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As the weeks passed, my morning sickness grew stronger, and my exhaustion became harder to ignore. I thought for sure Lucian would put two and two together, but he didn’t.
He noticed I wasn’t in the best of condition, but he probably assumed that was normal for me. After all, we hadn’t spent much time together before he’d moved in. Not to say he ignored my health, quite the opposite. He asked me often if I felt okay, and if I was sick. Not once did he ask if I was pregnant, and I still hadn’t told him.
“You need to eat,” I whispered to myself as I stared down at the lunch I brought that would once again was going to go uneaten.
The question remained, how was I going to tell him? The right words just weren’t coming to me. We got along so well. Everything felt so... good. What if telling him ruined everything? We’d reached the month-long milestone in our relationship with hardly any hiccups.
I wanted to tell him, I really did. But it had been so long now, I felt stuck.
I didn’t know what to do, and wanted to ask my sisters for help. But Sarah was busy being a new wife, and Nadia hardly answered her phone. The reception in the other realm must have been terrible.
They wouldn’t ignore me, of that I was sure. Part of me didn’t want to say anything anyway, because I knew they’d side with Lucian. It was so easy for them to tell me not to worry. They’d never known rejection like I had.
I gazed at my lunch at school, wishing I could will myself to eat. So far, I’d dropped three pounds. The internet said that losing weight was normal in the beginning of a pregnancy, so I tried not to worry about the baby too much. If a human baby sucked up a lot of energy from its mom, then I imagined a dragon baby would deplete even more.
“I’ve got to tell him this weekend,” I mumbled to myself and rubbed at my forehead with a hand. “I’ve put it off long enough.”
Come what may, he needed to know, and I didn’t want to hide it from him any longer. I wanted him to know why I kept refusing wine with dinner, and why I wouldn’t eat the sushi he’d bought. It was time, and I’d find a good way to break the news that hopefully put it in a positive light so he wouldn’t run away screaming. Again.
“Tomorrow, I’m treating you for a change,” I announced when I walked in the door that night after work. “So don’t make any plans, okay?” That would buy me a night to think and plan.
If only he wasn’t so distracting. With those lips...the way he touched me... We made love practically every night. I didn’t have a ton of energy, but I did for that! Being one with him restored my soul in ways I’d never thought possible.
Lucian gazed at me, his head tilted to the side slightly. “Why?”
I coughed, startled. “What do you mean, why? Can’t I do nice things for you too? You’ve been working so hard and doing so much.”
“Because I...” He swallowed. “All right. I won’t argue.”
“Good! I mean, you built me a freaking deck!”
“I was bored. You needed one.” He shrugged like it was nothing.
It wasn’t nothing, and it wasn’t just the deck. He’d turned my old, needing some TLC house, into a stunning place.
I shook my head. “Goof.”
“That’s a peculiar term of endearment.” He said as he walked over and grabbed for me. Then he kissed me deeply, and I melted into him. My nervousness grew and I made love to him like it might be the last time.
It was Friday night, so I didn’t have to work for two days. That gave me plenty of time to plan, spill the beans then deal with the fallout. I slept restlessly, unsure of what the future would bring.
The next morning, I got up and went straight to the store so I could get everything I needed for my big announcement. A light lunch for myself and something more substantial for him. If things went well, there were cupcakes. If things got awkward fast, I had fruit salad... and I’d save the cupcakes for myself later.
I set a blanket across the deck and some pillows on the blanket as makeshift seating. It seemed so small a gesture in comparison to everything he’d done for me.
“Ready for lunch?” I asked, my stomach twisting with anxiety.
“Sure,” he answered, sweeping his long hair up into a low ponytail.
I took his hand in mine and walked him outside. We both got comfortable on the blanket, and I sat with my legs crossed and my hands in my lap. How was I going to even start?
He looked at me expectantly, so I just rushed into the conversation. “So...your instinct was right. I do have a hidden agenda.”
Oh my God, that sounds terrible!
He frowned. “Should I be worried?”
“Maybe,” I mumbled. I took a deep breath, then just blurted it out, “I’m pregnant.”
