I woke up with what felt like a hangover. A combination of what felt like an Overdraw and celebratory drinks last night had really taken it out of me as I rolled out of the hammock I’d hung up in the corner of my foundry.

I walked over to where I’d tapped into a subterranean river and washed my face.

“Did I try to summon a Chaotic Entity last night?” I thought, startled, as the fuzzy images of a wobbly summoning circle flooded into my head.

I found a semi-clean pair of clothes and started walking towards the house in search of the thing I needed most and didn’t have… Coffee.

As I shambled through the cabin towards the kitchen, an immaculate Sophia sat on a couch wearing a bathrobe while reading a manilla folder and taking notes on a tablet.

“Wow, you look like a zombie.” She said, looking up at me.

“Don’t even joke about that.” I groaned as I reached the kitchen, only now realizing I could have just ordered the Drones to bring me a cup of coffee and I’d saved myself the trek.

“Yeah, I asked for one and they brewed it to perfection. Kinda silly to walk all the way here yourself.” She said, happily taking a sip from the steaming mug in her hands.

I groaned again and leaned my head against a cabinet, regretting it immediately as it shot a pounding pain through my head.

“Jesus christ, what is that? Are you having a freaking migraine” Sophia cursed from behind me, still wincing as I turned around.

“Sophia, how difficult would it be to convince you to kill me? Mercy or payback, dealer’s choice. Just make it quick.” I joked with dead eyes as a sweet little six-legged creature shimmied along the counter with a cup of sweet divine.

“Ha. Funny, don’t tempt me.” She said, setting down her cup and getting up.

“Where’s the other two?” I asked, feeling slightly better already.

“They’re outside testing out Tessas new arm in the pool. Apparently, the girl used to swim competitively, also, heads up. We might have let our actual ages slip last night, and she’s gotten cheeky about it.” Sophia said before sauntering off to get changed, my eyes following like pendulums.

“Eyes up front, mister, you’ve got a kid in the house now. Also, I don’t saunter.” Sophia called back provocatively.

I walked out onto the deck overlooking the newly made pool to see Natasha sunbathing in a black bikini. I might have stared for too long as she yelled out, “Why don’t you take a picture? I’m sure it’ll last longer!”

“Do vampires even show up on camera’s?” I retorted with a grin.

Suddenly Tessa broke the surface of the pool with a gasp and Natasha lifted her hand, clicking what looked like a stopwatch.

“twelve minutes and twenty-three seconds. A new record, I believe.” Natasha called out, although the reaction was mixed as Tessa’s expression turned confused.

“Oh honey, you’re not just a human, at least not anymore.” Natasha clarified with a parental tone of voice, likely something to do with that age thing Sophia had mentioned.

“Still, it’s weird, I’ve already beaten every record I ever set… By a lot. It’s strange to think a little meditation was the cause.” Tessa replied.

She seemed to notice me and absentmindedly waved her artificial arm above her head before doing backstroke to the edge of the pool and pulling herself up backwards, pausing momentarily to do a handstand.

My eyes were drawn back to Natasha, slowly moving down her body and lingering on her athletic abdomen.

I looked down at my own slightly protruding stomach.

“I mean, the muscle is there… It’s just hidden… Padded, really. It’s protection.” I thought to myself with a nod.

“Uhuh.” Natasha replied skeptically to my thoughts from her recliner, Tessa pausing her toweling off to look towards her curiously, before she shrug and continued.

“I need another house.” I thought with a groan as I walked back into the cabin. “This one has become too crowded.”

***

“Okay, focus. You need to keep the pin between the positive and negative side. It can’t touch either one.” I said as Tessa sat on the floor with sweat on her brow from the strain.

“How long do I need to do this?” She asked, her voice stuttering slightly.

“A couple of hours.” I replied nonchalantly.

“What?! Why are you punishing me? I wasn’t the one who called you chubby. I mean you have a perfectly fine body, you’re a solid seven or eight, clean up a little and you might do even better… Although with the Sentires I’ve seen in town that scale might as well be on a hundred, yeesh humans don’t stand a chance against them, do we?.” The pin hit the positive side and a deafening alarm horn went off.

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“HOLYSHITWHATWASTHAT?!” Tessa jumped to her feet as I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“Okay, let’s start over.” I said, trying not to let the frustration show in my voice, as Tessa sheepishly sat back down.

***

“We managed to salvage a couple hundred from four batches. It’s nowhere near perfect, but we’ll be able to supply the entire clan within a couple of weeks.” I told Katya across from me.

“You complain about the discarded rings and the rest of us clamor to get the salvaged items.” Katya said, shaking her head. “Will there be any excess we might be able to auction off at the gala?” She asked.

“You mean the Gala, where you’re inviting a bunch of Sanguinares?” I said, shooting her a look, although I’d already voiced my worries about them before.

“Oh, come on, not everyone gives into the darker side, some just end up accursed, several partners of heirs choose to be reborn a Sanguinares to spend the rest of eternity with their loved ones.” Katya explained for the tenth time.

“Besides, the ones we’ll have to look out for are the politicians and government liaisons, they’ll be out for blood with us clustering together like this, they’ve already gone over every treaty signed since I acquired this valley, looking for any loophole they might use as leverage.” Katya continued.

“Never even realizing that even if they rolled up here with an army of tanks, they wouldn’t make it past the front door.” I replied confidently.

“Don’t underestimate them Aleks’Andros. Human ingenuity is the reason we’ve stayed hidden all these years.” Katya warned.

***

The weeks passed quickly, and we continued our little routine, Tessa and I working on mass production together, with me doing the occasional work on my own projects while she was recovering from her exhaustion or simply taking a stroll in the Central valley.

Natasha had her hands full with upping security for the Gala event, and had even taken to training the Custodes at their facility nearby.

Sophia, on the other hand had rejoined Katya as her Right Hand, re-familiarizing herself with the political climate, not just in the clan but in the entire supernatural society.

Life had been pleasant and relaxing, although that ended when one morning I awoke with a start.

I felt something, a connection gripping me, and my instincts told me to let it, forced me, in fact.

As I traced it, I noticed another forming from Natasha, both leading to the sleeping Sophia between us, her disheveled hair covering parts of her sleeping face.

I stared at her for a long time, dazed and confused. I knew what was happening, instinctually I knew. But I couldn’t wrap my head around it, it wasn’t until I realized I hadn’t taken a breath for a good ten minutes that I finally broke out of my stupor.

Natasha likely having sensed the turmoil happening two feet from her woke as well, rubbing her eyes momentarily before looking at me.

“Aleks, what’s wrong?” She said, reaching across the bed to run a hand down my arm, but she quickly pulled it back once she felt my skin.

“Aleks, you’re burning up, what’s happening?!” she exclaimed worriedly waking Sophia as well.

I just looked at them. I couldn’t put it into words. I couldn’t describe what I felt, how I felt.

I was voiceless, my mind warring with itself until I finally just let down my barriers and flooded them both with it.

They each let out gasps for air as the wave hit them.

I cared for them. I realized that now it hadn’t changed; it had never changed.

I couldn’t imagine life without them. The mere thought of it made me want to raze the whole world to the ground. Without the two... Three of them in my life, I’d never know peace.

Tessa burst through the door to the bedroom “Guys, something’s happening, the whole place is going nuts and there’s a dome overlaying the whole forest!” Tessa exclaimed worriedly, but stopped as she spotted our expressions.

“What’s happening?” She asked.

“I’m… I’m pregnant.” Sophia said, tears streaming down her face.

***

“Okay, we need to up security, and you absolutely can’t go to the gala. I’ll place Arkos with you permanently.” I said, pacing back and forth in the living room.

Sophia sat on the couch, her shirt raised over her flat stomach, as Natasha held a hand to it.

“We’ll cancel the Gala and move a Custodes response team to the edge of the territory.” Natasha added, the only thing keeping her from pacing right alongside me was her mesmerized focus on where her hand was placed, feeling the energy and connection slowly taking shape.

“How is this possible?” Sophia asked in a slight daze.

“Well, from what they taught us in sex-ed.” Tessa started giving me a look.

“No, not that. How is it possible Natasha has a connection as well? I can sense her instinctual response to me, Aleks. It’s like that to a pregnant heir. That’s not normal.” Sophia said, focusing on me as I all but froze in place.

I followed the connections again, tracing them and feeling them out. There was no doubt about it. Natasha was as much a part of this as I was.

This wasn’t biological, it was based on energy; it was the same principals, but with fewer limitations. We had both given a piece of ourselves to Sophia. Natasha had just done so decades ago.

That piece was now being used to create life, and our connections to her fueled it.

Natasha finally managed to pull herself together, seeming almost buzzed by the proximity and situation. Any time she didn’t have an expression of worry, she wore a grin like she was the happiest person in the world.

There was a knock at the door and both Natasha and I sprang to our feet, her with a slight hiss and me with a snarl. It was only for a second, but it was still a worrying reaction.

“You two are starting to freak me out.” Tessa said, We hadn’t had a reaction to her even though she wasn’t involved in any way whatsoever. In fact, I even felt a sense of nurturing aimed at her.

Natasha opened the door carefully and let a wide-eyed Katya inside before quickly closing the door behind her.

Katya didn’t say a word, but simply walked towards Sophia.

“How is this possible?” She asked gravely.

“I’ve told you.” I replied.

“No. How can Sophia bear an Heir of The Eve.” Katya clarified.

“So you feel it too?” Natasha questioned.

“You’re kidding right? The whole damned valley felt it, it’s just a matter of time before someone figures out what they felt.” She said as she slowly reached out and placed her palm just beneath Sophia’s naval.

“Explain. Everything. Now.” Katya turned to me and demanded.

I couldn’t, I still wasn’t entirely cognitive and thought it best to simply share my instinct and what it told me.

Katya swayed briefly before gripping the back of an armchair.

“That’s… That’s gonna take me a while to sift through.” She rasped out.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“From the little information I gleamed, this pregnancy will take longer than a mundane one.” Katya said, looking at me for confirmation as I gave her a nod.

“How much longer?” Sophia asked.

“A couple of months, depending on the difference in species.” I added.

“What else?” Natasha asked, sitting down and wrapping a protective arm around Sophia.

“A steady supply of energy must be maintained, but it’s not much different from a normal pregnancy. Caloric intake is simply a material supplement in this case, while the energy is the main source of growth.” I rattled out, without really thinking.

“The pregnancy doesn’t appear to be that much different from a regular one, but we have other problems.” Katya looking at Sophia.

“What do you mea…. Oh, please tell me someone with the last name of Jensen isn’t attending the gala.” Sophia groaned.

“I’m afraid so dear, and considering the strength with which I felt it this morning, so too would she.” Katya told Sophia.

“Wanna clue me in?” I said.

“The Final Matriarch of the Jensen clan… My biological grandmother.”