Chapter 29 – Seeds
March 21st 2011, 6:15 pm
Raven arrived at her new home after a tiring day. She sat on the couch, which was still covered by a protected piece of fabric and put her feet up. Not using her powers was harder than she had anticipated.
The empath had an emergency saving account, and with it she managed to get all she had now. A rental agreement for one year of a cozy little house just outside her new city and some things for her new life. But she still had eleven months of rent to pay and baby stuff to buy. That's why she went job hunting.
Robin had helped her with all the documents she would need. She now used the name Rachel Roth. Plus, she dyed her hair black and cut bangs to hide the jewel in her frontal chakra. A little make up made her skin look just a little paler than a normal human being's. With her new look and her skills as a polyglot, she got a job in the local museum to translate some old manuscripts in Ancient Sumerian, Romanian and Sanskrit. It was pretty far from her house, so she made a mental note to look a hidden place where she could teleport without being noticed.
Before she fell asleep on the couch, Raven got up and went to the kitchen. She opened a glass jar where she stoked her tea leaves and smelled the sweet scent. She felt the small lunch she had some hours earlier try to come back and closed the jar quickly. Yes, her beloved herbal tea still was making her sick.
So she picked up the purse she threw on the ground and took a book out of it. Between the pages was carefully saved the picture of the ultrasound she made the day before. There, no more than a little white dot among black shadows, was the first image of her baby.
She smiled and put it on the fridge's door, tied by a star-shaped magnet. Every time she felt insecure and wished rushing back to Jump City and her friends, every time she felt angry and wanted to send Terra to another dimension, every time her heart ached because Beast Boy wasn't there and she felt an urge to come back and forgive him, she would come here and look at the image, seeking strength.
"Everything is going to be fine" she said, more to herself than to the baby inside her belly. Opening the fridge's door, she picked an orange juice box up and poured it in her blue mug, going back to the reading about what would happen to her body in the next months.
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March 21st 2011, 6:17 pm
"Did anybody see Beast Boy?" asked Cyborg, going inside the common room "He needs to check up his head"
"Did you look in his room?" questioned Robin, not turning.
"Of course…" the cybernetic man rolled his eyes, trying hard not to give an extremely sarcastic answer.
"Did you look… in Raven's room?" suggested Starfire in a low voice "He… has passed a good amount of time in there lately"
"Hm, no…" said Cyborg, a tense air coming to the room "I'll do that. Thanks, Star"
In the moment he went to the door, Terra came in. He asked about Beast Boy, but she also denied seeing the colleague. A heavy silence took place when she sat on the couch. Starfire concentrated on Silkie, in her lap, and Robin in the fresh fixed computer.
They had a conversation with Terra after the last events. Robin took her to the interrogation room, saying it was all good and he only wanted a calm place to establish what had happened. The blonde kept firm in her original story. She had gone to Beast Boy's bedroom to talk, and they ended up having a weak moment because of their history and kissed. Right after that Raven came in, slapped him and ran away. Terra tried to follow her, but then the floor started to tremble and she lost balance, falling on the ground. She heard a thump and when she turned, Beast Boy was unconscious on the ground. She thought an object had fallen on his head, but there was no way of being sure. She could only assume Beast Boy forgot their moment because of the shock.
In fact, the changeling wasn't sure of what had happened. When interrogated, he said the last thing he remembered was getting up to answer the door. Right after that, he was kissing Terra and Raven showed up, but he couldn't connect the dots. His head always started to hurt when he forced, and Robin decided to leave it like that. When Beast Boy was fully recovered, he could make everything clear.
Until then, he only could watch Terra closely. The seed of doubt was planted.
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March 21st 2011, 6:20 pm
While Cyborg was knocking on the door with the inscription RAVEN, a huge green Mastiff walked around a busy street across town, sniffing like his life depended on it.
A car turned in the last second to avoid hitting the enormous dog when he suddenly crossed the street. He completely ignored the horns and ran, following the trail he captured, anxious. His nostrils filled with smoke suddenly and he turned into a young man, also with green skin. He was at a train station.
That was not a good sign.
But it was okay, he thought, noticing all the looks he was attracting by just being there. If a green man was easily noted, then a violet haired girl would also be remembered in a twenty four hour period. Around that. He thought.
Some hours later he was sitting in the sidewalk, watching the trains come and go. No, I don't remember. I wasn't working yesterday. I'm sure I would remember a violet haired girl. Teen Titan Raven? No, no.
Beast Boy felt his hopes leaving him. That station had dozens of different destinations. That if Raven didn't come here only to mislead him and then teleported to another dimension.
He would think of something else, but his head was hurting so badly… What was he doing there again?
Better go home. He wanted to see Raven before bed. Maybe she could fix his headache.
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May 9th 2011, 7:32 am
Raven came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her body and ran to change in her room. After putting on her underwear, she saw a glance of herself on the mirror. Then she turned to look better, noticing something was different.
She stood in front of the long mirror with a golden frame, reflecting her from head to toe. Her breasts were relatively bigger, but she had noted that about two weeks ago. She blinked, looking further. Then she turned so she could see her profile.
Her belly was visible now. A little bump right under her belly button.
She put her hands there and smiled.
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May 9th 2011, 9:30 am
Robin was walking down the hallway when he heard something. He turned and found Beast Boy in the training room, lifting some dumbbells.
"Beast Boy!" he exclaimed, happy to see his friend feeling better "It's good to see you exercising!"
The changeling released the dumbbells and stared at his leader like he was crazy.
"Well, sure, I'm just getting prepare for tomorrow's combat training…" he explained, no expression detectable. Robin remained silent for a few seconds.
"Beast Boy… Combat training was at the beginning of the week" he informed in a low tone of voice.
"This week, huh?" repeated Beast Boy, scratching his head, a little curious "Well, so I guess I don't have to be here…"
Robin followed his colleague with his eyes. He didn't seem to know exactly where he was going. It was best to ask Cyborg to check on him again.
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June 13th 2011, 10:05 am
"Good morning, Miss Roth" greeted Raven's doctor, a blond young man.
"Good morning, Dr Steven" she answered, lying on the exam bed patiently.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, sitting next to her and examining a file.
"Big…" she informed, to what he laughed "Is it normal for the belly to grow up so fast?"
"It is" he assured, pulling a little monitor next to them "Can you lift your shirt? Let's make sure everything's okay"
The empath lifted her shirt, exposing her round belly, and the nurse next to her put some gel in her skin, making her feel a little cold. The doctor then put the receptor in contact with the gel and squeezed lightly, and she heard the tranquilizing sound of her baby's heart beats.
"Everything seems fine" he said after some minutes of examination "Would you like to know the sex of the baby?"
"Hm… Sure" she decided suddenly, thinking it would be more practical. He leaned to the screen and then turned to her with a smile.
"You're having a boy"
Raven smiled. For the first time in five months, she really wished Beast Boy was there.
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June 13th 2011, 3:05 pm
Starfire folded her untouched green dress, the one she bought specially for her friends' engagement, now apart from each other. Lately it was pretty dark, ever since Raven left. She felt Robin knew something important they didn't know, but decided not to insist in finding out. He always made the best decisions for the team. If he thought it would be best to keep this secret, she would accept.
She also felt Terra was hiding something. But she refused to say what. Everyone thought that, whatever it was, it was related to the sudden end of Raven and Beast Boy's relationship and the changeling's odd behavior.
"Star?" called a familiar voice, accompanied by knocks on the door. She walked to it, curious.
"Friend Beast Boy" she said, seeing the changeling standing in front of her, with dark circles under his eyes and a miserable expression "Do you need some help? Would you like to have the talk?"
"No… I came to ask you for a favor" he informed, taking a little velvet blue box of his pocket. "Lately, I haven't been really reliable… And I still have hope that Raven will come back one day. Could you keep this for me… Until then?"
Starfire took the little box and opened, revealing a magnificent white gold ring with a diamond on the middle, surrounded by delicate little dark blue sapphires. The Tamaranean felt her eyes fill with water.
"You said you didn't buy it…" she whispered.
"Yesterday… I forgot about what happened…" he explained, looking to the ground "I pick up the pamphlet, remembered that I marked this one and I… Bought it…"
"Anyway, that's exactly why it's not safe if I kept it" he sighed, raising his look to meet his friend's "Can you store it for me? And, if when Raven comes back I'm not in conditions… Do you give to her for me?"
Starfire held back her tears and close the little box.
"Of course"
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July 8th 2011, 8:22 pm
Raven got up quickly, the eyes wet, the mouth open. She was sitting on the couch, reading, completely distracted, when she felt a pressure in her belly, from the inside. For the first time, her baby had kicked. She approached her hand, trembling, and felt it again.
She bit her lip, trying not to think of Beast Boy. But she wanted really badly to be able to share this with someone. She missed him, her friends and even Bubbles. So she thought about someone she could talk to. She walked to her room and from inside a drawer in her wardrobe she took the hand mirror that took her to Nevermore. She avoided going there ever since the separation from Beast Boy, scared of what she might find. But today, something urged her to go inside her mind. For a delirious moment, she imagined if all her emotions were also pregnant. Putting that image away, she went inside the mirror.
Her landing was the softest she ever had. She floated slowly towards the dark green grass and didn't felt any weight over her feet when they touched the ground. Looking up, she found all of her emotions coming to greet her. She noticed, with relief, that they were all thin and not-pregnant.
Then the relief was replaced by surprise when she realized they were all smiling. All of them. Even Knowledge, Timidity and Rage.
"Welcome, Raven!" greeted Knowledge, approaching her "I already registered. It will be here forever, anytime you wish to consult…"
The version of herself in yellow cloak and glasses gave her a big thick book. But it was different from all the other books in her library's shelves. It had a light blue cover and it had the picture of a little crow with big eyes, with a pacifier in its mouth and wearing diapers, smiling. Above this picture, it was written 'Baby Book' in colorful letters.
"I can't believe you did this…" she mumbled, opening the book. The first page had the inscription: 'My name is…' and a blank. Right under it, 'I am…' and 'a boy' in her handwritten. Going through the pages, she realized the book had registrations of all her pregnancy until the present moment and everything she had discovered about the baby. The last inscription had today's date and it was written: 'the first time mommy felt you moving'.
Raven raised her tearful eyes. But she didn't have time to express her gratitude. The other emotions had already surrounded her.
"You don't need to be afraid of the delivery" said the green cloak emotion, Bravery "I've been training and I think you should to, it's all about breathing!"
"You're gonna be a mom!" exclaimed the fearful and excited voice of Timidity "Do you think he'll like us?"
"You should sleep while you can" suggested Laziness, yawning "They say babies won't let you sleep…"
"I hope you're ready for all the work ahead of us" grunted Rage "You can't let anyone near him, get it? He needs constant protection!"
Before she could answer to any of them, however, she felt someone hugging her. She looked down and found Happiness on her knees, hugging her belly, with a gigantic smile.
"I can't wait for when you're here" she whispered against her belly. Raven couldn't help but smile. Lifting her head, she found the lilac cloak emotion. She was also smiling and walked to her.
"I thought you would be inconsolable" said the empath to Affection, not being able to hold back. Her clone opened a sad smile and shook her head.
"No, Raven… Every time I think about Garfield, of course, my chest squeezes and I feel like crying…" she told, putting her hand on her chest "But how could I be inconsolable when the person I'll dedicate all my efforts is on his way?"
"Are there still… Sunflowers here?" she asked, not looking directly to the emotion.
"There are. We… You could never stop loving Beast Boy" she explained in a controlled tone of voice "But… I want to show you something"
Raven turned again to Affection, seeing she had the hand stretched.
"Seeds?" she asked, taking them in her own hands. They were big seeds, just as big as her nails, dark green and had grooves all around them.
"Yes, seeds. They appeared on my stand the day after you discovered about the pregnancy" told Affection, excited "It's the first time that there're seeds, not seedlings. I planted them immediately, all around Nevermore! I can't wait to see what will sprout!"
Raven smiled. She never imagined how much a baby could change things in her life.
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