Family Mathematics
"Noche… I just can't believe you're going to have a baby."
La Muerte held her sister's hands in her own as La Noche caught her breath and wiped the tears off round cheeks. Night was beginning to settle in the Land of the Remembered and the bedroom slowly darkened, only illuminated through a piece of the balcony door by the full moon. Neither of the goddesses had the effort to light any candles, nor did they feel it would be an appropriate time and place. They remained in the rosewood chairs facing one another. La Noche, weakened from crying so harshly, had the idea of moving to the bed, but not the strength nor the motivation.
"The first sign was the morning sickness…" La Noche explained, her voice still slightly shaky. "I had gotten it when Chamuco was visiting the Land of the Cursed. It was weeks of torture… I was exhausted from constantly running back and forth anywhere. I summoned the court physician, thinking it was just a prolonged illness. He tested me for everything, and eventually came to the conclusion that I had to be pregnant. I had no way of telling Chamuco when he came home. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was too afraid. You know how he can be sometimes."
La Muerte rubbed the back of her hand comfortingly. "Would he really be this angry?"
La Noche's voice softened. "He would be afraid. He would never admit it, but he would be. He wouldn't know what to do with the baby. Then he lashes out, so that no one can tell he's afraid. I've seen it in him before, like when I had that intense fever I nearly died of. Half the castle's right wing was almost destroyed and we had to replace two nurses. If I told him we were having a baby… Aye… who knows how he'd react."
"How long have you been hiding it?"
"I'm not even sure anymore, hermana… I think it'll be three months along by the end of this month."
La Muerte studied her sister quizzically and was in utter disbelief. A twinge of anger resonated in her voice.
"You are due in six months and your husband has no clue? Do you think it's a good idea for him to just find out?"
"Sssh!" La Noche urged, grabbing La Muerte's hands with a pleading expression. "They could hear us, Muertita!"
She slunk into the back of her chair and crossed her arms over her abdomen, which revealed nothing yet of her pregnancy. La Noche inhaled deeply and felt her chest rise nervously. Her eyes met her sister's.
"I'll tell him when we come home. You're right. It's better I tell him up front than him taking a look at me and coming to the conclusion."
Another fear overwhelmed the goddess; La Muerte noticed it with the distraction in her sad eyes and the biting of her inner lip. La Noche's thin fingers curled around her own arms slightly tighter and she retreated into a slouch.
"Aye dió, Muerte…" she whispered nervously. "What if he stops seeing me as beautiful? What if he won't be able to stand the sight of me? What if-" she could barely finish her sentence without breathing shallowly.
La Muerte snatched her sister's shoulders as if to slap her. "'Che, he is a grown man who definitely should have his priorities straight by now." She reached over and stroked Noche's hair comfortingly. "I get the feeling he'll step up to the challenge. He takes good care you, and he'll take good care of his son or daughter."
La Noche didn't respond, but La Muerte saw the slightest restoration of hope in her face. She wrapped her arms around her twin and hugged her tightly. Noche rested comfortably in her sister's arms, knowing she had someone to confide in if something went wrong.
After a few days' visit, the rulers of the Land of the Unknown returned to their realm. El Chamuco relaxed at the first step into their bedroom, laying back onto their large bed amongst La Noche's massive pillow collection. He half expected his wife to casually join him, but when she retreated to her marble vanity to stiffly brush out her hair, he knew something was wrong.
"'Che, darling," he asked, sitting up slightly on the bed. "You've been quiet the entire rode. It's completely unlike you."
"I'm alright, Chamuco," the goddess responded, stroking her brush through her black locks. "I'm just a little tired."
Thoughts rummaged through her head. She was making excuses again. She was beyond afraid to tell him. If she continued to keep quiet, he would fall asleep, and she would have to put off the news 'til the next day. And every day after would become harder and harder.
Chamuco himself wasn't having any of it. "Then come to bed, Cielo. Don't even bother changing, as if it will matter."
La Noche gingerly set aside her hairbrush and stepped on over to the bed. She sat on the edge of it and looked away from her husband, biting the inner corner of her lip. Her heart pounded from all of the mixed emotions and the anticipation of his reaction. Yet, she had done riskier things that have gotten her in more trouble than this could. So why was she so afraid?
"Chamuco," she began quietly, turning back to the god. "I really, really need to talk to you about something." She reached over and put a hand on his chest, more sincerely than teasingly. "Please, swear to me you'll take everything I say seriously."
Chamuco rarely know his wife to be serious. It was unlike her to have such concerns. His wariness arose. "What's going on, Noche?"
He sat up and studied her, his eyes scanning every part of her and sensing that something was wrong. As he took one of her frail hands into his gigantic ones, La Noche felt slightly safer, but knew not to take the sensation for granted.
She nearly stuttered. "I'm not good with words like you are. I'll just say it." She took in a deep breath, and Chamuco felt as her hand gripped his. "I'm pregnant, Chamuco."
Chamuco's face twisted and his entire body glowed brighter, like a fire well fed with raging oxygen. His voice heightened in surprise. "You-…you're…" She had never heard him stutter before. His tongue was always so perfectly elegant. "How long have you known?"
"I found out while you were visiting your realm… I'm three months along."
Chamuco no longer felt just surprised. The roughness in his voice began to protrude.
"You've known for over a month and you've kept it from me?"
La Noche shrunk slightly and gasped as he ripped his hand away from hers.
"Chamuco-you don't under-"
"Oh I don't understand? My wife keeps her pregnancy from me but I don't understand?" He leapt off the bed and towered over her impulsively. His body illuminated the flames of his infamous anger; La Noche could feel the heat radiating off of him. He tossed his arms sharply. "What? Were you going to hide it until it was born? Was I going to find out then?"
La Noche opened her mouth to speak, but no words flowed. She felt like bursting into tears. Instead, her eyebrows locked into a defensive stare and she bit the inside of her mouth. She took a deep breath to conceal her sadness.
"You and I both know-"
"Well, we do now," he snarled, grabbing for his robe and tossing it over himself. She heard him murmuring curses under his breath, and he exited the room. The silver doorknob melted slightly at his hot touch, and he slammed the door shut behind him. The second he was gone, La Noche broke down into tears. She grabbed one of her favorite pillows and sobbed into it harder than she had sobbed into her sister, who she wished was here right now.
The goddess hadn't realized how many hours had gone into that night of her just lying formlessly on her bed. She clutched several different pillows while crying, and proceeded to stare aimlessly when she had calmed down. The door to the room creaked open, and she knew her husband had returned. She wanted to rush to him, grab him and embrace him. But she didn't have the courage.
Chamuco inched through the door. "'Che?" She turned slowly and sat up. Their eyes met, hers like moon and his like the sun. In an instant, La Noche noticed that his were bursting with remorse and begging for forgiveness. She always admired that about him, his ability to apologize. He knelt by the bedside and his wings hung lower. He reached for her hand but wouldn't take it without her advanced.
"Mi Cielo," he whispered. "I am so, so sorry…"
She reached down lowly and touched his cheek as her eyes filled with tears. "I wish I told you earlier… I just know that you and I… we didn't plan on having children."
"If everything we did was planned, I don't think I'd love you as much as I do. I shouldn't have backlashed." He placed his hand over the one she kept on his cheek. "I can't be doing that if we're going to have a child in the house."
He stood up slowly to sit on the bed, but La Noche practically threw herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed her head into his chest. Chamuco's arms and wings closed around his wife and he embraced her as gently as he could, the way she deserved. The goddess peered up at her husband.
"Our future 'plus one' is going to love you. He or she is going to love you just as much as I do."
He chuckled and spread his long fingers over her abdomen, which sent happy shivers throughout her entire body. "I sure hope so."