novelraw Chapter 87 - 85: Am I Ready For This?
Chapter 87 - 85: Am I Ready For This?
FIVE DAYS LATER
I’m pacing. I am like those old cartoons of the expectant father in the waiting room running around smoking cigarettes, except I don’t think people do that anymore. But what do I know? In my human life, I never got even close to fatherhood. Of course, hospitals and the like are nonsmoking these days.
And this is not a hospital. Master Taba has decided to see if, in his words, "you have borne fruit." I get the whole fertility and being fruitful and multiplying, but I have the strange image of Lightning giving birth to exotic crunchy fruits.
My mind is all over the place now. I can’t focus. Any minute, I could learn whether or not i am going to be a father.
At least we broke the curse on the house. The ritual, long and boring, ended the Riddlehoevens’ nightmare. And at the moment, Lamant is working with the staff to fill the small secret room with pure limestone that Elandior has blessed. Lamant wants nothing to do with the secret chamber, and I can’t say I blame him. He has forgiven Lothair, the problem child, and wished him peace in the afterlife. According to Niall, this is an important step to break the chain of generational bad karma. We all forgave the dragon Fyrefernes for his madness too.
So, the curse has ended, and that means that Lightning can have our cubs in peace. Our beautiful cubs. If she’s pregnant, that is.
[Stop pacing.] Lobo follows me, wagging his tail. The fur brushes against me, a warm brotherly touch. If only I could talk to him as a brother. My real brother.
System weighs in. [Don’t even think about it. If you care about your future cubs.]
I tense up. How dare the System threaten my cubs?
[I would NEVER hurt your cubs. I matched you with Lightning, you ungrateful beast.]
Okay, maybe I overreacted.
[You did!] System sounds hurt. [All I meant was that if you try and break the fourth wall, which really exists, it’s dangerous. I don’t know why, but it is. It blurs the line between this game dimension and your human world. The barrier between them is already thin.]
Wait. Tanglewood is a parallel universe, not just a game?
[It is. This village is essentially W City, but smaller. There isn’t a one-to-one match. The village is small to represent how small you made your world.]
Oh. Makes sense. I didn’t travel as much as I could have. So, does that mean that there’s a New York in this world?
[Yes. It is called Galegroth. It is where the Beast Taming Elimination Tournament is held, at the big arena in the city.]
Okay, that makes sense, too. A big sporting event would naturally take place in a major city. Madison Square Garden in New York City comes to mind in terms of all the events it has hosted, and the baseball stadium.
System, I had no idea. Is that why I saw that vision of myself in the hospital?
[Sadly, yes. The barrier is thinning.]
Why?
[No one knows. Maybe because the game has quadrupled in popularity.]
Lobo nudges me to bring me back to reality. [OI! Your mate could be pregnant and here you are, off in the clouds.]
[Leave him be.] Demos is distracted too, no doubt waiting for news from his own potential mate, Ursula. [You are not mated. He is.]
Lobo huffs. [I could be.]
[WHEN? When has any she-wolf come near us?] Demos plants his feet on the soft carpet in the room outside Master Taba’s private maternity examining room. [You need to find your mate.]
[She’ll come when the Primal Beast says.] Lobo is the complete bachelor in this situation. Not understanding the cares and concerns of those of us who either have or want a mate desperately. [She will be here.]
Their debate slides off my consciousness. Mostly because they seem to be having it to occupy their attention. You’d think they were the ones waiting for their mate to be examined.
Why couldn’t I come in with her, anyway? Master Taba said that this was private, but Lightning and I are mated to each other. What is he doing to my mate? My sweet love?
I pace outside the solid oak door. Ready to sink my claws into it. I’ll carve my initials into it if I have to. I’ll turn it into splinters. I will--
[BLAZE. Stop pacing out there.]
Her assertive voice punches through my fog of stupidity.
[Master Taba is nearly done. Then he will let you in.]
I growl. [Why not now?}
[If you don’t calm down, it will be hours!]
That female! Just because we are mated, she thinks she owns me. Which she probably does, to be fair. A silken leash around me for sure. But still, why is she being so difficult?
I just want to know if she is pregnant. I want to know, so I can start taking care of her, and not letting her take risks. I want to know if she will be competing in the Beast Taming Elimination Tournament. I want to know everything!
What is taking so long?
[BLAZE! You are making me climb the walls.]
Primal Beast! I’m doing it again. Why am I so nervous?
CREAK.
The door opens, and Master Taba’s frowny face peers down at me. "Well? Are you going to come in or are you going to wear out the carpet?"
Tail raised, head erect, I march in to see Hans and Kaline beside Lightning, who is stretching on the examining table. Rejecting Kaline’s offer to help me up. I race to the examining table and haul myself up on the examination table next to Lightning. Nuzzling her, I give her the warmth of my presence.
Master Taba says without preamble, "She is expecting cubs. Twins, to be precise. As of now, all training must be gentle."
My world just had an earthquake.
CUBS?
Twins?
It’s become real!