AN:
Well, several people have requested a story about Link and Zelda having children. So, here we are. This first chapter is just the one-shot I have in my story, The World Around Me. So, if you've read that you're fine to skip this chapter. I am posting the second chapter at the same time for this reason.
I am not Nintendo.
"Your highness, do you have any news to give the council?" Lady Mariah probes.
"No, I do not." They all look down at the table in disappointment. "One of you asks every meeting, when there is news to be shared, I will."
"Perhaps you should seek out a doctor, make sure that neither of you are infertile." Someone suggests.
"That was done before the wedding, they are both in good health and perfectly capable of having children." Father replies.
"It's been almost a year, yet there is still not an heir nor any signs of one." Duke Narkell for some reason feels the need to remind us.
"When it is time, it will happen." I glare at him. "Perhaps the goddesses do not believe that it is the right time."
"Or perhaps there is something that you are not sharing with us."
"There is no law which forces me to share everything about myself with the council. There are many things that I am not sharing. I am aware of what you are insinuating, sir, and let me inform you that I would very much like to have a child." Not a lie.
-oOo-
"This is my last bottle."
"Are you going to get more?"
"Do you want me to?"
"It's up to you, you're the one who's going to be dealing with the hard part of pregnancy."
"We need to have a child, soon. The council is getting antsy."
"Are you ready for that?"
"Is anyone ever truly ready for anything?" I turn to my husband, who sits on the edge of our bed. "I meant what I said at the meeting. I would like to have a child."
"Now?"
"No other time is real. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is a guess."
"Is that a yes?"
"Do you want to have a child now?"
"Perhaps not right now, but we'll have nine months to prepare."
"Plus however long it takes for us to conceive."
"It could be another year before we have a child."
"If we want to have a baby within a year, we have to start now." I look at the bottle in my hand. "Have we made our decision?"
"I think we have." I place the bottle back in the box.
"We're having a baby."
-oOo-
I wake up at three a.m. to a splitting migraine and hot flashes. I kick the blankets off of me. Now I'm cold. I grab the blankets. Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Hot. "Zelda?"
"Sorry, I'm just…uncomfortable."
"What's wrong? Are you sick?" He sits up, still half-asleep.
"Maybe." He presses the back of his hand to my forehead. "Go back to sleep."
"If you get worse, wake me." He's too tired to argue much.
"I will." I press my lips to his cheek as he settles back in bed.
"You're going to see a doctor tomorrow." He mumbles. "We don't have time for you to be sick."
-oOo-
"What symptoms are you having?" The lead doctor, Dr. Samantha Mared, asks.
"I woke up around three am to a migraine and hot flashes. I've felt nauseous for the past few days."
"Have you come into contact with any sick people?"
"Not that I know of." She gives me a short physical, trying to figure out what's wrong with me.
"When was your last period?"
"It has been about a month."
"Do you keep track of them? Of the dates?"
"Yes, I do." I had to for the elixirs. Besides, ruining my clothes when I could prevent it is not a good idea.
"Do you know when your next one is supposed to start?"
"Not off the top of my head." I take the Sheikah Slate off my hip and pull up the calendar. "Three days from now."
"Are these your usual symptoms?"
"No, normally I just have pain and bloating."
"Come back to me if it hasn't started in two weeks." The Zora jots something down on her notepad.
"Do you think that I might be…?"
"You aren't showing signs of an illness. Your body seems to be perfectly healthy. I believe that it is possible."
"Can you give me anything for the headache?"
"I'll get you some painkillers that should be safe if you are. I'll be right back." She leaves me alone and I stare at my hands.
I may be pregnant.
It's been four months since I stopped taking the elixirs. Link and I have not actively tried to have a baby, but we haven't done anything to really avoid it. What if I am pregnant? How am I going to tell everyone? How am I going to tell him? What's going to happen? How is just the pregnancy going to affect my life? There's going to be a lot of things I can't do anymore just due to safety.
"I'm back. You should take two in the morning and two at night." She hands me a bottle with small capsules inside. "If anything gets worse, come back. If you start, send me a message or something. I'll keep this quiet until we know."
"Thank you."
"Are you going to tell your husband?"
"No, I don't want to get him excited and it turn out to be nothing."
"Understandable."
"I must be going, I have a meeting with the leaders of Lureline village today."
"Have a good day, your highness. I hope you feel better."
-oOo-
"What did the doctor say?" We haven't seen each other at all today. He's had meetings with various military leaders.
"She believes that it may just be symptoms of my period." I slip off my shoes and sit on the chair in front of my vanity.
"Okay, good. I was worried that you were sick."
"I'm fine. I've been dealing with this for the past seven years; sometimes different symptoms just appear due to hormone imbalances caused by stress and stuff like that. I haven't started yet, but the symptoms tend to show up a few days before." I run my brush through my hair.
"Do you feel well enough to go down for dinner or should we call for it to be brought up here?" he walks up behind me and places his hands on my shoulders.
"She gave me some pain medication, so I feel fine." He runs his hands up to my neck and gently rubs. "Though I am beginning to suspect that you would rather have the food brought up here regardless."
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"You're insatiable."
"I'm in love with and married to the most beautiful woman in the world." He leans over and presses his lips to my neck. "There would be something wrong with me if I wasn't." He slowly and methodically massages my neck with his hands.
"Flirt."
"Only with you." His hands move to the row of buttons leading down my back.
-oOo-
"You're back."
"I haven't started."
"The best way of knowing if you are pregnant is just waiting and seeing. It's possible that your period is just late. Even once you've matured and your period is regular, things can change the cycle."
"Is there any way to tell for sure?"
"There's plenty of Old Wives' Tales, but they're not necessarily accurate."
"Do you think Lady Mipha would be able to tell?" She can tell when people are sick, maybe she can sense it.
"I'm uncertain. Lady Mipha's ability to heal is unlike anything any of us have seen before, though it has weakened some over the past few years." She bites down on her lip. "I guess it's worth a shot."
"She'll be here for the council meeting tomorrow. I can ask her after that. I'll have to come up with some excuse." Link still doesn't know. "I would like a definitive answer."
"I hope you get it."
-oOo-
"Mipha, may I ask you something?"
"Yes, Zelda. What is it?"
"It's private. I have an injury I would like for you to check on. Would you mind coming to my suite with me to heal it?"
"What happened?" Link asks, extremely serious.
"Some of the boning in my corset wore through the fabric. It cut my hip. It isn't a big deal, it's just bothersome. You need to go, you have that meeting with Ryell and Aron." Please don't insist that you come with us.
"Are you sure?"
"I'll be fine." I roll my eyes. "No one hurt me, it's already scabbed over. It's just itchy and annoying." I kiss his cheek. "Go, you're going to be late." He begrudgingly leaves us, and I lead Mipha to my suite.
"You don't have a cut on your hip." She states.
"No, I don't, but I couldn't tell him what is actually going on."
"What happened?"
"Nothing bad, I just…let's get inside first." She's quiet after that. Once we get into the suite, I shut the door. "Thank you for doing this."
"What's wrong?"
"I wanted to know if you could sense pregnancy. I know you can sense injuries and illnesses, so I thought that it may extend to that."
"Do you believe that you could be?"
"I'm late, and I've had migraines and nausea and hot flashes and bloating."
"Then let's see. May I? This will take a little while, I don't often do this." She reaches out her hand towards my stomach. I nod. She places a hand on my tummy, just over my uterus, and closes her eyes. We stand there for a few minutes, with her concentrating. "Yes."
"Yes?" A smile breaks across my face.
"Yes, I sense a baby." She smiles back. "I can't tell the gender."
"I don't care about that." I assure her. "Thank you." I hug her tightly and laugh. "I'm having a baby!"
"Yes, you are. I assume that Link has no idea what's going on."
"I didn't want him to get excited if it turned out to be nothing." I let her go.
"Well, you're going to need to tell him soon. You'll start showing eventually."
"I need to figure out how I'm going to do that."
-oOo-
"What are those?" Link walks into our suite. I have many fabric swatches laid across the floor.
"Fabric. I'm trying to decide what combination I like best." I pick up a set of three in dark green colors and another set in blue. "Which one do you prefer of these two?"
"What are they for?" He takes a seat next to me.
"The nursery."
"The nurs…" His eyes go wide and he blinks several times. "The nursery?"
"Yes, that is what I said."
"We're having a baby?" For the first time in a long time, his voice is small.
"Yes. Yes, I'm pregnant." He practically tackles me and presses his lips to mine.
"Sorry, are you okay?"
"I'm perfect." I assure him. I'm lying on the ground with him on top of me.
"We're having a baby."
"We're having a baby." I cup his face in my hands. He presses his hand to my belly.
"How long?"
"We believe around a month. Ovulation occurs about two weeks after the period, and my period was supposed to be a week ago."
"How did you find out?"
"I didn't have my period and the symptoms showed up. Mipha was able to sense it."
"You weren't hurt."
"I didn't want to get you excited and it turn out to be a false alarm." He kisses me again. "Are you happy?"
"I can only name a few times I've been this happy." He shifts down my body and presses his cheek to my belly.
"You aren't going to be able to hear or feel anything. The baby's just a clump of cells at this point. Anything you can hear is just going to be me."
"Shh." He presses his lips to my clothed abdomen. "Hello." I run my fingers through his hair. "Despite what your mother says, I'm still going to talk to you. I'm your dad. I'm going to keep you and your mother safe. I promise. You may not have ears, but I still want you to know that I love you." He pulls my blouse up and kisses my stomach again. He rests his cheek on my skin and we lie like that for a long time. "I like the green."