The Salvatore Saga, Part Four: My new Life

I tried to be patient, but damn it, I was itching to take action. Damon had operated on me, and it was clear that my peaceful life would continue as my belly swelled with the next generation. My next womb had a bulge in veins. Not bad, but my alpha male was fiercely protective of me at the moment.

This meant I had to sit still, with even my sitting position carefully monitored. The Salvatores were excellent teachers and they bonded well with the cubs. Since we had already passed on our immortality to the next litter, we had more students now.

However, Alaric and the boys wanted to bring the cubs together as early as possible, so they would be more of a pack than just a litter. My carefully made plans had been set aside and new ones were made, but it was all for the benefit of the cubs. I could see how important it was for them to be together, not just with my litter.

But Damon understood me. We talked in the evening, and if I had an idea, he could grasp it and turn it into something useful. The other Salvatores were the ones who made it happen. Damon truly was my other half.

He kept his alpha power in check, keeping me under control all the time, and you know what? It was all good. It felt like this was how things were meant to be. There should be this unwavering obstacle keeping me calm, keeping me under control, and now I felt like I could let him make decisions for me. I didn't have to be the strong one, and it was so lovely.

I sat in my inflatable chair, with my legs elevated in a certain position, my whole body relaxed. Damon stood before our cubs, teaching them about the compass points, all eight of them. He had made sure, using his magic, that the bulge in my belly was not under strain and this position was optimal for it.

I could still talk, but moving was not recommended. He had explained to me multiple times that the litters inside me strained my womb, as well as my growing babies. Even though it was still early, our first litter was now a little over three weeks old, the second one had just gained immortality, meaning they were a little over two weeks old, the third litter was a little over a week old, and the latest one was only a few days old. So, there might still be five or six litters inside me, and I had to take it easy.

 It wasn't a weakness, just biology. I could be stubborn, but Damon explained it clearly enough that we all understood. Since I had the largest litter and the greatest strain on my body, I had to take it easy. Otherwise, I might end up needing emergency surgery to remove all of the puppies at once, which would make it impossible for me to teach. So, I made the choice to be cautious.

"Now, let's talk about directions. We have south and west. What direction might this be?"

Damon pointed to the map on the blackboard.

Harriet, my cheetah girl, hesitantly replied, "It's not south or east, it's in between."

Damon nodded and said, "Exactly. It's a combination of the two, so we call it Southeast. When we name the points of the compass, we always start with either south or north, which are the first names, and then we add west or east as the last name. So, we now have four new directions: southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest."

The cubs listened attentively. Damon was a great teacher, and he seemed to enjoy seeing them grasp the concepts. Meanwhile, Salvatores numbers five and seven were busy preparing the meals in the dining room. Over time, we had gained more choices, like which movie to watch or which route to take for our meet and greet.

Damon let me walk as much as I could, but once we arrived, he insisted that I sit down. This made Mariella smile, as she saw him fussing over me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes occasionally.

We sat next to each other, as it was a meet-and-greet event. Damon sat close to me, our arms intertwined, and our tattoos gained more details every day. It felt like a cartoon story on my arm, our story, and it was wonderful to have.

Damon looked around at the hustle and bustle, listening to the chatter and the sounds of cubs from different species playing and interacting. They were our family.

He turned to me and said, "You know, baby, this is pretty damn perfect. What more could I wish for?"

I smiled at him and replied, "Sure, you could see me as a stranded whale, unable to move or act."

Damon chuckled and said, "I love taking care of you, my wife. Even though it may be distressing for you, it's perfect for me because I get to be there for you when you need me. It makes my soul sing, so damn hard."

I nodded and replied, "I love you, too. It's wonderful to have someone who cares for me, someone who is there for me, so I can trust them. I don't have to be the strongest this time."

Damon pulled me closer to him and said, "You know, baby, sometimes I really wish I could promise you something of your own, but I can't. I just can't."

I responded, "I don't need promises. I need you. I need you to take care of me, to be the strongest, so that I don't have to. This is almost perfect for me."

Wulfe looked at us with a smile, as romantic as ever. However, he had his hands full with my strong cubs and had to create extra potions to control their powers. Number two watched us keenly, and I could sense his jealousy. Given his nature, he might misunderstand and go to be with Mariella or someone else, but that wasn't my concern at the moment.

I was enjoying my life, my family, and my relationship with Damon. He had confessed to me many times how difficult it was for him to see me with number two or three, or anyone else for that matter. Not even Mariella could alleviate his jealousy. These thoughts crossed my mind as we watched the cubs.

We had just come back from the movie theater, and afterward, we would retreat to our separate wings for snacks or sleep. The movie theater was located in the middle of the house, so each litter had a long way to go back to their sleeping area.

I was learning to live in the moment, and even this new version of myself had learned a few lessons, like not repeating the mistake of giving more lessons about making babies. I didn't repeat that performance, and Damon found my embarrassment amusing.

He had promised that he could teach the cubs that lesson someday, maybe. But for now, I used my body to distract him, and it turned into another passionate night.

However, due to my pregnancy, passion wasn't an option. Damon didn't want to strain the vessels carrying our children and cubs, so seduction was out of the question. Only rest, care, and love were on the cards.

Our classroom, with its colorful curtains, lively chatter, and the scent of supernatural hybrid cubs, was hard to describe. We had felines, canines, foxes, and who-knows-what in the same space.

The dining room was nearby, and there was always a faint smell of pregnancy in the air. I don't know if others could smell it, but I could always sense my own pregnancy as I listened to Damon teaching our cubs, or at least a version of him.

Every cub had their own unique scent, a delightful combination of passionfruit and strawberry. Although our scents were similar, each of us had our own distinct aroma. It was a lovely smell, and I knew that whenever I remembered this moment, the scent would be a part of it.

You can always change the way you decorate a room or rearrange things, but changing a scent is not as easy. Our pheromones create a language of their own, and it truly matters.

Damon's passionfruit scent would subtly change according to his moods. It was difficult for me to analyze exactly what was different, but I knew that sometimes he was worried about me, and other times he was happy or tired.

I suppose my scent changed too, but I wasn't sure if he could detect it as well as I could. Perhaps it was just another one of my superpowers. Only time would tell. Maybe one day I would talk to him about it.

As I sat in my chair with my legs raised, my thoughts drifted like summer clouds in the sky. I listened intently as Damon taught the points of the compass and the concept of time on a clock.

Earlier, I had shown the cubs different colors and explained their meanings, but Mr. Salvatore went further, teaching them about numbers, times, and months. He was truly a good teacher, almost as good as Wulfe.

It was enjoyable to notice these things and realize that my life was quite wonderful at the moment. It felt so lovely to lean back, trusting him to have my back, and knowing that I didn't have to worry about a thousand things in my mind. No wonder Mariella was sometimes genuinely happy. One could almost get used to this.

After class, it was time to eat, and Damon was meticulous about this as well. He would randomly taste the cubs' blood, an honor for them to have "daddy" bite them, so he knew exactly if they were missing anything and what needed to be added to their diet.

Of course, he tasted my blood and monitored my liquid diet too. It was carefully concocted almost daily, always tweaking and adding something. It was all part of being cared for, and I refused to think about the time when he wouldn't be there to take care of me.

It wasn't always rainbows and roses because I had a tendency to speak sharply and let my sentences overflow. This sometimes caused him to lose his temper with me, especially after he had just served me my food - five large mugs of liquid feed.

Frustrated, I exclaimed, "You might as well take out my useless teeth! I can't even chew anything with this damn drinkable diet."

Damon remained silent and continued preparing his thick steak and mashed potatoes.

I continued my rant, saying, "Oh, you just love rubbing it in, don't you? Enjoy your goddamn steaks while I drink my meal. This is fucking shit."

Damon patiently responded, "You need to maximize your calorie intake, Mimi, and this is the best way to do it."

Rolling my eyes, I retorted, "You always have to be so clinical, don't you?"

Damon finally snapped, "Mimi, I'm tired of your constant whining like a damn teenager. I'm doing my best here, and steak is not an option for you, so suck it up for once!"

I scoffed and slurped down my meal. It wasn't bad, actually quite tasty and filling, but being pregnant and hormonal, I couldn't always control myself. I slurped my meals and walked away to my bedroom to read, despite Damon's repeated warnings.

I would usually place a heavy book on my belly, but he didn't want any extra strain on my insides. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to read even a few pages, as sleep quickly overtook me - thanks to my sedative organ, courtesy of Damon. 

As I woke up later, I realized it was already night and I had slept for hours. It felt like a punishment, but I knew that rest was necessary. I made a conscious effort to control my speech for a few days, as I didn't want to be constantly sleepy.

Damon was also an excellent teacher for me. He made me think twice before saying anything snappy, knowing there would be consequences. It was up to me to decide whether I wanted to learn those lessons or not. Although my forced rest occasionally made me irritated, I didn't want to sleep all day long.

I wanted to spend time with my cubs, knowing that their time with us was limited before they moved out into the magic house. It was just a fact of our lives that I had to accept. I had to play nicely and obey Damon, even though a part of me was occasionally annoyed.

I eagerly awaited the time when I was no longer pregnant so that I wouldn't have to obey anymore. At least then, he wouldn't have such compelling arguments to make me behave like a good girl.

However, the days passed quickly, and soon it would be time for others to give birth, followed by my own turn. And so the story goes, or at least that's what I assumed. But as it turned out, things were about to change direction once again, and quite significantly.