Caeldori counted the days out on the calendar, the dread slowly seeping into her veins with every passing number. Her duties as a Shepherd and Princess of Ylisse had busied her days, and she'd completely forgotten one important detail she'd missed.

She was late.

Not long before her and Adrian's wedding, Severa had pulled her aside and discussed the signs of pregnancy with her eldest daughter, explaining that they would come either eventually or instantly. Thankfully, it hadn't come that quickly, but eventually was still too close to her bearing a child. On her and Adrian's wedding night, Caeldori had spoken of waiting to have a child. Adrian had seemed to want to avoid the subject, so Caeldori had stopped bothering him about making a family afterwards. The two had then just settled down into a routine of supporting each other as royals of Ylisse, putting their country as a priority over their personal life. They had avoided going all the way after their marriage and it had worked for a few months, until Adrian had disappeared for a year. Caeldori had been distraught over almost losing her husband, and after his return, she had blindly taken advantage of him and thrown out their progress in birth control.

Caeldori scrubbed her face in worry. How could this happen? They had been so careful. If she was with child, how would Adrian take it? The plan to wait would be completely shattered and Caeldori feared that he'd be angry at the unexpected news. But she wasn't exactly sure if she was pregnant and wouldn't be until other signs began to show, so she decided to wait and hide her discovery until she knew for sure.

At first, she was on high alert for a few of the signs she had gathered from Severa, as well as other women around the palace, such as Cordelia and Robin. She decided to reveal her suspicion to her mother, grandmother, and step-great-grandmother, and all three women all suggested to keep quiet to Adrian until she could figure out for sure that she was pregnant. Caeldori took her mother and grandmothers' advice, but regardless, the secret nagged at her. It became so bad that Caeldori almost spilled one night to Adrian while they laid in bed. He had started roaming his hands over her belly after he pressed against her soft flesh and could have sworn he felt a hard bump, like an egg. As he was a Manekete, any potential child that they would have would hatch from an egg, even though Caeldori was completely human. It had been the same with him and Iona when Iniabi had gotten Idoun pregnant. The child would also be guaranteed to be female, due to the fact that women were dominant in Cordelia's heritage and there had never been a boy born into the family. Adrian had pressed his hands softly into his former step-sister's belly, and when he felt nothing, he asked if it was that time of the month. Caeldori wondered how long it would take him to piece it all together when he saw no evidence.

Two weeks passed and Caeldori gradually became much more relaxed with the secret, easily storing it away in the back of her mind.

Until one evening after dinner.

Dinner in the castle dining room had consisted of roasted chicken, cabbage, and wild greens. Caeldori had thought the food to be especially good that night and had uncharacteristically scarfed down every bit of food on her plate, instead of properly taking the time to consume it. She had gotten strange looks from Cynthia and Kjelle as she ate, but both queens didn't say anything to the woman. Caeldori felt fine as she helped the servants clean the kitchen, which she always did to be of help and keep everything running, even with her status as Princess of Ylisse, but as she walked outside to the stable grounds to feed her pegasus, a curl of nausea crept up in her stomach. She tried to ignore it as she gave her loyal companion a goodnight scratch, but it kept getting worse. Caeldori started back to the castle when a horrible wave of nausea crashed upon her, but she stopped dead in her tracks and began to take deep breaths to control it from getting worse. She hated throwing up. After a good ten minutes of standing still, the redhead finally felt like she could move again without her stomach rebelling on her. She made it into the castle, wishing only to crawl under the covers of the bed and curl into a ball. Caeldori quietly made her way to her and Adrian's bedroom, where she discarded her lance, shoulderplate, and footwear before laying down. Footsteps approached the side of the bed a few minutes later.

"Caeldori?" Adrian asked softly.

He sat beside her on the bed and his hand touched her side.

"Hey, you okay?" Adrian asked as soothingly as hr could.

"No." Caeldori replied weakly.

The woman groaned, turning her head to crack her eyes open. Concern was etched on Adrian's face.

"What's wrong?" Adrian asked.

"My stomach isn't feeling well. I guess... dinner didn't really agree with me." Caeldori replied.

Adrian became thoughtful.

"The rest of the family don't seem to be feeling any affects." Adrian said.

Caeldori knew why she felt this way, but she didn't want to reveal why, especially in her current state.

"Maybe I'm coming down with something." Caeldori said.

She felt bad for lying, but it was a good excuse. Adrian nodded and leaned over to press a kiss to her forehead.

"Get some rest. I'll be back soon." Adrian said softly.

The nausea became a daily occurrence, but it wasn't as bad as the first time. Caeldori learned how to manage it. Eating fruit oddly seemed to help stem her stomach troubles and it became a habit of carrying canned fruit in her uniform wherever she went. While mounted on her pegasus, performing sharp maneuvers, spins, and barrel rolls was out of the question. Not only for her stomach's sake, but she had adapted to being more careful when flying.

Eventually, her second month of missing her cycle rolled around, and Caeldori was now sure that she was with child. Her breasts were tender, her belly felt oddly bumpy, her leggings were tighter, and her emotions were increasingly unhinging. The urge to cry over anything, usually ridiculous stuff like her mount squawking happily at her or watching children playing in the streets of Ylisstol, switched on the waterworks. She knew it wouldn't be long before Adrian or one of her other family members apart from her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother would figure out her secret. Adrian himself was already suspicious at the changes she was displaying, but he never questioned her. In a way, Caeldori wished he would ask questions, so she wouldn't have to bring it up herself.

One night, Caeldori had found herself in the castle stable after a grueling day of training with her fellow Pegasus Knights. As her mother was Commander of the Pegasus Knights and Caeldori was both a Pegasus Knight, a Shepherd, and Princess of Ylisse, along with how much of a hard worker and talent she was, she was second-in-command of the winged soldiers and was set to take over as Commander once Severa would retire in a few months. She was physically exhausted, her emotions spiraled in all different directions, and she craved roasted lamb to the point of madness. With knees drawn to her chest, she hid her face in her arms, angry at the tears leaking onto her legs. Her pegasus nudged her arms, whinnying inquiringly at her rider's behavior. Caeldori raised her head, rubbing the tears away.

"I'm okay, girl. There's just something I need to do and I don't know exactly how to do it." Caeldori said reassuringly.

"Maybe I can help." a voice said.

Caeldori's breath hitched. Adrian walked over to the stall that Caeldori was seated in with her pegasus. Adrian pulled Caeldori to her feet, which he was able to do despite her larger size, and he gently led her outside to a bench underneath a tree. The two sat down and Adrian gently cusped his wife's hands.

"Caeldori, you've been acting strange the last few of weeks." Adrian said.

Caeldori frowned.

"You noticed?" Caeldori asked.

"I know you better than anyone else in the haldom. You're my wife, my partner in the Shepherds, my step-sister, and my friend. Of course I noticed. This isn't like you. Tell me what's wrong. I thought you trusted me." Adrian replied softly.

Caeldori's throat clenched from his gentle words. The redhead sniffled, feeling like the worst woman in history for being such a blubbery mess.

"I-I was afraid to tell you." Caeldori said.

Adrian cocked his head and his red eyes met her own red ones. His eyebrows narrowed in confusion.

"Tell me what?" Adrian asked.

Caeldori took a deep breath. The secret weighed her soul down like an anchor.

"No more secrets." Caeldori thought.

She lifted her eyes up to look at her husband.

"Remember when you said we should wait awhile before having children?" Caeldori asked.

"Yeah." Adrian replied.

At first, the Manakete boy didn't know what she was implying. But after a few seconds, it suddenly hit him, his jaw slowly dropping in realization.

"Wait... Caeldy, are you..." Adrian started to ask.

Caeldori nodded tiredly.

"Pretty sure. I'm two months late and I feel like I've lost my mind." Caeldori replied.

Adrian's face exploded into a huge smile and he bolted up in joy.

"We're having a baby!" Adrian exclaimed happily.

Caeldori watched the dark blue haired boy's excited reaction in bewilderment.

"You're not mad or disappointed?" Caeldori asked.

Adrian's smile drooped slightly.

"Why would I be?" Adrian asked.

Caeldori glanced away, wrapping her arms around her torso as she did.

"Because you made it clear that we should wait to have children. We hadn't been married a year yet when you went and disappeared, and I took complete advantage of you as soon as you got back. We were so careful to prevent it." Caeldori replied.

Adrian's face softened. He sat back down and grasped both her hands in his like before.

"I'm not mad or disappointed. If this is what we're being given at this time in our lives, then it was supposed to happen. A baby will change things a lot, but we'll figure it out. We always do. And we'll have Mother, Father, Iona, and the rest of the family to help us out as well." Adrian said.

Caeldori sniffed, tears starting to fall down her face as she became upset. She turned to her husband and brushed a finger along his cut ear. The injury had healed, but due to how much had gotten sheered off, the boy wasn't able to hear on that side anymore. It also gave him pain from time to time.

"Yes, but... what will happen to our baby eventually? To us, when I get old and die? I'm human, while you're a Manekete. You and our family will be left to fend for ourselves when I pass away," Caeldori asked.

She pulled Adrian into a tight hug, inhaling his scent.

"I... I don't want to leave you! I can't lose you! I don't want you to have to suffer!" Caeldori cried tearfully.

She sobbed into his chest. Adrian just held her and rocked her gently back and forth. As he did, he lowly sang a soothing lullaby that Idoun had sung to him and Iona as a baby. His maternal grandmother, Idoun's own mother, would sing it to her back in her own childhood in Elibe, and the former Demon Dragon had explained to her twins that the lullaby had been a song past down throughout many generations of Manaketes. It was famous for it's ability to calm even the most upset of people, but would only work if sung in an ancient dragon language. Idoun had made sure that children had grown up being taught it, and Adrian had made sure to sing to Caeldori in that language. The effect worked, as Caeldori eventually calmed down and just rested silently in the boy's arms. Eventually, the woman sat up and sniffled, brushing the tears away from her face.

"S-Sorry... I don't know what came over me." Caeldori said apologetically.

Adrian's expression switched to uncertainty.

"How do you feel about this?" Adrian asked.

Caeldori laughed nervously.

"I was so caught up in worrying about what you would think and how to tell you that I didn't process my own thoughts on it. Though... I know I'll be okay if you're with me." Caeldori replied.

Adrian pulled her into a warm embrace.

"I'm not going anywhere. There will always be an Adrian and Caeldori. And don't worry about me when you're gone. Sure, I'll miss you, but I would rather suffer the loss rather than never have ever experiencing our relationship. I will always cherish our love towards each other." Adrian whispered reassuringly.

Caeldoro clung to him and buried her face into his neck. He'd always be her solid ground when all else would fail. For the first time since she realized she may be with child, the weight lifted and the redhead felt like she could truly smile again.

"We're having a baby." Caeldori whispered happily.

Adrian helped her up.

"By the way, do you know anything on the child yet?" Adrian asked.

Caeldori shook her head and looked down at her belly. Due to the fact that her body would expel their unborn child's egg from her womb a few months earlier than a human baby, it was more expanded at two months than a normal woman's body would be around then. There were also some small bumps along her flesh.

"I don't, no. But... is this normal?" Caeldori asked.

She motioned to her belly. Adrian looked down and noticed the changes to her body as well. Reaching his hands up, he felt along her flesh and pressed his fingers gently into her skin. He concentrated and felt about three different eggs in her womb. They weren't nearly as large and developed as they would be in the final weeks, but he could definitely feel them. He placed his arm around Caeldori's back while keeping the other leveled lovingly cusped against her belly.

"We're having triplets! We need to tell Mother and Father, and let everyone else know that..." Adrian started to reply excitingly.

Caeldori laughed and laid a hand on his chest, her spirits high.

"Slow down there, dragon boy. Let's get our babies born first." Caeldori said.