Chapter 65
Holding a baby in her arms wrapped in a soft purple blanket, Abigail had to register where she was at. The tower…she recognized it instantly and smiled at the cooing baby, a pair of strong tattooed sleeved arms wrapping around her waist from behind. "She's definitely just like her Daddy with an appetite to match."
He chuckled, nuzzling her neck, and held both of them close, his long finger stretching out to glide down the baby's cheek. "She may have my appetite, darlin', but she looks just like her beautiful Momma."
"Except the eyes, which I hope don't change." They were a beautiful emerald green.
"I told you everything would be fine and we would win, didn't I?"
Abigail rolled her eyes, sighing exasperatedly. "Yes, yes you did." She walked away from him to set the baby down in her bassinet, making sure she remained swaddled. "I just can't believe I was pregnant during all of that…"
"You wouldn't have come had I known you were with child."
"I know…" Her eyes lowered and he immediately lifted her chin up to meet his eyes. "I love you, Mark."
"I love you too, Abbie." He pulled her into his arms, passionately kissing her, and lifted her, her legs encircling his waist. "It's been 2 months; how do you feel?"
"Fuck your wife, Mr. Calaway."
Grinning, he obliged and carted her to the bedroom, which was just off of the nursery where their Hope slept.
What the hell was that? Abigail slowly opened her eyes and pushed away from Mark, not knowing what she had just seen. Was that…the future? Malcolm did say she would have visions of the past, present, and future, but…did that mean…Abigail rested a hand on her stomach, her flat stomach, and swallowed hard, shaking her head. No, no it couldn't be. There was no way she was pregnant! She had the shot and it was damn near effective! They hadn't even discussed children and they were going to war in mere hours!
Hope.
The baby's name was Hope. It was fitting, actually, given their circumstances and how they lived in this day and age. How the hell was she supposed to tell Mark this without him freaking out? Did any of the women even have a pregnancy test for her to take of some kind? Abigail felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look up at Mark, seeing the different displays of emotion on his face.
"I'm fine…and you're right. We're going to win and have a future together." Apparently, with marriage and a baby.
It wasn't very long, but since he was fairly hyperaware of her, it had been very noticeable. Abigail had gone tense, rigid. He had glanced around into her face, but her eyes had been wide and unseeing, so he had moved back behind her. Taker had waited patiently and when she finally came out of it, he smiled gently, watching as she finally turned to face him.
"Had a vision, didn't you darlin'?" He asked quietly. "What was it about?"
"The future…" That was truthful enough.
There was no way she could tell him the extent of it without him freaking out and calling this whole plan off. They HAD to use her as bait; it was the only way to lure Bray out and bring him to them. The spell had to be broken. Hell, Abigail didn't even know IF she was pregnant yet. It was best not to say anything to him, not until after the war was over and they did win. She caressed his face tenderly with the back of her hand, wondering if Malcolm could tell if she was pregnant or not with magic. So far, she had no symptoms like Amy and Trish, but that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't pregnant either.
"I don't know…how truthful these visions are, but I hope what I just saw comes true. I'm not worried anymore. We're going to be fine and we'll all make it back home."
If she had told him about her vision, he wouldn't have sent her packing or been worried because, obviously, things worked out and she had been just fine. However, she didn't and he took her word that things were going to be all right. "As long as you don't go out of your way to change things darlin', your visions are probably right on the money." Taker informed her truthfully, believing that. "Come on woman, let's head back." He pulled her against him, bending down to kiss her forehead. "Feeling better, Abbie?"
"No, wait…"
Abigail promised him no more secrets, no more lies, complete and total honesty. She was battling with herself and just now noticed they were both clothed again. If her visions were what really happened, then he deserved to know she wasn't the only one in danger. He was the father and she knew Mark would be extremely angry with her if she didn't tell him.
"It wasn't just the future…it was…it was about us. We were back at the tower and…damn it…" What if he didn't want children? There was always that possibility and it scared her because she didn't want to lose him. "I was holding a baby, okay? A baby girl…" Now she was wringing the front of her top nervously, unable to meet his eyes. "And we were married. Married, with a baby…and I think…I think I'm pregnant right now, Mark. I said something in the vision about not being able to believe I was pregnant during all of this and I know I was referring to what goes down tomorrow. I…I haven't had any symptoms or anything, so maybe I'm not, but…I promised not to keep anything from you and I meant it…"
"Ahh."
That explained why she didn't necessarily want to tell him her vision. His first instinct was to cordon her off, lock her away, and not let anything happen to her or the baby she was likely carrying. Which was the reason why she hadn't wanted to tell him, most likely. Her vision said they were fine in the future, so he would have to trust in that. Kneeling, Taker reached out to feel her stomach, wondering if he could use magic to determine if she was pregnant. Probably shouldn't, he didn't want to risk messing something up.
"This displeases you?"
"No, no of course not, but…we haven't really discussed anything regarding kids and…what are you doing?"
Abigail tilted her head, watching him feel around her flat abdomen, and slid her fingers through his hair. She was shocked he hadn't flipped out and demanded her to stay here while they went to war or even sent her back to Wonderful. Her heart nearly exploded with newfound love when he began raining kisses on her stomach, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. Mark was happy about this. She could feel it radiating off of him and they didn't even know if she was with child yet.
"You want kids, I take it?"
"Honestly? I never considered having them, darlin'. I stopped thinking about things like marriage and children when Mona died, and that was years ago."
They didn't talk about his dead love and he'd had plenty of time to get past her murder. Abigail coming into his world had breathed fresh life into him. Taker suddenly found himself hopeful for the future they kept fighting for.
"Chances are she is going to have magic, Abbie."
That was a very strong possibility actually, he still held to it that his sperm had infected Abigail, and now he started smirking. Apparently in more ways than one. Abigail didn't know how to feel about that. Their baby girl would more than likely carry on the Calaway magic bloodline, which meant she would have actual powers that weren't given to her. It would be in her blood, just as it was Malcolm, Glen, and Mark.
"At least my pregnancy won't be magical…much. She'll be born a healthy, happy, normal baby girl and grow up the way she should. I…I mean we…I think we name her Hope."
Mona…so that was Mark's deceased love's name. She had always wondered about that, but Mark had been adamant not to discuss anything about her. All she knew was the woman had been murdered and Mark could do nothing to save her.
"I got the shot…so I don't even know how this happened. Maybe you really do have super sperm or something…"
Taker rolled his eyes at her, shaking his head as he hoisted Abigail up into his arms, bridal style. He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Darlin', Red was on the shot too when she conceived. The shot isn't 100% effective, and you got to realize that medicine is older than a decade, so… it's probably about… 80% effective. You're supposed to double up with condoms if you really want to avoid having kids." Why hadn't Melina told her that? He made a mental note to talk to Jeff about getting some posters or pamphlets made up for women looking for birth control.
"We don't even know if I'm pregnant or not, so we should just slow ourselves down a bit. It was a vision, it doesn't mean…"
As if the universe hadn't been blatant enough with that vision, Abigail suddenly HOPPED out of Mark's arms and landed on her knees, vomiting in the grass. She sat back after a minute or two, taking the bandana Mark handed her and wiped her mouth. Wondering where the hell that wave of nausea came from suddenly, Abigail could only stare at Mark wide-eyed.
"I think we need to find out if I am…immediately." A trip to Malcolm was in order.
"Maybe a stop by the tent first, so you can clean up a bit." He suggested, ignoring the scowl she shot him and wrinkled his nose, scooping her up again. "You can clean up, and rest, and I'll get him."
Tomorrow was royally going to suck for Abigail, once he returned her pain to her, especially if she was going to be puking. Though… that also might help the performance she'd be putting on, so… potential silver lining. He carried her back to the encampment and straight to their tent.
"Darlin', tomorrow, when I return your pain, I'm also going to try warding your stomach." He said thoughtfully. "I've never done something so… small, but… I'm pretty sure it would work." And it would also explain why she hadn't lost their daughter in the fight. "I'll go get Malcolm. Stay here, woman."
He wasn't entirely sure what Malcolm was going to be able to do, unless the old man could use magic to detect a pregnancy. Taker figured she would have wanted Matt or someone with medical knowledge. Well, maybe not. Having a strange man down there, or feeling her, would've probably been awkward.
"I'm not going anywhere, worrywart," Abigail remarked with a smile, watching him walk out of the tent and placed a hand on her stomach, after lifting her tank top. How could something so tiny affect her this much? "Hope." She said the name thoughtfully, wondering what Mark thought of it since she had mentioned it to him and he hadn't given his opinion. It really did fit and Abigail found herself smiling, caressing her stomach lovingly, and felt an overprotectiveness surge through her.
Nobody would hurt her or her baby, she would make sure of it.
Malcolm looked up when his son walked into his tent, taking his reading glasses off and set his book aside. He did have his own collection of books and had used Ambrose's magical satchel to store most of his belongings. It was a remarkable device, he wondered where Ambrose had found it and wished the man was still alive to question.
"Mark, what's wrong?" He was on his feet at the mention of 'Abigail', following him out of the tent. "Did she have another vision?"
Where had Malcolm gotten that satchel from? Taker really hoped his father hadn't scavenged from the dead, that was a serious low if he did. "She did, and in it, we had a child." He said quietly, not wishing to be overheard, and pushed the satchel bit out of mind. Taker would ask at another time. "She thinks she may be pregnant now." Puking could have been a byproduct of said pregnancy, or nerves had hit her, hard.
"I see. So you want me to check her out and see if it's true?" At Mark's bewildered look, Malcolm chuckled and clapped a hand on his son's shoulder. "My boy, you have a great deal to learn in the arts of magic. I can tell you whether or not she is. I detected your mother's with both you and Glen." He also spoke quietly, just in case someone was eavesdropping. "By the way, that fellow that came with Ambrose is gone." That made Mark stop. "He left while you and Abigail went off to spend time together earlier, said he couldn't handle being here anymore. The poor lad, I do hope he's alright and doesn't get himself into further mischief."
"Yeah, I'm good on the magic front, Malcolm." Taker was learning fine enough on his own, he wasn't about to take pointers from the chickenshit, who had them in this whole invulnerability mess. "His name is Seth, and after what he went through, I doubt he wanted to stick around and give them a second chance at finishing the job." Not that he blamed the younger man. Seeing both his best friends die back to back had probably damaged him in ways the DOV hadn't been able to. "Just determine if she's pregnant or not, that's all we need."
He had suspected Malcolm might be able to. That just seemed weird, when Taker thought about it. Being able to use magic to detect pregnancies, what else would magic let him do? Detect cancer, broken bones? Malcolm could be their next, new, x-ray machine.
"My – my no need to get snippy with me, young man. You're not old enough not to be bent over my knee, you know." Malcolm grinned, shaking his finger at his son, and rolled his eyes when Mark promptly flipped him the bird. "Right back at you, son." They arrived at Mark and Abigail's tent a few minutes later and it was no surprise she was hurling again, this time in a bucket.
"Victoria." Was the explanation.
"Coming to check on you after the beating you received?" Malcolm would not condone that happening anymore, if Abigail was with child. "I need you to lay back when you're done, my dear, and let me examine you."
"E-Examine me?" More vomiting ensued…Abigail was pretty sure she was on death's doorstep.
"This would explain her lack of appetite as well, Mark." Malcolm informed his son, waiting patiently until Abigail could lay back without vomiting, and placed a hand on her flat stomach. "Ah yes…I feel it…I can sense it…"
"Feel what? Sense what?"
"The baby you're carrying, Abigail. I can feel its magic pulsating through you. When my beloved's magic came to be, she too was pregnant. Something about the pregnancy is what, I believe, kickstarted her powers. I'd say you're about 4-5 weeks along, no more than that."
