The sound of knocking woke Lavellan from her slumber. Her eyes shot open, and a brilliant blue sky above greeted her. She gazed in awe and recalled that she was in Cullen's office, with its damaged roof that she did not mind one bit that morning.
The knocking would not cease. She rolled over and smiled at the sight of Cullen deep asleep, his curls now frizzy from tossing and turning. Though she hated to ruin the moment, she gently nudged his shoulder. "Cullen, Cullen," she whispered as loudly as she could.
"Mmm, what is it?" he mumbled, his eyelids still closed.
"Someone's at the door."
"Maker's breath," he groaned and slowly began moving his limbs. Suddenly, he leapt out of bed and began rummaging for his clothes on the floor. "Damn!"
"What's wrong?" Concerned about whatever had startled him, Lavellan sat up and wrapped the sheet around herself.
"Don't worry about it, just stay here," he commanded, shoving on his shirt and pulling up his breeches.
Lavellan watched him hurry down the ladder just as she heard the door to his office open.
"Commander? You alright in there? Josephine's been asking for you, she says you're late," called a voice.
"Tell her I'll be right there, I need a minute or two. I'll see her soon," Cullen replied, and Lavellan heard footsteps and the thud of the door shutting.
Lavellan tiptoed to the edge of the landing and peered below, where Cullen threw on his coat and ran his fingers through his hair with pomade. "You have a meeting?" she asked.
"Yes, and I overslept," he grumbled.
"Sorry about that," she murmured, and Cullen stopped getting ready and climbed up the ladder to the loft.
"There's nothing to be sorry for. I forgot I had an appointment this morning. I wish I could ignore it and stay here with you." He reached for her, encircling her in his arms and giving her a long kiss. "I'll see you later."
Cullen dashed off without another word, leaving Lavellan alone in his office. She begrudgingly began putting on her clothes. She had a meeting of her own to get to, breakfast with Dorian at his request. If she hurried she would have time to bathe in her room and wear an unrumpled outfit.
"Why are we eating in the tavern?" Lavellan whined. After meeting Dorian at his favorite nook in the library, he had insisted they skip the mess hall. Apparently, his ideal meal in the morning involved spirits and being surrounded by hungover patrons who hadn't made it out the doors the night prior.
"It'll be fun! Don't be a spoilsport. Think of lovely brunch aperitifs," Dorian shot back as they crossed Skyhold's courtyard.
Lavellan socked him in the arm playfully. "Ow! I promise you all the cocktails once the babe's here," he laughed.
"Deal," she agreed, shaking his hand to seal it. She grinned from ear to ear despite the lackluster meal that awaited her.
"Aren't you full of sunshine today," Dorian commented. "Given your sulking of late, I do wonder the root cause of this new development."
She rolled her eyes but gave nothing away, so he continued while wiggling his brows, "Did you and Cullen work things out?"
"We may have," she stated lightly.
"Thank the heavens!" Dorian raised his head to the sky in a mock prayer. "You two can be particularly thick-skulled, making it rather annoying to be friends with you both."
"Just keep it quiet?" she whispered, but the area around them was deserted. "I don't know if he wants to be the subject of gossip. We haven't had time to discuss whether we're taking things public."
"Well, I'm afraid that it might be too late for that."
"What do you mean?" She grew tense, but Dorian merely shrugged at her question, and they were already at the tavern door.
"After you, milady," Dorian bowed and gestured for her to enter.
Lavellan shoved the tavern's doors open, curious about Dorian's previous comment and annoyed at his non-answer, only to be shocked by shouting. Her hand rushed to her side for a pommel that wasn't there.
"Surprise!"
Lavellan blinked slowly. The tavern was packed with people, her Inner Circle and others, and their attention was all on her. Ribbons of pastel blue and pink were spun along the wood beams, and a banner splattered messily with paint read "Congratulations, Inky!". Presents were piled on a table near the entrance, and there were small towers of petit fours and sliced fruit. Josephine was front and center, beaming.
"What is this?" Lavellan whispered dumbly, stepping back. She could already guess, however. She had heard something about the Orlesian practice of baby showers, where women celebrated a mother-to-be with gifts and embarrassing games.
"Your baby shower for little Baby Lavellan," Josephine replied, as if her question was silly. She rushed forward to Lavellan, pinning a large flower of blue and pink paper to the front of her top. "You're the guest of honor."
She stared down at the pin and felt Dorian grab her arm. "Let's find a seat, shall we?"
Lavellan walked in a trance to a table in the middle of the room as Dorian guided her to a chair that faced everyone. "I'm going to get you back for this," she hissed at him.
Numb, she absentmindedly rearranged around the silverware in front of her, avoiding the gaze of the other partygoers. She had no problem standing in front of troops, rallying them for battle with a speech generated on the spot, but stick her in a party in her honor, and she wanted to crawl under a table and hide.
"Some breakfast, Inquisitor?" A plate laden with pastries was pushed into her line of sight. She glanced up to meet Cullen's gaze.
"You're here," she mumbled, dumbfounded.
"Some people," Josephine shot Dorian a sharp look, "thought it best that we invite all of your closest friends, regardless of gender, and nix any traditional games."
"No melted chocolate in nappies. How disappointed you must be, Inquisitor." Leliana smirked from her spot in the corner.
Josephine invited the others to partake in the food and drink, and the tables around Lavellan were filled. She wished someone would sit next to her and act as a shield of sorts, but perhaps they felt it wasn't their place. Josephine stood by as the host of the affair, but that wasn't enough. Luckily, Dorian dropped into the chair on her left. "I'm not going to abandon you," he sighed.
Most of the seats had been taken, and Cullen was a fish out of water, awkwardly scoping out where to go. Dorian waved him over, and Cullen froze and moved in the opposite direction.
"Cullen, why don't you sit over here next to Lavellan?" Josephine called to him, catching him in the act, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"That's fine, I can stand-"
"It's okay, why don't you sit-" Lavellan pointed to the empty chair next to her right as Dorian laughed.
Cullen's hand reached to scratch at the back of his neck, but he dropped it and took his spot near her. Though her appetite wasn't quite what it used to be, Lavellan was ravenous and focused on the food on her plate, while everyone did the same - and interrogated her in front of a live audience. She would be actively chewing her breakfast, but that didn't stop others from inquiring loudly across the room about her birth plans and planned nursery décor. It was all in good fun, so Lavellan blushed, covered her lips with a hand, and tried to play along as best she could.
At last, it was time for gifts, which was a welcome change of pace, at least for a few seconds. Iron Bull strolled up to her table, slamming down a bottle-shaped object in a velvet bag, which turned out to be aged whiskey.
"You're going to need that to keep sane during the night. Especially if you've got a biter. I've heard stories-"
"Umm, alright, thanks," was Lavellan's horrified response.
She could hear Dorian chide his lover under his breath, "We talked about this!"
Josephine gifted beautiful blankets from the finest Antivan fabric, acquired by her merchant family. Leliana presented cloth diapers, ever so practical. Cassandra, trendy Orlesian baby clothes that she admitted were "terribly cute." Vivienne gifted an Andrastian baptism gown for the baby; would Lavellan's child grow up in the Chantry? It wasn't something she had discussed yet with Cullen. Varric, a guidebook on parenting babies, which Cullen eyed with interest. Sera, a toy bow and arrow set that Lavellan would be stowing away until her child was a more appropriate age.
Solas presented Lavellan with a book of stories of the Elven people, written from his own hand. She ran the pad of her finger across the inked loops of his handwriting, knowing the gift must have been a labor of love.
"Your child should be aware of where they came from," he explained. "Even…"
As he trailed off, Lavellan hugged the leather-bound volume to her chest. "Thank you, Solas. Truly."
From underneath a tarp, Blackwell revealed a crib with intricate carved designs of animals. It was so beautiful that Lavellan's eyes started to well up. Dorian presented a large box of magicked trinkets from Tevinter; toys that lit up, moved, or played music. It must have cost a fortune, or Dorian had spent unknown hours working on them himself. She had never seen such things before; she smiled as she played with each one.
"Thank you, my friend." Lavellan grabbed Dorian's hand and squeezed it. It was mind-boggling how far they had come. He had been almost a virtual stranger to her when they had fallen into the future. Their friendship had then been forged in fire, as they struggled to comprehend their new environment and find a way home. Now here they were, at her baby shower of all places.
The pile of gifts had all been unwrapped. Cullen was tense beside her, his shoulders rigid. He reached into his coat, and his hand emerged with a tiny wooden box that he placed before her.
"I wasn't sure what to get. I hardly know anything about babies," he confessed, insecurity plain on his face. "Dorian helped a little."
"That's alright, Cullen," Lavellan said, managing her expectations as she opened the box. It nearly slipped from her grip. A shining coin, a duplicate of hers, rested against velvet. This one, his, was now also on a chain, but it was thin, delicate, and smooth. The chain was tiny, and the clasp was miniature. "What is this?"
"Uh, it's umm… a baby bracelet. I've been told nobles often have them crafted for children? To match your necklace."
When she did not say anything, he backtracked. "It's stupid-"
"It's your lucky coin," she interrupted. "It's perfect."
Without thinking, Lavellan leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his lips. Cullen stilled as someone wolf-whistled. He must have been embarrassed by her public display of affection. "Shit, I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I'm not, if you aren't-"
"I'm not then," she answered firmly, and this time he made the move, tilting his head to chastely kiss her on the cheek. One would have thought they were making out after victory in battle, for the room erupted.
"Oh, stop that," Lavellan directed to the revelers, but there was no ire behind her words. They were surrounded by those who loved them, who loved her, who would love their child.
"Does this mean I should turn down all of those marriage proposals?" Josephine teased.
That night, her friends and some servants carried all of the presents from the baby shower up to her quarters, and there was considerably less space in her once roomy bedchamber. Cullen had just brought up the last box.
"You have some redecorating to do," he commented with a wry grin.
"Indeed," she sighed. "And so very little time to do it."
"I can help," Cullen offered.
"As if you don't have enough on your plate, too. We'll figure it out. It's not like everything has to be ready tomorrow." She fell backwards onto her bed. "Do you want to stay here tonight?"
Cullen hesitated. "There are some reports I haven't reviewed yet today-"
"As Inquisitor, I demand you call it a night and warm my bed," she joked.
He shook his head in amusement. "As my lady commands," he answered with faux reluctance.
Lavellan awoke with her heart racing. Her skin was slick with sweat, and darkness greeted her. It took a minute for her to get her bearings. She was in bed at Skyhold, with Cullen fast asleep at her side. She slowly released the breath she had been holding as relief washed over her. This was reality.
In her dream, she stood with Dorian next to the swirling time portal he had conjured. The hall was filled with hideous creatures, and the floor was littered with the bodies of her friends. Cullen was there, and he was alive and whole. His hair was short, and the scars on his face had been sustained in the future, so it wasn't the man who had been sleeping beside her. In her dream state, her confused mind mused over the details. Hadn't he died?
Something in her stomach had pulled, and when she touched her abdomen, her glove came back red.
"No," Cullen whispered.
"We have to go!" Dorian yelled.
Her knees gave out from under her. Cullen fell beside her, holding her up. Dorian had waited too long, and he had been dragged away from the portal, which disappeared into thin air.
"No!" Dorian screamed.
There was little she could do, weak as she was, and she stared at Cullen's terrified visage as everything faded to black.
A nightmare, Lavellan reminded herself. That's all it was. Her stomach tightened, her muscles gone taught. She rubbed at her abdomen, and the strange feeling dissipated after a moment. Not wanting to wake Cullen, Lavellan struggled to quietly rearrange her pillows around her and get comfortable. Once she was settled, she was startled when Cullen spoke. "Everything okay?"
Her nerves calmed at the sound of his voice. "It's nothing."
He laid a warm hand on her shoulder, and soon she found her eyelids fluttering shut.