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OPMC 11 Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2022-02-07 03:05:05 +0000 UTC“Ahhh, that hurts…” Elissa moaned as she rolled her head back, but she held my hand in a death grip that was coming close to bruising my fingers.
I stood in the bedroom of our house in Bastianville, but the space was crowded with women as our whole family gathered around the bed. The contractions were happening more often now, and Elissa’s pain level was continuing to increase, but I couldn’t help feeling excited for what was to come.
My first child was almost here.
Elissa Addington, my beautiful red-headed first wife, was strong and capable, so I had total confidence she’d come through this childbirth with flying colors. I’d first met her after I’d arrived in Addington, but by the time the town had been renamed in my honor, I’d earned Elissa’s hand in marriage.
All it took was killing a few goblins and an entitled noble prick.
“You’re doing great,” I said, and I swiped her sweaty bangs away from her forehead with a gentle touch. “You got this, and I’m right here by your side.”
“Ooooh, Bashhhh!” Elissa gripped my hand tightly as her eyebrows knitted together, and it seemed like another contraction was seizing her. I tried not to worry too much, but the look of pain on her face did little to abate my concern. Lots of things could go wrong with childbirth in a medieval world, but most people didn’t have the God of Time as their baby daddy either.
I’d been a nobody gamer working at a call center when I’d laid my head down for a brief power nap, but instead of waking up to the computer screen when my phone’s alarm chimed, I found myself on a stone dais with a bald Voldemort-like asshole about to slam a wicked curved dagger into my chest. It had taken me a few hundred lives to figure out I couldn’t die, but instead I continued to respawn in the same moment I’d woken up to. After I figured out my strange power, I’d used it to kill the fourteen goons and the crazed wizard attempting to murder me.
Once I attempted to leave the room I’d been summoned to, a holographic text bubble popped up alerting me to my new life. I was the God of Time, and I could make a save point and reload to that moment with a wave of my will power. It was up to me to restore hope in the realm, and I had my work cut out for me.
I rubbed Elissa’s forehead as she breathed through the pain, but the look of concern never left my face, and I caught Aranini looking my way with consternation.
“It may be best for you to step away and get some rest,” Aranini, the midwife, and my wife Mahini’s mother, suggested with a comforting smile. “Labor can take a very long time, and she’ll need you the most at the very end.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I insisted.
“My mother is right, husband,” Mahini said as she lay a hand on my shoulder. “This is a woman’s work, but we won’t let you miss the important parts.”
I’d met Mahini after I emerged from the catacombs I’d been summoned in and found a small town under attack from a horde of kobolds. The black-haired and stoic warrior woman had marched out to face the lizard-men alone, but I’d swooped in and saved her life instead. After a few hundred respawns, I’d managed to convince her to join me as my blood bonded companion, but after we’d traveled together a bit, we became man and wife.
Now, she was also pregnant with my baby, and her child would be born within the next couple of months.
“We will be right here by her side the whole time,” Caelia added.
The dark-skinned beauty ran the General Store in town, so I’d known her for a while now, but she’d only recently joined my women in my bed. She had been shy at first, but I’d known she wanted me for a long time before I ever claimed her as my own.
Now, she was just as eager to have my children as the rest of my women, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it.
“Nothing is going to go wrong, I promise,” Eva said.
Evangeline Bullard was the daughter of the Duke of Bullard, but she was far from just being a noblewoman. The feisty blonde bombshell had disguised herself as a soldier in order to follow me on a quest to defeat the crimson fire breathing dragon, and I’d fallen in love with her almost immediately. Our wedding was one of the highlights of the time I’d spent in this magical fantasy world, but now she was also pregnant with my offspring.
“She’ll have all of us by her side the whole time,” Zenda promised.
The blue-skinned, green-haired, sapphire-eyed beauty was the daughter of the High Priest of the Zaborial Isles, and an avid historian and scholar. She’d been my traveling companion and my lover ever since I’d freed her homeland from the tyranny of a nasty god, and I’d won the favor of her father before I’d taken her far from the islands on many grand adventures.
“It’s alright, Bash, really,” Elissa panted, and she patted my hand in a reassuring manner. It seemed as though the contractions had faded for the moment, and she flashed me a confident if tired smile. “I have the girls and Aranini with me. You can take a breather, and we’ll let you know when something happens.”
I cast a glance around the room at my women and the midwife, but they seemed to have everything well in hand, so I gave them a wide smile of gratitude.
“I won’t go far,” I promised, but I pressed a soft kiss against Elissa’s cheek before I turned toward the bedroom door.
Zenda, Eva, Caelia, and Mahini all hovered around the bed, so I was reassured Elissa wouldn’t be alone with her labor pains, but I was still loath to leave her side. Even with the experienced midwife from the Kotar Desert, things could go wrong very quickly, but I pushed those thoughts away as I headed downstairs. The hallway was dimly lit, but the candles and lamps flickered from the rooms downstairs and lit the steps below my feet.
“No big deal, babies are born all the time,” I muttered to myself as I paced back and forth across the living room floor for a while, but the sounds of Elissa’s moans of pain echoed down the stairs into my anxious ears.
I paused at the base of the stairs and fought the urge to return to the birthing room, but I knew better than to add any more stress to an already stressful situation. I wouldn’t be much help to my laboring wife if I was a nervous wreck, and I needed some fresh air, so I slung my cloak over my shoulders and headed out of the house. The icy wind bit my face as soon as I opened the door, and I pulled the hood tightly around my head as I leaned into the air gusts.
Then I took a deep breath and let it out in a strong exhale.
“Everything will be alright, Bash,” I said to myself in my most reassuring voice. “You’re going to be a father!”
Regardless of what was going on inside my house, there were plenty of things to distract me. Bastianville was my homebase, and I knew all the residents on a first name basis. Some of them had lived here already when I’d first arrived, but many migrated to my town after hearing news of my greatness.
It wasn’t long after I’d arrived in town that word of my arrival spread, but I’d been having a blast exploring the world and destroying my enemies ever since, and while Bastianville was one of my favorite places to be, I’d only just returned from a quest when Elissa’s labor began. My women and I had recently trekked across the vast Kotar Desert in search of Mahini’s mother, and we’d found the midwife named Aranini in the midst of a war torn realm.
Mahini’s mother refused to return to Bastianville until the desert realm was safe, so of course I needed to make sure to end the tyranny of the would-be warlord as quickly as possible. I’d united the starkly different desert tribes against a common oppressor, but now the desert realm would never be the same again. A new era of peace and unity had begun, and it was all thanks to me.
I suddenly heard a squawk and a flutter of wings, and I braced myself for Nameless the tiny dragon to land on my shoulders. A moment later, the silvery iridescent lizard-like creature clamped his claws into my back as he adjusted his weight, but then he nuzzled his chin against mine affectionately.
I’d found the baby dragon’s egg a while back after defeating the crimson fire breather named Smiguel, but it had taken a long time to figure out how to get the egg to hatch. We’d ended up dropping it into some magma during a quest to make armor from Smiguel’s scales, but that ended up being the secret to initiating the hatching process. The baby dragon imprinted on me right away, and now he treated me like a parent, or at the very least, an authoritative member of his family.
I had to admit it was pretty awesome to have a dragon as a pet, but the more the little lizard-like creature grew, the more I worried about what he’d be like as an adult. Would he still listen to my commands, or would he wreck havoc on the realm I’d worked so hard to protect? Only time would tell, but fortunately, I had all the time in the world on my hands.
I was the God of Time, and the land of Sorreyal was my literal playground.
With Nameless clinging to my shoulders, I headed toward the main street through town, but I saw a few familiar faces as I traversed the avenue. I waved in a friendly manner, but my thoughts were far from socializing. My mind was back in the bedroom with Elissa and my other women, but I knew they’d come find me when my presence was needed.
I didn’t want to get far from the house, but I had my fast travel amulet, so I could be back in the bedroom with a simple blip of magic.
“Bash!” a familiar voice hailed to me from down the road, and I turned to see Jaxtom and Torya walking toward me. The recently married blacksmith and his innkeeper wife were staples of Bastianville, members of the Elder Counsel, and some of my oldest friends in this medieval fantasy world, so they were definitely a sight for sore eyes.
“Hey, there,” I greeted as I crossed the distance to my friends. “How’s your morning going?”
“Good so far!” Torya smiled. “We just had breakfast at Stryker’s tavern, and now we are on a walk to help us digest our meal. What has the God of Time out and about today?”
“I’m keeping myself busy while Elissa is in labor,” I admitted with a sheepish grin.
“Elissa is having ‘er baby?” Jax guffawed and smacked me on the shoulder affectionately. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks.” My grin widened. “I’m excited, but more than a little nervous, too.”
“That’s totally normal with the first child,” Torya assured me. “You’ll be an old hat at it by the time your last one is born, though.”
Not only was Elissa pregnant, but Mahini and Eva also had little ones growing in their wombs as well. Caelia desperately wanted a baby of her own, but Zenda seemed content to travel and adventure by my side for now. I was sure she’d catch the baby bug herself, but with so many already on the way, I wasn’t in any rush to impregnate the beautiful Zaborian historian.
“There’s quite a few on the way now,” I chuckled. “I’ll have the biggest family in town before too long.”
“I can’t wait to meet the little one!” Jaxtom laughed and shook his head in awe. “Babies are a special kind of magic.”
“That remains to be seen,” I said with a wry smirk. “I don’t have much experience with them.”
“I’m sure it will come just as naturally to you as everything else you’ve accomplished,” Torya reassured me. “You’re going to be an amazing father, Bash, I just know it.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I raked a hand through my hair. “I just wish it didn’t have to hurt so much to bring the baby into the world.”
“All good things are worth the pain,” Jax pointed out. “Even gods feel pain, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.” My lips twisted into a smirk. “Although, it’s been a while since I’ve been hurt.”
“Ye should go have a drink while ya wait,” the blacksmith suggested as he jerked his chin down the road in the direction of Stryker’s tavern. “It’ll take the edge off yer nerves.”
“That’s a good idea.” I grinned, but then I clasped the blacksmith’s burly forearm with my own and hugged Torya tightly before we parted ways. “Come by the house later to meet the little one!”
The couple promised they would visit soon, and then we went in opposite directions. They headed toward their respective businesses, but I turned my feet in the direction of the tavern like they’d recommended. My oldest friends in town had the right idea, and a drink was exactly what I needed just then.
Stryker greeted me with a bob of his head as I entered the dimly lit tavern, but he immediately filled a mug with ale and slid it across the bartop to me. The foamy alcohol slid down my welcoming gullet like rain on parched earth, and I sighed contentedly after a long pull from the rim.
“Thanks, Stryker, that really hit the spot,” I said with a grateful smile. “I needed that.”
“What has the God of Time lookin’ so flustered?” The barkeep arched an eyebrow as he returned to his cleaning tasks.
“Elissa is in labor,” I explained, and a rueful smile twisted my lips. “The women all kicked me out of the birthing room, so I’m trying to find ways to keep myself occupied until they need me to be there.”
“Congratulations, Bash,” Stryker said as his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “You’re going to be a fantastic father, I can already tell.”
“Thanks, man, that means a lot to me,” I replied, and then I emptied my mug in one long drink before I slid it back down the bartop toward him.
The tavern owner caught the glass smoothly in one hand and immediately refilled it with more before sliding it back to me.
I had a few more beers and shot the breeze with Stryker for a while, but then I noticed the sun beginning to rise closer to the midpoint of the sky, and worry settled into my gut. I wanted to check on my women and Aranini to see how everything was going, but I didn’t want to get in the way either. I needed to be closer to home, though, so they could find me easily when it was time.
I paid the barkeeper for my drinks with a few gold coins out of my cloak pocket, and I bobbed my head in farewell before I headed back out into the cold. The wind was still biting and chilly, but I lowered my head and pushed into it as I headed back in the direction I’d come from.
I was almost back to my house when another person hailed me from down the avenue, but I recognized Riondale’s straight-backed posture from a far distance. My general had short clipped dark brown hair and a spattering of facial hair, but his brown eyes were full of authority as he saluted me. The younger man had finally settled into his leadership position, and I couldn’t imagine ruling Bastianville without his help. Riondale was a lieutenant when we’d first met, but his loyalty and bravery had quickly earned him my respect and admiration. I’d given him every opportunity I could, and now he was in control of a vast and well trained army.
If any of our enemies tried to attack us now, they’d have a hard time even reaching the city walls.
“Hey, Ri-Guy,” I greeted with affection in my voice. “What’s going on?”
“I have a few new recruits who requested an audience with you,” the general informed me in a business-like tone. “I told them you’re a busy man, but they want to swear their fealty directly to the God of Time himself.”
“I get that,” I chuckled. “I’d be happy to oblige another day, but I’m kind of busy at the moment.”
“Anything I can help you with?” Riondale arched an eyebrow in a questioning manner. “Is everything okay?”
“Elissa is having her baby,” I explained. “I’m on my way back to the house to check on her. They kicked me out of the birthing room, but it’s been like an hour at least.”
“My Yaya used to help deliver babies in Bullard castle town,” Riondale said. “It’s likely to take much longer than an hour, sir. Do you want me to wait with you?”
“Sure.” I grinned.
The two of us finished the trek to my house, but I could hear the cries of labor pains from outside the front door, so I hesitated to enter.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said in a low, worried voice.
“Sounds normal to me,” Riondale said, and he shrugged one shoulder. “I’m sure they would have found you by now if something had gone wrong.”
My eyes leapt to the stairs as we entered the house, but Riondale placed a staying hand on my forearm, so I turned toward the living room instead.
“Want some tea or something?” I asked. “I need to keep my hands busy.”
“Yes, please, sir,” Riondale replied with a bob of his head. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Nah, it’ll just take me a minute,” I said, and I moved into the kitchen to put the kettle on the fire.
We kept a fire burning in the wood stove constantly, but between the five women and myself, it was easy to maintain the correct temperature to heat the entire house. Soon, we’d be living in a castle with a full staff of servants to do all the dirty work for us, and I looked forward to living like real royalty.
After a few moments, the kettle hissed, and I poured the hot water into the waiting mugs with tea leaves in them. I let the drinks steep as I gathered some biscuits and butter, but then I placed everything on a tray and carted it into the living room.
Riondale and I sat opposite each other and sipped our tea in silence for a long while, but the sounds of labor continued to echo down the stairs into my ears. My nerves were all fried, and I tapped my toes insistently on the floor as I sipped my warm beverage.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Riondale said into the silence.
“Yeah, I guess…” My eyes wandered to the stairs, and every inch of my being longed to be up there by her side. “It’s just the waiting I hate. Give me an ogre with a spiked club any day of the week over this helpless feeling.”
“Welcome to fatherhood,” the general teased.
“Is it always going to feel this way, then?” I chuckled and shook my head in dismay.
“I merely jest, sir, I do not know what awaits you with your offspring.” Riondale’s lips twisted in a smirk. “But I know you have a town and an entire army at your disposal should you need any assistance.”
“They say it takes a village to raise a kid,” I said.
“Who says?” Riondale tilted his head to the side and flashed me a curious look.
“They do… nevermind,” I said, and I waved a dismissive hand. “It’s just a figure of speech from my world.”
“I see.” Riondale’s eyes smiled as he sipped his tea slowly, but then a thoughtful expression slid across his face. “Do you ever miss your old world? Earth?”
“Not really.” I shrugged. “Sorreyal and the realms beyond have everything I could ever want or need. There’s nothing back home for me to miss. No family or friends… My life has become infinitely better since I arrived here.”
“That is good to hear,” Riondale said. “I’d hate the idea of you leaving us any time soon.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere.” I laughed at the sheer absurdity of the thought.
Sorreyal, and Bastianville specifically, was my home now, and nothing was going to change that.
“Bash!” Zenda’s worried voice cut through my thoughts, and I was out of my chair and trotting up the stairs an instant later.
Riondale didn’t follow me, but I had a feeling he was going to stick around downstairs just in case he was needed for any reason. He was one of my most loyal followers, and I knew he would do anything for me. His presence was comforting, and I took a deep, steadying breath before I pushed open the bedroom door.
The scene before me was total chaos, and it took me a second to absorb what I was seeing. Caelia rushed around with an armful of bloody towels, Mahini and Eva supported Elissa from behind, and Zenda’s face was paler than the white sheets. Aranini was kneeling between my red-haired wife’s legs, but the midwife looked up when I entered the room and beckoned me over.
“It is almost time!” The midwife scooted over to give me room to kneel beside her. “Would you like to receive your baby?”
“Absolutely!” I grinned as I turned to glance at Elissa, but I avoided looking at the place where I knew the business was going down.
“Oh, Bash, I’m so happy you’re here!” My wife’s red hair was soaked with sweat, and she smiled down at me with tired emerald green eyes. “It’s taking so long!”
“Your labor is progressing much faster than we anticipated,” Aranini corrected with a chuckle. “Many women labor for days before the baby begins to crown.”
“Crown?” I flashed the midwife a curious glance. “Like royalty?”
“Somewhat.” An amused smirk twisted my wife’s mother’s lips. “You’ll understand soon enough.”
I shrugged off her vague response and refocused on my wife’s exhausted facial expression, but I could see the strength of spirit she carried with her. Elissa looked tired but determined, and I’d never felt more proud of her than I did in that moment.
Then everything started happening at once.
Elissa moaned as her eyes rolled back into her head, but Mahini and Eva kept her upright. Then her legs quivered, and a pained cry escaped her lips, but the midwife merely instructed her to breathe in a calm voice.
“You can do this, Lissy,” I murmured in an affectionate tone. “You’re strong. My Skullcrusher, remember?”
“You really think I can do this?” Elissa groaned, and she bit her bottom lip as she peered into my eyes.
“Without a doubt,” I assured her with a firm nod. “If you can crush the skull of an undead skeleton, then you can endure a few moments of pain. Then we’ll have our baby in our arms. You’re so close!”
I continued to chant encouraging words as she breathed through the contractions, but then Aranini began to tell her to push. The baby’s head became visible, and I blanched, but I took a calming breath and pushed away my own discomfort.
Elissa needed me to stay strong for her.
The baby was in my arms a few moments later, and the ear piercing scream split the air as soon as it was free from it’s mother’s womb.
“A girl!” Aranini announced in a joyful tone as she quickly tied two strings around either end of the umbilical cord. “She will honor her father and mother with her beauty and grace.”
“She’ll do whatever she wants to,” Elissa panted, and she held out her arms for her baby.
I stared down into my daughter’s wide, crying gemstone eyes, and my heart instantly melted. She had her mother’s curly red hair, and the biggest, most beautiful green eyes, but there was no denying my features. My nose and eyebrows were especially prominent, but she was like the perfect mix of mine and Elissa’s faces.
The baby continued to scream, cry, and thrash in my arms, and she was slippery from the womb, but I made sure to keep a solid hold of her.
“Is she okay?” Elissa asked, and worry crept into her voice. “Can I see her?”
“Of course!” I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt as I laid my baby daughter on my wife’s bare chest.
The baby immediately calmed down, and she stared up at both of us serenely as Aranini brought a wet towel over to wipe her clean of the birth fluids. After a few moments, the midwife cut the umbilical cord, and she applied an ointment to the baby’s belly to help dry it out. Then Elissa showed the infant to the breast, and the baby girl immediately latched on and suckled noisily.
“You’re a father, Bash!” Elissa grinned up at me with tears of joy in her emerald eyes. “Can you believe it? She’s so beautiful and perfect!”
“I didn’t expect anything else,” I said, and I smiled happily down at my wife and daughter.
“We’ll give the three of you some time to get to know each other,” Mahini suggested, and she herded the other women out of the bedroom door.
Aranini stayed behind, but she seemed focused on Elissa and didn’t pay attention to us as we nuzzled our brand new daughter.
“What should we name her?” I asked in a quiet voice as the baby yawned, and milk dribbled down her chin.
“Sorena,” Elissa said in a decisive tone, but then doubt crept into her eyes, and she flashed me a questioning glance. “If that sounds okay to you?”
“I like it.” I didn’t know my grin could get any bigger, but somehow it did. “Sorena it is.”
“Would you like to swaddle her, Bash?” Aranini asked as she tapped me on the shoulder. “It would be good for you to learn how to take care of her yourself.”
I made a new save point.
“Show me how?” I requested, and the midwife nodded her assent.
I took Sorena from Elissa’s arms, and we finished cleaning her off before we wrapped a diaper linen around her bottom. Then Aranini laid Sorena down on a blanket with the corners pointed in the same direction as her arms. One flap came over the belly and was tucked behind her back, and the other folded over the first flap, but then the tail was flipped up and tucked into the folds.
I reset to my save point with a wave of my will power.
Chime.
“I know how,” I said, and I took the baby from her mother to show Aranini my swaddling skills.
My wife’s mother watched attentively as I bathed, diapered, and swaddled Sorena, but the midwife’s eyes widened in surprise at my skills. The expression of shock never failed to amuse me, but I stifled my chuckles as I bounced the swaddled Sorena up and down in my arms.
“Why, Bash, you’re a natural,” Elissa observed in a pleased tone. “Seriously, though, is there anything you’re not perfect at on the first try?”
“I doubt it,” I chuckled.
Sorena blinked slower and slower until her eyelids closed completely, and a little sigh escaped her lips as she fell asleep in my arms. My heart swelled so much I felt like it would explode out my chest, but then again, it seemed to already reside outside my body. This little baby girl owned my heart instantly, and I shook my head in awe at how lucky I was to have her in my life.
I’d been a father less than an hour, and it was already the biggest thing that ever happened to me.
Aranini finished cleaning Elissa up after the placenta was released, and I returned the sleeping Sorena to her arms. The pair looked perfect together, and I didn’t think my heart could swell any further, but it did. It pounded against my rib cage as love filled me completely, and I blinked away emotions from the corners of my eyes.
“What now?” I chuckled. “We’re just parents? Like just like that?”
“How else did you expect it to happen?” Aranini teased. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you about the bees?”
“Yes,” I laughed. “I just mean… What do we do with the baby now?”
“She will sleep a lot at first,” Aranini explained. “Or she may not sleep at all. In any case, the two of you may never be able to sleep again.”
“She’s joking,” Mahini said as she reentered the room. “We will all chip in to help, so no one will lose that much sleep.”
“Thanks.” I grinned. “I know many hands make for light work.”
“Would any of you like a cup of tea or a snack?” The desert goddess tilted one hip to the side as she considered us one by one, but we all shook our heads to the contrary. “Well, then I suppose all that’s left to do is inform the crowd outside that the baby has finally arrived.”
“Crowd?” I frowned in confusion. “What crowd?”
“All of Bastianville have turned out to celebrate the birth of your daughter, Bash.” Mahini smiled as she absently rubbed her own pregnant belly, and she jerked her chin toward the bedroom window. “See for yourself.”
I went to the window and glanced out of the curtain, and my jaw dropped when I saw how many people stood outside my house in the freezing cold. The second the light from the window beamed into the street, a huge cheer swept through the people, and the glass pane rattled from the force of the noise.
“Wow,” I chuckled. “They really know how to show their support!”
“They want to have a party to celebrate the birth of the little one,” Eva said as she entered the room. “The castle is big enough to host everyone and will keep us out of the elements, so I’ve sent Torya over to supervise the setup of the great hall. It was almost completely done anyway, so it won’t be long before everything is ready.”
“Awesome.” I grinned. “She’s been in this world for less than an hour, and she’s already the most popular person in town.”
“Would you expect anything less of one of your offspring?” Mahini lifted an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Nope,” I laughed. “I’d expect them to be ruling the world before they can walk or talk.”
“That’s very likely,” Elissa teased. “She already has you wrapped around her pinky finger.”
“Damn straight.” My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but I didn’t even care. “Let’s celebrate her the way she deserves.”
We all made our way through the chill wind to the castle, and the parade of townsfolk followed behind my family and I. Torches lit the way, and a fire was burning in the fireplace when we arrived, but I spotted a bassinet placed near the warmth of the flames, so I carried Sorena over to it and laid her down inside.
Musicians set up in one corner of the great hall as the rest of the townsfolk filtered in and took seats around tables, but then Stryker and his wife wheeled in barrels of ale, and a cheer went up at the sight.
The ale flowed freely and the music had people dancing for hours, but Elissa and I stayed close to our newborn baby. Various people came over to grant well wishes and bestow gifts, and soon, a pile of presents were stacked around the bassinet. The baby girl slept peacefully through all the noise and commotion, but she began to fuss after a few hours until Elissa put her back on her breast.
Elrin, the Mayor of Bastiannville and the new grandfather, brought in a beautiful hand carved wooden crib engraved with my crest, but Bellona Uriel, the town seamstress, bestowed a silver infant gown upon the newborn baby, and Jaxtom brought a rattle made of fine metal. I wasn’t sure how the blacksmith had managed to get rattling items inside the metallic orb at the end of the handle, but I could already tell Sorena would adore her new toy.
Theodora, Bastianville’s resident apothecary, brought an ointment she’d made herself for diaper rash, and Deena brought in baskets of food so we wouldn’t have to cook much over the coming days. Sarosh, the High Priestess of the Bastianville church, gifted the baby with a book of nursery rhymes, and Riondale gave me a flask of fine whiskey.
Everyone was very generous and loving as they paid their tributes to the new baby girl, but after several hours of partying, the infant had enough and began to scream. Elissa lifted the infant into her arms and bounced her gently, but nothing seemed to be calming her down.
“Maybe try feeding her again?” I suggested.
“I just fed her,” Elissa argued.
“She did just get born, she’s probably still starving,” I pointed out.
“I suppose.” Elissa shook her head and flashed me a mischievous grin. “I should trust the God of Time, huh?”
“Definitely.” I grinned.
Elissa got into a comfortable sitting position, and she placed the baby on her breast, but the little girl immediately started to fuss and wiggle about like she was trying to escape.
“Let me try to hold her,” I said, and I stuck out my arms to receive the baby.
Elissa gave her to me with only a hint of reluctance, but then I cradled her close against my body. Sorena wiggled and kicked until her blanket pushed back away from her, and I had to readjust her in my arms until she was facing away from me and could see the crowd of people.
Sorena immediately calmed down, and when I glanced at her face, her emerald green gemstone eyes peered at the people around her with curiosity.
“She just wanted to see what all the fuss was about,” I said, and Elissa giggled.
“What a curious little girl we have on our hands, Bash,” my wife said with an awed shake of her head. “She’ll love growing up in Bastianville, I can already tell.”
“Her life is going to be amazing,” I vowed. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“I’m sure you will be a wonderful father for all your children,” Elrin said as he came up behind me and patted me on the shoulder, but then he made a silly face at the baby in my arms. “Ooh go ga ga.”
“Want to hold her, grandfather?” I asked as I gestured with the infant, and my father-in-law immediately opened his arms to his granddaughter. “She likes looking around so make sure she can see everything.”
“They’re eyes aren’t capable of seeing much at first,” my wife’s father pointed out. “But I’m sure it comforts her to see what’s going on around her. She’ll learn the important faces first, like yours and Lissy’s.”
“I can’t wait till she can move about on her own,” I said. “It’ll be fun to teach her how to ride horses and use a sword.”
“Oh, dear,” Elrin chuckled. “You’ll have a horde of warrior women as children that way.”
“If I’m lucky,” I replied.
“Bash!” a familiar voice called through the crowd, and I turned to see my head engineer headed in my direction. “Can I steal you away for a moment?”
“Sure.” I grinned, patted the new grandfather on the shoulder, and then crossed the distance to the leader of the castle building project and the head of the Builder’s Guild. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been meaning to get a hold of you all day,” he said. “The castle is ready for you to move in.”
“That’s fantastic!” I clapped my hands and rubbed them together.
This day couldn’t have gotten any better.
The God of Time was a father now, and I got to live in my very own castle.
Life was awesome.
