Interstellar Beastworld: Raising A Cub With My Mummy System!-Chapter 26: HIS NAME IS AURIEL

They took him to the viewing nursery, where he would wait for his father.

Vethra found Uriel exactly where she had left him, standing against the wall, his face pale and drawn. But now there was something else in his eyes.

Fear.

Relief.

A desperate need for information.

She approached slowly. "Congratulations, Your Majesty. You have a son."

He did not react to the words. "What about Lin Yue?"

"Alive. She is in the healing tank, stabilizing. It was..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "It was one of the longest and most difficult labors I have ever attended. Nearly forty-eight hours. The baby would not turn. We had to perform an emergency C-section. She lost a great deal of blood, so much her heart stopped."

Uriel’s face went white.

"But don’t worry, we resuscitated her. She is alive and she will recover. The tank will heal her." Vethra met his eyes. "But it was very close, Your Majesty. If we had been even a few minutes late.."

She did not finish the sentence.

She did not need to.

Uriel closed his eyes.

When he opened them, they were wet.

"She is alive."

"She is alive and she will recover. She is strong." Vethra gestured down the hall. "If you would like to see your son, he is in the viewing nursery. I can take you there now. I need to prepare the official records, but the nurses will watch over him."

Uriel nodded, not trusting his voice.

She led him down the corridor, past rooms and doors, until they reached a large window looking into a warm, softly lit room.

And there, in a small bassinet, wrapped in white, was his son.

Tiny.

Perfect.

A dusting of white hair on his little head.

Ears, so small they were barely there, twitching as he slept.

His little chest rose and fell with each breath.

Uriel pressed his hand against the glass and could not look away.

His son.

Their son.

Lin Yue had given him a son.

And she had almost died doing it.

He stood there for a long time, watching the tiny chest rise and fall, feeling something crack open inside him that he did not have words for.

Behind him, Vethra spoke quietly. "She named him already, I believe. Auriel."

Uriel nodded slowly. "Auriel?"

The baby’s ear twitched, as if recognizing the sound of his father’s voice.

Uriel pressed his forehead against the glass and let the tears fall.

"Auriel...how beautiful."

She had almost died.

But she had given him this.

This perfect, tiny, screaming miracle.

He would never be able to repay her for that.

He stood there for a long time, watching the tiny chest rise and fall, feeling something crack open inside him that he did not have words for.

"She almost died."

"Yes." Vethra’s voice was gentle. "But she did not. She is strong, Your Majesty. Stronger than I expected."

He said nothing.

"The tank will heal her over the next day or so. She will not wake until tomorrow at the earliest. But when she does, she will want to see him."

Uriel nodded again.

Vethra hesitated. "Would you like to go inside? Hold him?"

He looked at her sharply. "I can?"

"He is your son. Of course you can."

She gestured to a nurse inside, who smiled and lifted the baby carefully. She brought him to a small door beside the viewing window and opened it, holding him out.

Uriel stared at the tiny bundle in her arms.

His hands were shaking.

He reached out and took his son for the first time.

Auriel was impossibly light.

Impossibly small.

His little face scrunched up, his mouth opening in a tiny yawn, and Uriel felt his heart stop.

"Hello, my son." he whispered. "I am your father."

Auriel’s gold eyes opened briefly, unfocused, then closed again.

Uriel stood there in the corridor, holding his son, and let the tears fall.

He did not care who saw.

Uriel stood in the corridor holding his son, tears falling freely, not caring who saw.

"He is perfect," Uriel whispered.

Vethra watched from a respectful distance, saying nothing.

Nurses passed by, glancing at the scene, then quickly looking away.

After a long moment, Uriel spoke again. "The tank. She is really stable?"

"She is. The healing tank is working. Her body is repairing itself. By tomorrow, she will be awake and asking for this little one." Vethra smiled slightly. "I have no doubt."

Uriel looked down at Auriel. "What does he need? Now, I mean. What do I do?"

Vethra stepped closer. "For now, he needs to sleep. He has been fed and cleaned. The nurses will monitor him throughout the night. If you wish to stay with him, a chair can be brought into the nursery."

"I wish to stay."

Vethra nodded and gestured to a nurse, who hurried to arrange it.

The nursery was warm and quiet. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

A chair was placed beside the bassinet, and Uriel sat down, not willing to put Auriel down just yet. He held his son against his chest, feeling the tiny heartbeat against his own.

The nurse who had been watching approached hesitantly. "Your Majesty, if you would like to hold him longer, that is fine. But when you are ready to put him down, the bassinet is right here."

Uriel nodded but made no move.

The nurse withdrew.

Hours passed.

The sun set and the room grew dimmer, soft night lights coming on automatically. Uriel did not move. He sat in the chair, holding Auriel, watching him sleep.

At some point, Magus appeared at the nursery window.

Uriel looked up. Magus raised an eyebrow, took in the scene, then nodded once and disappeared.

He would handle whatever needed handling.

Varn could wait.

The court could wait.

Everything could wait.

Around midnight, a nurse came to check on the baby. Uriel reluctantly let her take Auriel to examine him, watching every move she made like a hawk.

"All is well, Your Majesty," she assured him. "Perfect health. Strong heartbeat. He is doing beautifully."

She placed Auriel back in Uriel’s arms.

Uriel held him through the night.