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Family

A collection of high-pitched growls and squeals occupy the Bennett house. William lowly growls in a rhythm while holding one of the three babies that Bumva delivered. The three orc halfling sons have the same protruding teeth as their mom with the brown hair and ears of their father. Neither of them carry his white pupils as they look around the house.

"Shh. Shh. Mother's here," she breastfeeds the two of them. "They are adorable, honey. Theey even have my green eyes"

He brushes the back of his hand to "see" his son's face. He can't stop smiling. "What will be their names, my love?"

"The son in your arms will be Gashamog. The ones I'm feeding will be named Will Jr and Gulak. They will all carry the last name Bennett to symbolize the strength of their father."

Will's son reaches out and touches his face with his tiny palms.

"Hello, son. You can see me?"

His son babbles in response.

"I love you, too. Want to meet your siblings?"

He sputters out his response which makes his father chuckle. He walks over to Melody who's feeding their daughter upright with a small blanket over her shoulder. Dorothea helps rock her grandson while James plays with his granddaughter's feet. All three share their mother's caramel complexion, her magenta irises, and their father's nose and jawline.

"Gashamog, these are your sisters and brothers. Uhm, who is where again?"

"I have Emilia this time, your mom has Jaime, and your dad has Esmerelda," his wife answers.

"Emilia, Jaime, Esmerelda. Look at one of your three baby brothers," he holds out his cloth covered son carefully. His orc son playfully growls. His siblings each laugh in response.

"He's got his mother's growl," he chuckles.

Gashamog then growls but in an unpleasant manner. The other babies cry to join in on his miserable hunger. 

"Let's get you to mama," he walks back to Bumva. "Gash is hungry."

"Don't worry, little one. Will Jr is all done."

Bumva takes Gash carefully and hands him Will Jr. His legs almost buckle from the weight of his second son.

He shifts his feet together. "Wow. You will be as big as a mountain one day."

"Wah!" Jr growls.

"I agree. Bigger than a mountain," his father replies.

Jr plants a kiss on his cheek. He flashes a gummy smile in his direction.

"Your siblings are across the room. I will only ask two things from all of you: protect each other and be happy."

Jr lowly growls in excitement as if he accepted his father's request. Gash and Gulak do the same thing and go back to feeding.

"Bumva, I love you and our children. They will do great things."

Tears run down her face. "I love you all too" He gets close to her and kisses her head. She pulls him in for a proper kiss and murmurs into his mouth.

"Let's focus on our triplets before we make more," he manages to say after a moment.

Bumva lightly chuckles from his response. "We shall see."

Knock, knock, knock, knock! It's coming from the main door.

"Can I hold Gulak now?" Will's arms tremble more than a leaf.

They switch out and Gulak nuzzles against his dad's shoulder. Thankfully, he's the lightest of the three as he walks to the door.

"Who is it?" He calls out.

"Who else, but us? Let them see their aunts and uncles!" Yarlg roars.

His roar encourages Gulak to try and mimic that sound.

"You will get there one day."

He opens the door. Yarlg, Yang, Sindy, and Ai see his son.

"What a mighty warrior he will be!" Yarlg bellows. 

"Shhh. Keep your voices down," Will says calmly.

Gulak imitates his shh sound to reiterate his point. The group can't help but laugh.

"He's adorable," Sindy compliments while tickling his feet. He giggles from her action.

"What's his name?"

"This is Gulak, one of three triplets."

"Triplets?!" Ai gasps as she can only imagine the delivery.

"Bumva is alright. Come inside. Mel, Yarlg and the others are here!"

"How are my nieces and nephew?" The dwarf asks.

"Hungry, sleepy, and crying all the time," Mel lightly jokes.

"Anyone needs their diaper changed?"

As if right on cue, Dorothea can smell something foul from Jaime.

"We got a stinker!"

Sindy runs over to change him. "I got it. Rest for now." She takes her nephew and looks into his magenta eyes. "You stink, but you're still a cutie."

She takes the bag and changes him on the floor. Yang and Ai look away.

"This is why I don't want children."

"Glad we agree," Ai affirms her boyfriend's sentence.

"Oh, I can hold Emilia if you like," Yang quickly states to mean no offense. Mel burps her before handing her over. The rogue secures his arm under her neck as he looks at her.

"There's so much I want to teach you. How to sneak, how to steal-"

"No stealing!" Melody playfully glares at him. His body shivers from that look with knowing what she was before.

"R-Right. How to sneak and fight, Emilia. That's it."

Ai plays with Emilia's hands. "Auntie loves you!"

Yarlg plays with Esmerelda by jingling some keys in front of her. She touches the ring without any fear of her face.

"That's my brave niece," he takes it away to check on Bumva and the rest of his nephews. Sindy continues to hold onto Jaime as Yang carries Emilia into the room. Will lightly bounces his son as he enters.

Bumva smiles from seeing her friends. Both Gash and Jr are sleeping peacefully while holding each other's hands.

"You look great, Bumva," her dwarven best friend whispers.

"Thanks."

"Would you like me to take one of them?" Yang asks.

"Don't take Jr. He's the heaviest of the three," Will warns. Based on his experience, Yang trusted Will not to risk it.

"He can't be that heavy," Yarlg doubts.

Bumva handed Jr over to him with both hands. As soon as he gets him, his feet shift closer together.

"And my father said I was heavy," he grunts.

Jr. lightly growled in his sleep.

"That's a good growl you have there."

"And the other one is Gashamog or Gash for short."

Gash snores in response to his name. The others keep watch of all six infants to give Will, Mel, and Bumva much needed rest. Will plays a lullaby that lulls his wives to sleep. They lightly snore right away from the exhaustion of it all. He soaks in this moment.

He's now the father of six children and probably more to come. He smiles widely in anticipation of what will happen next. His eyelids betray him as he dozes right off between them.

15 Years later....

Emilia, wearing a black garbed outfit from head to toe, evades her father. She jumps from wall to wall lightly as she clings to the low ceiling. A 40-year-old Will with some white in his hair, walks under and passes her. She slips down behind him--

Creak!

Her pupils enlarge from the cursed floor that betrayed her feet.

"Found you!"

"I almost got away," Emilia laughs.

"You were still pretty good. He taught you well."

She happily embraces her father. "I have to go see Uncle Yang now. I will try to be back by dinner by the sixth stroke of the clock."

He pecks her on the cheek. "Tell me all about it when you get back."

She runs off and bumps into an orc that is as wide as the doors and almost 7 ft tall.

"Hi, Jr!"

"Hi, sis! Do you want me to come with you?" His gentle voice makes it down to her.

"I'll be fine. Are you and Gash excited for your hunting ceremony?"

"I-I am," he brushes through his brown mohawk nervously. He gets embraced by his sister.

"You will do great tomorrow!" She encourages before running off.

"She's right," Will adds on. He feels himself getting lifted up in the air by his son.

"Thanks, father."

He can feel his arms trembling. "Deep breath in, deep breath out," Will speaks gently. His son listens as he imitates his breathing pattern.

"I feel better now," he gently places him down.

Their ears perk up from the gentle stumming of music. Followed by a melody from the throat of a slender and smaller half-orc. He holds a long note to conclude his song.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Great job, Gulak!" His father cheers.

"That's my brother!"

Gulak takes a bow. He adjusts his brown coifed hair as he stands up. "Thank you! I hope Ghulnea will like it."

"She will like it, hermanito."

He turns to see his sister, Esmerelda. She's dressed in a comfortable plain peach shirt with blue overalls covered with some dirt. Her silky, black hair is tied up in a ponytail. Next to her, is a female orc five years younger than her with box braids on her head.

He bows out of appreciation. "Are you off to see grandma and grandpa, Tuzah?"

"Yep! We're going to get some radishes and yellow calabazas for dinner tonight," she pipes up with a smile.

"I will come with you since I'm going to see Ghulnea along the way," Gulak tells them.

"Don't make me an auntie too soon," Esmeralda wags her finger. Because of his human side, his face turns a light crimson.

"W-Well, you should worry about Jaime when it comes to that!" He fires back.

He, Tuzah, and Esmerelda embrace their dad before heading off.

"Have fun and stay safe!"

"No need to worry, father! I will scare people off with my biceps!" Tuzah flexes to show off.

Gulak touches her biceps and yawns. "Mine are bigger," while casually flexing.

"Are you sure?" Jr's larger bicep peaks humbles his sibling.

The blind bard already knows what's happening since this happened before. Many times before, but he appreciates it with a smile.

"Now, now. Bumva and Mel are the strongest in the whole family, but you may usurp them one day," Will tries to calm things down.

"What about you and your magic, dad?" Gulak asks.

"It's up there."

"Prove it, dad!" A competitive gruff voice barks at him.

"I want to join in too!" A young boy's voice joined in.

He turns to the voices behind him. The gruff voice matches the half-orc with brown locs who stares with emerald eyes towards his father. The 10-year-old boy with brown, wavy hair points a finger at Will. They confidently hold their positions.

"I accept your challenge, Gash and Luis. But...what are you doing right now?" Will asks.

The duo realized what they're doing and feel so dumb for forgetting their father's condition.

"Sorry. We were posing to look cool," Luis shyly admits.

Will laughs, not at them, but at himself. "I wish I could see that. You must have been so cool doing it."

His words make them smile.

"In this challenge, you must hit me one time and I can't use my magic."

"A-Are you sure?" Gash asks with concern.

"Don't doubt your old man! You will lose that way!" He boasts to raise the stakes.

"Don't die!" Tuzah yells to her siblings before she and the others take off. Will follows his sons to a sparring room where dummies and weapons are stored. Jr accompanies him to watch and intervene if needed. 

Luis hops from side to side to warm himself up while Gash lunges from side to side. Will cracks his neck and knuckles.

"Let's go!" He yells.

Gash and Luis charge from different sides. Will's ears distinguish their footsteps before their feet leave the floor. He ducks from feeling the air of Luis' punch and flips him by the arm towards Gash. The boys collide and fall to the floor.

"Ow!" Luis groans. Gash picks him up without complaining. The half-orc gives him a look and Luis listens as he rubs his hands together.

"Magic then?" Will guesses without fear in his voice.

"You said not to doubt you," Luis reminds him of his words. Will beckons them with a wave of the hand.

Gash charges while Luis continues to rub his hands at a quick pace. Gash leaps forward with a side kick that Will sidesteps to the right. Before his toes could touch the floor, he gets yanked back by the ankle. His body thuds to the floor. Adrenaline flows as he ignores the pain to grab his father's ankle, but he jumps back.

"Fulgur!" Luis shouts. A bolt of lightning shoots out from his left palm towards him. Will hears the sharp crack and rolls out of the way while flinging his hand out. The bolt hits the wall and leaves a burn mark on it.

Luis' eyes widen as Gash jumped in front of him. Gash's arms are trapped by the side as he can't break out. He sees the silver wires that were meant for him.

"Get him!" Gash urges him.

Luis moves to the side and sees his father stepping on the ends of the wires with a free hand. The young Bennett sprints to the side and changes direction to deliver a sliding kick to the left side. Will doesn't lift a foot as he shifts his torso to deflect his son's foot upwards into the air. Luis turns in mid-air.

"Fulgur pedes!"

His feet spark with electricity as he swings a roundhouse kick to the head! Will ducks, but his hair sticks up from the static. Luis swings that same leg down into an axe kick. The heel crashes to the floor, but Gash is still trapped in the hold. A punch to the face hits his left cheek which staggers him, but he maintains the lightning on his feet.

He focuses on the wires to free his sibling, but Will can sense that from the vibrations they give off. Before Luis can stomp on them, they move out of range with a shift of the feet. A punch to the gut pushes him back. Some blood drips down his mouth, but he wipes it away.

"Forget about me! Just hit him!" Gash yells out.

He crouches down and leaps forward. "Ikstend!"

The electricity forms a projected wide arc from a sweeping kick. Will bends his torso backwards to let it pass over him. Luis rushes in as he transfers the sparking to his hands to land a punch to the gut. His arm is trapped as Will wraps a part of his jacket to flip him over.

Before Luis can exhale from the shooting pain, he sees the wires dancing like a spider sending signals to its master.

Will throws a punch that makes Luis close his eyes....and stops.

"You both did good, brothers," Jr breaks his silence.

The young Bennett opens his eyes to see the fist turn into an open palm, offering to help him up. Luis is sad, yet he had a lot of fun trying out his magic. He takes his hand as Gash is released from his hold. The half orc steps up to him. Luis closes his eyes as he expects his brother to chew him out.

"I'm proud of you, little brother."

His eyes shot open from his compliment. "Why did you say that?"

"Because you were focused on freeing me," he brushes his hair with a hand. Luis laughs. Will collects his strings and plays a song.

"Heal them of any physical pain,
Let them not feel any strain."

The magic heals Luis of his internal pain from the hits he sustained. He feels reinvigorated as if he can fight again.

"I'm proud of both of my sons. Phineas taught you well, Luis," he embraces them both.

"We're proud of them too," Mel says behind him. Bumva claps in respect for what they tried to do.

"We will beat you one day, dad," Gash vows.

"I know you will, but not today," he wags his finger.

"Luis, did you clean your room?" His mother stares with her magenta eyes.

The young one chuckles nervously before running off to do so.

"Save your energy for tomorrow's hunt, both of you," Bumva commands Jr and Gash. Her sons walk up the stairs.

They wait for their footsteps to get silent....Mel and Bumva glance at each other before staring at their husband. Will's heart pounds loudly as he knows what it is.

He feels for their hands and kisses them both. Bumva scoops him over her shoulders with Mel following behind....Around 4pm, the bard, orc, and queen rest in bed as he sleeps between them. He kisses his orc wife on the lips before the former queen pulls him for a kiss. After bathing and dressing, they are ready for dinner.

Gulak brought over Ghulnea, who's the spitting image of Hastrabena to dinner. The dwarf rests her head on his arm that freezes him in place. He swallows his heart from coming back up. His siblings stifle their laughter.

Everyone is there, except for Jaime who opens the door ten minutes past 6. He does his undone buttons on his shirt to look presentable. He licks his finger to remove the lipstick on his face and walks in.

"I'm sorr-"

A glare from his mother silences him. He could have sworn her hair was sticking up, but it hasn't. Will strokes her hand to calm her down.

"Come and eat," she exhales.

"You're in trouble!" Tuzah makes fun of her sibling.

"I-I lost track of time," he tries to explain.

Will sniffs out the perfume of a woman around his neck and keeps that to himself. "It's fine. Tuzah and Esmerelda picked out good squash for a casserole they made."

Jaime sits down and eats in silence.

Once Mel calms down enough, she stands up. "Everyone, how about we all take a trip to Albarino after Gash and Jr's hunting ceremony? I want to show you all where I came from."

Her children's eyes light up with excitement.

"So we get to know more besides what your wine says?" Luis' eyes widen.

"Exactly. I will be your tour guide."

Bumva understands the nature of the trip to be twofold. It's also to reveal her secret as the former Skeleton Queen.

"Let's do it!" Bumva encourages. Her children nod in agreement.

That night in bed, Mel partially shakes from what's to come.

Will pulls her in to kiss the back of her shoulder. "They will still love you just like I do."

"They should also know that before we..."

"I know."

He sings her to sleep as Bumva wraps an arm around both of them. They will try to enjoy the rest of the years they have left.

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