A Heart’s Test

Two and a half months passed and everyone was gathered around the nursery. Diamond had just given birth to a beautiful baby leopard girl. They named her Jewel. "She has your golden eyes." Logan said to Brian, who was glowing with so much pride that it was almost blinding to look at him. His brother wasn't surprised but was still quite happy for him. It was the first newborn either of them had seen besides their sister.

Pretty soon Jewel was up and following her Father around the doctor's den mimicking him with his patients. She would be a nurse yet he thought, perhaps even a doctor. Everyone in the pride was adoring her, sucking up every moment. It had been quite some time since youth and children had been in the camp, everyone had to watch their step.

"You're next," Brian said to Jay. "Ohhh, I don't think I'm ready for that," he chuckled. "I've seen you with Jewel. You're a natural, mostly" Brian teased. "For now I think I'll just stick with being fun Uncle Jay… Anyway, I have to get going. Tonight's a full moon and I agreed to a quick date before my blood hunt." "Okay. See you later then." Brian replied. Unfurling his wings, Jay took to the skies. It made hunting much more easy with the winter snow on the ground. This often made him in charge of food scouting during the winter months, but Alligator was on the menu more often than not with the food shortages.

It was nearly moon high. Jay and Crystal were spending a precious couple of hours together before he had to leave on the hunt. She knew she wouldn't see him for at least two days. Suddenly he unexpectedly lost control of his blood lust for a second, in the midst of passion, eyes turning red he bit her on the shoulder. She cried out in pain and he snapped back into focus, releasing her. He backed away, fear engulfing his entire being. Shuddering "I'm sorry… This… This is what I feared." She reached out to him, but he pulled away even further. "I never wanted to hurt you," He wailed as he turned and ran crying.

He ran and ran as fast as he could, as far as he could. Now far beyond their borders, blind with shame and rage at himself, he came to rest on a dark grassy hill. Staring up at the moon he asked "why me?" Distracted in dismay, several sharp objects hit him from behind. The stars began to spin and then fade as he dropped to the ground. Several goons dressed in black wearing masks pulled up and hauled Jay into the back of a van and drove away.

Everyone expected Jay to be gone for about two days as per his usual. Crystal had told Logan what had happened with concern and Brian of course treated her wound. She had told them how distraught Jay was, so it wasn't surprising when he was gone for three days. After that however, everyone was becoming distressed, it just wasn't like him to stay away this long no matter how upset he was. They sent out search parties. Logan even authorized an over the border patrol of Spear's, the family's best tracker, and Roman, the huge Siberian tiger he had in charge of security, to follow Jay's scent. Unfortunately it stopped at that hill and was hard enough to track. Especially after four days of snowing, the tire tracks were impossible to follow. No witnesses, no fresh scents, no buildings in sight, all hope was lost. One thing was certain, Jay was kidnapped. The signs of drag marks were obvious, but the tire tracks lead to nowhere.

Everyone was grouped back at camp, mourning, not knowing when their beloved prince would return. Crystal just shut down and wouldn't move. The truth had sunken into her. She just stared at the ground for half an hour, her sister trying to comfort her. The first move she made was to throw up, then she slunk back into Jay's den to cry the rest of the night. His scent was the only thing left of her soulmate. She spent days there, not coming out for anything. "If you don't move soon I'm gonna have to force feed you," Brian joked down at her with his charming southern brotherly accent. She just groaned at him. He went down and hugged her. "Look, I know it feels like your heart was ripped out. I know… because he was part of me, my twin, the closest person to me in this world. You need to eat. You have to live for when he comes back, not if." "What if… if he does never come back?" she choked out. "Ha, IF anyone can take care of themselves in this family it is our Jay. Now come on, up we go." As they staggered out of the den, Crystal threw up again, this time on Brian's feet. "AHH! BLOODY HELL. Just because I'm a doctor, it does NOT give you license to throw up on me!" "Brian?" she said quietly. He kept on rambling, trying to shake off the puke. "BRIAN!" she yelled over him. He froze and stared at his grieving patient that exploded at him out of nowhere. "What?" "I'm not entirely sure, but I think… I think I may be pregnant." "Uhhh… What?" He looked down at her belly in shock. "You're serious?!" She gave him a dumb look. "Okay. Okay. Let's get you something to eat first, then I'll do some tests. Until confirmed, let's keep this under wraps."

After scarfing down nearly a whole baby gazelle, Crystal went with Brian to get an ultrasound. "Uhh, well. You are pregnant, twins to be the looks of it." Brian smiled and felt almost as proud as he knew Jay would have. Crystal burst into tears. "How am I going to spend this pregnancy of two half vampire cubs all by myself, let alone raise them?!" she wailed dramatically. He rushed to embrace her. "Hey hey hey. You are not alone. You've got this entire family supporting you. And I, your doctor, your brother, the best to be uncle ever, will be here with you every step of the way. Let alone your sisters will never leave you alone once they find out."

They kept it a secret for about a month before her stomach started to show. Her sisters as predicted were frantic over her. Logan consistently checked on her too, but he was having problems with his own drama. He was falling head over heels for Nala of course, but she was hesitant because he was obviously not over his ex-wife.

"Have you picked out any names yet?" Brian asked. "Not really," Crystal replied. "We don't even know the genders yet." she laughed. "I have just been focusing on preparing our den and staying healthy and unstressed." "Well that's good. Any abnormalities or strange pains I should know about?" "I am perfectly fine doc. Don't you dare start fretting about me too...I'm going to take a nap. Go fuss over someone else please."

Two more months passed, each one just like the last, a little fatter but a little less sadder. The day had finally come, Crystal had gone into labor. Everyone was gathered around as usual, barely giving her a moment's peace since they had found out. Though Crystal was glad that they were all there for her, of all the pain she was experiencing, nothing ached more than her heart. She always dreamed that the love of her life would be there when she gave birth to his children. A few hard pushes later and it was all over. Brian gleamed down at her. "You did really well sis. I'd like to welcome to our family two healthy baby girls. Have you decided what to name them yet?" "I have decided on Dawn and Dusk. I think Jay would have liked that." she replied. There beside the new mom laid two black baby leopards, one with golden eyes and the other with violet ones. Everyone watching was cooing and aweing. The doctor walked up to the entrance, only letting Diamond in, he yelled "OUT! OUT! Everybody out. She needs to rest." Diamond curled up next to her sister to help clean her and the cubs. "I'm so proud of you," she said softly, licking her sister's ears. The Doctor looked back at the two of them. "Will you keep an eye on her honey? I need to go get some blood bags just in case they start craving." "Yeah Brain... I'm not leaving her side until she orders me away."

A few weeks passed. Crystal kept as much solitude as she could with her newborns, soaking them in as much as possible. Everyone took turns bringing food to her just to have an excuse to see them. Crystal told the cubs about their father as best as she could. How brave and funny he was. As they grew older, everyone had stories to tell them about him, especially his brother.

Crystal sat out in the sun, fondly watching her kits play. Diamond ran up to her. "Hey! Hey. Guess what?!" I'm pregnant again." "Really?" Crystal replied in an absurd manner. "Isn't that just a little ridiculous?" Diamond just laughed "what can I say sis? It's that good and he's just too damn charming. Anyways, Jewel spends all of her time following Brian around learning how to be a nurse. Really, I feel alone in a way." "Yeah… Like someone stole a piece of you… but at least you get yours back at the end of the day." Crystal replied softly. Clearing her throat of emotion, she continued "Could you watch them for a while please? I need to take a walk." She left to sit in the silence of her own thoughts, in her and Jay's secret garden. She listened to the rustle of the breeze, liking to believe that was his spirit watching over them. She stayed there until the sun had set, yet another day passed, her better half still gone.