Red

Thirty-One.

Lotus smiled. "Thank you, Ruby. Children are very cherished amongst us. There haven't been any new babies in years. The pack will be excited once we announce it." Lotus told me as she set her hand on her stomach.

She was smiling as she sat there. "Are children hard to have here?" I asked.

"Yes and no. We aren't as fertile as human women; we are fertile it's just harder for it to take. We also must be careful during our pregnancy. Try not to shift too often. Luckily, we are not required to shift and after you shift for a while it becomes easy." Lotus mused with a smile.

I nodded. "Well, congratulations on it." I told her.

Lotus smiled. "Thank you, I'm sure Court can answer any questions you may have considering you two's relationship." Lotus told me.

Just as we began to breach the subject of Court and I, the three came back. Thorin held some more clothes. 

"Come on Lotus we should get back. My sister is going to wonder where we are." Thorin spoke.

Lotus stood up. "It was nice seeing you Ruby. Thank you for the clothes mother, we'll be sure to visit you again." Lotus turned to her mom after acknowledging me with a bright smile on her face.

"Of course, Lotus. Take care dear and rest as much as possible." Lucia told Lotus before Lotus and Thorin left.

"Goodbye Ruby." Thorin told me glancing over me. He seemed conflicted when watching me.

I didn't blame him though. Discovering you have a cousin that you didn't even know existed could be tough. Not even a first cousin either. Lyk his uncle while my relationship to Lyk is his granddaughter. He hadn't even met my father and I'm not sure if he would since my father lives in the village still oblivious to his actual father is.

Lotus and Thorin left as Lucia came in.

"I made Ruby four more dresses; these ones are better suited for winter. When summer comes, I'll be sure to make ones for that season as well." Lucia told us as she handed me the dresses.

I lifted them up and admired them. "Thank you, Lucia." I thanked her with a smile on my face.

The dresses were gorgeous as always and had fur trim necks and fur trim sleeves as well. The inside of the red dress was lined with fur. 

"I also made you another cloak. This one is more for wintry weather. It's made of fur and wool. It'll keep you warm as winter sets in more. It gets very cold out here especially the deeper into the forest you go." Lucia told me as she handed me the cloak.

A smile crossed my face. Similar to the one like my grandmother it was ruby red. The fur on it was a mahogany color though and the wool had been dyed into a red color.

"Thank you." I thanked her once more as Court smiled at me.

"I may be a bit slow with other clothes if you need any. I'm preparing some for Lotus for her pregnancy as well as making some for the little bundle of joy. Ah, I'm so excited. My first grandbaby." Lucia's eyes lit up when speaking about Lotus expecting.

Court smiled. "I'm sure it's exciting. I wish you and Lotus the best and a smooth pregnancy and birth. Thank you for the clothes Lucia. Ruby appreciates it." Court thanked her and gave her his best wishes concerning Lotus's pregnancy.

Lucia smiled. "Of course, dear." Lucia chimed with a smile.

"I'll have Lyell bring some food around for you. I'll make sure it's one of your favorites, thank you once more." Court told her as he stood up and motioned for me to follow him.

"My pleasure, and if you two ever need baby clothes I can guarantee you I'm good at it. It's been a while since I've made baby clothes, but it doesn't take much to get the hang of it again."

My face turned red at the mere mention of having children. It was never something that crossed my mind. I hadn't even been with anyone before. The only thing I had done was kiss Court. Lucia gave us a smile.

"No need to rush Lucia, I won't be having children for a while. You'll have more than enough time to practice." Court said defusing the situation before it could escalate.

Lucia smiled. With that Court gave her one last thanks before we went outside. Court lifted me up onto Celeste before putting my dresses away and moving Celeste away before mounting and steering him back in the direction of our cabin.

Court sped Celeste up to a canter before turning to me. "Do you like the dresses and cloak Lucia made you?" Court asked as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"They're beautiful. . . like always. It's weird having such fine clothing. But I appreciate it." I answered.

Court smiled at me. "I'm glad. Lucia takes pride in her work and it's nice that it's being put to effective use on a woman as lovely as you." Court wasn't exactly one that gave out complements much less ones such as that.

But I'd take it. "Thank you." I murmured setting my chin against his shoulder.

A smile crossed Court's face. "Let's get home. You can try the dresses and cloak on there when we are home. Then we can relax a little." Court told me and I nodded as he urged Court forward.

Little did we know how much our world is going to be shaken here soon.

1610. I've been watching Shadow and Bone and it's awesome so far. Also, would like to note I have an Instagram the username is : a.l.rogue and my Tiktok is harleyandrie where I post some writing videos. But yeah, we love casual foreshadowing! ***