Litvir rarely got messages to urgently go to their adopted parents home, but the moment they had finished their patrols, Litvir had raced back home, narrowly avoiding a ship and a planet or two as they did so, and… Litvir briefly forgot that both mama Gath and dada Relkir had a different home now. So, after a quick diversion, Litvir landed outside the new family home, knocked on the door then braced themselves for whatever was about to happen.
The door opened and Gath was standing there, with a gigantic grin on their face. This made Litvir relax slightly, but as they picked up Gath’s thoughts, Litvir felt concerned again.
“You will have an egg?” Litvir spurted, before covering their mouth. “I… I am sorry… I did not mean to mind-read.”
Gath continued to smile. They grabbed Litvir’s hand and pulled them inside, sitting them down on one of the sofas in the living room. Also present was Relkir, and Litvir could tell, even without their telepathy, that Relkir was in an odd mood.
All of a sudden, a plate of cookies appeared on the table in front of them. But they weren’t normal cookies. They were lighter cookies with a little red heart on top of them. Litvir assumed that they were special announcement cookies or something.
“What happened?” Litvir asked as they tried to calm themselves down.
“I accidentally got Gath egg-ridden…” Relkir muttered, but didn’t say much else.
“I have an egg inside me and, soon, you will have a little sibling!” Gath proudly announced. “I will have about a month where the egg is developing inside me, then I will lay the egg, then, after two months of my looking after the egg, the egg will hatch and you will have a little sibling!”
“Is that… is that why you seem different?” Litvir asked.
Gath blinked. “I am different?”
“Uh, you… you smell different. And your thoughts are a bit different. But… admittedly, I have been away for a week or so. I forget things.”
Gath blinked some more, then glanced at Relkir, hoping Relkir would have an answer.
“It is possible that your hormonal changes from being egg-ridden have changed how you smell. We do not notice because our sense of smell is not great, but Litvir is a kid and a deity, so they can pick up on these small changes.”
“I guess?” Gath shrugged. “Either way, in about three months, you will have a little sibling. And when the sibling appears, I will look after it and you can help, if you want.”
“Oh…” Litvir fell silent. “That is… that is nice. You wanted a kid. A biological kid. You will get what you want…”
Relkir glanced at Gath, then got up and sat down next to Litvir. “Darling, please do not think that you will be any less of our kid. You are still our child. You are our oldest child. We will not treat you any different.”
“I know. It is just… weird… I guess… Also, you are sad too.”
Relkir frowned, then nodded. “I am sad because I am worried about Gath. This is all very good but also it is very stressful, and Gath does not need stress. But also… I admittedly wanted to be the mother. That was the plan, but it backfired, Gath is now egg-ridden and I am worried about them.”
“We are all worried, but we should not be worried!” Gath smiled. “We will be fine. I will be fine. And the baby will be fine. Everything will be fine. It is all just a little surprising right now, because it was unexpected. Things are wobbly and confusing but we will get through things. Also, we need to consider names.”
Relkir and Litvir both suddenly gasped.
“Can we name the baby?” Litvir exclaimed. “Also… what surname would they have? I… I assume they would not be a Rethianos?”
Relkir shook their head. “No. You can only be a Rethianos if your mother was a Rethianos. The baby will be a Tsoriou. Although, now I think about it, even if I was egg-ridden, even if I was the mother, I am not sure I would want a kid to take my surname. It… is a lot of pressure to put on someone.”
“This baby will literally be the child of the Keeper and the High Advisor, and their big sibling will be the Deity of Light!” Gath tutted. “They will have a lot of pressure anyway… well, if I allow it. As far as I am concerned though, our kid will be a completely normal and very happy kid. I will make sure of it. And I hope you two will help me in raising the baby… I mean, Relkir, of course you will, but Litvir, you will be a good big sibling, yes?”
“Uh… of course I will…” Litvir stuttered. “I am just… I am just surprised. This is all very weird and I do not really know how I should be responding… But my biggest question is, what will the baby be called?”
Gath thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I… we have not considered names yet. In fact… I actually have no idea what so ever, apart from the fact that I want a short name for the kid. Two or three syllables. Litvir, do you want to have a think about some name ideas as well?”
“I… I guess…”
Relkir patted Litvir on the shoulder. “It is alright. This has been a shock to all of us. But Gath is right, we will be fine. Everything will be fine.”
“Of course I am right!” Gath grinned. “Now, we ought to celebrate properly. I am supposed to be eating healthily, but I am pretty sure making some pizza ourselves is probably alright. We can use the low fat cheese and stuff like that.”
Litvir perked up. “I like pizza. Can I help make it?”
“Sure thing!” Relkir smiled too. “Gath, you stay there and relax, Litvir and I will do cooking. And we can all have a think about some names.”
“That sounds great, my darlings!” Gath beamed. “I love you both. Everything is great right now.”