Chapter Text
Felix knew that there was one thing and one thing only currently on his wife’s mind and he was dreading the inevitable moment when she brought it up. Annette wanted a baby. Their friends had started having children, Mercedes and Dedue had a set of twins and now Byleth and Dimitri were expecting. It was only a matter of time before Annette brought up the subject as well.
Annette had babies on the brain ever since Mercedes had gotten pregnant, but when the couple received a letter from Dimitri announcing Byleth’s pregnancy it had brought Annette’s baby obsession to another level.
She stopped to coo at babies she saw on the street. She pointed out little baby clothes in boutiques. She talked endlessly about what she thought their children might be like. Would they have her eyes or his? Did he think any of the children would have red hair? Would they be good at magic?
He hadn’t minded so much when she talked about it in the abstract. He knew one day they would have a child, maybe even more than one, but that was further down the road. Or so he had thought anyway. The more time passed, the more it seemed like Annette wanted a baby and she wanted it now.
Annette was getting ready for bed, humming to herself as she sat at her vanity brushing her hair. She was blissfully unaware of the fact that her husband was stewing in anger a few feet from her in bed. She set her hairbrush down on the vanity and hopped over to join Felix.
“Felix, what’s the matter?” she asked. His brow was furrowed, his lips a thin scowl.
“Nothing’s the matter. I’m just ready to go to bed, you were taking forever. How long does it take to brush your hair?”
“Brushing my hair before bed prevents tangles. Maybe you should try it sometime,” she said, playfully mussing Felix’s inky black hair.
“My hair is exactly as tangled as I want it to be,” he said, batting her hands away. “Let’s get some rest.”
He laid a gentle kiss on her lips, which she met with a more passionate kiss. She closed the distance between their bodies. She climbed on top of him and hiked up her nightgown enough to straddle his slender hips. She was insatiable. He couldn’t deny he wanted her too.
“We don’t have to rest. I still have plenty of energy,” she whispered in his ear, her words tickling the shell of his ear.
“Annette, I don’t want to have a baby yet,” he snapped suddenly. He hadn’t meant to blurt it out, but he couldn’t keep it in any longer.
“What?”
“I’m sorry Annie, I know it’s been on your mind a lot lately. I’m just not ready yet. I want to wait.”
“That’s okay Felix. I’m not sure I’m ready either, but I’m your wife. You can always talk to me,” she said with a smile. He ran his hand absentmindedly up and down her thigh. There were so many things in his life he needed to work on before he brought a child into it. His anger for one.
Being born the second son of a noble family he should have had an easy life free from the obligations that had been expected of Glenn. When his brother had died all of those expectations fell to him. He felt too often like he was living his brother’s life. It should be Glenn and Ingrid in this bed discussing children.
“I’m sorry Annette, I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that.”
“Thank you Felix,” she leaned in to give him a kiss. “So did you still want to have sex?”
Annette woke up the next morning happily naked in her husband’s arms. Felix was usually an early riser so she was happy for any morning they got to wake up together. She smothered him in kisses and he pretended like he didn’t love it.
“I’m surprised you’re still in bed Fe-Fe,” she teased.
“Some woman kept me up half the night,” he groaned. “We have to get up, Annette, I’m going to be late for my first meeting if we don’t hurry up.”
“Just a few more minutes,” she whined.
“What am I supposed to say when I’m late? Sorry everyone, I have a wife who isn’t satisfied unless I pleasure her seventeen times a day?”
“Well I’d prefer at least twenty..”
“Annette,” he chided her, but let out a moan as Annette slid her hand down Felix’s chest and around his cock. “Annette, please.”
“We can be fast,” she said, but pumped his cock teasingly slow.
“I don’t think I believe you,” he said, removing her hand with a heavy sigh. “I have a compromise for you.”
“I’m listening.”
“We can do whatever you want quickly, but we have to do it in the bath.”
“Deal,” she said, and smothered him in kisses.
Felix had ended up being late for his meeting. He had rushed out of their bathroom, hair still wet and cursing her name. Annette allowed herself to enjoy the warm bath another moment before climbing out and drying her body with a soft towel. She sang a little song to herself as she skipped into her closet.
Annette sat in her towel and opened her day book. She jotted quick little notes about her experiences in the bathtub with her husband. She was about to close the book when she noticed something from earlier in the week. A little red dot that signified that her period should have started four days earlier.
She had started tracking her cycles diligently after a particularly ugly pregnancy scare during the war. It ended up being a false alarm–most likely just stress from being in the middle of a war–but Felix had been sick with worry over her being on the battlefield. He had nearly gotten himself killed trying to protect her.
Annette closed the book and tried to shake the thought from her mind. It was probably just the stress of all their new roles and obligations. Being Duchess Fraldarius was simply taking more of a toll on her than she had anticipated. She still thought she might opt out of wine with dinner.
A few more days passed and still no sign of blood. Her cycles were usually so regular. This was definitely unusual. Felix had not broached the topic of children again, but Annette could think of nothing else. She knew she should not be worried. Felix was her husband and she knew he would be happy if she was with child, but after his outburst she still felt too nervous to tell him.
When her period was a full week and a half late, she finally went to go see a healer. The healer employed by House Fraldarius was a kindly older woman, she welcomed Annette in with open arms.
“Lady Annette, so lovely to see you,” she said with a warm smile. “Are you well?”
Annette nervously tried to formulate an answer. The healer put her hand to Annette’s forehead. It felt comforting. It reminded her of her own mother, and of Mercedes.
“Please, I have something very delicate to discuss with you. It cannot leave this room, and Felix absolutely cannot know.”
“Oh I understand,” the healer said knowingly. “You need to know if you’re with child.”
“How did you know?”
“When you do this as long as I have, you start to see patterns,” she said. “Lie down, I’ll examine you to be sure.”
Annette laid on the cot. The healer worked white magic on her belly. A glow illuminated from her hands. Annette’s stomach was in knots.
“Am I…?” Annette trailed off.
“You are,” she said.
For the first time in her pregnancy (she supposed she would have to think of it as such now) Annette felt nauseous. She tried to remind herself this was good news. Felix might take a few days to come around on the idea, but she knew he would be thrilled. Felix carrying their child in his arms, spoiling them rotten, she knew he would get there…eventually.