When Katsa's monthly courses - which were normally scrupulously regular, possibly as part of her Grace - were late, she started to wonder. When she found herself occasionally feeling randomly nauseated - which rarely ever happened, and never without a reason - she wondered more. But the last straw was when she went to the kitchen in Bitterblue's palace and, upon finding out there weren't any of her favorite pastries available, spent a solid minute thinking she might burst into tears over it. All of these occurrences had been strange, but that one had been the strangest yet, and it merited some looking into.

And then Katsa remembered how, on her last trip with Po, she'd run out of seabane.

She hadn't mentioned it to Po at the time. She'd known that, if she did, he would have been a perfect gentleman for the last few days of the trip, but she found she didn't care. The consequences hadn't seemed so dire to her then. When she was young, she'd been terrified of having children, but now that she was older, it didn't seem quite so frightening. She had Po now, and she wasn't under Randa's thumb, and while the world wasn't quite at peace, it was better than it had been. Perhaps, she'd thought when faced with that empty packet, bringing a child into this world wouldn't be the worst thing after all.

She wondered if she would feel differently if that child was indeed in her womb right then.

Katsa's Grace gave her a certain awareness of her body, something she'd been surprised to discover ordinary people didn't have. It had always been helpful when she was wounded, letting her know exactly what was injured and in what way. She supposed being pregnant wasn't quite the same as being injured, but perhaps her awareness would work there as well. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated.

And there in her womb, she could feel something growing.

For a moment, all she could do was marvel. There was a child inside her, a child that was half her and half Po, a child that they had created. It would grow within her, and then she would give birth, and it would be a little person.

And then, upon thinking that, she felt terrified.

Because this would be a little person! What if her child were Graced? She and Po both were, after all. A Graced child would never be safe anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, not even fully in the ones where people with Graces had more protections and rights. On the other hand, what if the child weren't Graced? What would they do? How would Katsa protect her child, Graced or not? She was the founder of the Council, and she had more than her fair share of enemies. Would any of them try to touch her child? She'd make them regret it, of course, but would she do it in time?

Perhaps she should have told Po about her lack of seabane earlier.

There were ways, she knew, of getting rid of a child after it quickened in the womb. It was possible. It wasn't even that difficult, from what she'd heard. But Katsa wasn't sure she could do it. She would never judge a woman who did, and a few years ago she probably wouldn't have thought twice about it, but something about the thought of the little one inside her…

It wasn't truly a baby yet and she knew it. It couldn't feel, and if she got rid of it, it would never know anything of it. If she did it discreetly enough, no one would ever know anything of it. She could, she knew, if she wanted to.

But she found that she didn't.

She put a hand over her stomach instead, and although she couldn't feel the baby yet, she knew it was there. "My Grace is survival," she told the child quietly. "That makes me a good protector. I'll protect you."

The baby couldn't hear her promise, but that was alright. Katsa could make it again.


She found Po lying on their bed, bicolored eyes open and staring blankly at the ceiling. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing important," Po replied, not moving. "There are kitchen maids gossiping about us downstairs. I'm listening in."

"Well, what are they saying?"

"That I'm devilishly handsome, of course," Po said, turning towards Katsa with a grin. It seemed a little strained, though; shot through with some sort of tension Katsa couldn't quite figure out. "Really quite dashing."

"Oh, really."

"Also, they think I may have done something to upset you," Po added, and suddenly the tension made sense. "Apparently, you were in the kitchen earlier, and you seemed like you might cry. They're wondering what happened, and they're wondering if it has to do with me."

"It does," Katsa admitted. As Po's face grew horrorstruck, she added quickly, "But not in the way you think?"

"Then in what way?"

Katsa took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Katsa knew Po couldn't really stare at her, but he was doing a convincing job of pretending. "You're pregnant," he repeated, his voice flat.

"I'm pregnant," Katsa agreed. She frowned slightly. "Are you… upset?"

"You're pregnant," Po whispered, and Katsa noticed to her alarm that his eyes seemed to be tearing up. "We're going to have a baby."

"Well, technically, I'm the one who's having a baby," Katsa said, now feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I mean, you're the father, but I'm the one doing all the work."

"A baby," Po breathed again, his tone reverent. "We're going to have a baby."

"Did I break you?" Katsa asked. "All of those knocks to the head and you kept your sanity, and this is what shatters it?"

"You're having a baby!" Po protested. "I'm excited! And a bit terrified. Are you terrified? Great seas, you're having a baby."

"You seem more terrified than I am, to be entirely honest."

"Yes, well, that may be the case, because you seem absurdly calm, but I most decidedly am not."

Katsa sighed. "You really don't need to worry about it this much."

"What is Po worrying about?" Raffin asked, entering the room with Bann half a step behind him.

"What are you two doing here?" Katsa asked, looking at them in confusion.

Raffin and Bann looked equally confused. "We're here to discuss the situation in Sunder, like we planned this morning," Raffin said. "Did you forget? Is something happening that's worth worrying about?"

Katsa looked over at Po. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

"You should do it," Po replied. "It's your news."

"You did play a part in this whole process," Katsa said dryly, then she turned to Raffin and Bann and announced, "I'm pregnant."

Raffin stared at her. Bann's jaw dropped.

"You're pregnant?" Raffin finally demanded, after a long moment of stunned silence. "You're going to have a baby?"

"She's going to have a baby," Po confirmed, his voice slightly choked. Katsa shot him a look and saw that he'd started getting teary again.

"A baby," Bann whispered, sounding awestruck.

"Oh, you're both as bad as he is," Katsa huffed. "It's just a baby. Women pop them out all the time."

"Bann and I will start researching," Raffin declared. "We'll make sure both you and the baby are safe and healthy."

"I'm Graced with survival. I don't think a baby is going to kill me."

"Best to be careful anyway," Raffin said. Both Bann and Po nodded in agreement.

"You are all absurd."

"Who's absurd?" Bitterblue asked, entering the room with Giddon.

Katsa sighed. "Let me guess, you're also here for the meeting I forgot about?"

"You forgot about the meeting?" Giddon asked. "That never happens."

"She's distracted, but she's got good reason to be," Bann said.

"Tell them, Katsa!" Raffin begged.

"Tell us what?" Bitterblue asked.

Do you want to tell them? Katsa thought at Po.

"Little cousin," Po said, which was apparently a yes, "soon, you're going to have an even littler cousin."

Bitterblue stared. "You mean-"

"Katsa is pregnant," Po said, sounding like he was practically bursting with pride. "We're going to have a baby."

"I won't be the youngest anymore!" Bitterblue cried, sounding delighted.

"Congratulations," Giddon said warmly. "I'm happy for you."

"At least you two are being normal about it," Katsa said. "These three" - she gestured at Po, Raffin, and Bann - "are all being ridiculous."

"Katsa is the one being ridiculous! She's so calm about it!" Po protested. "I think I'm panicking exactly the correct amount."

"You'll both be magnificent parents," Bitterblue said. "You did a fine enough job with me, after all."

"But we didn't have you when you were very little!" Po countered. "Katsa is going to have a baby. A tiny, helpless little baby. How do you take care of a baby?"

"Ask Helda," Bitterblue suggested. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear about this."

Katsa groaned. "She'll be worse than Po."

"I resent that remark!"

"She'll figure it out eventually," Bitterblue replied practically. "Do you have any idea how far along you are?"

"About a month and a half," Katsa replied. "I've missed my courses twice."

"Around our trip, then?" Po asked, apparently doing calculations in his head. "Was something wrong with the seabane?"

"Seabane is an effective contraceptive, but it's not infallible," Raffin put in. "It could have simply failed."

"It didn't fail," Katsa replied. "I ran out."

Po blinked. "You didn't tell me. I wouldn't have pushed-"

"You never do," Katsa interrupted. "And I knew what I was doing. I ran out a few days before we returned, but I decided that was alright."

"You wanted a child, then?" Bitterblue asked.

"I was alright with the idea," Katsa replied. "I didn't really want anything one way or another, but I thought a child might be nice. The thought doesn't frighten me as much as it used to."

"Well, I still find it frightening," Po said. "I'm glad you don't."

"At least one of us should be practical about this whole thing," Katsa replied. "Speaking of which, we should discuss soon what we'll do once I'm too pregnant to do work for the Council."

"Yes, and that time is now," Po said. "Both for the discussion and you being too pregnant."

"I'm not even showing yet!"

"You have a child inside you!" Po cried. "You can't go off and risk yourself! You'll be risking both of you!"

"I really think I can handle things a while longer."

"You're pregnant!"

"Should we give you two some privacy?" Giddon asked.

"We'll discuss Sunder another time," Raffin said. "And we can discuss your circumstances as well, Katsa. For now, we'll leave you two alone."

As Raffin and Bann made for the door, Bitterblue ran up to Katsa and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so excited," she whispered.

"So am I," Katsa agreed, hugging Bitterblue tightly. "I'm sure you'll be a wonderful older cousin."

"I will," Bitterblue promised. She released Katsa and pulled Po into a hug of his own. "Try not to be too absurd and drive Katsa too mad, would you?"

"I don't think I'm being absurd at all," Po replied a bit petulantly, but given the affection with which he kissed top of Bitterblue's head, he didn't seem particularly offended.

"Maybe just a little," Bitterblue said, giggling as she ducked Po's playful lunge. "Congratulations, both of you!" she cried, then she hurried out of the room and pulled the doors shut behind her.

"Raffin and Bann seem to agree with me," Po said conversationally as the room quieted in their friends' absence. "You're being far too calm about this, and it is something worth worrying about."

"It's really not," Katsa said dryly. "I'll be fine, Po. I'm Graced with survival. This isn't going to be the thing that takes me down."

"Katsa…" Po sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I would never try to control you. You know that. But the thought of you fighting with our child inside you… it terrifies me. There's still plenty you can do for the Council without going out and fighting yourself. Could you focus on that?"

"What about once the child's born?" Katsa asked, a bit warily. "You won't expect me to stay home, will you?"

"Well, I imagine you'll need a bit of time to recover after childbirth. My brothers' wives always seem to. After that… We'll figure something out. I can stay home with the child, or we can find someone to take care of them while we're busy. Having a child will change our lives, but it doesn't need to upend them completely."

"I think I'd like to have the child in Lienid," Katsa said slowly. "We could take a boat from Monport to your castle."

A slow smile spread over Po's face. "I think that sounds perfect. My family will be thrilled."

"You're excited, right?" Katsa asked, a bit tentatively. She thought he was, but…

"Katsa, I'm overjoyed," Po said, taking her hands in his. "I'm so excited I hardly know what to do with myself. Are you?"

Katsa took a moment to think about it. She'd never thought that being pregnant would be exciting. She'd thought it would be dull, mostly, when she thought about it at all.

She'd been wrong.

"I am excited," she confessed. "I didn't expect to be, but I am. Po, we're going to have a baby."

Po beamed at her, practically radiating his own joy. "We're going to have a baby."


Late that night, Po slipped out of bed. Katsa woke at the barely-there noise, lifting her head. Po had already left the bedroom, so Katsa crawled out of bed to follow him.

She found him in the next room, sitting by the window with his face turned towards the moonlight. "Po?" she whispered, taking a step forward. "Po, are you alright?"

Po didn't move. Katsa took another step closer and found that his eyes were closed and, far more worrying, there were tear tracks down his cheeks.

"Po?"

"I'll never see them," Po said in a voice so quiet Katsa hardly heard it. "I'll never see our child."

Katsa felt something crack in her chest. "Oh, Po."

"There are many things I'll never see," Po said, "and I've made my peace with most of them, but… This one hurts differently."

"I'll tell you what they look like," Katsa promised fiercely. "I'll describe them for you so closely it would almost be like seeing them yourself."

"It wouldn't," Po said, "but thank you."

"Is there anything I can do?" Katsa asked, hating how helpless she felt.

Po was quiet for a moment. "Just stay with me," he finally said. "Can you do that?"

"Of course."

Katsa stepped up behind Po and wrapped her arms around him, letting him lean against her chest. That close, she could feel his fine trembling, the slight hitches in his breathing as he cried. There was nothing she could do to fix this, and she hated that knowledge. There was no way she could give Po his sight back.

But she could hold him now, and when their baby was born, she could tell him what they looked like.

"You're going to be a wonderful mother," Po whispered into the quiet of the night.

Katsa kissed the top of Po's head. "You're going to be a wonderful father."

The moonlight streamed in through the window, and Po's tears slowly stopped, and together they remained. The night was quiet around them, and in that moment, Katsa felt completely at peace.

"I love you," she told Po quietly.

Po leaned his cheek against her arm. "I love you too."

And really, that was all they needed.