Acrasia

Legacy.

           A legacy. Legacy. I test the word silently on my tongue. Before, I had never given the slight care to what would happen to others should I die. If I couldn't live, then why would I care? Their fates didn't concern me then, but now I have a mate. A lover. And a son, an heir to whatever I leave behind including my reputation. I hope it doesn't cause him any troubles.

        Perhaps if anything it will aid him, I hope. Perhaps people will remember my cruelty and strength and be too skittish to tangle with such a being as my son will no doubt be. I smile as I grab the little book I had stashed in the baby's dresser. Still intoxicated from my feed, my mood is light enough that I feel like being impish. I smirk as I hold the book, I been waiting to deploy this particular book for a bit.

       The Tailypo. I remembered this book from Sera's memories, and her distinct fear of it as a child. I remove the snacks from the bed surrounding Seraphine and position myself so that I can try this reading thing. I feel as if I'm making a spectacle of myself, but if this brings joy and bonding then I have to try it. I also want to see her reaction to this particular book.

         "Are you ready?" I ask.

         "Yes." She giggles.

         "Close your eyes." She is quick to follow my orders. If only she always was. Then again, it is this spunk that also charms me. I lean down and gently rest my head on the swell of her belly.

         "There was an old man who lived alone in the middle of the forest. He must've been sixty years old, if he were a day, but nobody knew his name-"

         "Noooo!" She screeches and begins to cackle. Her whole tummy shakes with the effort, and so do her breasts. She hits me with the paperback after she catches me ogling.

         "Lay down. Quiet woman. Can you not see I am bonding with my boy?"

          "He's not even out, and already you are traumatizing him. I'll have to give birth in a shrink's office! He'll need therapy as soon as he crowns." She laughs.

          "Why would you give birth in a shrunken office?" She cackles harder. I wait, annoyed until she collects herself. I pinch a breast and she stops laughing at me. "Now. Why would you do that when you can birth here or at our home?"

           "I'll stab you! Stop! A shrink is a psychologist, a slang term. They help humans with mental health issues and behavior issues." I shrug and nod. I begin my story again, head back onto the warm tummy. I use my free hand to mockingly 'pin' Sera back as she feigns a struggle and holds her ears.

         "Tailypo, tailypo. Give me back my tailypo!" She groans.

         "It ate that old man! It killed that sad old man." I chuckle.

         "He shouldn't have ate it's tail."

         "He was starving! He didn't know what it was. He probably thought it was some deranged mongoose." We lose ourselves in the laughter. Her head is thrown back, arching from the pillows as she bellows. Her eyes crinkled and cheeks flushed. Waves of green hair splayed around her like seaweeds. She'd make a perfect mermaid, but it'd be a travesty to cover such legs with fins.

         "A mermaid?" She snorts. "Seaweeds?"

         "I'm trying to be romantic I suppose." She beams at me, and I stroke her belly. Perfection. Even pregnant. I nip at her cheek and pull her to stand with me. I could eat her alive. It pains me, but we've spent too much time alone. It isn't safe.