He held my eyes and just like that day in our cham, something came over me, something I didn’t know I had, it surged through me, taking over and I gritted my teeth, nodded my head, closed my eyes, dug my heels in my husband’s shoulders and I pushed.
Hard.
Then again.
And again.
And a-fucking-gain.
“He crowns,” an assistant whispered.
“Praise the True Mother,” the healer breathed.
Then I pushed again.
And again.
“That’s it, my Circe,” Lahn encouraged, his fingers not curled around my ankles anymore but stroking deep into the flesh of my inner thighs, his arms wrapped around to do it.
So I pushed again and Lahn’s hands moved from me to between my legs as I felt him come.
“Oh Circe!” Diandra cried with delight.
“The king’s blade!” the healer called quickly.
I collapsed into my supporting arms as water splashed around me.
Hallelujah. He was out!
I licked my lips and rolled my head on the healer’s shoulder to see the last assistant was now in the water too and working with Lahn between my legs.
Then I heard his deep, now thick, voice call, “My Circe,” and I rolled my head back to see him holding up a perfect, tiny, black-fuzzy-headed baby boy.
And he was perfect. Absolutely. From the top of his fuzzy head to the tips of his baby toes.
He was also bawling his brains out.
I lost sight of my baby when the tears filled my eyes.
Then my body jerked and my scream pierced the air when new pain tore through my belly.
“Take the child!” the healer yelled and my body bucked then convulsed as pain washed anew, water splashed around me, people switched places and Lahn barked, “What is happening?”
After a few moments when my belly was prodded as was between my legs, the healer answered happily, “There comes another. Push my queen, push.”
Another?
I twisted my head to look at her as she positioned herself again behind me.
“Another? Another what?”
“You carry twins,” she told me, “push, my true golden queen.”
Twins?
My eyes shot to Lahn and I snapped, “Do you have twins in your family?”
He stared at me and ordered, “Circe, push.”
“Tell me!” I shrieked.
“Yes!” he clipped. “My father was birthed before his sister who shared his womb.”
Oh. My. God!
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I screeched.
“Circe, my love, push!” Diandra cried.
I glared at Lahn.
Then I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, dug my heels into my king’s shoulders (hard) and I pushed.
My daughter slid out easily.
She had golden fuzz on her head.
* * * * *
I felt the bed move and my eyes drifted open about the time Lahn had settled tight to my side. I saw his head was up and he was nodding at someone so I turned my head and saw Diandra and the healer beside the bed, each holding a swaddled bundle.
Diandra bent first with my dark-headed son and rested him on my chest. The healer came second, laying my golden-headed daughter close next to her brother. At the same time, Lahn’s arm closed around his newborn children as well as me and mine moved around my babies.
Diandra and the healer moved silently away, the door closing behind them.
My eyes went to Lahn when I felt his lips brush my temple then the bed moved as he shifted and I watched as he touched his lips to each fuzzy head.
And, incidentally, with each touch of his lips, my heart melted.
His head came up and his face came close to mine.
Then he declared in his soft, sweet voice, “I name him Tunahn, the horse. As my father named me after the tiger god, proud, fierce and cunning, I name our warrior after the horse god, strong, clever and loyal.”
There it was, that was Dax Lahn, naming our kid without even asking what I thought.
Though, I kind of liked “Tunahn” and I definitely liked the reasons he chose it.
“Now, kah teenkah tunakanahsa,” he whispered. “What do you name our daughter?”
Oh. We were taking turns.
Okay, I could dig that.
“Isis,” I blurted for reasons unknown to me. It just came out.
“Isis,” he whispered, his eyes drifting to her golden head and the way he said those two syllables, I decided that was it. My girl was Isis. Then his eyes came to me. “Why do you name our golden princess this?”
I tilted my head a little as it hit me for the first time that my husband and I shared something weird and pretty freaking cool.
So I replied quietly, “Your parents named you after a god and my parents named me after a goddess. Circe was the goddess of magic. Isis, too, is a goddess. She’s the goddess of motherhood and magic.”
Lahn grinned a grin I liked a whole lot.
Then he whispered, “This pleases me.”
It pleased me too and, damn it all, it pleased me that it pleased him.
I stared into his eyes and whispered back, “Dohno.”
His long, strong arm tightened around his family and his eyes dropped to my mouth. My warmed heart warmed more as my breath caught and my eyes dropped to his. It was coming toward mine. And when our lips touched, his opened and mine didn’t hesitate to do the same nor did the tip of my tongue hesitate moving to touch the sweetness of his and at that touch, warmth rushed through me, strong and unbelievably sweet.
He lifted his head and I knew with one look in his eyes, he’d felt the same.
“I am very proud of you, my golden doe,” he whispered.
“Shahsha,” I whispered back.
“Though,” his lips twitched, “I think the last time you dug your heels in my shoulders it was less an effort to bring our daughter into this world than it was something else.”
He wasn’t wrong about that.
My eyes slid away.
“Circe,” he called and my eyes slid back. Then he shared gently, “There has been only one moment in my life when I have been happier than I am in this one and that was sharing the beauty your magic created while you told me you loved me.” His arm gave us another squeeze. “Thank you, baby.”
I bit my lip as that slid through me warm and sweet as well.
Okay, I was in trouble. I wasn’t going to be able to hold up against this kind of sweet.
Still, the moment warranted it so I couldn’t help but whisper, “You’re welcome, Lahn.”
His eyes warmed further then his head descended so he could brush his lips against my forehead, my temple and then my lips.