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Violet POV
I sat on the bed in the healers quadrant, staring into space as I processed the news.
Pregnant.
I had been feeling extra tired and achy - two things I was very much acquainted with - recently. So, to assuage Xaden’s worries after the fifth morning in a row of waking up nauseous and feverish, I went to the healers.
I hadn’t expected to be told I was pregnant.
I released a breath, continuing to stare at the stone wall across from me, the singular word spinning round and round in my head, bouncing off my mind’s seemingly empty walls.
It had been close to seven years since we defeated the venin, since I found a way to cure Xaden, since we took our rightful seats as the Duke and Duchess of Tyrrendor.
We knew an heir was expected of us eventually, but after years of fighting and pain and death, there seemed to be a silent agreement between me and Xaden that children would be something to consider far down the line.
The one and only time a member of the council had tried to bring up the topic, mentioning how it was my duty as a wife to provide Tyrrendor with heirs, he quickly learned his lesson by losing his life, courtesy of my level-headed husband, who then allowed my equally level-headed dragon to burn the poor man’s remains.
A small smile lifted the corner of my mouth at the thought of Xaden, before falling again.
Pregnant.
Would he be happy? Scared? I suddenly wished we’d brought this matter up, because the nausea churning in my gut was no longer being caused by the baby inside it and more so the thought of Xaden’s reaction to the news.
A baby.
Pregnant.
Gods, what were we going to do?
Was he ready? Was I ready?
I decided I needed to get out of my head, rushing out of the healers bay without another word, as I jogged to the flight field where Tairn and Andarna waited.
The bond between the three of us must have been wide open because they waited, impatient to be in the air.
“Are congratulations in order, Silver One?” I glowered at Tairn as he spoke through our mental connection, climbing up on him as I dug my boot into his hide slightly harder than necessary.
“Don’t start. Just fly.” With that, he wordlessly lifted into the air, Andarna following swiftly behind.
“Don’t listen to him, Violet. You will be a wonderful mother, your hatchling will be loved and cherished by all of us.” Andarna chimed in.
I thanked her with a wobbly smile.
I had naturally expected my dragons to comment on the matter, we shared everything after all. However, I didn’t expect the quiet joy and pride radiating off the two of them, making my stomach settle slightly and my hopes raise.
“Do you think he’ll be happy?” I ask, my voice tentative.
“He will be happy or he will lose his life.” I roll my eyes as Tairn flaps his wings harder, a disgruntled snort escaping him.
“I don’t think I’d be cut out to be a single mother, I’m afraid.” I tease, a hint of warning lacing my tone all the same.
“There are plenty of fish in the sea, like you humans say.” I release a laugh at that, feeling exponentially lighter than I did in the healer’s quarters.
Before I can speak again, I feel my mental connection to Xaden strengthen, confirming that he’s on his way home after his meeting in Cordyn.
Minutes later, Sgaeyl’s midnight blue form coasts over the Cliffs of Draithus, swiftly heading our way.
I smile as I feel a caress of shadow reach out across our bond. I open it wide, allowing the four of us to speak simultaneously.
“How was the meeting?”
“Inconsequential. How are you feeling? Did you go to see a healer? What did they say?”
Xaden’s bombardment of questions reignites the pit in my stomach as I remember the life-changing news I’ve yet to share with him.
I’m too slow to hide the flicker of anxiety that reaches him through our bond, causing him to volley a torrent of it right back. “Violence?”
“Try asking her one question at a time like a normal conversation and she may deign to answer one, Your Grace.” Sgaeyl flashes her teeth in her mate’s direction as my eyes roll at Tairn’s sarcasm, but I’m thankful he no longer refers to Xaden as ‘Dark One’.
“Like you would be any better if your mate was possibly in danger.” Xaden quips back, a dark edge to his voice.
“You think I’d let my rider fly if she was in jeopardy?” Tairn’s low growl has me sending a warning flicker of lightning down my bond with Xaden, begging him to take it easy.
However, it seemed Xaden was too riled with worry to heed me. “My first reaction to that question would’ve been no, but seeing as she was sick this morning, it seems you’ve abandoned your moral codex.”
“Being with child is not often considered a sickness.”
The world stills for a second, as all of us process Tairn’s comment.
The moment of stillness is broken when Xaden whips around to look at me, the whites of his eyes visible.
It’s further broken by my scream as Xaden - for the first time ever - falls from Sgaeyl’s back, soaring through the air and down to the cliffs below.
Xaden POV
I wake with a groan, head pounding as I open my eyes to the cold stone walls of the healer’s bay.
I have no time to process anything else before a flash of silver catches my eye, attaching itself to my body as my wife sobs into my shoulder.
I instinctively wrap an arm around her, breathing in her scent as my very bones seem to melt under her touch. A frown pulls at my face as the wetness of her tears coats my undershirt.
“Love?” She just cries harder as I continue to ruminate over what has made her so upset, vowing to end whatever it is so I never have to feel this ache in my heart at the sound of her sobs again.
I try to recall why I ended up in the healer's quadrant, but I’m too overwhelmed to focus as Violet pulls away enough to scan my face, worry evident in her expression.
I cup her cheeks, wiping away any trace of the tears as she sniffles in an effort to compose herself.
“What can I do to erase that look on your face? Name it and I’ll find a way to see it done.” I murmur, pulling her close to press a gentle kiss to her forehead, my eyes fluttering closed at the feel of her soft skin beneath my lips.
She breathes out a hysterical laugh. “You’re the one who fell from a damned dragon and yet you’re comforting me?”
I rear back slightly as the memory flickers at the corners of my consciousness. “I-what?”
She sighs, seeming to have calmed down as she makes herself comfortable in my lap, one of my hands securely resting low on her back. “The healers said the intense change in air pressure during the fall could cause you to be slow to recover memories of the event. But you’d just gotten back from Cordyn and one minute you were on Sgaeyl’s back beside me and Tairn and the next you were falling. Thankfully, Garrick was close enough to see it happen and managed to distance wield, but the fear must have knocked you out.”
My frown deepens at her explanation. Memories keep flickering in my peripheral, but I’m still incapable of drawing up a full picture of the event. “I never fall from Sgaeyl.”
“And you won’t make a habit of it.” Sgaeyl gripes through our connection, the bite in her voice revealing a miniscule hint of fear.
Violet shifts, suddenly relinquishing me from her gaze to study her hands. “I know.”
“So how did I fall?”
She removes herself from my lap, despite my protests, in favour of fussing with my bedsheets.
“This isn’t a conversation for right now. Rest, I’ll be back later.”
“Violence.” Her name is not a question but a demand as I feel a slither of anxiety through our bond. The feeling is familiar and I close my eyes, searching for that thread of memory.
She remains silent, standing before me but looking right through me.
It takes me longer than normal to recognise the signs of her having a conversation with her dragons. By the look of her clenched fists, not a positive one.
“I’m afraid the blame is on me, this time, your gracefulness.” I’m too anxious by Violet’s apprehension to make a fuss about Tairn’s nickname for me.
I raise a brow at Violet as she finally deigns to look at me again, her face tight with anger. At me or Tairn, I’m unsure.
I ignore Tairn in favour of addressing my wife. “Love, please. Just explain what happened. There’s no world in which I’d get mad at you for whatever it was. I just need to know you’re okay, need to know how to make sure you’re fine.”
She shifts, sighing and taking a hesitant step towards me again.
“We were flying and having a conversation about my visit to the healer.” I tense, ready to interrupt and query after the answer, but she bats the look of concern in my eyes away, continuing her explanation. “You got into an argument with Tairn and he… he said…”
She’s back to looking off into space and I wish for nothing more than to be able to know exactly what she’s thinking at this moment. But that’s a line I’ll never cross again.
She looks frozen, unable to continue, so I close my eyes, collating a picture of that moment in the air.
The warmth I felt at her presence despite the cold biting at my cheeks. The lightness in my heart. The grin that nothing can prevent when I’m around her torturing the edges of my lips.
But then I fell, and it was all gone. I fell because… I fell when Tairn told me…
My eyes fly open with impressive speed as I pin her with my intense gaze, my heart beating at the speed of a hummingbird’s wings as the memory comes flooding back.
She seems to notice the exact moment I remember, as she silently watches me process the news, looking at me with an unreadable expression.
“Violet.” Her eyes widen as my voice cracks on her name. I need her close. I need her now. I need no distance separating us ever again.
Her and our child.
She strides over and I pull her into my arms, my face burying into her neck as I clench my eyes shut, ignoring the sting of them.
“You’re pregnant?” My breathing is heavy as my mind spins.
Her hand comes up, caressing my hair in a way that usually makes me purr as I feel her nod.
“Y-yes.”
Nothing stops the liquid happiness from rushing out of my eyes and down my cheeks as my body shakes.
She forgets to mask her shock through our bond.
Ever since the defeat of the venin, we’ve both worked on communicating and handling our emotions, but this level of openness from me was still rare.
“Are you happy?” She whispers tentatively, causing me to pull back just enough to catch the lines of concern painting her face, making me pause.
“Are you happy?” My voice mirrors hers.
“I- I think so… but Xaden, I can’t do this without you. I need you-”
Before she can continue, I pull her face to mine, pressing my lips roughly to hers, pouring every feeling of happiness and love that floods me down our bond, leaving no question of how I feel about this event.
I pull back, resting my forehead against hers as we both breathe heavily into the minimal space between us.
“I love you. I love you so damn much and I’m going to love our child just as much. I promise, Violet, never doubt it for a second. Nothing is as important to me as the two of you. Nothing. The world could burn, the fucking venin could return and the only promise I can ever make is that I would keep the two of you safe. I’m so happy Violet, every day I’ve spent with you, every day I will spend with you, with our child, will be the best of my life. Thank you. Thank you, Violet.”
Tears trail down her cheeks and I kiss them away, my hand instinctively coming to rest on her still-flat stomach.
A smile appears on her face, and I’m sure my face is a reflection of the joy covering hers.
“I love you, Xaden.” It doesn’t matter how many times I hear the words, the feeling that erupts in my stomach is just as potent every time.
“I love you, Violet. And I love our daughter already. I know she’s going to grow up and be the best Duchess Tyrrendor has ever seen. Second only to you.”
She laughs, raising a brow. “Her?”
“Call it father’s intuition.”
She grins, the mischievous tilt to her lips causing my eyes to narrow. “Are you willing to bet on it? If it’s a boy, I get to name them, if it’s a girl…?”
She waits for my ultimatum, and the words spill off my tongue as fast as a flash of lightning, “If it’s a girl, we get to have a second one.”
She laughs, before realising I’m dead serious. “You don’t even know if you like this one!”
“She’s half you, Violence. There’s no world in which I feel anything towards our daughter but love and admiration.”
My wife’s eyes soften as she pulls me in for a kiss, our lips connecting gently as my gentle hold on her stomach tightens only slightly.
I release a breath as the thought knocks through me like a dagger to the heart.
I’m a husband. A father. A human.
We made it. I made it.