It was said that to place the royal crown even once on your head was to then be prepared to wear it in any and all circumstances. Any place you sat could transform into a throne, should the need arise. No matter the time or location, it was like a shadow you couldn't run from.

Back in Alm's early years, the responsibility had haunted him. Their world had been so broken by the twilight of the gods that it had felt selfish not to splinter and fracture himself in return. So many leaders had failed them again and again. How could he learn to ever close his eyes and rest when even one person was denied such luxury?

But as he grew more and more into the role, he learned that sometimes even a king could be just another person. Sometimes a comfy chair was just that, and even quiet Sunday afternoons could be worthy of your full attention.

It was one of those afternoons. The sun was warm, yet a nice gentle spring breeze would tease through every so often, keeping its heat from being overwhelming. By noon, Alm had attended to all his duties for the day, and while he could have always started on some other stack of paperwork or something, the beautiful weather had called to him. So, he found a dumb pulpy novel that he had picked up from a peddler a few months ago, cracked open a window, and made himself comfortable as he lounged in the sun.

A few hours in, he heard the bedroom door creak open. As painful as it was, he forced his attention away, ready to receive a stressed attendant or hurried messenger. To his surprise though, he found Celica studying him instead.

"Ah, Cel—" He couldn't resist the smile that naturally forced its way to his lips. "How was your appointment?"

"Fine," She rubbed her arms as she examined their dresser. "I don't want to be a bother, but I thought I left Mae's letter in here."

"Don't worry, you're good."

He tried to go back to his reading, but out of the corner of his eye he kept seeing Celica glance every so often in his direction. While he could still hear the sound of papers rustling, it was unlikely she hadn't already found it when he saw the letter sitting out in the open this morning.

"Celica," He looked up from his book to find her full-on staring at him.

She blushed once their gazes met, catching her right in the act. "Um…"

"Is there something you want to tell me?" It wasn't like her to fumble through her words like this. While Alm had wanted to enjoy his free afternoon, he couldn't just sit and enjoy himself if she was distressed.

Celica chewed her lip as her eyes darted back and forth between the letter and him. Then without another word, she scampered over to him and crawled in his lap.

A wave of affection overwhelmed him. They had been married for a few years now, there was no need for her to be so shy if she wanted to cuddle. Carefully, he helped settled her in, letting her legs swing over the armrest he had been using while she laid against his chest.

"Comfortable?"

"Uh-huh," She snuggled closer.

And with that, the gentle calm returned. If there were few things better than a quiet Sunday afternoon, then one with his pretty wife tucked neatly against him might manage to top higher on the list. At this point, it was impossible to return to his book, but he occupied himself plenty by stroking her hair and pressing quick kisses to her forehead.

"Mmhm, have you mistaken me for Sir Purr?" Celica laughed as her fingers tapped against his shoulders.

"I mean it is an honest mistake. You know how lonely he's gotten since we had to give away his and Madame Meow's kittens."

"That's very true," She placed the letter off to the side, before lacing her fingers around his neck. "Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood for sharing."

"What a naughty kitty cat you are." He cupped her backside to pull her closer.

"Only as naughty as you are."

Knowing them, they could have continued on with their cat-inspired flirting, but thankfully, Celica went ahead and brushed her lips against his, soft and slow. It both managed to feel more natural than breathing and the most arduous torture he had ever suffered from. He knew he was being impatient as he lapped at her mouth, wishing to deepen the kiss, so when she mercifully allowed him entrance, he tried to draw out the progress, savoring every last inch of her mouth.

He was just about to break away to give her some space, but it seemed like the last thing Celica wanted was space. She used her grip around his neck to leverage herself higher and have more access to his mouth. And well, how could he refuse her? Instead of backing away, he tightened his grip on her ass and breathed her in.

However, despite their passion, they couldn't maintain their position forever, and as Celica steadied herself, her knee landed right between his legs, brushing up against his arousal. Before he could stop himself, a breathy moan was already past his lips, and he hardened further.

It was far from their first time being intimate together, yet Celica still seemed slightly surprised by his reaction as she gazed at his groin.

"Sorry if I'm being eager—" Alm felt his cheeks burn. "—but what can I say? I find you delightful."

"Don't feel bad…I guess I'm feeling clingy too," She nudged her knee forward, and he all but hummed with pleasure.

They broke away just long enough to switch to the bed before they were back to trying to crawl in each other's skin. Usually they weren't so amorous as to make love when they might be needed, but Alm would be lying if he didn't admit to having grown restless. For the last several weeks Celica had been feeling under the weather, too tired for much of any quality time together. On one hand, he was glad she was feeling better, but on the other he wanted to make up for lost time and make her feel even better.

As they kissed, he pinned her underneath with the weight of his body. He wanted to reduce the space between them until there was nothing left, but as he squished his chest against hers, Celica let out a slight hiss.

"Sorry," He shifted slightly away. "I'll be gentler." Alm tried to under her bodice slowly, but the knot felt tighter than usually, or maybe his fingers were a mess, because Celica grew impatient and did it for him.

"If you give me gentle, I might scream," She raked her hands through his hair as she brought him back to her chest. "Make me feel more sublime than Mila herself."

He pressed a kiss between the valley of her breasts, and then looked up at her with an almost gleeful grin. "Of course, my Queen."

With his left hand, Alm massaged her left breast as he dragged his mouth across her right. With each of her shudders, he followed the trail of her goosebumps they made with his tongue.

"Touch me more…" Celica moaned.

"Now who's the eager one?" He smiled against her skin. Idly he stroked a vein from her the top of her cleavage to her nipple. It seemed he was always discovering new things about her. "You're so ripe, I want to taste it all."

"Then why don't you take a bite?" She arched into his touch, desperate, but Alm had grown mischievous.

"The forbidden fruit was awfully tempting—" Teasingly he circled his thumb around her areola, as he tried to come up with a clever response. "But you know they say…um, even peaches can have their pits."

It was only after he spoke that he realized how stupid he sounded. Note to self: stay away from fruit-based dirty talking and keep it based on cat puns. Rather than have to face a weird stare, he buried his face back in her breasts and did as he was told.

"Ow!" Celica leaped away from him as soon as his teeth scraped skin. She brought her hands to the mark and a rush of guilt flooded him.

"Celica are you all right?" Alm grew somber as he remembered exactly what her schedule had been for this morning: a doctor's appointment. It felt stupid to pin less than perfect sex on an illness, but something had definitely started to tilt sideways between them.

Red eyes stared at him with that same wide look for before. "I suppose it is obvious when I'm not," She gave a frustrated sigh as she twirled a curl around her finger. "I knew I should have told you right away, but I wasn't sure how to break the news."

A wave of horror swept Alm. Before Tobin's mother got sick, she had displayed similar symptoms of nausea and headaches. From then it developed into a three-day long fever that came this close to taking her life.

"Gods, Celica what were you thinking? Were you just going to pretend nothing was wrong?"

"I know I wouldn't have been able to hide it forever, but I thought maybe once you started to put the pieces together, the news might have gone down easier."

Anger flared up in inside his stomach like an inferno. "You thought it would be better if I just watched it happen!" He gripped the bed-sheets in order to ground himself, but even the mere thought Celica dying right before his eyes again made his blood boil.

"You don't think this hasn't been difficult for me as well?" Celica's tone grew razor-sharp. "It's going to affect me much more than it will affect you."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I care about you too!" He knew he shouldn't lose his temper, but it kept slipping threw his fingers with every word. "I thought it was normal considering I'm your husband!"

If looks could kill, Celica appeared ready to murder him right then and there. "Valentia can crown you 'Saint-King' or any other arrogant title you so choose, but know this, your Majesty, you do not own me."

"I never said I—"

"Mark my words, King Albein Alm Rudolf, it doesn't matter if it is your child, I'll—"

"Child!?" The mere word seemed to hit him like a Ragnarok spell. "Celica, are you pregnant?"

Immediately it was like a candle had been blown out. All the fury she had built up faded into a look of pure surprise.

"You didn't know?"

There was no words Alm could string together to describe what he was feeling, so his brain decided to just give up on thinking in general. He fell on his side as the realization continued to ring around in his head.

When his tongue could finally function again, he could only say one thing.

"I'm sorry, I was worried you were sick."

"I should be the one apologizing." She buried her face in her palms. "I was going to tell you outright, but sometimes it is easier to kiss you, then talk about things." She spread her fingers across so she could peek through them. "Maybe that's how we got into this situation in the first place.

"I still overreacted, jumped to conclusions like I was half-hare."

"Well I hopped right along with you."

"Gheez, are we really making this an argument too?" Alm gave a hollow laugh. "I thought we had grown out of that a while ago."

"Well I knew I hadn't." Celica rolled on her stomach to face him. "Everyday I wake up surprised to find out that I'm not a seventeen anymore. I've never been able to imagine a future for myself, much less one where I returned to the throne."

Alm couldn't help but tense up. "Did you not want a life like this?"

"No darling, this is better than I ever could have dreamed," Her features softened as a small smile snuck up on her previous scowl. "But I think in the back of my mind, I always expected to never get to a place like this. It wasn't like I expected to die, but it just felt there was nothing waiting for me. I was running into pure darkness, and now that a torch has been lit, I feel blinded."

Alm sighed. It was heavy stuff she was talking about—stuff he had felt shadows of but didn't have the right words to explain. Celica always left him speechless in one way or another.

So, he followed his gut, and leaned forward to cup her cheek.

"What if we try to do this again?" He gave a shaky smile. "Hey Cel, I heard you had some news for me? What do you want to talk about?"

Celica clasped his hand as she leaned into its touch. "Why hello Alm, I do have some news to share. We're going to have a baby together!"

"A baby!" For all his playing along, not an ounce of excitement was faked. "Well how do you feel about that?"

"It's kinda scary; I never pictured being a mother. Still it might be…" She stroked his hand as she looked for the right word. "…rewarding."

"I don't know about you, but that wasn't the end of the world was it?" Alm gave a little laugh as he wrapped her in his arms. The combination of the warm sunlight and high emotions had made him tired, and he thought after everything they still deserved a moment to be indulgent.

"It wasn't," Celica tucked herself into the crook of his neck and sighed. "You know I really don't want to be seventeen forever. I want to keep building a life with you, to give having a family a try. I just worry if I'm any good at it. You might have to wait a while as I catch up on the years."

"I'll wait for you as long as it takes." He lifted her right palm to his lips and kissed her brand.

They stayed like that for a long time, basking in the afternoon's glow, until sleep carried away. For a few hours, they were just Alm and Celica again.

A.N. This ended up having like five tone shifts, started out as a horny joke on how a pregnancy reveal might happen and landed somewhere sweet, but overall I just wanted to show these two happy and affectionate, some h/c snuck in bc I am a slut for it but I hope the rest of the fic makes up for it