Rogues and Royals

Confirmed and Crisis

Teddy’s POV

Melody fell into a fitful sleep in front of me, her soft snores interrupted by hiccups and tears throughout the night. ‘Jude, if you’re still here in the hospital; add Melody to a postpartum watch. I… I think her ptsd is back and I don’t want her being alone.’

‘f**k… yah, I’m still here. I’ll add a note to her file and let the doctor know too. Axel’s on his way with the girls before I leave for the night.’

‘Thank you.’ Jude had quickly become a good friend to Melody and I after her and Axel started dating, almost like part of the family. It was good to see how much she also kept the Viking in line, giving him the dose of chaos mixed with discipline he needed.

Once I was sure Melody was sound asleep I sighed and pulled out my phone, turning slightly on the bed so I didn’t disturb her, but was still touching her.

“Walter, I would like you and Alvin to get in place a census for all wolves in North America. Whether they are Rogue, Lone, or Pack. We’ll be implementing a new law going forward and I want it written up and ready to go by next week.” I hit send on the text message, watching it go through and waiting to see when they opened it up.

It didn’t take long before I saw three little bubbles pop up on the screen, pause, and then restart again. Ding! The message went through, my screen lighting up. We may need more time than that, Theodor. Doing something of that caliper would require extensive cooperation and coordination from every pack in with the alliance. We aren’t even done eradicating all of Black Haven and the remaining council yet.”

Walter was right on the count; we had more than enough troubles on our hands already. “What is the soonest you think we can have everything wrapped up, especially if we do a coordinated attack on the remaining forces and allies?” It had worked the first time when we attacked Gary, surely it would work again.

Ding! “If we took that approach; maybe three months, minimum. That is if we were to get help from Europe again.”

That would work… We needed to cement our ties to them anyways, especially if we wanted their continued support for the future. “Do it. Have everything ready in three months.” Walter sent a thumbs up emoji indicating he was on it. I turned my phone to silent then and set it on the bedside table behind me, scooting closer to Melody and holding her again after that.

Three months. Three months and hopefully we’ll have some sort of breakthrough with this bullshit. I brushed the hair from Melody’s face as I laid next to her in silence, kissing her forehead as I watched her sleep. In the morning, I was going to have a lot of work to do; but for now, I needed to stay with my wife and my child.

*****

Melody’s POV

“Meh! Meh!” Lucy called from the bassinet, her sounds of desperation making me jolt awake with a start. I gently extricated myself from Teddy’s embrace as I slipped out of the bed and over to her, picking her up and walking gently over to the chair in the corner.

“Shhh… that’s it… Papa needs his sleep.” She settled onto me almost instantly, making me sigh in relief. Thank Goddess you’re a better eater than your brother. Felix had not wanted to latch correctly those first couple days, worrying us to the bone. But Lucy was a fighter for sure, her little mouth desperate for food.

“Oh, you’re up!” Jude had pushed open the door then with a small clipboard and a bottle with her, a wry grin on her face. “I was coming to feed her again so you both could sleep longer.” She whispered under her breath, shooting Teddy a look on the bed.

“How long were we out?” I hadn’t heard Lucy cry at all, which bothered me.

“Ten hours so far. Enough for me to be back here at least. We’re kinda short staffed at the moment with some of the nurses being taken out by the Rogues.”

At the mention of the Rogues, my vision swam a little as my eyes pricked with tears. “f**k. Who fed her why I was asleep and you were gone?! Did she cry this whole time?!” I started to hyperventilate as Lucy nursed, my arms starting to go numb as I took in too much air. It felt like the room was spinning and someone was sitting on my chest.

“Melody?!” Jude rushed forward then and took the baby as I leaned back in the chair, my sobs coming out muffled as I tried to stay quiet for Teddy. “Come on, hon; you’re safe and alright. We had nurses check on you every fifteen minutes while I was out. She didn’t cry, and she’s safe and fed and changed.” She laid her hand on my shoulder, making me flinch and her to pull her hand back quickly.

“You’re in the hospital, Teddy got you out of Black Haven, you have two beautiful babies, and are a badass Queen.” She put her hand back as I tried to calm my breathing, the visions I was starting to see of Dominic and his whispered words in my head slowly dying down.

“I-I don’t think I can do this.” I confided in Jude, my fears and anxiety getting the best for me. “I didn’t even hear my baby cry…”

“Melody, it’s normal. You were tired, still low on blood, and just came out of surgery.” Jude started to rub small circles on my back while also holding the baby in her other hand, rocking back and forth to keep the baby happy. “No one is a super hero, and you’re doing just as good as any other mom.”