Becoming a Father

*Eli*

Now, this is a vehicle. I'm so grateful that I was finally able to contact Kamila, and that the other ET1s sent these cars quickly to meet us. That old van held up a lot longer than I expected, but this... this is fast, and I know it'll get me to Kamila quickly.

I'm going to have to get one of these for myself.

I guess that won't work, though, because I'm about to become a dad, and there's definitely no room for a baby seat in this car. Maybe I'll get one for Kamila and I to take quiet walks in the countryside together once the baby is older.

I guess I can't really think about the kids growing up and leaving even though this is the day I become a father for the first time. There are so many things going through my head that I can't even hold a coherent thought for more than a few seconds.

A son? A daughter? Will I be training another ET1, teaching him how to be a strong and fair leader and how to treat his partner with respect and love? Or will I be watching a mini version of my beautiful Kamila grow into a lovely young woman, destined to be a future Luna? If she's as beautiful as Kamila, which I'm sure she is, I'll have to keep boys away from puberty until her twenty-first birthday.

I see it now: some young ET1's son thinking he has the right to try to date my daughter. And if he dares to treat her like anything other than a goddess and a princess... I will kill him.

Okay, I digress. Maybe it'll be a son, and I won't have to worry about any of that. Either way, the child he has with Kamila will be loved and cherished throughout his life. I smile as I look out the window, watching the stunning Kamila and golden sunset announcing the birth of my son.

I just hope Kamila is okay.

'Hurry up!' She keeps screaming in my head, sometimes accompanied by some not-so-sweet words, but any word that my beautiful Kamila, my partner, babbles in the middle of labor while she has my son is a pure treasure. 'Fucking idiot! Get over here right now before she hits you!' Ahh... the sweet music of true love.

I look at the driver, realizing that I haven't said a word to him since he picked me up. He's pretty focused on driving right now, and that's fine, but I guess I should be polite since he's rushing me to Kamila.

"Thank you," I say. —I suppose you already know this, but I am ET1 Eli. What's your name?

“Chuck,” he says, looking away from the road just for a moment to smile in my direction. —And you have the appearance of a man about to be a father for the first time. I've been there, and believe me, your life is about to change forever. It's in a good way, of course. And you will do it well.

"I hope you're right," I say. —I just want to be the best father I can be.

"We all love him," he says. —And right now, you can't really imagine what it will be like when you look your little pup in the eyes for the first time, but once you do, parenting will become second nature.

“You make it sound so easy,” I say, laughing a little.

"It is," he says. —And he is not. But every day you will be stronger in a way you never imagined. As young changelings, we spend all this time strengthening our muscles, our fighting skills. And at school, we sharpen our brains. That's all good, especially for an ET1 like you who will rule the pack. But our children strengthen something you never knew you had inside you. I can't even put a name to it. Resolution, perhaps? Tenacity?—He shook his head. —No, none of those words even come close. But you will feel it, and you will know that it is there, and you will know that it makes you stronger.

“It sounds like you have experience in all this,” I say.

He laughs. —Three daughters and a pair of twins—sons—he says. —Now believe me, that's experience.

"Without a doubt," I say. I notice the sparkle in his eyes when he mentions his children. Will I have the same look when he finally becomes a father?

He focuses back on the road and presses the accelerator a little harder, so I let him concentrate on driving while I watch the scenery fly by, and he really is flying. It wasn't that far from Mark's castle to begin with, so I'm sure we're almost there.

Sure enough, I see a huge farm appearing on the horizon a few moments later. Even from afar I can see that it is majestic, surrounded by lush greenery, exactly how I imagined Mark's domain.

We approach, and I see that everything is well taken care of, as it always happens when a great leader is in charge. As we get closer, I notice some well-tended flower gardens and wide open green spaces, but I can't really focus on any of it because the closer we get, the more knots form in my stomach.

It's not a sense of fear, not at all. It's excitement mixed with fear mixed with uncertainty. I've been in more battles than I can count, but the nervous feeling I experience before those doesn't compare in intensity to this experience.

I barely let Chuck stop in front of the castle before opening the door and jumping out. I don't even get to say goodbye to Chuck, or thank him, and I make a note somewhere in my head to do it later, but with five babies of my own, I know he understands how I feel right now.

Fortunately, it seems that he is aware of my arrival in advance through the mental connection, because the servants rush out of the main entrance and rush towards me.

“ET1 Eli,” says an older woman who seems like the kind of person you would never ignore when she's talking to you. -Come with me.

I nod and she leads me, thankfully quickly since she's more agile than she outwardly appears, through a maze of hallways I could never navigate on my own.

"How much longer?" I ask. —How is Kamila?

“She's fine, ET1 Eli,” he says. —And you will be able to ask him yourself very soon. But first...— He takes me to a room with a sink and towels. —You need to wash, sir. No offense, but you look like you've been knee-deep in...oil? And we can't let you hold a newborn puppy in those arms.

I had forgotten how disastrous I am about working on the van, and he's right. He let her lead me to the sink, where she provided me with a huge bottle of liquid soap that smelled like oranges, a scrub brush, and then finally a towel. I washed faster and more thoroughly than I had ever done in my life, and when she did a quick inspection, I felt like a five-year-old having to make sure my mother approved my cleanliness before a formal dinner.

But I'm not a five-year-old. I am an ET1 who is about to become a father. The woman—I don't have time to ask her name—grabs me half by the sleeve and takes me back the way we came.

And then... I feel her and experience the fragrance of her beautiful scent before I hear her scream. It's my Kamila, and she's part yelling, part cursing, and part apologizing. Mainly yelling and cursing.

The woman guiding me throws the door open, and I walk in just in time to see Kamila push in, and like magic, out comes a beautiful puppy with bright red locks, and my world changes in an instant, just like Chuck had. saying.

—You're here, Eli...

I hear Kamila's voice, and I want to run to my partner, but I am so captivated by this beautiful child—it's a boy, they tell me—that I can't take my eyes off him. They even let me cut the umbilical cord.

The nurse quickly cleans him up and hands him to me, his beautiful blue eyes blinking in the bright lights. It's the smallest thing I've ever seen, but it might as well be as big as the biggest mountain the way it has captured my attention...and my instant love.

I feel the other ET1s around me, as well as the medical staff in the room, but for a few beautiful moments, it's like the world is nothing but me and my son.

But then I notice a change in mood, and the air in the room suddenly becomes heavy with a cold that makes me want to take my son, run away, and hide with him forever. It's the deepest sense of fear and foreboding I've ever felt, and it hangs over the room like a fog.

Finally, I break eye contact with my son and look up, noticing the arrival of more medical personnel rushing into the room. I look at the other ET1s and they are all looking at the bed, so I follow her gaze and my eyes see Kamila.

But she's not looking back... It seems like she's not responding at all to the world around her.

And a huge puddle of deep, dark blood is pooling on the ground.