As I, alpha female Mimi Salvatore, looked at my pack mates in our living room, I was happy.
"Now, I have a suggestion for all of us, and I might be off base here, but I'm going to present my idea anyway, so please just listen," I said.
We were all sitting in the living room after successfully getting all eight babies down for a nap – no easy feat, as some had tried to stay awake, risking becoming overtired, which would have made calming them down a much longer process. But they were asleep now. Feeding time, as usual, had been quite a circus, with several Salvatores ending up with baby food in their hair, on their faces, and on their clothes, accompanied by some cussing.
I looked around. Wulfe was perched on my armrest as usual. This chair was smaller, so he couldn't fit next to me. Many Salvatores were glaring at him, so he didn't come and try to pick me up, as that wasn't our usual dynamic.
"I suggest we create a rotation system," I continued. "We'll make a board listing all the necessary tasks: cooking, laundry, meat chopping, baby duties, cleaning, and so on. Then, we'll create slots, and anyone who wants to can sign up for a slot. They can see what's available and what needs to be done. We can do this weekly and then transfer it into a daily schedule posted in the kitchen or somewhere similar. We can also include Mariella's babies and their needs – cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. Participation won't be mandatory, and if some slots are open on a given day, someone can notice what's not been done and handle it. I'm not suggesting this will be as strict as school, but it will ensure that certain tasks are handled, and we'll all have responsibilities without anyone getting overburdened."
Adam responded, "Not a bad idea. We just need to allocate tasks reasonably. We need to consider how many people are needed for babies, cooking, and other tasks. We also need to think about what we need. It's warm outside, so we don't need much wood for heating, but we still need some. And then we should discuss the menu, and make sure no one person is stuck with the same task all the time."
Number Ten added, "And we can be fluid. As long as we get our own things done, we're ready to help others. Those eight brats need a lot of hands, and we can't just direct everyone into baby duty."
Number Three chimed in, "And more importantly, we need to ensure we rotate, meaning we go from this side to Mariella's and vice versa, including you, baby. I know you might prefer to stay here, but it's good for those babies to see you, too."
I nodded in agreement. I had no problem with that; I would handle my tasks and then be free to do other things.
Ashley smiled at me.
Britney then said, "Mom, I can't wait for our daily lessons. They're so much fun, but I think we're still unsure of all the words."
Number Eight asked, "What lessons are you talking about?"
Emmylee replied, "Nothing special, really. Mom just makes a statement or passes a comment, but uses fancy words. I don't know half of them, and we only get to look them up after a week. I'm still not sure what she meant when she said living with Dad, Number One, is living with someone who is so cognoscenti and also makes her so damn fecund that she must hope for her own hermitage despite her occasional temerity."
Number Five laughed, and Number Seven whistled.
Ten added, "Well, she wasn't wrong. Let me clarify. What Baby meant was that living with Number One is living with someone who has expert knowledge, and he also makes her highly fertile, so she hopes for a place of her own solitude, despite being sometimes reckless and bold."
Emmylee smiled, too. I wasn't lying, not exactly, because Damon could make me so fertile that it felt like all he had to do was look at me, and I'd be pregnant. I hoped this time wouldn't be like that.
Number Three said, "Nice game, Baby. Let's see if you can stump us. We're not that easy with your fancy words."
I rolled my eyes. Of course, our little game had morphed into something of a challenge now that the Salvatores were aware of it, but it brought us closer together as we continued these games.
I rolled my eyes and, sighing, admitted, "I might be a bit of a harridan at times, but I never raise my voice without reason. Though I concede, I am sometimes wrong. This little speech of mine, however, is not overly convoluted, nor is it typically mawkish for me."
Number Four was silent for a moment, brow furrowed as he considered the hidden meanings in my words. It pays to have a good memory, and, sometimes, reading the dictionary for fun makes me sound rather pretentious.
Charles then interjected, "So you admit it? You do shout at me for no reason, my love, and you are wrong occasionally. That wasn't your usual sappy sentence, and I must admit, it was a little winding with all those old-fashioned words. And you can nag, even at me."
He smiled smugly. *Damn* Cornick. I pursed my lips and simply nodded. It wasn't what I'd expected, but fine. At least I had my motivation for continuing to use my special words.
May said to me, "Damn, Mom, it's good to see you've met your match. I see Charles is a man of education, so maybe I'll just hang around him whenever you're trying to be too fancy."
I rolled my eyes again and said, "Or we can keep our little game just between us girls; no need to involve the guys. So, what do you say? Shall we create a rotation list and assign duties?"
Charles nodded. He was the pack leader, after all... well, according to my alpha side. He was the nominal pack leader, as male egos were usually so fragile that they needed validation. So this was just me playing the game. But, according to my feline side, we were the *true* pack leaders.
Though I received a pretty stern look from Number Five, and Wulfe murmured in my ear, "Oh baby, keep this up and you'll have no role but in bed for the time being. At least three Salvatores have your little idea, and they're planning to fuck it out of you, and I must admit, I'm tempted too."
I blushed crimson, which caused Adam to look at me. Lepard smirked and said something in a low voice to Adam, whose expression turned beastly as he looked at me, raising his eyebrow. Oh my God, he was such a charmer, and his darker side made my feline side purr. Fine, I had to get hold of myself, or else my little rotation plan... well, it might work, but I might not be a part of it, or I'd have a new role: being fucked into submission.
We began defining roles and tasks, and the process was chaotic. Initially, we discussed chores like cleaning and laundry. Disagreements arose about the frequency of cleaning and the products to use.
The Salvatores became particularly involved, wanting to inspect our cleaning supplies. We went to the cleaning storage so they could assess our inventory, and they debated amongst themselves. Finally, Charles declared that the Salvatores would be responsible for cleaning, including the schedule, products, and locations.
He then suggested we move on to food. This sparked another extensive discussion about who would do what and when, including the number of cooks needed, whether someone would specialize in baby food, and the cook's responsibilities for kitchen cleaning.
Wulfe then brought up heating, as our large ovens also served as a heat source. This raised questions about who would manage heat distribution. The process was neither simple nor quick, but surprisingly, it was enjoyable. Despite the arguments, we listened to each other and strived to find solutions.
It wasn't easy, but we honed our negotiation skills and learned to compromise, even if the Salvatores weren't entirely pleased. We were a family, not a collection of stubborn individuals unwilling to adapt. This was a "one for one and all for one" situation.
It was summer, and the weather could be hot, but our berry crop, I heard, was thriving, promising an excellent harvest of juicy berries for us. There was much to do, including laundry, which required careful planning.
We needed to determine how many people were needed and how often, as babies required daily laundry, while we might need to do ours twice a week, along with bedding. Meanwhile, the men discussed yard work, ensuring we had wood for the winter.
"Well, we could change the curtains sometime," I said to the girls. "I know it's a big thing to do all at once, but doing a few rooms at a time would be nice."
Lepard replied, "Oh yeah, I have ideas for those too! I want different curtains for winter than summer, and then Christmas ones as well. We could also change the rugs, I mean, decorate. If some of us are free, the decoration could happen. We could put up a map or list of what's been done, so it would be a pick-and-choose situation."
I nodded. It was fun to have all of my husbands—well, almost all of them—so eager to improve our lives and family. This was the first time we'd done anything like this, or on this scale, and it brought me happiness.
Despite the chaotic system, which wasn't even partially done yet, we were doing it as a family, and I was part of it. It felt so damn amazing. As we got more and more involved, we got inventive in finding tasks to be done, and so our system started to come together.
There were classes, or types of tasks: daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, baby care, making sure the heating was on where it needed to be, and checking orders for our net shops. Then there were tasks done a few times a week, like laundry, warming up the big oven, putting mops and vacuums on, changing bedding, harvesting summer berries, and putting meat on the smokebox.
Next, there were tasks done once a week, like posting the snakes or putting up new info on the site when it was available, and making sure our websites were okay. Finally, there were miscellaneous tasks, meaning they weren't necessary, but one could do them if they were free, like decorating, organizing the hamster storage, choosing baby clothes ready for the next size, planning menus for upcoming weeks, changing curtains or rugs, sorting stones and crystals, making bouquets for our online shop, and taking pictures.
Of course, all kinds of tasks revolved around the babies, like taking them out, using the gym ball, and exercising with them. Many salvatores were eagerly studying those osteopathy videos and whatnot, coming up with all kinds of tests and plays, and choosing what toys to use for whom.
The task list kept growing, which I found enjoyable, as everyone could contribute and there were many different tasks to choose from. However, I couldn't reserve all of them for myself. Salvatores, specifically numbers five, four, nine, and ten, were also involved.
Wulfe knew me well enough to know about my wire wrapping work, some of which could be sold, and the spoons I crafted. I tried to be patient. Nevertheless, the Salvatores took them, along with my thinner wires, and prepared to finish them. They also crafted spoons for Mariella's triplets.
Number five, I believe, was talking about a piece of lapis lazuli he had found. He knew how it affected me and shared that knowledge with everyone else. My life was almost perfect, a true paradise city to live in.
There were monthly tasks, such as emptying our ash collectors and spreading the ash under the bushes, as well as cleaning other areas. I was good at finding tasks I could do, like fertilizing my plants.
This wasn't just for me; everything was written down and logged. We also had to check on the snakes and ensure our DNA tests were done. Again, it was on the task list. Washing windows using robots was another item on the list. Whatever I thought of, Wulfe would get me to verbalize it, and Adam or Charles would write it down.
Many of the Salvatores were eager to help. When you were assigned a task, you focused on just that one. For example, I was considering doing laundry and mentally listing when I had last done it, when I remembered that I hadn't emptied the machine's dust collectors.
Soon, Wulfe asked, "Who has emptied those little hatches in the washing machines where the lint and hair are collected? Has anyone done it?"
Adam replied, "Nope, good catch. Let's add washing machine maintenance: empty those filters, wipe the glass, and put the washing cycle on without laundry. It needs to be done not on laundry days, maybe twice a month?"
Charles nodded in agreement. Suddenly, my small task was off my list. I was thinking of getting a pot of coffee, but then I thought about when I had last washed my coffee machine. This time, number five picked up on my idea and shared it with the others. So, the kitchen appliances got their own maintenance schedule as well.
My mind, for some reason, was what it was, and my alphaside was too powerful. Instead of getting irritated, my mind went into gear, reasoning that I was giving my guys something to do. I was, in a way, their leader, but again, I had to hide my leadership style, or the Salvatores might have used the bedroom to correct my attitude.
The fact was, I had no true alpha male to contend with. This meant the snowball kept rolling down the hill, gaining momentum and becoming increasingly cunning. I made sure my dominance was subtle, but I still got things done as I liked.
This was just how it was, and a small part of me yearned for Damon to notice and put me in my place. However, the larger part of me was having too much fun ruling over them all.