Chapter 495 494: What We're Fighting For
After such an intense, laborious event like giving birth to twins, Mother was understandably exhausted, drifting off to sleep with the two girls nuzzling into her arms, following behind her as they closed their eyes and joined her in sleep.
The Marquess and Countess shoo\'d us out of the room moments later, the two laying beside Mother and shoring her up with more pillows and blankets, making sure she was comfortable as she got the rest she needed to regain her strength.
Jahi and I obviously wanted to remain inside and stare at our new siblings for a bit longer, but we acquiesced to their desires and left, returning to our own room - which had now been shifted to the third bedroom attached to the other side of this long hall that we were now calling home.
We had changed the middle room into a living room instead, changing the beds for couches and setting out a few more tables and chairs so that everyone could have a place to sit, whilst also making sure that the floors were all covered in soft, fluffy rugs.
We also made sure that the furniture had soft edges so that when the babies eventually began to crawl around, they wouldn\'t have anything to hurt themselves with.
Anyways, we made our way into our new - yet identical - room and sat down on the beds, staring at one another silently for a few moments.
Anput was the one to break the silence, asking "So... how does it feel to have some siblings now? And to know that now you two are tied together through Miss Julie?"
Jahi and I glanced at one another before looking towards the Jackalkin, both of us frowning slightly at her phrasing.
"It\'s an interesting feeling. Lakshmi is certainly going to be a unique looking Demoness, that\'s for sure. And, thankfully, it seems that she\'s also a futanari, so we are blessed for the time being in regards to a troublesome sibling... As for anything else, well, we\'ll see in regards to her. Alessandra seems rather cute though, doesn\'t she? Those chubby little cheeks..."
I smiled softly as I nodded, adding "And her ears are already so long, aren\'t they~? She looks utterly adorable~!"
"Though, I\'m curious... I know we sort of discussed it before, but why were they just... Demoness and Elf? Why were neither a Dogkin?"
Leone was the one to answer Anput\'s question, hugging a pillow to her chest as she said "It\'s the nature of stronger bloods to overwrite those of... well, \'weaker\' origins. Demon blood is one of the oldest and strongest bloodlines in the world, whilst Elven blood is similar with its naturally attuned affinity with mana. They completely dominate the unborn child and mould it into that race. Of course, that doesn\'t mean that there isn\'t an ounce of Dogkin blood in them; they might have the heightened reflexes or enhanced hearing or smell that Dogkin do, and they might be a tad more physically fit.
It\'s just the nature of how races work. For us... well, for us, with Jahi as the Mom, it\'s a guarantee that you and Kat would bear a Demoness 100 out of 100 times; no offense, but comparatively Demon blood is like ichor, while your blood is just above normal. With me, I honestly can\'t say; Vampiric blood is blessed by Goddesses, but Demon blood is so potent. Besides, with my own Mom\'s blood inside me as well, things get even more complicated..."
Anput nodded, grabbing her own pillow as she rocked back and forth, glancing at me and asking "Then what about Kat and I? With how compatible we are, our daughter would just be another mixture of Jackalkin and Dogkin, no?"
"Mhm. For me, there is a chance that Vampiric blood might be an... \'additive\' instead, where we would get a true hybrid of Vampire and Dogkin, but it\'s extremely unlikely. Either way, the most pressing issue would just be how our bodies react to carrying undiluted Demon blood inside our wombs; it can be a painful experience, as I\'m sure Miss Julie can tell us. Thankfully there are dozens upon hundreds of herbs and concoctions that alleviate those pains and help us become better carriers of Demon blood."
Jahi was just smirking a bit, before her smile fell as she tapped her fingers against her knees, looking at each of us.
"I don\'t think I\'d be able to sit there and watch you go through that though... I really don\'t think I could? It was already so terrible seeing Miss Julie do it, but imagining one of you..."
We all smiled at her, our hearts warm at how the Demoness assuredly assumed that each of us would eventually be pregnant with her child; it was a reassuring thought to know that she wanted to begin a true family with all of us.
"Well, anyways, that\'s for the far future. What matters now is that there are two adorable little girls in that other room who have been born into a tumultuous time..."
Everyone nodded at my statement, and I continued on speaking, placing some personal weight on my own words as I said "I don\'t want to have them grow thinking that the world is unsafe, nor do I ever want them to be in danger... I mean, already I feel protective of them, and they\'ve just been born! They mean so much to my Mother, to the Marquess and the Countess..."
Jahi gave me a large smile as she added "To me as well. I never thought I\'d have a sibling anytime soon, not with how low the reproduction rates are between Demons and Elves. I mean, it took them a decade or two of seriously trying to have me, so... I had no hope, and yet..."
"Somehow, they both managed to sow their seed so quickly again~! Hey, do you think it\'s all Dogkin, or perhaps just Miss Julie? Or..?"
Anput grinned at me, her obsidian eyes playful as she insinuated something to us all, shifting focus entirely onto me.
Rolling my eyes, I just grinned as we continued talking, waiting for the time to be up so that we could return to the little ones that had just been born.
Our conversation just reaffirmed that we now had something more to fight for, something that mattered just as much as each other.
For Jahi and I, it was to protect the joy of our parents and the union of their love, to make the world a safer place for our new siblings so that they could grow up in true peace.
For Anput and Leone, it was to help us protect our new family and protect that idea that we might one day have that same union of love, as well as the hope that we might also receive the same help from others that we provided.