Wyvern Protection Unit - Chapter 106: Chapter 106

After six and a half hours of intense labor, Jennifer delivered a healthy baby boy at precisely ten o’clock at night. Jennifer and Zircon’s son arrived fifteen minutes after Carolina and Kimberley both delivered a set of twins, all male, and five minutes before Candy brought three baby girls into the world.
Arthur Wessex was puffing on a cigar, the man’s grin larger than the Cheshire cat. Meanwhile, his sons were on a mandatory ice cream run, demanded by their mates who, after hours of labor, were positively determined to indulge in creamy deliciousness.
All except Zircon. Arthur’s youngest was currently inside his mate’s room, cradling their infant son with tears welling unabashedly in his eyes.
“Hey,” Jennifer whispered.
“Hey, baby,” he told her, sitting on the edge of her bed. “Look what you did. Look how perfect he is.”
“Mmm, he is, isn’t he?” she said with wonder lacing her tone.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah. I feel good, actually,” she replied, sitting up and settling into his side.
Zircon held their son with one arm, the other wrapped around his mate, and he thanked the gods for all his glorious bounty. So much. He’d been given so much, and he would spend the rest of his life taking care, being grateful, and proving himself worthy to the two of them. Jennifer and their babe. The two most important people in his entire life.
“You have nothing to prove, Conny. You’re already a wonderful mate and father. I am so happy you picked me. So glad you waited for me.”
“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Jenn. I love you so much. You honor me. You’ve given me everything. So when I say I’ll spend forever proving you made the right choice, I mean it. It’s my vow to you both.”
She smiled at him then. A real, soul deep smile, and his heart stretched to its limits, overflowing with love for her. He didn’t know how they were going to do it. But he knew it was going to be worth his while. Good thing they had family and friends to help.
Already the Drakeins were readying the Wessex family home, putting together a nursery for Jenn and Conny, and preparing hundreds of bottles in preparation for the dragon-sized appetites of the eight newborns who would be going home sometime in the next couple of days.
“Mmm. He’s hungry,” Jennifer murmured, opening her gown and lifting their baby from Zircon’s arms.
He watched as she placed the babe’s lips to her breast, feeding him with nourishment from her body. Fuck. It was a miracle. She was a miracle, and Zircon was the luckiest man in the world.
“Love you so much,” he said, kissing her on the head.
“I never knew until now how much I wanted to be a mother,” she confessed, her cheeks pink and her eyes soft and loving as her gaze flashed from the baby to Zircon.
“Thank you, Jenn.”
“For what?”
“For you. For him. For us. Thank you for everything.”
“Silly man. I should be thanking you.”
“We can agree to disagree, or we can spend the next hundred years proving it to one another,” he said, kissing her lips and smiling down at their son.
“I think I like the sounds of that, Conny.”
“You do, huh?” he grinned wickedly, already planning the ways he was gonna show her his undying devotion.
“I do. Love you, mate,” she said.
A ruckus from the hall brought both their heads up. Jennifer and Zircon both chuckled when they made out who it was trying to barge in on their solitude.
“She needs her rest⁠—”
“Step aside, Arthur Wessex, or I swear I will have my babies call you Papa Fart for a nickname!”
A second later, the door opened. Caro, Kim, and Candy were all in wheelchairs being pushed by their frazzled looking mates. They held their babies in their arms, except for Candy, who held one, while Medjed had his other daughters floating through the air on what looked like little magical floating clouds with candy cane and stuffed penguin mobiles floating above their heads.
“Greetings, sister!”
“Shhh, Medjed. The babies are sleeping,” Candy scolded, and he frowned, but nodded his consent.
Smart men listened to their mates, no questions asked. A lesson Zircon had already figured out. Thank fuck.
“Hey. How are you all feeling?” Jennifer asked, a sleepy, sweet smile on her face, and Zircon’s heart contracted with love.
“How am I? HOW AM I?” Caro snarled.
Jasper winced at the sound of his mate’s anger, and the other males looked anywhere but at the women. Carolina’s eyes narrowed, and she pointed a pink painted fingernail at Jennifer, who just raised her eyebrows in amusement. Zircon frowned. He looked at Jas for guidance, but his oldest brother just shook his head.
“I have been pregnant for over a year, Jenn! A fucking year. My body has been stretched and my womb was used as a frigging soccer field by these two boys the whole damn time. And you! You experience pregnancy for like a minute and boom, baby! What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Aww, come on Auntie Caro, you can’t be mad at me. I mean, come meet your new nephew,” Jennifer said, grinning as she held the baby for everyone to see.
“Awwww. He looks like his cousins,” Kimberley whispered, her eyes rimmed with tears.
“Isn’t it amazing? All of us having babies on the same day! Eight new babies,” Candy remarked, and the peppermint scent of her happiness filled the room.
“It is you who are amazing, rohi,” Medjed said, kissing her on the temple.
“All of you are pretty damn cool,” Larimar replied, smiling as he held one of his sons and laid his free hand on Kim’s shoulder.
“He’s right. Look what you did, Caro. Look at our boys. I love you so much, mate,” Jasper whispered, kissing his mate on the cheek.
“Fine,” Carolina grumbled. “Jennifer, you’re forgiven. But you!” She glared and pointed at Zircon. “As punishment for this, whatever this was, you will be on ice cream duties for a month, mister!”
Jennifer tried to hide her giggle by burying her face in his neck as she hugged him. He was so damn thrilled by the fact of their relationship and her being so open and free with her affection that he nodded at his fiery little sister-in-law.
“You got it, Caro. I can live with that,” Zircon replied easily, smiling as he squeezed Jennifer gently.
“Good, mate,” Jennifer whispered, kissing his neck, and he simply beamed.
“Is this a good time to announce Larimar and I will soon be trying for a family?” Daeja asked, coming into the room with a tray full of formula.
“That is awesome, Daeja! Congrats!”
She nodded and smiled, Heliodore walked over and took the tray while she handed out bottles. The younglings required a lot of nourishing and the formula would help supplement breast milk, but it was likely they’d all move on to baby food in the next few weeks.
When they were finally left alone, Zircon watched over his sleeping mate and baby. He closed his eyes and offered his thanks to the gods, the Fates, and the multiverse at large for gifting him with a family of his own. He was used to being deployed on special assignments and missions, but being a mate and father trumped all of them.
Jennifer’s eyes opened, and she flashed him a warm smile, and he knew it was worth it. All the waiting and the pining for her, every moment he’d spent trying to earn her trust and love was well worth it. She was his now. And she’d given him a family to care for and love. What better way to show she loved him back?
He had the room all packed and the baby ready to go. He’d just been waiting for his sweet mate to wake up.
“Ready to go home, baby?” he asked, a smile teasing at the corner of his mouth.
“Yes. I’m ready. I’ve been ready for a long time.”
Zircon was no fortune teller, but he had a feeling. A good one. It told him everything was going to be okay with him and Jenn and the family they had made together.
Sometimes relationships were hard. They took work, effort, and compromise. And more often than not, they required patience, understanding, and trust. But most of all, they needed to be built on a foundation of mutual respect and love. Jennifer had given him her heart, and he gave her his in return.
Yes. Everything was going to be just fine from here on out. He couldn’t see the future, per se, but he could see years of love, laughter, happiness, and family in her eyes. Zircon and his brothers had been through so much these past few years, but they’d done the impossible.
They learned who they were, where they came from, and they found their fated mates against all odds. The Wessex Protection Unit had an excellent reputation, and their services were in demand. Their contract with the DPCA was up for renewal and he knew they would agree to terms so long as Jennifer was permanently assigned to be their handler.
The fate of the world was always hanging in the balance, but he and his brothers would do what they could to right it. The thing was, they would never have to do it alone. They had each other. They had their mates. And they would work their assess off to make sure the future looked bright for their sons and daughters.
So, yeah, Zircon smiled when his gaze landed on his beautiful, exhausted mate and the tiny bundle sleeping in the car seat his father had dropped off earlier. He smiled and his heart stuttered inside his chest.
Fuck, was he lucky! Lucky, blessed, and happier than he’d ever dreamed. Jennifer was his now. She’d given him her heart, her body, and her trust. And she’d made him a father, too. Oh, she was stuck with him now. He was never leaving that woman. Not ever.
“Take me home, Conny,” she whispered, leaning up to kiss him.
“Anything for you, Jenn,” he said. “Always.”
The end.