Author's Note - I wrote this for the Felannie Flash challenge in about 6 hours. So if the pace is a little rushed, this is why. Tbh, I'm just impressed I got so much done in such little time.
Just as an aside, since I was writing this really fast, pretend like this was a blend of CF/VW teachers' ending (I haven't fully finished CF but I know some things via spoilers). Dedue and Mercie live. Annette and Felix were never recruited for Edelgard's side but Dominic's position in the war spared Annette. Felix found a way to survive.
Standing in front of the mirror, Annette found herself testing out every single angle available to her that the stiff indigo professor's uniform dress would allow. Normally she wouldn't bother with such a thorough inspection, but something felt off and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
She'd learned to live with the odd stains and wearing less than immaculate clothes these days in general but her dress was pristine at this current moment. And in the lack of the obvious explanation, she was left in want of answers.
Racking her memory, she'd cleaned the dress the same way as she always had so no cause for concern there. Spills happened all the time so this dress was used to frequent washing. So she was fairly certain that she hadn't shrunk it in the wash. Not to mention, it had been awhile since her students' spells had misfired in her general direction.
That said, there was a subtle tightness that felt like someone had added a few more gathering stitches that weren't there before to alter the fit of the garment. Nothing dramatic but enough to be irritated. Her shoulders felt like they had less range of motion, sides of her bust chafed a little and certain seams tugged a little more than usual.
Annette shook her head. This probably had less to do with the stitches and more to do with something else.
When she originally received the uniform, Mercie herself had taken the time to make all the adjustments to tailor the dress to her specific measurements. Some things had been taken in, others let out a little and - just for her, since she was her best friend - she added a few personalized touches of her own to add some subtle frilly elements to suit Annette's personal taste.
Mercedes was a fantastic seamstress so surely all of the stitches held in place without migrating elsewhere or loosening altogether. And as much as she believed in her friend's sewing ability, the possibility of extra stitches materializing on their own was a little far fetched, even by her vivid imagination's standards.
Her and Dedue lived modestly in Duscur. If she had magic stitches, she would have amassed a sizable fortune for saving nobles and commoners alike from so much time spent on repairs.
Annette smoothed out the fabric around the waist, taking another hard look in the mirror as if the answer would reveal itself in the fabric like consulting a crystal ball or reading tea leaves.
Nope. She still looked the same, but felt different. Ok, maybe she had indulged in a few more sweets than usual over the holidays but she tended to gain weight in her hips and thighs first, her stomach and upper body last.
No, maybe she was overthinking this. Maybe her eyes were tricking her. Perhaps it was the return from winter holiday break jitters or something. But, the unspoken possibilities gnawed at her all the same.
As if summoned by her brewing anxiety, a soft knock interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Come in." she softly announced, turning around with a smile when her husband poked his head through the door before he let himself in. "I see you're finally learning after all these years to knock first instead of spooking me."
Felix shot her a playful look after gently closing the door behind him.
"No one is in the corridor so I had the luxury of knocking this time." he supplied. "Enduring wind gusts to the face for entering without warning is an occupational hazard I'm prepared to live with in exchange for being able to see my wife more often. At least I can be thankful the faculty stopped caring about my windswept hair."
Annette's grin sobered a little as she instinctively glanced at his ringless left hand before her gaze drifted to her own bare digits, reminiscing over the nights by the fireplace at a nearby inn where their rings were free to gleam in the embers' glow instead of being stuffed away in a hidden compartment of her desk.
It was a strange arrangement to be married where no one else knew but them. But a necessary one to keep the knowledge of Felix's continued existence out of the hands of those who could do him harm in Edelgard's new Adrestia.
They had been fortunate enough that no one recognized the former Shield of Faerghus when he took up the vacated sword instructor post under a false name, even more fortunate that they found someone willing to turn a blind eye and marry them with Felix's real name on the certificate so the marriage was binding and true. But their truth came at a cost.
Shared rooms for spouses required proof. And their proof would put them in peril. At least until they could locate someone trustworthy who could forge a certificate with a convincing seal.
Annette lamented it was a shame that trustworthy con artists were in such short supply. But she would deal with this reality for now until she'd find a way to convince her incredibly-stubborn husband that marrying her again under his false name was not debasing their true marriage.
"Felix, do I look different to you?" she asked, breaking free from the same internal conversation she'd had with herself over a dozen times.
Her husband blinked.
"No. You look the same. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, I...just feel different in my uniform dress today. I can wear it, but it's not fitting quite right."
"I assume you're asking me because you already know it isn't a matter of simple weight gain."
It didn't surprise her that his response came out as a statement rather than a question.
When she found the courage to nod, he closed the gap between them, resting his calloused hands on her shoulders. They weren't looking at each other directly but it still felt like his piercing amber eyes were boring into her soul long before she dared to look up at him.
But when she did, what she found wasn't the familiar intense gaze she'd grown accustomed to seeing when they put on their mutual facades out in the monastery, but rather honeyed pools of warmth to bask in; his was a loving, steadfast gaze that made her feel safe enough to share her working theory.
A theory she'd been afraid of admitting to her own reflection staring back at her in the mirror.
"Felix...Iā¦think I may be with child." she confessed to him in the smallest of voices. "It's... probably too early on to confirm anything though. I'm sorry if this might complicate-"
"-Annie, don't apologize for that. We'll find a way, we always do." he interjected to reassure her, before his voice grew thick. "Besides...this possibility is wonderful news."
"You mean it?"
"I do." he told her, letting his hands drift down her sides to her hips as his ears went exponentially red at the tips. "I've thought about it before. I, ah, just didn't know how to bring it up."
His adorably bumbling confession was doing something to her insides. And thankfully helping her nerves.
"Well, it's kind of understandable. Besides the obvious, I'm sure this would also impact the psychological game you play with our students when you have fun acting as if what they see is all in their heads." she teased. "For the record, the students are eager to inform me about the smiles that emerge in my presence when you think no one is looking."
"In all likelihood, it would end my charade. If...you are with child, Fraldarius dark blue hair tends to overtake other colours." he admitted. "It would leave little doubt regarding our hypothetical child's parentage. Assuming they're not born bald, that is."
Annette was about to say a comment about Dominic red being the same way but the words died on her tongue. Instead she leaned forward to hug her husband into a soul-crushing hug, her head resting sideways on his chest.
"Annette...did I say something wrong?"
"No, I'm just...glad I can joke around and breathe easy with you." she told him, trying hard not to undermine her own words with happy sobs threatening to fall from her watery eyes. "I know sometimes I can get too inside my own head for my own good."
Without saying another word, he reciprocated the hug and let her cry her tears of joy anyway.
It didn't matter if she was or wasn't expecting, Annette Fantine Fraldarius was reminded yet again that she was loved unconditionally under these strange circumstances.
And that was what mattered most in the end.
