Chapter 175- The Weight of Three, Again
CJ
“Lexy and the pups are good. I never got to give the results last time. The reason she’s been different is because she is pregnant with triplets” Doc responded.
The tent was quiet except for the soft crackle of a lantern burning low and the steady rhythm of Lexy’s shallow breaths. Two days she had been unconscious, two days since her flames lit the battlefield like a second sun and then left her drained, limp in my arms.
I hadn’t left her side since.
Her hand rested in mine, her skin warm but fragile, and I found myself rubbing my thumb gently over her knuckles, praying for movement. She had always been a force of nature—untouchable, unstoppable. To see her lying still, robbed of her fire, gnawed at me in a way no blade ever could.
When the flap of the tent opened softly, I looked up tense, ready for another report of enemy movement. But it wasn’t a scout. It was Doc. Her expression was grave, but not with battlefield news. This was different. He carried the weight of something personal.
“Doc?” My voice was low, rough from sleepless hours.
She set her satchel down, moved closer, and knelt by Lexy’s cot. Her eyes swept over her, clinical yet kind, the way they always had. She’d been with us since the beginning, since the day we found out about our first set of triplets. She knew better than anyone everything she faced.
“Lexy and the pups are good,” Doc said finally. Her tone was steady, but the words crashed into me like a wave.
My chest tightened. Something in his voice told me this wasn’t just reassurance. I braced myself, fingers tightening around Lexy’s hand.
“She’s strong,” Bennett said softly, perhaps reading the storm in my face. “Stronger than before. And the little ones—every sign shows they’re thriving. But, CJ, you know what this means.”
“I know,” I said hoarsely. Too well.
Her body wasn’t built to carry so much power and so many lives at once, and yet she had before, defying every law of nature. But the cost… gods, the cost. She had nearly died giving us our first three children. And I had sworn to myself I would never let her go through something like that again.
I dragged a hand down my face, trying to steady myself. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She didn’t know at first,” Bennett replied. “I only confirmed it days ago, before the battle. I intended to share it with both of you immediately, but then…” she gestured faintly to the cot, to the memory of fire and chaos. “Everything erupted.”
My gaze returned to Lexy. Her hair spilled across the pillow, damp with fevered sweat. Even unconscious, she carried the weight of three more lives within her, hidden but very much real.
Triplets. Again.
The first time had changed me forever—learning I would be a father, then learning I would be a father three times over in a single breath. It had been joy tangled with fear; hope wrapped in terror. Now those same feelings returned, sharper, heavier. Because this wasn’t new territory anymore. I knew exactly how dangerous it was.
“I can’t lose her,” I whispered, not sure if I was speaking to Doc, to the moon, or to the unconscious woman before me. “Not her. Not them. Not again.”
“You won’t,” Doc said firmly. “But CJ… she will need you to be stronger than ever. You cannot let her burn herself the way she did on that battlefield. She fights for everyone else. You must fight for her.”
I nodded slowly, though the words carved themselves deep into me.
When Doc left, I stayed seated, unmoving, my hand still wrapped around hers. My mind spun with images—the memory of her first labor, her screams, the blood, the endless hours wondering if I would lose them all. The relief of hearing three healthy cries. The weight of each tiny body placed into my arms, fragile but alive.
And now… three more.
I pressed my palm gently over her stomach. “Why didn’t you wait?” I whispered, a broken smile tugging at my lips. “Why did you decide now of all times?”
The silence of the tent gave no answer. But deep inside, beneath the fear, another emotion stirred—something I hadn’t felt in months. Hope.
Because if the moon had blessed us with this again, maybe it meant we would survive what was coming. Maybe it meant there was a future beyond Adrian and Kael’s darkness. A future where Lexy and I could raise not just three, but six children. A future where she would smile again, tired but radiant, holding our family together as she always had.
I bent down, resting my forehead lightly on her stomach. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this. But I promise you three, just as I promised your brothers and sister—I’ll protect you. I’ll protect her. With everything I am.”
Hours passed in silence, broken only by the sounds of the camp outside—the shifting of guards, the distant crackle of fires, the soft murmurs of nurses tending the wounded. I didn’t move. Sleep tugged at me, but I refused it. My place was here, watching her, waiting.
And then…
Her fingers twitched against mine.
My heart lurched. I straightened, staring at her face, willing her to move again. Slowly, her lashes fluttered, her eyes opening with effort.
“Lexy?” My voice cracked on her name.
Her gaze found me, hazy but alive. She blinked, as if trying to place where she was. “CJ…?” Her voice was hoarse, weak, but it was hers.
Relief hit me like a blade to the knees. I cupped her face, unable to stop the tears pricking my eyes. “Two days, love. You’ve been gone for two days. But you’re here now.”
She swallowed, her brow furrowing. “The battle?”
“It’s done,” I said firmly. “We held the line. Adrian and Kael slipped away, but they’ll answer for it soon enough. For now… rest. That’s all I need from you.”
Her eyes softened at my tone, but I saw the faint glimmer of fire spark in them already—the warrior side of her waking, ready to argue, ready to rise.
Before she could, I pressed my hand gently over her stomach. Her gaze followed the motion, then snapped back to mine, wide, questioning.
I nodded slowly. “Doc told me. Triplets. Again.”
Her breath caught, her lips parting in shock. And in her eyes, I saw the same storm I had weathered earlier—the mix of awe, fear, and something brighter.
She was awake. And now, we would face this truth together.
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