The Alliance

P R O L O G U E

         The hospital room was basked in beautiful sunlight, the new parents overfilled with so much love and happiness they thought their hearts would burst. Twins. They had two beautiful twin girls, something so rare among their race. Sherrie looked at her bond-mate with joyful tears swimming in her eyes as she cradled both small girls to her chest, the babies wrapped in soft pink blankets. The girls were sleeping soundly with their mother so close to them, their father curled up next to his three girls. John had Sherrie wrapped in his arms, chin resting on her shoulder as his free hand delicately touched the plump cheek of his darling daughter.

"Is it possible that they are the most perfect beings to ever exist?" He whispers quietly, afraid to wake them from sleep.

Sherrie chuckled lowly, "of course. They really are gorgeous, aren't they?" She gazed down at the girls resting in her arms, their creamy skin so soft and free of any flaw. Their round cheeks were flushed with a gentle blush, eyelashes resting against their cheeks. Blonde hair shined in the golden sunlight, one of the girls sporting a shade paler than the other. The differences were so minimal, but Sherrie knew her daughters inside and out. After all, she had carried them for months, their hearts beating within her.

John caressed the other daughters cheek, and Sherrie was sure she had never seen him more at peace in his life. "We need names."

Sherrie hummed softly, shifting in the hospital bed as slowly as possible as to not jostle her sweet babies. "We said we would pick one each," she looked at the love of her life next to her, the man who helped her create their two bundles of joy, "I love Serina."

"Serina," he tests it out on his tongue, tilting his head then looking down to the small girl with paler hair than her twin. "It suits her. She's been the most calm since she arrived."

Sherrie beamed a grin, looking back down at the twins and then resting her attention on the baby they have yet to name. She was the one who would kick like crazy in the womb, always on the move. She had been cooing the moment Sherrie delivered her, charming the doctors and nurses with her baby sounds. So eager to be in the world and partake in life. It had taken her a while to settle down and sleep, while Serina had been the relaxed one. Serene was the meaning of Serina and it could not be more fitting.

"I love the name Valerie." John whispers, his lips brushing the shell of Sherrie's ear. She shivers in delight, his warm breath fanning against her flesh causing goosebumps to raise from her head to her toes.

"Valerie," Sherrie breathes in consideration. Valerie meant valiant, strong. Fitting for a girl who came into the world ready to take it on. Sherrie smiled at her husband, love shining in her eyes. "It's perfect. Their names could not be more suitable."

John's emerald green eyes glitter, moving from the woman he loved more than he has ever loved anyone- or so he thought. Looking down at the two sleeping girls, the babies made of pure love, he knew he had been wrong. "I cannot believe they're really ours."

A soft knock interrupts their moment and they look up, Sherrie calling for whoever it was to enter. The handle twisted and the door slid open, sounds of bustling medical staff filling the room as footsteps move into their hospital suite. John see's him first, greeting him with a grin. John gets to his feet and moves toward the super coming to visit the new parents and witness their latest additions to their small family.

John gives him a handshake and hug, "you didn't have to come all this way."

"Of course I did," their visitor responds breezily, holding up a decorative gift bag, "I brought welcoming gifts." Welcoming gifts were the equivalent of baby shower gifts, named as a way to welcome the new life into the world. In their case, new lives.