Fiona sat, trembling slightly, watching her husband, mother and the doctor in a near squabble. She took a slow deep breath through her nose, adjusting her safety grip on the pail she was using as a sick bucket. She had tuned them out completely, finding she didn't have the energy to keep up.

"I'm afraid there is nothing we can do but offer advice here," the doctor took a firmer tone, turning to Fiona. "You fainted due to dehydration from the sickness your pregnancy is causing. There is nothing we can do about that to make it stop. Try eating bland foods when you wake up and throughout the day, and sip water as much as you can."

"That's it?" Shrek scoffed.

In normal circumstances, Fiona would have chastised him, but she couldn't. She was afraid if she opened her mouth it wouldn't be words coming out.

"This sickness she's experiencing is severe, far worse than I've ever seen." Her mother touched her head comfortingly.

"Everyone is different, Your Highness. There's many factors that can affect the severity of this." He met Fiona's gaze once again. "It will pass, or at least diminish in time."

"How much time?" Shrek didn't miss a beat.

"Maybe a few months," he confirmed, much to Fiona's dismay.

"Wha- but that's so long away…" Shrek suddenly sounded less sure of himself.

"That's how it goes."

Fiona took another breath, intending to intervene before her family could. "Thank you, doctor," she mumbled, forcing a small smile.

They left, putting her back to bed. She had been doing her best to protest any special treatment because of the sickness. Her mother had generally supported her, all the while watching her carefully whenever she showed signs of feeling ill, quietly checking on her whenever she could. However, her husband had been endlessly concerned for her. She had experienced a never-ending torrent of questions about how she was feeling and if she was sure. After fainting into his arms that afternoon, she finally submitted to their wishes to be checked upon and not leave the bed. It was strange to her, up until a couple of weeks previously she had felt fine, good even. Of course, that time was filled with the chaos Charming wrought on the kingdom. Clearly, in her surprise of feeling so good, she had willed the sickness into existence and it very quickly started plaguing her mornings, which turned into mornings and afternoons and the occasional night.

Shrek's grip on her was tight as they led her back into bed, she could tell he didn't want her to fall again. As she looked at his face, it looked like he was on the verge of sickness himself.

"I'm fine," she insisted once again, though her pale lips and slight trembling, the bucket an extension of her arm, didn't help convince them. She sat down in her bed, her mother adjusted her pillows before practically pushing her back into them, removing the pail from her hand and placing it beside the bed. Shrek helped her get under the covers, pulling them over her. She'd never seen her husband and mother agree and work together as much as they had the past few days when the sickness had peaked. Neither of them wanted to leave her alone, almost clashing in their desires to tend to her needs first. If anything, it was annoying her to the point where she wished they would both leave.

"Are you sure you don't need anything, darling?"

"D'ya have water? Those… those cracker things? Is that what the doctor said?"

"I've sent for some more, it should be arriving n- Oh, here… Thank you, Martha."

Fiona leant her head back into the pillows, rolling her eyes at the fuss they were giving her. Though, as much as she wanted to shoo them, she gratefully and a little desperately took the food and water they forced upon her. It hadn't been pleasant for her, especially so in trying to appear a lot better than she felt. There was something within her that needed to be a part of Artie's introductions to the throne. She tried to be present for everything, every meeting, announcement, and conversation. She didn't want him to feel like they were abandoning him now that he'd fully accepted the role. There was also the small fear that he would change his mind and give the crown back to her – it was rightfully hers after all. She wanted to make sure she – and her husband – were learning the same things. It was a welcome refresher for her, not so much for Shrek. Especially with his increasing worry for her. So she tried to be as fine as she could for everyone. She had apparently pushed her limits too far.

She stared blankly ahead of her as she slowly nibbled on the cracker that had somehow landed in her hand, ignoring the fussing of her loved ones. She could feel her sweating and trembling beginning to fade, her mind finally allowed to stray from wondering if she was about to throw up. The ogress barely acknowledged her mother's hand upon her forehead and muttered her goodbyes and thanks to her. Upon the door closing, everything fell silent. She took a long drawn breath, exhaling slowly. The peace was welcome to her.

"So…" Shrek hesitantly sat on the bed beside her, "what'd ya wanna do?" He looked around the room. "D'ya want me t' go? Or get ye something else or…?" He watched her.

Fiona sighed, looking at the glass of water she held rested in her lap. "I want to go home," she spoke the words truthfully. It was the truth. She'd been thinking of everyone else, doing what she thought was best for them. Now, her thoughts landed on her. It's all she had the capacity to think about.

"Really?" Shrek was surprised, which in turn surprised her. She had expected nothing less than elation at her statement. "I mean…" the concern on his face only grew, "Wouldn't it be best f'ye here?"

She rolled her head over to face him, meeting his gaze. "I've had to throw up in vases twice and I fainted already." She smirked at him despite herself. "I'm not really feeling my best here."

His face alit, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Aye." Though the worry still managed to push its way back. "Would ya really feel better at home? I don't think location is gonna change anything."

"I thought you wanted to leave?" she asked him, ignoring his question, continuing to take small bites of the food in her hand.

"I did! And… I do." He shrugged."But I thought you didn't and…" he trailed off, "and then things changed… and… yanno…" He helplessly gestured to her.

She looked ahead of her once again, taking another sip of water and shakily placing it on her bedside table. The complex thinking wasn't doing much to help her state. "There's so much to think about and worry about here," she addressed his question. "At home it's just you and me."

Shrek nodded, though the crease in his brow didn't leave, "What if… what if something happens?" he paused, "Again?"

He referred to her fainting earlier. She had barely lost consciousness for more than five seconds, just enough for her to wobble and fall. The spots were dancing in front of her eyes for long enough that she knew it was going to happen, she'd even managed to tell him she was losing consciousness before he needed to catch her. She had wanted to play it off like everything was fine, except immediately needing to vomit and the violent shaking didn't help her case. Still, fainting and throwing up… it could have been worse. Not that others saw it that way. The silver lining in her mind was that it simply showed the baby was sticking, despite everything that had happened before; all the stress, fear and physical exertion. In the moments she could feel reassured by the sickness, she did.

She looked at him once more, smiling. "If the doctor says it's fine, I think I'm fine." She gingerly waved the quarter of a cracker she held in her hand at him. "Besides I have these now."

"Y'don't look fine, Fiona." He forced a chuckle at her.

"I know." She hesitated. "I don't feel fine either," she quietly admitted. "But if it's normal, I guess I'll have to get used to it." She shrugged at him. "Hey, it'll go away… eventually," she desperately tried to cheer him up. "Even if it does last longer than usual, I'm not going to be pregnant forever."

Her smile faded as she realised her words only seemed to make him wither even more.

She took another breath, trying a different angle. "I'm sure I'll feel better at home anyway, I won't have crowds of people to stand in front of and officials to meet."

He finally met her gaze. "Aye, that's true."

She nodded at him, her energy seeming to replenish a little at the new plan. "I should tell mom we're leaving soon." She lifted her head from the pillows, eating the last of the cracker she held. The thought of going home seemed to excite her more than she thought it would. The sooner the better, she realised - especially if the sickness was only getting worse. She could imagine their long carriage ride home would certainly be a memorable one. "I should tell her now." She moved the bedsheet off of herself, carefully sitting up.

"No no no," Shrek hurriedly leaned over to her, putting a stop to her movement. "I'll go get her, bring her t'you."

Fiona almost protested, she could walk after all. But the movement seemed to stir the queasiness in her stomach again. She took a deep, slow breath and nodded at him. Despite his previous resistance, he was in the doorway before she'd even situated herself back in the bed.

"Wait, Shrek?" she asked quickly before he left the room. She thought back to the chaos she'd just been freed from, the many argument possibilities that could happen with her strong-willed mother and frazzled husband in the room together talking about such a sensitive topic. Or even just the possibility that they'd convince her to stay, it almost brought the sickness right back up. "I need to tell her alone."

"Why?"

"Because she needs to hear it from me," she spoke honestly, "without your opinion."

Fiona placed the cracker her mother had forced upon her onto the bed. The thought of eating anything seemed to make her want to gag. The positivity about her plan had truly passed. She realised she hadn't thought much about how exactly to word the announcement. She couldn't imagine her mom being thrilled about her leaving in her current state, not being able to watch and fuss over her.

"Mom, I'm fine," she insisted once again, trying to swallow back the nausea.

Lillian sat back in the chair she'd situated beside the bed. They sat in silence for a moment, her mother only watching her. Fiona fiddled with the sheet that still covered her.

She finally took a breath, "Mom-"

"Fiona," Lillian interrupted her, "I've been thinking and I'd like to offer you a proposal." Her mother was serious, her expression concerned.

The ogress looked to her questioningly.

Lillian set a small smile on her face. "I'd like for you to live here, in the castle."

Fiona dropped her head back against the headboard with a thunk. She closed her eyes, suddenly regretting her previous urgency.

"Are you feeling okay?" her mother misinterpreted her body language.

"Yes." Fiona returned her gaze. "Just mom… I don't know…"

Lillian sighed. "I know you're not fond of being here-"

"No-"

"It's alright, dear." She gave the ogress a knowing look. "I understand it must be freeing to live apart from all of this. But staying here with doctors and help… it would be what's best for you, Fiona, and for the baby."

The ogress closed her eyes again, she took a dizzying breath that felt cold on the back of her throat. "Dad told me to think about what was best for me when we first got here," she spoke quietly.

"I know, dear, he was- he…"

"It's okay." She opened her eyes. There was a sudden sadness that came over her mother. "I know." She gave her mom a small smile. "That's… That's over now." She could feel the knot tying itself in her throat again, it was exactly what she didn't need.

"Drink, darling."

Fiona fought the urge to roll her eyes. But it was the distraction her mind needed to allow her to carefully swallow back the emotion. Her mother watched her, waiting patiently for her to explain her words.

"Mom… I just don't think here is what's best for me," she spoke carefully. When her father had initially told her to think about herself, she had spent hours agonising over it. Sure, being close to her family was something good, however, being happy seemed far more important in her mind. Like before, her mind landed on the same conclusions. "I wanted to tell you that we're going home," her voice was quiet, she'd made up her mind.

"Now?" Lillian furrowed her brow.

"Yes, well, soon," Fiona confirmed.

As quickly as the surprise took over her mother's expression, it left again, rendering Fiona useless at predicting any possible reaction.

"Will Shrek be able to take care of you?" she asked the question innocently.

"Of course," Fiona felt the defensiveness rise within her.

"Are you sure you'll have everything you need?" her mother was fast.

"Yes…"

"What will you do about doctor's appointments?"

Fiona could tell she was entering her queen mode. She was brought back to when she was a child, being questioned and chastised about her manner and etiquette. The ogress didn't want to feel like a child, especially not when the situation revolved around having a child of her own. The frustration building within her was a distraction from the nausea, she felt herself welcoming it.

"I can… come back," Fiona spoke exasperatedly. "I'll be fine."

Lillian only took a breath at the seeping frustration Fiona couldn't hold back. "Things have moved very quickly, Fiona, and I want to make sure that you'll be okay."

Fiona looked down at the bedsheet again, brow crossed. She inferred from her mother's words that she didn't mean living in the castle forever. But if they stayed for the pregnancy, when would they return home? The baby would be too young to travel at first, maybe they'd then end up relying too much on having help at hand and be too nervous to go home with an infant. Then what would happen when they decided to have a second baby? They'd end up staying forever anyway. The thought of that made her shudder for herself, her husband and her child.

"You see the way people look at me," Fiona spoke evenly. "You have to because they're not exactly subtle." In being present for all of Artie's duties, she shared her presence with a lot of people who weren't her family – people who didn't go through the same emotional rollercoaster they all had. People who still looked at her like she didn't belong. They were polite, some were even kind, but she could see the difference in the way they interacted with her, or avoided interacting with her altogether. Part of her had put that down to Shrek being by her side, he wasn't so subtle about his distaste for everything, and she supposed he was physically intimidating to humans who didn't know him. It didn't change the unease it brought her.

After a moment of careful contemplation her mother hesitantly parted her lips to speak, "Darling, they're still adjusting."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes, thanking her previous self for ensuring privacy with her mother. "How long will that take?" Fiona raised an eyebrow at her. "Will everyone who meets us need time to adjust?" Lillian only watched her. Fiona swallowed back a torrent of emotions she wanted to throw into the room. Instead, she lowered her voice, "That doesn't make me feel okay, mom."

"I can't imagine it does," Lillian relented, though the hesitancy was still woven within her tone.

The ogress sighed. She shifted herself up so she was sitting against the headboard, losing the slightly horizontal position that was helping her uneasy stomach; the need to be taken seriously overriding the desire to feel good. She thought for a moment, staring at the cracker that was still sitting on the bed. Finally, she made eye contact with her mother. "You shut me away every night to protect me from these people and the world," she began slowly. "Now I need to protect my child from the same. And I can do it without keeping them shut away their whole life."

Lillian's gaze dropped to the ground, the corners of her lips turning downwards.

Despite everything, Fiona felt the guilt wash over her. "No, mom I didn't mean anything by it, I just… I wasn't happy with that… as a child."

Her mother nodded slowly. "I know." She met her gaze with sad eyes. "We always knew you were miserable about it. We should have tried to improve things for you." She shrugged, "We just didn't know how."

The ogress looked away. The conversation was entering territory she wasn't comfortable with, especially not now. She hadn't yet spoken up about her feelings surrounding everything that happened to her. There was no point in confronting the past with her mother, not when there was so much to look forward to. "It's okay." The slight racing of her heart wasn't helping keep the nausea down.

"It's not and it never was, dear. On the behalf of your father and I, I apologise for-"

"Mom, it's fine," Fiona dismissed her quickly. "You don't need to be sorry. Everything worked out," she repeated what she'd told her parents before, whenever they'd tried to apologise. It was true.

"I would still like to apologise to you, Fiona," Lillian was indignant. "I'm not sure how I can make it up to you, but I shall try."

Fiona shook her head, she smiled at her. "Mom, really, it's fine. You already broke me out of a dungeon."

Her words brought a soft smile to Lillian's face, though it faded quickly. She wasn't entirely sure how to reassure her mom that she was okay. But she wasn't about to compromise her own child's happiness, her own happiness came second now to the biggest priority in her mind. She was sure her mother would agree to that.

The ogress took a breath in the silence Lillian had granted her, eager to change the subject back to the most important matter. "We're going home, mom."

Her mother met her gaze. "You're still going to come back, aren't you, Fiona?" she asked pensively. "You're still the princess of this kingdom, no matter how people look at you."

Fiona could see the slight panic in her mother's eyes, despite her calm and collected exterior. "Of course we'll visit," she spoke the obvious. "This is a part of who I am," she confirmed. "I want the baby to be a part of this, it's who they are too."

Lillian leant forward and took her daughter's hand. "I just want you to be happy, darling."

"I know," Fiona smiled genuinely, "I am."

. . .

This took so long to get to the relevant part! But the pregnancy is fun to dive into, so I dove in. Also, not the saddest fic you've ever read this time, win for that.

The biggest thank you and shout out to rawshark for theorising, encouraging, talking about canon and helping create about a million new concepts for these. Go go read and leave a review on their stuff, they're the light fluff to my dark and depressing.

Thank you for reading :)