Da stroked his whiskers and thought. "No. But now that you mention it, the sword has only been passed down to omegas in my family... I always assumed it was because we needed more protection until we met our fated mate."
Thoughts raced in my head. Why did Animus know so much about the sword when Mistral knew nothing? Did Nautilus or Terranus or any other spirits know as much about the sword as Animus did?
I kept coming back to when I'd accused Animus of being an omega. He was truly angry. Was it because I was right?
"The sword is important, yes, since it's a family heirloom," Da said gently. "But what matters most is that you're both safe and that you have each other. Finding your fated mate is more precious than any possession."
Meeko's eyes flashed with complicated emotions. I'd have to ask him later what he was thinking about. But I suddenly remembered something that took priority over everything else.
"Oh! Meeko, wasn't there a question you had for your Da?" I asked.
He blushed, suddenly looking shy and hopeful. "Right. Um... Da, when you were pregnant with me, did you have a lot of morning sickness?"
Da's eyes widened. "Yes. Why?"
"Because... I think I might be—"
His Da was so startled he shifted to human form. "You're pregnant?" he cried in excitement. "Oh, Meeko!"
He ran over to his son and threw his arms around him, joined a second later by Pa. Seeing them so happy made me happy, too. Their warm joy reminded me of my own family. I was eager to introduce Meeko to them, the whole boisterous, loving pack.
"I don't know for sure," Meeko said, "but if the morning sickness is any indication..."
Da nodded with a sympathetic smile, like he was reminiscing on old times. "Morning, afternoon, evening... I had it all."
"Me too!" Meeko said.
"The good thing was that it didn't last very long. A few days and it was over. I wasn't nauseous like that for the rest of my term."
"How long did it last?" I asked.
"Oh, only about a month or so," Da replied.
I gawked. A month was nothing. Did we have to start preparing so soon?
"But of course, I don't know anything about harpy biology," Da went on. "It might be longer for you, Meeko."
We both glanced down at his belly. He wasn't quite showing yet, but if what Da said was true, it wouldn't be long now. The thought of it excited me. I wanted to be there every step of the way, to nurture and protect him in these quiet moments before the baby was born. If my cousins' children were any indication of what was to come, our lives would be thrown into wonderful chaos when our little one arrived.
And I couldn't wait.
15
Meeko
We spenta few days with my dads, soaking up as much knowledge as possible about pregnancy and parenting, as well as more embarrassing childhood stories than I could ever recover from. Cloud's favorite was the one where I was very young, and I put two stalks of grass up my nostrils, then was petrified I'd poked my brain and all my thoughts would melt out of my ears.
After Cloud was done laughing his ass off, I'd glared at him and threatened him to never repeat that to anybody. He promised my secret and my brain were safe with him.
Since Cloud met my Da and Pa, it was only natural to introduce me to Cloud's family. We said goodbye to my dads, promised to meet up again soon, then set off towards the grove.
"Remind me who's who again?" I asked as we soared through the clear sky.
Cloud smiled. I'd been practising everyone's name and shifter species for the past hour, wanting to get it right. I hated making mistakes.
"It'll be easier just to meet them in person," Cloud said.
"No. I want to be informed first."
