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((Small timeskip for these guys and for Blade and Anube.))

Everyone had been enduring the first two weeks of Blade's pregnancy and helping as much as they could but it wasn't easy on any of them. Well, except Cullen. Nothing much bothered the boy at all.

They'd managed to get through getting the nursery done and a few of her stomach and scent shifts but the rest of the pregnancy was going to be a rollercoaster for everyone involved.

Right now, Cullen was sleeping while Faolan was having a few lessons with Crisdean. What those lessons were, only Crisdean and Faolan knew, but did include weapons and magical development. The same went for Cullen's lessons, though those lessons were a bit less intense and also included language lessons. Faolan also had weapons practice with Blade each day as she gave him a very intense course in learning dagger-work and some hand-to-hand. As she got closer to the end of her pregnancy, those lessons would stop, so she wanted to teach him as much as possible. She also taught Cullen, though she worked a bit more softly with him because of his age.

Both boys were learning well and progressing beyond expectation so Wind an Aten were experiencing a moment of complete peace.

But that had Wind noticing that it had been a while since they'd had any private time so he was running a nice hot bath for them that he was planning on taking full advantage of. Well, he was until Aten came into the bathroom yawning.

He gave a soft sigh and gave in to considering the night a loss for more intimate play and shifted his thinking to keeping Aten awake through the bath.

He stopped the water when the bath was full and slipped out of his clothes and joined his naga lover in the water, instantly moving to wash Aten's hair for him and give him a soothing massage that would help him sleep later but keep him awake in the tub.

"I will be so glad when Blade finally has the twins. I don't think it was this bad for our mother, though. Maybe Anube being a demon is making things more intense for her," he mused softly, simply thinking out loud for the moment.

Wind took one look at that sly grin and his body took a leap that was hard to miss, thinking it would lead to what he'd been hoping for. But then Aten said something else that kindof shot that plan down.

So he simply wrapped his arms around his lover's waist and pulled him in for a brief kiss and gave him a smile, "A cuddle you want, lover, then a cuddle you'll get. I know it's been a bit hectic lately and I am sorry about that. But being able to simply hold you will be enough for me," he told him softly and gave him another brief kiss before letting him go and moving to clean himself and his hair.

Once they were both clean and rinsed, he finally took Aten into his arms to hold his back to him in the hot water, grateful that he had someone in his life to simply hold like this, "I love you so much Aten... I hope you know that and never forget it..." he said in a soft whisper as he rested his chin on Aten's shoulder, his arms around his waist as he held the naga's back to his chest.

Wind gave him a mock growl over the question, "Don't tempt me, lover. Because that is so far beyond tempting that I'd want to extend it into two days to test your stamina," he said in a soft teasing whisper, unable to help himself with that suggestion presented to him. He gave Aten's shoulder a small teasing n** then soothed it with a kiss before he released him.

"Come on. If we don't want to fall asleep in the tub, we'd better get out now. Besides, I want some time to hold you in bed while we're still awake and I wanted to tell you about something one of the servants told me earlier. Something you'll like to hear, for once," he told him and gave his lips a brief kiss before he got out of the tub and started it draining.

He grabbed a towel and passed it to Aten before taking one of his own and wrapping it around his hair before getting started on his body, "I was informed, reliably I might add, that Rebecca and Ora are planning on having a party. Well, it started out as a party and has turned into a masquerade ball. When I heard about it, I thought it would be very fitting if you went in your naga form and I went in my demonic form since we've finally gotten it under control. What do you think?" he explained and presented his idea as he dried off, thinking it would be very fitting for the two of them.

When Wind finally got into the bedroom, he had to pause beside the bed to look over his lover. Aten was a beautiful sight to him and certainly arousing to look at like that. He found himself crawling on the bed to stop on his hands and knees above him with his hair falling around them.

"I don't think we're going to bet much sleep tonight after all..." he whispered softly as he looked into those beautiful eyes, "You are just way too tempting..." he added then kissed him as he lowered his body down then turned them both so that Aten was above him.

He dearly loved it when Aten took control of their lovemaking, showing him the true pleasure of the dominance he craved. As he continued their kiss, he let his hands roam over his lover's body, showing him how much he craved him in this moment. He hated that they couldn't love each other like this every night but knew he wouldn't give up having the boys with them, even if it meant less time to spend like this. But right now, he knew they needed it, needed the touches and passionate play as they showed each other yet again how much they loved each other...

Wind gave a breathy laugh and simply snuggled into him a bit more, "I hope we don't have to wait that long. For now, though, a bath can wait till we wake up. let's get some actual sleep before Cullen wakes us up," he said then gave a yawn that wasn't faked. He gave Aten a kiss then shifted over to his leopard form.

They often slept with him in leopard form with Aten coiled around him in naga form. It helped keep his lover warm and they didn't have to shock Cullen when he frequently came in to join them in their bed to wake them up. He swore the boy took a great deal of delight in trying to pet his leopard through Aten's coils.

Wind raised his head and yawned as he looked around the room, noticing that Cullen hadn't come in to wake them up yet. He turned to look at Aten and had to shake his head a bit at the sound he was making then eased himself out of his lover's coils and padded into the boy's room to check on them.

There, he found a note from Crisdean saying that he'd collected them both for the day while they were sleeping and for them to enjoy the rest. He just shook his head over it and went back to the bed where he wiggled himself back into Aten's coils to sleep for a little bit longer.

Wind shifted back to his human form and put his arms around his lover, "Morning, lover... It seems we have the entire day to ourselves... Cris took the boys off for the day and told us to enjoy our day," he told him with a bit of impish glee, "Whatever shall we do with ourselves?" he added, unable to resist the teasing.