Chapter 108: Stolen away
"This is..."
Sunnie smiled. "It’s your little niece, Maren."
"It has a name now?" Little Black asked.
"It’s a she," Sunnie laughed.
"Ah, yes! I mean... it already hatched...? When? How? I wish I was there to witness it!" Little Black blinked with a pout.
Sunnie smiled as she muttered to herself, "I wish I witnessed it too."
Zuna and Zukka stared at the little one sleeping peacefully with a smile.
"She’s so pretty..." Zuna said emotionally. "So beautiful... she looks so delicate and all... I’m even scared of touching her."
The other women approached and gathered to also take a look at the baby.
"Oh my gosh, she’s so tiny and adorable..."
"So delicate..."
"She looks like her mother."
"No, her father. The hair and eyes... so alike!"
"She looks like both."
They all admired the little one endlessly without even noticing that they had pushed Azure and Little Black aside.
Azure smiled as he made his way to where the other husbands stood, all folding their arms and watching the women adore the little girl.
Eris sighed. "Congratulations."
Azure nodded with a smile. "Thanks."
Eris sighed. "I still can’t believe the nerd did it faster than me and now has a kid."
Luka stared at him. "It’s not too late, though."
Eris nodded. "Yes, I think I should begin using my skills on the female too."
Zayn scoffed as he stared at Azure. "So what happened? Why the delay?"
Azure sighed. "Well, sort of a long story. But it’s handled. And I gave her my pearl necklace..." His cheeks flushed as he announced.
"....!"
The four husbands stood there, staring at Azure with shock.
"Huh? You did what?" Eris asked.
"I expressed my heart to the female and gave her my necklace."
They blinked.
Eris shook his head. "Whoa... you’re moving faster than me. I can’t believe the two of you... No, I can’t believe you’ve already dedicated your heart to her fully now. I didn’t even know..."
Karl asked, "I thought you were the one who previously said that you could never give your heart to someone like her?"
Azure didn’t find the old original host romantically appealing. He didn’t see himself handing his pearl to her and spending a lifetime together. Their marriage was just pushed onto them; he didn’t even take it seriously at all.
But now, he had found himself fully in love with Sunnie and willing to spend every lifetime with her. "I guess things have changed now. I want to spend every moment with her..." He said with a smile while he stared at Sunnie with the rest, his eyes solely on her.
Eris followed his gaze and shook his head. "We lost him. He’s completely lost..." He shook his head.
Karl scoffed. "Weaklings. I’ll never change my opinion on her. I’ll never like her. The mating was just for mating’s sake. Nothing will happen."
Eris smiled. "Sure. After kissing..."
"Shut up," Karl snapped.
The two bickered as Azure continued staring and smiling at Sunnie.
Little Black struggled to push his way through and see the baby, but he was too short.
Zukka smiled as he lifted him up onto his shoulders.
"What?" Little Black asked, staring at him.
Zukka smiled at him. "You should eat a healthier meal so you can grow taller."
"Shut up. It’s because you’re a lion and I’m a rabbit. Rabbits are shorter."
"But the Moon Goddess isn’t," Zukka raised an eyebrow.
"..."
"I’m not talking to you again," Little Black said.
"Well, you just did."
"Starting from now."
"You did it again."
Little Black forgot the baby he came to see and started bickering with him. Zuna stared at them as she smiled and continued admiring the little one Sunnie was carrying in her arms.
---
The baby slept almost the whole day.
She got up from where she lay in the cave. The little girl looked around, confused for a while.
Then she heard people speaking outside and immediately got up. Her feet were back, and she quickly ran out of the cave to meet the others.
Everyone was sitting around the fire having their dinner when she rushed out.
"Oh, she’s out," Little Black smiled as they all turned to see her running—not even walking. The little girl ran toward Sunnie and crashed into her arms.
Sunnie held onto her with a smile.
"Oh, she has legs now? Wasn’t it a tail a while ago?" Little Black asked.
"She has both, of course, like her father," Eris explained.
"But how can she run so... fast? Didn’t she just hatch like today?" Luka asked. Everyone was quiet, also confused by that.
They watched the little one now in Sunnie’s arms as Sunnie smiled. "She’s a special one, I guess."
The women smiled happily as the little one sat on Sunnie’s lap, staring at the meat in her hand. They had made some vegetable meal, and Maren was curious while staring at it.
Sunnie smiled. "Do you want this?"
But she said nothing. Maren kept staring at it.
Sunnie ran her hand through her blue hair. "This is not for you. You should have some soup to nourish yourself. It’s best for your body right now."
Maren said nothing. She stared at it for a while and then stretched her hand. "Mmmm... Ah... Ahmm."
She made inaudible sounds, gesturing that she wanted some in her mouth too.
"Oh, you want this?" Sunnie smiled. "Well, you have soup already."
But she kept making that sound while gesturing for it. Sunnie smiled as she said, "Okay then... you can have a bit."
She fed her a spoonful of the meal, and Maren tasted it and immediately spit it out, cleaning her tongue.
The women laughed in admiration while the little girl looked around as if searching for something better to cleanse her mouth.
Azure got up and left. He briefly returned with the sea soup that was prepared for her. He sat down as Sunnie said to Maren, "There... go and meet Dad for some soup... okay?"
But Maren stared at Azure for a while and looked away.