Finally, a StellaxBrandon chapter for all of those who were patiently waiting. I thought that I was going to make it a bit tame but then the Horny Monster got to me and gave them a little moment. But it doesn't last for long (you will see why) and so I would say that this chapter is rated T but for those of a more...sensitive constitution, maybe this chapter will be dipping a bit into M (but nothing too explicit).
Anyways, I hope you enjoy and make sure to let me know what you think. These are just kind of head canons so feel free to disagree (but that doesn't mean that I am going to change anything lol)
The Solarian Royal Family- Quiet
A loud, piercing scream filled the bedroom of the princess and newly appointed prince consort of Solaria. Make that two screams.
Stella turned her head to the monitor that sat on a small table next to the bed that she shared with Brandon. Bloom had gotten it for them as a gift from Earth and Musa had done some sort of sound-enhancing spell that made the monitor work for the distances of a large palace instead of the family homes on Earth. However, for the past month, the 'gift' has been anything but.
"Brandon..." Stella groaned as she rolled over, her body falling onto Brandon's as she did her best to distance herself as far away as she could from the baby monitor. This had been the fourth night in a row that she had been awakened by their four-month-old twins. Bloom said that this period of crying would soon be over as she had dealt with the same thing with Kenna, but Bloom also didn't have twins.
Bloom also hadn't gotten the dumb idea to insist that she had no help from the servants in the palace. Stella had no idea what came over her when she told the usual maids who would handle royal children that she didn't need their help. She was an idiot, and now, Stella was too proud to go back and ask for help.
"Wake up, Brandon." Stella groaned once again.
Brandon rolled over and gently pushed Stella off of him.
"I am awake," Brandon met Stella's groan with a sleepy one of his own, "what time is it?"
Stella squinted her eyes and looked towards the small digital clock on the bedside table next to the baby monitor, "Ugh, nearly half-past two."
Brandon placed his hand over his face and moved his hand down, trying to wake himself up all the way and prepare himself to deal with the two screaming children down the corridor.
"I can't keep doing this, Brandon," Stella whined, "I need my sleep. I feed them all the time, I am with them constantly, and I feel that I just can't do this anymore."
"Stella," Brandon rolled over to face his wife, "you can do it. Remember what Bloom said; it will get better. And Aisha is going through the same thing with Malik."
Brandon's pep talks to his wife in the middle of the night had become a fairly regular occurrence at this point. But Brandon could see how much motherhood had taken a toll on Stella. She looked tired all of the time. Her bright, amber eyes had become dull with dark circles to match. What concerned Brandon the most about it was that Stella didn't care about her appearance. Sure, Stella had matured since they were in school, but Stella had her own fashion line and Stella still took pride in her looks. Brandon worried for his wife. So a pep talk in the middle of the night was the least that he could do.
"Come on," Brandon placed a kiss on Stella's forehead, "let's go see what is wrong this time."
Brandon got out of bed and slid his slippers onto his feet. He walked over to the other side of the bed and reached forward, holding his hands out in front of Stella for her to grab.
"Stella..." Brandon urged.
"Just," Stella closed her eyes and sighed, "give me a minute."
Brandon and Stella sat in silence, well, save for the screaming babies over the monitor. About to speak again, Brandon was stopped when he saw tears beginning to stream down Stella's face.
"Stella..."
"Please," Stella replied, holding her hand out in front of her, "I just want it to be quiet. I'll get up. I just need a moment."
Brandon looked down at his wife and he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. He hated seeing Stella cry. Not because she was the love of his life, but because she never cried. She was as radiant as the sun and glowed like the moon and Brandon hated her seeing her as anything but her radiant self. Worse was that he hated when Stella did not see herself as such.
Nobody believed that Stella could be a great mother. Stella knew what people had said about her when she had become pregnant with Ciaran and Lucia. Half of the court thought that she had been some sort of common whore who had fallen pregnant with some common boy before they had been wed. Stella and Brandon were always going to get married but the wedding date had been pushed up and rushed due to Stella's unexpected pregnancy. And the court was not so keen on Stella marrying Brandon who had nothing to his name.
Stella also knew what people thought about her. She had always been stubborn, obstinate, and a bit impulsive; all qualities that a 'good' mother ought not to have. Stella was determined to be the best mother and to prove everyone wrong. She wanted people to believe that she could rule an entire kingdom after her father passed or stepped down and if she couldn't even be a 'good' mother, what hope did she have for being a 'good' queen? She had to be 'good'.
But Brandon knew that Stella's lack of sleep was not going to be good for anyone.
"Stella," Brandon softly spoke, "lie back down and get some sleep. I will handle Ciaran and Lucia."
"But Br-"
"You are exhausted." Brandon stated as gently as he could, "Please, just get some sleep and let me take care of it. I really hate seeing you cry, Stell."
Stella looked up at Brandon and Brandon could have sworn that he had never seen Stella look so grateful. Before Stella could say anything, Brandon was already halfway out of the room, on his way to tend to his two children.
Falling back onto the bed, Stella closed her eyes as her children's screaming continued on the baby monitor. She took a few deep breaths as she did her best to calm the pounding in her head. Brandon was right; she was tired. She just hadn't realized it until now. Stella also realized how much she loved the nights of quiet with Brandon sleeping soundly next to her. Now it seemed like every time she and Brandon had a moment of quiet; it was disturbed by one or both of the twins crying.
Soon, Stella's ears perked up when she heard Brandon's voice over the baby monitor.
"Now what do we have here?" Brandon asked as he entered the room.
Stella turned her head and opened her eyes to look into the baby monitor screen to see Brandon hovering over the two cribs as Lucia and Ciaran continued to scream. Brandon leaned down and first picked up Lucia and quickly recoiled his head.
"Well," Brandon stated, "I now know why you are so upset. I didn't know that princesses as beautiful as you could make such awful smells. We are just going to have to remedy that right away, isn't that right?"
Stella smiled at Brandon's comment. He was not new to changing diapers but it was always fun to see that Brandon approached every situation with their children like a new and exciting experience. Brandon had a wonderful way of making everything so exciting, even changing a smelly diaper.
After Brandon had changed Lucia, the screaming stopped from both her and Ciaran. It was not odd for one twin to start crying, wake up the other, and then have both of them screaming. While Stella and Brandon were glad that both Lucia and Ciaran had each other's backs in a way, they could do without the screaming.
"Now," Brandon took Lucia off of the changing table and brought her over to the large rocking chair where he sat down with Lucia in his arms and began to rock her back to sleep, "was all of that screaming necessary? A simple 'come change me, dad' would have done just fine."
Brandon chuckled softly and Stella smiled. It was quiet and she could have easily fallen back to sleep as Brandon rocked Lucia, but Stella never wanted to miss a moment like this. Stella loved sleep and quiet, but she loved her family even more. She had missed the happy moments that she once shared with her parents before they divorced, wishing that she had appreciated them more when they were together. Stella was determined never to miss a moment with Brandon or their children. Another reason why she had made the choice not to have the traditional maids that would look after the royal children.
"Your mother is a very busy woman and she would love to have a full night of sleep but you and your brother are making it very hard. I know, it is not your fault. Just something to think about, okay?"
Brandon took a deep breath and smiled, "You might be too young to understand now but your mother is the most radiant person in the entire universe, both literally and figuratively. You are so lucky to have her. I would have loved to have a woman like her as my mother growing up but I am even more thankful that she chose me to be her husband and your dad. But don't tell your mom I told you this."
Brandon looked up at the small camera in the corner of the room and gave Stella a small wink, knowing that Stella could definitely hear him state her praises to their children who were now both asleep and no longer paying attention to Brandon.
"She is creative, beautiful, kind, brave, so smart, and needs to go to sleep and enjoy the quiet."
Stella rolled her eyes as she smiled. She watched Brandon get up and gently place a sleeping Lucia back in her crib. Brandon made sure that everything was sound in the room before leaving and making his way down the hallway and back into the room he shared with Stella.
Stella was silent as Brandon slid off his slippers and crawled back into bed next to her. Did he think that she was asleep? But when Brandon wrapped his arm around Stella's waist and placed a kiss on the side of her neck, Stella couldn't help but turn and face Brandon, her amber eyes open letting Brandon know that she was awake.
"You are supposed to be asleep," Brandon stated as he placed a kiss on Stella's forehead.
"I know," Stella sighed, "but I wanted to wait for you and now I don't feel like sleeping."
"Stella, you have...oh..."
Brandon's scolding was stopped when he felt Stella's hand dip below the waistband of his sleeping pants and her other hand rested on his cheek as she gave him a kiss.
"Stella, what are you...?" Brandon tried to ask through kisses and the pleasure now rushing to his head from Stella's hand.
"We haven't been able to do this since the twins were born," Stella replied as she continued to kiss Brandon.
Brandon certainly wasn't about to complain about doing something like this. He had missed it but not as much as Stella had it seemed. But Brandon also knew that the both of them really needed the sleep and it would have been beyond foolish of them not to take advantage of the new quiet that filled their room. But as Stella continued to move her hand, Brandon found himself unable to protest any further. It had been a while.
The sounds of moans and rustling blankets filled the quiet space once occupied by the sound of screaming. Stella soon found herself without her top and Brandon's pants had been long gone. Brandon rolled over on top of Stella and hovered above her, his arms on either side of her head. Stella smiled up at him and moved her hands to make quick work of the soft pajama shorts and slide them off of her hips.
"I almost forgot how much I enjoyed seeing you like this," Brandon remarked as he looked down at Stella.
"Careful," Stella smirked, "this is how we got Lucia and Ciaran."
Brandon bent down and placed another kiss on her forehead. Forehead kisses had become a new thing from Brandon, the first time he did it was after she had given birth to the twins, and he had never stopped. And Stella would never stop him.
"And what a wonderful result it has been."
Stella knew that Brandon's response was sincere. She could tell how much he loved their children. It was like he became a new person, and for the better. He was a natural with them, and it was the warmest that Stella had ever seen him. Brandon had always been affectionate, that was how they got the twins in the first place as well as a few pregnancy scares before that, but he was even more attentive and caring with both the twins and Stella. Stella supposed that is what seeing a woman give birth to twins might do to a person, but Stella just knew that it was because Brandon had always been filled with a bright and warm love that rivaled the Solarian suns.
Stella could not have asked for a better partner to share her life with.
Raising up, Brandon adjusted himself as he prepared to enter his wife. He could already feel the warmth radiating off of her and Brandon was more than eager to continue. But just as Brandon was about to enter and Stella readied herself for the stretching sensation that she had been without for months, the sound of screaming once again filled the room.
Both Stella and Brandon let out an exhausted and frustrated sigh as they both stilled.
"I really shouldn't have told the maids to get lost." Stella groaned as she turned her head to look at the baby monitor to see, and hear, Ciaran had been the owner of the scream. Lucia soon followed behind after her brother had woken her up with his screaming.
Brandon rolled off of Stella and reached for his pants and slid them on.
"I'm going to talk to the guys tomorrow," Brandon said as he got out of bed and slipped back on his slippers for the second time that night.
"About?" Stella asked.
"Babysitting." Brandon chuckled, "We need a vacation."
"I agree."
"And I would really like to continue what we were doing, uninterrupted. Then when I am done, fall asleep and be able to sleep for the whole night."
Stella closed her eyes and smiled, "That sounds like an absolute dream."
"Which you should be having right now," Brandon said, "so keep your eyes closed and get some sleep. I will see you in the morning. Well, later in the morning."
"Fine," Stella replied, "good night, Brandon."
"Good night, Stella."
Rest took over Stella's body, and she found herself falling asleep to the sound of Brandon's voice through the baby monitor, consoling their children.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
