"Ugh..." Why is my neck so stiff? Where the hell did I fall asleep?
Mwu sat up, the thin blanket that had been covering him falling off the sofa.
Sofa? I...oh, now I remember. We went to the park, didn't we?
Looking down, he saw his small daughter curled up beside him. He smiled as he brushed auburn hair out of the little girl's face. So like her mother.
Mwu tipped his head to one side as he heard rattling in the kitchem. Speaking of her mother...
Getting up off the sofa carefully, so as not to wake Stellar, he made his way into the other room.
Murrue was there, washing up the cups and plates from their picnic yesterday. Mwu grinned and slid his arms around her waist, planting a few kisses on her neck.
"Good morning, beautiful."
Murrue jumped a mile, hands flying out of the soapy water. "Mwu!"
"Heh, sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to scare you..."
"No, it's okay. I'm glad you're up, I was about to come wake you. You have work soon."
Mwu glanced at the kitchen clock. "You're right. I wish I could have stayed off longer.."
"Me, too," she sighed, reaching behind her to stroke his face. "But you have to go."
He moaned and nuzzled closer into her neck "Don't wanna..."
Murrue flicked him with a wet dishcloth. "Go get ready. Scat!"
Mwu let her go with a last kiss and slouched out of the room, grumbling all the way. If he hadn't been so focused on complaining, he would have noticed that his wife's eyes were brighter than normal, and her cheeks were flushed red...
"I'll see you when I get home, sweetheart. Give the princess a kiss for me, okay?" he said, as he gave Murrue a kiss of her own.
"I will. I'll see you later on."
"Oh, now I come to think of it, what was that secret you were going to tell me yesterday?" he asked.
Murrue smiled. "It can wait till you get home."
Mwu stroked her cheek, then frowned. "Hey, are you all right?" He moved his hand to her forehead.
"You're kinda warm..."
She shook her head. "I'm fine, Mwu. I'm just warm 'cause it's summer, that's all"
He wasn't convinced in the slightest, but gave her a last kiss and went to work.
She'd better not be sick. I know she's hiding something...
After the door had closed, Murrue sighed and leaned heavily on the sink. She felt terrible. Her head ached, and her throat was all scratchy. But she had kept it hidden because the last thing she wanted to do was make her husband worry. She hated to see the concerned look enter those blue eyes that were always so full of love and laughter.
Shaking her head, she went to the living room. Stellar was still fast asleep on the sofa, and didn't stir once when her mother lifted her up and took her upstairs.
She tired herself out yesterday. More sleep won't hurt her.
Settling the little girl down on her and Mwu's bed, Murrue slipped in under the duvet. More sleep wouldn't hurt her either, she reasoned.
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Several hours later
"Mama! Mama, are you okay?"
Murrue opened her marigold eyes with difficulty, then wished she hadn't. The daylight hurt her so much she had to close her eyes again. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool.
"Stellar?" she whispered, wincing at the pain speaking caused. "What time is it?"
"I don't know, I can't tell the time yet. But Mama, are you sick?" replied her daughter.
"No, sweetie, I'm fine." Murrue whispered.
"You're fibbing. You always told me fibbing was bad. You're not fine. Papa says that you always try and hide it when something's the matter."
Murrue couldn't hold back a smile at that one. "Does he really..."
"I'm gonna go call Papa. He'll make you all better." said Stellar, moving to climb off the bed.
"No!" Murrue said, sitting up suddenly, then clutching her head. "Papa will just worry. He's busy at work, and we shouldn't bother him."
"But Mama...you want Papa to be here, don't you?" said the little girl.
Murrue blinked back tears. "Yes honey, I do. But more than anything, I don't want him to be sad."
Stellar cocked her head to one side and frowned, but didn't say anything else.
Murrue rubbed the tears from her eyes and squinted at the clock by the bedside. 1pm?
"Oh, I'm sorry, we missed lunch. I'll go make you something.." She tried to get out of bed and stand up, but the whole world seemed to swim before her, and she collapsed against the pillows. Stellar put her little hand into her mother's.
"It's okay, Mama." she said. "I'm not hungry."
After her mother had fallen back asleep, Stellar tiptoed downstairs. She was very scared, and a little cross.
Why doesn't Mama want Papa here? He always makes me feel better when I'm sick..
She pushed her auburn hair back from her face, and looked up at the phone. It was way too high for her to reach, but Stellar had long since learned how to reach things she wasn't meant to. Trotting into the dining room, she picked up a chair and carried it with difficulty to underneath the phone.
Standing on the chair, she tried to remember what Mama had taught her.
"This button, then this one, then this..." Papa will be able to make Mama all better. He can fix anything...
Mwu was sitting in his office, enjoying a late lunch, when his mobile phone started ringing.
"Huh? Who could that be at this time?" he wondered aloud, setting down his BLT and picking up the call.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Papa? Papa, is that you?"
"Stellar? Why are you calling, princess? Where's Mama?"
"Mama's sleeping. She told me not to call 'cause you'd be sad. But Papa, Mama's really really sick! She feels like she's burning! I don't know what to do! Please!" The little girl broke down in tears.
Mwu's heart almost stopped beating. Murrue was sick? He knew there had been something wrong with her that morning.
"All right, Stellar. Here's what I want you to do. Get a cloth and soak in in cold water, and put it on
Mama's forehead, okay? I promise, I'll be home as soon as I can."
"Okay, Papa..."
Mwu put the phone down, and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. Calling out to the others about the situation, he jumped in his car and made his way home as fast as he could.
Dammit, Murrue, why do you have to be so stubborn?
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Murrue's head felt like it was on fire, but her body was freezing cold. She couldn't breathe, couldn't open her eyes, could hardly move. She didn't know where Stellar was, she barely knew where she was.
Am I going to die? If I am, then I wish I could have seen Mwu one last time. I wish I had let him stay home..
A thought suddenly occurred to her. If she was going to die, she wasn't afraid. What she was afraid of was the other life being lost. The tiny speck of life she carried within her.
No, that can't happen! If I'm going to die, then please...
She opened her eyes and looked around, trying to make sense of the blur, then cried out in terror before the world went black again.
"My baby! Please, help my baby!"
Mwu froze. He had arrived home and rushed upstairs just in time to hear her scream. Her baby?
"Is that your secret, Murrue?" he whispered, sitting on the bed and feeling her forehead. Her skin almost burnt his fingers.
"Her baby? What does she mean, Papa?" asked Stellar, her blue eyes wide with fear.
"I'm not sure, sweetie. But we have to make Mama better. Can you fetch me a bowl of cold water?"
The little girl nodded and ran from the room, only stopping to look back at her mother.
"Mama will be okay, won't she?"
"Of course she will. She just has a fever, that's all." her father replied.
After Stellar had gone downstairs, he sighed. It was just a fever, but it was a bad one. If he knew Murrue, and he did, better than anyone, she'd most likely have had this cold for a while, but ignored it.
"Why? Why do you do this to yourself? You say it's so we won't worry, but then you make us worry more because you end up like this...And you have another one to think about now.."
"I'm back, Papa!" came the voice of his daughter, as she carefully placed a bowl full of water on the bedside table. Mwu smiled and ruffled her hair. Then he took the cloth she had used earlier, and, soaking it in the cold water, placed it on his wife's forehead.
"Will that make Mama better, Papa?"
"It sure will, but it might take a while. I have some medicine for her to take later as well."
When Murrue awoke again, she felt much better. Her head still ached, but much less so, and the fire and ice had disappeared. There was a cool cloth on her forehead, and the bed was piled with blankets.
Did I have a fever?
Murrue suddenly became aware of a hand holding hers. Turning her head to the side, she saw Mwu looking back at her. His blue eyes were shining with happiness and relief.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he placed a finger over his lips, and pointed. Stellar was curled up on her other side, sound asleep.
"How come you're here?" Murrue whispered. He just grinned.
"It's nighttime, silly." he whispered back. She looked around. The room was lit by only a lamp, and the world outside was dark.
"How long was I like this?"
"Longer than you should have been. Or would have been, if Stellar hadn't called me. You told her not to, didn't you?"
Murrue closed her eyes "I didn't want you worrying..."
"Idiot. Of course we were going to worry. Because we love you."
She looked back up at him. "I'm so sorry, Mwu"
Her husband smiled gently and stroked her cheek. "It's okay. But there's something else, isn't there? Something you said earlier while you were sick. You're going to have another baby, aren't you?"
Murrue flushed, this time not from sickness. "Y-yeah. When did I...?"
Mwu shook his head. "It doesn't matter when you said it. But now you need to take better care of yourself. For the baby's sake as well as your own."
She smiled and squeezed his hand. "All right, my love. Are you happy?"
"Very. All I ever wanted was a happy loving family, people who loved me and I loved back. Since I never thought I would ever have them..."
"Well, now you have. So," she said, sitting up slightly "What would you like? Another girl, or a boy?"
"It doesn't matter, does it?"
"No" Murrue said softly, stroking her stomach "It doesn't matter at all..."
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( There ya go, Lithiumflower! Sorry for making poor Murrue-san suffer so much, but I only did it because I know she has her darn good-lookin' hero to take care of her. :laughs:
Please read and review! )
