"Which brings us to the next thing we want to talk with you about." Leonardo smiled.
"Come sit by me and let me check your health for a moment." Leonardo reached out and pulled her hand.
He began laying his warm glowing hands on her back, her chest, her stomach and her head. That single quick health check from him showed what he had known all along.
"At this moment, Love, you have a single Avgo shard within your womb from Slate." He indicated with a nod at Slate.
"It's hanging out and drawing sustenance from you. That's why you are so tired."
"Drawing sustenance? You mean like a—a parasite?"
Leonardo laughed. "In a sense, yes. But it's not what you think."
"All embryos are parasites of their mothers. They have no choice. They have to feed off their mothers to stay alive until they can be born and can feed on their own."
Candace waved a hand in protest.
"I would never call my own child a parasite. I would gladly give of myself for my child. But this isn't my child, is it? It's an Avgo piece."
"You should think of this Avgo shard as your child, because it will be in the future, once it combines with your egg. It's just missing some pieces in order to be fully-assembled."
Candace took a deep breath. She had figured something of the sort.
"I need all of your pieces don't I?" She asked although she already knew the answer.
Leonardo nodded. "If the Avgo shards are not allowed to recombine…"
"Then I'll be lethargic and exhausted like this for the rest of my life?" Candy asked.
Leonardo shrugged. "I don't know, Darling, but it seems as if the Avgo has made its demands. It wants to be born."
Candace pressed her lips together.
How in the world did she go from being an archaeologist by day and a cat burglar by night, to suddenly becoming a wife and mother in the span of mere weeks???
And all because she stole an Avgo gemstone that had a mind of its own.
"Not even born yet and already a demanding brat." She sniffed.
The men laughed.
Candace bit her bottom lip in thought, unaware of the adoring glances the brothers gave her for that very endearing trait of hers.
They all looked as if they had resigned themselves to carrying this through. Perhaps since they were bat men and not humans, their idea of sharing a female wasn't abhorrent or strange, but it sure was strange to Candace.
But truth be told, all sorts of strange things had been happening to her lately that this was just one more strange thing to shrug, accept, and roll with the punches.
"It looks like I'm going to have to spend time with each of you." She murmured.
They all nodded, each holding their breath. Please God, don't let her reject any one of them.
Candace squeezed her eyes shut, missing out on their worried glances.
"I wasn't even told that I would have three husbands. Tch! If the Emperor going to marry me off to three of his sons, he should have at least said something to me first!" She clicked her tongue in irritation.
"Next time I meet the Emperor, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!" She fumed.
The men roared with laughter. This was the fiery woman they knew and loved. She was fearless.
The men's laughter startled her out of her reveries.
"So what do you have in mind? I'm sure you men have talked it over amongst yourselves."
Slate cleared his throat.
"Since there are seven of us, we figured we could…"
"Hit me up with a different brother each night?" Candace interrupted.
She waggled a finger in his face. "Nope!"
The brothers looked at each other with some alarm. This was not going as well as they'd hoped. Was she going to reject one or more of them?
"I know there are seven of you and the easiest thing for you men would be to just take a single day of the week and come visit me, but I cannot handle that." She waved a hand in protest.
"But Darling…" Byron sighed. "You're our wife. Are we not allowed to spend any time with you?"
"I didn't say that, now did I." She raised her chin at him. "But this blasted Avgo shard is making me so tired, I can barely keep awake."
She heaved a deep sigh. "I need more time."
"What are your thoughts? Please share them with us." Lucas murmured.
Candace thought about it for a few minutes. Then her hazel eyes glowed.
"One per week." She held up a single finger. "At least for now, while I'm still so tired from this Avgo shard. We could possibly switch it to more frequently later, but for now, this is all I can handle."
"One per week…" Slate frowned. "Does that mean—"
"Yes, that's exactly what it means." Candace faced him with a fierce look. "You took your turn early so you get to go to the back of the line and wait your turn in seven weeks."
"But Baby…I don't know if I can wait that long…" he looked pained.
"You're a big strong man. You can handle it." She was firm, even as Slate's face melted in sorrow.
"Wait, I don't understand, Love." Leonardo held up a hand. "Does this mean you will meet up with one of us for a single day out of the week, and then the rest of the week is off-limits?"
Candace stared at Leonardo.
"No. I didn't say that." She said with sass, waggling her finger at him.
"If this is your week, you will stay with me the entire week, during which time, we will be alone together for as much as your work allows."
"Ohhhh!!!" The men exclaimed, looking at each other with newfound excitement.
This was a very different scenario, and one that they were excited to move towards. To have an entire week all alone with their wife was something they could hardly wait to experience.
It seemed, talking it over with Candace and having her make some decisions was infinitely better than trying to decide all of this without her. She really was a very decisive and reasonable woman to deal with.
"So who wants to be next?" Candace smiled.
Dante stood up and threw the seven data chips that he still had up into the air. They hovered between the men, waiting as if in anticipation to be picked.
They all looked at each other and slowly reached out for a single shining data chip.
Dante again, was the last one.
With the single chip, unchosen, still hovering in midair, he waved a hand in an elegant gesture.
All the data chip surfaces glowed a number in a light blue color. Byron got 5, Lucas got 2, Leonardo got 6, Jason got 3, Jared got 4, and Slate got 7.
Candace glanced around, noting the numbers they held, but in truth, the only one that mattered to Candace was the one that had the number 1 shining brightly at the center of the white chip.
It was hovering in midair, in front of Dante. The last one that did not get picked.
"Looks like you're first, Dante." She grinned.