The Skeleton Queen

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.