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“Is that all you got Trevelyan?”
“That’s. Not. My. Name. Anymore!” She pounded her sword into his at every word.
Eva lifted her aching arm a final time for a hard blow against Cullen’s shield.
“Ah ha! That,” Cullen grinned, “was a great hit!” He tossed the shield to the ground at the same time Eva tossed the sword. They had been sparring for almost two hours straight. The sun was rising and casting a soft glow upon the morning sky. The birds were beginning to chirp and stir along with the rest of Fereldan.
Eva smiled weakly and bent down to catch her breath, placing her right hand on her knee for support. Cullen opened his water canister and held it out towards her for her to grab. Eva shook her head no, as she continued to catch her breath.
Cullen took a drink, studying his wife from the corner of his eye while he did.
“Eva? Are you alright?” Cullen rushed over to Eva as she swayed softly. He put his arm around the back of her waist to steady her.
Blaaargghhh! Blaaaaarggghh!
Coughing out the rest of the bile in her throat, Eva shook her head no. Cullen moved the strands of hair out of Eva’s face as she continued to vomit on the grass. After the dry heaves ended, Eva wiped her mouth. “Uh, that was…unpleasant.”
“Right…how do you feel? Do you have a fever?” Cullen placed his palm on her head to feel her temperature. She was warm, but probably because of their practicing.
“No, I actually feel much better now. That seemed to come out of nowhere.” Eva bent down to grab the new sword Cullen had got specially crafted for her. Its weight was perfect, the pommel strong. It felt good in her hand. “I’m heading inside to get myself cleaned up then I’ll fix breakfast.”
“Alright, I’ll be behind you in a moment.” Eva left Cullen to collect the rest of their training gear; Blade remaining behind with him.
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Back in their small cottage, Eva grabbed her wash cloth and soap and bent down over the tub to wash up. Did I eat something bad last night? No…hmm maybe I over-worked myself this morning during our bout…that happens sometimes to people…
Eva finished washing and changed her clothes. She was going to prepare the usual nuts and fruit for the morning meal but didn’t really feel like eating. So she opted to prepare Cullen’s meal only. I must have caught a bug or something…
“Eva?” Cullen walked into their house and spotted her sitting at the kitchen table, resting her head in her palm. He walked over to her and squatted in front of her. Eva could smell a mixture of Cullen’s sweat and…mabari.
She shot up from the table and ran outside. Her stomach heaved uncontrollably as she threw up on the ground. This is terrible…
Alarmed, Cullen followed Eva outside. “We need to have a physician see you. Today.” Cullen ushered Eva back inside the house and ordered her to lie down.
“You can’t order me around, Cullen.” Eva tried to argue, but had no steam. Instead, she crawled into the bed and closed her eyes.
“Were you feeling ill yesterday?” Cullen sat on the bed beside her and rubbed her back. He felt fine, so it couldn’t have been anything they ate the night before. And although he needed to freshen himself up a bit, he didn’t smell so bad as to make her sick, he hoped.
“Mmm mmm” Eva responded. She was feeling like crap. “Cullen, I’ll be fine. I probably caught a bug or something.” Eva’s stomach churned. “And go wash. Everything seems to be making me sick.” Like I have morning illness or something…wait…when was my last cycle? Eva began calculating in her head. She and Cullen had been having sex fairly consistently for the past month and a half…Yes, her period was quite a bit late; how could she not have noticed sooner?
“On second thought, let’s go see a physician today…”
“Right, let me get myself cleaned up then we can head over to Mr. and Mrs. Tilley.”
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Eva tried to not let her legs swing from the high table she was sitting on. This is unnecessary; I can simply sit in a chair. But there wasn’t a chair in this part of the room. She glanced over at her husband who was pacing back and forth, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Where is he?” Cullen practically growled the words out of his throat. Eva remained silent, observing the large patient room reserved in the physician’s large home. She never visited this area of the house before; in fact, when she was recovering from the miscarriage, Dr. Tilley and his wife came to their home to tend to her.
A few moments later, a tall dark skinned man entered the room. He wore his spectacles low on the bridge of his nose; his hair was completely white but fully covered his head. His wife, Mrs. Tilley, trailed hot on his hills behind him carrying a tray of stuff for the exam.
Cullen quickly walked over to Dr. Tilley and shook the man’s extended hand. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Ser Rutherford.” The doctor pulled Cullen into a fatherly embrace.
“It’s good to see you too Doctor Tilley.” Cullen maneuvered towards Mrs. Tilley who just sat down the tray. Cullen had to bend down to hug the tiny woman.
“Ah there you are!” Mrs. Tilley had an accent revealing that she was a Rivani. “You are tensed every time I see you. Here, I brought dis for you, you drink it, you relax.” She handed Cullen a mug filled with hot liquid. The liquid smelled citrusy and calming.
“Thank you Mrs. Tilley.”
The doctor was already checking Eva, peering closely into her eyes, asking her to stick out her tongue. “Are you feeling any abdominal pains?”
Eva shook her head, “Not really. I’m just a bit uncomfortable from vomiting earlier.”
“Ah hmmm.” The doctor responded as he held his index and middle finger over the pulse of Eva’s right wrist. “Your pulse is good, you don’t have a fever…have you been feeling tired more than usual? More frequent naps? Are you able to exercise?”
Eva sighed, “I’ve been doing fine. Cullen and I train almost every morning. I work the garden and handle our regular chores, nothing too unusual.” Eva continued to think…
“Ok.” Dr. Tilley walked over to his wife and spoke quietly with her. Burrowing his brows he looked at the couple, “Are you not taking any deathroot seeds?”
“No, I’ve stopped swallowing those maybe five or six months ago. After the…miscarriage, I did not resume taking them, we wanted to try again.” Eva couldn’t help but hope that this was the reason for her feeling sick. Didn’t Mother say something about how sick she was when she was carrying me?
The doctor nodded his head, “Ser Cullen, I need to ask your wife a few intimate questions…Eva, would you like your husband to step out a moment?”
“Oh no, anything you need to ask or do can be done in front of him.” Eva smiled knowing that Cullen wouldn’t have it any other way.
“That’s right…what questions do you have for us Doctor?” Cullen asked speculatively.
“Oh, well I need to know, Eva, when was the last time you had your bleeding cycle?” Doctor Tilley looked pointedly at Cullen’s wife.
Eva took a deep breath and glanced at her husband and then into her hands, “I’m not sure. I think it was sometime before you left on that excursion…”
Cullen burrowed his eyebrows, “Are you sure? That was almost two months ago, Eva.”
The doctor reached for the glass cylinder his wife was holding up for him to take. “Eva, I’ll need a sample of your urine to test for pregnancy. You can use the chamber pot over there and then pour some into this container using the small ladle sitting over there. We’ll step out to give you some privacy, let us know when you are ready.”
The doctor closed the door. Cullen wiggled his eyebrows at Eva, “Do you need help with that?” He asked her semi-jokingly.
“No, but it is kind of weird with you being in here, turn around or something.” Eva slid herself off the table and went over to the pot. When she finished, she used the ladle to fill the cylinder Cullen handed to her. Making sure she was presentable, she motioned for Cullen to open the door.
The doctor and his wife returned and went over to the work station. Cullen and Eva watched the doctor and his wife work together. Mrs. Tilley crushed something that looked like small white pebbles into a powder. Then doctor Tilley carefully sprinkled the powder into the cylinder filled with Eva’s urine. Swirling the contents with a stick-like object, he watched the contents change into a vivid green. “Perfect.” He mumbled under his breath. He then nodded to his wife.
Mrs. Tilley jotted down a few notes on the parchment she was holding. “Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford, it looks like you are expecting a child!” The older woman smiled expectantly at both of them.
“Are…are you sure,” Cullen asked. His hands were shaking as he reached for Eva’s hand.
“Absolutely; the contents are green. If the liquid had turned red, then we would know dat she wasn’t pregnant. Congratulations!”
Eva met Cullen’s golden eyes. Pulling her close he gave her a shaky smile, tears were beginning to form in his eyes. “Eva…”
“Yes, Cullen. We were given another chance.” Embracing her husband, she let out a relieved sigh.
The doctor cleared his throat to get their attention. “Eva, Cullen,” he nodded to them each, “You are expecting a child, but I respectfully advise you to wait for another two months before telling anyone. You had a miscarriage that was caused by trauma, to your lower abdomen. You seem to have healed perfectly well, but I’d like for us to meet every month so that we can monitor your progress.”
The couple agreed, “Is there anything else we need to do Dr. Tilley?” Cullen asked.
Mrs. Tilley handed him two pouches of herbs, “Here Ser Cullen, this pouch has ginger and other herbs from my country. Make sure your wife drinks it each day; it’ll help settle her stomach and it provides otha nutrients. And dis,” she pointed to the other pouch, “is for your anxiety and headaches.” She winked at him and squeezed his arm lovingly.
“Thank you Mrs. Tilley. Thank you, doctor.”
“Sure! A few more things; Eva make sure that you get plenty of rest; however you should continue to do your basic activities to maintain your strength. Cullen, do not let her carry anything extremely heavy.”
Cullen smiled, “I’ll try. She fusses about letting me help her in and out of the tub.”
Eva frowned, “What about our training? Is that out of the question?” The doctor nodded.
“For now, yes. We want to make sure that you are strong enough to hold the baby. The first few weeks are very…delicate. We can revisit this next month if you’d like. Ah, that reminds me, please hold off on intercourse until our next meeting.”
Damn.
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Cullen couldn’t stop talking. “We have so much to do.” He said as he surveyed the house. “I could build on to this wall over here, or I can secure the roof and build up…I’m going to have to get Thom out here to help me…”
Eva smiled, “Cullen, honey. You need to drink your tea.”
Cullen turned around and grinned at Eva. “You’re right. I just have all these plans in my head. We only have a few months before he or she is born, I want to make sure we have everything ready.” He sat at the table and took a sip from the steaming mug. He stopped when he saw Eva staring at him, “What?”
“You,” she said stepping closer to him, “Are one hot man when you are joyful and excited.”
“I am excited, Eva.” Cullen sat the mug down and pulled her down on his lap. “I’ve prayed to the Maker plenty of times for this moment. And now, here it is.” They kissed gently. Then a bit more passionately. Cullen began to rub his hands up Eva’s thighs.
“Hmm Cullen, we can’t. Remember we have to wait a while.” Cullen nipped Eva’s collar bone and stood up from the chair with her in his arms.
Walking towards their bed, he smiled at her devilishly, “There’s other ways we can…enjoy one another…”
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