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Looking at the healer, Penelope felt like her world was crashing around her. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, and breathing getting shallow. The edge of her vision got dark, and she leaned closer to Levril, his warm hand against hers was the only thing keeping her from passing out.
“I'm sorry, could you repeat that?”
His gentle voice fills her head, and she relaxes instantly, hiding her face against his shoulder for support.
“Congratulations, you're pregnant!”
The old lady, the healer of the small village Penelope lived in with Levril, smiled happily, clapping her hand excitedly. She knew Levril since he was little, and knowing he was building his family with a kind, gentle and gorgeous woman like Penelope made almost giddy.
“Pregnant?” Penelope's voice was weak, her mind not fully processing the words.
“Pregnant?!” Different from her, Levril smiled widely. He held her face between his large and warm hands, looking at her with sparkling eyes and a teary vision. He held her still, kissing her lips and all over her face in excitement. “We're going to have a baby, Penny!”
His voice was a soft sob, and Penelope looks at him dead worry, her concern and disbelief putted aside to comfort her lovely husband
“Levril? Are you crying?” cleaning his tears with the tip of her fingers, she looked around his face to search for any sign of distress or hatred. What she found, though, was only an enormous amount of love and happiness, and his teary face made her pale cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“I'm sorry” he whimpers “I'm just so happy! We're going to have a baby Penelope!”
His happiness made her own eyes tear up, even when she tried to be brave and strong. She couldn't help herself, though. Not when he looked at her like she hung the moon and stars, and was everything he ever loved in his entire life.
Sobbing and kissing his lips, it's like her brain finally processed the reality of what was happening, and her brain gets light and dizzy.
“We are… We are having a baby!”
She hugs his neck, crying against his shoulder. Levril held her even tighter, kissing her neck and hair and everywhere he could reach. She doesn't know how long they stay like this, crying in each other's arms, and she doesn't know how they go back home, or how much time she loses stuck on her head. The only thing her brain finally registers is the sweet kiss on her lips, and Levril’s red and puffy face filling her vision.
He smiles when he finally gets her attention, putting a bowl with warm, homemade soup on her lap
“Here baby, you should eat something. Now you're eating for two” he giggles giddy with his own words, more brighter than she ever saw him. Humming a soft ‘thank you’, she eats her soup slowly, enjoying the tasteful food.
It's better than anything she had eaten on the duchy, and Levril’s delicious food was what made her fatten up. Her cheeks weren't so hollow, and her eyes were not dull. Even her skin got a tone darker of how much time she spent working outside with him.
Putting the bowl aside when she's done, Penelope feels Levril hugging her waist, laying his head on her stomach. Playing with his hair, she chuckles gently
“I think it's still to early for you to hear our baby”
‘our baby’
She feels out of her body saying such words
Penny can feel him pouting against her skin and his voice is muffled against her
“I don't care. I just want to enjoy the woman I love while I can”
Instantly, she feels her heart pounding painfully against her chest, and she loses her breath with the sudden wave of emotions that fills her body. It was always like that when Levril spoke such sweet things to her, and even after so long together she still hasn't gotten used to feeling his love.
She doesn't think she ever will.
Playing with the soft locks under her finger, Penelope bits her lips.
“I'm… I'm worried, Levril… we're having a baby… That's a lot of responsibility… And so many things can go wrong… What if the duchy finds me? What if they try to take our baby from me?” She fidgets with his hair, growing more and more anxious
She doesn't look into his eyes when he gets up from his cuddling session, but she can feel his intense gaze on her
“They will never do anything against us, love. They'll never hurt you again, I promise. I'll not let them” he kisses his nose, trying to reassure her, but the only thing she feels is her love for him hitting her chest like a drum
Leaning into his touch, she feels her heart hurt with how much she loved him
“But… What if you get tired of me? What will I do without you?”
This was the closest she'd get to beg him to never leave her, and Levril knew that very well
“You say this lie there is any other woman I'd ever love” his tone was a gentle mockery, as he scoffed at the idea of loving someone who wasn't this beautiful and perfect woman in his arms.
She doesn't believe him. She doesn't believe on the idea that someone would really love her so purely, when even the man who said he'd love and protect her forever threw her away on the first opportunity he had
Feeling her insecurities, Levril placed their foreheads together looking inside her eyes with adoration.
"Penelope, you are the woman I always dreamed of. No matter how long, or how many lifetimes pass, I will always love you. Do you understand? There is no room in my heart for any other woman but you. Even if you didn't exist, my heart would always cry out for you"
With a sob, she kissing his lips, pulling him with her in the bed
“You promise, Levril? Promise to love me forever?”
He hugs her against his chest, caressing her stomach where their baby was growing
“I promise you, Penelope. I'll love you till I die and beyond, and I'll die before I let anything happen to you”
Hiding her face against his chest, she finally believes in his words, repeating her own promises to him.
“And I'll love you until the stars collapse and the history is rewritten. Until there's nothing left of my soul to love anything anymore”