Ugh, my stomach was doing somersaults. I stayed in the bed next to Ian hoping the nausea would pass. It wasn't going to. I bolted up from the bed and ran for the stream. "Wanda?" I heard Ian mumble as I ran from the room. It felt as if everything I had ever eaten was exiting my body and when I thought it just might be over I felt Ian brushing my hair and pulling it back from my face. "Wanda baby are you ok?" I managed to nod confirming to myself that this was over. "Come on let's go see Doc" Ian scooped me in his arms and I had to bury my face in his chest with my eyes tightly closed to keep the world from spinning.
When we reached the hospital Doc looked up in surprise "What's wrong?" Right when he spoke I got sick all over Ian. "Oh! Lay her down"
"I'm fine Doc, I just don't feel so well" I sputtered out. Ian stood protectively over my cot and I smiled weakly at him. I don't want him to worry about me.
Doc gently checked me. "Ian she's fine, seems like she just has the stomach ache" I managed to open my eyes in time to see Doc give Ian an odd look. Sometimes I wish Mel was still in my head to interpret these things for me. "Take her back to your room, she's fine"
"Wanda I want you to rest for the next few days, don't argue. The chores will get done."Doc instructed me. I wasn't going to argue, this sounded great to me.
Ian bent to pick me up, "I'm fine the spinning has stopped. I think I can walk now"
The trek back to our room had never felt this long and when we made it back I was so thankful to slump down on the bed. Ian made sure I was comfortable "I'm going to clean up and get us some breakfast. Rest, love" That wasn't hard to do he wasn't even out of the room yet when I could feel sleep crashing in waves over me.
Everyone was concerned and visited me all throughout the day. Jaime and Rowan had borrowed a deck of cards and was making a feeble attempt at teaching me poker. By the afternoon I was feeling much better and was ready to do my chores. "Oh no you don't!" Ian said firmly "Doc said for you to rest and that's exactly what you're going to do!" I rolled my eyes at him. "Ian, I'm fine!" I insisted, but he wasn't going to budge. We did compromise that I could walk around and visit but I wasn't "allowed" to do any work. Sometimes he's just a little too overprotective, but that's why I loved him.
The next morning the same events unfolded and Ian held my hair back from my face. I was so thankful that they had found this stream so close to our room. He insisted that I didn't rest enough and I insisted that I was fine. It was probably from all the emotions that I have been dealing with over the past few weeks that have just taken a toll on my body. Ian didn't believe me. He begged me to stay in our room and rest. I agreed. I didn't want Ian unhappy.
This morning was worse, I couldn't stop getting sick. Ian rushed to the hospital wing and returned with Doc and Candy. They helped me back to the bed and quickly checked me over. Doc had just finished checking my pulse when he said to Candy "I'll think I'll let you handle this one" and gave her a wink. I looked at Ian all confused as Doc exited our room.
Candy cleared her throat "Ian, Wanda, um. Have you guys thought about having children?" I looked at Ian in surprise and he was just as surprised as I was. "Well, no, not really. We've never discussed it before." Candy laughed at Ian's response "Now might be a good time Ian. You're going to be a daddy." Ian fell to the bed next to me and started crying. I looked at Candy and she was smiling, I was confused, I couldn't understand why Ian was crying. "Congrats Wanda, I'll let you two talk about it" Candy hugged us both.
After she left the room I softly asked Ian "Good or bad?"
Ian looked at me with his big blue eyes "Good!" relief washed over me and he asked "Good or bad?"
I smiled at him "Good!" I was going to be a mother. My heart fluttered at this thought and I was so very happy, I couldn't stop smiling.
"Ian, I'm scared. What if I won't be a good mother? What if our child will resent me for being a Soul?"
Ian chuckled. "Don't worry sweetheart. You are going to be a perfect mother and no one could ever resent you." He kissed me, and I was so very glad that Ian was my partner. We sat on the bed together holding each other for the longest time. "Ian, remember that time when we were on the raid and we seen the mother and father souls with a human child?"
"I remember sweetheart"
"If we have a girl I want her to be named 'Hope'" I felt Ian squeeze me tighter he kissed my forehead and said "that sounds perfect". Then our stomachs growled at the same time, we both burst out laughing and he pulled me up from the bed "Come on, let's go get us some lunch"
We walked hand in hand to the kitchen and my world couldn't be any better. The onion soup and bread smelt wonderful today and the closer we got I realized how hungry I was. We sat down with our family happily. "Feeling better today Wanda?" Rowan asked. I smiled "Much better thank you" I could feel the relief cover our family and it made me happy that they cared that much for me.
"You know what made you sick?" Jaime asked. I could feel the heat rising to my face and turning red. "Yes, Jaime" I looked down into my soup suddenly embarrassed and I couldn't figure out why.
"Oh hell" I heard Ian say "might as well get this out there, there are no secrets in these caves. " Ian grabbed my hand protectively and announced with a big grin on his face. "I'm gonna be a dad!"
The room fell silent. I could feel every set of eyes on me and Ian and I was afraid to look up. I seen Aunt Maggie storm out room from the corner of my eye followed by Sharon. I could feel the awkwardness and the tension.
"Atta boy!" I heard Kyle say and I looked up in time to see him slap Ian on the back. I looked around at the faces of my family and was relieved not to see anger. I was worried most about Jared and Melanie because I knew how they felt about having children but they were smiling. "We figured it was going to happen sooner or later" and Melanie gave me a hug. Then she smiled at me and said "I'm gonna be an aunt! How great is that!" Aunt Melanie that sounded good to me. We hugged each other for a long time and when we pulled back she had tears in her eyes. She turned her head at Jaime and sternly said "Don't go getting any bright ideas kid". We laughed, my family was happy as I was.