Cardboard boxes were stacked in each room of the house, and the furniture that once occupied the small apartment didn't quite seem to fill the new home. Maria was taking a look around her new room and missing the rainbow room she'd grown up in for her almost five years of life. She took a look out the window at the snow that had covered the ground; it had made their move more difficult and the landscape look a bit...lonely. She wan't used to the colder climate of the northmost end of Station Square, seated part way up the mountain range. She stopped staring at the snowy landscape when her mother's voice called her to the kitchen.
"Why'd we have to move? I liked the apartment," Maria complained.
"Because the apartment's too small," Shadow replied calmly. He set a couple of white paper boxes with handles down on a couple of cardboard boxes they were using as a table while waiting for the rest of the furniture to arrive.
"I didn't think so…." Maria sniffed the air, ginger and soy sauce filling her nose. "Chinese?"
"Mm hmm. We have some shrimp fried rice and eggrolls and veggie lo mein." Sara smiled and set out some thick paper plates and plastic ware. She then gingerly knelt down on the floor, mindful of the slight bulge to her belly.
"Your mom's pregnant, so you're getting a brother or sister soon," Shadow said, placing his little girl with a slightly strict look.
"Why?" She sat down next to one of the boxes while Shadow dished out some fried rice to her.
"Why? Well...we've been wanting another kid for a while." He smiled at Sara, who returned the smile warmly.
"You don't like me any more?" she asked, scooping a fork full of rice into her mouth.
"Of course we like you," Sara put in, though she preferred to eat her food with chopsticks. "We love you very much."
"Then why'd we move? I liked my room!" Maria sulked.
Shadow grunted slightly. "It's not about you, it's about us having another baby. The baby's gonna need a room too."
"Mommy, did you want to move?" She turned to Sara after receiving no sympathy from her dad.
"Mmm... actually, I've been kind of hoping we'd move into a real house for a long time," She replied with a slightly apologetic look. "Since I am having a baby, it's just good timing. Don't worry about making new friends and we're actually closer to your cousins Blitz and Rift now, isn't that cool?"
"Well... okay... but how'd it happen? How'd mommy get pregnant?" she asked.
"Ahh..." Shadow looked at his mate, who had paused in mid-bite at that question. Redness flooded his cheeks as he thought about how to answer that. "Umm well... your mom and I…."
Sara laughed. "You'll think it's really gross if we tell you." She smiled at their little girl. "But when you're older, you'll want it too."
"Oh? How are babies made?" she asked again.
"Well..." Shadow poked at one of the shrimp on his plate. "To be technical about it... our bodies are all made up of little tiny things called cells... and each one has all the data that makes up our bodies." He looked at her to make sure she was keeping up. "But there's cells that men have called sperm which only have half of the genetic code, and women have cells called ova… egg cells... and they have the other half of the code... so when the two come together... they make a baby."
She gave him a comprehending look and nodded. "Ohhh... So how do they come together?"
"And that's the part that sounds gross." Sara laughed. "Don't worry about it until you're older. It's just that men and women are built differently... it's those differences that make having children possible."
"Hmph..." Maria made a face. "Why won't you tell me?"
She smiled warmly. "I told you. It's gross. Your dad and I had to try a lot to get to this point." She rested a hand on her belly.
"If it's so gross, why did you try so much?" she persisted.
"It'll seem gross to you, but we like it," Shadow replied in his typical even tone. He did have a smile on his face, though. "We didn't plan on when we'd have kids when you were born, we were just doing something we liked a lot, and there you were."
"Oh..." Maria seemed to have run out of questions, and the family got back to their meal in relative silence.
Sara curled up with her head lying on Shadow's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her as often happened when they went to bed. It was their third night in the new home, and there were still a lot of boxes littering the house. They were having a peaceful discussion about what to unpack next, and Shadow was putting limits on what she was allowed to carry. When she'd been pregnant with Maria, he'd given her such restrictions and was even worried when she wanted to sleep on her stomach... and the cycle had begun again.
"Ahh.. I'm only a couple months in, you know…." she said softly, enjoying the way Shadow was now stroking his fingers through her quills.
"Yeah yeah, you're a big girl, you can handle things... you're not that fragile. You said the same things last time." He rolled his eyes.
Sara laughed lightly, "Yes... and I haven't changed much since then."
"Right... like you didn't go nuts quitting coffee and chocolate." He sighed, thinking about how that went. The first two weeks after they found out about her condition, she went positively bonkers over having to remove her precious caffeine and chocolate from her diet. He was kind of glad the coffee pot was packed away in some unknown box for the moment. "...Addict."
"Sorry about that... I got over it, though." She shrugged and nestled against him a bit more snugly.
He gave her a dubious look, then kissed the top of her head. "Hmmm... I think I'll start on the den tomorrow... we can set the games up in there, eh?"
"Ahh yeah." Sara brightened at that.
The couple had just quieted down and breathing began to slow to a resting state when the door to their bedroom cracked open. As usual, Shadow was more alert than his love, and peered through the darkness at the small form entering the room. "...Maria? What are you doing up?"
"Can't sleep," she replied and climbed over the footboard into bed.
Sara rolled aside so the girl could squeeze in between them, and she wrapped her arms around her once she'd crawled her way to them. "Aww... what's wrong, sweety?"
"My room's so big and empty..." she pouted, "and it's cold..."
"Hmm... maybe we should help Maria get set up before the den, hon." She comforted the girl, letting her slip under the sheets between them.
"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked.
Shadow sighed a bit and looked over at Sara. He kind of wanted to spend time with her; she was at that point in her pregnancy where she was still pretty affectionate and frisky, something he would be missing as her belly swelled. Yet, he couldn't ignore the child they already had, so he had only one way he could possibly reply, "Yeah. But just for tonight."
"Thank you, Papa!" She beamed and snuggled up to his chest.
"Heh... Don't get used to it." He lightly stroked her quills and couldn't help smiling at her.
"Remember she used to sleep like that all the time when she started crawling?" Sara said softly, recalling lazy days when Maria interrupted many of Shadow's naps.
"Yeah. You both target my chest fur," he replied softly.
"Well, it's your cuddly feature." She smirked and drew in close enough to slip her arms around both Shadow and Maria.
"Yeah... so you say. Good night, hon... Good night, Maria." He gave his mate a soft kiss on the lips and soon fell asleep with the two warm bodies nestled against him.
Over the next few days, most of the boxes were emptied out. Sara decided to keep the Christmas mugs down, and the decorations, which were about the only boxes left piled in a corner of the living room. The den had been completed, sporting a tangled knot of wires hooked up to various game systems and a flat screen TV. The computer had also been moved into that room on a nice desk, and books and knickknacks filled up the rest of the shelves.
Sara sighed, knowing her condition wouldn't allow her her precious cup of coffee in the morning when the pot was finally dug out of its box. She set about organizing the kitchen drawers, however, while Shadow argued with her about the dozens of gadgets and decorating items she never used. He also attempted to stop her from standing on a chair to reach the high shelves, causing her to laugh. "I am not made of glass!"
The biggest project and most rewarding was taking care of Maria's room. The white walls didn't have rainbows on them, but a toy net was installed in one corner of the room just over the toy chest. Stuffed animals and baby dolls quickly filled up the net, while the chest boasted building blocks, ponies, and other hard plastic playthings. Her rainbow furniture soon filled out the rest of the room, and the place looked a lot more welcoming.
"Maybe she'll sleep in her own bed tonight?" Shadow commented as he watched Maria drag out her ponies to play with them.
Sara chuckled, "What, you don't want her coming between us?"
Shadow put an arm around her and drew her to his side. "You know what I mean."
"Ohh...in one of those moods? I think I can still accommodate you." She chuckled and hugged him tightly.
"Only if we don't have an extra guest in bed," he said quietly.
"We already do, you know." She smirked. Her expression became quite peaceful as his hand settled on the bulge to her belly.
"Mommy! Daddy! Can we play?" Maria asked, suddenly rushing up to the couple with a pony in each hand. She forced a unicorn into Sara's hands, and a baby pony into her dad's.
"Of course," Sara replied.
Shadow sighed. "You think it's a boy this time?"
"Hmm...maybe." Sara more eagerly took up her place on the child's floor and spoke for her pony as they played with various accessories and styled the tangled hair.