Wow! I got so many nice reviews that I decided to write this chapter super fast, as a way to thank you. It always feels good to see people like my work. I'd like to give extra thanks for Sweety Chou, I'm glad you like my story because I sure love all of yours. And I also can't stand HeliaXKrystal, so they won't be together in any fanfic I plan on writing.
This chapter was hard to write because I had to get into Helia's head and think like him. I hope you find his reaction realistic even though I am a hopeless romantic. I had so much fun writing about the other girls, specially Stella. Even though I'm nothing like her, I find her obsession with fashion/shopping quite amusing. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
"I'm pregnant." The words hit him hard and his eyes widen in surprise, shock. He hadn't expected her to say this just as she hadn't expected him to propose to her. He stood there, unmoving, as his brain repeated her words many times.
It was just so hard for him to grasp what was going on, he felt as if he was underwater. Recognition soon dawned upon him and he understood. Flora was pregnant. He didn't know how to feel about it, it was as if someone had turned off his brain. But he forced it to work again, he knew that they needed to talk about this. Once he finally unfroze, his eyes met hers.
There weren't tears in her eyes, but they did show nervousness and sadness. She was terrified of how he would react at the news and she braced herself for the worst. He was finally moving, that was a good sign.
"You...You're pregnant?"He repeats the words as he questions her, wanting to make sure that he had heard it right. He hates how shakily his voice sounds and she chooses to ignore it.
"Yes."She whispers it and her voice is shaking also. She doesn't know what she'll do anymore, all she knows is that now her secret is out and that could very well ruin their relationship. It's ironic, she thinks, they have just gotten engaged, but this engagement might be over today.
"How long have you known?"He asks as he finds his voice once again. There's a certain sadness there as he thinks of how long she had kept that secret, how long she had debated with herself on when to tell him or if she should even do so. Since they haven't seen each other in weeks, he guesses she had kept it for a long time.
"Over a month."She answers and her voice is tight as new tears threaten to fall."I wanted to tell you, I probably would have done it sooner, but you weren't exacly around."The words cut him like knives as he is reminded of how he had abandoned her for the past few weeks. He immediately feels guity, but he knows she's expecting some kind of reaction from him.
He isn't sure how he should react. He feels nervous and scared now that he knows of her pregnancy, but he also feels happy. They had already discussed the subject of children and they had decided that, if they stayed together, they'd like to become parents. He always knew that she would be an amazing mother, she was so kind and caring. He watched the way she was with Miele and wondered many times what it would be like with their child.
Of course, he hadn't expected it to happen so soon, they were way too young to be taking care of children. He was 21 and he didn't even have a job, aside from being a specialist, and she had barely turned 20. He knew that life would be very difficult now that she was pregnant and everything was going to change. They wouldn't go on missions to save the magic dimension with their friends for it would be too dangerous for their child. They would be responsible for another life and that scared him a lot. But he also knew that this situation was a hundred times more difficult for her. She probably feared that he would leave her.
As he thought of all those things, there was something that stood out: He loved her. And to him, that was all that mattered. Because he loved her, he would be by her side despite of the difficult situation. He would take care of her, protect her and their child. He would try his best to be a good father because that little boy/girl needed him now, just like it's mother.
"I understand that this is too much for you.I'll give you some alone time for you to think about this."Flora says as she realizes he's deep in thought. He looks back at her and realizes just how much she needs him right now. She needs him to reassure her that everything will be alright and tell her again that he loves her. He knows that, as hard as this is for him, it is a hundred times more difficult for her. She probably feared that he would leave her.
"I think I had enough time to think about it."He says and his voice's still shaking a bit. Her eyes fall down sadly at his response, thinking that he doesn't want to have anything with her anymore. She forces herself not to cry.
"Okay."She starts, shakily."I just want you to know that you don't have to feel obligated to stay with me. I'll completely understand if you want to live your own life, with other people. All I ask is that you don't abandon this child because she will need you."She can't stop herself and she burst into tears. He stares at her, wide eyed, as he realizes what she was thinking.
"Flora, don't be so stupid. Did you actually think that I would just abandon you, especially after learning that you're carrying my child?"Her green eyes widen in surprise. She had been so afraid that he would leave her, so focused on thinking the worst that she didn't understand his words at first.
"What are you saying?"She asks, because she needs to make sure that this isn't just in her mind, that he really is saying that he still wants to be with her. He gives her a smile as he brings her closer.
"I'm saying that you can count on me. I won't leave you and I'll stay by your side and help you go through this." A smile appears on her face, but she still needs to know that he isn't saying that just to comfort her, that he actually means it. She also needs to know that he'll be with her because he wants to and not just due to her pregnancy.
"Helia, you don't have to stay with me just because I'm pregnant, okay? I want you to be with me because you want and not because of some obligation."He knows her too well and he knew that she was thinking about this.
"I asked you to marry me because I love you, Flora. I'm not staying with you out of obligation."He reassures her and she feels calmer. She kisses him again and tries to put all those emotions she had kept bottled up for the past few weeks into that kiss. They stay like there, happy and blissfully unaware of the crowd watching them from the other side of the lake.
"Everything's going to change, our lives..."She starts saying, but he interrupts her. "I know. But I'm ready to face those challenges as long as I have you. We'll get through this and I'm sure that our friends will help us."
"You always know how to calm me down. That's one of the reasons why I love you."She says and that earns her a smile as those beautiful blue eyes stare into her green ones with so much love.
"I love you too. Now,come on, we should tell the others our great news because they sure seems interested."He says and she smiles at the words "great news", her fears melting away. It is only then that she notices that all of their friends are on the other side of the lake and looking at them. She blushes, but decides that it's time everyone knows of her pregnancy. So,she takes Helia's hand and they both walk towards their friends, ready to share their happiness and fear with them.
Meanwhile, with the winx and specialists
"This is so perfect! Just us, having a goood time under the shining sun." Stella commented blisfully as she lay her head on Brandon's shoulders. The winx had decided to meet up with the specialists and have a fun, relaxing day. Thankfully, Trittanus and the Trix seemed to have disappeared and the girls didn't receive any emergency calls from Mrs. Faragonda or the selkies.
"It's good to have a day to forget about all the drama."Bloom says as she nods her head in agreement to what Stella said.
"Tell me about it. I couldn't take anymore of the trix and Tritannus. We needed a day off."Musa says as she stops playing her song. A frown appears on her face as she thinks of their enemies, but Riven pulls her closer to him and put his arms around her shoulder. "If you couldn't take it anymore of them , why do you insist on bringing them up? Let's just enjoy the sun and the peace, as blondie said." That comment has Musa sighing and then the smile returns to her face. That's why she loves him, he always knows what to say to make her feel better.
"I just feel guilty because we are here having fun while Flo's still in our room."Bloom says and the other girls share guilty looks with her. They all knew that Flora and Helia were going through a rough time and this had the nature fairy distraught. She hadn't come out of her room in days, except when they had to go on missions.
They had barely seen Helia for the past couple weeks and even the specialists were getting fed up with his careless attitude. What type of boyfriend would just disappear and not talk to their girflriend for weeks? Timmy, his best friend, always argued that he must have a very good reason, but even he knew there was no excuse for Helia's behavior.
"She sure has been down lately."Stella said and then her eyes lit up as a huge smile appeared on her face. "Maybe I should take her on a shopping trip! That would definetly cheer her up."She finishes and all the girls groan. Stella always thinks that shopping could fix everything and they are tired of it.
"Stella!"Tecna says as she slaps her forehead. "Can't you understand that shopping won't fix everything?"She screams at the sun fairy as Musa and Bloom nod their heads in agreement.
"Sorry! It just always works for me."Stella says lowly, understanding where her friends are coming from.
"Stella might be wrong, but at least she has thought of a way to cheer Flora up."Bloom defends her best friend. "We should think about that, because we haven't done a good job so far.
"Maybe you guys could help."Musa says as she looks at Riven. He gives her a confused frown as the other guys look at each other.
"But we have no idea how to do this. We don't understand girls like you do."Brandon says as the specialists try to get out of this conversation.
"You could talk to Helia and try to put some sense into him."Bloom says as she looks at Sky. Her fianceè casts her a smile as he wraps his arms around her.
"I confronted him last week and he said that he has a plan. I'm not sure what it is, but it better be good or else he's sure to lose Flora." Timmy says timidly and they all look at him as if he had grown three heads.
"Why haven't you told us this before?"Tecna asks him and he shakes his head. "He asked me to keep it a secret."Timmy slumps his shoulders.
This piece of information makes the girls feel conflicted between hope and fear. But they had seen Flora and Helia's relationship develop for the past few years, so they chose to be hopeful that whatever Helia was planning would strenghten their love, not possibly destroy it. Maybe things will turn out alright for their nature loving friend. Flora and Helia had always been seen as "the old married couple" and to seem them going through this rough phase had scared the winx and specialists. If not even the most perfect relationship they knew could survive, how could they have hope for their own?
"Thanks for the info, Timmy. Now I'll ask Aisha to bring Flora here because she needs to have a good time."Everyone agrees with the fire fairy's idea and Bloom calls Aisha and makes her request.
For the next twenty minutes, everyone stays in a comfortable silence as they enjoy the sun and just relax. The news that maybe Helia isn't just being a jerk makes the winx less worried and gives them hope that Flora can be happy with him. They have watched as their nature fairy turned from happy and calm into depressed and angry and they wanted nothing more than to have their friend back.
Stella, mainly,was tired of Flora constantly snapping at them and yelling like crazy. She didn't know the real reason why the other girl had been so moody lately, but she guessed it had something to do with Helia. And so she planned on giving the long haired specialist a piece of her mind, but that could wait.
"Oh My God!"Musa whisper-screamed and all the girls looked at her with frowns on their faces, upset that she disturbed the peace and quiet. The fairy of music was staring at something behind them and so they stood up to see what she seemed so interested in.
On the other side of the lake, they could see Flora and Helia walking together before the couple made a stop. "Wow! They are walking together. I guess that's a good sign."Bloom said hopefully and the other girls nodded their heads in agreement. Something was still weird, though. They wondered why their two friends were together just now and they assumed it had something to do with Helia's plan. They hoped it was nothing bad and that he actually cared for their friend.
"They seem to be arguing."Tecna comments as they watch the couple talk. Their conversation doesn't seem a very happy one. But then, Flora suddenly bursts into tears and Helia holds her in his arms. Bloom sighs with relief at the sight and she hopes everything will work out between these two. Sky wraps his arms around her as he can sense that she's thnking about a million things.
They keep watching as the couple comfort each other and as Helia seems to tell her something very important. Then, all of sudden, he kneels down and everyone gasps. "Oh My God!"Stella's scream is muffled by Brandon's hand on her mouth. The girls sigh in relief when they notice that the couple hadn't heard their commotion.
They do wonder what the heck is going on, for it makes no sense for Helia to be proposing to Flora after ignoring her for all those weeks. But they don't have time to think about it because the nature fairy seems to accept his request. They watch with happiness and confusion as she throws herself at Helia and he spinns her around, laughing.
"They seeem pretty happy. I'm starting to think that we've been missing something."Brandon voices what all of them are thinking. One minute Flora's depressed because Helia's ignoring her and the next they are kissing and hugging after getting engaged. It just seems too weird and maybe even wrong.
"Maybe this was all part of Helia's plan."Timmy says and it clicks. They think about how the specialist had been purposely avoiding Flora for the past few weeks and how none of them had seen him. It would make a lot of sense if he had been planning his proposal for that time. They hoped that they were right.
"Maybe we should go there and congratulate them?"Musa suggests and Bloom shakes her head.
"No, we should let them have their privacy."Bloom argues, but it's pretty much useless.
"We've been spying on them, we haven't given them much privacy, but they're just too oblvious."Riven says in a jokingly tone. They laugh at his words, knowing they are true.
"Besides, it seems as if the conversation's not over yet."Musa adds as she looks back at the couple, who had broken their embrace and seem to be having another intese conversation.
"They're probably discussing the wedding plans. "Stella says and a big smile comes to her face. "I can't wait to plan their wedding. It will be so much fun to choose dresses for us, since we'll obviously be the bridesmaids. And Flora's dress, I have just the perfect idea for..."She stops talking after receiving glares from the girls.
The couple's discussion is interrupted as Helia stops moving and just stares at Flora wide eyed. They wonder what she has told him that has him so shocked. He stays still for a few minutes, seeming to be lost in thought and then he looks at Flora and they start talking again. Soon, they are hugging again and they can see his face.
"He sure looks happy about whatever she told him."Musa comments and she's dying to know what is going on. It's then that she notices how Helia's looking at them and knows that they have been busted. The blue haired specialist looks over at Flora and says something to her. Soon they hold hands as they walk over to where their friends are. At the same time, Aisha arrives, having gotten bored of waiting for Flora in their room. She sees the way Flora and Helia are holding hands and smiling and guesses that the truth is out and everything will be alright.
Flora glances at her happily and Aisha is happy that she and Helia apparently worked things out. The couple quickly approaches the group and there's an akward silence as everyone seems to decide on what to say. Surprisingly, it's Flora who breaks it.
"So...Helia and I have something that we want to tell you."She says and she glances back at her boyfriend. He gives her a reassuring smile and squeezes her hand. The group stares at the couple in confusion and antecipation. Stella, though, doesn't seem to get the hint that Bloom is giving her.
"You're engaged!"She screams happily as she clapps her hands. "We already now that and I am so happy for you lovebirds. I can't wait to be planning your wedding."Bloom and Musa are casting her killing glances and she lowers her head and gives a low apology.
"Sorry about that. We didn't mean to spy on you."Bloom apologizes to the couple, who only smile back at her.
"It's okay. We're the ones that didn't notice that you were there."Helia says and there are many questions they want to ask him, starting with why he had been acting as such a jerk.
"You two sure were distracted."Riven comments with a smirk and Musa hits his arm. "But, congratulations anyways."He adds and that seems to calm Musa down. The others follow his congratulations and the couple only smiles at them. Their smiles are nervous ones, though.
"Thank you so much, but that's not all we had to tell you."Flora says as a small blush comes to her face. She seems to be debating on how to say it and for the third time that day she can't find the right words. Aisha catches on to what she wanted to say and gives her a reassuring smile, but that doesn't help the nature fairy at all.
"We're having a child"It's Helia who breaks the silence and their friend's eyes widen in surprise and shock. Bloom and Stella look between Flora and Helia, searching for a confirmation that what they heard is correct.
"Wow! I wasn't expecting that."Musa breaks the akward silence that has fallen after the huge reveal. Her friends nod in agreement and Flora smiles lightly.
"Neither were we, but it just happened. I've been keeping this secret for a while now, but I thought that it was about time you all know." Helia holds her hand and smiles at her. He seems reallly happy at the news, not at all what they would expect a 21 years old man to express after learning that he's going to be a father. But they guess that love can make anyone see past the difficulties in life and only focus on the good things.
A second row of congratulations follows Flora's words and the girls tear her apart from Helia to give her a hug that has her gasping for breath. After that, they all promise to help the engaged couple with the new addition to their little family and Flora is relieved to receive so much love and suport from her friends. When the happy gathering is over, the questioning begins. They sit down at the shore of the lake again and Flora and Helia prepare themselves for a long session.
"So, when did this happen?"Bloom asks quietly, wondering how far along Flora is.
"About two months ago."Flora says simply and the girls know that she's uncomfortable with the subject.
"How come we never figured it out?"Musa asks, changing the subject a bit. She also wants to know how come they never thought that Flora could be pregnant. They were her best friends, they were around her all the time, they should have figured it out.
"I took a long time to figure it out myself."Flora says."I thought that I was sick, so I started taking a special tea my mother used to make. It made some symptoms, such as morning sickess, go away. I still had my mood changes, though. There were many times when I would yell at you and I thought that you'd figure it out." They nodded their heads in understanding and then it was Helia's turn.
"You've sure been acting like a jerk lately. Can we assume that the reason why you've been missing lately is because you were planning on how to propose to Flora?" Stella asks and she sends Helia a glare that almost scares him. He gulps down before answering.
"I have wanted to propose for a long time, but I couldn't decide on what to say. So I asked Krystal for help and that's why we've been spending time together."This catches Flora's attention.
"So that's why you were spending so much time with her. I was starting to have my doubts on our relationship, I thought that you didn't love me anymore."Her voice was shaking and there was unmistakable sadness there. Helia sighed guiltily and looked at her in a loving way.
"I'm so sorry I've made you feel like that. But now you know that I love you and only you."She smiles at that and they share a quick kiss after she confesses her love for him. Bloom clears her throat to call for the couple's attention after they pull apart.
"So what happens now?"Bloom asks them.
"I guess everything will change, but I know that as long as we're together, we can overcome any obstacles that come our way." Flora says and everyone agrees. This child is going to change all of their lives, but they know that, in the end, everything will be okay. Because they have survived through so much,they were best friends. They were going to be there for Flora and Helia and the little one on the way. But first, they needed to fix a problem that went by the name of Tritanus.
So, what did you think? Was Helia's reaction what you expected? Did you like that I included the other girls and the specialists? Even though Flora and Helia are the main characters for this fanfic, I intend to show the other couples as well. If you guys want, you can message me your favorite couples aside from FloraXHelia and I'll put in more scenes of them.
Next chapter will have a time jump and new challenges will arise. Since I only had the first three chapters ready, it will take me a while to post it. I'll try to write it during the weekend and I'll post on Sunday or Monday.