“Back labor? It isn’t terribly common, but it hurts worse than most labor. So thank god we don’t see it a lot but mostly because my mother uses her magic.” Belle gave Steele a sorry look since Eldora had asked for the magic not to be used. “Eldora’s long labor was extremely uncommon but not unheard of. Sometimes they don’t want to come out.” Belle offered a smile now.

Eldora’s blue eyes watched as he came into the room holding the tiny bundle. There was a smile on her lips as he spoke about Estelle. “Everything we ever dreamed of? That's good.” She sounded so tired but she understood where they were coming from about making her wait to hold her daughter. When Steele bent over she reached her hand up and tugged a little at the blanket to get a good look. Estelle began to fuss a bit. “Shh… it’s just mommy,” the word made her pause and blush a bit with a slight chuckle. “I just want a good look at you silly girl.”

Angela nodded a bit and smiled. “That’s a good thing. She probably would be overwhelmed. Take this moment to be with her because in the coming days I imagine you will have many visitors. She is the first to be born for your family, known anyway.” Outside of Cinder, this was the first celebration of many. “She is very beautiful Steele and Eldora, you did well.”

Eldora leaned into Steele’s hand as she gave her lover another smile. “Spirits hurt more than that did I promise.”

Angela gave a smile and nodded. “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to the two of them. That’s why I came here as soon as I heard. I’ve delivered many children, even Naota’s triplets. We almost lost his wife but I had performed emergency surgery at that point. I don’t lose those I tend to not without a fight.” Eldora felt reassured by Angela being there. “Plus, this is a good opportunity to teach Belle the way I do things so she can begin to take over the more common births back home. Now Eldora get some rest, in two hours I’ll wake you up.”

For a few moments, it looked like Eldora was going to fight the goddess on it but soon she was asleep. Estelle cooed in her father’s arms and seemed generally happy before she too went to sleep. “You are very lucky Steele,” the goddess gave him a smile. Once the time had come Eldora was woken up and she stretched if only a little before looking up at the bundle.

“I can hold her now?”

“Yes, you’ve had a bit of rest after all the excitement.” Eldora’s arms were immediately held out after the yes and the goddess chuckled.

“I’ll take your word for it”, he agreed with Belle. Heaven knows that he didn’t wish to know to the extent of how much pain his lover went through, but he did hope that she’d recover soon. Not for his sake, but that of their child’s. It was strange to hold the baby for she was a part of him, something that was pure and innocence in this world. Everything that he was not.

It was strange that he could help create something so beautiful when his destiny was to destroy. He could only imagine that Eldora didn’t think that she would be able to either. But here they were, and here Estelle was. “Yes, she’s a radiant light in this world.” He let her interact with her daughter, who was making a fuzz at being disturbed at first but then she seemed to mellow down when she heard her voice. “And with that, she brings you sanctuary, Eldora. The punishment is null and void against you.” It was strange to even think about the deal her family were forced to play onto but she had fulfilled her end of the bargain first. To be honest, he was sure that Dante and Lotus would have beaten them to it and Colden and Crystaline were still dancing in circles with one another. But as Angela said, Estelle was the first child born to the Black Rose Court in such a long time. It was a joyous time indeed.

He brought Estelle back up and rocked her in his arms as her mother begrudgingly went back to sleep. She deserved it after everything she’s been through the last few days. Like mother, like daughter, Estelle wasn’t too far behind her as the call of slumber came and he went to put her to bed. “First stroke of luck in my life happened recently with meeting her. Before that, I wouldn’t have considered myself anything other than bad luck.”

Two hours seemed to pass by quickly and Eldora was up. Steele smiled and carefully brought the baby over to her, careful during the exchange. “Mind her head, she’s still asleep.Guess it was a big day for her too.”

Eldora smiled up at Steele and chuckled a bit more. “She will bring us both sanctuary in different ways my Love. She gives us hope in a world where we feel hopeless most of the time. She is proof we are more than just wrath and a vessel of spirits.” For a moment there was a weird look on her face. “You know I could have cared less about the punishment, she is here because we love her and not because some council made us.” There was a smile across her face no matter how weak it was. “With or without them… I would have her.”

She loved her.

Once they were both asleep Steele and Angela had a few moments to speak to each other. “I could say the same thing about her when it comes to you, Steele. You’ve given her a great big purpose in life to actually start to live. I’m very proud of her that she truly acting like a mortal being on instead of the fate’s doll.”


The time ticked away and when it was time for Eldora to be woken up she was eager to hold their baby. She held her arms out and took Estelle with utmost care. She smiled up at Steele and pulled him closer so she could kiss him. “Thank you, please sit with me.” She moved over slightly out of the middle of the bed so the man could join her.

She held their daughter who was swaddled in the deepest blue of fabric. It matched her skin and hair almost brilliantly and then… Eldora’s heart soared and her eyes got large. “Steele look…” She was astonished as the little one in her arms yawned and peeked with blue eyes that looked to be between Eldora’s dark ones and Steele’s light ones. “Oh, they are beautiful Steele.”


Angela showed Eldora how to feed her and for about twenty minutes or so Estelle refused to take. There was frustration with Eldora as she thought something was wrong. “Patience, this is all new for her,” Angela spoke softly. It took only a few minutes more for Estelle to finally get the idea and Angela smiled up at them both. “See? Patience. That’s a good thing to keep in your mind when you are teaching her things. She might not automatically get it but with time and effort, she will. Some babies don’t take at all and you have to feed them through makeshift bottles and such with warm cow milk. You are very lucky.”

It was a pity that his brother and his midget were having a child and it had slipped Steele’s mind to invite his dearest sibling. At least that was the thought inside Dante’s head as he was left with nothing to do but Lotus. While he fully enjoyed indulging in her, he was also curious about how things were going on their end. But for the time being he played their little game and bid his time accordingly, right up until his father informed him that the child was born yesterday. He allowed them some time to get acquainted with their new child before her uncle would come and liven up the place. 

As soon as they could, he left with Lotus and headed for the Cradle. He knew that once they set foot inside, Steele would sense them and likely try to prepare himself for his intrusion. It really didn’t bother him much as he strolled through the halls and right up to the room he was sure they were staying it. As the door creaked open, a pair of vibrant blue eyes were seen through the crack. “Hello brother…Eldora…” A crafty smile surfaced from the darkness before the door bolted up and he slinked through the room. “Don’t you dare get near her without either of our option.” Steele growled before setting eyes on Lotus, “You are free to see Estelle, your pet is not, not yet.”

Dante pouted at him before his eyes fell into what was in Eldora’s arms. “Aww, ain't she adorable. I swear that my mutt of a brother doesn’t deserve someone as lovely as she is.” His eyes glanced up to the mother, “And how are you faring? I know that not seeing my beautiful face for a few days disappoints most woman in my experience.” He didn’t know much about children, admittingly because he saw nothing in his future that had to do with them. That said, she and Steele were off the hook now, and then only Lotus and Colden remained. Dante wasn’t about to let her go without a child for too long, not that their little brother would be beating them in that any time soon.

“I suppose that all good things come to pass, and now look at you lot, practically married with children.” He tugged at the corner of Steele’s face and moved it around, much to the dismay of his brother.

Lotus smirked at Steele and leaned over to bite at Dante’s ear. “Hear that you are my pet.” She took her belt and put it around his neck and fastened it as tight as she could. “Pets should always wear their collars.” She chuckled a bit as she yanked on it hard. “I’ll control him Steele, I promise.” She batted her dual colored eyes at Steele. “If he is bad I’ll punish him.” She clicked her tongue at him. “Maybe I’ll teach you how to lay down or sit pretty.” She tickled under Dante’s chin.

Eldora chuckled grimly and tilted her head up to Steele. “It’s alright let the annoying one come closer.” Eldora cradled the little bundle close as she stared up at Dante. “I hurt, still sore from three days of labor. She didn’t really want to come out and say hello. Thought poor Steele was going to have a heart attack if she didn’t come fast enough. I ended up having back labor.”

Lotus winced at the mentioning of it. “Thank goodness Angela was here with you. I think I would have begged to be killed. I’ve heard stories about back labor, none of it good.”

Eldora turned her attention back to the brothers before smirking just a bit. “I could go without your face for a few days but it does get a bit lonely without you trying to be in our business.” Lotus came over after dropping her belt and began to phase in presents. “Dante spent days in the market looking for gifts for her. I think he is more excited than you are.” She teased her lover. “So will you please let him say hello to her up close? I promise he will be a good boy because good boys get really good treats when they get home.”

Eldora tilted her head back to the other side now as she looked over at Steele. “Well, it’s interesting you bring that u–”

Lotus stopped her and grabbed her hand to look at a ring, “You got married and didn’t invite us?”

“Well… We didn’t invite anyone.” She shrugged and looked down at the baby. “We just decided to do it.”

“I am insulted,” Lotus had a mock disgusted face. “We would never do that to you. Would we Dante?”

“Well… to be fair… you both like the theatrics of it.” Eldora poked at her sister’s face. “We don’t.”

Of course Dante enjoyed Lotus’ flirting as she wrapped her belt around his neck. “I thought you preferred reins over collars, but alright.” His smile only grew when the loop tightened around him. “So…I should act bad then? If I need to be punished, then I must be.” Steele only grimaced at their little playing around. “If you can, then you’d be the first person to ever control him.” He didn’t put much stock into it though, the rabbit was every hard to keep in check. If Lotus thought she could do the impossible, then by all means, he would let her try. Just as Dante would do so, though for much different reasons. The elf demon looked to Eldora as she welcomed him over to see the girl. Peeking down at the girl, his eyes looked upon her with a strange happy look that hadn’t been seen before. Steele looked at his brother, confused since he hadn’t seen him speechless before. He thought he was broken or something was wrong with him. “Don’t keep looking at your niece like that, or else your face will stick that way forever.”

“You say that now, but if I was to go away forever, you both would be pretty bored”, Dante spoke with his eyes remained glue to Estelle. “No, I wasn’t that excited. I just figured that she needed to be welcomed to this world accordingly." He was about to say something racey about being a good boy, but then the conversation took a shift elsewhere and he spotted what Lotus saw. “Hey, that’s not fair. I would have been one hell of a best man for you, brother.”

“Eldora’s right. We didn’t want to make a scene out of it. We thought it was best for both us and Estelle…” Dante shook his head, “Did Father even know?”

“No, not at the time, but he spotted the ring a mile away when we got here.”

When Lotus mentioned them returning the favor about marriage, he was finally able to turn his attention away from the baby and looked up to her. “No, I suppose not.” Marriage was something he hadn’t thought up since back then he felt it was restraining. Now he wasn't so sure. “Guess we are related now, through both blood and marriage, sister”, he teased Eldora.

Lotus smirked at Steele. “Oh Dear Steele, I don’t wish to try and control Dante. I wish to let him fall deep down into a hole of debauchery and watch him try to get back up while I push him back down.” Ever the cruel mistress, if for a person like Dante that was considered cruel at all.

Eldora finally smiled at Dante as he came over to see Estelle. He stared at her in a way that she had never seen before. She opened up the little blanket so he could get a good look at the little girl. Estelle didn’t quite like the warmth and began to fuss and pop open her little blue eyes so she could see what was going on around her. Her little arms flailed only a little, when Eldora thought he got enough of a good look she covered the little one back up with the deep blue blanket.

There was a rather thin blush across Eldora’s face as she didn’t really think it would have mattered that much. She knew that Dante was joking but it was the look on Lotus’s face that was killing her. “Everyone was in the dark but Angela. She is the one who performed it for us, we asked her to do it once we found out that Estelle was a girl. She wanted to plan something small for us so we let her have that much.”

Lotus smirked at Dante, “That’s because we’re not rude.” She teased Eldora a bit more.

Eldora made a face at Lotus and shook her head. “We told you both of you make too much noise.” Lotus chuckled a bit and Eldora nodded at Dante. “Aye, that would make us related now. Estelle just sets it in stone.” Eldora smiled down at the little girl. “If Lotus wouldn’t be offended… Dante would you like her to hold her first?” The man seemed enthralled by her. She gave Steele a look that only he would know, she was being careful and watching Dante.

Lotus smirked a bit, “Not offended at all. I’ll hold her after Dante does if he chooses to.” He could be a bit funny about children at times. Especially when he had felt Estelle move at first when the child was still in Eldora’s womb. If he chose to hold her Eldora had him sit down by her and made sure he knew how to hold her. “She is very delicate.”

Steele had no problem with Lotus other than her…apparent taste in men, Dante in particular. Although he was sure that Eldora didn’t trust her alone with him especially back when he got to see what was swimming in her mind. Dante shrugged it off and merrily continued to watch his new niece.

When they finally got a better peek at Estelle, he could see the beautiful little girl squirm and fuss before looking around the room. “Wow, look at her, Lotus.” He stared at her for what felt like centuries before her mother wrapped her back up. “She’s still getting used to the place, but at least she wasn’t too frightened by you, brother.” Not that it didn’t ease Steele’s mind; he’d prefer that Dante wouldn’t corrupt his little angel in any manner. But at least Eldora was willing to trust that devil.

“We didn’t want it to be a big thing, of course. We wanted to do it for Estelle as well as ourselves. Besides, a big wedding would require family, and we can barely tolerate the two of you. Dante, you know well enough of our sisters to know I wouldn’t trust them with a leaf, much less our daughter.” Dante shrugged, knowing perfectly well that those she devils weren’t the best influences ever.

“Now Eldora, I can be as quiet as a church mouse. Its your sister over here that’s the screamer…”, he said slyly while his brother looked as though he wanted to punch him out. When it came to holding her, Dante was extremely slow and careful in his approach as he reached for Estelle. He could feel her moving with the exchanged and he was told to mind her head and neck while holding her. “Look, she loves me. Not that it’s surprising because it's me of course.” He had a stupid happy look as he gently bounced her in his arms. He looked to Lotus and contemplated a thought before shaking his head and smelled Estelle. She had a strange smell, but it was comforting to him. “Here you go”, he said as he handed the baby over to Lotus.  

Estelle was making bubbles as she fussed. It was cold and her mama just had to show her off, at least colder than what the blanket had been. It was her blanket after all and she loved it already, warm just like momma’s tummy.

Lotus smiled with Dante. “Oh, I see her… She is so beautiful.” She chuckled towards Dante who was absolutely in love with her in that very moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look at another person like this before.” She would address that elephant as she complimented Dante. It was an odd thing for them to be dealing with but their relationship was still only blossoming. It was fresh and new to both of them.

Eldora took a sigh. “Besides, we would have to do a big Sularia wedding if we invited everyone. That’s a headache with all of us.” Eldora groaned a bit. “You’ll be fine, you can make up for us,” Lotus smirked a bit and shrugged. There was no telling if she and Dante would fall for that trap and to be honest it hadn’t even been talked about before.

“I only scream when you ask me to. I can keep quiet just like you.” She slinked around her lover and kissed his ear. “You know that it drives you nuts when you can’t get me to make any noise at all.” There was a giggle from her as she watched Dante told Estelle. “She might love her blanket more than anyone else in this room,” Lotus smirked as she moved to sit next to Dante and take Estelle from him.

She was so natural that Eldora stopped in mid sentence and motion. Eldora had almost forgotten that Lotus had dealt with young children in the past. There was a calming noise that Lotus started to make when Estelle began to cry and the child immediately calmed as Lotus held her close. “There we go,” Lotus leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“So, Angela says that new babies have a smell to them that comforts those around them…” Eldora mused.

“It’s true, Colden had the same smell when he was born. All new babies have it for a while. Some mothers can’t stand the smell and fall into a depression… others form a bond using it.” For someone who didn’t want to be a mother, she sure knew an awful lot about it. She bounced tiny Estelle in her arms gently and snuggled her close. “It is said to be one of the best smells in the world.”

Eldora looked over at Steele and smiled at him. “I can get out of bed soon… That will be nice. Angela had me staying put since the birth was so hard… It’s primarily why no one has come to visit or been informed.”

Dante looked on with a growing smile and Steele looked more relaxed as his daughter was passed from his brother to his new sister-in-law. As long as she was in safe hands, then he would be fine. Eldora trusted the troublemakers with Estelle and it was something he would have to do as well, despite his paternal worries. The baby was starting to fuss but was soon quelled down and he held a tiny smile at her relaxed state.

But soon in the midst of the excitement and joyous time between them, Steele’s smile dropped instantly as he heard the slow but loud footsteps closing in onto the room.

“She’s here?” 

Dante casually looked at him and then towards the door. “Suppose so. I take it she’s either excited or that Estelle had disturbed her naps.” Just as they had spoken, the footsteps drew closer towards them and by the time they were at their loudest, the door opened and in plain view stood a woman with fiery red locks and carried the blue eyes her brothers and father had. She was barely taller than Lotus and was dressed in a slender black dress. The expression across her face was a mixture of sleepiness and boredom as she started over towards the group. Her movements were slouching and sluggish, not only that of the walking dead. “Well, look what the cat dragged in. Evening, Rize”, Dante stated with a cocked head as she ignored the loin-brain fool. “Where have you been? I know that you knew about my daughter’s birth for the last few days…”, Steele spoke, but she ignored him to as she drew nearer. Her eyes lazily passed over Lotus, then Eldora and finally the little bundle that the former had in her arms.

Peeking down to Estelle, her aunt simply watched her for a few moments before looking to her father. “You daughter woke me up when she was born. I hadn’t been able to sleep ever since." She blinked slowly at him before a loud yawn escaped her lips. “ I can still hear her crying at night.” Her attention then turned to Dante, “It still bothers me that you were picked over me, but I will respect Father’s wishes. Just don’t screw it up by screwing someone you shouldn’t be.” Her threat, like the rest of her, was barely filled with much effort. “Though from what I’ve overheard, this one keeps you in check.” She pointed to Lotus and then let out another sigh. “Never thought both the wolf and the rabbit would be chained up, let alone at the same time.”

“Ladies…well, this is Rize, the middle child of the brood we are in”, Dante introduced. Steele rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he had to watch Rize be Rize. It was annoying and he kept having to look to his daughter constantly to make sure she was alright. He doubted that Rize would even remotely entertain the thought of harming her. “As you can see, her vice is that of sloth.”

 “Yes, well, welcome to the family, I suppose. Hope you know what you gals are getting yourselves into.” A faint and dangerous smile softly lurked from her as she watched.