Disclaimer: I don't own Howl's Moving Castle

A/N: My goal is to finish this and make it long enough for people to find it easily enough. I'm glad you've all liked the chapters so far I like writing them. I'm only moving along at this pace because I want to get this done, but I'll do my best not to sacrifice quality for shortened stories…I promise I'll try.

Close Your Eyes

Chapter 3

Sophie was now four months into the pregnancy started to have odd cravings for various foods and was beginning to really get on her husband's nerves. He, in the middle of the night would have to fix her the oddest dishes, potatoes with mushroom gravy or the weirdest yet just concocted two days ago, meat with toast as the topping. Hein and Markl found themselves constantly on errands to markets and traders alike looking for what Sophie wanted. Sometimes Howl would have to summon it out of thin air, but then, food conjuring spells were something Howl excelled at, even if he didn't tell anyone about it.

"Good morning," Sophie greeted with a smile. Howl stared at her wearily. Hopefully she was in a good mood right now. Her morning sickness seems to have faded slightly upon entering the second stage of the pregnancy, but it was followed by mood swings of the worst kind and all the food cravings even he thought his own mother would never have.

"Good morning!" Markl greeted.

"Hello dear," the witch of the waste acknowledged. Hein barked his usual coughing bark as greeting and Sophie looked patiently at her husband.

"Good morning," she said, resting her hands on her hips. Howl just stared at her, a curious expression on his face. She began drumming her fingers against her hips as Howl continued to stare. He didn't exactly know what to say. He was sore last night because Sophie had punched him for getting too close. He couldn't control where he moved when he slept!

"Good morning dear," he said, instinctively putting a hand on his arm, on the exact spot she had hit last night. He rubbed it a little when he realized it was still sore.

"Good morning Howl!" she exclaimed and ran forward to embrace him. He embraced her back and quickly pushed her a little ways away. "What was that for?"

"I don't want the child to get squished," he said and kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm feeling just brilliant Howl," she exclaimed, "Look at how big I'm getting, isn't it wonderful! I could be carrying twins!" Howl froze and looked at everyone else, who had their mouths hanging open as well. He had expected numerous things, but never that.

"Would you let me do magic to find that out?" he asked cautiously and she glared at him. He shrunk back and raised his hands up protectively. "I kid, I kid, I'm sorry!"

"Surprise is a surprise and I won't have it any other way Howl, you know that!" Sophie exclaimed.

"But if it is twins I'll need to redo the baby room to make it for two!" Howl exclaimed. Sophie relaxed her previously tensed stance and looked at him. It made sense, but she still wanted it to be a surprise! If she let him check he might decide to check for the child's gender while he was at it and she wouldn't allow that.

"How about this for a compromise, you can draw up plans for a baby room for twins and if I do happen to have them then the plans are all ready and minor adjustments are the only thing that need to be made," Sophie said firmly.

"But what if I want to make adjustments I won't have the time to do that!" Howl exclaimed. "How can you be so cruel?"

"How can you be so determined?" Sophie exclaimed, and Howl could tell she was getting angry at him. She clenched her fist and fumed. "How can you ask about knowing how many? I know what you're up to. Once I agree to letting you know how many you're just going to find out the gender of the child or children as well!"

"Why would I go against your wishes on that subject my dear?" Howl asked.

The witch of the waste looked on this scene. "This is getting interesting." Hein coughed his agreement.

"Because you're selfish that's why! I don't want to see you I'm going back to bed!" With those words, Sophie went back up the stairs and a few moments later, Howl heard the door to their bedroom slam shut.

"Is everything okay?" Markl asked from the breakfast table.

"I think Howl doesn't know how to deal with Sophie now that she's so moody," Calcifer said. "Go talk to her Howl, it should be okay."

"I know," Howl whispered as he looked meaningfully up the stairs. "This is new to me as it is to her." He dashed up the stairs, deciding to get to the bottom of this if he could. He doubted that though, Sophie wouldn't be breaking out of her mood swings any time soon. He never even imagined his sweet gently Sophie could become this moody! Maybe it was a combination of the pregnancy and the food combinations she's been asking for.

"I think they're going to be okay," Calcifer said worriedly. "This isn't like Sophie to be this way." He looked meaningfully towards the stairs and then turned back towards Markl and the witch of the waste. He let out a heavy sigh and added a log for himself.

"I think it's something she ate," Markl suggested and quickly returned to eating his breakfast.

Howl approached their bedroom door cautiously and slowly knocked on the door.

"Don't come in, I'm feeling really bad right now," Sophie said with a sob and Howl sighed, half with relief and half with worry. If he went in, Sophie might try to hurt him, if he didn't go in, he'd be forced to try and talk to her through the door, something he didn't want to do.

Howl knocked on it again and she told him to go away. "I'm sorry love, I'm coming in whether you like it or not." She voiced her anger towards that but he ignored it; creaking the door open and looking at his wife, lying on the bed with her back to the door. He sighed, nothing was ever easy now. He remembered when all he used to be able to do was run, and now, now he really couldn't run. This was the love of his life; this was the woman of his dreams. He sat down and Sophie felt the bed give way under his weight. She didn't turn to face him, just sat staring at the various objects in their room. She felt Howl touch her on the shoulder and she drew away. "Love, Sophie, what's the matter?" When she didn't respond he sighed. "Don't be mad, if it's about the baby thing, I'm sorry. I won't ask again. We'll be surprised on both fronts then."

"I argued with you," she said with a choked sob. Howl almost bit his lip. This was what she was upset about? "I got mad and upset and I shouldn't have."

"If that's what you're so depressed about don't be. Remember love, we argue all the time," Howl said soothingly. "We do, don't you remember? We argued about things more trivial than this in fact my dear. It's okay." It was true; they had gotten into very trivial arguments, from eating the last piece of bacon to getting Howl out of the bathroom when he was in there as morning sickness would overcome Sophie. She had kicked him out particularly brutally one morning when she was really feeling sick and he got so badly bruised from her he waited to do what he usually did in the bathroom until after Sophie had been in there. Sure, there was more than one bathroom but all his potions were in the one that he and Sophie mainly shared because it was closest to their room.

"No it's not I said mean things and I shouldn't have," Sophie sobbed. Howl sighed and blew a strand of hair from his face. He didn't know how to deal with Sophie and her mood swings! This was bad, if he couldn't find a way to get her to stop crying she'd end up hating him and claim he wasn't there for her when he needed her! (Which of course isn't true…he's here now but with the way her moods are currently…?)

"Sophie I love you don't do this," Howl begged. "I'm the one who's supposed to be acting like this, exactly like a child, remember? You only have told me that about every day for as long as we've been together." It was true, even if she always did say it in a chiding teasing manner, at least most of the time. He squeezed her shoulder encouragingly. Getting her out of her mood was his top priority, he didn't want to deal with her like this all day…of course getting her out of it now was no guarantee she wouldn't be back to it later. There was no way to win right now!

Sophie let out a little laugh and Howl took that as a good sign. "That's true Howl, how do I ever put up with you?" She sat up but was still turned away from him. He watched as she wiped her eyes and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose. If insulting himself got Sophie back to being cheerful…well his dignity would be taking a nose dive right now… not that it hadn't started already.

"I don't know but somehow you do," Howl said and Sophie finally turned around to face him. He gathered her into his arms and she laid her head upon his chest. Her hand rose up to grip onto his shirt a little and she let out a sniffle. Howl smiled faintly and moved a hand onto her stomach, feeling it now slightly hard and rounder than it was a few months ago. She was very pregnant and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Thank you my love," she whispered. "I'm sorry I'm like this." She sounded like she was ashamed of being pregnant, something Howl didn't want to hear, especially when he was happy about it and she was too, even if she was depressed right now.
"Don't be Sophie," Howl said. "You look wonderful pregnant! You're so beautiful. Every time I see you now you're glowing Sophie, positively radiant!" He meant those words with all his heart and she snuggled closer in his arms.

"I can hear your heart," Sophie whispered. "It's beating so nicely right now." Howl smiled, she would be the one to say that. Calcifer was still with them, but he didn't have Howl's heart anymore. He was more of a friend and ally now because he wasn't bound to them, free to leave whenever he wished, so long as he put the castle down first and let them leave before it collapsed, or something along those lines.

"It's beating strong, stronger now because you saved it. You saved me Sophie, I don't know how I would have broken my curse without you," he whispered.

"I love you Howl," she whispered, relaxing into his arms. Howl held her there and shifted a little so that he could lie down length wise on the bed. He reveled in how warm she felt so close to him. He was in heaven right now; just holding her was something he knew he would never get tired of. Howl let out a small sigh and kissed Sophie's starlight hair. "I'm tired." Howl let out a small laugh.

"You're tired right now? But it's just morning," Howl said teasingly and watched Sophie yawn. He held back from kissing her on that mouth just for now in case she was still a little upset at him. She only snuggled closer in his arms and he let out a huff as her hard stomach pressed into him. He shifted a little more so that he was a little more comfortable as he held her and watched as her eyes slowly closed and she began to drift off. She was so beautiful…his Sophie, his true love. "Sleep well my dear." He whispered this softly into her ear and she smiled as she let sleep take her. Howl waited for a while, making sure Sophie was fast asleep before gently letting her out of his embrace, slipping off the bed and letting Sophie rest on her own, her head on a pillow. He took a blanket off the foot of the bed and unraveled it, placing it over Sophie gently. "Sleep well."

Walking out the door he couldn't help but smile. He was going to be a proud father that much he knew! He headed down the stairs again to eat breakfast. Sophie may have been tired and hungry but he knew he definitely wasn't.

Sophie came down sometime later after waking up from her rest. She watched her husband as he poured over his magic books, some of which Sophie could tell he had probably had them in deep storage somewhere because the room was slightly filled with dust. She sighed, she didn't feel like cleaning right now but it looks like she would have to later. All this dust probably wasn't good for her or the baby or babies, whichever it turned out to be. The witch of the waste sat peacefully by the fire while Markl was looking over books with Howl and Calcifer trying not to stare at the witch of the waste.

"Sophie, you're up!" Calcifer said and Howl and Markl looked up from their reading. "Are you hungry, need me to get Howl to heat something up for you or cook something?"

"I'm fine, thanks Calcifer," Sophie said and approached her husband, who stood up and went to meet her with a warm smile. "Howl, you look exhausted already. How long have you been at this?"

"Ever since I finished breakfast around two and a half hours ago," he said simply and Sophie gasped. "I slept for that long? Goodness!"

"You were tired, it's perfectly all right," Howl said. "It's not like we did much love." Howl smiled at her and Sophie sighed at the sight of his excited blue eyes. He was so loveable and so cute all the time, even on occasion when he was acting childish.

"You still look exhausted," Sophie pointed out. "I won't let you scoot around that."

"I'm fine, I haven't been doing much," Howl said. Sophie tapped her foot for a moment on the floor before deciding how to approach Howl on him overworking.

"Yes you have and you know it. If you get sick I'll laugh at you and chide you to no end," Sophie said. "But I don't want you to get sick in the first place." Howl laughed his deep laugh and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry my dear I promise you I shall not get sick."

"Won't you?" she asked and touched his cheek and then ran her fingers through his hair and dropped her hand to the side. "You're feeling warm already."

"I'm just fine," he said stubbornly. "I'm not getting sick; it's just a rush of heat to my face, seeing how radiant you look just now." Sophie blushed and then realized he was still avoiding it and not promising her directly. She looked up and took his hands into hers and placed them upon her stomach. "What is it love?" Sophie smiled and let his hands move on their own across her stomach.

"I want you to make me a promise and swear upon the baby or babies to come," Sophie said and Howl hung his head. "I should have figured you would do this. All right, on with it." Howl let out a sigh and Sophie let a silence fall between them so he would get the message now that she was being serious. The silence was broken when she resolved to speak again and make her point.

"Promise me for the sake of the children and for my sanity you will not overwork yourself," she whispered. Her eyes shone with something that was meant to be obeyed. He didn't want to make her angry and didn't want her to worry. He had to hold back, just a little bit for her sake.

"All right my love, you win. I promise I shall not overwork myself to the point I get sick," he said. "I do hate it when you worry."

"Good then," Sophie said. "And Calcifer, I think I shall take you up on that offer for food."

"What is it you'd like Howl and I to make?" he asked.

"Baked potatoes with jam and honey." Sophie paused for a minute, thinking. "And a glass of orange juice mixed with milk."

TBC

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Lemme know what you think but don't flame!