Omen: 7, 10

  “Jurot, you cuddle her first,” Adam said. “I’ll be cuddlihe most.”

  “Okay,” Jurot replied.

  Lanarot was adorned in a light blue outfit, with the symbol of her family embroidered against her heart. Sonarot dabbed her forehead with blue, in the vague shapes of her family symbol. The tiny girl bli Jurot, who lifted her up, and hugged her. She melted against her brother, sug ohumb.

  ‘ht…’

  Adam’s five children were also dabbed with the paint, and wore matg clothing to their father, uncle, and tiny aunt. Adam stared down at them, with Jarot and Jirot sitting beside each other, g quietly as they held their blocks, sug against them. Konarot, Kirot, and Karot all sat quietly, behaving well, as they usually did.

  “Hmmm,” Adam said, narrowing his eyes. He gnced around, noting that only the Iyrmen were around. “We’re missing someone.”

  Jurot remained silent, w what Adam nning. The Half Elf disappeared, before dragging along a young man. He was adorned iire of the Iyrmen, a light grey, though at his waist was a cloth belt, fashioned out of something yellow with a repeating pattern of red swirls. He sleepy eyes were behind spectacles, which were near miniscule, only two round gsses with a tiny triangur bridge eg them.

  Filliam had long decided against resisting the storm known as Adam, rubbing his eyes, before looking down at the children. ‘…’ His eyes theo Lanarot, realising it must have been her birthday, since he was ag like this.

  However, Lanarot was currently busy, a beautiful Devilkin currently cheg her height, weight, reas, aeeth. An assistant beside her was writing down whatever the Shaman was saying.

  “Yrowing well,” Lokat said, brushing Lanarot’s hair.

  The girl smiled up at Lokat shyly, before she returned back to her brother, who hugged her tight.

  Lokat’s eyes met Adam’s. “I see you are doioo, Adam.”

  Adam narrowed his eyes, feeling as though this se was familiar. “Who doesn’t do well in the Iyr?”

  Lokat checked the other children too, first assisting Adam’s children. She praised them frowing well, with Jirot and Jarot staring up at her with rge smiles as she checked them. She moved on to the young babies who were only a few months old. She spent most of her time with Inakan, the smallest of the babies.

  “We will monitor her twice as much,” Lokat said to the baby girl’s parents, before exg herself.

  ‘I suppose Konarot is fihen?’ Adam thought.

  During breakfast, the older children came by to give Lanarot a piece of their bread, as well as their fruit.

  “Did you get anything for my sister?” Adam asked, looking to Filliam.

  Filliam wondered what he could give up to the young girl. “I have created a smaller watch.”

  “What is a baby going to do with a watch?” Adam asked, before sighing. “Filliam, how you stress me out like this? You’re always w so hard, and you hardly ever take a break.”

  Filliam squiowards the Half Elf, w why the Gnome was calling a Halfzer small. “I have beeing. I take the festival week off, and I take a day or two off every month.”

  Adam could feel the gaze of the Iyrmen against him, uanding that he wasn’t oo talk. “Well, I suppose that’s good. You should take a few more days off. You know, they say that sleeping well increases your ability to think, and not just that, but it also helps with your creativity. Sleeping well, eating well, and some exercise, it’ll help you in tinkering.”

  “How does exerg help with tinkering?” Filliam asked.

  “It boosts itive fun,” Adam said.

  Filliam wasn’t sure what that meant, but he was certain that exercise wasn’t for him. “I don’t want to exercise, especially not in the Iyr.”

  “What’s wrong with exerg in the Iyr?”

  “It’s embarrassing…”

  “Oh, well, you don’t o do anything difficult. Just take a walk around the estate, once every m and evening. Watch the sunrise and su. Eat well, though I suppose you don’t have to worry about that in the Iyr, and sleep well. You’ve got a watake sure you sleep for at least eight hours a day.”

  “Walkiing, sleeping, it all takes away time from tinkering,” Filliam pined, frowning.

  “No. They are aension of you tinkering. How you tinker when your body is weak? How you tinker when you don’t have the strength from food? How you tinker if you fall asleep midway through tinkering? If nothing else, why don’t you eat with the Iyrmen in the m? Take a walk to see the sunrise, eat some food with a different family estate, and sleep when it’s dark. I guara, Filliam, that you’ll work better than ever before.”

  “You don’t know tinkering,” Filliam said. “All that takes away from my work.”

  “The average Iyrman is strohan the Aldish, right?”

  “Of course.” Filliam adjusted his gsses, w why Adam was being so annoying.

  “Then how do you expin the fact that Jurot, Jaygak, and Kitool are all so monstrously strong in parison to the other Iyrmen?”

  “They…” Filliam gnced betweerio. Then he looked at Adam, who was the stro of the lot, from what he had heard. “Alright, fine…”

  Adam smiled. “Don’t fet, Filliam, you’re someohe Iyr and I are iing in. You should work at full strength.”

  ‘How did we eve onto this topic?’ Filliam thought.

  Once breakfast was done, Adam lifted Lanarot up, nuzzling her nose. “Smelly girl, how you grow up like this? I told you to stay small and cute forever.”

  “No!” Lanarot replied, before snickering at him. “No!”

  “How… how you all grow up? I refuse! I won’t allow it!” Adam hugged Lanarot, before his triplets also swarmed him. “Jurot, how they do this to me?”

  “Yrowing well, sister,” Jurot affirmed, crossing his arms. “You will bee the…” Jurot paused. Making such statements was not Iyrmanlike, and his eyes fell to Adam, who was currently pampering their younger sister with all manner of kisses. Though he had spent a year away from Adam, his brother had engrained his stupidity deeply within him.

  “Adam?” Jurot called, almost cautiously.

  “Yes?”

  “Cutest In The Whole World.”

  Adam kissed his sister. “That’s right.” Adam held her close, with Lanarot smiling up at him, enjoying all the attention he was givihere was no doubt in Adam’s mind she wouldn’t remember this, but that was okay. He would give her as much affe as he could, and hoped it would carry with her forever.

  Sonarot led her son and his brother, as well as their children, through the Iyr. They left the estates to an area full of one and two stories buildings, with plenty of Iyrmen moving through the area. They arrived at a small, open area, where an older Iyrman was setting up a desk. He had all manner of small objects to one side, each which looked like a dark gem. He spread a rge sheet of paper over the desk, keeping the sides pinned uhick blocks of wood.

  Jurht a chair over. It was made of wood, the back of which was made of strips of wood, ed around a thick, wooden border. He brought two more chairs, si was not just Lanarot here this time, but also five other children. Jurot sat down beside his mother, and Adam sat down on the opposite side.

  “I will hold Jarot,” Sonarot said, taking the boy from Adam’s arms.

  Adam tio hold Jirot, but Jurot reached for the girl, only to see how his mother was holding Jarot. The baby Goblin sat on his nana’s thigh, on the same side as his father. Sonarot smiled at Jurot, who looked down at the triplets. “I will hold Kirot and Karot.”

  Adam gnced between the pair, w what they were doing, but he decided against asking. The Iyrmen were Iyrme, sitting Jirot to one side, the same side as her twin brother, and sat Konarot his . The girl looked past the other children to see her younger brother and sister, before looking up at her father with a frown.

  “You silly girl, they’re on their uncle’s p,” Adam said, rubbing her hair. “Don’t bully your papo like this.”

  The older Iyrman, who had drawhe year befng between them all. He hadn’t been informed there were going to be so many, but he started sketg regardless. Even if he wasn’t meant to sketany, he wouldn’t get into any trouble, it would be Sonarot who would be questioned. He gnced up at them and back down at the sketch over the course of fifteen minutes or so, before pulling the sheet away.

  Sonarot stood, with Jurot following after her. Adam pulled Jirot and Konarot closer, shutting his eyes tight as he took a moment to realise what had happened. His children had been refused by the Rot family inally, though not by his aunt and his brother, nor the old man who had beaten Adam. Yet, they were now immortalised within the portrait of the main Rot family.

  “This is defihe happiest day of my life,” Adam said.

  #

  This chapter fills my heart.

  These chapters are a slow burn but they pick up ter.