"And then, just as the serpent was about to get me and Bait in the water, Prince Callum charged his hand with lightening and struck the water with it!" The children around Rayla gasped and leaned forward even further. "It electrocuted the beast! It fell back into the water with a mighty splash and the wave carried Bait and me back to the shore." She carefully left out the part about her drastically different hairstyle.

There was a cough from behind the children and they collectively turned their heads. "Don't you all have chores to do," Ethari nudged gently. The children moaned their protests but eventually ran off to their individual homes, leaving the older elf alone with Rayla. With a smile, she got up from her seat on a rock and hugged her guardian. "Welcome back, Rayla. We've missed you."

She smiled into his warmth. "I missed you too." Still, smiling, she relaxed her grip and looked around the clearing. "Where's Callum?"

Nervously, the craftsman's fingers rubbed at his middle. "He's still up in the workshop. He has a lot to think about."

Rayla's attitude quickly took a turn into worried territory. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine." Then the nervous gestures stopped and Ethari grinned. "He's just pregnant."

Callum actually wouldn't have described himself as 'fine' right then. Panicking was the word he'd have used.

He paced around the perimeter of the workshop, his hands gripping the front of his tunic and his mouth muttering a mile a minute. "Okay, this is real. There is actually a person inside me. Like, a real person. I'm responsible for another person. Oh no, they've already been there for two months! Have I been doing the right stuff? What is the right stuff? How do I find out about the right stuff? Do I ask a doctor or a-" a jolt ran up his spine. "Oh no. I have to get a midwife. We don't have one in the castle, just a doctor. Should I ask the doctor? But he's going to want to know why, and if I tell him, he could tell others and-" another jolt ran up his spine and he started pacing faster, his hands clenching tighter in his tunic. "People are going to find out. Everyone's going to know. How would I even explain this? Should I tell people that it's a mage thing? Would that scare people off from learning? But they should know the risk before they start learning. Then when it happens to them they'll probably know from the start and can get help. Right, I need help. I was going to ask Ethari if he could come back. Maybe he could be my midwife? But he's pregnant too, he'll need one before I do. And I can't help because I don't know what to do or anything about this, so it has to be a midwife. Wait, would a human midwife even work for him? For this? It's a magic thing, not a normal human thing. How does this whole process work? It's not like we have all the physical things women have for this."

His eyes widened as a thought hit him and he sat down hard. Luckily the bench was right behind him so he didn't have far to go. His hands let go of his tunic and transferred to his hair. "How're they going to come out?" His breathing sped up and he curled in tighter on himself.

"I don't know, but panicking's not going to help, especially because it's bad for you and them." His hands relinquished their grip on his hair and Callum looked up at the intruder. Rayla was standing in the doorway, one hand on a cocked hip and a frown on her face. Slowly, his back slumped in defeat and his hands hung down between his knees.

Sighing, the elf walked over to the bench and sat down beside the prince. "It's like, it wasn't really real before," he started, speaking more slowly. "It was just a crazy idea you had and my brother backed up. But now…" A hand rose up and cupped his abdomen gently. "I know there really is someone in here."

With a gentle smile, Rayla put a hand on his arched back. "And that someone is going to have all of us. You will too." That got a small smile out of the prince and he turned his head to look at her. "I know I'm not letting you out of my sight, Mr. I-can-climb-any-tree-I-want."

He laughed lightly, but his hand stayed where it was. "I don't think I'll be climbing trees again any time soon. I'll just fly, it'll be safer."

With a chuckle of her own Rayla nudged his knee good-naturedly and got up. "Well, we should probably go find Ethari. We need to talk him into moving to the castle and you," she added, pointing a finger at him and almost grazing the tip of his nose, "need to get one of his messenger arrows so you can let Ezran know." His hands rose towards his hair again but she grabbed his wrists. "You know he's going to be happy for you, so don't you start panicking again. You've given that wee one enough excitement for one day."

"You're right, you're right," he acquiesced, putting his hands up in surrender. But even as they walked out of the tree to go hunt down the older elf, Rayla saw a tiny smile on her friend's lips as one his hands again rested over his middle.

Miles away from the newly aware parent, there stood a small hovel in a forest clearing. The hovel was a crude thing made of bent twigs and whatever leafy fronds could serve as a roof. A girl with mostly white hair exited the surrounding forest and carried her basket into the small structure. She looked around and when she saw no one was inside, sighed. "He's probably staring at the cocoon again," Claudia complained. With great care, the girl emptied the berries she'd collected into a small basket and replaced the lid. Then she headed back out onto the plain in search of her father and his weird need to check on the cocoon.

If I could put in a smile emoji here, I would. Thank those who were supporting me and worried for me! Yes, I am still alive and writing this. I just have significantly less time, because I've recently started a crochet business and been working my poor old fingers to death. But I'm back with a new chapter and hopefully another one soon. At first, I wasn't planning Callum's little panic session, but a comment from someone on AO3 inspired me to add it in. I do have a lot of different stuff to cover, since this is about more than just Callum's magic kid.