"Why are the lights flickering?" Finn questions curiously, walking into my bedroom. "Should I check the box in the basement?" He looks at me. It'd been a few months since I'd visited my parents, a few very uneventful months. Don't get me wrong I was super grateful for that, makes my stress level manageable, but at the same time it almost puts me on edge. Nothing stayed calm for long it seemed like with Finn.
"Ask your child." I mutter unimpressed. He raises an eyebrow at me. "I turned the electricity off an hour ago. There's zero in this house right now, unless I touch something." I sigh, putting a hand to my stomach. I motion for him to come over, and I place his hand on the right side of my tummy, exactly where the baby has been doing summer-saults all morning.
"That is, incredible." He breaths, grinning from ear to ear. He falls to his knees and presses the side of his face to the spot, continuing to be in awe. "And it's controlling the power, you said?" He looks up at me and I nod. "Curious." He chuckles.
"Annoying is a better term I think." I say unimpressed. "I went to blow dry my hair earlier and blew out the socket." I grumble, motioning to the pony tail that I'd ended up with instead. He only chuckles, "Yes, laugh at my annoyance."
"The baby is bored, he or she is only trying to play with you." He smiles and kisses my belly. "You must remember my love, you're not carrying a normal human child… This one," He gives my stomach a gentle poke, "Is special." He winks.
"I know." I smile, pulling my shirt back down over the skin.
"Not long now. Are you ready?" He asks me. Instead of standing up he'd taken position against my wall, knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.
"I don't think anything I do will make me ready." I chuckle, biting my lip. "Are you?"
"As ready as a 650 year old man with absolutely no baby experience can be." He replies making me laugh out loud. "My mother has faith in me, and you have faith in me… So that's all I really need I suppose." He grins.
"It'll be fine." I assure him.
"Mother has offered any help or support you may need." He tells me. My face must have faltered because his own twisted in confusion. "What is wrong, my love?"
"It's hard." I shrug. "That's one of the hardest parts in all of this. My mom wants to come out and help with the baby… You're mom wants to help. I want both of them to be there, but I can't be in two places at once." I sigh, collapsing my hands into my lap.
"Perhaps they may take shifts." He suggests calmly. "While it would make me more comfortable having you at the castle I understand the need for your mother-"
"And your mother, and Kelly… And you." I point to him.
"Ellena will have no issues coming here for a few hours a day when you need or want her." He smiles and gives a short nod, "And I will be here, with you, regardless." He adds. I watch him tilt is head towards the door and he lets out a soft, annoyed sigh. "Baron is here." He grumbles. I grin, I hadn't seen the big, dumb, mutt in a while now… Since everything with Finn's father and brother. "I will go to the castle for a while." He says and I nod.
"Annabelle?" Baron's deeper, husky voice calls up the steps. I pop up from the bed and pull the door open, peering down the steps at him. "Hey." He gives me an awkward half smile.
"Hey." I grin. I bounce down the steps, as gracefully as a 7 month pregnant woman can anyway. "How are you?"
"You're the size of a house." He comments, giving me the once over. "I'm better." He admits. I couldn't help myself, it'd been so long since I'd seen him, I wrapped both arms around his neck and hugged him tighter than necessary.
"I missed you." I tell him when I pull away.
"I missed you too." He smiles. He rubs the back of his neck, "And I'm sorry I was such a douche bag a while back…" He trails off. I literally hadn't seen Baron since all that junk had gone down. So we hadn't had a chance to talk about anything that happened or mend any burnt bridges.
"Don't be sorry, you have every right to be angry after everything that happened." I say to him, placing a soothing hand on his arm.
"Yeah… Well I didn't have to take off for months, I should've stuck around for your sake." He shrugs simply. "You look great." He smiles.
"Thanks." I chuckle, "I feel… Big." I sigh, coming off the final step and looking up at him.
"Ya look big." He teases me and I scoff, smacking his arm. "What? Where's the lie?" He laughs. He follows me into the kitchen, hoisting himself up onto a stool.
"You weren't supposed to agree with me." I playfully glower at him.
"Where's Finn?" He questions wearily.
"He transported to the castle." I shrug simply. "He thought it would be better for both of you if you guys didn't see each other. He wasn't sure how you'd react." I explain further.
"I mean, I don't like him…" He mumbles, "But I wouldn't have came at him or anything like that. I just wanted to see you, and if I gotta tolerate him for that to happen then whatever." He rattles off. He glances around the kitchen, and gives the light switch a few flicks. "You having power problems?" He asks.
"No…." I grumble. I walk the few feet down the hallway to the electric box and switch the power back on. "I've got a rolling ball of electricity in my stomach. Everything I touch. Ugh." I shake my head, making him chuckle. "So I tried turning it off, and of course that didn't work. Finn says the baby is bored." I finish.
"It's got powers even in the womb. That, is, scary." He admits. He gives me stomach a momentary stare with a face that I couldn't quite read.
"Stop…" I groan, leaning back against the counter.
"It'll make raising a kid interesting." He gives me a devious smirk. "Have fun with that one." He winks, pushing some hair back behind his ear.
"And guess what great, amazing uncle is going to babysit when I need a break?" I stare expectantly at him. He blinks at me, his face blank, before he points a finger to himself. "Yep. You, my friend." I confirm.
"You want me to be an uncle?" He asks softer. He seemed genuinely surprised at the comment.
"Yes."
"Finn won't allow it." He snorts.
"Finn doesn't get a choice in that." I shrug easily. "If Solomon ever comes back around, he'll have two big, strong, protective uncles." I smile. It'd been even longer seen I'd seen Solomon, which was odd... He was usually the one bugging me at a constant.
"He's been sleeping for like, weeks." Baron tells me. "Like in hibernation mode… I tossed a few rocks in there the other day and he didn't even stir." He mutters.
"He's ok though, right?" Concern obvious in my voice.
"Yeah, he's fine. When it gets cooler he sleeps. Sol isn't much for cold weather." He explains to me. I only nod, "Your stomach is moving." He stares at it, almost fixated. "Wicked." He comments, glancing back up at me.
"Yesterday it pushed so hard against my stomach that you could see a perfect little footprint." I say, circling the spot where it had happened.
"That's crazy." He chuckles. "So how much longer?"
"Couple months."
"Are you scared?" He questions. He tilts his head at me as I thought over how to answer that. Mostly people just asked me if I was excited, or nervous, but not scared. I ran my hand over my stomach, and tapped lightly with my forefinger.
"A little." I admit.
"Of which part?"
"All of it." I let out a soft chuckle and glance at the floor. "You know, honestly kids really weren't in my future behind I met Finn…. I didn't even want them, and then he comes around and I want all of it. I never thought I was cut out for motherhood." I start to explain. "I'm scared that this little demon is going to rip me open and destroy my nether regions." I laugh, "But mostly… Like, I don't know Baron… What if I'm a horrible mother?" I lock eyes with him.
"You're not going to be a horrible mother." He smiles thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that everyone thinks they're going to make a bad parent. You'll learn by doing it, and the second one will be easier."
"Second one?" I half scoff half laugh. He gives me a skeptical look, "Ok, yeah there will probably be more than one. Assuming this one works out." I smirk.
"You'll be fine." He assures me.
"I'm glad you think so." I place a hand on my hip.
"Between everyone in your life, the kid is pretty well off." He comments. He pushes himself up from the stool and walks over to me, wrapping both arms around my torso. I smile against his shirt and return the hug. "I've got to get going, we're moving the pack to that new place I showed you. You'll have to come by sometime." He tells me.
"It'll be good to get a fresh start." I nod. "Thanks for coming by, I feel better that you're ok." I say honestly.
"I'll come by again soon." He assures me, "Maybe we'll go poke the sleeping Solomon next time." He says making me chuckle. "See you later."
"Bye." I watch him retreat out my backdoor and off into the woods behind the house. "Well... What do you think kiddo? You want a brownie?" I glance down at my stomach, "Lets feed ourselves." I murmur, pulling the container closer to me. Baron was right, I had enough people in my corner that think I"m going to make a good mother... And I don't even know why I"m thinking about it so hard anymore. How hard could it be right?
A/N: Suppose we'll find out soon enough!