ARIA

Aria was awoken from a deep sleep by a wave of nausea. Knowing she was immediately in deep trouble, she stumbled down the loft ladder and hurried to the front door.

It was a week later. The moon shone in the sky more towards the west, which told Aria it was past the middle of the night. But she didn't have much time for stargazing, for the next moment she turned and vomited right outside her door.

When she was done she plopped down on the other side of the frame and wiped her mouth. At that moment Perry bursted from the front door and knelt beside her, his whole face radiating concern. But even behind the concern Aria could see his disgust at the scent, which was extremely amplified by his Scire nose.

Suddenly Aria felt incredibly weakened. Every muscle in her body, especially the ones in her eyelids, seemed to be weighted. She closed her eyes and slumped further against the outside wall of her home, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep right there.

"Aria?" She barely heard Perry's voice as his hand shook her shoulder. He sounded as if he were far away. Aria mumbled a response and slid further down the wall. "Aria!"

"Mmmmmm fnnnn..." she replied. Despite this, she was quickly scooped up in Perry's arms. She dragged her eyes open for a moment to see Perry looking around with wide, fearful green eyes.

"Molly!" he hollered frantically. Aria was jostled as he began running and repeatedly shouting for the former Tides healer.

"Nonononono," she murmured, slowly moving her head back and forth. "I'm..." But before she could finish her sentence, sleep finally pulled her in and she happily fell into the cozy blackness of nothing.

Aria opened her eyes to a blinding gold light. She squeezed her eyelids shut and blinked against the harsh sunlight. When her poor eyes finally adjusted, she opened them and made out the shapes of the objects in the large room.

Aria recognized the room as the hospital. She had been a main helper in the construction of it, although it was still far from finished. The structure was completed, but the windows were just holes in the walls and the door frames were empty, with the exception of the front door. The only furniture in the room were cabinets filled with supplies and rows of crummy cots, along with a cozy-looking rocker in the corner.

Then Aria realized that someone was seated in the rocker. She squinted against the brightness of the room and made out the shape of Molly. The old woman was sitting with her chair stilled, looking out the empty window frame as if lost in thought.

"Molly?" Aria rasped. Her mouth was bone-dry and her breath carried the bitter taste of vomit. She needed water.

Molly's attention snapped to Aria and a smile appeared on her gentle face, creating wrinkles along her cheeks. She walked over and knelt beside Aria, holding her hand.

"How are you?" she asked, lightly brushing the surface of Aria's hand with her old, gnarly thumb.

"Fine." Then Aria thought for a second and added, "Thirsty."

"I'll get you some water," Molly said. Her kind smile was not at all effected by Aria's horrid breath. She got up and came back a few seconds later with a small cup. Aria took it and gulped it down in a matter of seconds.

"Why am I here?" she asked, her voice clearer. Some of the stench had gone, but she could still taste it on her tongue.

"Your first pregnancy symptoms." Molly's smile grew wider as she explained. "You had nausea, followed by fatigue. It makes sense, since you found out about your pregnancy a week ago and conceived the child the week before that. Two weeks is the normal time for those symptoms to develop. I should also warn you that soon you'll begin urinating more often and you'll become bloated. Don't worry, it happens with everyone."

"Okay," Aria said, feeling even more worried now. "But why exactly am I here anyway?" If she were only nauseous and felt some fatigue, was it really necessary for her to be in the hospital?

"Last night Peregrine carried you here after you passed out. I told him that you'd be fine, nothing's wrong, but he wouldn't let me rest until I agreed to have you in here for the night. So stubborn."

Aria sighed. "Did he cause you too much trouble?"

"I'm used to him, but I don't know about the others who were trying to sleep last night. You would think the world were ending, the way he was yelling and running around everywhere."

"Where is he?" Aria asked with annoyance.

"Oh, I'll get him. He might finally relax once he see's you're awake."

Once Molly had exited the front doors, Aria grumbled angrily. It bothered her that Perry had to cause so much of an inconvenience because of one small incident. She was strong; she didn't need an entire city worrying about her because she was tired.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the hospital doors flung open and smacked against the inside walls. Aria flinched at the noise.

"I'm sorry," Perry's voice said in a rush. This only put Aria more on edge. She struggled to avoid clenching her jaw as he came up to her with large, panicked strides, leading a pack of people including Roar, Talon, Loren, and many more. Why didn't he just bring the entire city?

But then Perry knelt down beside her and stopped acting like an idiot. All of her aggravation disappeared as he smiled calmly, normally, as if he were just happy to see her, and brushed some of the messy black strands of hair from her face. He took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Aria smiled too and let herself relax.

"I'm okay," she said light-heartedly, closing her eyes with contentment.

"I know," he murmured back. Just those words filled Aria with love for him. He believed she was strong.

Their moment was interrupted as Roar loudly cleared his throat.

"Hey, Aria-hogger. I'm sure you're not the only one she wants to see," he barked. Both of them chuckled and Perry backed away, leaving room for Roar.

"Not much to say," he said casually, crossing his arms. "I mean, you're not dying or anything. And I knew you were fine the whole time. Perry's just a worrier."

Aria let herself smile and looked over to Perry, who didn't seem to appreciate the joke as much.

"Yes," she said, loud enough for the others to hear. "But he also knows that I can care for myself." Aria sent a pointed yet humorous look towards Perry.

The others laughed. Perry frowned.

"Of course I know that," Perry defended, sounding oddly pouty and childish. "I know how strong you are."

"Trying to get back on the good side, aren't you Perry?" Roar nagged, nudging his shoulder against Perry's. The Seer did not reciprocate. His bright green gaze burned angrily at Roar.

"Well, dang," Roar murmured to Aria, a cocky grin spreading across his face. Perry's anger seemed to have no affect on him. "I thought the one carrying the baby was supposed to have the mood swings."

Aria watched Perry's hands ball into fists at his sides. Before she could yell at him that Roar was just joking, he turned and shoved his way through the crowd of people. A second later, the doors of the hospital slammed closed. Aria jumped at the noise.

The next moment she stared in wonder at Roar. "What is wrong with him?" she asked. Roar's joking had never made Perry angry before, especially not angry enough to strike his best friend. Just a moment earlier Perry had been smiling at Aria, holding her hand, and the next his knuckles were turning white and his eyes were deadly enough to make even grown men shrink away.

"He didn't really get any sleep last night," Roar explained. "After he brought you here he couldn't stop moving. He paced everywhere. I think he even ran around in circles at one point. He was pretty messed up."

Aria sighed. This wasn't the Perry she was used to, and she didn't like the new one.

"I'll be fine," Roar said. "He's just really worried. I'll take him out hunting and try to calm him down a bit."

However, Aria only got worse after that. The time she didn't spend up in the loft, passed out against Perry's chest, was spent urinating and throwing up. That was all she did for weeks: she peed, she puked, and she slept. She felt useless, stuck up in the loft all day, unable to help with the building of houses or to attend Council meetings. And no matter how many times Perry told her she was strong, she was not. She was pathetic, sick, and weak.

And because Perry was rendered to Aria, he was miserable as well. He laid with her all day, because her sickness kept him from doing anything else. Although he did not sleep as much as she did, Aria could tell that he struggled to keep his eyes open, and even though he did not throw up, he would groan and curl into a ball around his stomach when she ran outside. Then, without an uncle to take him hunting, Talon had to go into the woods with Roar everyday, and Aria knew that Perry was struggling with not seeing his nephew as often.

She couldn't help feeling guilty. It was irrational, and she knew that; she had no control over her sickness. But she couldn't ignore the fact that she was the reason Perry was suffering. She never wanted to cause Perry pain. The only thing she wanted was to make sure Perry was happy, and because of her, he was not. These words repeated in her head, every time like a fresh slap in the face. She was the reason Perry was suffering.

Not to mention the unpredictable pattern of her hormones. One moment Aria was smiling, gazing dreamily around herself and murmuring inaudible nonsense about the greatness of the world, and the next she was sobbing into Perry's chest about. . . nothing.

"You're such an amazing hunter, Perry. You're so strong," she mumbled one night, her voice high and soft like a child's.

"Um, thanks?" Perry responded. For unknown reasons, his response immediately fueled Aria's rage. She sat up quickly at glared down at Perry, clenching her fists and barely restraining herself from striking him across the jaw.

"That's all you can say?" Aria yelled. Her voice bounced off the walls of the small loft, hurting her own ears, but she was too angry to care. "I gave you a compliment, and all you can say is 'Um, thanks'? You are ungrateful! So ungrateful! Why don't you tell me I'm beautiful? Why don't you compliment me back? Why do you just lay there acting all dumb? You're trying to pry more compliments out of me, aren't you? Such a proud jerk!"

The entire time, Perry had been staring at her in shock. He had shifted away from her, eyeing her fisted hand with panic. He had been trying to quiet her with gentle shushes, which Aria ignored, but when she said the word "jerk" he made the mistake of putting his hand around her arm in an attempt to constrain her.

Aria stared at his hand around her arm, her rage quietly but fiercely consuming her.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Aria asked, her voice a hushed whisper but sharp as the knives she so often wielded. Her gaze was unmoving from Perry's hand. He quickly released her.

"Aria, please, I'm sorry. Calm down, it's-"

"Calm down?" she suddenly shrieked, standing on her knees. "Calm down? You want me to-"

She was interrupted by a sob as the next wave of hormones crashed into her, this one going by the name of Sadness. The horror of her rage, the amount of anger that filled her, had her instantly collapsing against Perry in a fit of sobs. How had she let this anger consume her? What happened to the love she felt for Perry? So many others went through these things on a regular basis, so many others. How could they stand it? How could the world be filled with such hate? Why couldn't those people just love each other? Why couldn't everybody just love each other? Why did anything bad have to happen in the world? So many people were sad. So many people! It was so horrible!

"Shh, Aria, it's okay. I forgive you," Perry was saying as he stroked her hair. He pulled her closer to him and repeated his words. Aria smiled against his chest, completely believing him. He forgave her. They would never be like those troubled couples. They were perfect.

And just like that, Aria was back to normal.

She quickly chuckled, getting rid of the rest of the sobs that were built up in her chest, and pulled away from Perry's embrace long enough to swat the tears away from her cheeks.

"How do you deal with me, Perry?" she said jokingly, lying back down. Perry was silent. When Aria looked up, she saw him staring at her with wide, perplexed eyes.

"I really don't know," Perry said the next moment, seemingly back to himself. He shook his head and smiled his lopsided grin.

"It'll be over soon, I promise," Aria said.

"I hope so."

They laughed together and fell asleep with smiles on their faces, as if nothing had happened.

Aria was slowly pulled into consciousness. Before she opened her eyes and the last bit of sleep drifted away, she left herself enjoy the beautiful chorus of the singing birds, the rustling of the leaves, and the voices of happy people in a happy city living happy lives. That was her favorite song, the one of happiness and color and that couldn't be sung.

Then a realization had Aria's eyes opening. She had slept an entire night without throwing up once. Every morning for the past few months, she had been awoken by a wave of nausea crashing into her like a stone wall, and had been yanked from unconsciousness at least once during the night hours. Today, she had neither of those happen. In fact, she was almost completely without the constant sickness that she had been carrying with her since that first night in the hospital.

She smiled to herself and looked down. Her belly now protruded far enough out to be noticeable. According to Molly, Aria's first trimester was nearing an end, apparently taking her nausea with it. Aria was also glad to find that she wasn't feeling as tired as she used to. Perry was able to help with building again, which greatly lifted his spirits. Aria's appetite had been growing, as well, meaning Perry needed to go out hunting more often. Aria hated relying on Perry to feed her or do anything for her, but she knew that once her fatigue and sickness completely left her, he wouldn't have to any longer.

"Good morning."

Perry's voice yanked Aria from her thoughts. He was looking down at her, his eyes hazy with sleep, his lips tugging up slightly at the corners.

"Did I wake you up?" Aria asked, unable to resist touching the side of his face.

"Not you, but your stomach," he said.

Aria hadn't noticed that her stomach was rumbling, but the moment Perry mentioned it she realized how empty she felt.

"Hey, at least you didn't throw up this morning," Perry said happily. Before she could respond, he took a callused finger and lightly traced above her brow. Aria looked at him in confusion as he rubbed his two fingers together.

"Your skin's oily," Perry said. "The light shining on it makes it look like you're glowing."

"Molly told me about this," Aria said, wiping her own finger across her cheek. Her face scrunched in disgust and annoyance at it's oiliness. "She called it 'Pregnancy Glow.'"

"Well I think it's beautiful," Perry said pointedly.

"Yeah, not me," Aria grumbled. "It feels like someone's rubbed a fish all over me. I can't get it off."

Perry chucked. "You're my true, slimy Night Crawler now."

"That's disgusting," Aria said, but she couldn't help from laughing. Perry joined in and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I want to get up."

The second trimester had officially begun. The nausea, along with the fatigue, was gone, and both Aria and Perry were more than happy to wave them goodbye. The energy that had left Aria on the first night of her sickness had returned, and she was ready to get up and do something. The only issue was Perry and his worrying.

"Are you sure?" he asked uneasily.

"Definitely," Aria said stubbornly. "I'm ready. I'm tired of being stuck up here in this loft."

"But-"

"Perry, it's not like I'm going to work on the building or anything like that. I just want to go and walk around. Even Molly has said that it's time."

She listened to his heartbeat against her ear while she waited for a reply. When one didn't come, she decided to press further.

"You know, Molly also said that it would be good for the baby. Don't you want what is best for our child?" she asked, looking up at him sweetly.

Perry sighed and began sitting up. "Fine."

He made his way down the ladder and waited at the bottom for Aria. She was surprised at how clumsy she was. Both her feet and hands felt fat and slippery. She began making her way down the ladder, trying to hide her lack of balance from Perry.

And then her foot slipped. Her leg banged against the rung, and her heartbeat instantly shot up as she fumbled to regain her steady hold on the ladder. She felt Perry's hands grasp tightly on her waist, grounding her and allowing her to reconnect with the ladder. Both of them breathed shakily.

"This was a bad idea," Perry said as Aria made her way down the last view rungs and stood beside him. He gathered her into his arms, holding her as if she just survived a life-threatening incident.

"No, it wasn't," Aria said. She pulled back and planted a quick kiss on her lover's lips. "See? I'm fine. Let's go." Before he could argue, she wove her fingers through his and led him outside.

"Hey, Perry has finally let Aria come outside!"

Aria smiled as Roar made his way over to the two of them. He bent down so his face was level with Aria's slightly rounded belly and smiled a goofy grin.

"How is my little guy?" Roar spoke to Aria's stomach with a voice that people tend to use when talking to babies.

"We don't know the gender yet," Aria informed him, as if she were a doctor talking to a patient.

"I know that. I just know that he's a boy," Roar said. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Aria!"

Everyone turned to see Talon sprinting towards them with arms outstretched. Aria leaned back, bracing herself for the rough impact. Just as Talon was nearing her, Perry swooped in and lifted him from under his arms.

"Whoa, there," Perry said, putting Talon back on his feet. "Don't knock her over."

Talon nodded in understanding and slowly, gently, wrapped his arms around Aria. His head rested awkwardly against her bump. Aria heart swelled with happiness at the love Talon was showing for her. He was practically Perry's son, which made him her son, too. Him accepting her this easily made Aria joyous beyond words.

The moment was ruined as Aria's stomach let out a fierce growl. Talon leaned back and looked up at Aria with wide, innocent eyes.

"Was that him?" he asked in amazement. Aria laughed.

"No, I'm just hungry." She looked over at Perry with sweet eyes. "Perry, can you get me some food?"

"Yes yes yes!" Talon shouted excitedly, leaving Aria to pull on Perry's arm. "Aria's all better now, so that means we can go hunting all day! Right, Perry?"

Perry opened his mouth to protest but Aria stopped him.

"Perry, go. You don't need to worry about me."

"Yeah, she's fine," Roar said, draping his arm heavily over her shoulders. "Go hunt with Talon. You deserve it, after dealing with her for so long."

Aria scoffed and stepped out from under Roar's arm, giving him a little shove. Perry looked at Aria with an undecided expression.

"Alright," Perry finally agreed. Talon bounced with excitement and followed Perry into the house to get his bow, talking excitedly about what had all happened while Perry had been "hibernating." Aria smiled and watched as they reemerged from the house and made their way to the covering of the trees.

"You're really growing," Roar said, turned Aria's attention back to him.

"Yeah, I'm gaining some weight," Aria said.

"No, not in that way. Well, maybe a bit. But I mean your belly," Roar bent over again and spoke in his baby voice. "My little guy's starting to grow in there, isn't he?"

Aria decided to ignore Roar's unbreakable belief that her child was a boy and looked down at her stomach.

"Yeah, I guess," she agreed. "It's starting to look more like there's a baby under this belly than just food."

Roar chuckled and began walking at a steady pace around the camp. Aria kept up beside him. Without her mind telling it to, her hand decided to rest on her stomach.

"Has he moved yet?" Roar asked.

"A little. I'll feel him move every once in awhile, but not very often."

"Have you thought about names at all?" Roar asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"We have some ideas, but we're not completely decided on them yet," Aria said. "If our child is a boy, we're thinking about naming him Regren, for Reef and Gren. If we have a girl, we thought about Livina." Aria paused and looked at Roar. He was looking at her with an expression she couldn't even begin to read. "For Olivia and Lumina."

Roar continued to look at her. He blinked back tears and smiled. "I think that's a great name."

Aria groaned.

"Aria?" Perry immediately sat up, accidentally tossing Talon off of the side of the mattress that was laid in the center of the living room floor. The larger Aria's belly grew, the more difficult the climb to the loft had become. Upon Perry's insisting, Aria finally agreed to move the mattress down to the main level and sleep on the floor. However, after experiencing terrible aches and soreness after two nights of the new sleeping arrangements, Aria had taken a new spot on the sofa. Taking her place next to Perry was Talon.

"I'm fine," Aria said. It was at that moment that another sharp pain stabbed into her stomach and, unable to keep it stifled, Aria let out a moan.

"No, you are not," Perry argued, scrambling off of the mattress and kneeling beside the couch. He worriedly placed a large hand over Aria's belly, which had grown to a surprising size.

"Perry, the baby's not due for a few months," Aria chuckled.

"I know that, but you're still in pain."

"It's fine." The sharp stabs of pain that often occurred in Aria's stomach were proclaimed normal by Molly, and Perry knew this. Yet still he continued to worry every time she did so much as flinch.

"Do you want to get up?" he asked, using a worried tone that Aria was beginning to hate. But as much as she hated to admit it, she did need Perry's help.

So Aria nodded and tossed the blanket from her body, wincing as she sat up and swung her legs over the couch. She looked down at her bare stomach, with was etched with stretch marks and sagging in places where it never had before. Aria's spirits dropped at the sight of it. What if her stomach never went back to normal? What if she could never again have smooth pale skin over a flat stomach? What if her body could never look beautiful again?

She looked up with a start as she felt Perry's hand once again rest on the lump of her belly. He must have noticed her disgust, whether by her scent or the expression on her face. He was smiling up at her, the same affection in his gaze that existed when her body was actually beautiful. He acted as if she had never changed, that he could care less about her disgusting belly. Aria wished she could do the same thing.

Perry's brow furrowed at Aria. He must have detected what she was feeling. His eyes were determined and serious as he took Aria's face in his hands and spoke.

"You are beautiful." He spoke each word slowly, emphasizing their importance. Then, catching Aria completely off guard, he kissed her fiercely.

Instead of kissing him back, Aria pushed him away. Couldn't he let her even stand up before having to practically eat her face? Every chance he had he took to make out with her, and it bothered Aria. Didn't he understand personal space? He was about as clingy as a toddler to its mother.

Perry's eyes swam with a plethora of emotions at the rejection, as if he didn't really know how to feel. At first it seemed like hurt, then maybe anger or annoyance, then finally exasperation as he decided to just let it go. However, when he spoke, Aria heard a mixture of all of these in his voice.

"Let's go," he snapped quietly, refusing to look at her as he stood and thrust his hand out for her to grab.

"Hey," Aria said quietly, grabbing his hand and tugging him down beside her on the couch. She gently cupped the side of his face and forced him to look at her. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just not in the mood for that right now. I still love you, though." Aria smiled at her last comment and placed a soft kiss on Perry's cheek. He nodded, smiled, and have her a soft, gentle, loving kiss on the forehead. Then he stood and held his hand out for her again.

Aria winced as she firmly gripped onto his hand and used it to slowly pull herself into a standing position. Pain shot down her spine in quick bursts. Her eyes squeezed shut and she ground her back teeth in an attempt to stifle a gasp.

"I hate that this causes you so much pain," Perry said once she had stood. He softly caressed up and down her back as, for a few moment, the world in front of Aria lurched and spun. Her temples pounded like the steady beating of a hammer. She closed her eyes against the spinning until finally the pain subsided and the floor remained below her.

"Well, I can't do anything about it," Aria sighed. She was just as ready as Perry was to have this baby out of her stomach. Her balance was completely out of whack with the growing of her belly, and with that came more difficulty in walking and tremendous pain that standing differently was causing to her spine. Even when she was sitting or she was distracted, the soreness was constantly there. Luckily, she had Perry to support her, both literally and figuratively.

The green-eyed Seer wrapped his arm supportively around her waist as they hobbled their way to the front door. Talon quickly bounded up to Perry, clutching his free hand with his own and making his way out of the door with his aunt and uncle. Aria smiled at her new family. She wouldn't have chosen anyone else to be with. With this happy thought, Aria gave Perry a quick peck on the cheek and together they crossed the threshold into the already bustling city of Cinder.

Before they could even step off of their small porch, they were bombarded with greetings.

"Good morning, Peregrine!" a former Tides' member would bellow.

"Good morning, Aria!" a friendly woman would sing.

"Good morning, Talon!" a bouncing child would squeak.

And then there would people all kinds of different people, people from the Tides and from the Horns and the domes, excited children and slouching elders, people Aria had never even seen the faces of before, who would call out either of the two names that had been made official by Roar's inability to keep quiet.

"Good morning, Livina!"

"Good morning, Regren!"

Aria should have known better than to trust Roar with the possible names of her and Perry's child. Livina and Regren were in no way final or absolute, they were mere suggestions, but Roar had to go and blab to the entire city about the names of his niece or nephew. And just like that, it was decided that either Livina or Regren would be the child's name.

Then, without Roar's influencing, a sort of vote started among the city; Was the child going to be a boy or a girl? Some people were taking the game so seriously that they were gambling money, clothes, even weapons off of the unborn child's gender. The baby had become one of the most important topics of discussion in the city, even among people who had never spoken to either of the parents in their lives.

"Good morning guys," Roar greeted with his usual smirk and swaggering walk. "And girls," he added, gesturing towards Aria and then her belly. Aria found it funny how, since Roar had heard of what the child was going to be named, he had switched from Team Regren to Team Livina. No longer did he call the unborn child "little guy," and used the pronoun "he" with complete confidence. Now the child was, "little girl" and "she". Aria never confronted him about it, but she couldn't help but smirk whenever he did it.

"Why is there so much working today?" she suddenly asked. Looking around her, she noticed that everywhere there were people running around, hammering here, drilling there, erecting walls and arranging floors.

"We're finishing up all of the housing so we can transition to the city buildings," Roar informed her.

"I can't believe you're only finishing that up now," Aria scoffed, suddenly immensely annoyed. "The hospital is just as important as the houses." She spoke as if she were a mother, scolding her five-year-old son for not eating breakfast because he wasn't hungry.

"Well we-"

"No, I don't want to hear your excuse." Aria crossed her arms over her belly and raised her chin, ending the conversation. She caught Roar looking at Perry from the corner of her eye, completely bewildered. Aria could practically read in Roar's eyes what he was thinking.

What the heck is up with her?

"Hey, Aria, it's alright," Perry said nonchalantly, hugging her closer to him. "It's not like Roar has a decision on what we're building anyway."

Aria lowered her chin, but she kept her arms crossed. Roar was still looking at Perry with the same expression.

"Oh, don't worry Roar." Perry squeezed Aria closer to his side in a joking manner. But Aria didn't think it was very funny. "Aria's just had a bit more... personality, lately. I think Molly called it her 'motherly instincts.'"

Aria snapped her annoyed look up to Perry, squirming out of his grasp.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," she scolded. "It's very rude."

"I know, I know," Perry brushed off, not taking her serious in the least bit. He leaned down to kiss her, but Aria dodged before he could reach her.

"Ouch," Roar winced sympathetically. "Right in the ego. Did Molly mention that, too? Rejection?"

"I think she said it was loss of sex drive," Perry responded nonchalantly, once again acting as if Aria wasn't even there.

"Peregrine!" Aria practically yelled, slapping him across the arm. He actually winced. "I'm pregnant, you pervert."

"Oooh, the full name," Roar said quietly, a smirk on his face.

"I'm only repeating what Molly said!" Perry defended, putting his hands in the air as a surrender. He and Roar chuckled, wide grins stretched across their faces. No matter how much Aria wanted to frown and keep her arms crossed, the sight of the two boys' goofy, lopsided grins had Aria's body betraying her. Her own smile spread across her face and she laughed. Then, feeling slightly evil, Aria flashed a flirtatious look up at Perry. She wouldn't let him win this one.

"You know, I wouldn't say that my sex drive is completely gone."

With those words Aria wove her fingers into Perry's hair and yanked his mouth down to hers. She kissed him roughly, not holding back in the least bit, and jumped up so her legs were wrapped around his waist and her body was pressed against his. She felt him stumble back a bit. The fact that she had the added weight of an entire child in her belly probably made her not the easiest to hold or the most fit to do this, but she didn't care. Perry's body was completely stiff under her touch, still frozen in shock. Then, before he could get his bearings or enjoy himself too much, Aria hopped down and untangled her fingers from his hair. She briskly walked to the door of her and Perry's house, opened it, and tossed another glance over her shoulder at Perry before she could disappear behind the wood.

For once, both Roar and Perry were stunned into silence. They both stood, unmoving, staring after Aria with wide eyes. The sight of Perry, however, was priceless. His face was flushed bright red and his chest was heaving. In his eyes swam with confusion, but most strongly, unsatisfied desire. Aria smirked. This was exactly what she had wanted.

She closed the door behind her, suddenly realizing that she was panting for air.