Page 187 of A Monstrous World: The Complete Series

Epilogue

Vivie

A s it turns out, all my system needed to feel comfortable growing the eggs was to see with my own eyes that Rowan was dead.

I’m rarely grateful for my lack of a sense of smell, but based on the faces Laz and Saber made while Rowan’s head burned… I’m lucky I couldn’t smell the stench.

Malice kindly offered to take my memories of the time I spent as Rowan’s captive, but I declined. I know the nightmare had the best of intentions. I just wasn’t ready to forget, and like Nadia told me, sometimes we live the hard lessons so our children never have to.

And I agree.

I couldn’t bring myself to have that piece of my history erased, because it taught me who I’ll never be. It also reinforces that I’m nothing like my mother.

Emerson smiles at me from her spot next to me at the changing table in the nursery. We have everything prepared, with three cribs, three rocking chairs, and everything else the babies could need.

Emerson brought over two of her quadruplets, so I could get a little practice with babies before my own are born, and it means the world to me that she didn’t scoff at my plea for help.

“I don’t have a sense of smell. How will I know when it’s time to change them?”

She laughs. “Well, the faces they make give it away half the time, but see this little line on the front of the diaper?” She points, and I nod. “It starts yellow. When the baby pees, it turns blue.”

Leaning over, I check the line. “Okay, that seems simple enough.”

Emerson keeps her hand on Dash’s stomach and glances over her shoulder at Riven, flying around the nursery.

Gods.

It’s scary, and there’s a good chance at least one of the babies will have wings from Saber.

“Here, why don’t you practice changing Dash? I need to pluck Riven out of the air before he crashes through your window.” Emerson laughs, but my eyes widen.

“What if I drop him?”

“He’s on the changing table.” She steps back. “Even if you did, my kids are built like tanks. Riven once dropped Larke from like ten feet in the air. Larke hit the tile face-first and popped up like nothing happened. I was hysterical, but yeah, he barely noticed.”

I panic, stepping forward and smiling at Dash. The baby hellhound is as cute as a button, with wide red eyes. “Okay, little guy. Just don’t pee on me.”

“Put a wet wipe over his lower stomach for a few seconds. It’ll help him pee in the diaper,” she says. “But sometimes, they’ll get you no matter what you do.”

Well, shit.

Labor is the real deal.

It lasts for hours.

Nadia and Meena are rock star midwives. No matter how high my anxiety gets, they keep me grounded.

Laz is his normal calm, cool, and collected self, supporting me every step of the way. Not that Saber doesn’t. He just has a few minor meltdowns, but considering the circumstances, I think it’s to be expected.

At the end of twenty hours of labor, I finally get to hold my babies. Well, at least until my mates steal them away for their own opportunity to snuggle.

We ended up with one of each of our species. Apparently siren DNA doesn’t adhere to the standard of following the father’s species.

Silvie is a siren.

I sensed it the moment her light gray eyes met mine. And it could terrify me if I let my head go to the dark places it’s tempted to go, but I stay grounded in the moment with all the joy that having three new members of the family brings.

Arkan takes after Laz. The little guy was born in kraken form, and he still hasn’t transformed to human. He’s the cutest thing, with his big aquamarine eyes and chunky blue tentacles.

Saber, indeed, got his mini-me in Vine. He looks so goofy with his wings that are longer than his small body, but he’s beautiful, just like the other two.

Perhaps one day we’ll find out which of my mates got lucky with their sperm hitting two eggs, but for now, we couldn’t care less.

Although we’re definitely going to have our hands full, I haven’t been this excited about the future in a long time.

Haven might be in trouble when the next generation reaches adulthood. I’m sure it’s going to be a chaotic and enjoyable ride.