I've written a massive update for you lovely people 😝 Enjoy!
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I'd been a little pissed off that Phil had taken the unilateral decision to give me general anaesthetic when he and Dr. Sam realised I had uterine atony. Did Phil not think with all the revision I'd done on multiples pregnancies in my medical notes that I wouldn't have reviewed all the potential risks and prepared myself for the possibilities? Then Iris had reminded me that at the time, I had already gone into melt down because my Blackbourne men were absent at the birth of our children.
Dammit.
I have to stop thinking of them that way. They ended us. They don't belong to me anymore. So maybe under the circumstances, Phil had had a point because if I'd been my patient, I'd have knocked myself out too to prevent even more excessive bleeding from exertion.
I'd woken up late the next morning, the day after my babies were born, to a beautiful sight - all six of my Toma men and my twin were each holding one of my babies, looking at them with such expressions of love and awe. I glowed from the feelings of joy and contentment I felt. I'd gotten the opportunity to love them all and call them my family.
That only happened with the Tomas because the Blackbourne's left you, my sub conscience whispered to me.
And it was true. Because I'd never know what it would've felt like to have the Blackbourne team here for the birth of our children, I couldn't imagine feeling happier and more content then I did right now. I still felt sad for our children that their fathers were not here, but they did not lack for daddies. It is really Owen, North, Sean, Kota, Silas, Luke, Gabriel, Victor and Nathan's loss the most and my heart hurt for them as well as our children for that reason.
So I listened to Axel, Raven, Brandon, Corey, Marc, Kevin and Iris talking sweet baby gibberish to the septs as they got to know our babies and I enjoyed the path I'd been pushed down in happiness instead of grief.
'Tja god morgon, mamma. Det är bra att se dig vaken, älskling.' (Well good morning, mama. It's good to see you awake, sweetheart.) Mak was grinning widely at me from the doorway, the first to realise I was awake.
'Malen'kiy plevok!' (Little spitfire!)
'My Jewel!'
'Dream girl!'
'My reason!'
'Sweet pea!'
'Star-shine!'
'Sissy!' Iris rushed over with one of my daughters in her arms to give me a side hug which I returned before I was attacked with kisses from all sides by my men.
'God morgon till er också, Pops! Jag är glad att vara vaken och när jag kan se dig vill jag ha en ordentlig kram.' (Good morning to you too, Pops! I'm happy to be awake and when I can see you, I want a proper hug, please.) I giggled feeling overwhelmed as I received and gave hugs and kisses to my men and my babies. As they all backed away from the bed, Mak came forward and gave me a hug and a kiss on my forehead. Then I was seeing all seven of my children for the first time and my eyes filled with tears,
'Eto schastlivyye slezy, da, mama spitfayr?' (Those are happy tears, yes, mama spitfire?) Raven asked me grinning nervously,
'Yes, teddy bear, they're happy tears!' Sang gave him a watery smile,
'Am I being a biased mother when I say these are the most gorgeous babies ever?' I ask my family in wonder as my eyes ate up the sight of my seven tiny miracles who were unbelievably all awake and quiet as they looked back at me. Iris laughed, cheeky as always,
'Of course they're the most beautiful babies ever, I'm their Aunt!' The men in the room guffawed at my twin's humorous vanity as I held out my arms for the baby in her arms,
'This is Baby G, Sissy...' I held my youngest daughter in my arms and noticed she had a single curly tuft of chameleon blonde hair on her soft baby head and light milky bluey green eyes. I looked closer into her eyes and realised there was a faint ring of darker uncertain colour closer to her pupils around her eyes. I leaned in closer, softly kissing her cheek and took a deep sniff of her sweet, clean baby scent and got a whiff of citrus and ginger. My heart clinched. I don't need a blood test to tell me her father's name.
'You've guessed who her father is, haven't you?' Axel asks me gently,' I'm unable to speak for a moment so I just nod my head,
'We weren't sure. She has your hair and her eyes, well we thought they might change to green like yours and Iris' as babies eyes tend to be hazy blue at birth. Who do you think fathered her?' Corey asked me cocking his head slightly, mystified at my certainty,
'There's a ring of colour around her eyes by her pupils and while her hair is my colour, it's curly. She's Sean's daughter,' my voice faded to a whisper on the last two words. The Tomas leaned in to look harder at the baby's eyes,
'I'll be damned... I never noticed that about the baby or Sean,' Brandon whistled softly.
'Sang is right,' Phil leaned on the door frame eying me in dry wonder. He looked down at my medical file in his hands as though he needed to see it again in black and white before he officially stated,
'Baby G is biologically Sean Green's daughter.' He looked back up at me with a question rolling through his mind before he voiced it aloud,
'I wonder if you could guess the father's of all the babies...' Everyone's head swivelled back to me.
'I can try if you want but before you move on,' I kissed my daughter's forehead, 'Her name is Serenity Grace Sorensen. We'll call her Rin though.' There was a quiet moment while everyone considered what I'd named my little girl,
'So you've got names in your head for them all. How did you chose what to name them?' Kevin wanted to know,
'I decided all the babies' first names would start with the letter their father's name starts with. Their second names are based on characteristics which are both what I need to be for them and what I want to teach them to be. So the girls' middle names will be Faith, Hope and Grace. Similarly, the boys will have middle names that mean honour, wisdom, spirit and strength - Ehren is Germanic for honour, Cato is Latin for wisdom, Brady is Irish for spirit and Magnar is Norse for strength,' Sang winked at Mak when she said Norse and he puffed out his chest grinning widely back at her,
'I came up with a list of potential first names in my head that reflect each of the Blackbourne's and when I know who the babies' father's are, I can name them all.' Sang concluded,
'Prekrasnyy.' (Beautiful.) Raven growled his approval at how his little spitfire had decided to name their baby bears,
'Why am I not surprised you came up with a system?' Iris tweaked her twin's nose as she smirked. She took Serenity from Sang and motioned for Axel to give the baby he held to his mother,
'Axel has Baby B,' Axel carefully laid the infant in his mother's arms. Sang looked down lovingly into her second born son's face and again breathed in his baby scent before she kissed him and smiled,
'I already said that this baby looks like his father when he was first born. He smells a lot like him too, a powdery light musk scent. Plus his cry was really angry rather than indignant or upset when he was born. This is North's son.' Phil laughed,
'You did mention Baby A and Baby B were Owen and North's sons in the delivery room! I'd forgotten that after you started getting upset,' Iris looked at Raven as they shared the memory from the day before. Phil checked the results in his hands,
'Right again. Baby B's father is North Taylor. What's his name then, sweetheart?' Sang was quiet for a moment before her lips quirked up into a small smile,
'His name is Noah Magnar Sorensen. In the Bible, Noah was a man who worked with his hands, and North would appreciate that his son's middle name means strength with as much time as he spent at the gym making his body a sugar free temple,' Brandon barked in laughter,
'So true!' Sang smiled at Brandon, he'd been one of North's favourite work out buddys. She kissed Noah's forehead and gently touched the dark brown fuzz on his head while he stared back at her with serious, aware eyes. Axel reached for him while Raven handed her the baby he held,
'Medvezhonok S' (Baby Bear C.) Raven's voice was gravely with emotion as he handed the little girl to her mother. Sang took in the tuft of soft chameleon blonde hair and stared for a much longer time into this baby's eyes which were a stronger sharper shade of blue while her first two children's eyes were more of a milky blue, milky light blue green for Serenity and milky blue caramel for Noah. Only two of the Blackbourne men have blue eyes and the shade looks to be too dark to be Nathan's soft blue shade. She leaned her nose in and took a deep breath in scenting her daughter, her scent was difficult to pin point and shifted from a faint peach to fresh cut grass to a clean cotton scent. She smiled as she realised which of the Blackbourne men's scent was changeable,
'This little one was difficult to work out, like her sister her features are more mine although her chin is more angular than mine but what convinces me of her paternity is her eyes, they will be crystal blue once they settle, like her father. This is Gabe's daughter and her name is...' Sang didn't wait for confirmation this time as she thought for a moment,
'Gisele Faith Sorensen,' All eyes turned to Phil in question while Sang smiled at her pseudo father as he referred to the paternity results. Dr. Robert's face broke into a wide grin,
'Correct, Ms Sorensen. Gabriel Coleman IS Baby C's father. I'm starting to be glad I didn't bet on the outcome of you identifying your babies' fathers without the paternity tests!' Mak slapped Phil's back trying to peek at the rest of the results but Dr Roberts flipped the file over wagging his finger at the muscular Swede,
'Ah, ah, ah, Mak! Patient confidentiality you know...' Mak grumped,
'Nej. Du vill bara vara den enda som säkert vet så länge du kan ...' (No. You just want to be the only one to know for sure as long as you can...) Iris and Sang laughed out loud, startling Gisele. Sang soothed her daughter by gently rocking her back and forth and singing softly to her,
'What did he say?' Phil demanded,
'He said you just want to hog the truth for as long as you can!' Iris giggled gleefully. Phil just shrugged his shoulders insouciantly. Gisele had settled and Sang handed her back to Raven with a sweet smile and then she held her arms out to Corey for the infant he was cuddling. Corey pretend pouted before relinquishing the baby to his mother. Sang gave him a cheeky wink,
'This is Baby F, my heart,' Sang ran her fingers through the baby's patch of fine light brown hair reverently as she stared at the baby's face and very light milky blue green eyes. She smiled knowingly as she leaned down to kiss his head she ran her nose along his skin to breathe his scent in,
'Those cheekbones are a give away and he smells vaguely of spice and sweetness - a mix of his father and me. This is Kota's son. His name is Kaiden Ehren,' Sang had a slight smirk on her face as she quirked her eyebrow at Phil while the rest of the room also looked for his verdict,
'The father of Baby F is one Dakota Lee. Well done mama that's four from seven so far,' Phil tipped an imaginary hat at Sang in respect,
'There will be a nod to each of the boys personalities in the babies' first names aside from the first initials being the same. I mentioned Noah. I named Gisele knowing Gabe is into fashion, Gisele Bündchen is one of the highest paid models in the world and I named Serenity knowing that the Japanese culture is important to Sean because of the Midori's so we'll call her 'Rin' because it's a popular Japanese name for a little girl. The Japanese theme is also indirectly attached to Kaiden's name as well. Kota likes any sort of music, Ka Kai e is a form of speedy stick work while playing the okedo, a Japanese drum. Actually Kaiden means warrior in Celtic, which is a bit ironic as most wouldn't realise that Kota, despite being so academic was my staunchest defender, he just used words instead of fists to protect me... You see their fathers will always be a part of them even if they are MIA,' Everyone looked at her in wary concern,
'Guys.' Sang looked at each of them matter of factly,
'I had my break down yesterday. Today is about celebrating the birth of my children. Children who are biologically the sons and daughters of the Blackbourne men. I don't intend to lie to these children about who they are or who fathered them.' Sang's face was determined but whimsical,
'I believe they will one day meet their fathers. So, it seems right to share all that I can with the children about those men.' Sang's voice dropped to a soft whisper, 'You six will be their daddies. But they have the right to love their fathers as well as their daddies,' Every person in the room looked at Sang in awe,
'The Blackbourne boys have no idea how fortunate they are in you, älskling,' Mak grunted half in amazement of Sang, half in disgust with the boys in question,
'Amen.' Dr Phil deadpanned.
'Here Corey, take Kaiden,' she kissed her son's head once more before she allowed Corey to have him,
'Ok Marc, let me have my second born daughter, pretty please!' Marc gave his dream girl a sappy smile as he placed the bundle he held in her mama's arms,
'Here's your Baby E,' Sang realised ruefully all her girls had her hair colour as she stroked the wavy wisp of hair on the baby's head. She looked down at her daughter's face and into her milky blue caramel eyes. The caramel colour was darker than her brother Noah's was and this daughter had a very intense stare that gave Sang her second clue who'd fathered her. Sang leaned in softly kissing her daughter's forehead and breathing in deeply. God! She loved the familiar and yet unique scents of her babies to their fathers. This little one smelled of berries with just the tiniest hint of musk,
'Wavy hair, intense eyes and she smells of berries. This little girl's father is Victor.' Sang laughed from her belly,
'His mother did warn him to protect his heart from girls. Good luck with this one, Vic!' Phil chuckled aware of the medallion Victor wore and the story behind it,
'What can I say, Baby E is Victor Morgan's daughter,' Sang giggled at Dr. Phil and rocked her daughter carefully up and down while the baby continued to stare at her mother in fascination,
'Her name is Viola Hope. I chose Viola for three reasons actually; because it starts with V, of course, because it's a musical instrument, which her father would appreciate and because it's a flower, like my twin is named for a flower,' Sang smiled mistily at her pleased sister,
'You really did take the time to name your children in a meaningful way, didn't you,' Axel watched Sang flush at his compliment while Marc reached in with grabby hands, eager to have their baby girl back in his arms. Axel suddenly broke into a stunning smile,
'What is it, Sexy pants?' Sang tilting her head questioningly while releasing Viola to Daddy Marc. Axel leaned in, kissed my cheek before whispering in my ear,
'Ask me again when we take our babies home,' Sang kissed his mouth softly before whispering back to him,
'I will,' Axel shivered as she spoke and her soft breaths played over his skin. She smiled at him in her unique, beguiling way before turning her smiling face toward Kevin,
'Please hand over our baby boy, Sunshine,' Kevin gave Sang back his own panty dropping smile, the same one he'd used on her the first night they'd met, but now there was a thread of tenderness in his smile that was new,
'Baby D, Star-shine,' Sang took her middle child into her arms and smoothed the lock of silky light blonde hair. She gazed into the baby's eyes which were a light milky blue and green very similar to his brother Kaiden's eyes and noticed the baby was almost pretty for a boy. She pushed forward gently to avoid straining her abdominals which were beginning to hurt more than ache and scented her son as she brushed her lips across his head. He smelled of vanilla and something sweet. She grinned as she gave the baby a proper kiss on his forehead,
'Blonde hair, not my shade, he's pretty for a boy and he smells of vanilla. This is Luke's son and while it might be funny and accurate to name him Loki after his trickster father, I will control myself and go with Levi instead.' Phil, Mak and the Tomas guffawed at Sang's wry joke,
'His name is Levi Brady Sorensen. It's fair to say any son of Luke's is bound to be a spirited boy!'
'Spot on, sweetheart. Baby D is Lucian Taylor's son,' Phil shook his head ruefully. Sang's joie de vie dampened slightly as Kevin lifted Levi out of her arms to free them up for her first born,
'Brandon please will you give me Owen's son?' Sang's words were quiet, poignant,
'Your right, there's no need to guess that little guy's paternity,' Phil smiled wryly,
'He will be his father's mini me once those hazy blue grey eyes settle. Baby A is Owen Blackbourne's son.' Sang smiled her now familiar bittersweet smile when she thought of Mr. Blackbourne and memories of the times she spent with him washed over her. She dipped her head to kiss the baby's forehead and sniffed deeply. She'd never associated a scent to Owen but their son smelt woodsy with a sweet undertone
'His name is Orion Cato Sorensen,' Sang stopped and considered what she wanted to say for a few moments before she spoke again,
'Orion is Greek for rising in the sky, dawning. In mythology he was a mighty hunter and the son of the god Poseidon. A mighty hunter who has wisdom... He and his siblings along with our Ghost team are my new dawn.' Sang looked up with eyes full of tears and a happy smile on her beautiful face,
'Welcome to the family, Orion, Noah, Gisele, Levi, Viola, Kaiden and Serenity,' Sang's voice wobbled and then grew stronger and stronger until it was hard as diamond,
'This is our family from this moment on, family first means all or none.'
Those in the room with her felt honoured as they watched Sang the girl fulfil the budding promise of the past six months and fully transition into Sang the woman in that moment.
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It had been five days days since Victor had discovered the video of Sang graduating with her doctorates. Kota, Victor, Gabe and Sean had spoken privately and made the decision to buy a burner phone and contact Kota's mother, Erica. They hoped that while they'd told her to cut Sang off, she might've still kept a distant watch over their girl and be able to give them just enough information for Victor to get an electronic eye on Sang.
So far they hadn't discussed their plan with the rest of the team but they were struggling with their consciences and the loyalty they felt to their team in keeping it a secret. The four of them also worried that not telling the others could put them and the whole team in jeopardy if something happened and they needed the information. Sean stepped in with a suggestion for a compromise,
'We'll tell them what we're going to do before we do it, but no matter what they say against it, we're still doing it,' The four of them agreed that was the best plan possible and waited for their team mates to return.
The moment Owen walked into their temporary home, he knew something was going on with his four team members. Relationships had been cold between them and their five counterparts since watching their bird's graduation speech video. He looked around and listened for noise from the floor above before asking,
'Where are the birds?' None of them were very happy those four deceitful females were living in their private space, but the four forced to pretend they were dating, loathed their proximity,
'They are out on surveillance duty now,' Victor checked the GPS trackers he'd put on all four females,
'They aren't where they are supposed to be,' He stated flatly,
'They are at The Three Sisters Boutique Hotel in Old Town,' Victor tapped some keys on his laptop and accessed the audio and visual feeds from the bugging devices he'd installed on their phones and on the necklaces their boyfriends had given them as 'gifts'. The sound of moaning, groaning, skin slapping skin, cursing and banging unfortunately did not mean the birds were being beaten or assaulted but that they were having sex while on the job. No one cared that they were 'cheating' since their 'boyfriends' hadn't and wouldn't touch them sexually even if it meant 'breaking up'. The excuse they'd given the birds was that they 'respected' them too much. Only one visual feed had the act on camera, but it hardly mattered since they were all four in the same bed with each other,
'We have got to fucking get something useful on these bitches soon. They're due to make contact with Andrews next month, but that is too far into the future. We're due for our seventh month contact with Andrews next week but I don't know how fucking useful that's going to be since we don't know if we'll be speaking to whoever will have replaced him from the board, since Amanda's side of that conversation let us know he's lost his position as chairman, or if he's going to fucking pretend he's still in charge,' North snarled, he was beyond angry about the whole situation.
His temper was the main reason the rest of the team had voted to exclude him from the unwanted draw to decide which other three team members had to 'date' Amanda's team of birds along with Owen. They were all convinced there'd have been bloodshed if North drew a short straw.
This could be a good way to bring up our plan, Kota tried to communicate with Sean without Owen's noticing,
'Something you'd like to share with the team, Mr. Lee?' Owen growled at Kota. Sean shrugged, it had been worth a try,
'Actually yes, Mr. Blackbourne,' was Sean's cool response. It wasn't lost on Owen that Sean hadn't called him by his first name; he'd stopped doing that five days ago. Considering the effort Owen had put into trying to get his best friend to address him as 'Mr. Blackbourne' in front of the team, he wasn't appreciating the 'respect' now that Sean was actually using his surname when speaking to him,
'Do you four have a suggestion, Mr. Green?' As tempted as Owen was to behave childishly and call his friend by his first name, he really didn't want Sean pissed off with him anymore than he already was,
'Kota, Gabriel, Victor and I have picked up an off grid burner phone. We plan to ring Erica tonight to see if we can get information so Victor can get eyes on our bird.' There was silence in the room as the other five processed what Sean was saying and not saying. Were four of their team planning on going rogue?
'Having Kota's mother approach Uncle today is too risky as we'd have to wait with the exposed burner phone for her or Uncle to get back to us. We'll have to destroy the burner phone we use tonight immediately after speaking with Erica. But we could arrange a time to make second contact with Uncle using a second burner phone and the usual covert communications protocol,' Owen gave Sean his steeliest eyes,
'Were you planning on discussing this with the rest of the team, Sean?' Sean gave Owen back an even harder gaze with his own eyes,
'We were planning on telling you first, but no, we weren't going to discuss it.' Owen didn't know whether to be relieved
he hadn't lost the loyalty of his brothers or be furious they were effectively taking leadership position from him and North for this decision. North wasn't as conflicted,
'What the fuck, Sean! How do you four reckon you have the authority to decide for the team?' Sean gave a very uncharacteristic shark like smile,
'Alright, asshole. Put it to the vote then. Right. Now.' North was floored, he knew damn well the four would win that vote after watching that soul destroying video five days before. Hell, he'd vote for their plan himself! Owen sighed in defeat,
'You win, Mr. Green. Let's nail down exactly what we're going to say and run through the possible scenarios now while the birds are out. Mr. Morgan please keep sight of the birds so they don't return unexpectedly,' Owen and North noticed the team morale as a whole lifted up and was warmer once the decision had been agreed. They also noticed no one argued to force a vote. That meant they would've all voted for the other four teammates' plan as North had suspected.
As much as no team leader wants a coup, they were glad the shake up had happened and the team was healing the fracture that splintered them on seeing Sang felt betrayed by their team. It gave them hope that their brothers would forgive their bad decision. They could only pray for the same forgiveness from Sang.
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It was early, not yet six am on the day Sang and babies were being released from the maternity ward to go home. The new mama was sat in her birthing suite, wearing her new pale pink silky bathrobe her sister had given her, keeping an eye on her sleeping angels in their cots while drinking a hot peppermint tea, relaxed and excited to face the day. Her family was to due to arrive at eight to take her and their children home. She would also need for Papa Phil, as she'd started calling him, in his capacity as her doctor, to bring her the take home prescriptions that she'd need and her discharge papers.
Sang was absorbed in thinking about establishing a routine for the babies as her first priority. She only had seven and a half weeks until Ghost team inductions start and she knew if she didn't get in control of standardising the times when her septs ate and slept in their home environment that she'd lack the stamina and mental capacity to perform at her best. Anything but her best wasn't good enough as far as Sang was concerned.
Sang's thoughts drifted from her priorities for the next two months to what she needed to achieve this morning before her tribe arrived, namely get herself and the septs fed, washed, dressed and packed. While flowers were not allowed in the maternity ward - pollen and excessive perfume is not good for new born babies' delicate noses and lungs - both she and the babies had received quite a few gifts from her family and hospital colleagues. She'd received thoughtful pampering gifts, bath oils, calming teas, new mother toiletries, pjs and her new bathrobe as well as a few bottles of champagne to toast the babies' safe arrival and the babies! The babies had been utterly spoilt with an astonishing amount of clothes, baby toiletries and soft toys age appropriate for new borns.
It had taken all of Sang's team family and Pops most of yesterday to pack everything up except for what Sang and the septs needed for their last 24 hours in the maternity ward. Everything they'd packed had been taken home yesterday so they'd have space to transport themselves and seven babies in infant car seats home today.
Family transport was no longer a simple matter. We already had the 8 seater Lexus LX 570 which had just enough seats for me, Iris and the Tomas. But now there are fifteen of us since the septs have arrived. So any time we travel as a family team two large SUVs would be required as a minimum. A second SUV with at least 7 seats had needed to be purchased. To be honest, we'd had that discussion... ahem, knock down, drag out argument... three months ago. The boys had fought for a Range Rover Sport SVR because they liked that it had a supercharged V8 with 575 horse power. I loved the look and amenities that came with the SUV but it was a 5.0 litre petrol powered monster with 7 instead of 8 seats. I wanted a hybrid like the Lexus for the extra seat as well as for economic and ecological reasons. Iris refused to get involved in the debate. All she cared about was her motorcycle, cars and SUVs were just white noise to her. So I compromised with the boys. If they'd let me have another Lexus for family travel then I'd buy two super cars (thank you Mama Alena for the trust fund!) for them to enjoy and have manly man time at the track. Yeah, they nearly snapped my hand off, theoretically speaking, accepting that compromise!
The next difficult decision was choosing where in the two SUVs the seven baby seats would go. Do we put them all in one of the SUVs so they can stay together, rotating the one seat remaining for the driver or do we split the babies up - 4 in one SUV and 3 in the other with the adults slotting in where they can? This conversation got heated in the hospital suite the third day after the babies were born and Sang had finally had enough and put her foot down,
'To take the babies home from hospital, we'll split the babies. When things settle and I'm well enough to drive they'll all go in one SUV to be together and I'll drive them unless there's a reason I can't or one of you wants to spend time with them all. We will just have to deal with the fact the permanent placement baby car jacks we bought for the baby carriers will have to be moved regularly as we'll have to play musical babies when we all go out as a family. Alright? ' No one had elected to challenge Sang in her new take charge mood.
Throughout the day after the discussion was settled, Sang noticed both Papa Phil smirking and Pops and Iris sniggering at the perplexed faces of the five of the six Tomas as they continued to come to grips with Momma Bear Sang. Only Raven did not seem bothered that Sang was taking charge and was actually frequently seen looking at Sang proudly and as though her dominance was a big turn on for him. Sang knew from eye contact with her sister, that Raven's sexual turn on was also her kink. Although it was safe to say it was an irritation to Mak and Phil who scowled and grunted at Raven that his thoughts were inappropriate in front of the septs. Raven just gave his typical wolf like grin,
'Малыш не слышит, как думает папа Ворон, старики,' (Baby bears not hearing Daddy Raven thinking, old men.)
Sang giggled softly at her memories from a few days ago as she stood up to ring the maternity nurses. If she sat the five babies that she couldn't breast feed, having only the two breasts, in their car seats on top of the rectangular table that the gifts had occupied until yesterday and her chair and feeding pillows were moved in front of the table, she should be able to feed three babies at once if the nurses could handle the other four. In actual fact she liked to rotate both breast feeding and bottle feeding at every feeding so all the babies got some breast milk at each feeding. And since she was feeding the septs every three hours or so at the moment, it was a challenge! What had taken the most time was that two of the babies had a strong preference for mama over the bottle and were not afraid to vocalise their dissatisfaction if they didn't get mama! So having placed all five of the less demanding septs in their car seats, Sang picked up Noah and Gisele and waited for the nurses. Sang snorted to herself, of course the picky babies were North and Gabe's children!
Her two favourite nurses popped their heads in the door, one nurse held a foot tub filled with seven nursing bottles of breast milk Sang had expressed in advance. These two nurses were well versed in how many hands and bottles were needed at each feeding,
'You ready, hun?' Sang smiled warmly at them both,
'I'm so glad you two are on duty this morning so I can say goodbye to you both personally before we leave. And yes, I'm ready,' Sang sat in the chair and waited for the nurses to put the small nursing bottles on the table in front of each baby. The babies were just beginning to get frustrated waiting for their bottles, scenting the milk in the air. The two nurses quickly took Giselle and Noah from Sang so she could position the feeding pillows before taking her son and then her daughter back placing them in a football holding position to latch onto her nipples. Giselle was quick to latch on and the chair was deep enough that once she was latched in and feeding the pillow and chair supported the baby so Sang's hands could be freed up. Noah was not far behind his sister in latching on,
'Nia, could you please push Orion's car seat closer to me on the table so I can bottle feed him too. Then you'll each have two hands to give the others their bottles at the same time,' Nia grinned at Sang's thinking process and did as she'd been asked. She handed Sang Orion's bottle and watched as Sang slid her other arm around both breast feeding babies heads to keep them secure while they both drank in happy contented gulps before Sang smiled tenderly at Orion and slipping his bottle between his tiny lips.
Satisfied Sang was settled for the next ten minutes, the two nurses swiftly saw to giving the other four fussing babies their bottles. After ten minutes of feeding. The nurses helped Sang to swap out Noah and Giselle with Serenity and Levi. Noah was the most fussy so he was swapped with Orion, still both he and Giselle were grumpy at being bottle fed. Five minutes later, Serenity and Levi were swapped with Viola and Kaiden with Noah staying in the baby seat in front of Sang. Five minutes later and Noah was back with mama along with his brother Orion while Giselle was in front of her mama.
Afterwards, all seven babies' were placed back in their cots while Sang and Nia cleared the baby car seats from the table to the floor and replaced them with the babies' seven changing foam pads. Jeanie, the other nurse, took the empty nursing bottles from the suite in the useful foot tub and returned with two tubs of warm water, followed by another maternity nurse with another two tubs of warm water. Sang and Nia squirted baby bath into the warm waters in each tub, frothing the bath liquid into suds in the tubs with their hands. They each grabbed two of the septs with the new nurse grabbing one, settled them on their changing foam pads. The four women stripped the babies nude, cleaning their bottoms after removing their diapers before using soft sponges to bath the babies' delicate skin and hair. Once they were clean, the babies were dried with their own animal pull over head towels before being freshly diapered and adorably dressed and finally the full bellied, warm and sleepy septs were settled back into their cots to nap,
'You've got about 45 minutes before your tribe will arrive,' Nia spoke softly to Sang,
'Go take a shower and get yourself sorted while we pack your things back into your go bags and laundry bag before they arrive,' Sang smiled gratefully and went to enjoy half hour to herself.
Clean and refreshed, Sang returned to eat her breakfast and have another cup of tea before her sister and men arrived. Happy that her morning check list was ticked complete.
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The team had taken an hour to nail down what they needed to say to Erica. Mainly - When had she last seen Sang? Had she spoken with Uncle? Could she ask Uncle to be available at 9am South Carolina time two days from now. The birds were due back in just over an hour so they needed to call now if they were calling today. It was just before 2pm in Estonia, so nearly 7am in South Carolina. Erica was on night shift in the ER (Emergency Room) until 6am so she should be home and eating something before getting ready to get some sleep,
'Alright Mr. Lee dial the number and then put us on speaker phone,' Owen directed Kota to call his mother. All nine men waited for Erica to pick up as the dull international tone indicated the phone was ringing in South Carolina,
'Hello?' Erica's voice sounded tired and flat,
'Hi mom, it's me, Kota,'
'Kota!' the tone and pitch of Erica's voice was raised and emotional,
'What did Sang do to you to make you all leave? I am so angry with myself for having welcomed her into our family in the first place and not protected you and your friends from her!' All nine of the Blackbourne men were shocked speechless for a moment before Kota burst out,
'What are you talking about mom! Sang didn't do anything to us! We left on a long term assignment given to us by Richard Andrews on the Academy board. We only told you to cut Sang off because Volto sent us a picture of Sang sleeping in bed at our home, he had a gun to her head and a knife to her throat - we were trying to protect Sang by asking you to cut her off so the bastard didn't think we were communicating with her through you!' There was a long, horrified gasp on the other end of the line and then silence,
'Mom?' Victor, Sean and Gabe's faces were pale and furious. They could hear Erica crying on the other end of the line,
'Oh God! Kota I'm so sorry... I told Sang we... that we never wanted to see her again! I said horrible, terrible things to her... things she may never be able to forgive me for...'
'When did you last see Sang, mom?' Kota asked, his voice strangled and distressed,
'Not since the morning after you left,' Erica whispered. Oh. FUCK!
'What about Uncle?' North asked,
'Have you spoken to him?'
'Yes...' Erica spoke lowly, guiltily,
'He also told her to never come back, just in case her leaving meant you boys might come home,' All nine men were distraught, pacing, muttering, North punched the wall while Gabe cursed foully. They'd left their bird, communicated so badly with their families that they'd thought Sang was the one responsible for them scurrying away in the middle of the night because they had asked them to cut her off. Their families, that they'd told Sang she could trust because they were her family too, had verbally attacked her while she was already reeling from their leaving her alone. Owen recovered first,
'Erica has Uncle said anything about the board of directors at the Academy to you?' Erica sniffed and then answered him despondently,
'He mentioned that Dr. Roberts and HR had Richard Andrews under disciplinary investigation for discrimination against the poly family based teams,' Erica gasped,
'You said Andrews is the one who gave you your current assignment! Are you boys safe?' Owen jumped in,
'We can't really discuss the assignment but has anything else unusual happened at the hospital since we left?' Erica thought for a moment,
'Well there was a set of septuplets born earlier this week. I work on the other side of the hospital from maternity so I don't know the specifics but one of the ER doctors said the Toma team were the fathers. Do you think they could help you boys? I could go talk to them...' the Blackbourne men looked shocked, they knew the Tomas had been dumped by their bird a couple of months before they left. Kayli must've come back when she figured out she was pregnant. None of which was relevant to Sang and their situation though,
'No, what would help though is if you can ask Uncle to be home so we can call him the day after tomorrow, 9am your time. We need information about the board and a way to make sure our assignment is still live,' Erica said she'd make sure Uncle was at the Taylor's house to take the call,
'Actually, Uncle did mention a couple of odd things he noticed about six months ago. Both could've affected or involved Sang,' Erica thought hard about things that had happened not long after the boys left. The boys waited anxiously, any bit of information might help,
'He'd noticed that your house was up for sale, Owen. The one you all lived in with Sang,' Owen raised his eyebrow,
'Why did he think that. It isn't for sale,' Erica clicked her tongue in a sound of agreement,
'We know. It was a month or so after you'd left. Uncle peeked around the house before he went to the named estate agents. Sang hadn't lived there in a while. Her things were gone and the expiry dates on the food in the fridge made him believe she must've moved out almost immediately after you boys left. The estate agent told him he was the second person to inquire after the property that week but that he could only tell him the same as he told her, the house wasn't really up for sale. The owner had contracted with them and paid good money for them to advertise it as for sale but not to sell it and after six months to remove the signs,' Owen stared back at the accusing eyes of his team mates with transparent, innocent eyes. I. Did. Not. Do. This. The boys could see the anguish and honesty on their team liaison's face,
'Uncle thinks the other inquiry to buy was from Sang. The girl's description matched except she was riding a motorcycle and wearing leathers,' Oh fucking hell, Sang thinks we tried to force her out of the house on top of everything else. Could this get any worse?
'What was the other strange thing that happened?' Sean asked,
'Well after seeing the estate agent, Uncle tried to make some low key enquiries about Sang with some of his Academy contacts and pay Dr Roberts a visit. But no one had seen Sang, they thought she'd gone on assignment with you boys. They also told him there was gossip that the ten of you had gone rogue. And Dr Roberts! Uncle tried three times to get an appointment and his secretary said his schedule was full training a new team,' Erica took a deep, shaking breath,
'I'm not gonna lie, we've been worried sick about you boys,' Owen nodded at Kota to wrap up so they'd have time to destroy the burner phone and dispose of it before the birds returned,
'We've got to go, Mom. We'll try and contact you again as soon as well can. Tell Uncle day after tomorrow, Thursday, 9am his time. Code: speaker, trainers. Love you both,' Kota's voice was quiet and gentle,
'I love you and the boys as well... Again, I'm so sorry...' Kota and Erica both disconnected their call.
The nine Blackbourne men looked at one another grimly, at least three people had manipulated them into this situation, screwed with them and their team. They'd also just about done maximum damage to their bird and any trust she'd had left in them after they'd abandoned her. Owen and North hung their heads. And they had abandoned her. They had to pray speaking with Uncle could help them figure out their next steps down the road to getting back home and getting their girl back.
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Erica has slept very poorly when she'd tried to sleep this morning. All the things she might've said or done differently on loop in her head. She'd have to tell Jessica the truth too. Jess had told her right from the morning they received Kota's letter something wasn't right about the situation. It was humbling that her teenage daughter had recognised that when her mother hadn't.
She also kept replaying the conversation with the boys. Was there anything else she could do to help the boys find Sang? Finally, after a couple of hours, she gave up on the concept of sleep and decided to go to the hospital, maybe try to see if she could catch Dr. Roberts or see if the Toma boys were still with their bird and babies in the maternity ward.
Erica took a shower to wake herself up and drove to the hospital. She tried Phil Roberts office first but his secretary told her he was currently on rounds - visiting his patients that were on the wards. She then wandered over to the maternity ward. She stopped at the nurses station and asked a nurse if Axel Toma was with his girlfriend and new septuplets on the ward,
'I'm sorry, you've missed them. Miss Collins and the babies were discharged about an hour ago' Erica was disappointed, she knew it was a long shot, but she'd had to try. She looked at the nurses badge,
'Thank you anyway, Nia.'
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I know, I know Sean has had a vasectomy in CL Stone's books. But the time line for my story is a couple of years into the future and I've taken the liberty of allowing him to have reversed the procedure, which CL Stone, in a spoilers interview, said herself that he knew he could have it reversed when he was ready.
So many missed opportunities where the Blackbourne boys' families might have run into Sang or Iris and now Erica has missed Sang with her grandson, Kaiden... I'm sorry guys but it's gonna get worse before it gets better!
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