As Lucian Vane checked Ivy Shen's pulse, the whole group fell silent, waiting for the verdict.
"Ivy... Ivy..." Lucian's hands trembled as he let go of Ivy Shen's hand, his own hands and lips shaking uncontrollably.
Seeing this, everyone panicked. "What happened? What's wrong with Ivy?" What kind of look was that? Why did Lucian look so freaked out?
"What's wrong?" Ivy frowned slightly, confused by Lucian Vane's expression. What's the deal? She'd just had a bad night's sleep—was it really worth all this drama?
"What's wrong? Just spit it out!" Butterfly Rogue blurted, totally losing his patience.
Seeing that, Ethan Chu got anxious too. In the next second, he grabbed Ivy's hand and checked her pulse himself. If you want something done right, do it yourself.
A few seconds later...
"Ivy... Ivy, you... you..." Ethan Chu's eyes went even wider than Lucian's, his mouth practically big enough to swallow an egg.
"What's going on? Just say something!" Adrian Night couldn't hold it in and yelled.
"Yeah, Sixth Brother, what's the deal? Don't just stand there like a statue—spit it out!" Butterfly Rogue was frantic. Ivy mattered more than life itself, and seeing those weird faces made his heart nearly leap out of his throat.
"What's wrong with my wife? What's wrong?" Liam Willow stomped anxiously, freaked out by their faces.
Seeing Liam Willow so worked up, Colin Kerr started panicking too. These days, Liam's every mood was contagious—if Liam was happy, he was happy; if Liam was sad, he was sad; if Liam was anxious, Colin was anxious right along with him.
"Ivy... Ivy is... pregnant!" Lucian Vane blurted out, enunciating every word for maximum drama.
"What?!" everyone shouted at once.
"Nani?!" Ivy Shen yelped.
"Ivy's pregnant—it's a joy pulse!" Ethan Chu said, positively beaming.
Everyone froze for a second, then exploded into cheers. "Ivy's pregnant—that means we're gonna be dads, right?!"
"Little sister!" Yvonne Li's eyes sparkled with happiness. Wait—did this mean she was about to become an aunt?!
"Pregnant?" Ivy Shen muttered, still in shock.
None of the seven men noticed Ivy Shen's bizarre face—too busy bouncing and hollering, literally jumping for joy like a pack of giant, overgrown toddlers let loose in a candy store.
"We're gonna be dads! We're gonna be dads!" The seven husbands shrieked, voices cracking, as they bounced around like they’d won a lifetime supply of snacks.
"AAHHHH—" Finally, Ivy Shen clapped her hands over her ears and let out a banshee scream, drowning in the chaos.
"Ivy! Wifey! Little sister, what's wrong?" Everyone swarmed her like anxious zookeepers protecting a precious panda, faces scrunched in worry.
"No, no, I don't want to be pregnant! I don't want to lay an egg!" For a split second, Ivy's brain short-circuited—she pictured that serpent-woman giving birth: push, push, PUSH, and then—'pop!'—out slid a shiny white egg. Nightmare fuel!
Wait, is she really supposed to do that?
What if she has to hatch an egg, too?!
Nope, nope, nope—absolutely not!
She refuses! Not in this lifetime!
Ivy Shen bulldozed her way through the crowd, bolted for her room, and with one dramatic swing—CLACK!—locked the door tight, triple-checking the bolt so not even a snake could slither in after her.
"Ivy! Wifey! Little sister!" The whole crowd stampeded to her door, pounding on it like she was the last panda in the zoo, frantic and out of control.
"Don't bug me! I need to be alone!" Ivy wailed from inside. The guys exchanged helpless looks—what was with her meltdown?
Pregnant—seriously? Wasn't this supposed to be a happy thing? She was about to be a mom, for crying out loud!
But as everyone partied outside, Ivy just couldn't get in the mood. Pregnant? How is that even possible?!
She'd been SO careful! She made them finish outside every single time, even if it drove them nuts and had them gnashing their teeth. No way should she be pregnant!
Wait—her eyes snapped open. Did they sneak one past her?
No way. Impossible!
Then another thought crashed in—maybe, just maybe, back in Flame Valley, they forgot the rules?
Oh my god, no way—she doesn't want a baby! Correction: she absolutely does NOT want to lay an egg!
And seriously, this was way too sudden! She still had a million things to do—rescue her sister, take down Jude Song. How could she be pregnant now? Was she supposed to march onto the battlefield with a giant belly?
Battlefield, fine—but what if she popped out an egg mid-fight?
Nope, not happening. Ivy shook her head—she was way too young for all this!
She still had so much left to do! After her missions, she wanted to travel every inch of the Serpent Realm (bucket list: play everywhere). If she had a kid, how was she supposed to drag a little one around sightseeing? Ugh—she grabbed her hair, shook her head, and summed it up: No way, no eggs!
But while Ivy Shen was in total denial, the guys outside were having the time of their lives arguing about it.
"The baby's definitely mine!" Caleb Miles grinned, already counting with his abacus.
"Pfft, as if! It's obviously mine. Heh, the kid's gonna be a total heartbreaker the moment he's born!" Butterfly Rogue cackled.
"Yeah right, your kid? What, so Ivy's supposed to give birth to a little thief? Embarrassing! Nah, it's gotta be mine—think about it, with my medical skills? Legendary!" Lucian Vane tilted his head, already imagining a kid even more handsome than him, flinging silver needles everywhere.
"Get real! Your kid? Wouldn't that be terrifying? A little poison master crawling around—nobody would be safe!" Butterfly Rogue shot back.
"Shouldn't it be mine?" Eli Crane said with a gentle, breezy smile.
"No way, it's mine! Ivy's giving Chu Kingdom a little prince!" Ethan Chu insisted, not to be outdone.
"I... I think it might be mine?" Liam Willow said weakly. Honestly, he and Ivy had spent a lot of time together lately—so maybe it was his?
(This chapter totally isn't over yet! ^.^ Smash that next-page button and keep reading—don't miss the drama!)
"It's definitely mine!" Caleb Miles yelled. "My kid's gonna be able to calculate every treasure in the world!"
"Give it a rest, dream on! With your scheming, we don't need another one like you." Ethan Chu shook his head, totally speechless at Caleb's obsession with numbers.
"Stop fighting! The kid's obviously mine!" Adrian Night suddenly shouted. "I was the first to marry her, so it's gotta be mine!"
Cue a chorus of epic eye-rolls—like, seriously, what does being first to marry have to do with anything?
"Master, they're fighting so hard!" Pinkie whispered.
"Mm-hmm."
"Master, do you think little master is having a boy or a girl?" Lanny asked, super curious.
"I hope it's twins—one boy and one girl!" Yvonne Li said happily. Ever since she started cultivating that technique, she hadn't been able to have kids. Now, hearing her sister was pregnant, she was even happier than if it were her own.
"Can we figure out when Ivy got pregnant? Then we'd know whose kid it is!" Eli Crane suddenly suggested.
"Wait a sec!" Eli Crane's words made Lucian Vane pause. Lucian frowned, thinking hard about Ivy's pulse, then said, "This is definitely a joy pulse, but it's so subtle you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely. That means... it's only just appeared. So..." After a moment, Lucian declared, "Flame Valley!"
"What?" Everyone stared, stunned.
"That's right. If my guess is correct, the baby was conceived back in Flame Valley," Lucian Vane explained.
Everyone frowned. With that timing, there was no way to figure out who the real dad was—after all, that was a seven-way free-for-all! Who knew which one of them got lucky?
"Doesn't matter—no matter what, Ivy's kid is all of ours. We're all going to be dads," Adrian Night said quickly.
"Absolutely!" they all shouted, voices overlapping. Didn’t matter whose genes won—this kid was going to be everyone's pride and joy.
Still...
They still desperately wanted to know: who was the actual dad?!
"Quit fighting! When Ivy pops out the baby, just check the tail color! Easy!" Yvonne Li laughed, watching the guys squabble like happy idiots over a kid who wasn’t even born yet.
"Oh, right!" Everyone nodded like bobbleheads. Five months—just five months! Piece of cake, right?
******** Scene Break ********
PS: Oh oh oh, shower me with tips—any and all, I’ll take ‘em! Hehe. Wanna see Ivy lay her egg? Wanna know whose egg it is? Want the inside scoop on what wild twists are coming next? Hit that follow and stick around—it's gonna be a riot, promise! ROAR~~!