Author's Notes:
Well, it's been more that a couple of months since my last update! Life is very busy and, unfortunately, I haven't had much writing time. But I've been able to find some and these seventeen pages are the result. I had hoped for this new section to be a little longer, but I wanted to post something before too much time went by. I promise my next posting will be longer and, hopefully, will be the end of the story.
Just a reminder that this story takes place in the "Voltron Force" version of the universe during the time frame of the original "Defender of the Universe" series. As I'm not a big fan of "Legendary Defender," I am not incorporating any elements from the new show.
Please contact me with any questions or comments.
Thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
"Are you ready?" Keith asked Allura as she adjusted her arms around his neck in preparation to be picked up.
"Ready," she verified and he lifted her up from the bench that she had been sitting on.
He carried her the few steps across the large royal bathchamber to where the oversized tub awaited them.
It had been Aunt Orla's idea for she and Keith to bathe together. Three weeks ago, they had been leaving the infirmary after Doctor Gorma had finally removed her leg casts (she had never thought that the day would arrive!) and Allura had commented how she couldn't wait to take a real bath again. (Since she had been unable to shower or submerge in a tub with both legs in casts, Keith had had to wash her the best he could with a washcloth while she sat on either a chair or the toilet. Her hair had been the easiest part of her to have washed since all she had to do was lean over a sink.) Auntie had been waiting for them and overheard Allura's excited words, to which she'd slyly remarked "You know, you'd enjoy it a lot more if you shared the tub with your husband."
Allura's instantaneous reaction had been to blush. There was no question what Auntie was implying. Orla was very open and blunt when it came to sex and intimacy, a trait Allura had yet to get used to. (She had been raised to believe that such things were not openly discussed and it still somewhat embarrassed her to talk about them with Keith even when they were completely alone.)
But Auntie had no way of knowing that the majority of their bathing sessions had in fact led to lovemaking. (And more often than not, she had been the one to initiate...) And that had been when she was the only one not wearing any clothes.
If the two of them were together in the tub already naked...
It was doubtful any actual bathing would take place!
To cover her embarrassment, she had pointed out that the bathtub in her quarters was only big enough for one person. It would be impossible for both of them to fit at once. She had asserted that while it was a nice suggestion, it could never happen. (Secretly, she'd found it very tempting.)
Orla's immediate counter had been that the bathroom suite in the royal quarters was quite large and the tub in there would easily accommodate the two of them. (Which was true. As a small child, Mother and Father had often brought her into the tub with them, which she had believed to be a soapy and warm swimming pool.) There was no reason, in Orla's opinion, why they couldn't take their baths there despite Allura's feelings on using her parents' rooms.
"It's not as if you would be actually using any of their things," she had matter-of-factly pointed out. "It would just be a bath."
Allura had made it very clear why she didn't want to even go into her parents' quarters. In her mind, as long as everything inside remained undisturbed, she could pretend that they weren't really gone. Logically, she understood that it was a silly and fanciful notion (after all, she did constantly speak with Father's ghost), but it gave her comfort to hold on to it. It was just something that made her feel better. She knew Keith, Coran, Nanny, Romelle, and Auntie did not agree with her, but so far they'd respected her wishes. (Keith and Coran had even stopped suggesting that she bring up the subject of moving into them with her father.)
"I know you don't want to hear it, but I agree with Orla," Keith, who had remained quiet for most of the exchange, had finally spoken up. "It makes the most sense to use your parents' bathroom. You won't be able to bathe yourself until you can stand on your own and it really would make things a lot easier if I just got into the tub with you. And your parents' bathtub is the only one large enough in the castle to accommodate both of us.
"And if we bring in our own supplies, we wouldn't be using anything of your parents' at all," he had added. "Just the tub. Will you at least think about it, my love?"
Allura had, and after about an hour debating with herself, had decided that the need for a real bath outweighed her concerns about disturbing the memories of her parents.
And then they'd taken their first bath together and all thoughts of being in her parents' quarters had been pushed aside.
Keith had kept her mind very occupied with other things.
Pleasurable things...
And three weeks later, their shared baths had become a three-times-a-week routine that Allura looked forward to.
Keith stepped into the filled bathtub and lowered Allura down onto one of the built-in seats.
She slowly moved her still very weak legs through the wonderfully warm water while he settled down next to her.
Both of her legs had atrophied from disuse while her broken bones healed and, much to her dismay, building up her strength was going to take several weeks, possibly months. Meesla, her physical therapist (who, coincidentally, happened to be the sister of Keyat's brother's wife), assured her that she was on track to being able to stand without assistance very soon and that she just needed to be patient. (Keith, who was with her for every therapy session, informed Meesla that patience was not one of Allura's strong points, which had earned him a stuck out tongue from his offended wife. "So unladylike!" he'd shot back.)
"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Keith asked as he pulled her close and rested a hand on her slightly rounded belly. "Nervous? Excited? A little of both?"
She smiled at how well her husband knew her.
The next morning she was going to have her first ultrasound. She had reached the eleventh week of her pregnancy and both Keyat and Doctor Gorma felt that it would be best to follow the standard human timeline for check-ups despite not knowing the baby's true paternity. Although she was still within the first trimester and it was too early to do genetic or gender testing, the ultrasound would allow them to check the baby's growth and development. (Although Keyat's nanoprobes would give a much clearer image than an ultrasound, they had not been tested on a fetus older than a month and she did not want to risk harming Allura's baby.)
"A little of both," she replied. "I mean, we're going to see our baby for the first time. Our actual baby! I know he or she is in there, but to really see him or her... It feels so surreal."
Because she had not really begun to show yet, it was sometimes difficult for her to wrap her mind around the fact that a baby was growing inside of her. Of course, there was no question of that fact when she woke up with severe morning sickness (she couldn't wait for that to be over!), but most days she didn't feel very different. The majority of her symptoms were very subtle and were mixed with the aches and pains of her other healing injuries. She knew it wouldn't be long before everything changed.
"If you think it's surreal just now, just wait until you start feeling movement," Keith gently teased, rubbing her stomach. "There won't be any question of whether or not you have a baby growing in there. He or she won't let you forget."
She smiled again. She loved how excited and supportive Keith was being of her pregnancy despite the fact that he most likely wasn't the biological father. It went a long way in easing her fears of the future. (She constantly worried about the kind of mother she was going to make, but she tried not to mention it to Keith very often since all he did was tell her she was going to be wonderful.)
"Lance informed me that I won't be getting much sleep once that happens," she teasingly shot back. Lance was constantly trying to give her "advice" about her pregnancy. Thankfully, he never got very far before someone more knowledgeable (i.e. Nanny) chased him off. "He's also said some other things that I refuse to repeat because I know you'd go kill him right this second if I did."
She felt the vibration of Keith's laugh. There was no need to elaborate on what was meant by "other things."
"First of all, you shouldn't be listening to a word Lance says," he told her. "He's the last person who should be giving you pregnancy advice period. Any knowledge he has was probably gotten to impress whichever woman he was after at the time and is most likely inaccurate.
"Second of all," he continued, turning her around in the water to face him, "I'm just going to go kill him on principle for trying to give you advice when I have repeatedly very nicely asked him not to."
"When has that ever stopped him before?"
"Good point," Keith conceded, kissing her. "It would probably be easier if I just locked him in his quarters and took away his Voltcom for the duration of your pregnancy."
"Good luck keeping him in there," she commented. "If anyone has ways of sneaking out, it would be Lance."
"All right, enough about Lance," he declared, kissing her a second time. "I would much rather focus on us and our baby."
"I'd like that very much," she told him. "In fact, I've been wanting to tell you that I've actually started thinking about names."
"You have? Really?"
She smiled at the surprise in his voice. Although they didn't often talk about it, he knew how anxious she was about becoming a mother. He understood that choosing a name for their baby was a big step for her.
"I know that it's a little early, but since I still can't do much that doesn't involve sitting, I've been spending a lot of my free time reading," she said. "One of the books I was looking at is a history of Earth's monarchies."
"There were a lot of those," he commented as he picked up a washcloth and started gently scrubbing her left arm.
"I know and while I was reading, I was thinking that since we're, you know, a monarchy too, that we should pick a royal name for our baby. A royal Earth name."
The idea had come to her when she noticed that on Earth, especially in the area of the planet known as Europe, there were specific names repeatedly given to children within the same family. While she found it strange to name one's child after yourself, she liked the idea that there were certain names considered royal. Since Keith had been born and raised on Earth, she wanted to honor that part of his background by choosing a name for their baby from his homeworld. Nanny, Auntie, and Romelle had all loved the idea.
"We can name our baby whatever you want," he told her, working the washcloth onto her other arm. "If a 'royal Earth name,' as you call it, is what will make you happy, then that's the kind of name you choose. I'll be fine with whatever you pick. You know I'm happy as long as you're happy."
"You mean you'll be happy as long as I don't name him Lance if he's a boy?" she teasingly questioned.
"Hey, if you want to make his ego bigger than it already is, who am I to stop you?"
She giggled. "If we have a boy, I'd like to name him Richard Arthur and if we have a girl, the name I chose is Sophia Isabella."
"Sophia and Richard," Keith repeated. "I like them."
"You do? I'm so glad," she said, thrilled to have his approval. "It took me days to narrow it down to just those two."
She'd originally had around twenty names (there were several repetitions of pairs with the first and middle names reversed) for each gender and she'd slowly but surely whittled the list down to the two names she'd finally settled on.
"They're perfect," he assured her, stopping his scrubbing of her body so he could give her another kiss. "Of course, we won't know which one we'll be giving our baby until we know if we are having a boy or a girl."
"Keyat says we won't be able to tell for sure for another month or so," she told him as he resumed washing her, turning her around so he could start on her back. "So until then we'll have to keep saying he or she."
"Honestly, I don't care which we one we're having," he said, pushing her hair over her shoulder. "As long as he or she is born healthy."
And hopefully fully human, she silently added.
She knew the chances of Keith being the biological father were very small, but that didn't stop her from hoping and praying that he was.
It was the only way that her baby would truly be safe from that monster...
"I know you don't believe me," Keith interrupted her thoughts, "but you are going to be the most amazing mother."
"Remind me why you think that again," she countered. "Because I honestly have no idea what I'm going to have to do and it scares me to death."
Keith stopped the washcloth's movements and turned her back around to face him.
"Of course you're scared," he gently spoke, placing a hand against her cheek. "So am I. Having a baby is something new for the both of us. Neither of us have any experience at being parents. Yes, we don't know what to we're going to have to do now, but we're going to learn. And you, my love, are going to be great once you do. And the reason I know that is because I know how you are once you set your mind to doing something. Look at your piloting of Blue Lion. You had so much trouble in the beginning and now you're as good as if you'd gone to the academy with the rest of us."
"But being a mother isn't the same," she pointed out, needing him to understand how she felt. "If I mess up while flying, the only one I'm endangering is myself. But if I mess up while caring for the baby... You're so certain that I'm going to be great and amazing, but what if I'm not? What if I can't master any of the skills I need to take care of my child? What if I'm just a terrible mother period?
"You know what I'm the most frightened of?" she continued, not giving him the chance to interject. She felt tears begin to fill her eyes as she spoke. "That because I'm so terrible at everything, I'll accidentally hurt our baby. And if that happens, I'll never forgive myself. And you would never forgive me either. Especially if..."
She refused to voice the last thought. It was her deepest fear about her impending motherhood.
The only thing she was more scared of than Lotor being the biological father...
Keith pulled her into his arms.
"Allura, sweetheart," he soothingly spoke. "That is never going to happen, my love. Never. And do you know why?"
She shook her head.
"Because you are never going to be in a position where you're left alone with the baby until everyone, including yourself, agrees that you're ready," he informed her. "You have a castle full of people who are ready to help you day and night. I'm going to be by your side the whole time and any questions we have, Nanny, Keyat, and Doctor Gorma will be able to answer because they're all experts when it comes to childcare. So, truthfully, it will be impossible for you to do anything so wrong that you'd cause our baby harm because there will always be someone there to stop you. Okay?"
"O-okay," she managed, feeling just the slightest bit of relief.
Her fears were still there and probably wouldn't go away any time soon (she was over six months away from giving birth and that was a long time for thoughts to circle endlessly through her mind), but she had to admit that there was logic to what Keith was telling her. Her fear-driven mind kept ignoring the fact that she would have all the help she could ever want or need with the baby. But having Keith point out that she would never be alone before she was ready was reassuring. It was something she would need to constantly hear until she allowed herself to believe it.
He kissed the top of her head. "Promise you'll talk to me whenever you start to worry about stuff like this again."
"I promise," she assured him. "But," she added in a teasing voice, wanting to lighten the conversation, "I worry about it a lot. So we may be having this conversation quite often."
"You really think you're the only one of us worrying about what it's going to be like when our baby arrives?" he countered. "I probably have less of an idea what to expect than you do. All I know is that we're going to have a lot of sleepless nights in the beginning. And that is basically the extent of my baby knowledge."
She looked up at him, honestly surprised. "I don't believe it. That's all you know? You? Really?"
Keith always appeared so knowledgeable about everything. And the way he was so certain about how things were going to be fine after the baby was born...
"Why do you think I keep telling you that you're going to be the amazing parent?" he shot back. "Because I don't think I'm going to be much good in the beginning for anything other than moral support. I'm leaving all the heavy lifting to you, my queen."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks a lot, my king. I hope you'll be more helpful when it comes to running our entire planet."
"Ah, piece of cake," he declared. "But babies, not so much."
"I'm so glad I'm finding this about you now," she deadpanned. "Thank goodness I'll know who not to turn to when I'm at my wits' end trying to take care of our child."
"Hey, you never asked," he teasingly replied.
"Because I made the mistake of assuming you'd know more than I do," she retorted. "You know more than anybody else in just about everything else!"
"I wouldn't go that far," he countered. "Just ask Lance. Oh, and you know what they say about people who assume."
"Hey, that's what you get for being the calm and collected one in this relationship," she informed him. "I can never tell what you're feeling most of the time. You're very good at hiding your feelings, you know. Why do you think I was so surprised to find out you actually loved me?"
Instead of verbally replying, he leaned down and kissed her passionately and deeply.
Her body instantly reacted and she could feel him responding to their kiss as well.
When he released her, he asked, "Can you tell what I'm feeling now?"
"Not at all," she breathlessly answered, trying to hide a smile. "Try again."
So he did and this time when he broke the kiss, Allura had no desire to continue teasing him.
"I love you so much," she seriously told him.
"I love you too," he echoed.
And then he kissed her again.
And then the kiss turned into much, much more.
((()))
Allura gasped in surprise as Keyat squeezed the ultrasound gel onto her exposed belly. She had not expected the substance to feel so cool against her skin.
"All right?" Keith asked her from his chair beside the examining table.
"I'm fine," she assured him, taking his hand. "I didn't know it was going to feel cold. It just surprised me, that's all."
"Oh, would you like me to wipe it off and warm it up before reapplying, Your Majesty?" Keyat wanted to know as she put the bottle down. "It would not be a problem."
"No, that's all right," Allura waved her off. "I'm fine. As I said, it just took me by surprise."
"I apologize for not giving you a warning about the gel," Keyat said as she picked up the transducer probe. "It honestly didn't cross my mind. It's been some time since I've performed one of these myself since my focus lately has been on my nanoprobes."
"It's all right, really," Allura promised. "As I keep telling you, I'm fine. Please, continue with the procedure."
"All right," Keyat nodded and lifted the transducer in Allura's direction. "Are you ready to see your baby?"
Allura gripped Keith's hand even tighter as they shared a look.
This was the moment they had been waiting for all morning.
They were finally going to have a glimpse of the child growing inside of her.
"Yes," Allura finally spoke.
"Okay," Keyat said as she tapped keys on the control panel, "here we go."
And then she pressed the transducer against Allura's belly.
Instantly, an image projected into the air in front of them. It was black and white and at first, Allura wasn't sure what she was looking at.
And then...
"By the gods," she breathed as her eyes focused on the clearly humanoid shape in the center of the black space.
As she watched, the tiny arms and legs furiously waved and kicked right before her eyes.
She felt Keith press a kiss to her hand.
"Say hello to your baby," Keyat proclaimed and she slightly moved the transducer against Allura's skin, causing the picture to refresh and show a different view. "Who is clearly very active today."
"I...I..." she started, unable to put what she was feeling into to words.
It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Displayed in the air in front of her was her child. Her child that was at this very moment was growing (and moving!) inside of her.
A child that, in a little more than six months, she and Keith would have in their arms.
A child that, no matter his or her paternity, would be so very loved.
Happy tears began to fill her eyes.
In that moment, all of her fears and worries fell away. She was going to do everything in her power to be the very best mother she could be to this person she now couldn't wait to meet.
"I can already tell that this one is going to be a handful," Keith teasingly declared. "There's no question that she or he takes after his or her mommy."
"Oh, really? What makes you say that?" she shot back, knowing that he had instantly fallen in love with their baby the same way she had. Like her, he did not care whether or not he was the biological father. "Because it looks to me that he or she doesn't like to rest just like Daddy."
"So I don't rest, do I?" he retorted. "What do you call all of the time I've been spending with you?"
"Being a good husband," Allura matter-of-factly informed him, which made Keyat laugh out loud.
"She's got you there, Your Majesty," the Ebbian cheerfully stated as she moved the transducer again and the imaged refreshed showing a slightly different angle. "I'll have to remember this after Terin and I finally marry and have children of our own."
"I don't think he's going to give you any of the trouble that my husband gives me," Allura informed her with a smile. She'd met Terin when he'd come to visit Keyat a month ago. He was perfectly happy to let his boisterous fiancée run the show when they were together. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about."
"I hope you're right," Keyat quipped. "It would be shame if I had to replace him after spending so many years training him to be just right."
Allura couldn't help but laugh at the outrageous statement.
"I'm very grateful that my husband came to me with impeccable manners," she said, giving Keith's hand a squeeze. "Even Nanny has a hard time finding anything to complain about."
Keith snorted. "Not for lack of trying. For the first time in my life, I'm extremely grateful for all of the etiquette training the academy puts officers through."
"Nanny just wants you to be the best king you can be," Allura pointed out. "It's proof that she likes you. Otherwise I'm sure she'd still be trying to find a different husband for me. Not that it would matter. You're mine forever."
"Good to know," he smiled. "But I'd still hate to be on Nanny's bad side. She pretty much runs the castle, you know. If she wanted to get rid of me..."
"She wouldn't dare!" Allura proclaimed, trying to imagine the short and round Nanny harming her tall and extremely strong husband. Honestly, she just couldn't see it! "She'd have a lot of angry people to deal with."
As they were talking, their baby settled down right before their eyes.
"Ah, it looks like nap time," Keyat stated as she again moved the probe for a slightly different image. "The little one tired him- or herself out. This is something you'll be very grateful for in later months."
Allura smiled as she thought about her conversation with Keith the previous evening about movement and lack of sleep.
"What's that fluttering motion?" Keith asked, pointing towards a part of the small body that seemed to be constantly flickering. It was easier to spot now that the baby had stopped his or her furious movements. "Is that the heart?"
"Very good," Keyat praised him. "That's exactly what that is."
She turned her attention back to her console and, with the hand that was not holding the transducer, moved the cursor on the image to where the heart was steadily beating.
"Why don't we take a listen?"
She clicked something and the room was suddenly filled with the baby's heartbeat, the sound of which brought more joyful tears to Allura's eyes.
At the bottom of the image, an electrocardiogram graphically showed the heartbeat.
"Oh my..." she murmured, once more overwhelmed by everything she was seeing and experiencing. "I..."
Keith gave her hand another squeeze.
"Just from looking at the image, your baby appears to be growing and developing right on schedule," Keyat told them. She moved the cursor again and this time it created a line that ran the length of the baby. "He or she is measuring about an inch and a half, which is perfect for this point in his or her development."
Keyat's words caught Allura's attention.
When she said that her baby was developing perfectly...
"Does...does that mean... I mean, can you tell... Is my baby fully human?"
Oh, for Keyat to tell her that he or she was...
Keyat sighed and Allura felt her heart sink.
Keith's grip on her hand tightened.
"To be honest, it would be irresponsible for me to speculate without enough information," Keyat told her after shutting off the audio. "You're so close to entering your second trimester, which is when we'll be able to conduct definitive genetic testing. At this point, it would be best not to make any assumptions. Truthfully, we don't know enough about Drule development and physiology to make comparisons to humans. If this child is a hybrid, there's no way of determining which physical traits of which species will be dominant."
Allura nodded her understanding. She knew Keyat was right. She just wanted to know the truth once and for all so she could prepare for her child's future safety.
"In three weeks, you'll have your answer, I promise," Keyat let her know.
"We appreciate your honesty," Keith spoke for both of them. "And we trust your judgment."
"You've been so good to us," Allura added. "Thank you for everything you've done."
"It's been my pleasure, Your Majesties," Keyat said with a smile. "I look forward to helping you with your future children as well."
"Good, because I plan on having a big family," Allura let her know. All of her fears of motherhood seemed so far away at the moment. Now that she'd seen her baby, she felt ready to embrace the challenge. "And I want a doctor I can trust."
"A big family, huh?" Keyat repeated. "In that case, I may have to consider permanently relocating here to Arus. It'll be a lot easier!"
"How about we get through baby number one before we start planning any more children," Keith suggested with a laugh. "I'd like to experience this whole parenting thing with one child first before adding any more."
"Spoilsport!" she mock-pouted.
In the projected image, their baby decided that naptime was over and started wiggling all over again.
"I've recorded the scan if you'd like to take a copy with you," Keyat let them know.
"I'd love one, thank you," Allura said, knowing there were several people who would want to view it, Aunt Orla especially. (She doubted Larmina would have any interest in it.)
"Okay, I think that does it for this session," Keyat said and after she pressed a button, the image vanished from the air and Allura felt a tinge of disappointment that she could no longer look at her baby.
She picked up a cloth and handed it to Allura.
"Clean yourself off while I prepare a disc of the scan for you."
Allura accepted the cloth and began wiping away the gel.
As she did, she was suddenly hit with the intense need to use the bathroom.
"Um, I-"
"That'll be your full bladder finally making itself known," Keyat knowingly said. Allura had been required to drink several glasses of water before her ultrasound. "You go right ahead and the disc will be waiting when you get back."
"Thank you!" she said as she quickly removed the rest of the gel from her belly, pulled down her blouse, and sat up in the chair.
Keith helped her move into her waiting hoverchair.
"Hurry, please!" she insisted. "I've got to go!"
Keith obliged and rushed her out of the examining room to the nearest bathroom, which thankfully was just down the hall.
He helped her stand and undo her pants then she settled onto the toilet with a sigh of relief.
"Feel better?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," she informed him. "I didn't think I was going to make it."
"So," he commented as she finished up, "that wasn't as bad as you thought, was it?"
"Oh, Keith, it was absolutely amazing," she informed him as he helped her stand from the toilet. "I had no idea... By the gods, we got to see and... I can't wait to meet him or her in person."
Keith smiled as he assisted her in dressing and sitting back in the hoverchair.
"So, are you still as frightened about being a mother as you were last night?" he asked as he pushed her to the sink.
"No," she honestly answered as she washed her hands. "Not even a little bit."
And she meant it. Somehow, seeing her baby had erased every single one of her fears. It was unbelievable but true.
"You have no idea how glad I am to hear it," he said as she dried off. "The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of this wonderful thing.
"And our baby is a wonderful thing even if I'm not the biological father," he added. "He or she is going to be so loved."
"I love you," she told him. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," he answered, bending down to kiss her. "Now, let's go get that disc from Keyat so you can share it with everybody."
"Even Lance?" she teased.
"Well, maybe not everybody," he retorted as he pushed her out of the bathroom. "We need to have standards, you know."
"Is that what you call them?" she shot back.
"Let's just say that keeping our children away from Lance even before they're born is a priority," he lightly informed her. "For their safety and our sanity."
"You may have a point there," she replied. "One of him is enough. If any of our children start acting like him..."
"See, I knew you'd get it!" Keith replied and they both laughed as they returned to the examining room where Keyat waited with a copy of the ultrasound.
((()))
"You can leave now," Lotor dismissed the slave girl as he moved from his position on top of her and lay on his side, his back to her. "Your presence is no longer required."
The girl, who was one of the more recent additions to his harem, did not pause in her sniffling as she quickly obeyed him.
She was one of the ten slaves he had brought with him on his assignment. He'd chosen only the most subservient of women to accompany him. None of them would give him any problems. (He'd have enough trouble with his father's minions. The last thing he needed was to have to waste time disciplining a willful girl.) The most they would do, as this girl had demonstrated, was cry the entire time he used their bodies for his pleasure.
Sadly, none of them could satisfy him the way his Allura did, but they would have to do until he could retrieve her (and hopefully their child) from Arus. He did, after all, have needs.
He listened as the girl swiftly gathered her discarded clothes and exited his bedchamber, still sniveling as she went.
Once she was gone, he rolled onto his back and stretched out in his bed, ready to unwind after his very busy day. (He'd had to execute four members of a planet's ruling council before the remaining ones had seen reason. It was a shame they'd backed down so quickly. It had been weeks since he'd gotten to kill anyone and he'd been enjoying himself.) The session with the slave had been pleasurable, but he did not consider it relaxation. (After all, he'd done all of the work.) To him, relaxation was allowing his mind to wander to Allura and all of the ways he was going to eventually win her love.
And he would win it. He always got what he wanted.
Always.
He would just have to continue to be patient with her. She would not get over her hatred of him overnight. She'd felt that way towards him for years. It would take a lot of hard work on his part to correct his previous mistakes to ensure that she stopped viewing him as, in her words, "a monster". (He blamed Haggar for everything that had gone wrong during the one glorious week he'd had her. Why had he listened to that old hag and her insistence that he impregnate her immediately? He should have gone with his gut to wait until after marriage before bedding her.) He needed to romance her and prove his love to her.
It was a shame he didn't know much about her wants and desires. (Again, the witch was to blame for this oversight. They should have been having conversations getting to know one another rather than the constant lovemaking before their marriage.) Other than her futile wishes for her planet to be left alone, he truly didn't know anything about her beyond her incredible beauty and soft heart. What kinds of jewels and gifts would please her? What could he give her that would make her the happiest?
He wondered how much longer this mission would keep him away from Arus and his Allura. He'd been gone nearly five months as it was. (He constantly wondered what his beloved was up to. If she was carrying his child, she and everyone closest to her would know by now. And they would know that she could not escape her future as his queen.) But as impatient as he was feeling to be with her again, he knew that it would be worth it in the end because Father had agreed to perform the marriage ceremony after he completed his assignment. And once he and Allura were married...
It perturbed him that his so-called partner in the endeavor to overthrow his father had not once attempted to contact him with news of his Allura. He doubted her silence had anything to do with lack of opportunity. Haggar was very good at doing what she wanted when she wanted. No, she had a reason for not contacting him and he was eager to know what it was.
He doubted that it was because she had betrayed him to Father. Not at this point in their arrangement, anyway. He knew the old witch too well. She had nothing to gain from double-crossing him now. (This mission was helping his father. Sabotaging it would be counterproductive if she'd switched sides again.) If she was going to turn on him, it would be after he returned to Doom.
So it obviously had something to do with Allura herself. But what? What would she not want him to know about his future queen?
There were several possibilities. The first and most distasteful was that she had thrown herself into the arms of that damnable commander. Lotor had seen the way he'd held her during the escape. There was no question that Keith had designs on his princess. And Allura, being the softhearted innocent fool he knew her to be, would believe that he loved her (which he very well could considering the way he went out of his way to protect her from him) and would fall in love with him in return.
That would be the worst scenario. Getting Allura back would be extremely difficult and it would involve killing the commander once and for all, something he'd failed at more times than he cared to remember. But if it was the only way he could reclaim what was rightfully his, he would make sure he at last succeeded. Nothing was going to keep Allura from being his queen.
Nothing.
Another possibility was that once her pregnancy was discovered, she'd have been quickly married off to the first available prince. While it was a much less distressing option, it provided challenges of its own, such as eliminating her husband and as a result, making a new enemy of the empire. But it was much more palatable than thinking of Allura with him.
The one he favored the most and believed to be the most likely was that Haggar was keeping silent because she had been wrong about the pregnancy altogether. The witch had made such a big deal over the importance of him creating an heir immediately that she probably feared that he'd betray her when it came out that there wasn't one. Truthfully, the hag had nothing to worry about. Children were something that could be created at his leisure once he and Allura were married. Yes, a child would have made it much easier to bring Allura back to Doom, but the lack of one changed nothing. Allura would ultimately become his queen. It was just a matter of time.
The most important thing he could do at the moment was ensure that the marriage would take place and that meant finishing this mission. Without Father's participation, there'd be no wedding.
He just hoped it wouldn't take too much longer to get through the rest of the list.
The sooner he visited all the planets, the sooner he could return to Doom.
And the sooner he returned to Doom, the sooner Allura would be his again.
((()))
"Welcome, Your Majesties," Doctor Gorma greeted Keith and Allura as they entered into his office. Keyat was already sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Please be seated and we can get started."
Keith kept a light hand on Allura's arm as she used her walker to move towards the vacant chair beside Keyat's.
Allura had been overjoyed the previous week when Meesla had finally declared her ready to start walking instead of being confined to a hover chair. Her elation had been short-lived, however, when Meesla had promptly presented her with the walker. (The shocked expression on her face had been priceless. His poor love had really thought she'd been ready to walk on her own.) Allura's heart had continued to sink as she was told that while her leg muscles had regained a great deal of strength, it would be a while before they could support her weight unaided. She still had a lot of work and healing to do.
Keith could understand his wife's frustration. Allura was fiercely independent and hated that she was still unable to do something as simple as walking on her own. She wanted her legs to be completely healed now. (She did not seem to understand how severe the breaks had been and the extent of the damage that had been done to the surrounding muscles and tendons. Doctor Gorma had said that she was extremely lucky the breaks had been so clean or she would have needed surgery.) She didn't like being constantly told that her body still needed more time to heal. (Which was why she kept trying to push herself too hard too soon. Keith had lost count of the number of times she'd been scolded by both doctors, Meesla, Coran, and Nanny. He himself had kept his mouth shut because he wanted to remain on his beloved's good side.)
Once she had reached her chosen seat, Keith helped her gently lower her awkward body into the chair. At nearly seventeen weeks, her belly, while not yet huge, was very prominent and it was affecting the way she moved. Normally simple tasks such as sitting down were starting to be difficult due to her larger size.
After she was settled, he sat down beside her and immediately took hold of her hand.
This was the day they had been both waiting for and dreading.
This was the day that would finally learn their baby's paternity.
Three weeks ago, Keyat had performed an amniocentesis on Allura and the collected genetic material had been sent to a lab on Ebb to be cultured and examined. Keyat herself had chosen the lab because the brother of her cousin's wife worked there and he had promised to fast-track the results for her. (Somehow it didn't surprise Keith to find out that yet another member of Keyat's extended family worked in the medical field.)
Now the results were in and they were about to find out the truth about who had fathered Allura's child.
"Have either of you had a chance to look at the report yet?" Keith asked both doctors.
"No, we thought it best to wait until you were both present," Doctor Gorma answered. "We know how anxious you both are to learn the results."
Now there was an understatement if Keith had ever heard one.
"Let's see what they have to say, shall we?" the doctor continued, pressing a button on the tablet that lay on his desk.
A holographic document was projected into the air and the only part Keith could clearly make out was an image of the DNA double-helix. The majority of the document were rows and columns made up of text too small for him to read from his position.
As the doctor scanned the information, Allura gripped his hand so tightly that it was near painful.
After a few moments, Doctor Gorma said, "Ah, here were are. According to the DNA analysis, the fetus's genetic makeup is one hundred percent human. No foreign markers were found within the samples."
Keith was too stunned to react while Allura's hands flew to her face as a sob of relief burst out.
One hundred percent human. Their baby was one hundred percent human.
Lotor was not the father.
He was.
Their baby was truly theirs.
The sound of Allura's tears shook him out of his paralysis and he pulled her into his arms as best he could from their side by side position.
It was the news that they had been hoping and praying for, but there was a part of Keith that has been convinced that the baby was Lotor's. It was hard for him to wrap his mind around the fact that the monster wasn't the father. Lotor had forced himself on Allura again and again during her hellish imprisonment. It seemed impossible that she wouldn't have gotten pregnant from him.
Yet, she hadn't.
Instead, the child had resulted from the first time they had made love.
Their son or daughter was the product of their love, not the nightmare his beloved had suffered through.
It was a miracle.
"Thank you, Doctor," he finally managed as his wife continued to cry. "You have no idea how much we were hoping to hear that."
"Oh, I think we do," Keyat spoke up. "Congratulations, Daddy."
Keith couldn't help but smile at being called "Daddy." "This is the best news we could have gotten."
To Allura, he added, "Lotor won't be interested in a child that isn't his. Our baby is safe from him, my love. He won't have a reason to try to take him or her away from us. He's not the father."
Allura looked up from where she had buried her face in his chest. "I... It's so...so hard to believe... All these months of not knowing and praying... To finally know..." She placed her hands on her belly. "Our baby is really and truly ours. Ours."
"Yes, ours," he repeated, kissing her on the top of her head. "Yours and mine. Our baby."
He knew that this would do nothing to change Lotor's obsessive need to have Allura as his queen, but at least their child would not be part of his insane plans.
"Is there anything else you'd like to know about your baby?" Doctor Gorma spoke up. "The gender, perhaps?"
Allura instantly straightened in her chair. "Oh, yes, please! We've been dying to know! What are we having?"
Again, Keith could not hold back a smile. He loved how Allura could go from tears to excitement in a matter of seconds.
"A girl," the doctor informed them.
Keith watched as Allura's face lit up at the reveal.
"A girl," she breathed, again laying her hands on her belly and looking at Keith with complete happiness. "We're having a girl!"
Although they had agreed that it did not matter if they had a girl or a boy, Allura had told him that she was secretly hoping for a girl. (When they had both had been certain that Lotor was most likely the father, Allura had believed that Lotor probably wouldn't have much interest in a female heir. If she gave him a daughter, she had thought he possibly wouldn't try as hard to bring her to Doom.)
"Have you thought of a name yet?" Keyat asked.
"Sophia," Allura informed her with a smile. "Sophia Isabella. Sophie for short."
"What a lovely name," Keyat smiled back.
"Thank you," Allura accepted.
"Skimming over the report, nothing jumps out at me as a cause for concern," Doctor Gorma told them. "Sophia appears to be a perfectly normal and perfectly healthy baby."
"That's wonderful to hear," Keith told him, taking Allura's hand back in his own. "Thank you so much for everything. Both of you."
"You are so very welcome, Your Majesties," Doctor Gorma said. "We are very happy to be here to support you through this new experience."
"Do you have any other questions or concerns while you have both of us here?" Keyat asked.
"No, I think the big one we got the answer to was it," Keith let her know. He looked at his wife. "Unless you have something?"
She shook her head. "Nothing about the baby." She gestured towards the hated walker. "I just want to be walking on my own again."
"Ah," Keyat smiled knowingly. "I've heard all about your impatience from Meesla. But from what she's told me, you're progressing very well and it shouldn't be more than a month or two before you're able to walk without assistance."
Allura heaved a sigh.
"I just don't understand why it's taking so long for my legs to get their strength back," she complained. "It's been nearly five months since they were broken. My shoulder was injured at the same time and it's been back to normal for a long time."
"You seem to be forgetting something very important and that something is named Sophie," Keyat pointed out. "From the moment her egg became implanted in your uterus, your body has been diverting resources for her growth and development. And the bigger she gets, the more resources she requires. Your shoulder healed while she was still fairly tiny. She's grown quite a bit since then and that makes a big difference. Your body is giving her priority over your legs, which is how it should be.
"You're going to find that everything heals much more slowly this far into your pregnancy," Keyat continued. "Even tiny cuts and scrapes. Broken bones, on the other hand, take a lot more effort for your body to mend in general." She turned to Doctor Gorma. "What is the normal length of time for a broken bone to repair itself?"
"Six to eight weeks," Doctor Gorma supplied. "Her Majesty's legs were fully fused in twelve and a half, which is fairly rapid considering both the severity of her injuries and her pregnancy."
"You see?" Keyat said. "Your body is working better than you think it is. You're letting your impatience get the better of you."
"Patience has never been Allura's strong suit," Keith lightly commented, knowing that there wasn't a single person in the room, his beloved included, who would deny it.
"Hey!" she defended herself, yanking her hand out of his grasp and crossing her arms. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am on your side, my queen," he informed her, reaching out and reclaiming her hand. "All I did was state a fact. Tell me how that's not being on your side?"
"Because it makes me look bad," she indignantly retorted. "As my husband and king, you aren't allowed to say anything in front of other people that doesn't make me look perfect."
"You know I think you're perfect just the way you are, impatience and all," he reminded her. "How am I supposed to know what I'm not supposed to say?"
"Keith," she groaned in mock exasperation. "You're being impossible."
"Back to the subject of Her Majesty walking on her own," Keyat spoke up with a smile. "Let me ask you this: how is your balance these days? Are you finding that it's starting to feel off?"
"Most definitely," Allura told her. "Meesla warned me that this was going to start happening as the baby got bigger. She's had me doing stabilization exercises for a while to help me prepare for my changing center of gravity."
"So you understand that your balance issues are only going to become more pronounced the further along you get in your pregnancy?" Keyat wanted to know.
Allura nodded. "Yes. And she explained that I'll probably be sitting and resting more than anything else once I enter the third trimester."
"That's exactly right," Keyat confirmed. "Your joints have been slowly loosening up in preparation for labor and delivery and the more relaxed they become, you're going to find yourself more prone to tripping and falling. The third trimester is when they are at their loosest. All pregnant women go through these balance issues. Unfortunately, because you have not been standing unaided from the beginning, your body hasn't had a chance to naturally adjust to your changing center of gravity. Which is why I'm about to make a recommendation that I know you aren't going to like."
Keith had a feeling he knew what Keyat was going to say.
"And that is?" Allura prompted, clearly having no clue what was coming.
"I know it isn't your favorite thing in the world, but I strongly suggest you continue to use the walker for the remainder of your pregnancy," Keyat told her, confirming Keith's suspicion. "I know your legs are almost at the point that you aren't going to need the extra support, but I'm very concerned about your balance. I've actually spoken about this with Meesla and she agrees with my assessment. As I said, your body hasn't had the chance to get used to standing on its own with the additional weight in the front. Loosing your balance is a very real possibility and if you fall, there's a chance you could injure both yourself and Sophie. I urge you to keep using the walker for safety's sake."
Keith watched Allura as she took in this information. He knew how much she hated using the walker, but he also knew how important their baby's well-being was to her.
"I agree with Keyat," Doctor Gorma spoke up before Allura could say anything. "Continuing to use the walker will decrease the chances of you falling and seriously injuring yourself and your child. It's an excellent safety measure and I think you'll be grateful for it in the long run."
Allura looked at Keith.
"I agree with both of them," he told her. "I know you hate it, but it's only for a few more months."
She sighed. "I've been using it for this long, right?" she relented.
Keith smiled and kissed her forehead. "You're doing it for Sophie."
"Sophie," she breathed with a smile. "Our little girl."
"If there's nothing else, I guess that's about all we have for you today," Doctor Gorma stated. "Your Majesty," he directed at Allura, "I'll see you next week for your next examination."
"I'll be here," she assured him. "Thank you so much. Both of you."
"You're very welcome," Keyat answered for both doctors.
Keith stood up from his seat and took Allura's arm to assist her to her feet.
"So, where are the two of you off to now? Will you be spreading the good news about Sophie?" Keyat asked as she rose from her own chair.
"Oh, yes," Allura beamed as she took hold of her walker. "I don't even know who to tell first!"
"You may want to start with Orla," Keith suggested as they started towards the office door. "You know, since she was the last to know about our marriage and the baby."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Allura agreed. "Auntie first and then Nanny, Coran, and Romelle. I want to tell Larmina too, but I'm not sure she'll really care one way or the other."
"She cares," Keith assured her. "You have to remember that she's only eleven and she has her mind on things that don't involve romance and babies. What about the team? Do you want to tell them at once or one at a time?"
"It doesn't matter," she told him. "Whoever we see first, we'll tell first." She grinned mischievously. "Unless it's Lance. I want him to be the last to know."
"That might be a little difficult to manage, but I suppose we can try," he lightly informed her. "There's no telling where he is at the moment."
"Probably chasing after the nearest female he sees," Keyat suggested as she followed them out into the infirmary hallway. "That man is shameless!"
"Yet you've somehow succeeded in scaring him off," Allura reminded her. "That's a feat in and of itself. What was your secret?"
Keyat grinned. "Confidence," she simply stated. "Pure confidence. It never fails. Most men want to feel like they're in charge. A woman who takes charge is too much for them."
"You didn't scare Terin off," Allura pointed out.
"My Terin is a special case," Keyat smiled. "Which reminds me. It's time for me to give him a call."
"We'll see you later," Keith said as he placed a hand on Allura's back.
"We have some very welcome news to spread."
