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At first, the invitation to Daring and Rosabella’s palace had seemed like a typical get together. They were a much more social couple than Dexter and Raven were, and it wasn’t unusual for them to invite their friends over. Dexter and Raven accepted when they could, as they liked Rosabella and appreciated Daring’s attempts to reach out. On that night, Rosabella’s parents were there, as well as Briar, Darling, and Apple. King and Queen Charming were notably absent from the gathering, however. They often weren’t invited when Dexter, Darling, and their wives were there, since they had made their opinions about their children's’ choices very clear. And while Daring was the only one of the siblings to maintain any sort of relationship with their parents, Dexter knew that despite her forgiving nature (which came with her story) Rosabella was not fond of them either. But Dexter didn’t want to think about that as he greeted the other guests. It would be a fun evening, no need to dwell on those thoughts instead of enjoying himself.
“Hi Uncle Dex, Aunt Raven!” Greeted a cheerful voice, and Dexter reached out his arms to receive an incoming hug from 7 year-old Liam.
“Hi, Liam!”
He had been adopted by Rosabella and Daring about a year ago, and was a much loved addition to the family. His energetic nature reminded Dexter a lot of how Daring had been at that age. And for all his faults as a teen, Daring had always loved spending time with their younger cousins at the family reunion, carrying that same enthusiasm over to being a father. With Rosabella keeping a watchful eye, the three of them had quickly formed a strong and loving bond that Dexter found heartwarming.
“Hey kiddo.” Raven greeted with an affectionate ruffle to his hair as he released Dexter from the hug.
The three of them headed over to join the others in conversation, and the time passed pleasantly until dinner was ready.
As they sat down at the table, Daring spoke. “Before we eat, we want to tell you why we asked you to come here tonight.” Then he gestured to Rosabella.
“We have a really exciting announcement!” She said as she stood up. Before continuing, she took Daring’s hand, who gazed adoringly at her. Liam bounced in his seat, obviously pleased to already be in on the surprise. “I’m pregnant! We’re going to have a baby!” She declared, and was met with cries of excitement and congratulations in response.
“I knew! And I didn’t say anything!” Liam giggled, and Daring and Rosabella both smiled affectionately at him.
“Good job my little man!” Daring said proudly, and Rosabella kissed him on the forehead.
“We’re very proud of you for keeping the secret.” She said, and Liam beamed at the praise.
“Congratulations!” Dexter said, happily returning the excited grin Daring was giving him.
“That’s wonderful news, you guys!” Raven said next to him, though Dexter thought he could see some faint uneasiness in her expression.
It quickly disappeared as the congratulations continued, but Dexter couldn’t help but worry throughout the rest of the dinner. Raven did her best to be friendly and join the conversation, but he could tell there was something weighing on her. He didn’t want to question her with everyone else there, though, so he just took her hand reassuringly as they tried to enjoy the evening.
“Raven, do you need to… talk about anything?” Dexter asked when they were back at home, noting she still looked unsettled.
“What? Oh, uh… I guess?” She said, snapping from her thoughts.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” He asked, feeling concerned.
“No, no!” Raven hastily replied, then sighed. “Tonight just had me thinking.”
“About what?”
“Well, you know how, when we first started dating and talking about marriage and all that, we both said we would be alright whether we had kids or not? And we would leave it at that unless one of us wanted to talk about it?” She prompted, rubbing her arm in that oh-so-familiar nervous habit of hers. He placed his hand on hers, halting the motion, and gave what he hoped was a comforting smile.
“Yeah. Do you want to talk about it, then?”
“I do, but it’s… a tricky topic, you know? There’s just a lot of things to consider…” Raven trailed off.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a big decision.” Dexter said, having a fairly good idea of where she was about to take this conversation.
“But would you? Y’know, want kids?” Raven asked, regarding him anxiously.
“I mean, like you said there’s a lot to think about but… do you want them? I don’t want you to do this just because you think I want to-”
At that, Raven finally let out a laugh. “Please, Dex, I think we’ve pretty well established that I don't do things just because others want me to.” At that Dexter laughed too, feeling relieved that Raven seemed less upset now.
“That’s very true. But being parents is something we have to be really sure about. It’s not something to do just because.” He said, and Raven nodded.
“I know. When I think about some of the people who ended up as parents because of destiny when they definitely should not have been…” Her smile turned rueful. “Well I think we both have some personal experience with that.” Dexter looked down in silent agreement.
It was still a struggle, sometimes, to come to terms with how his parents had treated him, letting go of those toxic standards he had internalized. He was grateful every day for Raven’s love and support with that, and did his best to help her with her own struggles. Though, that was probably what she was worried about.
As if sensing his thoughts, Raven spoke again. “Now I’m not saying we’ll be our parents or anything like that. I mean, I’ve been avoiding being like my mom my whole life, and at this point I would say I’m successful! It just… it gives me reservations about all of it, you know?”
“You know… I’ve been hearing a few stories about my dad as a kid. Seems he was more like me than he would like to admit.” Dexter said, and Raven looked at him in surprise.
“You mean he knew how it felt and still did that to you?” She asked, anger barbing her tone.
“I guess he didn’t see another way.” Dexter said. “And neither did my mother, though Darling wouldn’t want to hear it.” He didn’t mean it as a defense of their parenting, but as a statement of fact. They were Charmings, and they had expectations. It was how it had always been, father to son, mother to daughter. Their father had had to learn how to live up to them, and their mother had had to accept her role. Still… “I don’t want to be like that if we have kids.”
“Neither do I. I’ve never heard many details about my mother’s childhood, but I can imagine it.” Raven said solemnly. “My dad’s always loved me, and said having me made him realize how wrong it all was, but she didn’t have that. I would never want to end up like she did, but I can’t say I don’t understand, in some way.”
“But if we have kids, they wouldn’t have to grow up that way. We can see to that.” He said, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. “You did see to that, Raven. You stood up to destiny and showed everyone that we had a choice,” Raven smiled at his words, there he could tell she still felt anxious.
“But it isn’t over, not really. I know people have mostly gotten used to the idea of choosing your own path, but some people are still upset about the changes.” He could tell she wanted to say People like your parents but was refraining from doing so. “Being destined to be a villain was bad enough, but my mother’s actions in Wonderland made it even worse. I would hate to have people treat our child badly because of things that I did.” Dexter couldn’t deny the thought troubled him as well; it was painful to think of both what Raven had had to endure in her childhood and the idea their children might be treated the same way. He tried to search for something comforting to say, but before he could say anything Raven continued talking. “And then… there’s the matter of my powers. They’re hereditary, obviously. Our kids would have them. I can tell you they weren’t easy to manage. Are you- y’know, alright with that?” At that, Dexter turned to her in shock.
“Raven! Your powers are a part of you, and you know I love you! If we have kids, we would love them too, even if they turn flowers to ash or birds to snakes. We could help them deal with it together. I wouldn’t mind.” He tried to reassure her.
“You’re right, you're right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” Raven said hastily. “I love you too. I was being silly.”
“I get it. There’s a lot to think about.” He said, and she nodded. Then, she exhaled, looking more peaceful now.
“But I think the most important thing is that we would love the kid. We can’t control a lot of things, but that’s something we can do.”
“Of course we would.”
“I could still use some more time to think about it, though.” She confessed.
“Me too.” He replied, and Raven leaned her head on his shoulder with a soft smile. He leaned into her as well, content to simply enjoy this small moment together.
They had time to think about all this, and that was fine. Whatever the future had in store for them, they would do it together, and it would be their own choice. And that thought made everything they had been through to get to this point worth it.