(Aelin and Rowan belong to Sarah J. Maas and so does the Throne of Glass world. I only own my MC and the plot! Read, Review, and Enjoy!)
It was official. Aelin felt like shit. It wasn't the fact that she had to deal with stuffy and boring delegates of her kingdom all day. It was the fact that she was 8 months pregnant.
Damn you, Rowan. She thought, annoyed.
As Aelin walked down the long corridor of her castle to her and Rowan's room she thought back to the moment they found out that they were pregnant.
••••••
Aelin couldn't stop throwing up, and she blamed it all on Aedion because he was so fun to mess with.
"Aedion, I swear by the Wryd, what have you been putting in our food?!" She moaned sluggishly.
Rowan was clutching her to his side and rubbing her back in soothing motions.
"Woman, I haven't done anything to the food. I haven't even cooked! That's what you have the damn cooks for." Aedion grumbled.
Rowan growled at him. "Watch it, brother. That's my mate you are talking too."
Aedion whined, "But Rowan!"
Aelin chuckled a little and instantly regretted it. Bile rose up again and she dashed to the bathroom across her and Rowan's chambers. She emptied all of the contents of her stomach and what felt like a few of her organs.
"I swear, I will kill whoever made me sick. I'm a Queen, dammit. I've fought evil demons and lived! A simple sickness shouldn't be affecting me like this!" Aelin stated as she laid on the cool floor of the bathroom while Rowan rubbed her back.
"Fireheart, I think we need to see the healer. I've never seen you like this before, and I don't like it," Rowan said with a worried frown.
"Maybe you are right. Can you help me up?"
Rowan smoothly picked Aelin up and carried her to the healer's quarters. Finally, after too many hallways and Aelin's many complaints that her castle was too big, they arrived at the healer's room.
"Healer, I need you to look at the Queen. She has been ill for a week now, and I am starting to worry that something serious is going on."
"Rowan, she has a name and it's not healer, you oaf. Azeal, would you mind seeing if something is wrong?" Aelin asked in a weak voice.
Azeal, the healer, startled at first by Rowan's sudden entrance quickly got to work and made a place for Aelin to lay.
"King Rowan, would you mind stepping outside?" Azeal asked reluctantly, intimidated by Rowan's presence.
Rowan's expression went from worried to angry. "I will not leave-".
"Rowan, please. You make Azeal nervous, and I will be fine." Aelin said reassuringly.
Rowan looked at Azeal to find her blushing. "As you wish, mate."
Once Rowan was waiting in the hall surely listening to everything that was being said, Azeal got to work. She asked questions about when her sickness started and how frequent Aelin got sick. Soon Azeal was asking questions that didn't have anything to do with her sickness.
"Your Highness, how long has it been since you last bled?" Azeal asked reluctantly.
Aelin was shocked for a moment. What did...? Oh Wryd. It can't be...could it?
"I missed my monthly bleeding three weeks ago." Aelin stated with apprehension.
Azeal's eyes went wide with shock and then sparkled with joy.
"Azeal, what is it?"
"Your Highness, I can't be sure yet, but may I use my magic to assess you?"
"Of course."
Aelin laid back, and Azeal placed her hands above Aelin's stomach. A warm light radiated from Azeal's palms, and Aelin felt a wave of warmth flow over her body. She could tell that Azeal was using her healing magic to search her body for something. Then as soon as it had started, it was over.
Aelin sat up on the cot and looked at Azeal, who had tears in her eyes. Aelin's eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" She asked anxiously.
"Majesty, you're...you and Rowan..."Azeal stuttered.
"WHAT IS IT?!"
Azeal jumped at Aelin's sudden outburst. "Your Highness, you are having a baby."
Aelin started at her healer in shock as the words slowly sank in.
"I'm...I'm pregnant?"
Azeal slowly nodded her head with a joyful smile on her face.
All of the sudden, a thud sounded from the hall and with Aelin's fae hearing she heard a sword jostle in its case.
Azeal's eyes widened as she looked towards the closed door that lead out into the hall where Rowan was currently passed out in.
"Well, I think he took that well." Aelin said with a smirk.
••••••••
Aelin still laughed every time she thought back to Rowan passed out in the hallway after hearing that she was pregnant. But soon the hilarity of the situation ceased. Aelin had thought that Rowan was a protective fae bastard before, but now? After finding out that Aelin was pregnant, he became the protective fae bastard from hell. She was lucky enough to get out of bed without her dear mate rushing to her side and demanding she take it easy. She had to promise to wear her metallic gold nightgown (although a larger version to cover her stomach) to bed tonight just to get him to let her meet with her advisors today.
Aelin sighed and smiled. Rowan was so easy to bribe.
She finally reached her bedroom and walked to the bed that she and Rowan had been sharing for almost two years. She sat down and threw off her battle incompatible shoes and laid back. She had been feeling shooting pains all day and they have kept getting worse. She wanted Rowan to rub her back and play with her hair.
As soon as she finished that thought, Rowan walked into the room and upon seeing her laying in the bed, rushed over.
"Fireheart, are you and our baby okay? Do you need anything?" Rowan worriedly rubbed his hand over her protruding stomach.
"Rowan, could you get Azeal? I've been feeling shooting pain since I left to meet with the kingdom advisors, and I don't know what's wrong."
Rowan's eyes widened and he growled. "Aelin, why didn't you tell me? There could be something seriously wrong!"
"Calm down, my King, just call Azeal." Aelin laid back on the bed and watched as Rowan called for a servant to fetch Azeal.
Minutes later the healer entered the room and ran to Aelin.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Azeal asked worriedly.
"Azeal, I've been feeling shooting pains off and on all day, and I wanted to know if the baby is still okay. Please, check for me?"
"Of course, your Highness."
"For the hundredth time, call me Aelin."
She got no response, but she felt the warm sensation that always comes with Azeal's healing magic. All of the sudden the warm feeling wasn't just coming from Azeal's magic.
Oh no. Aelin thought horrified.
"Umm, Azeal I think my water just broke."
Azeal looked shocked for a second and suddenly started demanding the servants in the room to get clean towels, warm water, and alert everyone that the queen was in labor. All the while Rowan is standing at Aelin's head with a look of shock on his face and all the color drained from it.
"The baby...it's coming now?" Rowan asked in a daze.
"Rowan, you will need to hold my hand when it comes time to push. I need you with me."
Rowan was shaken out of his daze and focused on her. "Fireheart, I wouldn't leave you and our child for anything. I will always be here for you both, and I will hold your hand through whatever comes our way."
Tears rose in Aelin's eyes and she marveled at how lucky she was to have found such a loving and caring mate. Sometimes she forgets how amazing he really is.
"You say the sweetest things, my King." Aelin said with a smile on her face.
All of the sudden a contraction came. Aelin wasn't prepared, and she screamed. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt.
"Aelin, what is happening?! What is wrong?! Azeal, do something!" Rowan demanded.
Azeal sent the servants off and ran to Aelin's side.
"Your highness, it's just a contraction. Her body is preparing to give birth. It is a painful process, but I can ease some of her pain. This is natural, but it can take hours for the baby to come. Let's hope your son or daughter arriving three weeks early is a sign that he or she will arrive soon."
Rowan nodded stoically and methodically ran his fingers through Aelin's hair while holding her hand with his available hand.
"You can get through this, Fireheart." He whispered.
"You bet your ass I can, and I will, just so I can't beat your fae ass for doing this to me." Aelin said with her voice tight with pain and exhaustion.
Rowan threw back his head and laughed.
"Mate, you weren't complaining when it happened." He said silkily.
Aelin didn't dignify that statement with a remark mostly because it was true. So very very true. She only blushed in response.
"Aelin, you are doing so well. Your contractions are getting close rather quickly so I think that you will meet your son or daughter very soon," Azeal said with a delighted voice.
Aelin groaned and another contraction came.
Rowan continued to whisper how much he loved her and how excited he was to meet their child in her ear.
Four hours passed and any minute they would meet their son or daughter, the future heir to the Terrasen throne.
"Aelin, this is it. I need you to give me one big push and you can finally see your baby. Okay?" Azeal said in an encouraging tone.
Aelin replied in a tired and hoarse voice, "okay."
She felt a huge contraction coming and right then Azeal told her to push.
Aelin grabbed onto Rowan's hand, who had turned white as a sheet, and pushed with the last of her energy.
All of the sudden, a feeble cry pierced the air and a tiny child was brought into the world. Aelin sluggishly turned her head to Rowan with tears in her eyes and saw that he was crying to.
"Fireheart, you were glorious. I am so happy to have you and our child in my life. You amaze me," Rowan states in a trembling voice as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"My King, I am the lucky one. You bring out the best in me, and you gave me the greatest gift in the world. You gave me your heart and a child. I love you for that." Aelin replied in a shaky voice.
All the while, Azeal cleaned their baby, wrapped it in cloth, and walked over to Rowan.
Rowan's eyes widened.
"Your highness, I present to you your baby girl," Azeal said with tears in her eyes.
Shock played across his chiseled features and then sheer happiness. Rowan looked at the small bundle in Azeal's hands and said, "Baby girl? Aelin, we have a baby girl. By Mala, this is our daughter."
Rowan was crying heavily now as he reached for his baby girl. This was his chance to have a family again. He would never let anything happen to them. He would die trying to protect the precious bundle he now held and his resilient mate that laid beside him. He looked down at his baby girl's face and saw green eyes rimmed with gold and tufts of silver hair and fell in love. His daughter was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen apart from his mate, that is.
Aelin watched as Rowan stared at their daughter with tears streaming down his face and felt tears of her own falling free. She now had a daughter. She was a mother to a little baby girl. Just the thought seemed foreign, but the proof was an arm's reach away.
Rowan turned to Aelin and showed her their daughter. She was gorgeous. She was the perfect blend of Aelin and Rowan. Aelin looked at Rowan and found him looking at her.
"I love you, Fireheart."
"As I love you, Rowan."
Aelin was too weak to hold her daughter at the moment, but Rowan held her close so that she could see. It felt like they sat there on their bed for hours just staring at their daughter.
"We have to name her." Aelin said after a while.
Rowan looked up from their daughter with a smile on his face. "I know the perfect name."
Aelin raised a brow. "What would that be?"
Rowan looked back at their daughter and said "Sami Galathynius. Because she deserves to be named after someone who loved you endlessly and after someone who made the world a better place. Sam's legacy will be forever remembered through our daughters' name. I can't think of a more fitting name for the princess who will take the kingdoms by storm, just like her mother did."
With those words, Aelin broke down. She sobbed for those she had lost, the tiny life she had just given birth to, and the man before her who never stopped surprising her. She couldn't believe she could love this man any more than she ready did, but she was wrong. It was in that moment that Aelin knew that fate had brought them both together for a reason. Because a love as pure and as deep as the love she had for Rowan couldn't be anything but fate. He was her Carranam, and together with their daughter they would be the family that she had always dreamed of. To whatever end.