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Fabian shifted in his chair, sneaking a look at the closed door across the corridor, then turning his head to share an impatient look with his twin. It had been several decades since they’d gone through this and normally when the time finally came, he and Gideon were in the actual room. This was the first time they’d been relegated out into the waiting areas with the rest of their Bonded.
It was karma, he supposed.
“What are you thinking, boy or girl?” Gideon asked from beside him.
“I think the bigger question is how many—one or two?” Fabian countered. As the labor had progressed, silencing wards had gone up, so they hadn’t been able to count the cries. “Twins run in the family, remember.”
They shuddered in unison at the thought. There was a set of twins among their older children and they’d been able to handle it, but as they’d learned with Harry, raising a Phoelix child was very different from raising a dragel child and Phoelix twins had especially unique challenges.
If it was twins, they would learn how to handle it, they knew. The whole pregnancy had been a learning experience, one they’d embraced, even if they hadn’t completely expected it.
Unlike dragel pregnancies, which needed the consent of all three parents involved and were usually well-planned, Phoelix pregnancies occurred when there were significant amounts of magic involved and only needed two individuals.
Usually it wasn’t an issue, given how—particular—Inanna was with her affections. But then Harry had gone to see the Oracles. They hadn’t been able to go with, since it was a milestone, a significant and final step towards maturity, but they were parents—they’d followed at a distance. Or rather, Inanna had followed and then the twins and Malachi had followed her. They’d been forced to stop a few realms away, and the realm they’d spent the night on had a more concentrated form of magic than Nevarah did.
One night of comfort, followed by a full year of dealing with an uncomfortable, hormonal, frustrated Gheyo Joker who couldn’t take her sharp moods out on anyone using an equally sharp blade.
It’d been a relief when Inanna finally went into labor, and while she’d only permitted the Healers and Malachi in the room, Nnenne or Vitali had been good about sending along updates every couple of hours. The most recent one was that she was in the final stretch.
The twins straightened in their seats when the door opened and Vitali stepped through, a single word chasing after him.
“—out!”
Fabian and Gideon exchanged an amused look.
“Congratulations,” the Air Phoelix said, a tinge of awkwardness in his voice. “You can go on in. I’ll…” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be around for when I’m needed again.”
“Which won’t be anytime soon!” Inanna snapped as Fabian and Gideon got to their feet. “If you step one foot off this realm, I swear I’ll—”
The twins all but darted into the room, closing the door behind them.
“You’re in fine form,” Gideon remarked, keeping his tone mild.
Fabian barely paid his twin any attention, his focus on the infant in his Alpha’s arms. “Can we see, can we see?” he asked, rocking on the balls of his feet. His orange eyes flickered to Inanna when he asked the question, just as Malachi’s did.
A wide smile crossed his face when she gave a curt nod. “You can hold him too, if you want.”
“Him? A boy?” Gideon asked, coming up behind his twin as Fabian reached out to take the small, blanketed form from Malachi. He was surprised at how dark the face and other skin he could see was—darker than Inanna’s, with none of the warm undertones she had. Just pure black skin, as black as the Void. The infant whined at the movement, but stopped short of full-out crying. Small eyes slit open, and Fabian’s breath caught at the stunning mix of blue, purple, and silver.
Not a Fire element like his mother, then.
“Baby Boy Prewett,” the Alpha confirmed, giving a contented hum when a glassy look appeared in both Submissives’ eyes. Biologically, the baby was his and could have born the Aldaris surname, but he and Inanna had agreed a few weeks ago to give him the Circle’s name instead. To her, the more important thing was that he had a surname at all and he’d known how much it would mean to his twins.
He turned his head to look at the Joker as something occurred to him. “You asked me for naming rights shortly after we learned there was a baby coming, but you never mentioned any that you were thinking of. Were you waiting to see what…?”
“In a way,” Inanna said, reluctance laced through her words.
Her head snapped around to the side of the room at the sound of a fan snapping open. The twins followed her look to where Nnenne was sitting, her eyes peeking over the fan.
“Out!” Inanna snapped. “And the same goes for you! If you step foot off this realm…”
“Oh, believe me, I’m not going anywhere,” Nnenne replied, a tinge of hysteria in her voice, and then promptly ducked out of the room.
Fabian automatically rocked his arms and ducked his head to nuzzle at the baby, to distract him from the two women’s loud words.
“I want a turn too, don’t forget about me,” Gideon said, prodding at his twin.
When Fabian brought his head up, Gideon craned his face to get a closer look. As the twins transferred the baby between them, he looked at the Joker and her Alpha. “You two make pretty babies.”
“One pretty baby, at least,” Fabian tacked on, because the idea of going through a second pregnancy of this kind was one saved for later. Centuries and centuries later, based on the look on Inanna’s face, he decided. “Did you have a name already or are we just introducing him as Baby Boy Prewett to the rest of the Circle?”
Inanna sighed. “There’s a name already,” she said. “A traditional one. The three of you can figure out a middle name between you and he can go by that if you prefer, but the one I’m giving him, the one he’ll take up when the time comes for him to fly the nest, is already settled.”
“What is it, what is it?” Fabian asked, trading an eager look with his twin. A traditional name? Neither of them had really expected something like that.
Inanna grimaced. “Give me a piece of paper to write it down. The name’s decided on, but I want to go a few more minutes before it’s actually voiced and becomes final.”
“Magic thing?” Gideon asked as he dug in his pockets for a spare piece of paper and an ink stick. “Saying it out loud triggers something, gives it more significance?”
“Magic thing,” the Joker confirmed, scrawling out the name. “It’s …” She grimaced again.
“He’s special,” Malachi said softly, holding out his arms to take the baby from the twins as the piece of paper was passed over.
When they read the name, the twins exchanged dismayed looks, before turning horrified looks on Inanna.
“Absolutely not,” Fabian said.
“Absolutely yes,” came the retort. “Non-negotiable.”
"But—“
“It’s traditional.”
“Poor kid,” Gideon said. “We’ll definitely make sure he gets a middle name. Something with a G.”
“Excuse me?” Fabian demanded with a huff, turning to face his twin. “Why do you—”
Gideon waved a finger at him. “Nuh-uh. He’s got an F with the first name. You’ve got representation. There needs to be a G so I get some too.”
“Now you’ve done it,” Malachi murmured as he watched his twins start to bicker. He shifted the infant in his arms, smiling down at the dark face. “That will buy you a few hours of time before the name is announced, I think.”
“You don’t want any say?” Inanna’s voice was tired.
“Not really. I trust they’ll choose a good one.” And besides, he already had the nickname in mind for his son.
His starbird.