"I don't want it," Roland complains, covering his ears.
She nods sympathetically and sits down next to him beside the bathtub. "I'm sorry, I'm not you're itchy and hot and putting things in my ears doesn't make me happy either."
"It hurts," he insists. It doesn't, but his fever is back, and he's a sick, irritable little boy. She sympathises with that too, being achy and exhausted is a fairly hideous state of existence, but she's had more time to become tolerant and she knows this has a reason. His spotted little malady has no point.
"Why don't you do me first, and then you'll believe me that it doesn't hurt?"
He crawls into her lap then, reaching for the thermometer because that suggestion is much better. She should have thought of that five minutes ago, before the tears.
"Here, this makes it turn on, and then you hold this until it beeps." Sitting very still, she helps him find her ear beneath her hair. He only paws her neck a little and then it's in her ear. The beeping is a little loud, and he pulls it down, handing it to her.
"See? That didn't hurt."
"What do the numbers mean?" he asks.
"What numbers are they?" He's meant to be learning them, they've been on the fridge.
Roland follows them with his finger, settling again into her lap. He's been so warm this morning, but he's still not a pregnant dragon. "One, zero, three, five. That's hot."
"I know, I don't think you're that hot, little one."
"Can I do it again?" he turns, ready to stick that device in her ear again and she nods, kissing his spotted forehead.
"Yes, after you."
"Please?"
"After you, you know it's quick."
He starts to beg again and gives in, it's easy to forgive the argument, the chase to the bathroom and his tears when he smiles like that.
"Ready?"
"Beep!" he says, and she laughs, because it's not done, but he's trying to mess it up.
"Was that it?"
"Yes." The thermometer beeps on its own a moment later and he giggles.
"What numbers is it now?"
"One, zero, zero, six." He curls into her arms, tired now, almost impossibly small for someone so heavy. "Is that high?"
"Not to high," she says, stroking his hair. "We just have to be aware of it."
"For Regina?"
"And your mother and father," she adds, hoping mentioning them doesn't make him sad. He only snuggles closer.
"Why are you warmer than me?"
"Because I'm a dragon, and you're a boy, even if you're a spotted boy right now." She has to get up off the floor and take him somewhere nicer. He's not that heavy, and she shifts around before she stands up. He clings to her, as he has most of the morning when he's not trying to push her away.
The doorbell rings, of course, while she's carrying him down the stairs and they answer it together, him half-asleep on her shoulder.
Lily's on the list of people she can let in, and she shifts the brown paper bag in her arms and gets that look. "Hi Mom."
Roland waves sleepily at Lily.
"Lily, I didn't know you were coming."
"You would have changed out of your fancy pajamas?" Lily asks, letting herself in. Lily heads towards the kitchen and Roland seems to have no desire to be set down yet, so she follows her daughter, watching Lily stick containers into the fridge.
"Not for you."
Lily chuckles and holds up a series of those DVD things that resemble books and aren't. "I brought some of my favorites, and one with Robin Hood, because I thought little guy might appreciate that. Your dad is a fox in this one."
He reaches for it and that destabilizes them so she sets him down. He takes the DVDs and looks them over, studying the pictures.
"I brought one with dragons, and one with Robin Hood and this one with a cute bunny, because your grandma said she liked it."
Mal reaches for Lily's shoulder, stroking her arm. That might have been a difficult conversation, but she's trying. She tries so hard. "Are children's movies usually about animals?"
"Frequently, you can get a message into one without anyone thinking it's too controversial if you have a cute thing, and kids love animals."
She studies the oddly designed dragons on the back of one of the DVDs and hands it Roland. "What do you think? Lily brought ice cream, so we can have ice cream and watch a movie." Henry said that was a pretty normal thing to do when kids were sick.
"I'll get it," Lily says, "go, sit, you've been chasing him all morning."
And that's where that look comes from. "Lily, I'm fine."
"I bet your temperature's higher than his is," she says, slamming the cupboard door a little harder than perhaps she should have done.
"Roland, do you want to pick your movie and get started?"
He nods and heads to the living room. He knows how the DVD player works, because just like the phone, he understands it better.
Lily removes the ice cream from the freezer and attacks it with the scoop as if she's removing its' innards. Moving to stand beside her, she touches Lily's shoulder. She doesn't pull away, which is always the fear, but she takes Mal's hand and holds it against her own cheek.
"You promise this is normal? You're burning up."
Mal strokes her cheek. She's so protective. "It happened with you."
"And that's okay?" Lily's emotions echo raw in her voice but she never wants to define them, or admit what she's feeling. "If you were human-"
She rests both of her hands on Lily's shoulders and kisses her cheek. "Thankfully, I am not. Yes, it's warm, but that's supposed to happen. When I was pregnant with you, I first suspected you were with me because of the heat. Here," she pauses, and takes Lily's hand. She resists at first then lets her hand be guided to hot spot just below her navel. "See? That's what you felt like, and you grew, and settled, and it didn't feel like a fever after you were a little bigger."
Turning slowly, Lily looks at her hand on her belly, then up.
"Everything else, the headache and the nausea, they're extra human symptoms, because resurrection magic isn't really meant to be used in this way. It's about vengeance and pain, not life."
Lily holds her hand so still that Mal's almost afraid that she's angry, then her thumb moves, just a little. "But you're okay? You're not weakened or anything, you're not going to get chicken pox from being with Roland, because that-"
She grabs Lily, hugs her tight because she shouldn't be so afraid. "I'm fine."
"Mom."
"I promise I'm fine," she whispers again, cradling Lily's shoulders to her. "Have you ever been sick?"
Lily pauses, and then she pulls back. "I've had colds."
"Those ar unavoidable it seems, and maybe once or twice you were wet enough that it got into your lungs, but you never had chicken spots or any of those-"
"Did you say spots?"
Mal tilts her head. "Yes, that's it's name. Chicken spots."
"Pox," Lily corrects, beaming. "I guess they could sound alike on the phone. It's called 'chicken pox' like 'a pox on all your houses', 'smallpox'..." she drifts, perhaps realizing that Mal has heard of none of these things. "Never mind. How did you know I wasn't sick as a kid?"
Maleficent holds her daughter's chin in her hand, and stares, trying to take her all in. She should know this creature, have her life written into her bones but she missed so much. "That's the dragon, not even being without magic could take that from you."
"My adoptive parents always thought it was weird."
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't," Lily stops her. "I'm here now, right? That's what matters." She holds her eyes, and there's hope there before Lily looks away. "Go, make sure he's got the movie right. I'll bring you both ice cream."
Mal is not helpful with the DVD mechanism. Roland knows it, even knows which buttons to press on the wand that controls it. He loves his Papa being a fox, loves the singing, and the big bear that is Little John, who has nearly raised the boy as a second father.
He's tired though, and first his head is on her arm, then her lap, and then he's fast asleep. Not even singing rosters and evil snakes can wake him.
Lily stops the film, and changes the channel. "He'll make us watch it again if we watch it now. Don't want to spoil it for you."
She smirks, reaching across to touch Lily's shoulder. "Even I know this story, the selfish prince rises, is defeated, and then the land is ruled by a good and fair king, until he fails to have an heir, or gambles, or drinks or loses his wife."
"So cynical," Lily teases.
"I've seen where the legends come from, it's different."
Lily rubs her hand, smiling. "Want me to move him? Is he heavy?"
"He's not," she starts, then stops, because maybe her stomach wasn't ready for ice cream. Even though it's quite possibly the best invention of the new world, and was deliciousz now her stomach twists, shoving up into her chest.
Lily very gently lifts Roland enough for her to slip out from underneath him. "You have that look."
"What look?"
"Robin calls it 'don't tell Regina'," Lily says, half-smiling. "Apparently she fusses worse than he does."
She almost laughs, because it's entirely true. Robin's more accepting, while Regina wants to be able to do something, anything, to make it better. "It's all right.'
"It's not," Lily insists. She touches her arm, then holds her hand. "Throwing up sucks, and I should have known better than to give you ice cream."
"Lily-"
The doorbell takes away their opportunity to argue about that. Maleficent strokes Roland's head, making sure he's still asleep before following Lily to the door. Henry would just come in, and Regina's already found excuses to stop by twice, but she wouldn't ring the doorbell. Mal catches Lily's arm, holding her.
"I've got it," Lily says, but she follows anyway.
Marian stands on the porch, basket in hand. She's slowly started to wear the clothes of this world, and she seems more comfortable in them each time Mal sees her, but she shifts her weight now.
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" Marian begins and something in her voice makes Mal's chest ache and it's not just the nausea.
"We're watching a movie, and the little guy's asleep. Not that you could get that close," Lily says, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Sorry."
"I understand the caution," Marian says. She holds forth the basket. "I brought food, some of the stew he likes, and bread, I heard-"
"That I can't cook," Mal finishes for her.
"Yes, nor should you, I'm sure it's not that useful if you're-"
Mal waves her apology away. "Thank you, I'm sure he'll love having something you made."
The basket, which would, should, smell delightful, like herbs and fresh bread, is easily too much and Lily takes it. Sweet Lily notices so much.
Marian's closer, her hands folded over her sweater, because she has nothing to hold. "Thank you again for watching him, I'm so sorry it happened this way. I should-"
"Be well," Mal interrupts, wishing she could do anything to ease their separation. Marian's pain vibrates, like Robin's. "He's safe. He misses you both, and he's a sweet boy. He's easy to look after."
"He likes you." Marian fidgets with her sleeve. "He talks about you all the time, his dragons, and Henry, he's so fond of all of you."
She smiles, as does Lily, and this would be a very nice conversation, even on the porch in her pajamas, if her stomach would decide that it could tolerate ice cream. Which, it seems, today it cannot. She starts to make an excuse, but there's not a reason to flee this conversation and Lily will still be here and Marian will only join the list of people who are concerned.
The back of her throat stings, and she's so used to it burning for much better reasons than this. Fire she can handle, this is pure frustration. She touches Lily's arm, then warps the air, moves without walking, without teleporting, because her stomach will only be controlled until now.
Vomiting is undignified, vulnerable, so very human that it makes her eyes water. It comes in stages, this retching, as if her stomach has to empty more than once, to be sure it's entirely vacant. It's better in this form, only wet and unpleasant, as a dragon, this would be far too destruction. Her stomach heaves twice more, spasming even though there is nothing left to spit up.
Sweat coats her skin, and the water she rinses her mouth with seems almost offensively sweet. She has to go back, Marian will have to know and, much like Robin, it seems she has a heart full of concern.
Lily stands in front of the door when she returns, still shaky, lightheaded, but blissfully no longer nauseated.
"You can't," Lily protests again, a hint of fire in her voice. "It's not worth the risk to you. Mom's fine."
"She-"
"She does that," Lily says. She shakes her head, and she starts to speak before Mal touches her shoulder.
"It's all right, you can can tell her."
"Tell me what?" Marian demands, her little body so close to pushing into the house, as if she could get past Lily and her magic. Courageous.
Lily takes Mal's arm, and leads her to the porch steps. "Sit." She waves Marian over, sitting beside her. She strokes a damp lock of hair out of Mal's face. "Mom's pregnant, and I guess it's okay if you know."
"Pregnant?" Marian repeats, not sitting. She heads down the steps, wanting to get a better look at Maleficent. "You're pregnant?"
She nods, resting her head on Lily's shoulder. The strange sort of euphoria that follows not being nauseated any more is a blissful thing. "I realize that is not-"
"I thought you had this chicken plague-" Marian says, pacing on Regina's sidewalk. "That you'd allowed yourself to catch it looking after Roland. Are you safe now, is your child-?"
"Perfectly," Mal replies. The inside of her mouth feels alien, even though it's hers, and has always been hers. She makes a face and Lily, who has been practicing her magic, makes a glass of water appear on the steps beside her. Mal beams at her and her smile only grows when a bottle of whiskey follows.
Lily pours two glasses and hands one to Marian. "Here, it'll help, and Mom and I are immune to most human diseases, it seems, including chicken pox."
Marian turns the glass in her hand, then drinks, all of it, and hands it back to Lily. "So you and Robin?"
"Oh no," Mal swallows her water and winces. It still tastes of metal. "This is Regina's fault."
"Regina."
"Magic is more of a factor than anything else," Lily explains, refilling Marian's glass. "I guess because we're magical creatures, we get knocked up by the right magic." She rubs her shoulder, then toys with her hair again. "Or the wrong stuff."
Mal sets down her water to grab Lily's wrist. "This is a good thing."
"You say that when you can't see how fucking awful you look."
Sipping this glass slower, Marian stops pacing and stands, watching them both. "So you, and Regina, and Robin are together." It's not a question. Roland's mother is clever.
Mal nods, blinking slowly in the sun. "I didn't realize it was so odd of an arrangement, but yes, and I realize how strange this must make things for you, and I apologize. It happened rather unexpectedly."
"The baby or dating Regina and Robin?"
"Both," Lily says, smirking into her whiskey. "They're cute though."
"Robin mentioned that he thought of you more as a daughter, and I thought it was simply because you spend so much time with Henry, that you were like a sister to him."
"Regina is Lily's mother as well," Mal says. The whiskey at least, smells like smoke, which is pleasant. "We never intended to keep that secret."
"Sorry," Lily offers. "I haven't been as good at talking about it. Two moms isn't that weird, for here especially, I just, there's the dragon thing, and being full of darkness, having the Evil Queen and the Mistress of all Evil as a matching set of evil moms doesn't really slip into conversation."
"I thought you were adjusting, trying to grow accustomed to how strange life is here, and that was why you were here, and I know they asked you to watch Roland, but I didn't realize that you, and them." Marian finishes her whiskey again and hands over the glass. "Are you all right? Can I do anything to help? My pregnancy with Roland was difficult, as I sure you know. You have my sympathies.."
"Thank you. I'm fine, I assure you," Mal promises again, adding Marian to the list of worriers. "It's unpleasant, but passing. I shouldn't have eaten ice cream."
"Toast," Lily says, clinking her glass against Mal's. "And melon, I heard that's all right. I should print that list."
"Regina has, it's on the left side of the fridge," Mal says. Robin and Regina have referred to it enough.
On her third glass of whiskey, Marian finally sits beside Lily. "Are they taking good care of you? Robin was my rock when I was pregnant. He saved us both."
"Hopefully Mom won't need any real saving," Lily says. "So far it's been holding back her hair and teaching her to use the toaster." It's still a wonder to Maleficent that she worries about her, that they reached the point where Lily fusses over her almost as much as Regina. Weeks ago, Lily wanted to leave, and now, she'll be here to hold her sister. Mal wraps her fingers around Lily's knee.
"Robin is very sweet," Mal says, beaming at no one in particular. "I love your husband and your son as if they were of my blood and I am sorry this is strange for you. I'm grateful they fell into my life. Roland is such a precious little one, so kind and curious. I love how he laughs."
"He's wonderful," Marian agrees. She stares off as well, watching the street. Her heart must have been through so much and yet she's still so kind. "He was so young when I lost him, and when I returned to him, he'd grown so tall, so brave like his father, and they'd spent so much time alone. I was foolish to think we could just return to how we were." She stares at her empty glass, turning it in the sun so the angles catch the light. "Roland is happy, and that comes first. Robin and I are committed to that."
"He's a great kid," Lily adds. "So smart, so loving."
"His dragons mean the world to him." Marian straightens her back. "I should be with him, but if I can't be, I'm glad you are, and I'm sorry, having a sick child when you're in such a state must be terrible."
Mal chuckles, because no one's bothering to hide how sick she appears today. "We're finding a way. He insisted he be allowed to take my temperature before he'd let me take his."
Marian smiles; some of her heartache has faded from her eyes. "He's very caring."
"He likes technology."
"Someone has to," Lily says, nudging her. "You can barely answer your phone."
"I touch the green part and flick it that way," Mal says, demonstrating with her fingers. "Roland's better at it."
"A five year old," Lily reminds her. "And you've seen how many centuries?"
Marian eyes them both and a smile graces her mouth. "Centuries?"
"I did not realize the myths of my people were so poorly spoken of, yes, we live for centuries, in all of mine, less than a blink of time has had all of this devices."
Nodding, Lily rubs her back. "You've had a phone about as long as you've been pregnant, so maybe that's fair."
"Congratulations," Marian says, raising her glass across Lily's lap towards Mal. At the rate Lily refills it, she'd better be able to drink like the rest of the Merry Men. "I got so caught up, I never said congratulations. A child is happy news."
"Thank you."
Lily wraps her left arm around her back, protective and sweet. "I think everyone's pretty thrilled about it. Roland was so happy I'm surprised he didn't tell you."
"He probably tried," Marian says, shaking her head. "I don't understand much of dragons, and when he's excited his words tend to string together in ways that don't make much sense to anyone but him."
"It's been a gift, having him sit in my lap, watching him grow." Mal lifts her head to look at Marian. "He would watch every little trick of magic I know, and still be enthralled."
"He loves to learn, anything anyone will teach him. He's just like that with the archers, and we've been learning to cook."
Lily swallows a giggle. "Again, the five year old is ahead of you."
"Hush," Mal teases her. "He's a very clever boy."
