"Ral can’t say the word mama in one breath, so he splits it into two." Lith explained to calm them down.
"What did you say?" Kamila asked both her husband and son.
"Ma... ma?" Raldarak’s little hand brushed against her exposed skin to get her attention. "Ma... ma."
"Ask him if he’s saying, mama. Do it!" Kamila refused to believe her own ears.
Lith didn’t argue and did as bidden.
"Yes, he is." Lith replied after another contact with the Dragon Scales. "Ral is also getting worried because you’re ignoring him."
"I’m sorry, sweetie. I was just confused." Kamila held the baby boy tight, giving him her undivided attention. "Say that again, please. Call me mama."
"Ma... ma!" Raldarak said, giggling.
"Yes, my little boy." Kamila started to sob as she peppered Raldarak’s head with kisses. "I’m your mom."
"Ma... ma?"
"He’s-" Lith tried to say.
"I know, and I’m sorry." Kamila broke down crying while lulling the baby boy. "You don’t need to worry, my love. Mommy is just happy."
"You can thank Grandpa and me for this." Lith knelt to her side, embracing both his wife and son.
"What do you mean?" She asked amid wails that would have worried the rest of the family sick if not for the Guardians Hushing them.
"Well, after Grandpa taught Ely how to say dad in draconic, we often repeated the word mama to Ral." Lith replied.
"We did the same with Elysia, but it didn’t work." She sniffled, trying to calm down.
"Yeah, but I didn’t tell her to say mama because the fate of the world depends on it." Lith cleared his throat. "It seems I’ve repeated that to Ral enough times for him to remember and believe it. He thinks he has just saved our lives."
"Gods, the men in our family are so silly!" Kamila bawled her eyes out again, but they were still tears of joy.
All the pain and the fatigue from childbirth washed away. The fear of being cut out of her family now that she had lost access to the baby’s Tiamat powers faded into nothing.
It wasn’t just because of her son’s first word or the reassurance that he wasn’t a reincarnator, even though that certainly helped.
It was because Raldarak already trusted his father so much that the baby boy believed such a preposterous lie. More importantly, even though he was just born, the baby boy loved his mother so much that he had struggled his own way to protect her.
It was a feeling that filled Kamila with warmth and reassured her no less than Dragon Scales could. A feeling no one could ever take away from her, and to which she could cling to find strength in her darkest hour.
***
When Kamila stopped crying, she discovered that Ral had gotten back on schedule and was enjoying his first meal.
"I guess saving the world worked him quite an appetite if he couldn’t wait a few more minutes." She chuckled, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

Raldarak had no idea what his father meant and kept eating.
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