"Lina!?" A voice called, and Gourry wondered why it sounded so familiar. Lina stopped beside him in the middle of a busy market square as a sheen of sweat broke out on her forehead. Bad news? But then a man with long, black hair carrying a fishing pole over his shoulder emerged through the crowd and Gourry's eyes widened in recognition. Only the man's eyes were locked on Lina as though he knew her. But how did this man know Lina? "Goodness, it is you!"
"Dad!?" Lina exclaimed as she folded her arms in front of herself, but at this point there was no hiding her condition even if the man didn't seem to register it.
Dad!? Gourry thought as he stood a little straighter. He was Lina's father!?
The man with black hair hugged Lina, who went rigid in his arms as she tried to curve her belly away from him, "Hey sweetie! It's been years since you've been home! Have you eaten? I…"
His voice trailed off as Lina remained stiff as he pulled away from her as his eyes trailed to her stomach, and even from this distance Gourry could see that Junior was kicking up a storm. "Daddy! Um, so nice to see you again. I really wasn't expecting to run into you like this."
"Lina, wha…" he said.
As Gourry was trying to get over his shock Lina grabbed him and pulled him closer to her as she wrapped her arm in his, "And this is Gourry…my husband! Teehee!"
"Husband?" Gourry repeated dumbly as Lina's father stared at them skeptically as Lina rounded on him and screamed, "Well if you can be my self-appointed protector I can be your self-appointed wife!"
"Lina…" her dad said tiredly. "Look, these things happen. Come on, let's get you home to Zephyr City before you pop."
"I'm not going to Zephyr City." Lina said decidedly.
"What!?" her father said as something flashed in his eyes and Gourry felt his stomach twist, "Of course you are! Where else would you go?"
"Seyruun." Lina said decidedly, "Look, I know how this all sounds, but I'm friends with the royal family. I saved their kingdom awhile back. And this isn't a normal pregnancy. I'm a maiden for one thing."
"A maiden?" her father said skeptically as he looked at her very swollen belly, "Just like you're married?"
"Well we practically are a married couple who sleep in separate beds!" Lina said. "Look, there was this magic lake…"
"I don't need to know the details!" he yelled as he turned red as people started to stop and watch.
"It's not like that! What part of I'm a maiden do you not understand?"
"The part of you that looks nine months in!"
"The lake granted wishes! It put a baby in me via magic. There was no procreation involved. I'm still a maiden."
Her father looked very exasperated and not at all amused as he asked, "But why would a lake do that?"
He is going to kill me. Gourry thought.
"Because Gourry's a bit of an idiot and wished for a family, and thus here I am." Lina said.
Lina's father turned to glare at him, "Well I know Gourry's an idiot but since when do you take me for a fool!?"
"No, sir. I actually have a lot of respect for you and how you helped me…"
"Whaddaya mean how he helped you?" Lina yelled.
"Well, a little bit before I met you I ran into him." Gourry explained. Lina's jaw dropped as she was stunned speechless as he looked at her father sheepishly, "I, um, never did get your name."
The man sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "Kris Inverse. Come on, let's grab a bite to eat. We have a lot to discuss."
Over dinner Kris briefly explained to Lina how he'd met Gourry, and then Lina, who had sent the occasional letter home, filled him in on what had happened with the Cave of Xylanos. When she was finished Kris sighed as he grabbed a cigarette, "So you're sticking to that story."
"Smoking is bad for the baby." Lina snapped as Kris brought the cigarette to his lips.
He shook his head and took it out and sat it on the table. "Lina, what you say is hard to believe."
"I know, I can't help if it's the truth." Lina said as Gourry motioned to the waitress that he would pay, "When I get to Seyruun I'll have Princess Amelia write to you about our adventures. Though she doesn't know about the lake thing she'll be tell you that this is the sort of crazy thing that would happen to us."
"Lina, there are good midwives in Zephyr City if you're that worried. And your mother and I will take care of you…"
"I'm wanting to collect on a debt in Seyruun!" Lina said.
"Yeah and your mother is going to want to meet her grandchild and you know exactly what she will do to me if she finds out I saw you and returned home without you."
Lina was silent there. "And what's more," Kris continued, "Do you have any idea what your sister will do if she finds out that you upset your mother? I don't think all of your friends in Seyruun will…"
"Fine, fine!" Lina said as she stood up, "You've made your point. But as soon as the baby is strong enough we're going to Seyruun."
"We'll talk about that then." Kris said as he followed her out of the restaurant. "Aye, hey Gourry, can you walk on ahead, I want to talk to my daughter alone."
"Right," Gourry said anxiously as he picked up speed, feeling horrible for the way that this was unfolding and the bad start he was getting with Lina's family.
Kris shook his head as Lina's gaze remained fixed ahead as Gourry gradually put some paces between them. Once he was out of earshot Kris said, "Look, I don't buy this whole impregnated via lake thing and you're just making it worse with your lies."
"I'm not lying about the lake thing!" Lina insisted.
"I don't believe that for a second! But, damn, if it is true then…I have to ask, just in case this is somehow true, I can say we covered this. So for the sake of argument let's say that happened. That he made a wish for a family in a magic lake and impregnated you without touching you. Let's just say that happened. What about what you want?"
"Right now a hot bath and some barbeque." Lina said.
"Don't get smart with me." Kris snapped, "If he did make a wish to have a family, how do you know your head is in the right place? That you're thinking right? That the wish isn't affecting your feelings?"
Lina thought back to how well she was taking this as she put her hands on her belly. "You're not thinking I should get rid of it?" she asked.
"I'm asking if this is what you want?"
"Look, Gourry's an idiot. But I don't want to live without him. Even before this lake thing I mean, hell, if you don't believe me about the lake then you're not going to believe me if I told you who kidnapped him and how I got him back. Since we met we've been joined at the hip and even though he drives me crazy half the time I can't imagine life without him.
"And I'm not sure if I wanted a baby just yet. But I also didn't want to travel anymore. I've fought some big battles and gotten the bruises to show for it. I wanted a way out, really, but I wasn't sure he'd still want to be with me if I wanted out. I sorta thought if I ever said I wanted to go home he would go and pursue some other girl. So I never talked about it with him. Meanwhile I guess he was wanting to settle down but scared that I didn't want that, and then this happened. And it might not be what we planned, yes, it would have been better if we'd just talked about it like adults and gotten our feelings out in the open or whatever, but that's not how it happened so here we are and I'm going to make the best of it."
"This is an intense, lifelong commitment." Kris cautioned her.
"I know that!" Lina said. "And I should be mad at him, but I'm not. Maybe the lake did something more than put a baby in me or perhaps it just gave me the exit ramp I needed. Either way I'm perfectly happy with the idea of collecting on my debt in Seyruun for the rest of my life."
"Does he treat you right?"
"He treats me better than I treat him." Lina said.
"He's a bit of an idiot."
Lina smiled a little, "But it's rather endearing, actually."
Kris shook his head in exasperation. "Right then, I can see that you love him."
Lina blushed as she felt herself flare up, "Dad!"
"And damned if I know why you're sticking to this lake thing. But we're not going to convince each other so I'm going to drop it." he said, "Anyway, I'm going to talk to Gourry."
Lina followed close behind him as he made up the distance with Gourry, who attempted to give him a smile but faltered when he saw the look on his face. "Hey, um, I've been thinking of asking her to marry me. Just so you know. But I didn't want her to think that the only reason I was asking was because of the baby. And even if she doesn't want to get married I'm going to do the right thing. I'm going to take care of her and the baby and…"
"How you handle what comes next will tell me a lot about you." Kris said with a heavy glare.
Gourry took a deep breath, "I know." He said. "And I'd die before I let her down!"
"I'd better see you walk the talk, Gourry."
"I think he's finally asleep." Lina said as she walked into Gourry's room.
"How are you feeling?" Gourry asked nervously as she sat beside him on the bed.
"Annoyed." Lina said, "This is exactly why I didn't want to go home. I've been perfectly fine without them for six years and now, damn, this is worse than being treated like this as a kid because I now know what freedom is like."
"I'm sorry," Gourry said as he wondered how mad at him she was.
"It's not like you knew we'd run into him." Lina said as she put a hand on her stomach.
"It sort of forced the question though." He replied as he stared at his knees.
"What question?"
He took a deep, bracing breath and then stood up before he got down on one knee before her as he grabbed her hand, "I should have asked you this years ago. I was always scared you'd say no and ditch me somewhere, and I never wanted my adventure with you to end, no matter where it took me. But now I have to face the fear that you'll turn me down flat! Either way, I love you. So, will you marry me?"
Lina reached her free hand out to caress his cheek as she smiled, "I've been waiting for you to ask for a long time. And anytime you had asked I would have said yes!"
He squeezed her hands as he got up to sit by her and kiss her cheek. "So when are we doing this?"
Lina sighed as she put a hand on her belly, "Well, I didn't exactly want to get married while pregnant. But I also don't want to return home unmarried. So let's get it done, tomorrow."
They had a brief wedding at the courthouse with only Kris in attendance, and then continued on to Zephyr City. Kris was silent for the most part as Lina and Gourry tried to carry on as though he wasn't there, as if hoping he would see how they were with each other and soften towards the situation. By the time they returned home, though, things had not changed much.
"Noel! Luna! Guess who's home?" Kris called as he walked into the back entrance, the one that took them directly to their house and avoided the store. Lina was hoping that Luna would be at work, but there she was, washing the dishes as her mother came in from the store.
"Lina!" Noel Inverse cried as she ran forward and hugged her, "I was wondering when you would ever return home! I…"
"When did all this happen?" Luna asked as she waved her hand in front of her stomach.
"Wha…?" Noel asked as she pulled away and gasped, "Lina Inverse!"
"Gabriev." Lina said quickly. "Lina Gabriev."
Noel continued to turn red as she yelled, "Lina Gabriev you got married without inviting me?!"
"Yes."
"And why the hell did it to you so long to come home when you're this far along! You shouldn't even be traveling when you're this far along! What would have happened if you'd gone into labor in the middle or nowhere? You look like you're due any day now!"
"I'll put the kettle on." Kris said, "Noel, Luna, everyone sit down. We have a lot to talk about."
Ever since she had defeated Shabranigdo Lina had enjoyed imagining her return home as the triumphant heroine. She wasn't sure why she had never got around to actually going home to celebrate her victories, but now that she was back, she was kicking herself for never getting around to it. Especially as her parents and sister looked at her with skeptical and scandalized looks on their faces.
"So you're expecting us to believe that you got pregnant via a magic lake?" Luna asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yup." Lina said. "Surprise!"
"Lina," Noel breathed as she shook her head, "You really should have faced the music sooner. We don't have much time to plan now and we don't have so much as a diaper."
"I didn't even realize I was pregnant until a few weeks ago." Lina said.
"You just can't stop digging yourself in," Kris said.
"What did you think was going on?" Noel asked as she facepalmed.
"Stomach cancer." Lina said.
"You mistook a baby for stomach cancer?" Luna asked with an air of condescension in her voice, "I thought you were smarter than that."
"Well considering that I've never so much as kissed a man, much less done any baby making with one, pregnancy was not something that crossed my mind as plausible!" Lina snapped.
"That's enough of that, Lina!" Kris said.
"We don't have time to argue!" Noel said sharply, "Lina might hold out for another week or so, or she might go into labor tonight, or now even! Regardless of how we got here we have the reality of the impending arrival of a baby and we don't even have one diaper in this house. We have to prepare, buy garments, get blankets made. Oh but the stores are closed for the day. First thing tomorrow, though, we have some shopping to do. I'd better make a list..."
"She also has to prepare for the big day." Luna said with a smile, "My friend is a midwife."
"You mean Winnie?" Noel said as her eyes narrowed, and then she put a hand over her mouth and stifled a laugh.
"Yes. She's giving a class next week on birth preparation. I think you should join. Both of you."
"Me?" Gourry yelped as he nearly jumped out of his seat.
Lina also blushed a bit. It wasn't as if they'd seen each other naked or anything. Sure, they were married now, but between Gourry's fears of hurting the baby and with her father so close by they'd not done much more than kiss and cuddle. Gourry'd never seen her naked! Surely Luna wasn't expecting him to attend the birth.
But Luna glared at him, "You don't expect to sit at the bar while my sister is putting in the hard, agonizingly painful work do you?"
"No," Gourry said quickly.
"Good." Luna said. "I'll let Winnie know to expect you."
"Meanwhile you can stay in Lina's old room." Noel said, "I don't think we can afford a crib I'm afraid, but if you pull out a drawer in the dresser it works well as a crib."
"Gourry and I can afford a crib. Anyway, we'll go and get unpacked." Lina said as she stood up, "Come on, Gourry."
They walked in silence during the short trip to her room. Once there Lina closed the door and sighed, "Well that's that. I knew they wouldn't believe me."
"I'm sorry."
"You keep saying that." She said irritably as she pulled out her bag.
"How do I fix this?" Gourry asked.
"It's rather a day by day thing right now, isn't it?" Lina asked as she started putting her clothes in the dresser. "I guess there'll be more for you to do once Junior is here."
"Do you want me to be there for, you know, the birth?" he asked with a slight blush.
Lina stopped unpacking as a feeling of overwhelm hit her. She was of two minds. On the one hand she couldn't imagine going through something like that without having him by her side. On the other hand, from what she'd heard, there would be little mystery left, especially since they'd never had sex. "I don't know."
"It should be me going through all this stuff. I'm the one who wished for this." Gourry said as he sat on the bed.
"Well, I mean I always expected to have kids one day. It's just the reality of it. It's part of being a woman." Lina said as she sat down beside him, "As unfair as it is."
"Let me know what I can do to make this easier." Gourry said.
Lina thought for a moment, but the only thing she knew for sure was that her back hurt. "Could you rub my back?"
Lina was going to be prepared. While she was sure that giving birth would be a challenge, she was also sure that she could face it admirably. She'd defeated Shabranigdo after all! Giving birth couldn't be that much more difficult. And she still had a little bit of time to study hard and prepare for it. And if she was really lucky, she could get the whole thing done with in the time that Luna was at work!
Gourry sat beside her with a blank expression on his face as they sat with the other expectant parents waiting for the class to start. Soon a woman with reddish-blond hair walked in and Lina found that she actually did recognize Winnie. She'd always been one of Luna's friends, the type that Lina was not allowed to interact with.
"Good evening class!" Winnie said with an enthusiastic smile as she walked up to the blackboard, "I am Winnie and I am a midwife. And today we are going to talk about preparing for the birth of your child!"
Gourry seemed to rally a bit as he sat up straighter, and Lina hoped that meant that he was paying attention for once, "Of course, nothing can truly prepare you for the experience. Sure, we can teach about breathing exercises and if you're lucky and have an easy labor they'll take the edge off. But if you're not, ho-boy are you in for a hard time!"
Winnie laughed as Lina looked at her in horror, and she must not have been the only one because Winnie quickly backtracked, "Oh don't worry! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and as soon as you're holding the baby all of the pain and embarrassment is forgotten! But we're getting ahead of ourselves! First, let me talk about what to expect. Now if your waters breaks you need to send for a midwife straight away, but usually labor starts before they break. Now, it's rather hard to describe what contractions feel like. Basically it's a strong menstrual cramp."
"What's a menstrual cramp?" Gourry blurted out.
Lina blushed as she yelled, "Nothing you need to know about!"
"Now Lina, it's good to have a husband who is so eager to learn about these issues." Winnie said, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Menstrual cramps are pains that a woman experiences during her period."
Lina buried her face in her hands as Gourry nodded in understanding.
"Now," Winnie said, "These cramps aren't continuous. They sort of come and go and some times they progress into labor and other times they don't. The best way to tell if things are getting moving is to time the contractions. If they are less than ten minutes apart and consistent then it's time to send for a midwife. If not then you can go about your daily life."
Lina raised her hand, and once Winnie nodded at her she said, "So is there any way we can get these contractions started and moving along?"
"Not really." Winnie said, "You can take castor oil but all that will do is give you a bad case of the runs really."
"So there's no magic…"
"Well, some people swear they have great results if they let their husbands massage their breasts for a few hours." Lina's hair stood on end as Gourry's mouth dropped as the other people in the room chuckled with each other while Winnie continued, "Really though the only surefire way to get things moving is by having your waters broken, and a midwife would only do that if the baby is distressed or you're way past due."
"But how do you know when this will happen?" Lina asked.
"That's all for baby to decide!" Winnie said with a smile. "Really it's all a waiting game."
"Well I'm not good at sitting around waiting." Lina muttered under her breath as Gourry looked at her nervously.
"How long will it take?" another woman asked.
"It's hard to say. For you first time mothers it will likely take around thirteen hours, but for some women it will be far less and others, well, labor can last for days!" Winnie said.
"But how do you speed it along?" Lina asked.
"Well you can take a walk or dance or change positions." Winnie said, "Staying active helps."
"Well that's a load of bull! I stayed active for my first, it still went on for three days!" Another woman said. "Babies have their own minds about these things."
"You didn't happen to wish me an easy, speedy delivery while you were in that lake?" Lina whispered to Gourry, who shrugged pathetically.
Gourry's hand shot up in the air and Winnie nodded at him, "Is there any way to make it less painful?" he asked.
"Luckily Lina is a sorceress, so a lot of what she does for mental focus can help her to distract her mind from the contractions. Distraction and the right breathing techniques are good ways to cope with the pain."
"Oh please." the experienced mother said, "They work fine during the first part but towards the end when you can't breathe without feeling as though your rib cage is collapsing in on itself and you can't get a proper breath in between contractions, there's not enough distraction in the world to take your mind off it!"
"But there's no magic potion or spell you can use?" Gourry asked.
"Unfortunately the best minds in sorcery are working on issues more important than relieving the pain of the laboring mother as she brings life into this world." Winnie said. "We just have to make do with our breathing techniques and distraction, and fortunately they work just fine!"
"This isn't convincing at all." Lina said. "But I've had my shares of scrapes and pain and lived to tell the tale. Hell, I grew up with Sis and her punishments. This can't be worse than that."
"That's the spirit Lina!" Winnie said as she pointed to the blackboard, "Now before labor begins your cervix is this tiny size."
She drew a small circle on the board as Gourry whispered to Lina, "What's a cervix?"
"Never you mind!" Lina hissed.
"But by the time baby is ready to come out it will be this big!" Winnie said as she drew a larger circle, and Lina found herself crossing her legs as her hair stood on end once more. "It's incredible really, how you will expand in ways you never thought possible. In fact, when you are hit with a contraction, it will help to envision a flower blossoming to help your cervix expand and bloom and to be ready for delivering the head!"
Winnie sighed in admiration as she surveyed the class and took in their expressions, "Now, ladies, being so modest won't help, you know. In fact it may cause you to hold back when the time comes when you really need to let loose and give into your animal instincts."
"My what?" Lina asked.
"Birth is primal! Modesty needs to be set aside, and once you're fully dilated you'll just need to push like there's no tomorrow and let loose! Some women resist because it feels like a bowl movement and they don't want to poop everywhere, but just let it all loose. That's the fastest way to get baby out. And don't worry about any mess you make, part of our job is to clean you up afterwards! Now, whose ready to practice those breathing exercises?"
Gourry chanced a look at Lina, who had gone pale as a sheen of sweat formed on her brow as she spoke, her voice low and dangerous, "Gourry Gabriev, what have you done to me!?"