Chương 1058: Day One Thousand And Fifty-Six

Dear Diary, In case it wasn't readily apparent yesterday, I'm a little shook by how, I dunno, coldblooded and pragmatic my Kitten can be. Shit, make that 'all of my here and now family'. It's not like any of my ladies batted an eye out of her using our Darling and the bean for a major national event to cover for the fact that everybody with any kind of major influence in the Alliance was getting together at my Temples.

Thing is, from what I can tell almost everyone over in Europa thinks in a way where the, I dunno, nepotism of the thing just makes sense. Of course the birth of the Imperator's child is gonna be a big event. Of course she's gonna show off her Heir to all and sundry before she's even fully dry from the birth fluids. I mean, not literally on that last. Adorable little bean that she is, Aoibh's only concession to babies being a pain in the ass is that she gets cranky if she's ever awake and not attached to a nipple.

Yes, she gives me shit in the literal sense, but that's just because I'm me and she's a pre-potty-trained baby. Lucas does the same, and I'm not gonna hold it against him. Or hold him too tight against me until he's offloaded and I've dealt with the subsequent dirty diaper. As the man said, God has not yet put smell in the poo poo. I'm not sure who the God or Goddess in question would be in this case, but I'm guessing Hestia or Demeter or one of those nature type Goddesses.

I'm uncertain myself, but Persephone is a likely candidate if you're looking for someone to twit about the inconvenience. Eh. I'm mostly just shooting the shit with myself and glad that Aoibh hasn't started with the stinky shit yet. Why Persephone? She is a Goddess of the Underworld as well as Nature, and that is still a common connection. Not to mention her being a Goddess of natural rebirth cycles. Fertilization even. I thought about that for a second before replying.

If she's so fertile, why don't they have kids yet? Any number of reasons. He's a Death God, the two of them do not desire children and have, as you noted, taken advantages of the contraceptive advantages of mouths and asses. Or perhaps the Olympian rumors spread by his brother is true and she pegs him? I can always count on Dad to cheer me up. Thanks for that image, Dad. You're the best. I know.

At any rate, between Mads being attacked by something she didn't want to tell me about because I don't need to know, not to mention the fact that Darling's ship is both named the Sneaking Tentacle and Saffron was worried about it, which means it's not waiting in Norfolk like I'd previously been informed, my working assumption is that Mads was involved in some clandestine shit.

There's a nonzero possibility that Kitten drafted her into dealing with some shady fuckers tryna twist the Alliance into something other than the mutual defense and support organization it's supposed to be, but if I were to bet, and wasn't allowed to go check first, I'd bet on the Sneaking being somewhere far to the East of here. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I ain't even thinking about that any more, because I ain't no snitch. Fuck.

I just remembered yet again that I am now The Man. Like, in any conceivable way you throw the org chart for The Alliance together, I'm at the top. Not the top, at the top. Totally different. Also kinda fictional in most cases, but that's just because most people aren't so fixated on one particular experience that they're unwilling to engage in others. Yeah, just watch me tap dance until you forget all about the thing I was trying to forget about.

But I'm still kinda shook by how everybody just rolls with using something about our private life like that. Which says something, because I grew up in the hood, home of some of the most pragmatic motherfuckers you're ever gonna meet. Idealism is a privilege, and the only poor people who ever have it are the ones who have nothing at all left to lose. If you see a poor idealistic person, get the fuck out the way, because they are on a mission. Oh. Fuck. Did I just figure out why I'm the Goddess of Vengeance?

Because nothing says 'nothing left to lose' more than 'died, and it didn't take'. Yeah, it doesn't track perfectly, but sometimes things don't. I'm having to learn that too. Which is weird when I'm teaching Math, which is pretty much the language of 'everything is supposed to track perfectly, even if you have to redefine perfect to make it do so'. Yeah, Came home at the end of the Revel yesterday and joined Aoibh in the blissful embrace of slumber. And Siobhan.

I dunno if it's weird that I can Mimic somebody when I sleep, but I can't stay Co-Located when I sleep, but that's what happened. I wound up waking up well after sunset, almost alone in the bed, just me, Aoibh, and Marie. Looked through my ladies' eyes to see most all of them down in the Dining Room eating the perishable stuff we'd been given at the Temples. I mean, not all of it.

Like, a serving each, or sometimes even less, because my ladies clearly wanted to avoid dissing anybody's gift by giving it away, but we'd gotten so much perishable stuff that most of it wound up going to the Temples to feed the Clergy and kids. Hopefully mostly the kids, because most of the perishable stuff is the stuff that's packed with the kind of nutrition kids need. Okay, that's what those old PBS videos taught me back in the day, and they wouldn't lie, right?

At any rate, while I'd woken up, I definitely wasn't in any kind of energetic mood, so I just pinged the ladies and thought, everything okay? Saffron sounded through the general chorus of affirmatives to say, you seemed sleepy, so we let you stay there. Aoibh stirred, shifted, and started suckling, which drew a smile to my face. Totally weird sensation, but also comforting to me. I really hope when Saffron figures out a way to get me pregnant that my kid latches on okay.

At any rate, I thought back to them, thanks, ladies. You mind if I keep napping? Feel free. You don't mind that we left Aoibh there with you, do you? Nah. Then I realized. Wait, am I Grandma now? While Tallulah replied, I seriously hope not, and most of the others just laughed at the absurdity of things, Saffron picked up what I was putting down. Maybe. All I could do was smile, enjoy the closeness with our newest family member, and think back, enjoy your baby free night. They did.

I'd sorta forgotten that the wide screen next to my Maw defaulted to the Bedroom. I think that qualifies as 'sweet dreams'. Does for me at any rate. Woke up surrounded by all the kids, with the kits and my ladies spaced more or less evenly around the outside of the bed. All of us wound up snuggled in like puzzle pieces, and while part of me thought about maybe talking with Saffron about a bigger bed, most of me just enjoyed the closeness.

Siobhan retrieved Aoibh with a kiss and a 'thank you, Goddess' as everybody headed down to breakfast. I wasn't sure what I was gonna do with myself for the day until Ria tugged at my sleeve.

"What did you need?"

"Isn't it time for Math class today?" Yeah, the odds that with a nerd fetish like mine I'd wind up with no nerd offspring approach zero, but apparently that's not enough for me, I had to adopt nerds too.