“Oh. Yes. Thank you, Raenasi.” He inclined his head at her.
It was an improvement that Sever didn't say anything about the title. For a while there, everyone was calling him “Your Majesty” in deference to his ruling Heaven. But Severriel had stepped down (all right, he abandoned Heaven, but whatever). He wasn't King of Heaven anymore, and he took great pleasure in pointing that out to everyone who forgot. But in Twilight, I wasn't a queen; I was a princess, and that made my husbands—those who weren't kings—princes. So, Sever may have renounced his claim to Heaven, but through me, he became the second Prince of Twilight. Thus, the Your Highness.Our daughter would be a marchioness like her Twilight sister, Rowan.
And how did I know I was going to have a girl?
A little lion told me.
“Is she here yet?” Henry, the little lion himself, called through the bedroom door.
“Not yet, Henry,” Killian said on his way to me. “But Seren's doing better now.”
“Oh, good. She sounded angry.”
I snorted a laugh, then looked at Sever. “Sorry about that.”
“Shout all you want, love.” Sever took my hand. “Crush my bones to dust. I'll still be smiling when our daughter comes forth. This is the second-best day of my life.”
“The second, eh?” I grinned. “And the first would be?”
He leaned in to kiss me, then whispered in my ear, “The day I married you, of course.”
“Good answer, slick.” Then I grunted.
“That's it, Your Highness,” Raenasi said. “Push. I will assist you.”
Sure enough, I felt a tingling within me, and as I pushed, it pulled. A few seconds later, in the easiest delivery (possibly of all time), my daughter's first cries were heard. Raenari made a pleased sound as she caught the wailing newborn, magic swirling through the air once more to clean both my daughterand me of blood and all the other stuff that comes with childbirth. Gone, just like that.
Oh, how I love magic.
Raenasi didn't speak to the baby. She barely looked at her. It was something to do with the rights of the parents to be first in all things. She just severed the umbilical cord, cleaned my daughter, wrapped her in a blanket, and handed her to me. As my husbands gathered around, climbing onto the bed to get a better look—Sever putting his arm around me—Raenasi finished healing me with her magic.
“Hello, little one,” I said as my girl continued to cry, her little face red as a cherry.
“I thought Seren was doing better?” Henry called.
“I'll let the Cherub in,” Raenasi said as she stood, her arms full of dirty linen. She bowed, then headed toward the door.
“Raenasi, don't leave,” I called after her as I popped my nipple into my daughter's mouth and quieted her at last. Being born is hungry work. “You deserve to hold the baby a little longer than a few seconds.”
“It was my honor to bring her into the world with you, Your Highness.” She bowed to me. “I need nothing more.”
“Still—”
“What's going on?” Henry called. “Oh! I sense her! She's here!” His voice trailed off. “She's here! She's here! The Princess of Heaven has been born into this world! Rejoice all children of the Gods! Let the worlds rejoice!”
I rolled my eyes. “Cherubs.”
“Technically, the plural is Cherubim,” Daxon said.
“Whatever.” I stroked my daughter's red cheek and smiled down at her.
“She's beautiful,” Sever said, his hand joining mine. “Thank you, Seren.”
“Thanks for your contribution.” I smirked at him.
A click came as Raenasi quietly left.
“Dang it! She left.” I grimaced at the door.
