Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mumbo fixed his hair in the mirror, shifting in his spot slightly. It had been a few days since he had laid the clutch from his, Grian and Scar's rather fun experience during his heat. He took a moment to process the white stripes of hair on his head before he huffed and turned to the side in the mirror. Despite laying the clutch, Mumbo's egg pouch was still swollen, resulting in the slightest of bumps at his stomach. He ran his hand over it to push it down, applying light pressure as he stared at it for a long time before he jumped at the sound of the door opening. Mumbo's gills flared intensely for a moment before he turned and stared at Grian and Scar taking off their shoes. Grian's wings fluffed up at the sight of Mumbo half dressed standing in front of the mirror in their shared room before he raised his hands up in mock surrender.

Since laying the eggs Mumbo had become slightly aggressive of a parent, snapping his jaws at his mates when they got too close to the eggs. Mumbo had laid exactly ten of them, although the chances of more than three hatching or even being fertilized was slim. Still, that didn't stop Mumbo from being overprotective over all of the eggs, making the axoltol a slight problem whenever Scar and Grian wanted to see the clutch. One would have to drag him to the nest and convince him to let the other near the eggs just long enough to check. Scar made the first move, ushering Mumbo towards the nest with gentle hands and laying down, pulling the taller one down with him. Mumbo made a noise of discontent as he watched Grian from the corner of his eye make his way towards the eggs.

Grian leaned over the side of the water basin to look in at them, gently separating the largest eggs from the smaller. He did a quick count and noticed they were down at least two eggs meaning they had likely despawned from not being fertilized. Mumbo shook his body for a moment and tried to worm his way away from Scar, a low growl pulling from his chest as Grian touched his eggs. Scar shushed him and pulled him back, leaning down and biting at Mumbo's mating marks to distract the omega from his other alpha touching the eggs. Mumbo melted into the touch, still watching Grian with intense eyes as Grian pulled the two largest eggs out of the water and held them up to the light. The shine of code pulsed through them, the sign that they were fertilized. Grian quickly moved them back to the water away from the other eggs and just to make sure, checked the remaining six eggs. Not a single ounce of code pulsed in them meaning they would despawn in a few hours at most. One even popped out of existence in Grian’s hand which earned a growl from Mumbo.

Grian moved the eggs back, briefly running his hand over the fertilized eggs before he circled around to the nest and crawled in, leaning forward and biting Mumbo’s mating mark to soothe the omega of the distress and distrust he was experiencing from his instincts. Mumbo took a solid moment before he relaxed into the hold of the two alphas. Grian smiled before he turned to Scar.

“There’s two that are fertilized. If we’re lucky that means one for you and one for me. Three eggs have already despawned. Xisuma says they should hatch as soon as the others despawn. They take the excess code from the unfertilized ones to hatch.”

Scar nodded as he pet Mumbo’s hair before tugging at Mumbo’s pants. Mumbo’s eyes moved to Scar and he whined, turning his head away and shoving Scar’s hand away from his waist band. He did NOT want whatever Scar was planning right now. Scar just chuckled and kissed Mumbo’s head as he moved his hand back, “I’m just trying to get you out of your pants so you're more comfortable Mumbs we won’t have sex. I know you want to go to sleep from being up all night and day watching the eggs. Let G and I take care of you.”

Mumbo twisted slightly as Grian pulled his sweater off and tucked it into the nest near Mumbo’s head. That was enough to draw Mumbo’s attention to Grian as Scar got his pants off, Grian smiling and leaning down to kiss his partner gently on the lips smiling as he pulled away for a moment before Mumbo twisted and turned.

Mumbo allowed sleep to claim him shortly after, leaving his alphas to coo over him and get him comfortable, wrapping him up in a blanket before they stood and moved back to the eggs. Grian picked the smaller of the two fertilized eggs and held it in his hands before passing it to Scar and claiming the bigger for himself. Grian watched as another two eggs had disappeared, leaving three unfertilized eggs left to despawn. Scar held the egg up to the light and smiled,

“I think the bigger one is going to be mine, G. I got a strong feeling that this one is your’s.” Scar laughed as he turned it over in his hands, the smooth texture sliding against his skin before he fully turned to Grian and held his hand out for the bigger egg to switch which one he held. Grian held the egg close, frowning at Scar for a moment before sighing and switching eggs with him.

“Don’t be so cocky, Scar. It’s very likely I have the bigger egg considering I did cum in him more.”

Scar made a face at that before he huffed and pulled the egg away from the light, watching as one by one the last three popped out of existence. Scar froze and looked over to the sleeping Mumbo when he felt the egg begin to shake in his hands, particle effects swirling around him as the egg cracked with a loud schlp sound and transformed.

Scar looked at Grian, Grian stared at Mumbo. Then he looked at the baby slowly floating from where the egg had raised up out of his hands. Mumbo had just missed the first hatching. And by the looks of it, he would miss the second because neither Grian nor Scar made a move to wake him up from his deep slumber. Scar caught the baby in his arms, pulling them close as he stared at them.

The discoloration of the baby’s skin gave away their vex heritage. The small pointed fingers that gave way to claws, the way their gills were a purple like end color instead of Mumbo’s bright red gills. They looked more like Xisuma’s pink-purple gills in truth. Scar held them carefully before checking and shouting, “It’s a boy! I think!”

The schlp sound of the second egg cracking drew both alphas' attention to watch it hatch in Grian’s arms. The second babe’s wings were featherless, stretching out as it wiggled in Grian’s gasp and tried to get comfortable. Its eyes barely opened and Grian just stared at it for the longest time before he smiled and pulled them close to him, the yolk-like substance covering the babe getting all over his undershirt not that he could find it in him to care. The little girl stared up at her father before a peep left her throat, followed immediately by a loud piercing cry.

Mumbo shot up from his sleep and flipped over, staring at his alphas holding their hatched children. The pain of missing their hatching was quickly overshadowed by how perfect the scene before him looked, instead slightly relaxing before reaching for them to bring the babies into the nest. Grian made the first move, walking slowly as he lowered the baby down and climbed into the nest to sit beside Mumbo. Scar followed suit after another moment of just staring at his children before he pushed his son into Mumbo’s arms first, claiming victory over Grian on whose child would be held first.

Grian nipped at Scar’s neck for that as he held his daughter in his arms and then smiled at Mumbo holding their son so close to him. Mumbo coo’d producing a trill like sound to the baby who opened its eyes before Mumbo leaned down and dragged his tongue over the boy’s forehead to clean some of the yolk off of him. Scar bounced up and rushed to get towels for the babies before he made his way back to the nest.

“Send a message to Xisuma that they’ve hatched,” Mumbo murmured as he cleaned off their son gently from the yolk, big green eyes staring up at him from his arms as he rubbed the yolk off of the baby. “Tell him we’re not accepting visitors outside of him or one of the doctors for a while. He’ll understand. Bdubs didn’t want anyone when his pup was born either.”

“Have you been talking to Bdubs?”

“Etho”

“Oh”

Mumbo stared at Scar for a moment with a raised eyebrow before he stood up with their son and made his way to the changing table, placing the baby there and getting him into a diaper and swaddled with the proper blanket that Scar had picked out for his baby. Then he motioned for their daughter, switching her out and doing the same but for Grian’s blanket. Mumbo kissed both of the babies on the heads giving an experimental lick to make sure the yolk was gone before he handed them back to the wrong parent, handing the boy to Grian and the girl to Scar.

Mumbo smiled at them gently before he yawned and made his way back to the nest, laying down and wrapping himself up in the blanket. Scar and Grian followed awkwardly, watching their omega get comfortable without them or the new babies. Scar looked at the little girl in his arms and smiled at her big brown eyes staring up at him intently. He coo’d at her for a moment, watching as she squirmed in the swaddle for a moment before letting out a big yawn that left Scar smiling down at her. Then he took a moment to look over to where Grian held his son in his arms and felt a pang of jealousy at the fact that his son was already fast asleep in the avian’s arms. Scar huffed before he placed Grian’s daughter into the large crib, motioning for Grian to hand his son over to go down with her.

He stared at the twins for a little while before he smiled at them and leaned down, kissing each of their foreheads before he pulled Grian to lay down with Mumbo. Scar shimmied out of his pants and tossed them to the side, taking the front of Mumbo and pressing against him as Grian took Mumbo’s back. They could name the babies in the morning when Mumbo wasn’t determined to sleep away the night.

Chapter Text

Etho woke up to an empty bed, the smell of Bdubs still ever present as he sat up and shook his head. He climbed out of bed and began to stalk down the base’s hall, eyes on the look out for open doors that may give way to where Bdubs had moved to. Instead, he walked right into the nursery where Bdubs was curled up in the nest, the baby fast asleep in his arms. The alpha sighed as he stepped into the nest and dropped down to sit cross legged next to the baby and Bdubs before he spoke, startling the man.

“Dubs. You can’t be with her every waking moment.”

Bdubs frowned at the statement before he pulled the baby's hair back into a tiny pigtail and secured it on the top of her head. Her little ears twitched as she shifted and rolled over onto her stomach in her sleep, drifting back off as soon as she did. Bdubs sighed, ears pinning to the back of his skull before he spoke up.

“Etho… Look at her though! She’s so small and little and cute and… I just can’t help it, she's my baby! Everest is just… she’s so cute!”

Etho chuckled before he laid down as his commlink went off.

MumboJumbo has earned the [Double the Love] Achievement!

MumboJumbo has earned the [Parenthood] Achievement!

Grian has earned the [Parenthood] Achievement

GoodtimewithScar has earned the [Parenthood] Achievement!

Etho chuckled, “I think Mumbo’s eggs just hatched. Looks like Grian and Scar got one each.”

Dubs pouted as he pulled out his comm to stare at the achievements before he pressed his nose to his daughter, Everest squirming slightly at the cold touch from her father.

Everest coo’d as she woke up, tiny eyes battling against the light to squirm and roll back over onto her back. She stared up at her parents' faces before giggling, kicking her arms and legs out as her tail swished slightly from where it stuck straight out. Etho smiled at her, leaning down and pulling his mask down to kiss her on the forehead as Dubs wrapped his arms around her and scooped her up, pulling at his shirt slightly.

Dubs had all but out right rejected Xisuma’s offer to get formula for Everest when she was born, Dubs insisting he could be a good omega and feed her himself. Etho was… less than fond of the idea that he wouldn’t be able to feed his child but was more than happy to allow Dubs what made him happy, especially with the omega’s freakouts about not being good enough for him. It had all but started out as a simple spiral while they first were dating but had become more intense as their relationship progressed. Dubs used to be a show dog, pretty in pageants and similar things that just left Etho feeling… less than pleased.

Bdubs has promised that Everest would not be involved in the show dog life, regardless of what hybrid she ended up being and so far he had stuck to it, not even so much as implying that she would do great in one. Dubs on the other hand found himself constantly judging his new found features from having Everest. The hip handles, the chub of fat that sat over his stomach, the way that his body hadn’t bounced back like Mumbo’s had after he laid the clutch. Bdubs found it all annoying.

Even Impulse hadn’t changed as much when he, Ren and Doc announced that they had mistimed Impulse’s heat and ended up expecting! Impulse had even gotten pregnant before Bdubs, leaving the dog hybrid whimpering and whining to Xisuma about needing fertility pills from outside the server brought in- something the Beta had out right refused to allow on Hermitcraft, leaving Dubs scrambling to try to induce his heat early.

Etho frowned for a moment before he spoke up, “I can see the gears turning in your head Bdubs. You're thinking about things that you don’t need to be thinking about again aren’t you.”

Dubs sighed as he let Everest nurse, holding their daughter close as one of her little hands squeezed and unsqueezed at his shirt where it was bunched up around her head. “I just… I just wish my body bounced back like Impulse and Mumbo’s did! I don’t regret having Everest at all but, they bounced back so easily! I mean, you saw Impulse the other day when they brought some baby clothes that were better for Everest instead of their son!”

Etho sighed as he sat up and moved to wrap his arms around his lover and baby before he smiled gently and nudged Bdubs. “Impulse also nearly died bringing their son into the world. His body bounced back because he did respawn nearly immediately after the birth Dubs, not because of some secret method you're missing.”

Immediately guilt washed over Bdubs and he sighed, shaking his head. Impulse and Dubs were… they USED to be close at least, double life had made the two omegas soulmates in a way the rest of the server didn’t understand. While now their relationship had faded to platonic that didn’t get rid of the compatibility the two had. Impulse had gotten pregnant by accident, completely unaware that player breeding had even been turned off and he had… not reacted well to the news. Impulse had gone off server for the majority of the pregnancy, staying in a single player world away from his concerned mates. When Impulse came back it was mere days before their son was born and they had to call Xisuma for the birth when Impulse had started getting dangerously low on health. Dubs hadn’t even taken more than a half heart of damage but Impulse had continually taken damage throughout the labor.

Xisuma had been worried about permadeath being involved and had set Impulse to creative so they could finish out the labor, pushing the demon to the edge of his limit. The minute Impulse had been put back into survival he had lost the last heart he had and respawned, waking up shaking and crying out in pain. Xisuma had made the decision then to modify Impulse’s code so he couldn’t carry any more children on Hermitcraft, which Doc and Ren were more than happy to support Xisuma’s choice as Impulse could barely stay awake. Their son would be their only, unless Impulse decided to carry outside of Hermitcraft and come back when the baby was born.

Dubs sighed as he Everest unlatched, wiggling in her father’s grasp as Dubs moved to burp her, gently patting her back as he did so.

“I know. I know It’s not fair to Impulse for me to be so jealous of the fact he bounced back. He was miserable the entire time. He never even messaged me to congratulate me on Everest when we got pregnant! He just ignored it! And then he went off on survival singleplayer and-”

“He also didn’t talk to Ren or Doc, Bdubs. Those are his mates and frankly hold a little higher than-”

“I was his mate!”

The two stared at each other for a moment, Bdubs mouth hanging open before he rushed to apologize, “Etho I’m sorry I- I know you don’t like when I bring up that I’m sorry.”

Etho just sighed as he pulled away from Dubs and took his hand gently, running his thumb over Dubs’ knuckles gently before he shook his head and smiled at his partner gently.

“You’re upset. I know you are. You didn’t say that to hurt me like you used to.”

A pang of guilt hit Dubs chest and his ears flattened against his skull and he looked down, staring at Everest intently. She was all Etho, with the white hair and blue eyes, even if she was tan like Dubs was. She looked like she would blend into the snow if they put her down in it. He sighed, shoulders shaking as he looked up to Etho and frowned.

Etho just smiled as he stood up, moving away from Dubs and Everest and out of the nest. “I’m gonna go check in with Xisuma Dubs. Try and get Everest back down and get some sleep yourself. You haven’t slept like you usually do.”

With that, Etho left the room and then the base to go find Xisuma, shooting the admin a quick text message. He found him at one of the many shops, raising an eyebrow as Xisuma worked on something. The void axolotl turned around and nearly jumped before he eased his hands down and tilted his head at Etho staring at him. “What? Do I have something on me?”

Etho laughed and shook his head, “No, I just wanted to ask about Mumbo’s achievement. Double the love?”

“Twins. Two eggs hatched so it counts them as twins rather than a clutch,” Xisuma explained as he began to walk, Etho following after. “But because they were only one to Grian and one to Scar, they didn’t earn the achievement. It only counts as Mumbo having twins. His code should react accordingly to the twins and we’ll have a paranoid parent on our hands but for right now Mumbo’s code is in an in-between state between the clutch laying and hatching.”

Etho nodded before he crossed his arms. “How’s Impulse? Dubs was-”

“If Dubs wants to know how Impulse is doing then Dubs can ask Impulse himself. Ren and Doc have asked for privacy with their family while Impulse recovers from how traumatic that birth was.”

An ear flicked as Xisuma stopped and turned to face Etho before the void axoltol sighed intently. “TFC will be back from retirement soon to see Mumbo and the babies. Mumbo asked that people just let his dad see him and his family without any pushing. He knows how much we all miss him but they want it solely for family time.”

Etho nodded along before he shook his head and opened his mouth to speak.

“No, I don’t know how long he’s staying. He’s got big plans to leave back on his cruise thing after he’s done visiting Mumbo.”

“I was going to ask about getting Everest more clothes actually.”

“Oh,” Xisuma paused before he opened the panel on his wrist and looked at it for a while. “We can go now? I would like to stay with you when we go to the main hub just because Dubs would kill me if you got lost and couldn’t get back to Hermitcraft.”

Etho chuckled and nodded before he walked alongside Xisuma to the main portal, a few taps before it activated with a swirling blue portal cast and Xisuma stepped in.

Etho followed, shaking his coding out as he stepped through to the main portal hub and followed Xisuma towards the baby part of the shopping district. Normally Xisuma handled all the off server things by himself after a mishap with Joel running off to a multiplayer server called Empires without telling the other hermits, leaving them freaking out until he returned and explained with ease where he was and why it wasn’t a worry.

Etho stepped over a bridge, tails swishing as he trailed after the other, motioning the axoltol to stop when he spotted a dress he liked. Dipping into the quiet vintage style dress store, he looked through the racks for things in Everest’s size that were also practical for her. Xisuma turned, “Everest has white hair right? What about this?”

Etho turned his head and hummed as he stared at the pretty sage green dress that Xisuma held up before he nodded slowly, Dubs liked green. A lot. A cute pink headband would go great with the lacy dress.

“Yeah, Dubs will like that. I was gonna grab this one, but-”

“Grab as many as you want Etho, I’ll cover it.”

“Are you sure Xisuma?”

“Yeah. Everest is my niece anyways,” he smiled as he draped the green dress over his arm, taking the blue one that Etho was holding and layering it on top. Together the two picked out a few more dresses and some clothing sets.

“So what did Mumbo name the twins?”

“Meeka is Scar’s. Vilidia is Grian’s.”

“Cute.”

“And before you ask, it’s obvious which is which. It’s obvious. Meeka has this grey tint to his skin and Vilidia’s well… she’s a bird.”

Etho laughed, shaking his head as Xisuma handed a card over to the worker with the outfits, each one folded and placed in a bag. Etho nodded in thanks as he took the bags and stepped back onto the street before he turned his head to Xisuma and tilted it, ear flicking slightly before he spoke.

“Where to next?”