Ceremonials

Chapter 12: Leave my body

'I fucked it up the first time around, but you gave me a second chance. I want to get married again, reaffirm our vows, because this time you'll know me. No more secrets.'

'No more lies,' Layla corrected him.

'No more lies,' Warren agreed. 'Marry me.'

'Okay, yes, of course,' she murmured, blinking back tears. Lately, she was incredibly emotional. She seemed to be forever on the verge of crying – for understandable reasons. All she could really see of the ring through her unshed tears was that it was very sparkly. Warren slid it around Layla's finger and gave her a kiss. It was soft, sweet and short.

'I looked at a few venues already, but I didn't know what you wanted. Do you want a huge party like last time or something small and private? Most of the places I looked at were spoken for, though. There's not a lot available at short notice. If we want a big wedding, we might have to wait as much as six months,' Warren detailed.

'We should probably move the date up a bit,' Layla suggested. 'If you want me to fit in my wedding dress, that is.'

'Why? Do you plan on getting fat?' Warren joked. Will – having already arrived there; ahead of everyone else – beamed. Also cottoning on, Magenta whispered something to Zach, who then imparted the news to Ethan. Meanwhile, Warren got halfway to his feet before the true meaning of Layla's words sunk in and he stared at her.

'What are you saying?' he asked. His voice was husky with emotion.

'I'm pregnant.'

'Are you sure?' Warren whispered. She nodded; her eyes brimming with tears. Blurry though her vision was, it was impossible not to see Warren's potential happiness turn into actual happiness. His face lit up. He brushed away her tears with his thumbs and kissed her. A lingering, over the moon, I-wish-we-were-alone-so-I-could-make-love-to-you-right-now kiss.

Six months later.

'I just thought of another one. Our kids cannot know that X-men exists,' Layla told Warren. They were sitting next to each other on the couch. Warren had one arm around Layla. The hand of that arm rested on her belly. Seven months into her pregnancy, her belly was now properly sticking out.

'Why not?' Warren murmured. Layla looked to the side with a raised eyebrow.

'Because the X-men have superpowers and everyone is basically afraid of them. Or hates them,' she explained. After a beat, Layla expanded.

'Plus, the fire guy is a total dick,' she added.

'Not entirely inaccurate,' Warren pointed out. She glanced at him, but he was entirely absorbed by her belly and the baby within. To get his attention, she lightly punched him in the shoulder.

'Hey! Focus. In about two months he or she is going to pop out and then you can ignore me all you want. What time is it?' Layla inquired.

'Almost ten. When is Will going to be here?'

'Any minute now. He takes his best man duties very seriously,' Layla remarked.

'This time around,' Warren muttered. Layla glared. He threw up his hands in defence.

'What? Can you at least admit that when he was my best man, he was the worst?' Warren pleaded. Grudgingly, Layla nodded. She had resigned herself to the fact that Will was her friend and would never be Warren's. Honestly, she didn't know what they had been thinking when they had been pretending that Warren and Will were best friends.

'Help me get up,' Layla ordered. 'We've got a wedding to go to.'

The end.