Sia replied, "I don't mind. All those instincts are gone. I still have some lingering hormones, thanks to this darling...", smiling at Jen who cooed and gurgled before her belly grumbled, and Sia smiled warmly, "It has been a long night for you, eh?", adjusting her to one of her breasts, and Jen, aka Jendayi, latched into the nipple, starting to suckle, testing her mommy's milk for a moment before giving a muffled happy cry as she then eagerly drank.
"Speaking of hormones...", Jacques chuckled as Sia smiled. "I think I need a few days to recover and all before we try anything again... hope that isn't a problem with you.", she said as he nodded, "I waited so bad for months, I can easily wait a few days... besides, I think we should focus fully on Jen during this time.".
Sia smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder as he settled closer to her, wrapping his arm around her, while Nola went to work on getting the cord and placenta out gently, including a tie-in for her belly button, smiling in relief as her friend and the queen's sister is more than just alright.
"I would never forget that day easily ever again, but I feel like I can leave it behind me now, and yes, I might have nightmares if Jen gets in even a bit of trouble as she grows up, like scraping her knee while playing or something, yet she would be fine with some crystal healing as kids are bound to be scrambling around in climbing trees, playing games, and all, and I would try not to freak out...", Sia sighed softly as she couldn't keep her eyes off her beautiful daughter upon her breast.
Jacques kissed her on the temple, "Don't forget that she got two older brothers. They will adore her as much as they will protect her in anything including a potential prospect of a mate...", with a mild scoff, and Sia giggled, "That'd be something to see, as I only had the older sister in Kida...And don't worry, Jacques, with us as parents, she will take care of herself just fine, even if she will have to tell her brothers off many times to the point of being fed up.".
"Hopefully that will happen so many years from now.", Jacques chuckled as she nodded. "Of course... but we'll look back to these days and really wonder where all the time went...", Sia sighed as Jacques held her close and kissed her cheek.
A few minutes later, Nola nodded, "There, all done and cleaned up!", smiling as she made a trash bag, and glanced at the couple, "You want me to get the young princes, tell them that they can see Princess Jendayi now?".
"That'd be wonderful, thank you, Nola...", Sia replied, and Nola inclined her head in a respectful bow, and smiled, "She is really a healthy one, alright. Many congratulations, you two.", before leaving the bed and meadow altogether.
Many several minutes later, after such a long feeding, Jen is now resting on Jacques' thighs as he propped his legs up, as her father is playing with her while Sia is dozing, listening to Jacques' voice as he resumed the final part of the story, "And so, it was quite the surprise when the prince found her as she was hiding out of shame, for she was in rough shape, with the cinders from the chimney in her hair, in her shabby clothes, her skin, yet the prince didn't care, seeing a diamond out of the ashes, for he recognized her in those wise, hauntingly beautiful blue eyes, that shy smile, and of course, that musical giggle, more than just a girl with the missing glass slipper...Of course, according to the king's orders, the slipper must fit the girl from the ball, and to the horror of Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters, the slipper truly fit Cinderella's dainty foot, and then she is whisked away from her childhood home, yet it wasn't home anymore to her, is then soon proposed by the prince, and she went to marry him not long afterwards, learning how to be a princess by more than just grace and beauty, through everybody agreed that she is a princess already for she followed her heart. And so, the kingdom prospered under their rule, and Cinderella is living happily ever after, with a husband and a family. And if you're wondering about the stepmother and stepsisters, well, let's say that the stepmother was looked down quite viciously, and was forced to leave the kingdom forever, with one stepsister in tow, while another stepsister had found her true self, finding her own happily ever after while being forgiven by Cinderella.".
Jen cooed and gurgled happily, and Jacques chuckled, "Indeed, we couldn't be happier for her, could we?", kissing his daughter on the forehead with a smile, and Jen hugged her father's face, cooing.
Jacques smiled, "I love you too, my little princess.", before hearing a hesitant voice, "Papa?", and he looked up to see Vinny holding a quietly inquisitive Kory, standing some distance off from the bed, and he chuckled, "Wanna meet your big brothers?".
Jen gurgled as Jacques picked her up from his thigh lap, cradling her in his arms, and smiled, "Come over, boys. And put Kory on the bed so he can crawl. Just mind your mother. It has been a long night.", glad that Sia is having her blanket on.
"Everything go alright?", Vinny asked as Jacques nodded. "Yep... considering we don't have Nola with us, yeah, I like to think everything went well.", he teased as Vinny nodded; knowing that was probably a bit of a foolish question.
Kory crawled carefully on the bed, inquisitively quiet for once, making it to his papa's side, minding his sleeping mother since he's crawling to the middle of the bed, as he rested upon his papa's leg and peered up, and Jacques smiled, lowering his daughter to his son's level, "This is your middle older brother, Korbyn Enzo Nedakh, Jen. Kory, say hello to your baby sister, Jendayi Auriella Nedakh.".
Jen blinked at her middle older brother, cooing as Kory gasped in awe and adoration, "Aya, mommy.", and Vinny chuckled, "You're right, she really looks a lot like Mom. Aya, huh? That's fair as you can't quite say her name.", sitting on the other side of his father, on the edge of the bed.
Jen gurgled, looking at Vinny, and Jacques chuckled, "Meet your oldest brother, Vincenzo Giovani Nedakh. You probably remember the excitement the other day when we took him into the family, hmm?".
Jen gave a soft squeal as she remembered feeling the excitement and the joy, and attempted to smile, reaching out a tiny hand, and Vinny smiled, letting her take his finger, "Hello, Jen...Everybody calls me Vinny for short. I'm glad I'm finally meeting you...You and our Mom being safe and healthy...I hope you weren't mad, Papa, for me wishing about this...It's just that...I have everything else I'd ever hoped for and seeing Mom worried and stressed...".
"Not at all...", Jacques rubbed his shoulder. "Actually, if anything, it's probably better since it certainly had gotten things up faster and made your mother worry a bit less after everything that happened before.".
Vinny nodded, relieved to hear that his papa wasn't mad at him, and glanced down at Jendayi who gurgled, squeezing his finger while Kory was gentle for once, petting Jendayi's hair, babbling at her in baby language.
Then a hand squeezed Vinny's arm, and a tearful, motherly voice spoke, "I was comforted by your papa during everything with your sister the whole night, and he told me that you and Kory loved us...You weren't selfish, sweetheart...Your love into the wish, and the gift aid of the Great Kings, that was a purely wonderful wish, and I am not mad at you either...Thank you, and you can be reassured that I am no longer stressed, and I would be worried occasionally, not because I am scared, but because I deeply care for all of you, that I love all of you, my children, including you, Vinny.", revealing Sia who had turned over, woken up by the motions of everybody on the bed, not noticed by the others as they were absorbed into talking and adoring Jendayi, smiling tearfully and happily at her eldest son.
Vinny smiled, "Morning, Mom...Thanks..", squeezing her hand as Kory squealed, turning over to hug her, "Mommy!", and Sia caressed her little son, "Hello, Kory...Jen just had a long feeding, I suppose you were tired of the bottles the whole day and all, huh? You know you have to be weaned eventually, but I will give you this one, okay?", as she sat up slightly, with the blanket moving slightly from her breasts, half dressed with her sarong back on.
Kory nodded with a wide smile as he came into her side, scooped up by her arm as he carefully went to take a breast that still looked full since the other one looks empty by the marks of Jendayi suckling, and so, he happily took up his meal.
Jen stared at her middle brother and then yawned, cooing as she then looked at Jacques, and he chuckled, moving her back to her long-missed body warmth of her papa's chest, yawning more as she curled and closed her eyes, listening to her papa's heartbeat.
Vinny chuckled, "Since you two are occupied, do you want me to get some food for all of us grownups?", and Sia smiled, "Yes, that'd be good...You are growing into such a responsible young man, Vinny. No wonder why you had practice with having an older brother and a younger sister in your old life...Your mami and dad will be proud of you, for your wish and everything...".
Vinny took a deep sigh and nodded. "Thanks... you two just stay put for a little bit, and I'll bring us back something. Any specific you want or need?", he asked as Jacques looked to Sia, "What? I'm not having any of the cravings anymore, so I think anything will be fine.".
Vinny snickered as Jacques looked relieved now, and replied, "You got it, Mom and Papa.", smiling as he left the bed and the meadow altogether.
Jacques smiled as he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders as he cradled his sleeping daughter, "We truly got a family, Sia...Our own family..", kissing Sia on the lips, glancing to see his young son suckling carefully yet eagerly, content within his mother's arm.
Sia smiled, "Yes, we're parents to a beautiful and wonderful set of children...And before you ask, I think waiting a few decades is best before we even think about having another child, and I will be on the anti-pregnancy tea starting once I'm more settled in, even with the hormones lingering around for a while. After all, a barely starting toddler in Kory and a newborn in Jen, it would keep us busy for a while, and of course, there's being through Vinny's teenage years eventually as now, he is stuck as a 13-year-old boy after he became part of our family the other day on his birthday/our wedding day.", as Vinny had realized that he incidentally forgot the time of his birthday when he was on the streets, and realized that he thought he was 11, almost 12 when he met Jacques, when he was actually 12 already, and now, with better focus on living, not surviving, Vinny is officially 13, lasting for quite a long time.
Jacques curiously asked, "Do you think he might have a mate here?", and Sia shrugged, "I do not know, as it's true that through puberty, mostly through 15-17 years old physically, Atlanteans get visions of their mate, if they don't get them then in their 20s when they are at their prime. He's officially part of our family, a Atlantean both in heart and life, but he's still part of the surface world for he will not forget his past, which I could not blame him for. So, it's possible that he could either find love on his own terms on the surface world if we reveal ourselves and the kingdom one day, or perchance having a mate here by the Atlantean way, which would take time. But now, he just deserves to be a kid having fun and enjoying life and having some responsibilities of his own terms as he's a big brother.".
"Yeah... you're right.", Jacques sighed. "Probably shouldn't worry about him in terms of who he wants to be with; let him build into that on his own rather than trying to guide him. It doesn't really work out as well as those guiding would hope.".
"You're talking about arranged mating?", Sia asked, and Jacques sighed softly, "Well, marriages, but it's pretty much the same thing if only a difference in terms.".
Sia nodded, "You would have gotten along with Father there...He never liked the idea of arranged marriages, and he wanted us to build up on our love with our mates if we had visions either through puberty or in our prime, and now I don't regret falling in love with you, for if it wasn't for my visions, I wouldn't ever know how much the surface world has changed, and all that followed since the great flood...And I'm sure Kida feels the same for Milo.".
Jacques smiled gently, "I don't regret falling in love with you too, Sia...It's funny...I always thought the missing part of me was just wanting to find some peace and quiet, to just be part of my country somehow after my parents died...I thought being a soldier was it, securing freedom for France and all, but now I realize the missing part of me was actually the dream to live without needing to survive, to have someone by my side...".
"And now?", Sia asked gently, smiling, and Jacques chuckled, "I feel complete now...I'm home with you and our children, and that's more than I've ever dreamed of. Heck, I think I can actually use my leadership skills from being a soldier and leading my faction group, to be a prince if Kida needs me to be a diplomat or something.".
Sia kissed her husband on the cheek, "Now, that's thinking like a prince, my love...Your parents will be proud of you if they hadn't already gotten over the shock of their only son marrying a princess and having three children while watching over us.", with a giggle.
Jacques laughed warmly, "Somehow, I feel that you're right...they wouldn't have wanted me to fight all the time if they knew that they would have lost me on the front lines...then again, if I wasn't a soldier, I wouldn't have been recommended to be on the Iceland expedition with Thaddeus, and all that followed, and I wouldn't have gone down here, or met you...Nope, I think they would understand why I became a soldier and all...".
"Parents should always love their children no matter what.", Sia nodded, having seen a few memories of Jacques's comrades back in France saying that they had shitty parents or a rough childhood, and Jacques replied, "Many of us are lucky to have had good parents...Speaking of parenthood, I wonder if Steve and Peggy succeeded now, thanks to my advice.".
Sia smiled gently, having heard the story of Steve and Peggy's great dilemma from Jacques over the past month, "I'm sure they did, Jacques. After all, they deserve a wonderful life as much as ours or Kida and Milo.".
There was a presentation of Princess Jendayi in the late morning, from the city center, after people spread the news, having seen Sia not pregnant anymore and cradling a newborn, and so, Atlantis had gotten more hope, more motivated to bring the city back as much as they could, to the grand spectacle it was in the old days before the flood.
Up on the surface world, over the past month and such, the Allies were making massive gains. The landings for Torch were a success as the Allies liberated Morocco and Algeria and were on the verge of taking Tunisia before Axis reinforcements pushed them back across the Tunisia Algeria border. In Egypt, fresh from the victory at El Alamein; the British 8th Army had made a massive drive across the desert, driving Rommel and his Africa Korps not only out of Egypt but even out of Libya too. All the remaining Axis forces in North Africa were trapped in Tunisia but they weren't just finished yet as only a few days prior, Rommel threw one last offensive punch and blooded the green American troops at Kasserine Pass. But the offensive was hurriedly stopped and now the Allies were building their strength for the final battles of North Africa.
With the front lines expanded in North Africa, it was safer to set up bases away from England for future operations in the Mediterranean and General Phillips would be occasionally flying over to France or the rest of Europe, with Peggy in tow, as his group was being ordered to help with operations critical to driving the Axis back into Europe itself and hopefully opening the door to the Allies land practically anywhere they want through the Mediterranean Sea.
Peggy has noticed that she hadn't lost a period over the past month to this month, and hoped that she is pregnant, but knowing that it wouldn't be truly obvious, she knew she had to wait, praying, not knowing that the experiment within her is testing her body, and will bring unfortunate sadness, but also determination to keep going.