All Novel Sweet
47
“What’s wrong? What happened? Is FennLann ok?” Jack blurted.
“FennLann is dead to me,” she murmured.
Jack’s body jolted. “FennLann is DEAD!?!”
“No, I said he was dead to me. It is not the same thing. Well… not exactly the same,” she said with a frown.
“What happened?”
“FennLann’s father and his councillors were killed when their transport was struck by lightning as they flew through the mountains. The bodies are recovered. The King is dead.”
“Long live the Queen?” he said carefully.
“She will be buried with her husband. If she is lucky she has already taken poison.”
Jack shuddered at the implication. “Does this mean FennLann is going to be King? Will he be able to change those ancient laws so you can be together?”
SennLann looked at him with sadness in her eyes. “No. He will be King but he called to tell me he will no longer be coming to Altaria. He is to be wed to the daughter of one of his new councillors within the day. He said our future is… gone. He has shunned me.”
“Oh SennLann, I am so sorry!”
“He did have a message for you. If my child is born male you are to kill it. There can be no illegitimate children of the King.”
“WHAT?!?! I WILL DO NO SUCH THING!”
“If you do not then Phem Kalos and Altaria will go to war until either the King or the child is dead,” she said sadly.
“THAT’S INSANE! FennLann would kill his own son?” Jack exclaimed.
“As King, he must and… would. Huhnnn!” SennLann convulsed.
“What? What’s happening?”
“The baby is arriving. Too soon,” she grunted.
Jack leapt to his feet and opened the patio door. “DIANA! Call for an ambulance NOW!”
The woman jolted awake and looked at him in panic. “Bring me the comm!” he called out then turned back to SennLann. She was slumped back in the chair with her hands on her belly.
Diana stumbled out onto the patio with the comm in her hand. He snatched it away and called for an ambulance and gave directions. “Diana, make sure the front door isn’t locked. Let the paramedics in when they get here.” She glanced at the Phem Kalos female as fluids gushed from her. “Diana! Go!” She broke free from her panic and headed back inside.
Jack knelt between the spread legs of SennLann. “What do I do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had a baby before!” she growled.
“I guess they never gave you any sex education classes in school.” Jack growled.
“Phem Kalos females don’t go to school.”
“Right.”
“HHUUUHHNNNN!” she moaned loudly and not knowing what else to do he placed his hands between her legs. Seconds later he was holding a large, wet, gooey mass.
SennLann was panting but looked relieved to have expelled the mass. Jack noticed it was moving gently. He held it closer to her face when she gestured for him to do so. She licked it then bit the edge of the sac and it tore open gushing its contents over her chest.
Jack caught the two small wet bodies before they slipped off of SennLann’s chest with the fluids. He braced each with a hand on SennLann’s chest.
She looked down in shock. “Two?!?”
Jack smiled. “Congratulations, you have twin… girls. That’s a relief!”
SennLann began licking the faces of the babies and they wiggled weakly in protest.
A team of medics burst out onto the patio but stopped before they stepped in the slick fluids on the floor.
“Hold on tight to them. I’m going to lift you.” Jack said to SennLann and she wrapped her arms around the babies. He slipped his arms under her and lifted her onto the medic’s gurney.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital SennLann! I’ll be right there.” He called out as the medics rushed her out the door. Diana stood by the door looking lost.
Jack wiped his feet as best he could then started for his bedroom. “Diana! Come with me, please.”
He pulled off his clothes and stepped into his shower. The woman stood in the bathroom until he gestured for her to get undressed. He then took her hand and led her into the shower with him. They quickly rinsed off and got clean. They dried off and went into the bedroom to get dressed. He realized he had very few casual clothes. He decided he would have to make a quick trip to Earth to do some shopping. Something to do on his time off he supposed.
“I’m so sorry Jack! I completely froze! I was useless to you,” she apologized as they took the lift to the ground floor.
“No need to apologize. I yelled instructions at you while you were sleeping. My fault,” he replied.
They pressed a button at the concierge desk in the lobby and walked outside to meet the automated taxi that descended to the driveway. Jack helped Diana in then got in as well.
“Hospital please.”
“Is this a medical emergency?” a voice from the taxi asked.
“No, but a friend of mine was just rushed to the hospital and needs me to be there as soon as possible.” Jack asked.
“Is this Ambassador Danner?” the voice asked.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Setting flight mode as priority one. Please sit back.”
No sooner were they seated than the taxi leapt into the air and raced to the hospital. Diana squeezed herself against him as she wasn’t too keen on flying and this vehicle was being very aggressive. They landed moments later and he thanked the voice as they got out.
They made their way to the reception area and Jack explained that SennLann was there. He was given directions and they set off to the fourth floor. They met his doctor Jinnae, the hospital’s Chief Physician, who was thrilled to see them again and even happier to have a Phem Kalos female as a patient though there wasn’t much need for doctoring in SennLann’s case. Outside of some lethargy which might have been brought on by exhaustion from the labor she seemed to be in good health.
Jinnae pulled Diana in for some tests as Jack went into the room where SennLann was resting. The female was lying back on the bed and there were two small incubator beds next to her, one for each infant. Jack took a look at them first and noticed they were fussing weakly. The monitors were showing erratic readings. It seemed wrong to see them apart so he opened the incubators and carefully lifted one small form and moved it to the other incubator next to its sister. Once they were in contact both settled and rested comfortably. The monitors in the empty incubator were flat lined but the other one showed a distinct improvement.
A nurse entered the room. “What are you doing?”
“They need to be together. Don’t separate them.” Jack said pointing to the screen.
“The doctor needs both on a monitoring system. That means one per incubator,” the nurse insisted but Jack wouldn’t budge. She left to find the Chief Physician.
Jack turned back to the babies and they seemed to be sleeping comfortably. He looked over at SennLann and saw she was watching him through the slits of her eyelids. She wasn’t looking so good. He moved to her side.
“You’ll take good care of my children, won’t you.” SennLann said to him with a dull voice.
“What’s wrong?” Jack was immediately on edge at her tone.
“Promise me.”
“WE will take good care of your children.” Jack insisted.
“I have no place in this world. I’ve been cut loose.” SennLann’s voice was dropping to a whisper.
Jack realized she was giving up because her mate had abandoned her. He was watching her slip away and it terrified him that she could do this. She was willing herself into death!
He remembered seeing FennLann symbolically biting SennLann and when Jack had asked her about it she just shrugged as said she was his. Now he’d tossed her away. To be King of his people. He probably knew this was going to happen! Suddenly Jack was filled with rage and desperation. He pressed his lips tight against her temple and spoke to her in a deep growl.
“SennLann, have you forgotten who you TRULY belong to? Didn’t FennLann lose to me in battle? Didn’t he offer you over to me? Have you FORGOTTEN YOU’RE MINE?”
Then Jack did something he’d never done to any living being ever in his life. He stretched his jaws as wide as he could and he clamped down on the female’s skull. He felt her body jolt and go absolutely still. Not even the slightest movement. Her heart rate, however, increased rapidly.
Then she began to purr.
He heard a gasp and the squeak of a stifled scream coming from the doorway. He held up his hand to stop them from moving and gently disengaged his teeth from the Phem Kalos. He remembered he had to lick her where his teeth had been so he did that, causing a surge in her purring, then he pulled back. Bright gold eyes locked in his and her purring got much louder.
“WE will take care of OUR babies. IS. THAT. UNDERSTOOD?” he growled deeply at her.
She nodded rapidly and her body was trembling with joy.
“Rest. I have to speak with the doctor and the nurse. I’ll find out when I can take you home.”
He walked over to the two Altarians standing in the doorway frozen in shock. He gestured for them to move out into the hall and they quickly did. When the door closed he looked at them in exasperation.
“Would you two please stop looking like I’m going to eat you? That’s ridiculous!” he complained.
Jinnae got her voice back first. “You… ah… bit the Phem Kalos… on her face!”
“That wasn’t a bite. That was a hold. I held her face in my teeth. Trust me, it’s a much different thing. Especially for the Phem Kalos. Her mate just abandoned her. She’d given up. I might have lost her. I had to remind her that she belongs to me… wait… that came out wrong.”
The doctor’s eyes lit up with excitement. “The lethargy! She wasn’t exhausted! She’d lost the will to live but you saved her! Fascinating!”
The nurse was still eying him cautiously. “What about the incubators?”Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.
“The twins were distressed by being separated. I don’t know why but I know that when I put them back together they relaxed and the distress went away. If you can have two monitors on one incubator that would be best but don’t separate them.” He turned to Jinnae. “When can I take them home?”