Siren had told Viper she was pregnant while Chimera had gone north to scout Incendium before the raid. But all of that had well passed by now. And Viper continued her days ignoring what Siren had told her. She was taking the herbs to help the side effects of pregnancy, but probably not as routine as she should have been. She still was taking her runs, she was actually eating less because of the physical expectations she had for herself. So while she was still toned, and still starting to poke out from probably the large babies growing in her, she was lacking in some areas. It was earlier than any of the island woke when she stirred, carefully rolling with her back towards Chimera while she held on to one of his massive paws. She had barely woken up at first, but something, nothing really, had shot her up from her still form. It was just a strange feeling at first, like something was about to happen. Before she knew it, she was jumping out of bed and shuffling out of the den gagging, but making it out into the trees before she was actually sick. The nausea and sickness had started to become a normal feeling, especially on her runs but when she actually took Siren's prescription it seemed to help. But she had never been woken out of a dead sleep and had to run out of the den to take care of it. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

He knew. He fucking knew. The slave woman had told him, though he hadn't wanted to believe it. Chimera had watched Viper get more and more round each day. He had waited, knowing all the while that she was pregnant. The woman was full of pups. His pups. His children. That part of the whole matter didn't make Chimera feel much. What did make him feel something was the fact that she wasn't telling him. And that feeling was one of anger. The jerking motion of Viper pulling away from him and running out of the den woke the giant brute. His gaze narrowed as he watched her go. He'd had enough. Rising from his sleeping chamber, Chimera moved out of the den, following Viper where she was emptying her guts on the ground. A low growl left the man as he came up behind her. "Were you not going to tell me?" It was clear that he was angry, but when wasn't he? "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Viper took a few seconds to contain herself while Chimera loomed over her and questioned her. She nearly growled at his attitude but instead was left with a shine of her teeth in between her retches. When she was finally done, she stepped over her vomit careful not to step in it in the early morning light as if she was hiding it. Or maybe just hiding the humility. Facing him, she started, "I don't-" She had to stop herself. She almost told him she didn't know what he was talking about. Though really she had been ignoring all the side effects and forgetting what Siren had told her. So it wasn't on her mind every day, it wasn't really a big exciting moment she had imagined for her life. She never thought about babies her entire life, she didn't even know what sex was since the last year or so. She kept eye contact with Chimera, speaking with him didn't make her uncomfortable even when he was in a bad mood like he seemed to be right now, "Siren said there's a baby or something. What about it." "Chimera" -- "Viper"

The woman started to say that she didn't know what he was talking about and he fucking dared her to finish that statement. She didn't, probably thinking better of lying, or so he hoped. In the end, she told him that Siren said there was a baby. Her comment after that incensed him and Chimera had to grit his teeth to keep from using them on her. "What of it? You being filled with puppies is something that I need to know. It was your job to tell me and instead I hear it from the slave girl." He snarled his words at her. Chimera forced himself to step away from her. He began pacing back and forth for a moment to try and cool himself down. He was so disappointed in her... After everything they'd been through, she was going to keep something like this from him? It was as good as lying. "Puppies are more mouths to feed." He glared at her. Why didn't she know how to use some sort of protection? Because she was an idiot, he answered his own question. This was his own fault. He should have had Siren give her something so that she wouldn't get pregnant. The two toned man stopped and stared hard at the tiny woman. "Are you keeping them?" He wondered if it was too late to flush them out. If she was keeping them, then he hoped that she was ready to raise children, because he sure as hell wasn't. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Viper didn't expect it as her job to tell him, and while she wasn't completely fond of Aliana, she didn't see the problem with the slave telling Chimera. Or, maybe if he wasn't so mad. "I didn' know that. I didn' know until Siren told me." And all of that was true. Viper didn't know Chimera expected her to tell him herself, and she didn't even know she was pregnant until Siren approached her, she thought she was just fat. Chimera acted like feeding more mouths would have been difficult, "We manage okay." She said, knowing that the two of them specifically had filled Ashen's stores beyond what they needed more than once, and had their own stores here on the island. She wasn't really defending having a baby, or maybe she was. Something was almost telling her to fight back. Some sort of instinct, some sort of defensive feeling. Unknown to her, Aranea had actually offered to abort her and Rain, so maybe there was some kind of spiritual wall showing her that she needed to have Chimera's babies. "Do you not care for them the way you care for me?" Was her only genuine question. Viper wasn't fit mentally to raise children, but that wasn't really up to anyone. If she kept them alive, raised them somehow, then it wasn't really anyone's business including Chimera's. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Viper expressed ignorance and it was believable. Why would she think to tell the father of her growing children that she was pregnant? She hadn't even known how to dig a den or how to speak. Siren told her that she was pregnant, but Siren hadn't told him. Another flare of irritation struck and Chimera grumbled aloud, his pink and black nose wrinkling. What was wrong with all of the women around him? He was easy to please. Just do what you were supposed to do, don't talk back, don't leave the island. Was it too much to ask? 'We manage okay,' Viper said. "That's not the point," the beast growled in response. Yes, they could easily feed pups, but what if they hadn't been able to? Would she still have been so careless? Again the thought flashed in his mind that he needed to make sure the slave woman was taking precautions. Viper's next words made Chimera's gaze narrow. "No," he admitted honestly. Children had never been wanted. His childhood had been horrible. Why would he want to put another child through that? Chimera knew just as well as anyone else that he would be a horrible father. He hadn't exactly had a good role model. If he ever saw his own father again, he would kill him. Possibly his mother too. Who could say? "You want to keep them?" Viper was a packmate. She was free to do as she wished. He wouldn't tell her to get rid of them like he would if Aliana suddenly turned up pregnant. There had to be some benefit to not being a slave. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Chimera had asked her again, but not if she was keeping them, if she wanted to keep them. And really, from his own response she wanted to keep them out of some sort of point. But maybe she did really want them at heart. Because she would have told him she wanted them if he said he did, and she would have told him she wanted them if he said he didn't. She didn't understand why. She honestly couldn't. It was beyond what she understood. "You are my, family." She spoke with almost a squint in her eye, but her head immediately dropped and if there was any a real, emotional moment she was sharing with Chimera, it was now. "I want more." Maybe she somehow wanted to do better for her... kids than Aranea did for her. It was only some sort of instinctual feeling. Something that she had missed out on her whole life. She felt completely different than Chimera. His childhood was terrible, the both of them wanted their parents to suffer, pay, whatever. But he believed he wasn't fit to be a father. Viper might have felt that way too about herself. But it made her want to do better for them. To have a family with Chimera, it was everything to her. At least in this moment that he was confronting her. "I will take care of them." "Chimera" -- "Viper"

He knew that Viper was broken. He knew that her childhood had been horrible because she'd grunted as much. The look in her verdant gaze as she said that he was her family melted the anger in the man just a bit. Again, he knew that she didn't have anyone else. He had Siren, but Viper only had him. She'd drawn the short stick, if you asked him. The tightness in his shoulders eased and his bristled fur smoothed. She was an angry little idiot, but there was something about her that eased him at times. Rolling his mismatched eyes, Chimera's right foreleg reached out and pulled the pregnant woman against his chest. "You can keep them." He wouldn't argue with her. It was obvious how much it meant to her, so he wouldn't deny the woman a bit of happiness. If she wanted to care for screaming brats, then she could do so. He would feed them and he would feed her. They would both be safe under his care. He wasn't father material though. Not by a long shot. His anger and waves of emotion made him a danger to children, if anything. Perhaps it would be wise to stay away from them until they weren't so easy to break. "Chimera" -- "Viper"