Chapter Text
They set up an appointment with a specialized medwitch that Hypaxia recommended. It was all pretty standard. Expected. Bean shapes on screen, barely visible, lots of measurements, lots of recommendations.
Hearing the heartbeat had been the apex of that visit. They just listened in silence, hands clasped together. They were also silent on the way back to the apartment and late into the night.
“What are you thinking about?” Hunt asked when they were going to bed.
“Nothing,” Bryce answered, settling under the covers as he sat down. “Nothing at all. Isn’t that weird?”
“Bone-chilling,” he agreed, pulling her close.
She settled with her head on his shoulder, pressing her face against the side of his neck. That might be her favorite place in the world.
“What are you thinking about?” She asked, tracing patterns on his bare chest.
“We should probably get a car. I can’t fly you two everywhere forever.”
“Hmm,” Bryce mused. “I can teleport us if you’re not around.”
“You know what I mean.”
She nodded.
“So practical, this mate of mine. Alright. Consider it done. What else?”
He shrugged.
“Car seat, of course.”
“Of course,” she agreed. “Helmets too?”
One of his eyebrows rose.
“You’re making fun of me.”
“Only a little bit,” she conceded. “She’s the size of a raspberry. I think we have time to think about car seats.”
“Oh, we’re going with she?”
“I’m manifesting,” she shrugged. “But I’m good with both. Do you have a preference?”
He was silent for a while, staring at the ceiling in concentration. Bryce reached out to smooth the line between his eyebrows.
“It’s okay if you do. Most parents do. I won’t tell her when she’s born.”
Hunt looked at her, raising one eyebrow and nodding.
“I do think of a boy when I think of him. Not sure why.”
“Looks like we have a classic case of a mini-me competition. Who will win?”
He smiled at her, leaning over for a kiss. Her hand glided down his chest, responding automatically. Her leg went over his legs, pulling him closer.
“We’ll win either way,” he told her between kisses.
“I like winning,” she said, her voice low.
“Oh, I know.”
Though she had been sleeping late, Bryce wouldn’t have thought someone could have so many naps in a day. Even in the worst days of the war, she didn’t remember being so tired. Sitting anywhere remotely comfortable resulted in the most body intensive naps she had ever taken her entire life. Sometimes, she wasn’t even comfortable. Or sitting.
So staying home became a good thing.
Eventually, they settled on an interview with the human magazine she’d had in mind. They had it in their apartment and even if she appreciated finally getting into full glam for something again, she could not wait for the reporter to leave so she could fall asleep again.
The interview was nice, if a little personal. They were asked what were their plans for the future. If family was going to be the focus from now on or if they would return to usual work with the library and the political acts. What this fresh start meant for them. If there was anything they wished could be different about this moment. She took the time to ask people to be normal about this, which made the interviewer laugh. She definitely knew what Bryce was talking about.
They scheduled the day the interview would roll out and posted on her social media account hours before and then turned off her phone. At home, everything remained the same. Hunt didn’t go to work that day. He stayed home and they made a picnic in the living room, which proved to be a bad idea because Syrinx thought it was a “eat everything you’re not allowed to” day and almost had to be taken to a vet.
Their baby made the midday news the next day, which they didn’t like. That made Hunt hesitant about her coming back to work, but she was adamant. She was getting mad at home – when she was awake for it.
A week later, she was back, but it quickly became apparent things weren’t the same. For one, people were not normal about it. Everyone had a word of congratulation. People who’d never been to the library were coming now and overwhelming the staff. The last thing they wanted was a crowd too close to their precious archive, so they had to start limiting guests, which Bryce hated to have to do because that’s not what libraries were supposed to do. It wasn’t what she wanted hers to run like.
Being at work was a challenge on itself because of the aforementioned nap problem. Her office was, unfortunately, catered to her taste and it included many reading nooks that were entirely too comfortable and were easily converted into nap spots. Her days weren’t very productive anyway.
Going to and from work, however, became the absolute worst. All of her physical conditioning seemed to have gone down the drain and a couple of blocks of walking got her winded. They asked their medwitch about it and she said it was normal. Something about the hormone levels altering.
Worst, however, were the other obligations that had nothing to do with her usual work. Political appearances, dinners, consultations. The fae ex-royals seemed to be meaner than usual now, throwing comments up and down about the dissolution of great lines. And because they were elected now, she couldn’t just strip them of their titles. Pity.
So that was that. Staying home was the worst because she knew she was needed places and that work would pile up. But getting out was also the worst because she kept wishing to be home and able to rest without everyone staring .
“Not going to lie,” Bryce said a couple of weeks later, when they came home from a particularly hard dinner with the Conservative Party. She’d texted Marc on the way home, asking him to sue one of the fae ladies who she’d heard calling her unborn child a mongrel. Even if it had made her want to cry and leave the party – and turned her mate a little more alphahole than usual –, she was actually sort of glad it had happened, just so she didn’t have to be physically there anymore. “I kind of hate being pregnant.”
“Yeah?” Hunt asked, standing behind her as she was sitting on her vanity, taking off her earrings. His hands went around her shoulders, carefully working the knots that formed there.
“Yeah. I thought it would only get bad by the end. But as it turns out, it’s a bad fest all around.”
She started to dedicate herself to removing her makeup, though it was hard to concentrate with his massage being so nice.
“Well… you have an insane schedule. And now you’re making an entirely new person. You might be the Super Powerful and Special Magic Starborn Princess, but even you are not invincible.”
Bryce squinted at him in the mirror.
“You’re supposed to give me compliments and say I’m doing alright.”
He kissed the top of her head.
“You’re doing alright. But if you’re tired, rest. I can hold the fort while you do. Let me do this for you.”
She placed her hands over his, leaning her head on his arm.
“It’s hard. I don’t like stepping out the moment I get pregnant. My life isn’t over because I’m becoming a mom. That’s not the message I want to send.”
“Your life isn’t a message”, he said, serious. “Slow down for now. The medwitch said things should settle by the end of the first trimester. We’re halfway there already. Once it does, you can gauge how much you can still do.”
“ Can ”, she moaned. “I can do anything. Everything!”
“Except slowing down,” he teased, helping her up and out of her dress and into her nightgown. She was already half asleep by then and yawned the entire time.
It was the middle of the night when Hunt felt Bryce pull away from him. He made a sound of protest low in his throat and she kissed the side of his neck and murmured either “I’ll be right back” or “alphahole” in a reassuring tone, so he just turned to the side when light escaped the bathroom from under the closed door.
Then time took on that weird shape it does in the wee hours of the night. He wasn’t sure how long she was gone: it felt like forever and, at the same time, no time at all. Then, Hunt heard her moan in pain. When his eyes opened, he wasn’t sure if it had just happened or if he had fallen asleep again after hearing it.
“Bryce?” He called, sitting up.
The door opened and the light from the bathroom spilled on top of him. He was already on his feet. He could scent the blood in her.
“Something’s wrong,” she said the next second, when his arms were around her, when he was scanning her for injury. Her hand was on her belly, rubbing. “I’m bleeding.”
“Do you want to go somewhere or do you want me to get someone here?” He asked, wishing he could make his voice softer, instead of sounding murderous. If something was happening, if this was taken from them, from her…
She looked up at him, looking unsure for the first time in a long time.
“I don’t know,” Bryce said.
He knew she was thinking about what people would say if they showed up in a hospital after less than a month of announcing their pregnancy. And if it turned out for the worst, it would be out before they even got the chance to process…
But at the same time, finding someone willing to come here in the middle of the night would take too long. And that he wouldn’t risk it. People could talk until their mouths fell off. Bryce came first.
Hunt pulled back and walked to the closet, grabbing her a coat. He carefully wrapped her up in it and kissed her forehead.
“I’ll fly us there,” he promised.
“Ok,” she whispered.
Waiting was excruciating. And there was so much of it.
Even if they were taken in the moment they had touched down and the medwitches had caught wind of who they were, equipment had to be moved, machines had to be readied, the doctor had to come to them.
It was, after all, the middle of the night.
They were sitting in their night clothes and coats in the small exam room. Bryce looked pale in the bright white lights, her hand still around her middle, the other gripping his firmly. He wished he could do more. Stop this, make sure they would be safe no matter what. He wished it so bad he had to keep blinking to keep his eyes clear of tears.
Tears. How long had it been since he was so stressed he cried? He couldn’t even remember. When the world was about to end, it didn’t feel so hopeless as these few minutes they were waiting.
Finally, they were able to do an exam.
And everything was fine.
The medwitch explained some level of bleeding and cramping was normal. They heard their baby’s heartbeat again and this time, it felt different. Sweeter somehow. He let out an audible sigh and Bryce just ran her hand through his hair, eyes glued to the screen. She understood how he felt.
They were home within the hour with cramp medication and the suggestion of staying off her feet and resting. Neither managed to sleep.