Chapter 44
Paul's head was simultaneously very full and alarmingly empty.
Somehow it felt as if someone had pulled the pluck on his brain's router and his brain was now offline but still trying to find a connection.
"Eh?!" He muttered dumbly, blinking.
"Yer pulling our legs, right?" Daryl choked out on Harry's other side.
"Do I look like I am joking?" Natania asked them with a raised eyebrow.
Daryl grunted noncommittedly.
"I don't know." Paul admitted, taking note of her gleaming grey eyes. "I think you look like you're having the time of your life, though…" He uttered, starting to feel a little faint.
Next to the old woman, Neville snorted.
"I get what he means." The young man laughed, causing Natania give him a petulant scowl, that would have had Paul shrinking back but apparently Neville possessed an admirable immunity against Natania's attitude.
With a gentle smile Longbottom turned back to Paul and Daryl.
"I understand your confusion but I can assure you that we're not trying to take the piss out of you." The wizard's crude words stood in a stark contrast to his light tone, that was clearly meant to keep them from freaking out.
.
.
.
Yeah… That wasn't working!
Paul was freaking out.
Big time.
"I… just… I don't understand?!" He managed to mumble, shaking his head a little.
Yeah, that didn't help either.
"Ah, yes… I guess Harry never told you that about wizard pregnancies being a thing, hm?" Neville scratched his head, grimacing awkwardly.
Paul settled on vigorously shaking his head.
He was more than sure that he would have remembered that conversation!
"Well, since both you and Daryl are non-magical, he probably didn't think it would be necessary to tell you…" Neville hummed, sounding a little excited. "And really in his defence, this happening was highly unlikely. Even with two strong magical parents, you'd need a ton of fertility potions and a dozen ties to achieve a pregnancy. But the results are pretty clear here. Harry's definitely pregnant! And it's also the reason he has to wake up yet. All the magic, he used, would have put quite a big strain on his body…" Here Neville paused for a second, giving the results in his hand another critical look. Carson was still busy staring at the paper and the stats printed there… The poor man looked still quite shocked as well.
"I think his body must have come close to… not being able to sustain the pregnancy any longer. That's probably why it fell into emergency mode. And why his magic attacked me." Neville offered to them.
"You mean like internal a power-saving-mode? To safe resources and so he would be able to maintaining the pregnancy?" Carson asked, frowning in contemplation.
"Yes, exactly!" Neville nodded rapidly, clearly happy that someone started to pick up his thought process.
"So, basically the pregnancy needs magic to stay intact and when he spent so much on the Fiendfire..."
"…his core tried to protect him and the foetus. Therefore, it apparently did two things. First it put him to sleep to minimize the expenses and second it reached out to his bond partners for input and stabilization. It explains why physical distance was so hard on them before…" Neville laid carefully out the explanation. "Like I said before, I, myself, would never have guessed that this was the reason for Harry's continued unconsciousness but here we are and the stats make it beyond clear that he's about six weeks along."
Six weeks.
Paul's head was reeling with all the information.
"The ritual?!" The long haired man suddenly exclaimed; cyan eyes wide. "Six weeks means… it happened after the ritual, when we… in the forest… oh my god!"
Again, Natania looked at him as if she doubted his intelligence.
"Of course, it happened that day." She snorted, waving his apparently redundant and too slow thoughts away.
But…
Paul's head was hurting…
There were so many question…
Had Harry known?
Neville said that Harry might have come close to losing the child…
That the bond had activated like this to stabilize the pregnancy and Harry's core… to ease the strain…
A strange kind of dread sized Paul's heat at the thought.
He still remembered the births of Hershel and RJ, the way they had listened helplessly to Maggie's and Michonne's screams, how they all had been tense… fearful… for the mothers and children equally…
Death and life had seemed to be interwoven so closely on those occasions.
Six weeks… that didn't sound long and yet…
But they could already have lost their child…
They were going to have another child… just after adopting Lydia officially…
How would she take the news?
How were they going to raise tow children?
A baby…
Oh god!
"You might want to put your head down. Between your knees…" Carson was patting Paul's back awkwardly.
When had Carson come to his side?
"And take some deep breaths."
Trying to do what the doctor suggested, Paul noticed for the first time just how tight his chest felt. Like a corset was constricting his ribcage.
Oh my god, he was hyperventilating. Harry was pregnant, after nearly having a miscarriage and basically comatose after some super dangerous magical stunt… and Paul was sitting here with his head between his knees hyperventilating.
He was wheezing like an idiot trying to follow Carson's instructions… emphasis on trying, because suddenly and unbidden, small and slightly hysterical little snickers crawled up his throat.
Inconveniently making it all the harder to function like a normal adult.
And why the fuck was he the only one losing his shit, right now?
Managing to raise his head above his knees, Paul peered at Daryl who hadn't said much at all… and probably wouldn't say anything soon either…
Because his older husband, broad, hardened hunter and archer, Daryl, had turned into a pillar of salt.
Slated blue eyes wide and jaw hanging slack, he was staring unblinkingly ahead at the white wall of the trailer.
Apparently while Paul's brain was rattling so relentlessly, that the scout couldn't keep up and it sent him into a panic attack, Daryl's brain… had simply gotten stuck… with a face that seemed to say #Error 404, file not found.
Overcome by another wave of surreal absurdity, Paul couldn't keep the hysteria bubbling chest at bay any longer.
Doubling over again.
Though, this time not in breathless panic but in loud roaring laugher.
Daryl was floating. He felt almost pleasantly numb, like he had had a good stiff drink of moonshine.
Paul had freaked out.
The whole drama. Including hyperventilating and hysterical laughter.
And Daryl knew that he should be reacting… maybe not as freaked out but somehow… not this detached fake calm he was experiencing right now.
Neville had said that Harry was pregnant. It sounded absurd, to be honest, completely unreal.
Daryl had seen pregnant lasses. He had been witness to Maggie's and Michonne's pregnancies, all big protruding stomachs and ripening bodies to accommodate a child. The hunter had helped to look out for them, had worried for them and celebrated with them when their brats had been born healthy and safely. He loved their children.
He had seen Lori…
But he had also seen Harry's skinny and slender body many times by now, a belly that was so flat it was still almost concave. He tried to imagine what it would look like…
Harry pregnant…
And he couldn't. Whenever he tried, there was just a big blank space in his mind.
There were probably tons of stuff to get antsy about, Paul was certainly on a few of them already, but Daryl couldn't bring himself to approach any of them, not when all of this still felt so unlikely. Like some really some weird, old twilight episode…
Between Paul's drama, Neville's and Natania's glee and Carson's resigned cluelessness. Daryl stayed in his comfortable ignorance. Content to cuddle up to Harry's warm body, count his breaths and assure himself that his lover was alive and if Neville was right, would get better. So, he passed the time, pressing kisses to a scarred forehead and onto Paul's trembling lips whenever it looked like their hippie ninja was going down the deep end of overthinking a fuck load of things.
It was the delegation from Alexandria and those coming back from Oceanside that shook Daryl out of his dream like state in the end.
Rick had brought Aaron, Eric and Siddiq with him, while Carl had come back with Lydia from the Oceanside.
Like a horde of elephants, they stormed the infirmary, bursting that nice bubble of floatiness Daryl had created in his head.
It was the especially the appearance of Lydia that had shaken him awake. The sight of their little girl had Daryl's heart beating faster and when her wide brown eyes had sought him out, he wordlessly opened his arms for her, overcome by the sudden need to have her close. Lydia all but flew to him, her tiny arms clutching his waist and her face buried into his broad chest.
"Hey chipmunk!" Paul greeted her, a relieved smile tugging at his lips as well.
"Hi!" She whispered, turning her head so she could peer at her other dad.
Her solid weight and her warmth caused something in Daryl to settle with a little click.
They had a daughter.
Lydia was their child. They had fought tooth and nail for her and Harry had literally burned down the world for the future of their family.
Their family.
They had been parents for months already.
And now they were going to be parents again.
Daryl sucked in a sharp breath, before exhaling shakily.
Harry was probably really pregnant.
Aww…Damn!
"Daryl?!" Lydia's concerned voice cut through the emotional flood finally breaking through his thick brain.
"You're finally processing, huh?" Paul remarked with a dry chuckle, brushing his knuckles gently over Daryl's sharp cheekbones, collecting a stray tear that had escaped his wet eyes.
"Yeah… I…" The understanding and patience in Paul's eyes stopped him from saying anything more, instead he pulled Lydia securely against him. "I'm good kiddo… I just realized somethin'." He muttered huskily, pressing a kiss onto her head.
"What did you realize?" She asked not all reassured by the strange mood around her.
"That we have a real, real amazin' daughter."
This caused her to flush in a bright red, while Paul patted her head.
"We're both freaking glad you're here with us." The long haired hippie grinned at her and for the first time since all this shit had started the man looked honestly happy.
Fuck, they could really do this, couldn't they?!
Even if everything felt unreal as fuck but they would manage. They always did.
"Is Harry alright?" Lydia asked, teeth worrying over her bottom lip. "He hasn't woken up to greet us… Carl said he got hurt, fighting the horde…"
"He going to be alright, chipmunk." Paul caressed her head. "He's still sleeping because he exhausted himself a lot during his fight. He has to rest some more before he can wake up, okay?"
"Hmmhmm. Are you sure?" Lydia frowned down at her third parent, little face scrunched up in incredulity. "He looks sick."
"Ah…" Paul sighed awkwardly, throwing a helpless look at Daryl.
The question clearly shining through his cyan eyes. The archer shrugged.
They might as well. No sense in beating around the bush.
"Harry's pregnant." Daryl said bluntly, voice rough like gravel.
One could have heard a pin drop.
"Smooth Dixon. Really smooth." Natania deadpanned from the door, where she and Neville were stood, watching them.
"For real?!" Aaron finally croaked out flabbergast, head swing from Daryl to Paul, as if waiting for them to tell them this was a belated April's fool.
"Harry's having a baby?" Lydia asked almost at the same time, blinking as if a little dazed by the information.
Daryl hugged their daughter reassuringly, while Paul gave Aaron a crooked smile.
"We were as stunned as you." He said – Natania snorted, loudly – but Paul ignored her graciously. "But Neville has assured us that this is very real. It's still really early but… yeah…"
"Damn!" Aaron breathed.
Eyes wide as saucers as he rambled on.
"Holy shit! I mean… how… I mean I know how but…" The curly haired man blushed furiously, averting his gaze to the ceiling. Eric snickered beside him.
"Magic." Daryl grumbled out the short version, carefully eyeing Lydia to see how she was taking the news.
"He doesn't look pregnant." The girl frowned, a small pout forming on her face.
"Still early, like Paul said. If everything goes well, he'll show in a few months." Daryl smothered a small grin in her hair, as she kept throwing disbelieving glances at Harry's belly.
"Hmm." Lydia hummed softly, before leaning closer to Paul. "Do you still want me as your daughter?" She whispered, sounding afraid and insecure.
Rumbling reassuringly, Daryl rubbed her back.
"Aww... chipmunk. Of course! Don't doubt that! The pregnancy doesn't change that you're our eldest daughter." The cyan eyed man told her gently but earnestly.
"We love ya. No matter what." Daryl huffed gruffly, allowing her to almost vanish in his broad chest and strong arms.
With a soft adoring smile, Paul leaned over Harry to press a kiss against Lydia's forehead.
"We're going to take good care of him and the baby and then you're going to be a big sister." He whispered into her ear, so quiet only their daughter and Daryl could hear.
An excited flush covered her cheeks, her brown eyes sparkling at the prospect.
"You promise?" She whispered back, holding out her pinkie.
"I promise." Paul grinned, linking their pinkies together and causing the girl to giggle.
"Jesus, I'm kind of jealous of Harry." Eric pouted suddenly.
"For real?!" Aaron squeaked.
Smiling the auburn haired man looked out of the trailer window.
"Don't get me wrong I love Gracie to pieces… but the thought that we could create a child between us two? That you'd get me pregnant… well, that fantasy has its merits."
Someone choked and Aaron had flushed in a deep red colour.
"See! You think so too!" Eric shouted out in triumph.
With an embarrassed cry, Aaron buried his face into his hands, effectively hiding his tomato like complexion.
"You're taking this really well." Natania remarked at Carl and Siddiq, breaking through Eric's and Aaron's teasing batter.
The two younger men looked indeed surprised but pretty relaxed. Carl was even grinning like a loon, while Siddiq was fiddling with the hem of his shirt, appearing thoughtful.
"Ahhh… yes… well… A few years ago, Harry and Hermine gave me a some books on magical healing. The possibility of male pregnancies was mentioned there. Only in passing, though. I asked Harry about it once." He admitted, already casting curious glances at Neville and Natania.
The young physician was obviously hoping for more information from them.
"I remember that conversation, I was there, too. It was a really strange thing to discuss." Carl laughed gleefully. "But Harry told us that it was impossible for them, because you two don't have magic… but I guess you found a way around that. The ritual?"
"Yeah, apparently, Mother was a bit overeager when they blessed us." Paul dragged a hand over his face, ears burning in a nice shade of pink.
"Harry is a boy." Rick's shell shocked mutter, alerted them to Alexandria's leader, who was still gapping openly.
A look of pure incomprehension and bewilderment on his face.
Daryl was somewhat reassured by his brother's lack of understanding. So, he wasn't the only old, white man whose brain had given up on processing that information.
And to be fair, which father or gay man expected to ever hear that their son or lover was pregnant.
"Yes, and he's a wizard, Richard." Natania offered wryly, her tone condescending.
The old hag was having fun with this. It was no secret that the screw loved harassing Rick like that.
"But he's a boy." Rick stammered blankly.
"Yeesss, a magical one." The old woman stressed again, rolling her eyes.
"But… boy…?!"
Natania threw her hands up in exasperation, turning to Carl with an eyebrow raised.
"Is he stupid? Did he get hit on the head since I've last seen him?"
The one eyed young man choked back a laughter, trying to hide behind a cough – very unsuccessful.
"No just overwhelmed… I think he needs a moment." Carl peered at his still perplexed father, who had yet to close his mouth and stop staring.
Placatingly the boy patted Rick's back.
"How is it going to come out?" The former Sheriff asked a little faintly.
"How did it get in?" Natania asked back sardonically without missing a beat
As one all men paled to a ghostly white colour.
Rick made a sound like a drowning puppy.
"Ahhh!" Neville jumped in between them, waving his arms to gather everyone's attention. "She's kidding! Circe! Natania is kidding!"
What followed felt like a collective sigh of relief to Daryl.
And Neville really should have stopped talking at that point if he had wanted to calm them down. Really…
Sadly, enough the young mediwizard didn't stop there. Smiling brightly, he continued babbling.
"The male pelvic is much too small for a natural birth. That would be a bloodbath. Much too risky and it would require too much magic. It's much easier just to deliver the baby with a c-section."
Which caused Daryl to shiver in unease and Rick to look even more worried and scared than before.
Even Carl's broad grin had dimmed at that new information.
Harry was curled in on himself.
He had been burning. Everything had been so hot. An inferno of fiery beasts and molten lava had surrounded him.
The Walking Dead had fallen so fast, so incredibly fast.
Just like Harry had hoped, like he had planned they hadn't continued to move around as undead torches. No, the moment the magical flames had touched the rotting flesh, it had been devoured.
In the blink of an eye, roamers had been gone, leaving no trace of ever existing in the first place. But even when the flames had lost their sustenance, they hadn't dimmed… the opposite in fact.
With malevolent intent and rage they had circled him, looking for an angle, a weakness in his control and defences… he had felt their greedy claws and teeth threateningly close, waiting for their prey to falter.
One mistake… hesitating just a second too long… and it would have been over…
Those magical predators were not lenient at all.
Savagely snapping, again and again, hot on his heels.
He couldn't give an inch or he would have given his life.
Ferocious in their pursuit of him, Harry had strained himself to keep his hold on the monsters he had summoned.
Further and further and further, he had pushed himself, as his magic had seemed to drain from him with rapid speed. And in a moment of almost crippling fear, he had been forced to admit that he was exhausting his magical reserves faster than he had calculated.
Somewhere in the the calculation he must have made a mistake that even Eugene had overlooked.
The thought had terrified Harry.
The circle of protective runes the only thing keeping him standing and upright. The focus runes sharpening his concentration way past the point of the possible.
He wasn't allowed to waver.
Not when Daryl and Paul were waiting for him.
Not when he had promised Lydia to help her create a grave for her mother.
He had promised her.
Gritting his teeth, he had endured the inferno of hellish heat and molten stone. The images of his loved ones foremost in his mind, he had pressed on with iron resolve to see this through and so he could go back to them.
"I won't give up, I will survive."
Chanting those words in his head like a mantra.
He wanted to protect his family because they meant the world to him but he was long past the point to think that his life didn't matter to them as well.
Harry was ready to do what was necessary but he also selfishly wanted to go home to them.
When he had reached the end of his strength, the wizard had felt weak in the knees and sick to the stomach.
A piercing pain slashing though his belly caused his control to slip just for a second and the dying flames around him had used the opportunity to lash out at him one last vicious time. Licking with burning tongues at his skin and some hair.
Pain and exhaustion had hit the wizard like a truck as he had viciously pulled up his defences in a last desperate attempt to protect himself.
Hissing through his teeth, Harry had felt his consciousness slip away.
The wizard didn't know where he was, but everything around him seemed to be blinding white, so he kept his eyes closed.
His head felt dizzy. Disconnected from reality.
Hazy.
Body weak, like he was stretched too thin… and so, so tried.
He shouldn't be so exhausted, so dangerously close to depleting his core.
How… where had he made such a grave mistake?
Which detail had he and Eugene not seen?
He was hurting. He was alone, surrounded by this wide, white space of nothingness.
His belly was hurting…
Why?
He hadn't been hit there… so why? Trembling, he whimpered softly.
He didn't want to be alone like this.
The young man yearned for them, like a little child yearning for support and care. He wanted to be with Daryl and Paul. He wanted his husbands. He wanted to curl into them, into their warmth, their love…
It hurt to be without them.
Feeling lonely and raw, he sobbed dryly.
And then he sensed it.
The way his core seemed to stretch even further, reaching out to something until it finally connected.
Something clicked into space.
And Harry almost cried in relief.
This was better. Not enough, not by far, but already so much better.
His belly had stopped hurting so much.
Curling more in on himself to protect himself from that dangerous wide nothing that surrounded him. He was so tiered. Harry wanted to sleep.
Would that be alright to rest a bit?
Just a bit until Daryl and Paul could join him…
Soft small hands were patting his head, someone was cooing softly at him.
It was warm, like he wasn't lonely anymore.
Like someone was already snuggling up with him. Like they were sharing their heart beat with him.
Sleepily, he smiled.
This was nice. Really nice.
He would just rest for a little bit, comforted by the energies his core had latched on and the nice warm presences that warmed him.
Sleep claimed him completely then, throwing its protective cloak over him… and Harry had neither the strength nor the will to fight against its sweet lull.
And so, he slept peacefully...
… until something tickled his ears, stroked over his cheek…
And poked his nose.
Light teasing touches that didn't ease up and had Harry scrunching up his face, but slowly they were making him more and more aware.
Rousing him from his deep slumber.
Dazed he tried to swat the teasing hands away only to meet nothing but air.
Childish laugher rang in his ears as emerald green eyes slowly opened.
Harry blinked slowly.
Bright light was blinding him.
But this wasn't the white nothingness that had surrounded him before. Above him soft shadows danced on a yellowish ceiling.
Tears were obscuring Harry's vision, falling freely from his eyes.
He would have brushed them away but that would have required him to remove his hands from his belly. Something he couldn't bring himself to do right now.
"Harry?!" Two familiar voices called out to him and he felt his chest swell with so much love that fresh tears started to roll over his cheeks.
His continued blubbering caused alarmed questions and more people to fuss around him.
"Harry, darling, are you hurting somewhere?"
"What's wrong? Are yer alrigh'?"
"Please say something!"
"Harry? You're with us? Nod if you understand me."
Ah Neville.
Harry blinked, clearing his vision enough to see his school friend's kind brown eyes peering down at him.
It took some effort but Harry managed a tiny nod.
"Ah, very good! Does something hurt?"
A slight shake of the head.
"Even better!"
Neville grinned reassuringly at him, ruffling carefully though Harry's hair. He watched as his old friend cast a spell on him. A diagnostic spell, Harry recognized.
Right, Hermione had told him that Neville was Poppy's apprentice now, successfully training to assist the veteran school nurse. A tight feeling of apprehension and worry clung to Harry as he watched the tall wizard, scanning the results of the diagnostic with great diligence and attention.
Swallowing heavily, Harry forced his vocal cords to work… with great difficulty.
"The pregnancy?" He croaked out weakly.
His throat felt uncomfortably dry and raw, so he started coughing.
Beside him Daryl had tensed when Harry had mentioned the pregnancy, but didn't commented, simply rubbing Harry's back, while Paul handed them a glass of water Neville had quickly conjured. The long-haired man's expression seemed quite tense.
Greedily gulping the offered liquid down, the green-eyed wizard groaned when the parched feeling in his throat eased somewhat.
Neville was smiling softly at him, patting his shoulder.
"Everything looks good, don't worry."
Harry sighed in relief, slumping against Daryl's broad frame. Bloody damn, he was still very much tiered and exhausted. He could feel that his core hadn't replenished completely at this point. And considering everything, it probably still needed some time…
Lulled in by Daryl's familiar smell and reassured by Neville's words, Harry felt his eyelids starting to drop again. His small and slender hands resting nice and comfortingly against his flat belly.
"Did you know?" Paul's question caused Harry to blink dazed at his longhaired husband.
"Hmm?" He hummed not sure what Paul was asking, but beneath Harry, Daryl had tensed up again. The hunter was rumbling lowly as if warning Paul to drop it but their hippie ninja was on a roll.
"Before you went after the horde… when you decided to use Fiendfire… did you know you were pregnant?" Paul asked, voice strained… so tight with worry and hurt that Harry was suddenly little more alert.
Sitting up more to Daryl's audible displeasure, Harry reached for Paul's hand.
"No…" He mumbled with still some difficulty, but he hoped that Paul could see the truth in his eyes.
That Harry hadn't meant to… That he hadn't known…
Paul squeezed his hand back, a pained wince on his face.
"…but just now…?"
Ah… yes…
Harry smiled and pulled Paul's hand to his belly, before getting Daryl to do the same. The hunter being noticeably more hesitant than Paul.
"When I slept… I felt them…" Harry sighed, enjoying the joined warmth of their hands seeping through the skin of his stomach. "I dreamed of them."
With a breathless giggle Paul dropped his head into Harry's lap, both arms circling the wizard's thin waist. While Daryl rested his head in the crook of Harry's neck. Both of his husbands seemed to melt into him. And for a second it felt like he could almost taste their relief and their love.
This felt right.
But then Paul's head snapped up, ripping Harry once again out of his sleepy, comfortable bubble.
"Harry…? You said them… them as in a politically correct and gender neutral pronoun, right!?" Paul asked, cyan eyes wide as he chuckled nervously. "Or as in more than one?"
"Uhm…." Harry blinked back at Paul, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Well, you see…"
While Neville was shaking his head in wonder, mouthing something like 'Potter Luck' over Daryl's shoulder.