Mariella sighed, grabbing the mop to clean the floor after Wulfe, Damon and Lepard took the babies for an outing. She was on kitchen duty, which meant cleaning the kitchen was her responsibility. Oh, the mess those three could make! As Damon insisted, they had to feed themselves first, and only then, if they were still hungry, could they have assistance.
She also had to clean the babies, wiping their faces and hands, and it felt like her life was an endless cycle of cleaning and cooking. Damon had a long list of things he expected her to do in their kitchen with their babies, and Mariella sometimes felt like a slave. But she couldn't deny how wonderful it was to watch the babies grow, their skills develop, and see all those giggles and smiles. She was finally experiencing it all.
Number One hadn't contacted Mimi, and Number Two had. Mariella knew Damon would take his time to make up his mind, and it might get emotionally messy before things got easier. But she would be there for him, helping and possibly even guiding him.
She was starting to learn her role, not just as a passive companion, but as a spouse and mate, willing to listen, be a sounding board, and even argue with him. Sometimes, when they talked, he seemed so alien that she felt she didn't know him at all, which was both liberating and scary. Had she been married to him this long without truly knowing him? But now, it was time to learn, love, and have a family life.
Of course, Mariella wanted to experience as much as possible, so she had taken on roles from Mimi's domain as well. She saw herself as a sort of spy, planning to tell Damon what Mimi was doing and how her babies were growing.
Well, that had been her original plan, but Damon had coldly stated that he wasn't interested in Mimi or her babies and that Mariella should remember who she belonged to and care for her own babies, not someone else's.
Mariella found the new system engaging, and she readily admitted it. Mimi, on the other hand, was as dominant as could be, and Mariella couldn't fault her for it. Charles wasn't equipped to control her, and besides, he adored her.
Adam and Wulfe felt the same way, and this dynamic helped Mariella understand the interplay between alpha males and females. Since she wasn't an alpha herself, Damon could love her freely, and she would obey him without the need for control.
However, Mimi was a different story; she was a wildcard who needed guidance. Despite everything, controlling Mimi had never been Damon's strength, as he was too invested in Mariella. This meant leaving Mimi to her own devices, allowing her to grow stronger each day while Damon relaxed, loving Mariella and avoiding his alpha responsibilities.
Mariella realized this might be a permanent situation. Her alpha side approved of being led by a female, not a male, recognizing Damon's perceived weakness compared to Mimi's power. She hoped that one day she could make Damon see this, perhaps reigniting a spark and motivating him to assert himself and put Mimi in her place, lovingly but permanently.
This would also make Mimi easier for others to control, as she currently had virtually no limits, being charming, persuasive, and capable of manipulating the entire pack to do her bidding. In essence, she was their true leader.
The babies, now about four and a half months old, seemed far more advanced than human infants. With three to care for, they kept Mariella incredibly busy. Unsure of what babies this age should even be doing, everything was new to her, and also to Damon.
However, something about him was off, and Mariella couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was partly that he was so different now that he was free, and she didn't know how to handle him, as he was no longer predictable.
He was lazy, undeniably lazy, yet there were irritating habits that truly angered her, making her want to scream. But she was also kind and wanted to let him be himself, no matter how irritating he was. Only time would reveal how well they fit together and what their relationship would become.
Of course, she was still slightly upset about the whole tick incident. But her everlasting understanding and forgiveness surfaced, leading her to come up with many reasons why Damon hadn't been able to control himself and why she couldn't judge him too harshly. She realized Damon was in actual turmoil.
Something inside him had changed, and she began to think that there had been a huge flood of changes for him, too. Since he was so much like Mimi, change might not be the most comfortable thing for him.
He was an old, stubborn creature set in his ways, and now everything was changing inside and outside of him. He must feel like he had no control at all, and that alone would make him feel so unsure.
Mariella took a breath and decided not to delve into those specific changes too deeply, but she was trying to figure out what she could do to help him. She considered letting him have some power, meaning obeying him. Sure, it was sometimes dull, but she had her responsibilities as a wife and spouse, and now was the time to help him, support him, and then try to guide him, ever so gently, perhaps easing this change.
The first thing that came to her mind was how bizarre it must have felt when half of Salvatore's hive originally broke off. He had lost power over them and over the hive, and then all because of Mimi. And then again, he had felt inadequate as a husband, as he was too attached to her instead of Mimi, and half of his ex-hive was now caring for Mimi, his ultimate goal.
Mariella sighed, "Poor Damon, no wonder he was all over the place."
Hearing the fussing again, she went to the nursery; it was time for feeding and changing. Her babies were now in their sleep regression phase, which meant shorter nights and naps. It was incredibly difficult to calm them, and the only way to get them all settled was for each of them to be shushed to sleep simultaneously.
Mariella would then try to leave the nursery as quietly as a ghost. Although she felt her footsteps were light as a feather, the babies seemed to perceive her as an elephant stomping in.
She adored her babies, her three little princesses. It was amazing; for the first time in her life, she wasn't constantly consumed by thoughts of sex, lust, and the need for male attention. Now, she was a mother, a new role she cherished, and she longed to experience motherhood repeatedly.
She idly wondered when they would return and if they would have another breeding season. Could she give those babies up, or would this be a new normal? Or would she regress to her lustful self, forgetting the joys and hardships of motherhood like morning mist?
Damon had been acting erratically, and his behavior slightly worried Mariella. She knew how cruel Damon could be with his words, and if he snapped at someone, it could make pack life much harder. Was it her job to curb him? Was he too weak to control his impulses?
If she tried to prevent him from lashing out, would she be showing that she didn't trust him? It was a difficult dilemma. Mariella tried to find the optimal solution, but as often happened, there rarely was one. She admitted that she, too, hated compromises.
Since Damon was clearly grappling with problems, she knew she would need to tread carefully, lest she alienate him and make him feel alone. She felt Damon sensed he was less than perfect, as the Salvatores had established their individuality, and he had to face the fact that many of the things he had thought he had done were actually done by one of the Salvatores.
Damon was probably confused about his identity now that he was all that was left. Then there was their hive; she could feel how powerful Mimi was. Since he wasn't the pack leader, was this a stressor for Damon to sense and feel Mimi's power and status? Did it make Damon feel weak or forgotten?
Mariella was, of course, somewhat naive when it came to Damon; she often wore rose-colored glasses, which biased her perception. She saw Damon as perfect and others as less so, and she always sided with him, or so she thought. However, life has a way of teaching lessons, some painful but necessary, others healing.
Since Mariella's favorite thing was to make Damon react, his reactions were not always welcome and often led to the opposite of what he intended. For now, she thought the best course of action was to simply be Damon's wife, care for the babies, and take things one day at a time, trying to curb her urge to influence Damon.
Sometimes, he was in a mood that Mariella wanted to provoke, but given his identity crisis, it might not be the best idea. She longed for a quiet, pleasant pack life where everyone felt like family, but that wasn't happening yet. Her future, as usual in this pack, would be full of surprises. Time would pass, and each day brought Mariella something new to ponder.
She realized, for instance, how difficult it had been for Mimi to give up her babies so early when she, the lust queen, had to take her fucking sex filled holiday in the Azores. That stunt had put those wonderful four babies in danger, forcing them to be given up much earlier. Mariella sighed, realizing how much time she'd lost with each set of babies.
Maybe this lot was special—her three princesses, as Damon called them, which might explain why her pregnancy had been so difficult. This time, it was a real pregnancy, not one of those fast and easy pregnancies she'd had in the past. Life as a chimera, being a vampire multi-shifter, brought its own challenges and troubles, and even their physiology was no longer close to human.
Mariella realized that this time had allowed her animal side, her lioness, to surface, bringing with it primal instincts and needs: to have a pack, an alpha female, and babies. In the wild, females cared for cubs, hunted, and ensured their safety, while males primarily displayed their strength, bred, or marked territory.
She was sure Damon was hers, but he hadn't truly claimed their territory, and perhaps that was part of the problem – he didn't feel like home. He wasn't a pack leader, and Mariella sighed, recognizing how many of Damon's issues stemmed from that fact. However, he wasn't ready to take on that mantle. Even his pride might dictate otherwise.
It was time to wait, help him grow, and discover who he was becoming. Simultaneously, she'd get to know the real him and show him unwavering love and support. She would always be there for him. She also wanted to connect with the other Salvatores, but true to her word, Damon would always come first.
He was her priority, and she would help him, no matter the challenge. Even if her help wasn't always welcomed or Damon didn't express his appreciation, she would trust her instincts and navigate the turbulent stream, no matter how battered she might become. Sometimes, the journey was the point, not the destination; the real challenge lay in the trip itself.
Mariella also longed to connect with Mimi, to have someone understand Damon from a different perspective. Mimi understood Damon more profoundly than he ever admitted, and Mariella considered this another potential stressor for him.
She had learned to identify these stressors, but Damon negated many of them, hiding them beneath neutralizing ideas to make them seem less stressful. But it didn't solve anything; it only hid them, like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand. Damon avoided his troubles.
He wasn't ready, and Mariella was more than willing to give him time to process things before moving forward. She would be patient, like the tide washing ashore, always present, never stopping, never giving up. Their bond was strong, vibrant, and filled with love and lust. She was as much his as he was hers.