Claire bit her lip, trying to contain her laughter as she slowly pushed her finger toward Jim's unguarded ear. It flicked just before she made contact and she quickly stifled an amused snort.
She watched him for a moment, but when his dozing expression remained unchanged, she went for a second prod. This time, accompanying another reflexive ear twitch was a disgruntled rumble.
"Stop," he mumbled sleepily and she could hear the amused smirk in his voice.
"But it's cute," Claire giggled. Again, his defenseless ear flicked away before she could touch it. "Like, how does it know?"
Jim blearily cracked his eyes open and turned his head to look up into her grinning face. "We're supposed to be asleep."
Claire shrugged, the soft light in their bedroom catching across her bare shoulders. In the darkness, her stark bangs practically glowed. "Bothering you is more fun," she informed frankly.
Jim grunted, tightening the semi circle he had formed around her.
Claire hooked her elbow over his hip and reclined against him. She grazed her finger nails across the skin beneath his rib cage and felt the ticklish spasm of his abdominal muscles beneath her touch.
The half-troll grumbled in protest, messed hair tickling her thighs as he buried his face into her belly. "This is harassment." He accused, voice muffled against her skin.
Claire chuckled and brushed her fingers through his scruff. "I promise to make it up to you."
Catching on to her implication, Jim mumbled something about being "too tired" and was already drifting back off to sleep again.
Or, rather he tried to, until a sudden flicker of movement across Claire's stomach caught them both off guard.
Jim's head popped up off her lap, eyes wide. "What in the world-?"
Claire stared back at him, hands to her abdomen and brow furrowed with concern. After a few moments her eyes sparked with a realization.
"What? What's wrong?" Jim asked, bristling as he rose up onto his elbows. "What happened?"
A huge grin lit up across her face and, without answering him, she took his hand. She placed his palm over her modest baby bump and held him tight against her skin.
He waited, heart pounding in his ears. It wasn't long before he felt movement; quick and sudden, somehow both weaker and stronger than he'd expected.
Jim was floored.
He hadn't been to any of the doctor visits, hadn't heard the tiny, fluttering heartbeats nor seen them squirming on the monitor. The only tangible evidence he had for the budding existence of their children were a couple of ultrasound photos and Claire's rapidly distending stomach.
But to feel them moving beneath his touch, to feel them being active and restless as they stretched their little legs-
-That was something else entirely.
"Jim." Claire called softly. Jim's gaze shot upward to meet her eyes, which were soft with fondness and bright with amusement. She pressed her fingers to his chest. "Breathe."
Jim gasped, letting go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Claire laughed, reaching up to touch his cheek.
With her thick hair hanging loose and messy around her shoulders and an expression of uncensored glee clear on her face, he couldn't think of a time when she looked more beautiful.
He leaned forward to nestle his forehead against hers and inhaled.
"You're amazing," he claimed, almost reverent.
"I know," Claire agreed, confident as always. "You're pretty amazing too."
His tusks pricked against her skin as he moved to nuzzle into her neck. She laughed, hunching her shoulders ticklishly against his touch when he gave her a harmless little nip.
"So much for you being tired," she teased as his hands came up to cradle her back.
Nomura was sitting just beyond the entrance to her cave. The changeling didn't look up from sharpening her weapon, but the swivel of her ears was enough to let Claire know she was aware of her approach.
Claire stopped just a ways in front of her, wincing as she pressed the heel of her palm into her lower back to relieve the pressure there. "You could live a little closer so I wouldn't have to walk so far," she called. "But, you know, that's just a suggestion."
"Noted." Nomura growled dismissively and raised her blade for inspection. Claire watched her do so, admiring as well how the light shone off of the finely sharpened weapon.
The changeling had chosen her dwelling strategically- separated from the general population just enough to give her privacy from prying eyes and nosy neighbors. Her cave was located just beyond the New Trollmarket outskirts, with a narrow path winding its way along a precipice leading up to its entrance.
She had done very little carving of stone, rather opting to make due with what was already there.
Nomura lowered her weapon toward the whetstone, her eyes, which Claire had once found piercing and eerie but were now so oddly comforting in their familiarity, finally settling on her visitor. "I'm surprised you actually climbed up here."
Claire shrugged. "I've done it before."
"But now you're," the changeling pointed her blade tip toward Claire's stomach, "that."
"Like that's going to stop me." Claire flicked her wrist dismissively.
"Maybe it should." Nomura responded cryptically before returning to her task.
Claire pursed her lips, but offered no retort. She removed her bag and let it drop to the ground at her feet. "My back hurts." She stated flatly.
Nomura noted her unspoken question but chose not to acknowledge it outright. Instead, her blade hissed across the whetstone before her.
"You better rest, then," she responded, deciding to play along. "I'm not carrying you back to Trollmarket."
"But I have a medical condition." Claire tried.
"It's not my fault you and the Trollhunter can't control yourselves," Nomura responded, disgusted by the thought.
Despite all her centuries living on the surface, Nomura was far more comfortable with trollish aggression than the hormone-driven activities of humans.
Nomura rolled her eyes as Claire made a show of shuffling toward her, despite the fact she wasn't near big enough yet for her ability to move to be that effected. Still holding onto the strap of her bag, she trailed it along the ground behind her.
"How much longer do I have to put up with you waddling around like that?"
"I've still got sixteen weeks left of being baby-free. Allegedly." Claire stopped beside the changeling and lowered herself to the ground. "You can have this back, by the way," She said, fishing through her bag and producing a very weathered tome.
Nomura set her weapon aside and accepted the book from her. "You finished this already?"
Claire looked confused. "Already? I've had it for months." She rapped her knuckle against the book's spine, which was easily a good two or three inches thick. "It made for some pretty decent light reading."
Nomura made an uneasy sound. "I'm not sure what kind of effect this will have on your whelps."
"Oh, I didn't actually do any of it," Claire assured. "I'm been super sparing with all magic, just in general, because I have no idea what it would do to them either. And since you don't know and Merlin's literally never around for me to ask him, I don't want to risk anything."
"Then…?" Nomura quirked her brow inquisitively.
"I just studied it and took notes." Claire shrugged. She winced, shifting uneasily. "I can revisit it in a few weeks."
"Sixteen to be exact?"
"Allegedly."
The changeling opened the book and flipped through it, handling the ancient pages with more care than her sometimes-pupil was familiar with seeing from her.
Somewhere along line, during one of Merlin's infamous disappearances, Nomura had taken to supplementing Claire's training. She had explained that her nestmate, Stricklander, had taken to the dark arts more easily than she, but any changeling worth their salt at least knew the basics.
Claire wasn't sure if Nomura had offered to train her because she saw within her genuine potential, or if the changeling was taking advantage of an opportunity to stick it to the insufferable old wizard.
She liked to think it was a little bit of both.
Claire grunted, straightening her spine.
"What was that?" Nomura growled, wary.
"I don't know," Claire answered, wincing. "I've had this weird back ache all morning. I thought it would ease up if I sat down for a bit, but it's still-"
She suddenly yelped, hand automatically flying up to clutch her stomach.
Nomura leapt to her feet and hopped away from her, eyes wide and ears pinned back.
Claire's eyes were wide with alarm as she looked up at her. "Nomura, I think something's wrong." She struggled to rise to her feet and Nomura approached her, grabbed her elbow and pulled her up easily. "Something's wrong- something doesn't feel right. I-I need to find Jim."
Nomura growled. "If this is just you trying to get me to carry you back-"
"Nomura, please."
If this was some trick, the urgency in her voice was remarkably convincing.
In one fluid motion, the changeling picked her up and bolted from the cave.
The nurses at the clinic, wearily apathetic from their long shift, had casually tossed around the term "preterm labor."
Jim, glamoured to look like the first Joe Schmo he'd spotted on one of Blinky's books, had tensed the first time he heard it. He could remember reading about it a few times and, naturally, his thoughts latched onto the worst-case scenario and ran wild.
After the long, anxiety-riddled wait they'd endured in the waiting room, Jim was feeling tense, protective and his hatred for the doctor they'd been landed with was absolutely palpable.
Claire, accrediting the doctor's blunt explanations and borderline rude treatment of the pair of them to pulling long hours at the clinic, tried her best to keep her beloved as calm as she could- despite the growing discomfort from her contractions.
She had heard the first few rumbling notes of a warning growl bubbling from deep within Jim's chest as the doctor, with zero fan-fare, administered a terbutaline injection. Claire had been quick to deliver a subtle jab with her elbow to his side before anyone had a chance to take note of the very inhuman sound her "totally normal" boyfriend was making.
Several hours of observation later, to make sure she didn't experience anymore contractions, and they were sent on their way with instructions to make an appointment with Dr. Mason.
"I mean, I had another appointment in a couple weeks anyway," Claire said, trying to stay optimistic about the situation as she packed her things.
Jim groaned, laying back on their bed with his forearms folded over his eyes. He practically radiated anxious energy, so much so Claire found herself fidgeting uneasily.
Abandoning her bag at the foot of the bed, she walked up to give him a pat on the chest. "It could have been worse, Jim."
"Yeah," Jim agreed with a humorless chuckle. "You could have given birth stupid early, we could have maybe lost both of the twins and there's no telling what could have happened if they came out looking less than human."
"But none of that happened," Claire pointed out. "I'm fine, they're fine-"
"But it could have," Jim said, sitting up and turning to face her. He ran a hand through his hair, palm swiping along the curve of one of his horns. "That was absolutely horrifying."
"Jim," Claire said firmly, cupping his face between her hands to get him to look at her. "I was scared too. But everything's fine now."
She inclined her head, pressing her forehead to his. Jim huffed, shoulders dropping.
"It's going to be ok." Claire reassured, brushing her thumbs against his cheeks. "I'm just going for another visit to Dr. Mason."
Jim sighed. "Maybe you should stay in Arcadia."
He said it so softly she almost missed it.
Claire blinked, caught off guard by the suggestion. She pulled back to look at him. "What?"
"In case something else goes wrong," he explained, but he didn't look any happier about the concept than she felt. "I'd feel better if you were closer to Dr. Mason. It's way too dangerous for you to have the twins here and apparently they're in a rush to get out of there, so-"
"But," Claire started to protest. "But what if you… miss…"
"I don't want to miss anything," Jim said, ears drooping. He rested his hands over the curve of her hips and grazed his thumbs along the swell of her stomach. "But I can live with that maybe happening, if it means you three are safer."
"But you could miss them," Claire insisted. Cold fear gripped her stomach at the thought; she couldn't imagine giving birth without him there- didn't want to imagine it. If any new additions were added to their growing little family, he needed to be there for it.
Seeming to sense her distress, one of the twins kicked. Jim must have felt it too, as he looked down toward his hands.
When he looked back up, Claire's eyes were noticeably shinier and it made him feel terrible.
He had always had trouble saying no to those eyes.
She was limp when he pulled her into his lap, any fight she would normally give drained out of her as she realized he was right. It was a good idea; the best available to them, given the risk that had presented itself.
They had to think of the twins. Their safety was top priority.
"Klar thinks we've almost got the gyre figured out," Jim said, embracing her. "I could end up meeting you over in Arcadia. Hell, if we're quick about it, I could get there before you."
Claire snorted and swiped at her eyes, feeling silly for crying.
It wasn't as if they hadn't ever had to be apart for extended periods of time; Jim's title as Trollhunter had occasionally forced him out of New Trollmarket from time to time to try and keep peace with neighboring tribes and numerous lessons with Merlin had Claire disappearing for days on end.
But something about this made Claire feel so terrible and sad and helpless.
Maybe it was the exhaustion following the scare they'd had at the clinic, maybe it was the dread of going up to sixteen weeks apart- over sixteen weeks if she was being realistic-
-Or maybe it was the hormones.
Damn hormones.
"I might not miss anything," Jim said softly, trying some of her earlier optimism on for size. "Maybe these two will hang tight long enough for us to finish the gyre."
"Maybe," Claire sniffed, trying to regain some of her usual composure.
"Everything's going to be fine," Jim pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "It'll all work out."
"Everything's going to be fine," Claire agreed. She wiped her eyes. "But you're the one who's going to have to tell the trolls that the first child of New Trollmarket isn't actually going to be born in Trollmarket."