Rowan lay in their bed, Aelin at his side. His arm was snaked around her waist, and her head was on his shoulder. She was snoring softly, and he could feel her breaths on his bare chest. Her scent was practically radiating off of her, and he knew he could no longer ignore it. He had to tell her today. It would be easy, in theory. In theory. Aelin stirred.
"Hey, Fireheart," Rowan whispered.
"Mmm," Aelin purred. She arched her back in a stretch, but stopped abruptly. She quickly leapt out of the bed and ran to the bathroom, Rowan following quickly after. Aelin slammed the door. He heard sounds of retching. Rowan pulled on the door handle. It was locked. He grit his teeth.
Rowan remembered the last time he had broken a door down because of Aelin. It hadn't gone over well, so he knew that was out of the question. But he also remembered that they had put keys on top of the door frames for emergencies. Rowan felt above the door, and sure enough, there was a key. He shoved it into the keyhole and quickly pulled the door open. Aelin was crouched on the ground, her cheek on the edge of the porcelain bowl. She looked up at Rowan and rolled her eyes.
"Territorial fae," she muttered. Rowan didn't smile. He sat down beside her and moved her to his lap. She leaned her head against his shoulder, but quickly shot up to retch again. Rowan held back her hair and rubbed circles on her back. A memory shot up. He remembered doing the same things with Lyria. "I don't know what's going on," Aelin muttered. "Maybe I should see a healer." Rowan shook his head, and Aelin raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you know what's going on?" Rowan nodded slowly.
"Aelin, you're...you're..."
"Well?" she asked, annoyed.
"Aelin, you're pregnant." Rowan watched as Aelin processed the news. Her head was shaking, almost trembling. She swallowed a few times as fear overtook her eyes.
"No...no...I'm not...I'd know...How do you know?" she finally forced out. Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"I'm honestly surprised you didn't figure it out first," he said gently. "You reek of hormones, and I know your cycle is late." Aelin turned pink.
"You can smell that?" she asked quietly. Rowan nodded. "Well, I mean, it's been spotty since Doranelle, so maybe..." Rowan winced at the reminder of her old torture.
"Aelin, I can tell," he said gently. "I've smelled pregnancies before." Aelin squeezed his hand, knowing there wasn't much she could do to console Rowan.
"Is this what you want?" he asked after a moment. Aelin didn't say anything, and a pit of dread began to grow in Rowan's gut.
"I'm not ready to have a kid," she said, taking in a shuddering breath. "Rowan, I'm twenty two. I-I'll be Settling within a few years, won't I?" Rowan nodded slowly. "I wish I could wait until after that. But there's nothing I can do about this, is there?"
"Well," Rowan said, hating what he was about to say, "there's a tonic that can, uh, terminate the pregnancy." Aelin looked at him with shock.
"You mean, kill the child?" Rowan nodded, not making eye contact with his mate. Aelin scoffed.
"I can't believe you think I would do something like that." Rowan's shoulders sagged in relief.
"Good," he breathed. "I didn't think you'd do that."
"I don't think I'll be sick again," Aelin announced. "I'm going to go wash my mouth out." Aelin stood up and walked over to the sinks. Rowan followed her, keeping his hand on her back.
After Aelin cleaned out her mouth, she walked over to their bed. Rowan laid down beside her and pulled the blankets back over them. Aelin turned over a few times, not seeming to be able to get comfortable.
"Are you all right, Aelin?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah," she croaked. "But I'm scared." Rowan propped himself up on an elbow.
"I am, too." Aelin looked up at him. She scooted over, pressing her body up against his. Rowan laid back down. He put his hand on her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Aelin closed her eyes and took in a breath. She pressed her mouth to his, kissing him chastely. She pulled away with a faint smile on her face.
The two mates fell asleep like that, just the two-well, three-of them. Just a male and a female, about to embark on the hardest journey of their lives.
AN: If this is a lot like Pregnant by thedawncourt, it's because it was inspired by their story (go and read it, and then review asking for it to be continued).
IMPORTANT AN: Okay, it's now time for me to explain this story.
This is a compilation of Throne of Glass fluff stories. I am taking requests, but I DO NOT write anything above a T rating (ergo: no lemons). I will only do canon ships (maybe I'll do Chaolaena; and I think that Lysandra/Aedion will be canon in the next book if you don't consider it canon yet) because I only pretty much only ship cannon ships. (What was that sentence? XD) I will have Nestaq (Sartaq/Nesryn. I'll be using that ship name) fluff! Yay! We need more of it!
Review with requests!