’t fall over in a year…’

Adam hadn’t yet realised how much money the business still had, having been too busy doting on his children.

‘It’s probably not too important to sell off anything too crazy right now, I just need to do the least amount of work for the most amount of money…’ Adam inhaled deeply. ‘Of course it’s the nobles, it’s always the nobles. I should milk them dry for as much as I can. I need to finish off the current set of weapons and shields, and that should tide us over for now, but I should try and figure out a way to take more money from the Aldish. Might be a good way to get closer to the noble families. Overcharge them and have them thank me for it?’

‘What kind of wicked thoughts do you have?’ Dunes thought, eyeing up the half elf and the smirk on his face.

‘There’s no real reason to leave for the rest of the year so I can just stay here and spoil my kids while working on the enchanting…’

‘So he’s thinking about his children now…’

‘I should complete all the items I owe, then I should enchant a few more, just in case. I also need to enchant some weapons as gifts too…’ Adam leaned back in his chair further.

‘Has he resigned himself to all the work he needs to complete?’

‘If only I could…’ Adam furrowed his brows together. ‘Hold on…’

Passive Enchanting

Multi Enchanting

‘He has realised he is stupid,’ Dunes thought, fairly certain he was correct in his assessment of Adam’s facial expressions.

‘Holy, that’s so broken.’

‘He has definitely recalled how ridiculous he is.’

“Jirot, your father is so strong,” Adam called.

“No! I am stwong!”

“Of course you are.”

“Yes.”

Gilbert glanced at the group from afar. He could feel Cobra’s gaze against him, urging him to step forward, but it was awkward to walk over to Adam when he was holding the sleeping demon baby so tenderly against his chest.

‘How am I meant to speak to him like that?’

While Gilbert was deep in thought about how to speak with Adam, Konarot was deep in thought about which move to make next. Her finger curled around her face, her eyes glued to the board in front of her.

Tonagek remained silent as he watched the girl’s mind race, her eyes flickering between all the point on the board. Beside him, the awakened wolf gently snoozed away, with Lanarot laying against his side, the tiny girl swaying lightly with the wolf’s breathing. Danagek lay in the shade nearby, the boy beside his cousin, Gurot, who squirmed within his sleep for a moment, before falling still once more.

‘How peaceful…’ Tonagek thought.

Kirot and Karot both lazed within the shade to one side, neither sleeping without their elder sister, who did not want to sleep before the game ended. The pair twitched slightly, and their elder sister glanced to the side, noting the appearance of their grandmother, who ruffled the eldest’s hair, before settling herself with the twins, allowing them to climb atop her, embracing them tight.

It was only when the cry of the tiny troublemaker struck through the air that the peaceful air dissipated.

Jirot continued to scream and cry, even as her greatfather tried to soothe her, before her father lifted her up quickly, the girl gasping for air as she stared down at her father.

“What’s wrong, Jibaby?”

Jirot sniffled, pointing at her father once more. “Smelly daddy!” Her face contorted once more before she made to cry once more.

Adam stared at her, bewildered by what he had done to cause her to cry randomly. ‘Even if you’re cute when you cry, how am I meant to know why you’re crying?’

“Nano!” the girl screeched, still crying within her father’s arms.

Larot squinted towards Vonda, his sleepy eyes then slowly glancing to the side to see his elder sister crying. ‘Of course it’s her…’