Weeks passed without any sign of the Salvatores, but a week ago, Adam, Charles, Lepard, Demon, and Wulfe returned upstairs. My life became considerably busier. A list of demands emerged, dictating what I needed to do, say, or eat. Each of them had their own set of expectations.
Wulfe, in particular, was determined to work on a certain part of me and wouldn't listen to my arguments. For him, it was simply another worksite. Despite burying it deep, my nights were controlled. I slept next to them, usually knocked out with Wulfe's blood, while Charles purred, allowing Wulfe to delve in. My god, he was looking at those memories!
He no longer permitted me to reminisce, even though my syndrome seemed absent. He was convinced it lurked just beneath the surface, ready to strike unless he could identify my triggers and banish those memories as deeply as possible. My four agreed with him.
Charles told me, "Honey, I know you. While it helped you with Mariella, it won't last if you keep dwelling on your mistakes and losses. The syndrome will hit, and then what? Those toddlers, babies – we need you. Now is not the time to break down, so this is essential."
He sensed me so well; even though I hadn't admitted it to myself, he was right. I could easily trigger my neurosis and fully develop the syndrome, rendering me incapable of working or acting. My fangs were also empty, but Charles and Adam assured me the Salvatores had no issue with me; rather, it was the stubborn Mariella.
You see, she had truly taken my lesson to heart and refused to reveal every horrifying detail I had implanted in her mind. She had also spoken about me, explaining my need for intervention and help, and how these memories needed to go. This made me roll my eyes, as it wasn't my intention. However, according to Lepard, the Salvatores adored her so much that she snapped at them before being smothered with love again. Since she was unaccustomed to genuine love without a hint of lust, this was new to her as well.
The children also spent time downstairs, a few days here and there, as it was important for them to get used to the whole house. With Salvatores watching over the kids, my older girls were needed too, and Damon wanted them to mix; it meant that my four fully grown daughters wouldn't always be together; for example, two might be with two, or just one with three of Mariella's girls upstairs if needed.
It was Monday, December 14th, my 17th week, and I was preparing lunchboxes for the children. Mine had also received their placements. Damon had called ahead and made arrangements so all the toddlers would attend the same place, even if they were in different groups; their timing would be the same, which made taking and leaving them into care easier, as the schedule was the same for everyone, no need for several trips.
It was time to start my morning routines, and it took some doing, but then again, this was kind of fun, even though I had to be quite snappy and not be too slow as time went on.
I took out my pile of eight lunchboxes. Each box had six compartments, and I began to fill them. The first compartment was for grapes. Amber, Sadie, and Dash needed green grapes, while the others received red ones. I scooped about ten large grapes, halving them.
My order was: upper row left to right, Amber, Tiffany, Sadie, and Candice, and the lower row consisted of Seraphina, Sabrina, Darien, and Dash. This way, I knew what went into each box. Wulfe hadn't actually seen this process, as he had been elsewhere when I did it.
It was 6 am, and the children would need to leave by 9 am. They would be there for four hours, so we would pick them up at 1 pm, though this might change slightly later. The director had mentioned they were in the middle of reorganizing staff, so the pickup time might be extended.
With the grapes done, the next item was cubed cheese. The Salvatores had selected suitable cheeses for the children a long time ago, but there were still individual preferences. Now, I needed cheddar for Sabrina, Darien, Candice, and Amber. Dash and Sadie needed mozzarella, so they had breaded cubes, and the rest would receive Emmental.
As I brought the cheeses closer, hands suddenly wrapped around me.
Warm breath fanned my cheek as Wulfe asked, "And what are you doing? It looks fun."
I replied, "Lunchboxes. As you know, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are daycare days, so I'm just getting their bags ready. They don't have snacks there, and these children aren't really eager to eat whatever vegan slop they have."
Wulfe hummed, still holding me close, as I began to add the cheeses.
He seemed to read my mind and said, "Oh, I can help you, my love. It looks like a fun thing to do."
I rolled my eyes. "I need to get these done," I explained, "fill their lunch bags and then make breakfast. It's my turn to drive them, so I need to do grocery shopping at the same time. After that, I'll pop into my shop to see what's needed. Charles will be busy with paperwork, and Adam has gone to our farm to make new deals for bull sperm and check if our land can be rented or turned into fields for our use. Leopard and Demon are on baby duty."
Wulfe chimed in, "I'm free, you know. I did happen to notice the system hasn't been upgraded yet, as it logs your pregnancy, and you've done a lot. Since the whole lunch bags aren't in the system, there's that."
His voice was a bit sharper, so I responded, "Next slot, mini sausages, on your left, five per box. Everyone eats them, so you can put them in. There's a spoon."
He eagerly came next to me and started placing the tiny, stubby sausages into the slot.
"Morning, Mimi, what are you doing? Oh, lunchboxes, the girls have praised them. Oh, I need to learn this too," Mariella said from behind me.
I turned around, quite surprised, and saw her and Damon standing in the kitchen. Damon calmly walked to our display and started tapping it. With number four, several Salvatores walked in. Number five came and kissed me as if he hadn't seen me in ages, even though it had only been a few weeks.
Next up were numbers two and eight. Number one sent me a feeling of being chased and hunted, as it took him time to program our system perfectly. As Wulfe had finished with the sausages, number four had also come near.
With the slots empty, I reached for my mini cupcakes, coffee-flavored ones, and said to Wulfe, "The bags are on the lower shelf of the violet tray; you can fish them out. There will be quite a lot in them. There's a steel bowl with cold packs; slot one cold pack into the pocket of the bag."
Number four said softly, "Baby, we are here too. Surely we can do this as a pack; there's no need for you to do everything. We'll see who goes shopping and what you're actually going to do. It might be a medical day."
He was a bit irritated. I put my cupcakes into slots, and then it was the last slot, and there was a reserved piece of terrine. I had three sorts: lamb, wagyu, and mixed birds.
Again, Amber and Tiffany needed lamb. Sadie, Sabrina, and Seraphina ate wagyu, and the rest had mixed birds. My terrines were packed with nutrients, and soon Number One had gotten the system in order, so men flooded in as they started to log who got to do what.
Number One came to me. "Do you have extra? I need to taste."
I said calmly, "They will have a big breakfast and another big meal once they get home. This is mainly a snack bag, not meant as an actual meal."
Damon said, "I did not ask what this is for. I asked for a taste."
I reached over and opened the fridge, lifted five boxes out. There were my sausages, terrines, and cheeses. He opened them and started to taste. Several Salvatores followed his example. It seemed I needed to make more snacks for the upcoming days if my husbands ate all of them.
As I got boxes ready, Wulfe had gotten bags open, and I put lids on. He brought bags, and since he had gotten my system from my mind, he knew the order, and I started to put boxes in first. Then I reached for a smaller shelf system with wheels and got it closer. There were boxes filled with different things.
I had put them ready at nighttime so this would be as easy as possible, but as I had now a horde of husbands who flocked around me as I reached for my juice bottles, again, this time, almost every kid had their own juice.
Damon said to me, "If you could tell what you are actually doing, as this is now a chore and there are others for the upcoming days, so we need to know what to do."
I was still pretty surprised by the whole flocking thing, but then again I realized I was here being the stubborn one, not really believing that Damon and others had changed, but I just doggedly thought things would be like in the past. But it seemed that I needed to learn something here too.
"So, these are our own juices, kid-friendly, and according to Charles and Adam, not much different in terms of calories. This way, they can drink what they like," I explained. "Sadie and Dash want orange juice, while Sabrina, Seraphina, Darien, and Amber prefer berries. I have mixed juices here, including gooseberry and raspberry, as well as strawberry, red currant, and black currant versions. The rest of them want mixed fruits, so we have an orange, mandarin, lemon, and apple mix, along with apple and pear juice."
Wulfe handed telepathically Damon the correct order of bags, and Damon said, "Thank you, Wulfe. Now, baby, move over, I got this. I'll put the juices in bags."
I rolled my eyes, and my snappish retort was silenced by Number Eight, who kissed me with passion and longing.
Mariella chimed in, her voice resonating through our hive, "Please, Mimi, take them. You can have them. Just let me live my fucking life. I don't want to be smothered with love. I get it, I really do, but I am a creature of lust, not love."
"You know that balance is key," I said aloud, trapped by Number Eight as Wulfe and Damon sifted through what I had reserved, plucking information from my mind.
"You need both love and lust. I have a few books I can give you. One is the actual diary of an 'ugly lust witch.' She never attracted anyone with her appearance, but she was gentle, loved nature and animals, and that was her key. She didn't use her lust, despite it being hellishly strong, but rather her love, to attract someone."
This little exposé caused Number Three to wrap himself around Mariella, showing her love. She rolled her eyes, took a breath, leaned into Number Three, and allowed him to love her. It was almost amusing. Number Eight released me when he noticed Mariella's expression and went to stroke her face.
As the men finally finished with the lunch bags, I had no idea if they had packed everything I had reserved, but it was what it was. I glanced at the clock; it was nearing seven. Time to start breakfast. I usually made them steaks for breakfast, along with mash or pasta with cream sauce, smoothies, and of course, broth.
As I walked to the fridge to get my ingredients, Damon asked, "What are you planning here?"
"Breakfast for the kids," I replied, trying to keep my voice level, though I desperately wanted to tell him to back the hell off.
I was pregnant and not particularly patient with him, constantly pestering and hovering over my shoulder. "Meat and some more meat and calories, as well as smoothies."
He grunted and agreed, "Fine, I'll help you out. Just give them to me, and I'll get to them."
I handed him a large pot of sauce I had made, which contained a blend of Wagyu and Kobe beef. It had a mild flavor and was incredibly nutritious. The next pot held small cubes of colorful potatoes – yellow, blue, and pink – which he could either warm up or mash. Then came my meatloaf, originally intended for myself. It was a log rolled with Wagyu, Kobe, Angus, pork, and organs, thinly sliced.
Though already cooked, I could use a few slices in the children's rolls. I also provided salted salmon, eggs, and meatballs made from bird meat. He hummed as he began to plan, and a buzzing feeling in my brain told me he was delving into my mind to understand precisely what the children liked to eat, ensuring he'd get it right.
Number four addressed me, "Morning sickness, huh? Still, you're quite nicely rounded. When is your next doctor's visit?"
Wulfe replied, "Thursday, this week. I'm already clearing my schedule and seeing who else is available. She also has a mountain of paperwork piled up, even though Charles is working on it too, because our culvert situation requires decisions."
Damon inquired, "What do you mean?"
Wulfe explained, "Well, they called us back. Mimi answered, but she didn't make a decision, just asked for the papers. We have two options since the city actually built them. We can let the city clear and maintain them, but as they are busy and these are lower priority, there's no telling when. Or, we can take responsibility for them, which would grant us lower tax rates on both property and pack taxes, and they might even compensate us for past years. Charles is trying to calculate which is better because, according to the city, three culverts need to be replaced, and it's not a small task. The road will have to be opened, soil removed – it might contain metals – new culverts will need to be purchased and installed properly, and we'll require approvals and permits."
Damon grunted and said, "Well, I need to talk to Charles, but I'd lean towards dealing with them ourselves. That's my gut feeling, but as I said, I need to hash it out with Charles and Adam to see where we stand."
I was preparing fruit cubes for the children, a selection of berries, when numbers three and five entered the kitchen and began peering into the fridge.
"Hmm, we need to take stock of what's here," number three muttered.
Number five retorted, "My dear wife has been busy, I see." But you are right, we need to log these as well as check freezers. might be that no need for cooking quite so frantically, as there is a hell of a lot of semi-ready things here."
Number One grunted as he fried steaks for the children, furrowing his brows because so many things required his attention, or at least, that's how he saw it.
Wulfe turned to me and asked, "Do you have a lot of orders to fill? Should you be at the shop more, or stay here?"
He glanced pointedly at my rounded belly.
"My babies and I are fine with working," I replied. "I have orders, but I also need to bring items to the shop because we're lacking certain plants and flowers, or rather, there's a high demand for them."
Hearing this, Number One's irritation intensified. He was a control freak, and not being up-to-date on everything happening made him increasingly dissatisfied. A fond memory surfaced as I snatched a few cubes of watermelon and crunched them.
"Did you know," I said to Wulfe, "that when I was still human, I was sent to kill Nick? They took me in, I lived with them, and they contacted many people. You were also in talks, but they seemed quite hesitant to contact you."
Wulfe grinned. "Well, well, one can never truly know what might have happened. But now, if I'm honest, I might have told them to go fuck themselves. I wasn't in a very noble mood. Or perhaps I would have turned you into a vampire just to mess with them."
The mere mention of Nick and Elias caused Number Five to wrap himself around me, digging into my mind. They hadn't retained many memories from that time, or from my time with the Originals, and oh, how they craved them, especially since they were enemies and wanted leverage. However, I had secured those memories, so there was no need for my husbands to erase them with their jealousy.
But here we were again, in the middle of the kitchen during the morning hustle and bustle. This was our life now, and it would continue to be so for years to come, perhaps about ten years. Despite all the chaos and everything that had happened, I had genuinely begun to enjoy this life.
Damon's face was so funny as he was trying to be in ten places at the same time. Mariella was trying to evade her husbands' love, whose new hobby was smothering her with it. Wulfe was watching me, waiting to be with me, but he was not the only one.
Number five still kept me in his embrace, flooding me with his love, humming softly to my ear one of my favorites, T.a.T.u's, gomenasai. His dark hum was such a balm for my soul. Family life was truly wonderful, and I could not help but wait for what was coming next.