Scenario 11- ''I'm Pregnant.''
So she was...
It was a weird acknowledgement. They had agreed to go off of the charm, but to not try for a child. That whatever the Great Mother Goddess willed would be okay with them.
And the Great Mother Goddess willed for a child.
At thirty-one, she was most certainly old enough to have one( or maybe even too old). Certainly responsible enough to have one. Maybe even wise enough to know what to do, and act, and say.
But what if she wasn't? What if she would irrevocably mess up this child because of her failure to be a good mother to it? What if it was only after she had the baby she realized it had all been a mistake?
Well, Tobe was like a son to her, at least. And he wasn't irrevocably messed up. He had become a Rider, and had a very successful standing there. But would that prove to be quite the same thing?
And how exactly was she going to tell Neal? How would he react?
The questions and unknown answers to them were starting to give her a headache and making her feel even worse.
She decided to go riding to ease her nerves, but throughout the whole ride, all she could think of was the baby.
Maybe I shouldn't even be riding if I'm pregnant. That was a new thought, but she decided that if she went off Hoshi her nerves would eat her up.
Should I tell somebody? she asked herself. Probably, she answered for herself, Neal, especially, though she didn't know if she could.
As she rode more and more, she realized that she had to tell somebody, and that realization moved inside of her the rest of the ride. She would have to face up to her decisions, but she had done that so many times in her past. Why should this time be any harder?
And everything would work out anyway. Right?
Right.
While she was leading her horse back to the stables, her friend Dom came up to her.
''You'll never believe what I heard...'' he began, his blue eyes glistening with suppressed news.
And somehow her own news filled her then, consumed her and took over her.
She meant to say ''what?''. However somehow her own news tumbled out from her.
''I'mpregnant,'' she said quickly.
Despite how fast the news came out though, Dom heard anyway.
''Wow, um... congratulations, Kel,'' Dom said, his facial expression changing when he saw Kel's face.
''Are you okay?'' he said.
''I think so...'' The expression on Kel's face grew worse.
''The baby's Neal's, right?'' Dom's face grew slightly panicked at the idea that Kel could be cheating on his cousin.
''Yes.''
''Positive?''
Kel frowned at Dom's lack of confidence in her fidelity. ''Yes.''
''Was it an accident?'' Dom asked awkwardly, looking away from her.
''Not...exactly...''
Dom's eyebrows shot up, and he immediately stared at the ground, his cheeks flaming.
''I'm just a little nervous to be a mother...'' she said.
Dom's head jerked up, and he put his hand on her shoulder. ''You'll do fine,'' he said, with a smile, ''probably more than fine.''
''Thanks,'' she said, forcing a smile, ''I should probably be putting Hoshi back now...''
''Wait, '' he called, as she started walking, ''you should probably tell Neal.''
So Dom was the second person who realized that she had to tell Neal. For some bizarre reason, she was nervous to tell him. The greater part of her knew what would happen- Neal would be shocked at first, deflate his shock with some sarcastic remark, but he'd be around to reassure and be there for her. He might even marry her.
Marry her? Whoa. Was she ready for that?
Well the child doesn't deserve to be a bastard...
All of this was so complicated, but she knew she could sort through it with Neal by her side.
She went into the barracks, and all the knights stared at her.
''I'm here to find Neal,'' Kel said, answering the questions in their eyes.
A couple knights' eyebrows went up, and to that, Kel rolled her eyes. This reaction would have been deserved a couple months ago when Kel and Neal were... Setting themselves up to conceiving this baby.
''He's not here, sweet,'' one said.
''Do any of you have any idea where I could find him?''
They all shook their heads.
''Thank you,'' she said half-heartedly.
''Wait,'' one said, ''I think he's healing one of the commoners uptown.''
''Thank you,'' Kel said, her heart beating faster with the realization that she would have to tell Neal soon.
She headed out of the barracks, and began to walk uptown, where Neal supposedly was. About halfway, she chickened out.
Maybe I'll wait until the day's over and he comes to see me, she thought, part of her internally sighing with relief.
But, as fate would have it, Neal came walking up the path right then, towards her.
''Kel,'' he said, his green eyes lighting up as they always did when his eyes found her.
''Hi, Neal,'' she said, forcing a smile that was an internal grimace.
Neal caught it immediately.
''What's wrong?'' he asked.
Kel put on the Yamani mask she hadn't put on in a long time, fearing that if she didn't her real emotions might slip out. ''Nothing,'' she lied, even though she had sworn she was going to tell him.
''Kel, I know something's wrong,'' he said. He put his hand on her shoulder. ''You can tell me.''
Kel smiled then, knowing full well that she could. Everything would be okay, she knew.
''Not wrong, exactly,'' she said, looking down and wringing her hands, ''just… confusing, scary, nerve-wracking…''
''What?'' he asked.
''Um… I'm…'' Kel's heart was beating so hard she swore it would pop out of her chest. For a moment, she swore her vision darkened.
''It's all right,'' Neal said, his voice softening, though inside he was deeply concerned over what made Kel react so strongly, ''I love you. Whatever it is, it's okay.''
Kel took a deep breath, forcing her words to be audible and clear( unlike when she told Dom).
''All right, I'm…''
''You're…''
''I'm pregnant.''
Neal's eyes bulged, and then he fainted.
I had originally planned for this news to be more devastating, and for this pregnancy to have been an accident. However, I figured that you've had enough heavy stuff with the previous scenario, so I wanted to make this a bit lighter. Please tell me whether or not that decision was a wrong one. For the curious, the next scenario will be ''...I Want You Back.'' Also, I am kind of writing another fanfic, but I will not be posting it because I don't want another thing to be holding back updates(or to have another fanfic have super-long waits). Please review this one though and I will try, as usual, to update ASAP.