Chapter One - A New Adventure

That green light and all the weight it carried kept flashing through her mind.

I'm pregnant.

When mother and daughter (and soon-to-be-child) arrived back up at the docks, Orm was waiting for them.

"Everything all right?"

"Oh yes," Atlanna answered. "Just taking care of some important business." She squeezed her daughter's arm before heading up the path towards the lighthouse where the rest of the crew awaited them.

"Sit with me for a bit?" Aurelia asked.

"Of course."

They sat on the edge of the docs, legs dangling off above the sea spray.

"So I've been thinking," she began after a moment of comfortable silence. "Maybe we should stage a coup and you can take the throne from me."

He gave her an amused look. "We already rule together."

"I know," she pouted. "Maybe my brother will overthrow me..."

He chuckled. "Always so dramatic."

"Hey, coming from the most dramatic person I know!" She stared at the horizon, ablaze with the sunset. "So remember when we went on our Sicily adventure-"

"-The one that you dragged me on against my will."

"Oh come on, you enjoyed yourself. At least eventually. But remember when you were telling me about saving yourself for when you were married and what a good husband you wanted to be?"

"Yes..." She was clearly confusing him by bringing all this up all of a sudden, but all would make sense very soon.

"And later you told me you liked kids and wanted some of your own?"

"Yes. And you thought so little of me back then."

"Actually you were definitely on my better side by that point." She remembered those conversations so clearly, because they had changed the way she saw him and had struck something deep within her.

"Have you had any girlfriends?"

"I've always been betrothed." He didn't need to add 'to you.' "I felt like being romantically involved with anyone else was a betrayal of that. I will be fully committed to the one I love. Unlike my father, who cheated on my mother many times. Theirs was not a happy marriage, nor a good one, it goes without saying. But I want mine to be."

"Well then she'll be a lucky woman, whoever she is."

"I hope so."

And later:

"You like kids?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"Hmm, just didn't associate you with that. You keep surprising me."

"I would like to have children of my own someday. Do you want children?"

"Not sure, haven't really given it much thought."

She hadn't known it then, but she was falling in love.

"So, full disclosure, that totally melted me learning all that about you, and you said that since we had always been betrothed - still pissed off that that was done without any discussion with myself, one half of said betrothed, but don't mind that now - and that if you were with anyone else it would be betraying that betrothal and me. And that you would be 'fully committed to the one you love'. I couldn't stop thinking about it. That was when I really started to see you differently. And I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky your future wife and kids would be."

"Really?"

"Yes! And how I hoped they would know how lucky they were to have you. Of course, that was before I actually fell in love with you and now I'm your wife."

"And do you still think you're lucky to have me?"

"Want me to prove it to you? Right here right now?" She waggled her eyebrows, relishing in his adorable blushing. "Yes, I'm so very lucky. And not just me, but our kids too."

He smiled, nodding a little, and then caught her gaze. She was staring intently back at him.

"Our kids," he repeated.

She nodded. "Well, 'kid' singular to start, at least."

He was beginning to understand, to catch on to the implications of her words. "Wait, was all that to say that you, that we're-"

She grinned. "Go on Baby, say it."

He didn't though, he was shocked speechless. His beautiful blues were wide and glassy. The truth was settling in, but he couldn't quite believe it.

So instead, to cast away any lingering doubts he might still have, she took his hand and placed it on her stomach, holding it there with her heavily-ringed hands. He stared down at their joined hands for a while before looking up and meeting her gaze. "How is this possible?" he breathed out in barely a whisper.

"Uh, did you never have the 'where babies come from' talk? I mean, isn't it the same as with humans?" Or was it different in Atlantean biology? Uh oh, she might have to have another conversation with her mom.

He gave a half-sob, half-laugh. "Yes, I mean I know how, but-" His eyes were pooling with tears. "I'm just so surprised and happy."

"Yeah, me too." She agreed. "And come on, you can't be that surprised." She nudged him, and now on top of happy crying, he blushed even deeper.

"I already love them so much."

"Me too."

"Does anyone else know yet?"

"Just my mom, she was there with me when I did the test. Want to go tell the others?"

"Yes! I want to scream it so everyone can hear it, both in the sea and on land!"

She laughed. "Then let's go!" She jumped to her feet, taking him with her.

"Wait-"

"What?"

He stopped and just held her there on the docks in the dying daylight. "I just love you so much."

She gave his arm a playful punch. "Stop crying or I'll start too!"

"I make no promises."

They stood there, just holding each other, crying and kissing, for a long while. Once the sun had disappeared and the sky was dark and the stars were out, they headed back, hand-in-hand, to the house.

"Oh, finally!" Arthur sighed dramatically. "Now we can finally eat! We were waiting for you - what were you two doing out there for so long? Wait, never mind, I don't want to know."

"Piss off," Aurelia fired back. "Besides, you probably do want to know in this instance."

"Huh?"

Now her parents, brother, Arthur and Mera were all looking at them, Atlanna the only one wearing a knowing smile.

She squeezed Orm's hand. "Go ahead, Baby."

He looked down at her. "Really?"

"Yeah, you tell them."

"Tell us what?" Tom prompted.

Orm wasted no more time. "Aurelia is with child," he cried, because of course he would put it like that, in his utterly charming way. "We're going to be parents!"

Atlanna drew a shocked Tom close, while Arthur gave a whoop.

"Congratulations you two," Mera said.

"Thank you."

"What does this mean?" asked Atlas, the only one who didn't understand.

"It means you're going to be an uncle," his sister told him.

Now he went from confused to excited in an instant. "I'm going to be an uncle!" he cheered.

"Yes, you're going to be the best uncle."

"Hey, what about me?" cried Arthur, aghast.

"Debatable." She turned to her parents. "So what's it like, being first-time parents?"

Her mother and father exchanged an amused look.

"It's an adventure," Atlanna said.

"That's for sure," Tom agreed. He smiled at his daughter. "But you always did love a good adventure."

Did I have to make a whole chapter about her telling him she's pregnant? Absolutely! ;)

Thank you so much for all the reads and comments already! So glad there's so much excitement!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)