"Oh Goddess...pain...pain...it's coming again..."

"I got ya hair now, it's fine girl. Just let it out-"

"I'm puking my guts out, honey! It isn't fine!"

"Alright, bad wordin' on my part. Look, just don't hold back nothin' and-"

::REEEEEEETTTTTCCCHHH::

Cecilia vomited forcefully into the toilet for a second time that evening, and Khujand could feel every muscle in her body straining as she gripped the sparkling, meticulously cleaned rim. Thank the Goddess for the indoor plumbing which goblin settlements all had. And for bleach.

Reeling, the twelve thousand year old warrior of the night who had faced down demons, dragons and drug dealers (who strangely turned out to be equally as scary as one another) was rendered helpless by an upset stomach. At least, that's what Cecilia had insisted it was.

Khujand knew better. Not only had he sired children before, but he came from a culture where five or six child families were the norm and entire villages participated in rearing the kids. When Sonja had passed him an extra strong dose of fertility remedies a few months back at the alchemy shop - pulverized basilisk scales, ground dragon horn and pure ethereal extract all distilled into liquid form - he felt sure it would do the trick. Cecilia had finished drinking the last of it with her meals just after they arrived home from their recent trip to Ashenvale last November. Once they had relaxed back into the swing of normal life, they began trying once a day again - twice on some days - and rather enjoying themselves while they did so.

"Cici, I'm tellin' ya, it's February now. Ya got mornin' sick...er, evenin' sickness."

Dizzy and panting from the effort of expelling everything that had been in her stomach, she took her time replying.

"Oh...I...I knew that when you said it...over the weekend," she urked out, heaving slightly at the end of her sentence.

"I had a feelin' ya did, and were just nervous," he hummed while shifting his weight.

They were both on their knees in the bathroom as he held her hair; the toilet had thankfully been designed with tall people in mind, but with both of them at once it was so cramped they almost couldn't move. He tried to lean as far away as possible to give her space and help her feel comfortable, but he could hear the floor creaking underneath their combined weight.

"Honey...I'm scared," she said while retaining her grip on the spotless toilet lid. "I fought giants and charged through firestorms...none of that was as scary as this." Her body appeared to relax as she spoke, and he made sure not to interrupt her. "I never thought...I never expected to have kids, and I want it so bad but what if I'm too old for pregnancy or I don't raise our kids properly...what if I can't give birth...I'm going to be a mom? I never had a responsibility that huge...I..."

Khujand had to fight the urge to hug her as she vented. He had no worries about her transition to a more domestic life as he had, but to see her taking parenting and birth so seriously, to see his warrior of the night fretting so, was so cute he wanted to boop her on the nose.

"Ya gonna do great, girl, I just know it," he crooned.

"Oh...I hope so." After a moment of silence, her body seemed to calm down. "I think it's finished."

Khujand took a moment to massage Cecilia's back; her last sentence was spoken by many a heroine or hero just before finding things weren't finished. She seemed to settle into a restful state, however, and didn't even dry heave. As he kneaded the muscles over her back, he could feel the numerous battle scars she'd earned over the millennia. Some had since faded into light mauve lines or even disappeared entirely. Others, such as those that were only a century or two old, were still fresh enough for his thick fingers to feel them through her sports bra as he ran his hands across her back. In any other situation, such contact would have resulted in them tackling each other onto the bed. Considering her misery, however, it simply wasn't happening that day.

Waving one hand and nodding, Cecilia seemed to indicate that she was ready to stand and Khujand helped her to the sink to rinse out her mouth. She remained hunched over as he continued holding her hair back. He knew she was making sure to block his view of whatever came out of her mouth alongside the water. No matter how many times he told her that part of marriage was sharing everything, there were still certain things she was shy about. He chalked it up to her elven heritage; they were meticulous about their appearance and quite particular about their dignity in front of others. He was happy to oblige, and looked away as she cleaned herself up.

Once she finished, she rose and walked to the bed on her own accord. She spread out on her stomach to be comfortable but made sure to cover herself with the blanket, eliciting a chuckle from him. As he sat next to her, he watched her upper back raise and lower as she breathed, wondering what it would feel like to do the same with a much smaller being's body again.

"Ya know, ya slept eleven hours last day?" he asked cheekily.

"Mmm," was her only response.

"Ya're cute."

She smiled with her eyes closed and laughed with her mouth closed, reveling in the attention. In general, she was not the type to accept being spoiled. During the past week, however, she accepted his nearly overbearing attention rather easily. It was part of what had caused him to assume that, deep down inside, she did know she was pregnant. Her initial difficulty accepting that fact fully didn't surprise him, though. She truly had led such a different life before. Due to the amount of time she had spent under the impression that she'd never see a man again, it made sense that pregnancy felt so foreign to her.

But he knew she felt it. And he knew she was changing. There was not an ounce of doubt within him that she would be a great mother. She had tended to nature and the forests sacred to her people for so long; Cecilia always had to take care of and protect something. It's who she was.

While he ran his hand softly over her hair, her stomach grumbled lightly. Her appetite hadn't been specific enough to label as cravings up until then. Ironically, that morning was the first time they could do so.

"I want Drohn's roast chicken and rice," she demanded in a light voice.

"Dang, girl...that orc oils his food up like tha goblins," he remarked. True, Drohn ran the most popular restaurant in town for the locals, but damned if it wasn't the unhealthiest option she could have chosen. "Are ya sure?"

"I want roast chicken and rice!"

"Well...alright Cici, but keep in mind ya've only been awake for about an hour."

"Get me roast chicken and rice and coffee with chocolate in it!"

"Those don't even go tagether!"

"Go bring roast chicken and rice and choco coffee and I'm going to wear my pajamas all day!"

"Alright, calm down, I didn't say no," he chuckled while she kicked her feet up and down on the bed.

She remained lying face down as he got dressed. A merchant shipping low cost clothing a few weeks ago had shown up at the docks with human style casual clothing that just happened to be designed for people much larger than non-humans, and Khujand had basically bought the entire crate. It took some getting used to, but the smock that was loose even on his massive frame was rather comfortable over the loose cotton pants. Thank the Goddess for inappropriately sized discount garments.


On the ground floor, Irien had more or less converted the main sitting room for guests into a storage unit for her private business. Though she still handled translation work for the Steamwheedle post offics given Cecilia's termination, Irien had basically ended up spending most of her free time at the auction house. Part of the time she was buying goods to store on the ground floor before resale at jacked up prices and part of the time was to build the extensive network of contacts needed in order to function as an efficient middlewoman at the market. Indeed, she had earned roughly as much as the combined income of Khujand working as the Ratchet alchemy trainer and Cecilia as the Ratchet riding trainer and one of the two warrior trainers back when she had been working. Now that Cecilia had retired (or been fired, as Allison would always pointedly remind members of their social circle), Irien ended up being the primary breadwinner for their atypical surrogate family.

She was busy sealing a shipment of Kaldorei style clothing fashioned by a Sindorei tailor at the Crossroads who had become a good business partner when Khujand walked in the room. The goblins had invented an interesting type of sticky paper they used to seal boxes shut called 'duct tape' and it had spread like wildfire among the entepreneurial population upon its invention a few months back. Much of the general populace still had yet to learn of its existence.

Though Irien didn't look up, she heard him enter and nearly stumble over a crate of dragon fish statues from Pandaria that were due for resale next week.

"We just got a good amount of topwear from Diana this morning," Irien murmured while loudly stretching the roll of tape over the clothing boxes. "If I can move them today, we'll be able to take part ownership of the second flight point overlooking town. It gets less business than the older place near the docks, but that makes it easier to invest."

"We'd also get ta have permanent spots of our own in a flight manifest. Sonja has been pushin' for a consistent way for us to send our product ta tha Crossroads." He started to help Irien with her packing before realizing he was getting sidetracked. "Cici wants some roast chicken and rice and coffee and she wants chocolate in tha coffee," he listed while chuckling again. "Ya want anythin' while I'm out?"

After a little hoot, Irien shook her head. "We already have food in the kitchen; there's no need to buy more."

"Aside from tha fact that I'm gonna get my head bitten off if I don't hit Drohn's place real quick."

Khujand hadn't even turned to leave yet when somebody jingled the bell outside the door. They hadn't been expecting any guests that day, and the only people who ever showed up unannounced were either Anushka or Vegnus. Given that the spaz was busy with Yaromira on a business trip to Gadgetzan and the bard was on a two month vacation to see his sister and her husband at Ironforge, there was no telling who it could be.

Making his way through the crate filled anteroom and to the door, Khujand stood in front of the little spy hole but stayed a few feet back as he squinted and looked through. As much as his social skills had improved, he would likely always retain certain paranoid habits he'd developed while in prison. If somebody ever wanted to break in the house, he reasoned, a good way would be to knock on the door, hold an ice pick up to the spy hold and hit the back of it with a hammer when you heard them approach and try to look through; they'd be blinded. Cecilia and Irien both called his paranoia 'adorable' but it made perfect logical sense to him.

Two furry figures, one large and jet black and the other small and light brown, stood before the door. Before he could even tell her who it was, Irien had already squeezed between Khujand and the door to taunt one of the visitors on the other side.

"Gee, I wonder who that could be out there!" Irien taunted like a child.

"We actually come bearing good news," sounded the deep voice of Thunderhorn, one of the Ratchet stablemasters, from the other side.

"I wonder who it is that bears good news!" Irien shot back. Meatball cackled from outside until Thunderhorn grunted at him.

"Come on Irien, he doesn't like ta be teased," Khujand whispered to her.

Ignoring him entirely, Irien continued her bullying of the minotaur man from behind the door. "Say it!"

"Look, we were walking nearby and Meatball got word that Unelia sent a large package, we're trying to be thoughtful!" Thunderhorn protested.

"Who's trying to be thoughtful!" She just wouldn't give up.

Sighing heavily, the stablemaster relented and said the first name he had promised to reveal a third of a year ago. "Percival Thunderhorn."

"Aaaaaaaahahahahahhahaha!" Irien didn't sound mean, but her laughter was a bit forced. "Percy - Percy Thunderhorn is here everybody!" she shouted only to Khujand. "We better let PERCY inside so he can tell us his big secret!"

Sweeping her aside, Khujand quickly opened the door and gave the upset tauren an apologetic smile. Irien danced a little jig in the corner as the two walked in - Thunderhorn with the large rectangular package and Meatball with a carton of eggs. Since the eggs were probably the least weird thing the gnoll could be carrying, Khujand merely honed in on the package.

"I was just about ta bring back some food from Drohn's joint," the jungle troll said to the two guests as Irien danced in a circle around him with her eyes closed. "Do ya guys want anythin' while I'm there?"

"Actually, you might want to read this first. As I understand it, there is a letter both from your sister in law and that Wolfrunner individual," the tauren answered.

"Whoa...let me see that!" Tucking the package underneath his arm, Khujand used one of his four inch long clipped tusks as a letter opener to read Unelia's cover letter.

My dearest Isurith,

Word of Gwynneth's demise has had somewhat of a calming effect on this side of the border. Her behavior brought shame to all the fine women of Serenity, but your success in your duel with her as well as you, your husband's and your friends' efforts in ending both her illegal operation and the remnants of the active Outriders have been recognized. After contacting Keeper Ordanus at Raynewood, both he was well as Sentinel Thenysil have interceded on Khujand's behalf with Raene Wolfrunner.

She actually visited me here in Astranaar and then allowed me to visit the birthing compound. Suffice to say that she does seem somewhat cautious about a non Kaldorei staying in such a traditional environment, though more due to her concern for the comfort of other new mother than to any sort of prejudices of her own. She did express concern regarding my brother in law's former affiliation, but when Thenysil showed her his registration paper at the Astranaar visitor's kiosk, Sister Wolfrunner acknowledged that Khujand has left the Horde and, like many of the tauren up in Moonglade, is a neutral individual who should be able to travel within our lands without restriction.

It is with great joy that I inform you that, though not without conditions, you and your husband have been accepted to enter the birthing compound. As soon as you learn when you're expecting, Sister Wolfrunner would like us to inform her so that she may add the two of you to the schedule. The compound tends to see a good deal of unexpected traffic as well as fluctuations in available volunteers, and the sooner her staff may plan for your arrival, the better. She has requested that you arrive here at Astranaar two months before your expected delivery date - I trust Khujand's talents will allow him to give an accurate prediction - and to take up residence at the compound one month beforehand. There are a number of courses and workshops her staff offers regarding parenting, baby health and the birth process itself and she also explained that volunteering in and of itself will help you to prepare. She also inquired as to your husband's stature; apparently they need to clear some leftover debris on one end of the camp for the growing of new buildings and I believe they intend to put him to work. If anything, that's a good sign - although Sister Wolfunner will detail the conditions of his presence to you, it does seem like a done deal in terms of the two of you being allowed inside.

Isurith, I couldn't be happier for you. I...

Due to the more personal nature of the second half of the cover letter, Khujand tucked it back into the envelope. It wasn't addressed to him and besides, he had already seen what he needed to see. He handed the entire pile, package and all, to Irien.

"What does it say?" she asked intently.

"Take this ta Cici right now," he beamed, his heart soaring the same way it had when Ordanus initially agreed to his freedom of movement throughout Ashenvale in the first place. "We gotta get a celebration brunch thrown tagether!"

Despite not knowing exactly what the letter said, both Thunderhorn and Meatball figured out it was good news. "WE CAN GO WITH", the gnoll snickered as Khujand put his sandals on.

"Yes, I have a feeling it might take the three of us due to the amount of food needed," Thunderhorn added while stepping back outside.

Taking one last second to grab his satchel and coinpurse from the anteroom dresser drawers, Khujand pretended he didn't notice Irien nosily reading the second half of the cover letter as she ascended the staircase. Making a mental list in his head of other food items he'd buy, he crossed the street to grab Kiul before heading to the restaurant. The poor guy was living as a helpless bachelor again while Yaromira was gone. Surely his presence would be a welcome addition to the mini party that was about to take place.


Cecilia mentally fought off another wave of nausea as she buried her face into the pillow. She survived a number of disasters during her military service, some of which included poison attacks and fel magic. This, however, was entirely different.

Once the wave had come and gone, she continued to relax on her belly. In truth, she had known she was pregnant the first time she felt unwell at the beginning of the week. To admit that scared her. It scared her even more than the time she, Velonia and Tirith had been cornered inside a mountain cave near the Zoram Strand for a week by a nest of angry chimaera about five thousand years ago. Cecilia would now be responsible for the entire survival of another living being. Aside from sleeping, there was nothing a baby could do on its own. To stave off hunger and thirst, to be calmed when it was scared...a baby was wholly dependent on others. It couldn't even swat away a fly buzzing around its head and bothering it. The entire world flashed before the eyes of a baby, all of it beyond the small being's control. The world outside of a mother or father's arms must be so terrifying.

A few weeks back, she had heard of an infant drowning a few streets over when the parents left him in the tub to check on something in the other room. It was a hugely stupid, idiotic mistake on their part but she couldn't help but pity them anyway. To think that they experienced the joy of seeing him born only to...

"What's wrong with me?" Cecilia huffed while wiping her eyes.

She couldn't be more than one month in to pregnancy. How could she already be moody and hormonal? She had a feeling the next year would be an emotional one.

Before the bedroom door even opened, she could sense the footsteps. Khujand must have been walking extra softly because he barely made any noise at all. He ambled over to the bed and when she felt the mattress sink in, Cecilia figured he must be leaning down only part of his weight.

"I don't smell any chicken or chocolate," she groaned into the pillow, although she smiled when she said it.

She couldn't have been more shocked when she realized how much she had let her guard down.

"Your sister has really neat handwriting!" Irien's voice chirped next to her.

Cecilia thrashed once as she rewrapped herself in the blanket. "Irien I'm not wearing anything!"

"Yeah, and I've washed your back for you at bathhouses before. There's nothing I haven't seen under there, calm down."

::RIIIIIP::

"Woman, these are some thick books here."

Blanket still wrapped around her, Cecilia sat up. "Books? From Uni?"

"Nope. These are from Wolfrunner," Irien replied as she continued reading the cover letter next to Cecilia on the bed.

Cecilia found three hard cover books on the bed. The first, with a plain brown cover, was written in Common by some high elf author and bore the title 'Introduction to Midwifery.' The second, also written in Common but by a human author, was a very generic looking text called 'Pregnancy and You.' The third, though, was far more interesting.

"That one was written by Wolfrunner herself, apparently," Irien mumbled without looking up from Unelia's letter. "Hey, you never told me you met her before."

It took Cecilia a second before the comment registered. "Wait, what did you say?"

"Your sister is saying that you met Raene Wolfrunner, something like two or three times while on rotation during the Vigil? She handled the Sabres and told Unelia's that she vaguely remembers you."

"I...I...vaguely, maybe. I didn't recognize her first name as anyone particular when Ralo'shan mentioned her. I think the family name is familiar, but it could have been someone else. Sabres..." Cecilia literally scratched her head while trying to think. Her eyes grew the size of saucers when an incredibly fast flashback of a blue haired woman at a stable near the Ashenvale Darkshore border ran through her mind. "Oh...vaguely. I met so many during rotations, but...vaguely."

'Childbirth the Natural Way' was the title of the Darnassian work Raene had coauthored along with someone else. The book wasn't as thick as the others but seemed much more enticing. Flipping through the pages, Cecilia was treated to copious amounts of anecdotes, opinion pieces and general words of wisdom Raene had picked up while struggling to serve their race's newfound needs. 'The New Vigil' appeared to be a particularly interesting chapter wherein Raene quoted another pre-Sundering woman who, like Cecilia would be very soon, had given birth for the first time after the onset of post immortality ageing. After Nordrassil, the continuation of their heritage through the raising of new generations outside of the unnatural and unhelpful birthing and child rearing methods of the modern world was to be their new charge and purpose in the world.

By chance, Cecilia glanced back down at the package and noticed a second letter that had been tucked behind the books. She took it up in her hands and found that it was quite long but written in large type.

"I think this one is from the woman herself," the former sentinel and...well, soon to be mommy said.

Isurith (or Cecilia if you prefer),

I commend you on your decision to carry on the legacy of the children of the stars by taking the most important step most people ever will take. As your sister has informed me, you intend to conceive and bear children. Our facilities are open to all of our kind who seek to give birth in a natural way, and to learn s sacred form of knowledge that, with the passing of so much time, many of us forgot. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to our facility once the time comes.

I am sure you have many questions at this time. That is normal, as is a certain measure of anxiety. Having been independent for all our lives, many of us find the idea of caring for another being to be intimidating. But do not worry: from the time you first conceive, you will have roughly one year to prepare. For this first communication, I have enclosed three pieces of reading material that are beneficial for both you and the father to read. It is a shame that with the opening of the world's people's via trade and technology, a large number of myths and fallacies regarding the beauty of bringing life into this world have spread. It is my hope that our efforts to raise awareness within the community about motherhood and parenting will spread even beyond the west Ashenvale region.

Over the next few months, either myself or our staff members will stay in contact with you through the elder Swiftfoot. If you do intend on visiting again at some point within the next four months or so, it may even be advisable for you to stop by for a prenatal exam.

Regarding the situation with your husband, then there are some ground rules. Keeper Ordanus explained your situation to us in a communication he sent around the time your sister came for a visit. The presence of the father, whenever possible, is incredibly important for the wellbeing of a new family. That being said, your husband would be the first parent of another race at the compound, and for the sake of keeping the peace, there are some things for the both of you to keep in mind before he arrives...

Despite her delight at reading the letter, Cecilia found that her heart was beating too fast to finish. Without another word, she jumped out of the bed and cast the blanket down, ignoring Irien's exaggerated shriek as she searched for wherever she had thrown her underwear and pajamas.

"Slow down, I didn't even pay for a show!" Irien joked while shielding her eyes.

Bounding down the stairs, Cecilia could already smell the roast chicken before she even reached the kitchen. Irien caught up with her at the same time, and Khujand had already set up the chicken, rice, guacamole dip with tortillas and more bananas than she had ever seen over every available space on the table and counters. Due to the presence of their male friends - Thunderhorn, Meatball and Kiul had already dug in to the food - Cecilia reverted to her usual elven restraint and settled for a congenial hello to all and a demure hug for her husband. But as they twitched their ears at one another, she knew that he could sense the comfort that had washed over her once the morning sickness had passed.

"So I hear there is some good news in the mail," Kiul said heartily while trying to scrape an evasive onion slice out of the guacamole bowl.

Meatball, despite being half Khujand or Thunderhorn's size, typically ate more than both of them and had already downed an entire chicken. Noticing the rapidly disappearing protein, Thunderhorn scooped a second whole chicken onto a plate and handed it to her.

Not wanting to get her hopes up for nothing, she tried not to convince herself that the tickle in her stomach could possibly be a kick at only one month into pregnancy and searched for the source of the strong coffee smell. Even though only a few of her friends were there, she felt the warmth and support as she looked at them and then at her husband.

"Best news we've received in a few months," she replied, unable to say much more without breaking into another silly grin.

After a moment or so passed, Meatball shook as much of the rice off of his snout as possible and rattled the carton of eggs.

"ALLISON IS OUT OF TOWN AGAIN," he snickered in his 'scheming' voice.

It didn't take long for everyone to understand what he meant. With a mouth full of guacamole, Cecilia grunted her approval.

"I think a small celebration is in order once we finish eating..."