Disclaimer: I do not own the Underworld series or any of the characters used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended and no profits are being made from this fic.
It's when Selene began to throw up that Michael first started to suspect.
He began to notice the different scent around her about a week ago. She had just come out of the shower when Michael caught a whiff of something... Something he couldn't quite place.
It was sweet, familiar, yet... Quite different altogether.
With water droplets dripping from her wet hair and down to her arms, Selene stared quizzically at her lover. "What?"
Michael stepped close so fast he was behind her in a heartbeat. He leaned his nose close to her neck before going down to her arms.
Selene took a step back, surprised and tensed. "What is it?"
"You smell different." Michael took her by the shoulders and smelled again. His nose grazed along the nape of her neck, making Selene shudder slightly. "New shampoo? New soap?"
Selene resisted the urge to grin. She couldn't let Michael think this sort of behavior was okay. Not when she was on edge as it is, what with the war against immortals and humans going on.
Without a word, she shrugged Michael's hands off and walked over to their dresser.
She pulled out some casual clothes and put them on. All the while Michael stood staring at her.
"Well," said Selene, crossing her arms and breaking Michael's train of thought. "if you like how I smell so much, you can use the bodywash too, you know."
The dorky smile on the hybrid's face was infectious and Selene found herself giving in to the grin herself.
...
Selene's new smell was growing stronger. Michael knew it wasn't the bodywash. He tried that out and he smelled the same, Selene said so.
Somehow... It was her. Her skin, her lips, her whole body was giving off an entirely new taste and smell that was driving Michael crazy.
He became more protective of her too for some reason, became paranoid and afraid that other lycans or vampires would smell her and then track them back to their safehouse.
And then all of a sudden, Selene started getting sick. She couldn't drink blood without having the urge to throw it all back up, she tired more easily, and spent more hours in bed than in training.
It all made sense right then and there. Michael didn't go through medical school to miss the signs.
Selene was pregnant. The new smell accounted for their unborn child.
Michael was unable to wipe the proud smirk on his face when he figured it all out.
He wanted so badly to break the news to Selene but decided to play it out a little longer, see how much her stubbornness will last seeing as she's still insisting she wasn't sick.
...
Sex was altogether a different matter.
Due to her pregnancy hormones, Selene was more aroused and horny than usual. And Michael couldn't deny her, not when she smelled so good, not when she tasted so sweet.
Lovemaking when one's mate is pregnant was quite an overloaded sensory experience.
Selene's heightened hormones meant she reacted more and felt more, felt things deeper in her core. And being her mate, Michael was attuned to all the changes, minute or otherwise.
He would spend more time on her abdomen, caressing and kissing sensually, imagining the life growing within. Selene would be too caught up in throes of passion to question him on his new favorite spot. His nose and tongue would do a lot of work and it would end with Selene pulling Michael down lower on her to give her the release his slow ministrations and teasing would be alluding to.
There was something quite miraculous and pure about their unborn child, Michael thought. They, who are not human, who take life away, have created one.
Maybe there's still some humanity left in the both of them after all.
...
The momentary bliss Michael and Selene have been living under was slowly coming to an end.
The TV was currently airing live footage of a raid on a suspected den of lycans. The reporter was standing out on the streets with the targeted building on the background.
"An anonymous tip came in roughly an hour ago, reporting non-human species living in the apartment."
A sudden crash and a roar was heard and Michael cursed under his breath.
While Selene and Michael were rediscovering their humanity, the humans were losing theirs. Fear was a perfect catalyst, a timeless weapon.
"Michael!" came a distressed shout from the bedroom.
The hybrid rushed out of the room he was contemplating into turning into a nursery and down to the master bedroom, eyes quickly scanning for the whereabouts of his mate.
"Michael," Selene groaned once more. She was inside the bathroom, head bent over the toilet as she heaved another serving of blood out of her mouth.
Michael was immediately behind Selene, pulling her hair back and rubbing her arm comfortingly.
When Selene was done, Michael carried her back to their bed despite Selene's protests that she can walk by herself.
Michael handed his mate a cup of blood to replenish the volume she's lost.
Selene took a sip and then settled against the pillows.
"We have to get out of here," she said, referring to the battle being waged outside their walls.
Michael shook his head.
"I could hear the news from the bathroom. It's only a matter of time before we're caught. We have to leave the country."
Brushing her hair out of her face, Michael said, "Not like this. You're sick."
Selene's eyes flashed with annoyance like it always did when Michael babied her. "Immortals don't get sick, Michael. And we don't have a choice."
Michael pursed his lips in thought. No, they don't, he thought in agreement. Sooner or later, the humans were going to find them. It didn't matter if he and Selene could walk under the sunlight. There were checkpoints that administer tests everywhere.
They have to leave.
"What's the plan?"
...
They prepared for their departure during the week.
The night before they were due to leave, Michael considered telling Selene about her condition.
His arm was wrapped around her shoulder, his hand traced lazy circles on her cold skin. Selene was doing the same to his bare chest, the fingernail marks from their lovemaking only a few minutes prior were already a faint red on Michael's skin.
It's the first time that Selene hasn't thrown up any of the blood she's drank, the first time she's felt normal again.
"Thank goodness it's over," she said softly. "I can't think of what I'd have to do if we're on the run for our lives and I'm feeling nauseated."
"I'd carry you," Michael replied. That caused both Selene and Michael to laugh. The image of the former Death Dealer being carried like some sort of damsel in distress was amusing and humorous.
"No, I'm serious," Michael insisted, still chuckling. "If you're ill and you can't fight, I'll carry you on my back and run as fast as I can." He suddenly turned quiet at the thought that that scenario wasn't at all quite improbable.
He turned quickly to Selene. "Selene, when we get away... What do you think of starting a family, settling down?"
"You mean a coven?"
"Something like that."
"Composed of what? Vampires and lycans coexisting peacefully?" Selene scoffed out a laugh. "You know that's never going to happen."
"What if... What if it's composed of hybrids?" Michael closed his eyes, waiting for Selene's reply.
"Michael, I know you want for there to be someone like you. But..." Michael's eyes flew open just in time to meet Selene's gaze. "Even if we could create a hybrid, we can't risk it. Not while this war's going on. The humans are already purging lycans and vampires." Selene's hold on him tightened as she imagined a horrible scenario. "Who knows what they'll do if they discover a hybrid exists. I'll... I don't know how far they'll go, the lengths they'll take to kill you."
Michael moved his arm down Selene's waist, his hand settled over her stomach. Her response pretty much answered his questions. He couldn't tell her about her pregnancy. Not yet.
Under the warmth of his palm, Michael could feel the life within. He couldn't hear the baby yet but he knew it was only a matter of time.
Michael knew he's going to do anything to protect both the hybrid growing in Selene's stomach and Selene herself. Even if it meant killing a lot of humans.
He resolved to tell Selene about the baby once they reached safety. He couldn't have her worried and distracted. Once they get away, he'll tell her.
...
They didn't get far.
The humans found them, ambushed them and for the first time, Michael feared for his mate.
Running for their lives, Michael wished he had told her of her pregnancy. Nevermind that she would have a hard time believing him. It would have at least given them time to enjoy being parents, to talk about whether or not she even wanted the child, wanted to be a mother.
The last thing Michael remembered upon jumping into the bay, was the touch of Selene's hand... the ghost of that intoxicating smell on her skin... and the clear sound of a second set of heartbeats.
A/N: Tell me what you think!