The second chapter to be posted today. This probably won't be a thing often, but I wanted to do this because, as I mentioned, coming up with something Polaris-based and Halloween-based was a bit of a problem for me. So I wanted to write a regular-story based one, too, so I could share a bit more.

Now, this contains spoilers for the fourth story in the GoM series. Like Lara and Jay, and Jinx and Dianite, Polaris and QuickSilver do get to a point where they have a family. They have three children. (My co-author and I proceeded to joke at the time that whoever Jace ended up being paired with would have four children with him, so we could keep on the number train. That said, we've never made an official pairing for Jace and I don't know if I could keep track of four children since there are times when only one of the triplets winds up being the focus.) Also, I'd like to point this out: all three of the triplet's names mean "dragon."


There's just something that makes Polaris unsettled about seeing her hatchlings outside of their nest.

She's not sure what it is, but it's something – and that something is powerful enough to lead her to scoop up her babies and place them back in their nest of blankets and pillows. Inevitably, they wander again and she has to drag them back to their nest, but she does it without failure once they get far enough away that the something comes over her again.

QuickSilver is more relaxed about the whole thing, as he usually is. Her mate is quiet and lets the children wander further, oft times even stepping in Polaris' way when she tries to make a grab for them. "They're children, Polly," he always says, "they need to explore and play. You need to let them. I know it's hard for you to do."

Of course it's hard for her. She carried her eggs for a month, stuck in dragon-form for the duration, before laying them, and then waited two more months for her babies to hatch. The duration of that time was spent trying to ward Jordan away from the tree and trying to visit Lara and Jay because, really, they're hopeless sometimes without someone to keep them grounded. That, and Jay's been having a rough time adapting to his current surroundings – but, the point is, screw Jay, screw Lara, screw Jordan. Babies.

She's happy to be a mother, though. When she'd been young, she'd refused to return the not-eggs to Jordan because it felt important for her to have them and shelter them. She'd slept with them every single night until she got too big, and then Lara had occasionally snuck a moa egg from the Aether – an abandoned one – in order for her to be allowed to cradle something. When she'd met QuickSilver, all of those fancies were gone. They were replaced with mating desires and the need to be around her mate.

QuickSilver had approached her shortly after the whole ordeal with Void five years ago and decided to suggest that they settle down together – properly. They had started trying for a family after that moment. It had felt so natural, honestly. For her, it was instinct to want a family, and suddenly those feelings with the not-eggs had made sense.

Polaris knew that Jinx would talk about how wonderful and comforting it was to be pregnant, but Jinx would always stress that it was her opinion and that Polaris should consider her own feelings toward the event. Lara seemed stressed over her pregnancy, but that was likely due to the additional stress that came with wanting to protect Jay, as well as the stress of her unborn children treating her like a puppet.

But Polaris had difficulties, unlike her friends. Jinx had gotten pregnant immediately upon sleeping with Dianite. Lara had gotten pregnant for the first attempt, but her bloodline likely made it easy for her. Polaris didn't have Lara's advantage, or Jinx's luck. Polaris had instinct and desire, but no ability. It had been with Jay's obnoxious help and Ianite's guidance that Polaris and QuickSilver had gotten lucky enough to have just the right moon cycle to get pregnant. After that, everything had gone simply – and the rest had been unimportant up to the birth of their children.

QuickSilver still jokes about her failure to come up with 'clever' names for the triplets. Their daughter's name is Kaida; the boys are Draco and Drakon (Drake for short). Kaida has developed traits of both of them, with one silver eye and the other being a brilliant purple-pink like Polaris'. Drake has silver eyes like his father, and Draco has purple ones like his mother. The boys have strange scales. While Kaida has pure purple-black scales like Polaris and QuickSilver, the boys have silver and purple scales. Draco has purple scales with patches of silver on his spine, wings, and snout; Drake has just the inverse.

In mannerism, Drake is the most like his father. Drakon is quiet, but not timid. He lingers daringly at the edges of Polaris' range of safety, but he's the first to wander back on his own accord. Polaris is content in trusting her silver-eyed little one is going to be fine in the big, bad world when he gets older. Draco, however, is daring and boisterous. He doesn't learn to walk on his feet as much as he learns to barrel headfirst out of the reach of his mother's limitations. Polaris is up to chase him before she finds the necessity to go after either of his siblings. Kaida is the nosiest and the noisiest of the triplets. She wants to be involved in everything, but she also wants to be the instigator. She's the least able to be distracted by play fighting.

Despite her worries, Polaris is content. She doesn't quite snap at Jordan as much when he approaches the nest. The triplets, who will be in dragon-form until they learn to change their forms, seem to consider the Mianitee to be just another member of their flock. They nip at Jordan's fingers and his hair, and he teaches them how roughly they can play with a mortal by allowing them to wrestle with him. They're still little enough that their claws and teeth won't harm him much, even if they tried to hurt him. When Jinx and Dianite, or Jace, bring Eris over, the triplets are instantly attracted to their elder 'cousin.' Eris shows them the tricks Dianite and Jinx have taught her, and the triplets show off their tiny meow-like roars and their 'ferocious' snaps. Eris never seems to consider them a real threat, but she always plays along.

Polaris is happy. Snuggled up in the nest with her mate and her wild, rambunctious children, she's relaxed. This is the way life should be. This is what her instincts have screamed at her to have and hold since her childhood. It feel so wonderful to be able to settle with her family, and for weeks, it has been so strange to think of life without this.