Chapter 23:

　　The seasons passed, the year turned, and soon enough an entire new batch of children had arrived. Though I had sex with everyone equally, obviously the ones who were nursing their infants were in no shape to get pregnant again, so overall the second brood was smaller than the first.

　　The mothers to be this time around were: Honoka, Kudryavka, Azusa, Elize, Cheria, Rydia, Tifa, Yuna, Nagisa, Nanoha, Fate, Deedlit, Sora, Sakura Yoshino, Aisia, Sae, Reina, Kobeni, Nico, Chiwa, Sakura Mamiya, Akane and Iris.

　　Honoka's daughter was named Nagisa Yukishiro.

　　Kudryavka's daughter was named Kaya Noumi.

　　Azusa's son was named Kenichi Nakano.

　　Elize's daughter was named Milla Lutus.

　　Cheria's son was named Asbel Barnes.

　　Rydia's son was named Cecil Mist.

　　Tifa's son was named Cloud Lockhart.

　　Yuna's daughter was named Hasumi Sea.

　　Nagisa's son was named Tomoya Furukawa.

　　Nanoha's daughter was named Vivio Takamachi.

　　Fate's daughter was named Caro Testarossa.

　　Deedlit's daughter was named Egwene Glade.

　　Sora's daughter was named Hina Takanashi.

　　Sakura Yoshino's son was named Yoshiyuki Yoshino.

　　Aisia's son was named Jun'ichi Snow.

　　Sae's son was named Junichi Nakata.

　　Reina's daughter was named Rika Ryuugu.

　　Kobeni's daughter was named Mashiro Yonomori.

　　Nico's son was named Agito Yazawa.

　　Chiwa's daughter was named Ai Harusaki.

　　Sakura Mamiya's son was named Rinne Mamiya.

　　Akane's son was named Kou Tsukishima.

　　Iris' daughter was named Ren Freyja.

　　All in all, 23 additional children, 12 daughters and 11 sons. Some of the mothers had children that were straight out of the canon source work -- for instance Kud with Kaya or Nanoha with Vivio, so I was delighted with the result. Others weren't so lucky. For some reason Nagisa had a son instead of a daughter, so we would have to wait for Ushio to join us in this world yet again. It just made me revved up for my chance with her next time. There was no way I would stop impregnating Nagisa until Ushio told me, "Papa, daisuki" in a non-heartbreaking situation.

　　I was happy for all of my mothers, though. To see Wakaba reunited with Kou, Tifa with Cloud or Honoka with Nagisa, how could I not be happy? Of course they wouldn't be the same, but I felt there was power and magic just in the name. Just in the thought they were here now with us, in this world, together at last. Sakura Mamiya had her little Rinne, Sakura Yoshino had given birth (this time naturally) to her son Yoshiyuki, Rydia had her very own Cecil, and all was right with the world. Things were as they should be.

　　One step at a time I would give these girls back everything they had lost from their origins with interest. By the time our eternal lives were over I wouldn't leave them with any regrets.

　　So long as the babies were only nursing at their mothers' breasts, crying for no reason, dirtying their diapers and sleeping, I had exactly zero interest in them. They were more grubs than human beings, with whom I could have no meaningful exchanges. I left everything to the mothers and carried on my important responsibilities as Mayor. (like keeping up with all my favorite anime.)

　　I was the father of 54 children, but none of them were walking and talking so it may as well have still been 0. Even once they hit two years old, the only words they generally spoke were "Mama," to get attention, "No," to say they didn't want to do something, and "Mine" to take whatever they felt like, whether it was theirs or not.

　　I was fine waving hi to my babies, but until they could at least string a sentence together they weren't worth my time. Maybe I'd try to have a chat with them once they were 5. Before then they would forget anything I said anyway, so really what was the point?

　　The one thing I felt was truly my responsibility, as the person who named my children in the first place, was to remember all their names, so that when the time came that they did develop separate personalities, I could identify and address each of them as a unique special snowflake. Not as 'you,' or 'brat,' or 'hey,' but as 'Yukino' or 'Takashi' or 'Shou.'

　　I would have to memorize them quickly, because I had taken Asa's words of warning to heart. This year, year 4 Eden Time (4 E.T.), I'd be sleeping only with the girls who hadn't gotten pregnant yet, so that everyone could keep pace with each other as much as possible. Incidentally, I'd lifted the embargo on Ai, Miu and Rin Nohara's aging so that they could at least reach puberty and join in the fun too. Their loli beauty shouldn't suffer too much from reaching age 12. (Surely, right? I fretted to myself that even 12 was reaching old hag territory. . .). The wives lucky enough to have children already would just have to focus on their children for awhile. And that meant an entire additional motherlode of children was on its way.

　　I hoped Azusa and Nico were at least happy with their new babies. Maybe they'd never truly warm to me, (though you'd be amazed what people could get accustomed to if you saturate them in it long enough) but at least they were now firmly members of the community. They now had a stake in this village and people who cared about them just like everyone else. Kenichi and Agito. Kenichi and Agito. I had to memorize all these damn names.

　　"Ah, mou. Urusai Urusai Urusai!" Shana transformed into a red eyed, red haired flaming demon and blasted the water in our power plant into steam, sending the turbine spinning like hell on wheels. I felt like I could actually see our battery banks charging before my eyes.

　　"Is something wrong?" I approached her tentatively from across the street.

　　"It's Yuji! He won't stop crying no matter what I do. I carry him, I rock him, I sing to him, and it's never enough. It's just waaaagh, waaaaagh." Shana impersonated her son, her flames blazing forth even hotter than before.

　　"Sounds tough," I commiserated with her.

　　"Usually I could punch him or kick him like I always did you, or draw my sword and swing it a few times near his face to put the fear of Shana into him, but I can't do anything when my opponent is my own baby. I have to just sit there and beg, beg for him to listen to Mama and go to sleep." Shana looked like she was going to melt down the entire power plant.

　　"I'm the Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite! Contracted to the most powerful Guze no Tomogara, Alastor! Why does Yuji get to boss me around all day every day???" Shana screamed.

　　"Because you brought him into this world?" I offered helpfully.

　　"Urusai Urusai Urusai! I distinctly remember you participating in that event, but here you are happily strolling through the streets with your hands in your pockets, whistling!" Shana turned on me. Which was for the best because the power plant really couldn't have taken any more.

　　"Is there anything I can do to make Yuji feel better when even you can't?" I asked, honestly wondering.

　　"There's nothing you can do. Yuji won't listen to anyone. Thank Cute-sama for the daycare center, that's all I have to say." Shana sighed, reverting from her sheathe of flames back into her yamato nadeshiko black haired, brown-eyed form. She was beautiful either way but I hadn't seen her powered up for a long time so it was a real lucky break I came across her this morning.

　　"And now I hear you aren't going to sleep with me anymore because you want to concentrate on the laggards, so there's literally nothing for me to look forward to except Yuji's crying." Shana sighed, kicking the dirt in the road.

　　"First words, first steps, first solid food, first time he masters the toilet?" I offered.

　　"Do you get really excited and thrilled every time I take a step, say a word, eat or go to the bathroom?" Shana asked me archly.

　　". . .I can't say I'm that much of a fetishist." I admitted.

　　"Those things are atarimaida. I don't respect or care for just anyone who can walk in this world. It takes infiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinity more for me to notice someone. They have to wield a gigantic broadsword, slay gods and save the world or who the heck cares?" Shana snapped.

　　"Luckily our world isn't being preyed upon." I said.

　　"How would you know? With your current spiritual power, I could be fighting the Guze no Tomogara every day in subspace and you'd never even notice." Shana said.

　　"Are you?" I asked worriedly.

　　"Hmph! Who knows? Maybe I won't save you next time they come to nibble on your power of existence." Shana tossed her head.

　　"Komarimasu! Save me!" I begged Shana.

　　"I don't even get to date you for the entire year but I still have to fight off all the monsters surrounding you?" Shana's voice rose in pitch at the unreasonableness.

　　"We're immortal." I laughed. "We have plenty of time. Wait, you were immortal even before we got here, shouldn't this amount of time be normal for you?"

　　"I can miss you if I want. I already miss fighting by your side and now I can't even kiss by your side. And all I got was this lousy t-shirt." Shana whimpered.

　　I carefully walked up to her and hugged her to me. Then I leaned down. She closed her eyes and stood on her tiptoes, and we kissed on the lips in the middle of the street.

　　"It's not like we're banned from seeing each other." I told her, after I felt like she had calmed down a bit, (though now a portion of my body was far from calm.) "I'll design a better shirt for you and ask Sae to sew it out. I'll pay for it out of my own salary." I promised.

　　"Oh?" Shana laughed at the ridiculousness of the present. It had only been a turn of phrase but here I was pestering her anyway.

　　"Hmm, what if it were black with small burning red embers floating in a diagonal slash across your torso?" I said, looking her compact but perfectly proportioned body up and down.

　　"Do you think I'd look good in it?" Shana asked, her eyes looking up at me like a lost pet.

　　I pointed at my bulging crotch. "Is there any doubt?"

　　"Baka. After banning me from helping you out with that, look how you've ended up after just one kiss." Shana giggled delightedly.

　　"Let's put a loop around the back of your neck to hold it up so it can bare your shoulders. And sweep it all the way down past your collarbones before the shirt really starts. It should expose your shoulderblades and the indention of your spine down the small of your back on the other side too. Your alabaster skin against the black fabric would be the perfect contrast." I started fantasizing.

　　"If I wore that could you really keep yourself off me?" Shana asked, smirking.

　　"I can at least look at you all I want. You're still my beautiful perfect wife." I puffed out my chest.

　　"I'll wear it when I feel like." Shana stood on her tiptoes and kissed me again, just as long as the first time. Then she dropped back down flat on her feet like a gymnast's landing in a perfectly coordinated thump. "I feel stupid, letting a baby get to me. Just you wait, Christopher, once I'm done raising Yuji he'll be the best mannered kid in the village. And I'll tell him, 'that's your father, the Mayor. He was chosen by God to rule the world, and he chose me to be his wife.'"

　　I felt like I was going to cry again so I bit my cheek instead. "I'd like that. Good work charging our power plant, I think I'll head on over to the studio to make our order."

* * *

　　The mayor's office was down to just Kuon and me. Sakura Mamiya was at home taking care of her newborn son Rinne, while Mirajane was at home taking care of her still one year old daughter Hisui. The same was true everywhere. My village now consisted of majority mothers with young infants who needed constant care and supervision. Sae was able to sew up the shirt I ordered from home while her baby slept, so at least my gift to Shana went as promised. But that was the least of my concerns. With Elize and Cheria giving birth, the hospital was understaffed, the one building that could never be understaffed. For now I had Nekone move over to the hospital to start healing in their place. Which meant there were six doctors working every day, for eight hour shifts in groups of two. But what happened once they also gave birth? It's not like the mothers of the two year olds would be in any better position to come back to work.

　　Even my daycare worker group had been attritted. Sakura Yoshino, Aisia and Chiwa were down for the count, even while the number of babies needing attending had doubled. Sora could no longer help out at the mansion, and Deedlit had simply been ordered to take care of her child while directing her sylphs and undines around to continue our crop irrigation and fertilization needs.

　　The police force was basically annihilated. Nanoha, Fate and Reina were taking care of Vivio, Caro and Rika, so Cute-sama help us if Kuon decided to stage a coup or Rose decided to lay my bones to rest.

　　When we first got here, we had nothing, and we still managed. I was confident we could manage with nothing again, if needs be, but it was frustrating as mayor to see my village planning all go up in smoke. 54 of my precious wives were out of the workforce. Both Iris and Mitsuki had children now, so the dark matter production of diapers was creaking at the seams. And without diapers our village would end in ruin. The mansion only had Myusel and Chtolly left to do all the chores, from cleaning to laundry to dishes to meals. Luckily they were both powerful mages who could do quite a lot of work when they set their minds to it, but was that even mentally healthy? To push so much on so few for so long?

　　It was my job to prioritize critical tasks, assign people to the right places, and let the rest lay fallow. The fact was even more of my girls were going to get pregnant, even more children would need tending to, and if I wanted even remotely similar in age siblings for my children the process could never stop. As soon as I got everyone pregnant for the first time, I would need to redouble my efforts on the wives who had first gotten pregnant, so that brothers or sisters could appear that were at least only three years apart, close enough that they could still enjoy playing with each other.

　　It was like a game of Tetris. The moment you placed a falling block and breathed a sigh of relief, another block started falling even faster that you had to find a way to forcefully fit in. This couldn't go on. As mayor it was my responsibility to look at the bigger picture and find a solution. Should I just place all our babies in cold sleep until their siblings were born, and then mothers could take care of multiple screaming infants at once?

　　Did any of my 100 wives have the power of cold sleep? I leafed through our list of super powers and cradled my head in despair. Sakura Kinomoto could freeze time, but only for a few minutes at best. It was way too severe a drain on her magic power to be used for anything practical. If we could somehow channel the power of the Silver Crystal into Sakura's staff of dreams, maybe something could be done, but it was impossible. The two magical artifacts came from different worlds, operated on different principles, and couldn't interact with each other in the least. Just like Kotori's power spot was the only way to animate her golems, Sakura Kinomoto's own magical power was the only fuel for her own spells.

　　The tavern was a shadow of its former self. With Kobeni, Yuuhi, Akane, Asuna, Tifa and Nagisa down, Makina was the only cook and Aerith the only waitress. I fondly remembered the days I was searching for jobs to give people. How halcyon my woes were back then!

　　The absolutely essential personnel were Mitsuki, Iris, Deedlit, Kotori, Sakura Kinomoto, any six healers, Myusel and Riko. I'd even task wetnurses to feed their babies if needed. It was important for mothers to bond with their children through nursing, but it was even more important that no one died and we stayed sheltered, clothed and fed. Sakura Kinomoto's Appear magic was the only thing clothing all our babies. So far we'd managed to sneak work in while their babies slept, so maybe it wouldn't come to that. But if that list of girls had the same casualty rates as the tavern workers, how would things go? And ultimately the casualty rate was destined to reach 100% I was working diligently to ensure such a scenario every day.

　　"How would you like a cup of tea?" Kuon asked, looking at my pained face with a hint of concern.

　　"I'll drink it if I have to, but I prefer chocolate milk." I replied, still looking for a magic power that could save the day.

　　"You're older than all of us but your tastes are still so childish." Kuon sighed, searching the fridge for milk and the counter for cocoa powder to mix in.

　　"Age is just a number." I waved her off. "If I didn't believe that I wouldn't be marrying nine year olds."

　　"Cute-sama made sure we were okay with all your other wives, which conveniently includes the underage ones. We like to tease you about it but underneath we understand. Ai-chan really is cute. Plus she's shikkari and hardworking, she knows who she wants to be and she strives towards it every day. Her skills and talent are already on level with pros. To me that's an adult, no matter her size." Kuon said, putting the completed glass of chocolate milk down in front of me.

　　"All my younger wives have achieved feats old grannies could never have dreamed of." I agreed. "They all showed a maturity I could envy, overcoming hardships I could never have withstood. I mean, look at Rin Nohara. She died at age 11, after serving in a long and bloody war, losing most of her friends, and finally sacrificing her life to save her village after being possessed by a gigantic tailed beast. I respect her from the bottom of my heart. Do you know how ridiculous, how insulting it would be to call Rin Nohara 'just a child?' Is she an 11 year old who needs to be told how to live, who to love and what to think by 'wiser' adults? Or is she the wiser adult we should all be listening to?"

　　"Illyasviel saved her world from a magical disaster, then went and saved an entirely separate world simply out of generalized love and compassion, even though she could have ignored it and stayed at home. And she risked her life, even her sanity, in every fight for total strangers. Is that 'merely an 11 year old?' Or is that a hero? Is that a role model? Do you know how insane it is for a law code to label her my inferior, just because I managed to eat and sleep and eliminate waste and breathe for 18 years in a row? A freaking comatose patient is officially considered better than her."

　　I downed my chocolate milk in a giant chug and then wished I had more. My throat had become dry from my raised voice in anger at the ridiculousness of Earth's mores. The children of Eden would be raised with a completely different view of adulthood, based on character, on merit, on ability, not absolute nonsense. They were a nuisance right now, but they represented a brilliant golden future, a future where good people would be considered and treated well, and evil people would be considered and treated poorly, without anything arbitrary weighing in on the scales. A generation that believed in justice, just like the name of our shrine.

　　"When I was a child, I hated all my mothers coddling and sheltering me. I wanted to go out and live my life. I was already stronger than most adults by age three. I had to fight a battle just to escape from home and go on my travels, well into my teens." Kuon shook her head in annoyed remembrance. "I understand and agree with all your choices. The more I get to know my sister-wives, the more I respect them, and the more I respect you for respecting them. I've lived around a lot of great people. They were my comrades in war and we achieved great things together. You were one of them. Somehow, even though you'd lost all your memories, you managed to revolutionize the entire world. But even saying that, looking around, I'm startled. I can't help but admit, today the people I live beside are even better than the world I came from. I mean, Nekone, Aruru and Eruru are still here with me, and so are you. But Rulutieh, for instance. Or Ougi. Really good people. They fought through thick and thin for what was right, and were kind and unselfish and helpful with the chores inbetween. But when I compare that to Mitsuki, who killed her own best friend in order to save the D's serving under her command, who risked her life over and over fighting dragons impossibly stronger than her. . . Or take Haruka Saigusa for instance. For her to be judged from day one as somehow evil and filthy, just because she couldn't run as fast as her twin sister, or jump as high, or get as good grades. To be literally tortured every day through no fault of her own, and to still come out of that loving others, having fun, making friends and playing games. It makes you want to cry. . .like, how can anyone be so good?"

　　I smiled and nodded. "Every one of my wives has a story like that. Well, ideally not as sad as that. But they're all amazing in their own way. Our seed corn, with this new world to grow in, is so ridiculously high quality that it would be impossible for me to fail, no matter how bad a ruler I am."

　　"But we're still faced with a labor shortage due to an insatiable dick that rampages through us like a scythe through wheat." Kuon reminded me kindly.

　　"I'd like to punch that bastard in the face." I sighed. "Would it help if we gathered all the babies and mothers together into one place? They could at least chat with each other, not be forced to be stuck in prison with an unthinking crying machine."

　　"But then all the babies would wake each other up crying on their own terms and none of them could get any sleep." Kuon warned.

　　I sighed. Of course she was right. "Then just the opposite. What we really need is soundproof rooms we can stick the babies in. Then we could have a monitor room that makes sure they're all okay with one or two women staffing. And then every three hours or so their mom could come in, nurse them, change their diaper, and then leave again, ready to go back to work."

　　"Babies need to be held. It isn't really their physical health mothers are attending to, it's their mental health." Kuon reminded me.

　　"The Romanian orphanages." I sighed.

　　"Hmm?" Kuon asked.

　　"Back on my world, on Earth, Romania decided to have a lot of kids." I explained to her.

　　"Just like you." Kuon smiled.

　　"Yes well, the mothers didn't want to take care of their own children and so they dumped all the babies in state orphanages. The state provided the babies with everything they needed -- food, shelter, clothing, diaper changes -- but it didn't help. The entire cohort was brain damaged for life. They were complete failures. All because no one loved them, and no one tended to them lovingly like a real mom would. Love is an essential ingredient in life, just like milk. The baby needs both to grow." I narrated.

　　"So every infant, every toddler, needs their very own mother to fuss over them all day long." Kuon summarized. "Or Eden will not survive."

　　"I can't cut any corners with the babies, so I have to cut corners on our work. The amount of work this village does will have to scale back to nigh zero." I sighed. "And not only for a couple years. Since I plan on giving everyone multiple siblings, for more like a decade."

　　"It will be okay." Kuon put her hand over mine. "I know you want to improve the village and give us fun careers so that Paradise won't lose to our original lives, but we have all the time in the world for that. Right now we all decided to have your children, so we'll just have to be mothers for a little while."

　　"It could take decades." I warned. "Decades of nothing but child bearing."

　　"What's twenty years out of a thousand?" Kuon asked. "We voted 100-0 to transition to this, you didn't ask it of us. We were ready to be mothers and now we are. Everyone but me of course." Kuon glowered.

　　"Crying babies from dawn to dusk, for twenty years. How can anyone endure it?" I asked. I knew I couldn't.

　　"Are you really questioning whether Haruka Saigusa can handle a crying baby? Or Chtolly? Or Kudryavka? Or Nagisa? Or Nekone or Lafiel or Sakura Yoshino or Sakura Kinomoto or Mylene or Deedlit or--" Kuon started, until I interrupted her by holding up my hands.

　　"I understand. I'm still underestimating you girls. For people who have been kidnapped, tortured, or won wars, children are literally child's play. I need only trust you and wait for the kids to all grow up enough to enter the school system." I surrendered.

　　"Yoroshi." Kuon's tail wagged with delight at my sunao admission of her correctness.

　　"In that case there isn't much point in my being mayor. I can't direct anyone's labor because there isn't any labor left to direct. I can't make any bold new investments in any new field because there isn't anything to invest. I can't even enforce the law because my whole police force is down and out." I sighed.

　　"Tessa is still ready to arrest any evildoer who disturbs the peace." Kuon pointed out.

　　"Until next year." I laughed in despair. "Is there any point in sitting at this desk anymore? I could use the next decade to catch up on Da Capo. All those visual novels were never translated into English, but now, thanks to Cute-sama, I could read them all."

　　"Why not use this time to get to know your children?" Kuon asked.

　　"It's impossible. There will be hundreds of them soon enough. No one can bond with that many people. My heart is already maxed out with you all." I said sullenly.

　　"Then don't think of it as hanging out with your children. Think of it as hanging out with their mothers. You said it yourself, that they'd be bored out of their minds tending to sub-sentient babies all day. So give them company. Go chat with them. Brew them tea." Kuon urged.

　　"You're a big fan of tea." I smiled.

　　"Actually I prefer sake but I've been banned for the next couple decades." Kuon grimaced.

　　"I do want to catch up on Da Capo." I said. "But very well. I'll start doing home visits too. It only requires walking from my bedroom to theirs in the same darn building. Absent an emergency, consider City Hall closed. There's no city left to command, just a lot of bawling brats. Kuon, I want you healing at the hospital starting tomorrow. Any healer is precious beyond words. There's no point in me keeping you here any longer."

　　"Riko will summon as much food as we need, and Sakura Kinomoto can fix anything that breaks with the wave of her wand. We'll be fine. We'll weather the storm and come out stronger and more united than before." Kuon predicted.

　　"Unless everyone is driven crazy by boredom and irrationally loud fleshy objects." I made my own prediction.

　　"Well, husband, it's been nice knowing you. See you in ten years." Kuon held out her hand.

　　"Once I get you pregnant, I'll do a home stay with you too." I smiled, shaking her hand firmly.

　　"I'm looking forward to it." Kuon's tail matched her words for once, and I felt like I had passed a test in her eyes. It felt pretty good.