[1095] - Y05.095 - First (Patreon)

“Ooo!” Virot complained, while her mother dabbed her forehead with a paintbrush, painting on the seven blue marks. A circle, followed by three simple lines on either side, matching the same painting upon the foreheads of her elder siblings, and her cousin.

“I am sorry, Adam,” Sonarot said, holding the half elf’s hand.

“Please, Aunt.” Adam squeezed her hands, feeling the roughness that came with her upbringing. Would his children, whose hands were like marshmallows, grow this rough too? “You don’t have to stress at all. I have no intention of holding it against the Iyr, or the Rot family. My children have already inherited so much, and being the fool of a father I am, they won’t be left with nothing from me.”

Sonarot frowned, squeezing his hands harder. Though the Iyr had accepted his children as their own, it was Jurot’s children who would be considered part of the main family, with Damrot and Monarot inheriting the Rot family’s will, and the strict rules which came to her from the Gek family.

Adam smiled, seeing how much it weighed upon his Aunt, and he brought the back of her hands to his forehead. “It’s easier for me too. I can’t imagine how much work it would be if Jirot held so much power in her hands.”

The woman smiled slightly, before she leaned up to press her forehead against his, and she brushed his cheek. The gentleness within his eyes washed away any of her worries, and she let him go, allowing him to spoil his daughter and nephew.

“Boo!” Virot stared down at the shield, rubbing along the steel. It was so new, so shiny, she could see her reflection through it. The shield was formed of decent enough steel, with a wooden board within that had been crafted by her uncle. She felt the smooth ridges of the slightly engraved circled, and the six diamonds which floated around the circle.

Damrot stared at his own reflection within the shield, his own nearly identical to his cousin’s. However, there were two ways they were different, the colour of the leather which lined the inside of the shield, as well as the message which Adam had written upon the wood hidden behind it.

The children continued to gift the babies, who eagerly accepted the attention and the affection. Lanarot handed them each a cup. The triplets handed them each a gem they had received from their father, though they were quickly scooped up by Sonarot, to make sure the pair did not eat them. The twins gifted the pair a book each, which they had managed to procure thanks to Elder Zijin.

“It is babo’s stories! He is your babo too! Babo is your greatfather, not like daddy, but bigger, and older, and too old now. I will read it to you, okay?” Jirot said, hugging the children one by one, planting firm kisses on their cheeks, swiping her sister’s hair back before realising she had ruined it, and thankfully she did not make the mistake with Damrot. Jarot also kissed their cheeks, and smiled, beaming so proudly that the children had turned one.

Larot handed the children a gift with Jazool, the girl having drawn them a picture, while Larot had coloured it, with precision that could only come an Iyrman, or a baby that had lived many hundreds of years, long before any of them had been born.

The rest of the children handed their gifts, little bits and bobs, and Adam revealed the gifts from all the children at the business, who had prepared the gifts and had sent even more along with Adam on the way back.

“I finally managed to give a gift on their first birthday,” Amokan said, beaming so proudly at himself.

Adam stared at the wyvern’s stinger, narrowing his eyes slightly. He looked up to Amokan, then the rest of the Iyrmen around, before he looked back at the stinger and the wyvern’s skull. “Yeah.”

It was fortunate for Amokan that Timojin’s gift was far more reasonable, a pair of large greataxes.

“At least my gifts are better,” Amokan said. “They are Rot.”

“They will grow to reach the roof and they will wield their greataxes with one hand,” Timojin replied.

‘Is he starting a fight?’ Adam thought, before catching Timojin’s gaze, seeing the twinkle within. ‘Should I beat him up?’

Adam had sworn they weren’t meant to get their pictures done like this, but he remained silent as the entire families, including Sonarot and Lanarot, each sat to get their pictures taken. The old man who sketched them said nothing, taking slightly longer to do their picture. Finally, they could make their way to the family estate.

“You took too long!” Jarot exclaimed, huffing as his metal leg struck the ground, the Iyrman dropping down to scoop Virot and Damrot within his arm. Virot complained lightly, but she was only set free after they nuzzled, and Damrot remained within his babo’s arm, staring up at him with joy.

Adam held Vonda’s hand, smiling towards her as she caught his gaze, smiling in return. She noted the way Adam smiled, the way his eyes narrowed. It was not that kind of smile, or that kind of look, but one full of relief.

“I feel like my gift was worth nothing compared to yours, darling,” Adam admitted.

“A shield is very good.”

“Compared to a prayer book?” Adam asked, shaking his head lightly. “Do you think I’ll forgive you for showing me up in front of our own children?”

“Will you punish me?”

Adam smirked slightly.

“Adam…” Vonda raised her brows, flushing slightly, before intertwining her fingers with his. “You will forgive me.”

“Always.” Adam stared at his wife, who continued to flush, the woman’s eyes glued to her youngest child, the son who slept so peacefully to one side.

Eventually Virot stormed her way towards her mother, who allowed the girl to relax within her arms.

‘I don’t have to worry about you, do I?’ Adam thought. ‘Other than that you look like a half elf, you should be alright. You’re still my daughter though, so you’ll still be troubled…’

“Dada,” called a small voice, as Damrot clutched at Jurot’s knee.

“Yes.” Jurot lifted the boy up.

“Dada!” Damrot kicked out his legs and cackled with delight.

Jurot pulled the boy to his chest, kissing his cheek lightly, since Adam had taught him to shower his son in affection. “Damrot. Son of Jurot.”

“Oo?”

“You are my son.”

The boy babbled, smiling shyly, before resting his head against his father’s chest, sucking his thumb. Virot, too, yawned and sucked her thumb, while against her mother’s bosom.

“I’ll need to get back to work,” Adam said, letting out a long sigh.

“I will inform Jirot,” Jurot joked.

Adam threw the Iyrman a look, before smiling slightly. “The business needs more enchanters.”

Jurot slowly nodded his head. ‘More enchanters…’ He decided to let the Iyr deal with that.

“Jaygak’s retired. We’ll need someone to fill for her. Bael seems like a cool guy, but I don’t trust him as much. I suppose he did alright, though.” Adam wasn’t sure about Bael still, but he had come all the way with him to die.

“He is good at fighting.”

“Yeah.” Adam noted Xarot squirming in his basket, and he quickly scooped the boy up into his arms, staring down at his son, whose hazel eyes grimaced at his father as he awoke. “This silly boy. Who gave you permission to be so cute?”

“I did,” Vonda joked, reaching over to brush the boy’s hair, feeling how thin it was.

“Daddy! I find rock for Virot!” Jirot shouted as she charged at her father with the stone in hand.

“Did you wash it?” Adam asked, as little Jarot’s eyes fell to Xarot, smiling at his youngest brother so proudly.

“Yes!”

“Did you put it in the oven?”

“I did!”

“Good, good, then you can put it with the rest of the gifts,” Adam said.

The girl darted to Zirot, who was in charge of dealing with the gifts, the Family Elder realising just how much work Mulrot had to do on these days. Mulrot assisted her sister, since she had yet to go through it quite so harshly, as this time, there were two birthdays for the main family.

Larot sauntered his way over to Adam and the others, before he sat down, ignoring the ribbons in his hair.

Finally, Sonarot took charge of the youngest children, taking them away to sleep, while the slightly older children played with the elderly of the Rot family.

“There are too many babies,” Adam said, letting out a sigh. “I’m not sure I can love them all.”

Vonda placed a hand upon Adam’s forehead, before the pair exchanged a look, and the woman smirked.

‘I need to raise them right,’ Adam thought, all the while smirking at his wife’s joke. ‘Damn it, darling! Why are you seducing me?’

“Gosh, brother,” Lanarot called, panting for air as she half skipped towards Adam. “Jirot is so good at running. I am too old now, I cannot keep up.”

“You’re only five years old.”

“I am almost six!”

“In the future, yeah. You silly girl, I told you not to grow up too quickly.” Adam reached down to pinch her nose.

Lanarot smirked. “I am not a silly girl, you are a silly boy!”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“Oh dear…” Adam lifted her up, placing the girl upon his lap, feeling how heavy she had become. “Are you going to beat me up?”

“ Cannot.”

“Why not?”

“You are too strong.”

“I am?”

“Yes.”

“When you grow up, do you want to be strong too?” Adam asked, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Yes! I will be the strongest!” Lanarot held out her arms, flexing them, or rather, they assumed she was flexing her arms since she was wearing the thick clothing of the Iyr today. “I will be first place too!”

“Jurot, how can our sister be so cute?”

“Cutest In The Whole World,” Jurot confirmed.

Adam smiled, hugging his sister close, who hugged him back equally as close, before she squirmed out to rush to her mother. Vonda also excused herself, going to Pam, who seemed so lost within the Rot family, as per usual.

“I should have paid more attention to Damrot and Virot,” Adam whispered. “They’re… already one. It feels like yesterday they had been born.”

Jurot slowly nodded his head. “It has been… a difficult year.”

“…”

“…”

“Jurot?”

“Yes?”

“Did you name Damrot after me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. What a cute name for a cute boy.”

“Did you only realise it now?”

“Yeah.”

Jurot inhaled deeply, letting out the breath in one go. Right. His brother was an idiot.

As the hours passed, and the various figures appeared in the estate, from Tonagek, who came to greet everyone, as well as the children, to Filliam, who handed over a pair of pocket watches to the children. Adam noted how healthy Filliam looked, the young man definitely walking around daily, and sleeping properly.

“You should take it easy too, Kiara,” Adam said, pouring the silver haired woman a drink, who awkwardly accepted it. “I’ll keep confusing you for a child if you don’t take care of yourself.”

“I’ve been working too much to be treated like a child…” Kiara caught Adam’s eyes, and for a moment she tensed up, but as the half elf chuckled, she filled with relief. Unfortunately for her, the Reavers were upon the horizon, so she needed to work hard.

Finally, he arrived.

“Do you know who this is?” Adam asked, crossing his arms, with Vonda standing beside him, the woman, also standing firm.

“Manager Dunes,” Jirot said, noting the air of seriousness around her father and mother.

“That’s right! Manager Dunes, he’s like your uncle. If you treat him poorly, daddy will be very disappointed in you!”

“How I can treat him poorly?” Jirot accused. “Manager Dunes fight all the bad people!”

“That’s right!” Adam said, glad his daughter remembered the tale, and understood that pretty much everything her father was saying was directed towards her. “Where I come from, we call Manager Dunes a real one. He is so nice and so helpful!”

“Good job!” Jirot gave him a thumbs up, causing Dunes to flush.

The Aswadian had no idea that Adam had already prepared their meeting so deeply, for even Jirot wasn’t teasing him. He was uncertain if he could accept such a gaze from the girl, whose eyes were filled with awe and delight upon seeing him.

“I… am glad you have both grown up so well,” Dunes admitted. “You were so small, and now…”

“Yes, I know,” Jirot said, smirking slightly, before noting the raised brows of her father. “What I say? I saying I know, daddy!”

“I didn’t say anything!” Adam replied. “Stop calling him Manager Dunes. You have to call him uncle, so that way Ranya will call me uncle too! You have to bully him only in this way, okay?”

“How can I bully?” Jirot asked.

“If you do, I will give you a really nice present!” Adam whispered loudly to her, placing a finger on his lip.

Jirot inhaled deeply. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Uncle Dunes, you must read to me.”

Dunes reached up to his forehead. Of course she would trouble him this much, since she was her father’s daughter.

Now that Dunes and the children had met, Jurot placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. Since evening had approached, it was time to speak with Adam.

Noting Jurot’s gaze, Adam slowly nodded, and the pair stepped away.