Uh. So, hi again, once again. A year later. I really do want to update this story more often than once every year. However, it literally feels like time is flying by before I remember "Hey, you really should really update that story dumb dumb". Not only that but writers block has been a major thing in my head. Been dealing with many changes so obviously it keeps getting in the way. The amount of times I've tried to continue writing on this story in my work staffroom, then lost the files because the internet is crap. I also admit that sometimes I got far, then re-read the chapter and really, really hated it. So, do forgive me. Distain in the reviews is understood. I promise I will try better.
Chapter 4 – Confrontations.
"But think, Dexter. Why would he do this, and even then, when would he have had the time?" Alice asked her husband, who sat quietly beside her on the seat of the plane. His eyes stared out of the window over the cascades of clouds, which grew darker as the sun began to set. He honestly couldn't find any reason why Skulduggery would try to prevent his own child's birth. If anything, it's been the one thing that his bony friend wouldn't shut up about. But the fact that Skulduggery froze the baby in the first-place set uncertainty into his mind. He began to worry, was there a dark side to Skulduggery he didn't know about?
His mind was woken up by Alice's fingers gently tapping his upper arm, and in response he turned his head to his wife. He gazed into her eyes, noting her questioning and worried expression and let out a deep sigh.
"Sorry love, just trying to think." He muttered softly whilst moving his hand, which was holding his head up, down towards her own hand to take it in his. Dexter gave her hand a light squeeze, resting his head back on the seat of the chair. His other hand pressed a button on the chair, which began to tilt his chair back. The bonuses of working for the sanctuary as a high-ranking detective, he gets the luxuries of first class. Alice nodded, leaning her head back on her chair to look down at him.
"I know, something just doesn't seem right with this. Nobody has seen Skulduggery leave or go anywhere. To get to the Sahara and back in such a short time, it's almost impossible." She said, lifting her luke-warm coffee to take a sip. Working at the sanctuary had taught her that actual hot coffee was a luxury, as most of the time work would have you abandoning your beloved drink on your desk. She liked to appreciate that she had coffee at all.
She noted that Dexter hadn't even answered her. She turned her head to his seat, and realised that the poor man had fallen asleep without even realising it. She smiled gently whilst putting down the cup. She then leaned over to pull his blanket up over him, then proceeded to lean her own chair back and get comfortable. She didn't want to wake him, the poor man hadn't slept a wink since their discovery, and they still had six hours left on the flight. They needed all the rest they could get at this rate. She turned to pull down the blinds on their window, before laying her head on the pillow as she closes her eyes.
Lord knows their confrontation tomorrow wasn't going to be easy.
The next day at the sanctuary, Valkyrie was complaining about how they were not letting her leave her bed to use the bathroom. The cardboard bed pans they handed her when she asked was most definitely, not acceptable. The fact they thought she'd manage to pee in it without getting anything anywhere was appalling. Though they couldn't really do much when she had already gotten half way across the infirmary, slowly shuffling towards the ward toilets.
Skulduggery was told, very bluntly by Nye, to get lost and get some sleep. Very grudgingly, he'd left after Valkyrie suggested he could just sleep in the on-call room for a few hours. Now, the ward staff were having to walk with her to the toilet, to make sure she didn't fall. She still had some of the pain medication in her system, and Valkyrie couldn't exactly feel her feet yet.
A minute later, Valkyrie was sat on the toilet alone. The medication was making it unusually hard to do her business, so she knew she'd be there a while. She simply sat for a while, staring at the dull roof whilst thinking. She wondered what it would have been like having a natural pregnancy. Feeling her first, the morning sickness as her bump grew bigger. Struggling to tie her own shoe laces when she was huge, and getting foot massages from Skulduggery when her feet hurt.
She saw how Alice had progressed in her pregnancy, and often felt envious of her sister. It didn't help that she watched little Victor grow up, whilst her own child continued to lay dormant inside of her. But now her sister was out there, doing what she could just to meet the little boy she was going to have. Valkyrie looked down at her belly, smiling lightly. Her hands moved over her bump, and suddenly, she began to feel the hope settling in.
A knock at the door brought her out of that trance.
"Detective Cain, is everything alright in there?" The nurse asked her.
"Yeah, just fine. Give me a moment." She called back, focusing on what she was supposed to be doing.
It took her another minute until she'd succeeded in her mission, and she flushed the toilet. She stumbled back over to the door, and unlocked it. The nurse gave her a polite smile, and held out her arm for Valkyrie to take, which she did. She had no idea that she'd feel so tired from the smallest walk, but she felt like she had anvils tied to her feet. When she'd reached her bed, the nurse helped her to lay back down, and made sure she was comfortable before leaving.
She leaned over to grab the cup off her side table, and poured some of the water from the jug. She took a sip, and set the cup back down on the side. Valkyrie lay back on the pillow, shutting her eyes whilst letting all the worries drift from her mind. It wouldn't be long, she thought, until she held her son in her arms.
Down in the on-call room, Skulduggery could barely sleep. His body was exhausted, and his eyes were painful to keep open. Yet no matter how long his eyes stayed closed, his mind would not quiet down to let him sleep. Something just didn't seem right to him recently, and he was very scared that whatever it was, planned to target his wife to be. He'd noticed a few weeks ago that his favourite tie had gone missing, and then Valkyrie's sudden agony in the middle of the night. He wanted nothing more than to get to the bottom of it, but he had to trust in Dexter to figure it out for him.
He shuffled over onto his side, and faced the wall. The room was dark, yet he could still see the poorly painted dark blue wall. His arm moved up to rest underneath his head, and he yawned. Seeing his son moving on a screen for the first time was the most breath-taking thing he felt he'd seen in his life. Not only was his baby finally beginning to show signs of change, but he never saw anything like it before. When his first wife was pregnant with his daughter, the only sign he knew the baby was okay was the feeling of her kicking against his hand. He didn't exactly get to enjoy his time with his wife either, being in a war and all…
But then, now he had a chance to retry it. And he would have had the chance to enjoy spending time with his beloved and savour their child. But he screwed it up, and the thought that troubled him so badly, was he didn't even know how. When he found the pregnancy test in the bin, he'd felt a sudden spike of joy, and fear… He was scared that his child would be born into a dangerous world. Deep in his heart though, he knew that they could both take on that danger together.
But he couldn't remember anything after that, his mind went totally black as though someone had taken over. When he'd woken up, he was wandering the streets aimlessly. It was midnight and he was standing outside the town's park. He had no idea how he'd gotten there, or how long he'd been walking. He could only sit himself down on the bench as the clouds in his mind faded out. Later that day, he was surrounded by several Cleavers and a very angry looking Dexter.
The following days were a series of torture and confusion. He was angry and scared after spending three days in a cell, not being told what happened. That final day, when Valkyrie walked in, he felt so much relief seeing her. But the sad look on her face only returned him to a state of worry.
He turned to lay on his back and shut his eyes, as he tried to catch anymore sleep. Yet his mind wouldn't let him…
80 years ago.
Valkyrie sat down on the free chair of Skulduggery's cell, staring at him. In all his experience, this was one of the very few times he couldn't tell what the other person was thinking. But this was Valkyrie, he always knew what she was thinking. But now, as she sat before him, he had no idea.
"Why did you do it?" She finally asked, cutting the silence between them. He looked back up to her, his expression turning into one of irritation and anger. If anybody deserved to be asking the questions in here, it was him.
"What do you mean? Nobody has even told me what I've done, Val! I've been sat in here for three days, nobody has said a word." He said with a raised voice. He saw her flinch, and sighed. He looked down at the floor again. "I'm sorry, love. But I'm just so confused. I don't even know what's going on. So, before I answer any questions, please just tell me what I've done?" When he looked back up, he saw a questioning look on her own face.
"You seriously don't remember? Hold on, what is the last thing you remember?" She asked once more. He looked up again.
"No, I really don't, the last thing I remember is getting home and finding you in the kitchen. You weren't yourself, has been sick most of the day." Finally, he was going to get some answers. Valkyrie stood up, and walked until she stood in front of him.
"Tuesday afternoon, you came home and started making yourself a cup of tea. In those few minutes you found a positive pregnancy test in our bin, my pregnancy test. Obviously, in the time I've been with you I conceived a baby despite our safety precautions, though clearly it failed. When you found it, you told me that we couldn't keep it, it was too dangerous. After which, I cruelly blamed your fears on the fact you lost your wife and child those years ago. Then you put your hand on my stomach and said to me that I was going to have to wait until you were ready… These past few days the infirmary has been running tests on what magic you used on me, or more specifically our baby."
Valkyrie went quiet for a while, staring at him whilst trying to figure out his reaction. So far, Skulduggery just looked totally stunned.
"Y-you're pregnant?" He stuttered.
"Yes, Skulduggery. I'm pregnant. Around eight weeks with our little boy. And it's probably going to be that way for a little while, thanks to you." She spat at him, folding her arms.
"What do you mean?" he questioned once more.
"Skulduggery you used a spell that not even the sanctuary can figure out. You froze him inside of me, he cannot move, he cannot grow. We don't even know if he is alive. Nye still wants to run some tests. They found you in a park, and when they cuffed you, you didn't even resist. Skulduggery, please do not lie to me. Why did you do this?" She couldn't hold back her tears much longer, they'd already begun to escape.
Skulduggery stood, and leaned down to take her hand. She tried to give some resistance, but he wouldn't let her go. His eyes locked with her own, sincerity showing itself through them as clear as crystal waters.
"Valkyrie Cain, I promise that I do not remember anything that you just said. I never would have done this if I knew. Yeah, I admit I'm scared, bringing a baby into the world we live in, but heck we've been through worse. And you? You'd be a brilliant mother. You're strong, protective and caring… I really am sorry for what I did to you, but sure as hell I know it wasn't my mind."
Valkyrie stared up at him, reading his emotions through the tears. She knows this man, her best friend and lover. She knows what he does when he lies, he doesn't but she does. Everything he said was just as sincere as the day he told her he loved her. The floodgates opened, tears falling one after the other as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close to his chest. Her arms moved up over his shoulders, holding herself up as she sobbed against him.
"Skul' I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, I was just angry." She cried, pressing her head against his strong chest as her tears were soaked by his shirt.
"Val it's okay, I forgive you. Can you forgive me?" He asked, looking down at her.
"Yes. Yes of course I can. We'll figure this out, I know we will." She said, letting the comfort of his arms flood her body. The cell door opened, and Dexter stood at the door.
"Valkyrie, sorry to disturb but Nye needs to do a retest on something." He simply stated before walking away. The door was left open for them to both leave. Skulduggery picked up his jacket and tie from the bed, and walked slowly with Valkyrie out of the cell. They had each other's arms wrapped around their waist's as they made their way towards the infirmary.
Current time
When Valkyrie woke up later that night, she saw all the infirmary lights had turned off. The patients sleeping in the other beds were all fast asleep too. Groggily, Val turned over to look at the plain clock sitting on the wall near the nurse's desk. One thirty-six AM. Behind the nurse's desk, a nurse sat working away at the keyboard quietly.
She sighed, deciding it was no use trying to do anything this early in the morning. With that she shuffled to get herself back into a comfortable position, and shut her eyes again.
Sleep had almost captured her, when the same pain she'd felt days earlier shot through her stomach. Her body crumpled up and she grabbed her stomach. She grunted as the pain eased away again. However just as soon as it was gone, it had returned. The only noise she could manage was a pained yelp as her fingers grabbed the sheets around her. She didn't even notice that the nurse had come over and pressed the emergency button. Soon she was surrounded by doctor's, even Nye.
All she could feel was the pain ripping through her abdomen, drawing every scream she had out of her throat.
Nye wheeled her bed out of the main ward, down into a private room. Once her bed was in place, it turned to the nurse.
"Go and get Skulduggery from the on-call room, immediately." It ordered. The nurse simply ran out of the room. It turned back to the woman on the bed, who looked as though she was experiencing the worst pain imaginable. One of the doctors running the tests turned to it, looking completely baffled.
"Doctor Nye, her waters have broken…"
So, I can imagine that was not the confrontation you were expecting. However, the one between Dexter and Skulduggery will come in the next chapter. And yes, it appears that Valkyrie is going into labour. But how. *Strokes invisible beard*. So, if I'm totally honest this chapter feels like it has ignited a spark in me. I have new ideas for the future which feels so very different from when I last left this story. So, I hope to have more chapters up, SOONER this time. Don't worry I've set my friend up so he pokes me daily about it… So, I can't forget. Like the numpty I am. So, please leave a review I always appreciate it!
