First you decide to get some extra help

Dealing with Linneth on her own was hard, but only because she was the first and none of you really knew what you were doing. By the time Annalinne and Karalinne arrived you, Doe and Linne were better prepared. But now, with Linneth getting ever bigger and more curious and her new sisters Raelinne and Angelinne adding to the workload there just aren't enough eyes available to watch them all.

So one day you decide to head down to the orphanage to get some additional help. Long ago Linne mentioned a few things and you filed them away in the back of your mind. There's a fearless little girl called Vellemia, she's probably about 14 now. She was the first to interact with Doe and always made a point of riding on her back and talking to her. Doe has a soft spot for the orhpan children in general, but Vellemia is probably the one she's dealt with the most. And Vellemia, if Linne's right, really loved Lamias for some reason.

Just as important is Vellemia's older sister, Sarannis. She's got to be 19 or maybe 20 by now and she helps out a lot at the orphanage. That's nice and all, but what the orphanage really wants is for girls like Sarannis to find work, often as a maid, a cook or server. Some kind of job which they can use to help pay back some of the cost of raising them. Sarannis should have found work as a maid, but she's so shy that her three attempts have all been failures. She's not just shy but also quite pretty, so you're willing to bet her rejections may have been due to the ladies of the house feeling threatened.

Still, that makes for a lovely opportunity for you. With five lamia babies to take care of you heard the news of Sarannis' latest employment falling through and you went out 'to buy some groceries'. A somewhat **** shy girl and a lamia loving tomboy are a terrible match for most households, but a perfect fit for yours. At the orphanage you find Sarannis helping to chop the onions for the evening meal. When you make the offer you think she's glad she was literally cutting onions so she has an excuse for how much she's crying. When you then suggest that Vellemia's probably old enough to help and that you wouldn't want to break them up she can't even speak in reply.

Returning home you pick up various food and some cuts of meat for dinner. When you show up with a pair of orphan girls Doe chews you out for doing something like this behind her back, but her tired smile tells you how she really feels. That and the way her eyes sparkle when Vellemia begs to see the newborns. As for Sarannis, she gets ambushed by Linne, who's so excited that she hugs her, runs outside and sprints around the yard, then comes back for a second hug.

At first, Sarannis is worried about all the little details. She balks at the idea of her and Vellemia eating at the same table as all of you, since that would not be okay in most noble households. Doe tells her, "You're working for a mage who's married to two women and neither of us are normal either. Forget what other people would do or think."

Linne drags Sarannis to the table, practically carrying her there. She ask, "How can we ask a woman who's helping take care of our little ones to eat in her room?"

Despite being younger, more of a tomboy, and generally a lot less responsible it's Vellemia who takes to caring for all your daughters. She's playing peek-a-boo with Karalinne in no time and she soon learns just the right way to sit so either Karalinne or Annalinne can coil round her for warmth. Linneth is eager to play with her new caretaker too. The only big problem for the younger girl is that your daughters are all convinced that anyone with breasts ought to be able to provide a meal for them and they get put out when Vellemia won't even open her blouse for them.

At least for the first few days every time Vellemia doesn't 'cooperate' with your daughter's desire for food Linne will swoop in and take care of them. Vellemia, who's not nearly as discreet as Sarannis, tends to hang out with Linne during these feedings. At dinner one night she tells everyone she's amazed at how much milk these lamias can drink. Her poor older sister nearly chokes on her beer at that.

It turns out to be a bit of a blessing though - there's often too many lamias to feed at once, but while two suckle at Doe or Linne's teats a third will now end up in Vellemia's care, often getting tickled and cuddled to distract them until Linne or Doe is free to feed them. And Linneth, now able to manage some gruel and other softer foods, is quite happy to have Vellemia feed her. Maybe it's because Vellemia often adds a bit more honey than your wives do.

Within a week you know that neither Sarannis or Vellemia is likely to leave. Sarannis is clearly used to being treated as the lowliest grade of help at other houses. Here, she's got her sister close by, she eats at the dinner table, she gets sent out with a full purse to fetch supplies and she often gets pulled in for a hug by Linne, who's very pleased to have all the extra help. For someone who spent the last several years without a family it's an unfair amount of attention. Not surprisingly she soon breaks down and cries, only to get wrapped up in Doe's coils until she's alright.

As for Vellemia, it's even simpler - she quickly told you that she absolutely adores most reptiles. But she had an even bigger fascination with snakes, something that always got her in trouble at the orphanage. And lamias? A giant half-snake, half-woman you can talk to? She's been in love ever since Doe visited the orphanage. You couldn't ask for anyone better to play with your daughters. Even as young as they are their tails have a surprising amount of strength, so you worry most people wouldn't want to get too close. Vellemia not only gets close, she giggles and squeals whenever your children coil round her belly.

By the time Doe's womb is ready for yet more children you've got a happy little nursey going. The children have all been fed, the sisters are seeing to them... all that's left to be decided is who you're going to mate with first and how many children you intend to father. Two would be the conventional choice, but Doe definitely has a thing for twins... and Linne has said again and again that she's heard from other cataurs that their births have been comparatively comfortable. A shame that your wives, as always, won't just come out and say what they want. Life could be so much simpler if they were honest with you, each other and themselves.