Chapter 29
Things to be thankful for
Luckily, Sarah was being kept busy with all her queen duties, taking care of Mara, practicing her ukulele, and her lessons with Faron, as she started to have more and more physical issues with her advancing pregnancy. Her checkups by her fae doctor always turned out great, but she started to get concerned about how much bigger her stomach was going to get.
"A lot more", her doctor laughed at her when she asked with a grimaced face.
"Great", she moaned, "just what I wanted to hear." She had started to feel the baby kick a few months earlier as she was now approaching her 32nd week. Jareth became super excited when she took his hand and told him to feel the baby move.
He was amazed and stunned, as it was his first time he ever experienced anything like it. He had never been around a pregnant woman and it was all new to him. After that, he enjoyed it even more to place his hands on her stomach to feel the baby move.
For Sarah it wasn't always very pleasant, as some of the kicks could get pretty strong, and almost made her buckle in her knees a few times. Luckily Jareth was not around to see it, or he would have been over protective again.
Mara had grown tremendously over the past two month and had surpassed the size of a full grown large Rottweiler. It was hard to remember she was still very much a puppy, a one hundred pound puppy. She followed Sarah like a shadow, and Sarah had watched in awe the first time Mara made herself imperceptible.
"Where did you go?" Sarah asked and wandered around the study with hands stretched out searching for her, when she felt a lick on her arm and Mara rematerialized.
"Amazing", Sarah mumbled and told Jareth about it.
"Oh, she's going to be a good one", was all he said and continue with his elite guard duty roster paperwork, which always gave him a headache.
Sarah tried to avoid teleporting as much as possible. Even though her doctor had ensured her it would not affect the baby in any way, she was not confident enough in her own abilities not to end up on top of a spire or inside the fountain again, and it was too cold now to end up soaking wet, and too dangerous to end up on the roof.
She had not yet perfected her antigravity skills either, and a fall from that height could possibly hurt her baby. She either walked to Goblin City to get her daily exercise with Mara beside her, visibly or invisible depending on the situation, or she took the horynth carriage.
Jareth insisted on at least two elite fae or elven guards to always be close by to watch over her and any activity around her. Sarah had gotten used to being accompanied by her protectors and learned to accept it as another normal part of being a queen. She knew there were elements about who were not kind towards her nor Jareth. She had learned her lesson in the oubliette and she was not about to make that mistake again.
Once a week she would go to the Young Goblins Learning Center at the old flower shop Krum's father had owned. It had taken off nicely after a few setbacks in the beginning, and had become a favorite hangout of not just goblins, but also fae and elven youth.
Sarah would always take a book with her to read to the youngest of the goblins in a reading round. They especially liked stories like Little Red Riding Hood, The brave tailor, and Hansel and Gretel. Except they always rooted for the villain in the story and were rather disappointed that the bad guy never won. Sarah only could smile at this. Things were definitely different in the Underground.
A week before Thanksgiving, Sarah decided to talk to Jareth on what they were going to do. Have Marjorie and Mark come to the castle for the holiday, or go to the Surface World and celebrate in their little apartment together? She still kept the apartment, even though they had used it less and less over the past few months.
"Keep it", Jareth had told her, "it'll come in handy. We never know when we may need it, plus I like to have a nice little make out place for us two alone up there."
"Of course you do", Sarah had grinned, but secretly she agreed with him on the make out place thing.
Even though she had been very reserved and worried about the two different forms of Jareth in the beginning, feeling like she was cheating on either one of them, she had become quite used to it, and actually enjoyed having a little "change of scenery" as she liked to call it.
"Am I naughty for thinking that way?" she asked Jareth one evening with a guilty look on her blushed face. He only laughed at her and shook his head.
"Oh baby, it keeps things interesting. No different than me wanting to make love to the different Sarah's you can turn into with your hair.
"I guess that makes both of us naughty then", she had replied with a laugh, changing her hair color immediately, which Jareth had taken as a green light for some lovemaking. She had not objected.
"I know we missed last year", Jareth replied. "I wouldn't mind watching some football. I have been missing all of last year's season, and most of this."
Sarah threw him a smile.
"So, what you're saying is, let's have it in the Surface World?"
"Works for me, babe", he replied dryly with a smirk. Sarah called Marjorie to work out the details.
"Of course you guys come and have Thanksgiving with us, and then we'll have Christmas with you guys in the Underground. How does that sound?" Marjorie suggested.
"Sounds perfect", Sarah replied. "Jareth and I will probably get to the apartment late the night before. Is there something you want us to bring?" Sarah inquired.
"Hoggle's breakfast rolls", Marjorie requested immediately.
"You got it, girlie. One order of Hoggle's special breakfast rolls coming up", Sarah laughed.
Jareth had to work late the day they were supposed to head to Sarah's apartment. He ended up giving Hoggle a few assignments for the next couple of days and Hoggle told him not to worry about a thing. The kingdom would be in good hands.
Sarah had waited impatiently as always, with bags packed and Mara sitting beside them in the study.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Sarah had asked. Can you teleport both of us together?"
Jareth laughed. "Mara doesn't need help. She's more than capable by now of teleporting alongside us. Just hang on babe."
Sarah held on tight and they were off.
As usual, Marjorie had taken care of the apartment and it was nice and cozy when they arrived, with a bottle of Martinelli's sparkling cider on the counter and a note hanging on the fridge "picked up food from Luigi's. It's in the fridge. Call me when you get there".
Sarah heated up the food immediately as they both were starving.
"Good old Marjorie, always taking care of us", Sarah mouthed between bites of her lasagna. Jareth agreed silently.
"Let's have a toast", Sarah said happily as she picked up her glass of sparkling cider. Jareth followed suit.
"What do you want to toast, babe?" He inquired as he wiped his mouth with his napkin.
"Us", she said with a smile and two shimmering soft eyes, full of love looking at him. "Us and the baby, our friends, in both worlds, that we always be one happy family!"
Jareth smiled and nodded.
"Perfect toast", he agreed. Sarah leaned forward and kissed him with a look Jareth knew all too well.
"Now, babe?" He asked. Sarah bit her lip and motioned towards the bedroom with her head.
"I miss making love to the human Jareth." She whispered into Jareth ear, moved her hand in a seductive gesture across his cheek, and walked towards the bedroom, as her hair turned from purple and auburn red to neon green and flashy pink.
"Well, who am I to argue with that fact", Jareth grinned, got up, and followed behind. Mara immediately took her position by the closed door, watching and guarding.
Sarah and Jareth were being lazy the next morning as neither one of them was in a hurry to get up. Sarah decided to change her colors again for a little morning show, which Jareth was more than happy to oblige to.
"You are so much fun, babe", he moaned afterwards and kissed her stomach. "And the baby apparently agrees", he added with a laugh as Sarah's stomach started to bulge slightly in different places where the baby was kicking and moving.
"I wish he or she would be a little less happy. Oooh ouch, that was my bladder", Sarah yelped as a particular strong kick made her wince. "Bathroom", she declared as she jumped out of bed and hurried to the toilet.
Jareth lounged around in bed for a little while longer before he decided to get up and take a shower.
"I'm getting us breakfast, babe", he called to her from the shower, "what do you want?"
"Cinnamon rolls", came the quick answer, "and some chocolate milk."
"You got it, babe", Jareth stepped out, dried off, and got dressed. Sarah set the table while he was gone and called Marjorie back.
"Hey, girlie, we made it. Sorry, it was so late last night I didn't want to wake you."
Sarah bent the truth a bit with that one, but she had totally forgotten to call her the night before since they had been occupied with certain other activities.
"Oh that's totally cool", Marjorie replied. "Did you bring Hoggle's rolls?"
Sarah laughed. "I sure did. Three dozen."
She had to pull the phone back from her ear as Marjorie let out a shrill whoop, whoop with excitement.
"Oh my god, that is so freakin' awesome. I owe Hoggle a nice Christmas present for that. Mine and Mark's parents are going to come as well, so it'll be eight of us. See you guys about noon? We won't eat till five or so, but I want to hang out."
"Sure thing, that sounds great", Sarah replied and hung up just in time for Jareth to get back with breakfast.
Sarah wolfed down her cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk with such speed, she left Jareth speechless.
"I was hungry", she justified when she saw his perplexed look on his face. He only shook his head and continue eating his breakfast at a normal person's pace.
"Since we got some time to waste, babe, what would you like to do?" Jareth cleaned off the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher.
"I thought maybe since we are here, we could go and visit my dad's grave, if that is ok with you? I haven't been in ages, seems like, and I kind of feel guilty about it. I want to see him."
Her voice sounded sad and a tear had formed in the corner of one eye.
"Sure thing, babe", Jareth replied and smiled at her. "We'll pick up some flowers on the way."
Sarah's dad was buried in the city cemetery in a small plot under a big oak tree. They decided to drive there instead of teleporting. Sarah still had her old car, which always came in handy for their Surface World trips when they were unable to teleport.
They had managed to get some flowers despite most shops being closed for Thanksgiving. The small flower store by the cemetery entrance was always open. Mara had accompanied them, but was invisible. No need to scare everyone to death at the cemetery with a huge faewolf puppy. Sarah actually had to giggle at that.
"Scare people to death in a cemetery. That is actually funny", she thought.
Her dad's grave looked like it had just recently received fresh flowers, and a small Luke Skywalker figure was standing guard on top of it.
"Toby", Sarah thought with a slight chuckle. Jareth left Sarah alone to talk to her dad and walked around the cemetery. Mara stayed with Sarah.
Looking at the graves and headstones, Jareth suddenly felt downhearted. He never had given death that much thought until Las Vegas when he had almost died from being shot by a robber. It was then that it had occurred to him how fleeting life could be, and it had given him a complete different perspective on life. His foolishness had almost turned him into one of those cold and dreary headstones, and he didn't dare to envision the pain Sarah would have now, had he died that night. He shook his head and tried not to think about it anymore.
He glanced over at Sarah. How much he wished he could've saved her dad. He would have loved to visit the Underground and the castle, and Jareth had always planned to show him his kingdom. He remembered his promise he had made to him, and he swore to himself that he would always keep it.
He noticed one of his fae guards standing and watching, disguised as a human, several graves away. He had shadowed them since they had left the kingdom. Jareth smiled and inconspicuously nodded towards the guard as an acknowledgment.
Sarah waved at Jareth to come back.
"I'm ready, we can go", she said with a Kleenex in hand wiping away a few tears.
"You're ok, babe?" Jareth inquired with a worried look. Sarah nodded and tapped him on his chest.
"I'm fine honey".
She turned to leave, as Jareth told her he would like to have a few words with his friend. Sarah gave him a smile through her teary eyes and a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Take all the time you need", she said softly and sat down on a nearby bench, petting Mara who sat right beside her in invisible form.
"Well, my old friend", Jareth started off. "I don't know whether I want to say it is good to see you, considering we are in a cemetery and you are quite dead. I really do miss our nightly chats."
Jareth crouched down and placed his hand on the headstone. Sarah watched him from the bench talking to her dad's grave. She wondered what he was telling him, and she finally realized that Jareth had been truly hurt by her dad's passing as well.
They must have been much closer friends than she ever knew. He looked very solemn, and apparently was in an intense conversation with him. She wasn't sure if it was possible, but she loved Jareth even more after watching him.
"I am so lucky to be with this man", she whispered to herself while Mara was paying her the utmost attention. She understood every word, as she kept looking over at Jareth as well.
"Mara", Sarah looked at her faewolf, "don't ever let anything bad happen to Jareth, you hear me? I know you are my protector, but I am asking you to also protect Jareth."
Mara looked at her with her piercing green eyes and told Sarah "yes" with her mind. This time Sarah knew what she had heard, and who had said it. She smiled gently at Mara and waited on Jareth who was walking back towards her.
Neither one of them tried to pry into the other to find out what had been said on their way back to the apartment. If Jareth wanted to share, Sarah knew he would tell her when the time was right, and he knew the same held true for her.
Since it was close to noon, Jareth teleported upstairs real quick when they arrived at the apartment and got Hoggle's breakfast rolls. Marjorie would absolutely kill them if they would forget to bring those. And in true Marjorie fashion, that is exactly what she inquired first when they arrived.
"Hey guys, you got Hoggle's rolls?"
Both Sarah and Jareth had to laugh out loud, much to the puzzlement of Marjorie. Sarah handed her a huge box filled to the top with rolls. Marjorie squealed with excitement. Sarah and Jareth had been the first ones to arrive.
"Our parents, wont' get here 'till much later", Marjorie said with a twinkle in her eyes. "I wanted some alone time with just us for a few hours", she winked at Sarah.
Sarah and Marjorie hung out in the kitchen for girl talk and some of Martinelli's sparkling cider since Sarah could no longer drink wine.
"I'm getting quite used to this stuff", Marjorie declared. Sarah laughed and they toasted. Mara was with them the entire day in invisible form. Sarah never let Marjorie know. She didn't think it was the right day to tell her that there was a huge invisible faewolf in her house.
Jareth had plopped himself in a chair in the living room with a beer and was watching football with Mark. They once again had a bet going for two cases of Budweiser.
"I take the Houston Oilers over the Detroit Lions, and the Dallas Cowboys over the New York Giants", Jareth placed his bets.
"You got it", Mark said, "but you're going to lose. You might as well hand me those two cases right now."
Jareth ended up winning both cases and was floating on cloud nine on his way back to the Labyrinth Kingdom.
When it was time for dinner, Marjorie had a beautiful long table decorated and set. Each dad was seated at the end of the table, representing their status in the family as elders. Not much unlike in the Labyrinth Kingdom. Sarah and Jareth sat right across from Marjorie and Mark.
It was a very nice dinner and they had not spared any expenses on the food. Jareth told Mark quietly it looked like a royal feast, which made Mark sit up tall, beaming with pride.
The turkey must have weighted 30lbs, Sarah judged. Mara thought the turkey looked great too and Sarah had a few issues keeping her at bay. She kept kicking her gently away under the table and telling her in her mind to quit it.
Marjorie caught her a few times fidgeting around and wondered why she was so restless.
"The baby's kicking", Sarah lied.
Every once in a while she dropped a piece of meat under the table in fear Mara would pounce onto the table and take it all. She didn't think that would have gone over very well.
The day flew by in a hurry, and before they realized, it was time to go.
"Now remember, we'll be coming for Christmas. You get with me on the arrangement right?" Marjorie made sure to ask Sarah before they headed out.
"I sure will, girlie, don't you worry about a thing." Sarah ensured her.
"Where to?" Sarah asked Jareth as they drove off. "Castle or apartment?"
"It doesn't matter. Wherever you want to spend the night", Jareth replied.
After a few seconds he added: "Why don't we go back to the apartment. Take it easy for the night and get an early start back tomorrow?"
Sarah grinned at him. "You read my mind."
Both of them were actually quite tired when they got back to the apartment and fell into the couch with their feet up on the table. Mara jumped up and put herself right between Sarah and Jareth.
"Sorry girl, but nobody comes between me and my man", Sarah laughed. Mara gave her a disapproving look and took her place on a chair next to her. Sarah thought she heard "seriously?" in her mind. She actually had to chuckle at that.
"You want something to drink? I'm going in the kitchen for some water", Sarah asked.
"Some water would be great", Jareth replied and pulled of his shoes with his feet. Sarah returned with two glasses and sat back down next to him. Jareth put his arm around her shoulder and Sarah pulled up her legs onto the couch and leaned against him with her head resting on his chest.
"I had a wonderful day, honey", she said with a blissful sigh.
"I'm glad you did. I was worried the visit with your dad might make you melancholy and sad, but you looked like you had fun". Jareth gently rubbed her arm.
"I sure did ", Sarah replied, "I told him all about us and how great you are and how much I love you; and that I don't ever want to be without you ever again. I am so thankful for you, and I am thankful he gave us his blessings."
She squeezed him just a little bit tighter when she said the last words.
Jareth kissed the top of her head.
"And I am so very thankful for you too, precious", he said softly. "I told your dad that I would never ever leave you or make you unhappy. I guess you're stuck with me forever." Sarah chuckled.
"Forever is really not that long at all." She replied with a sigh.
"No, it sure isn't, babe, it sure isn't", Jareth answered with a sigh of his own.
Sarah put her glass of water on the table and laid down with her head in his lap and her arms wrapped around one of his legs. Jareth smiled as he placed his hand on her stomach, feeling the baby moving around.
Sarah stayed quiet and it took Jareth some time to realize she had fallen asleep. He finished his water and as gentle as he could, he picked her up in his arms and stood up.
"Let's go", he motioned with his head towards Mara. Jareth carried Sarah to the bedroom and laid her down in bed while Mara took up her position right next to her on the floor.
"I'm so thankful for you Mara", Jareth whispered, "Always watch over her."
"I will", Jareth heard in his mind before he got into bed and turned off the lights.
