This chapter is dedicated to Sazzy from the MCBC :D. Sazzy, you rock :)

WIND WARRIORS

Chapter Ten: Super Duper Love Days

Things were working out for them, save the fact that Rafer was still plenty angry at Roger and Donovan was still plenty angry at Merle. That was really the only dark cloud over their marriage. But Rafer was learning to deal with his father, at least professionally. Personally, there was a huge abyss between father and son. Merle… well, Merle missed her dad and her sister, but she did the only thing she knew how to do; she kept too busy to notice.

"I saw Sir Nicholas' granddaughter in the Market today." Merle said to Rafer once, about two months after their wedding.

"Yeah?" He asked distracted, going over some papers –law reviews – his father had given to him to deal with.

"Yes, she told me that Sir Nicholas opened a sword-fighting school." Rafer nodded to signify he was listening, though he was still distracted. "And I decided to join, so I'm starting my lessons next Thursday."

Rafer looked up from his papers and said, "No."

"What?"

"You heard me alright. No, you're not going to sword-fighting school. You're not good with a blade. You're a good archer, leave it like that."

"First of all, I'm a great archer," Merle said indignantly. "And second of all, you can't order me around. I'll go to school if I want to."

Knowing that arguing if he could or could not order her around –he doubted he could anyway -would only get him into trouble, Rafer chose his argument carefully. "You know you're not good with swords. You're only going to get yourself hurt."

He was using that patronizing tone she hated. For a moment Merle looked ready to kill, but did not argue. After a second she broke into a little smile. "Rafer?" she said softly.

"Yes?" he said as she took his arm and led him to a private corner in the hallway.

"Come closer," Merle said, stopping once she was sure they were all alone.

Rafer took a step closer but said, "I know what you're doing."

"Am I doing something?" she asked, playing innocent like he always did.

"You're trying to use your feminine wiles on me." He said with a scowl but, nevertheless, his arms went around her.

"I'm certainly not!" Merle said indignantly once she was flattened against him and her arms were around his neck. Then she proceeded to kiss him till he was putty in her hands. "I know I'm not good with a sword, that's why I want to learn. I won't get hurt. And I'm going to do it no matter what you say." She added kissing his ear. "Now, I could pretend to ask your permission to stroke your enormous ego. Or we can drop this, I'll do what I want and I just might stroke something else."

Now, how could he resist the advances of his little wife? The answer was simple: He couldn't. He was powerless when it came to her. He let it drop; everyone –he and Merle included - knew he would do anything that would make her happy.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

About two months later…

"Sure you don't want to come in?" Merle's voice was asking and Rafer started to edge towards the door. At that time of the day, Merle was usually at her lessons. "I made you come all the way here; you should at least accept me a drink."

"Oh, no, Your Hi- sorry, Merle," Merle hated being called 'Your Highness' so she always tried to convince people to call her just Merle. The only ones who never listened were Mike and Will, but that was okay… they had special privileges. "You need to rest. And Grandpa said he would make up your lesson next week."

"Please tell him I'm sorry I made him lose his time." Merle apologized and soon after, said goodbye.

"Who was that?" Rafer asked, sneaking his arms around Merle, once she had come inside.

"Rafer!" Merle yelled, slightly annoyed. "You scared me!" she said, turning in his arms. Rafer noticed she looked a bit pale and without thinking, started to stir her towards the sitting room so she could rest. "It was just Chrissy, Sir Nick's granddaughter; she accompanied me home because I was feeling a bit dizzy. And I am feeling a bit sick of the stomach. Maybe it was all those waffles I ate at breakfast." Merle mused, "But I was really hungry… Or maybe it was that egg sandwich I ate… You know eggs taste good with tomato…" Her voice trailed off and Rafer saw her faint.

…

An hour later Rafer was pacing around in the sitting room. The doctor had kicked him out of his room so he could check on Merle. Rafer would have protested but Doctor Lowenberg was an elder man that did hold Rafer's respect. The guy had delivered him to the world for crying out loud, so when Doc Lou kicked him out, Rafer didn't argue.

He just started to pace around he room like a crazy person.

When he finally heard him coming down the stairs, Rafer ran in that direction. At the bottom of the stairs, Doc Lou was waiting for him. "How is she?" Rafer asked. "Is she going to be alright? What's her ailment?"

"Calm down, boy," the doctor said, placing his hand on Rafer's shoulder. "Merle is fine. Her 'ailment' is nothing more than what's natural when a young healthy couple marries." Rafer was confused, so he just stared at the doctor's face. "Congratulations," Doc Lou said. "Merle is expecting. For what she tells me about her symptoms, I think the baby comes in May; it looks like she is two months along."

Rafer didn't hear more; he was already running upstairs. Rafer knew he had been selfish, he knew there were ways to keep a woman from getting pregnant, but he had never said a thing, never thought about that when he was with Merle. And truth be told, they had never talked about kids. Rafer knew he was young and Merle was even younger… He wasn't sure how she would feel about having a baby. As for him, Rafer knew how he felt and 'Deliriously Happy' was a good way to describe it.

He stopped in front of his room and opened the door to find Merle sitting up in their bed; the colour had returned to her cheeks; she looked lovely. She had a dazzled expression on her face and her hands were roaming over her still flat stomach. Rafer looked at her stomach. His baby was there…

Rafer sat on her bedside and placed his hand over Merle's, stopping them. In tones of great wonder, Merle said, "About two weeks ago, Nathaniel came and told me there was a big surprise coming this way… He didn't told me what – you know how fairies are – but I think he meant this."

Merle looked up and found Rafer looking at her. She smiled and Rafer didn't have to wonder how she felt anymore. He knew it. Merle was happy, so he just leaned into her and kissed her.

.-.-.-.-.-.-

Three months later…

Merle had been trying to tell her dad that she was pregnant. For the last three months she had been going every week to talk to him but Donovan wouldn't see her. Still, Merle went back the next week. She kept it up till she was five months pregnant. Her pregnancy was noticeable now and she figured her dad probably already had heard about it, but she thought it was her responsibility to tell him in person.

One day she had gone out to tell Donovan, as she did every week, but then Rafer saw her come back just moments after she had gone out. Her eyes were shining with tears and when Rafer hugged her and asked what was wrong, Merle started to cry. "I just can't do it anymore. I go there every week but Dad won't see me. And I always come back feeling miserable and is not good for me or the baby… I really thought Dad would come around, that he just needs time. But he still won't speak to me and I don't want to go to try to see him anymore." She sobbed into Rafer's shirt.

"That's okay, sweetie, that's just fine. You don't have to go and tell him," Rafer told her soothingly, holding her until she calmed down. But he had already made a decision.

The next day, Rafer sneaked into the Raleigh's home. Rafer knew the house well; he had been to it thousands of times, back when his father and Donovan were friends.

"Donovan." He said, closing the door to Donovan's study. The older man had been so busy reading a book that he didn't notice Rafer until he spoke.

"Rafer," Donovan said, putting his book down. "I thought I had made myself clear when I said you weren't welcomed here."

"Like I care," Rafer answered in his most practiced prince-like voice, the kind he used with his own father. Rafer breathed deeply. He could not let his arrogance get the best of him. When he spoke again it was in a much different tone. "But Merle does. She cares."

"Oh, yes. She comes once a week and claims to have something important to tell me." Donovan said, and though his voice was hard, he couldn't quite keep the affection and the amusement out of his voice. "She is a stubborn little one."

"She is pregnant," Rafer said quickly, before he lost his nerve. One doesn't go around telling a man like Donovan that you had gotten his little girl pregnant. True, Donovan was already edging towards the great 50 but that he was still pretty intimidating. "As for now, only you and my mom know, but it's starting to get obvious and she wanted to tell you in person." Donovan remained in silence so Rafer kept talking. "I don't really care what you think of me. But I promised Merle I would do anything to make her happy, if that means sneaking into your house and beg you to accept our marriage, ask for forgiveness so she can have her father back, then I'll do just that."

….

"Nan." Merle said. She was arranging some flowers she had cut from the garden in a vase in the sitting room. "Could you set the table? Rafer should be home soon."

"Of course, milady." Nan answered and Merle held her impulse to groan. Nan always insisted in called her some sort of respectful name, though for everything else, they did got along.

"Set another place too, Nan," Merle heard Rafer call from the entrance. "We got a visitor."

"Do we?" Merle asked, still arranging the flowers. The only people that ever went to their house were Queen Dana, Mike, Will, and Nathaniel.

"Yes." Merle turned to Rafer's voice and found her dad standing there, in the sitting room with Rafer.

"Dad?" she asked, sounding like a little girl.

Donovan stood there in silence. For a moment when he saw Merle it had almost been like seeing his wife again. Merle resembled her mother that much, back when Nicole had been pregnant with Mer and Marit, with her dark hair held back form her face in a ponytail and her light green maternity dress. "You're getting big." Donovan said, and Merle laughed.

"I know," she said. "I keep getting awkward and fat as the months pass."

"You're not fat, but pregnant. And beautiful," Rafer recited, as he did always.

"He keeps saying that because he is not the one getting fat and awkward," Merle said to her dad, as if that were a big secret.

Donovan and Rafer laughed. Merle just giggled, feeling her baby kick, it always kicked like crazy when Rafer was around. Merle assumed the baby liked Rafer's voice; apparently it also liked Donovan's.

And everything was okay again, between Merle and Donovan. He knew he ought to have apologized for being the insupportable git he had been since she got married, but he also knew his daughter didn't want apologies; Merle just wanted her family back.

.-.-.-.-.

One morning, during Merle's eight month of pregnancy, she woke up to the feeling of something licking her face. Confused, Merle opened her eyes and found herself face to face with a puppy. Immediately, Merle sat up in bed and started to pet the puppy. The little dog had dark hair and eyes and was the cutest thing Merle had ever seen.

"Do you like it?" Rafer asked. He was always bringing her presents: flowers, candy, plushie toys for the baby's room and all sorts of things he knew Merle liked. And now a dog.

"Yes," Merle said while the dog licked her ear and the side of her face. "Can I keep it?" she asked like a little girl.

"Is yours," Rafer said, reaching to scratch the between the dog's ears and while doing it so, the back of his hand brushed his wife's chin. Rafer was always touching her somehow, Merle liked that.

Merle and her dog became inseparable. She even took Muffin, the dog, with her when she and Marit went to buy baby clothes that same day. Marit had never been a dog person. She preferred cats, so she couldn't very well understand how Merle seemed to enjoy her dog licking her face all the time. Per Marit's request, Merle put down her dog and was just walking him with a leash when they were ready to go back to Merle's house for diner when, out of nowhere, two kids passed by her side running and scaring her half to death. Merle lost the grip on the leash and, since the kids had scared Muffin too, he started to run away.

"No!" Merle cried and tried to start to run, but Marit stopped her.

"You're not running after him." Marit said sternly. "Ladies don't run, let alone pregnant ones."

"But it's my puppy." Merle whined, looking in the direction her little dog had run off to. "Rafer just gave him to me."

"Alright, I'll go," Marit said and started to run. "Muffin!" she called, cursing her sister for choosing such name for her dog. "Muffin!"

"Are you looking for this?" someone asked and Marit spun around to see, but she found herself face to face with Muffin. Marit let out a shriek that was quite well heard all around the market.

"Oh you found him!" Merle said, taking her dog from the man who had caught him. "Thanks. Thank you so much!" she said, placing her dog on her shoulder where it lay limp in contentment. "Thank you sir..?"

"Oliver Cross." Marit answered for him, her eyes lit with recognition. Oliver Cross was friends with Armand Sandburst, the guy who had toyed with her heart and then married Noelle, of all people, her best friend.

"Oh, you know each other?" Merle asked, while hugging her dog, her eyes shinning with mischief. Though Marit had said she was okay and all, Merle knew her sister was starting to think there was something wrong with her since she, apparently, wasn't able to make a guy stick around. So Merle decided to get a nice guy for her sister. Only that there weren't so many nice bachelors in Cloud City that may appeal Marit.

"Yes, we were acquainted back in Seaside," Marit answered in a formal tone. She wanted nothing to do with anything that reminded her of Armand.

Too bad for her that Oliver wasn't planning on going anywhere away from her. Marit had been the sole reason why Oliver had sold his half of the shipping company he had started with Armand and moved to Windam Valley, where he had no friends or family and he would be forced to start all over again. He had been contemplating the idea of moving ever since Armand's engagement to Noelle. Oliver had always been in love with Marit but out of respect for his friend he had never said a thing. Now Marit was free, and Oliver wasn't going anywhere until he got her.