Chapter Three - Maternity Leave, Pt. 1
Later, after going through all the albums in great detail, Aurelia asked, "Are there any baby pictures of you?"
Orm shook his head. "No."
"Seriously? None at all? I bet you were a super cute baby."
"Well we certainly didn't keep record of my birth like your father did of yours."
"Darn."
"I still have lots of your baby stuff in storage," Tom added.
Aurelia shrugged. "I'm game."
And so they started unloading the closets into the room that had been chosen as the nursery. "Damn Pops, you really did keep everything."
"It's all got sentimental value."
Add that to the stuff they'd kept from when Atlas was a baby, and they had quite the collection. Baby Curry-Marius already had it all.
"This is horribly designed," Orm remarked from where he was closely examining a bucket seat. "This is really what surface dwellers use for their children?"
"Yes, lots of babies use the same stuff and they turn out fine."
"Debatable."
"Hey, I turned out fine, didn't I?"
"I could do much better than this." He set the bucket seat aside with a wary look. "I'm making everything. Only the best for our prince or princess." He began tapping away on his tablet, setting tasks for himself the next time he visited his lab.
Tom and Aurelia exchanged an amused glance. "I appreciate it, and I'm sure the baby will too, but that's a lot of extra work."
"It will make me feel better knowing that we are using something more secure. I will use only the best materials: Atlantean steel and the likes."
"Okay, you do you." She reached for the next box at the back of the closet. "Oh hey, my college stuff." Funny that the college stuff was mixed in with all the baby stuff, but it was all storage.
Orm looked up from his tablet. "College?"
"Yeah, you know, my extended education. I studied oceanography of course. But I dropped out after a couple of years. I thought it was perfect because there no one knew me. I was just Aurelia, not the fish freak. But I quickly learned that it didn't matter, I was different no matter where I was. I kept coming home, I didn't like being away from Dad and leaving him all alone, so in the end I just dropped out and moved back home."
"That was where you met your previous boyfriends wasn't it?"
She gave a little snort. "Subtle Babe, real subtle. Yeah, again, a fresh start, or supposedly. I didn't know anyone. But I was a young adult and I made some bad decisions. I was so desperate to be loved by someone outside my family, but all it did was convince me of how different I really was, and I didn't see it in a good way then. I came to think that maybe I really was an unlovable freak."
He set his tablet aside and came over to her. "And now you know that you're not a freak, and are in fact very lovable."
She cracked a smile. "Oh I'm still a freak, but a lovable one."
"What's wrong, Babe?" Aurelia asked of Orm's deflated look.
There was a moment, then, "Arthur's making fun of me. Again."
"Arthur, leave my man alone," she hollered down the hall. "Or you're going to get your ass whooped by a pregnant woman!"
"Aw, but he's just so much fun to pick on. His little wedgie suit." Arthur snickered and came over. Orm was tall, but Arthur towered over him.
"Leave him!"
One thing about them was that while they encouraged each other to explore their respective homes, neither pushed the other further than they were currently comfortable with. She was glad Orm seemed to be becoming more accepting of the Surface, but let him go about it at his own pace. He still wore his wetsuits on land (like, how?) but was quite open with trying food (especially after their jaunt to Sicily a few years before). She certainly felt more pressure from the Atlanteans about accepting the underwater kingdom and their ways, a lot of which were very out of date, if she did say so herself.
Arthur continued to chuckle at Orm's expense. "Have fun at your fancy party."
"This party will be many things, but I doubt fun will be one of them," she sighed. "But that's okay, I'm not focusing on that. This is to celebrate our baby and celebrate I will!"
As promised, a celebratory banquet was held in honour of the exciting news of the future king or queen.
The banquet hall was decked out and everyone who was anyone in Atlantis was there. Everyone kept coming up to her and Orm telling them how wonderful it was for them to have an heir - and she really didn't like it. Their baby was their baby, part of the loving family unit they had created, not some political piece for Atlantis to use. Certainly not. Honestly, if someone said that one more time, she wasn't sure what she was going to do, but it wasn't going to be pretty, that's for sure.
"How are you doing?" Mera asked, floating over.
"Overwhelmed to be honest. Crowds and gatherings were never my thing."
"Well you're doing great."
"Thanks, Mer."
"Orm's excited."
"Oh he's ecstatic. He's gonna be the best dad." She smiled, watching Orm converse with some of the Council Members. He was such a natural at all this. A natural born leader.
The one true heir...
She tried to push such thoughts away, but they had been stirring up ever since she had gotten officially settled into the role of Queen, when the illusion fell away and she was suddenly hit by the reality of it all and what it all meant. Before, they had been rivals for the throne, he having prepared his whole life and being a full-blooded Atlantean, respected by the people, and she the half-breed who had no Atlantis experience. She had been hoping that, among other things, by ruling together, they would balance each other out, but it seemed that while he continued to thrive, she failed. She couldn't seem to do anything right.
"Hey-" Suddenly Orm was at her side, and she perked up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, okay. It's all a little overwhelming. But exciting too."
"Yes, very exciting." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Would you like anything else from the refreshments table?"
"I think I'm good - whoa-" Suddenly, her whole stomach dropped, and not in an excited way, but in a bad way. Her hands flew to rest on her suddenly tumbling belly. She took one look at the table filled with food and drinks and suddenly felt very queasy.
"Aurelia, are you all right?" Now he was looking at her in concern.
"I-" But she didn't finish, she didn't get the chance to.
Because instead, she puked her guts out in front of all of Atlantis
"I told you they're trying to poison me."
Just when she thought she couldn't embarrass herself any further in front of them all, she had surprised everyone, including herself.
She whimpered as Orm and Atlanna took her to she and Orm's suite, the former honeymoon suite turned theirs. She really wanted to get out of this stupid suit and go back to the lighthouse but she was not in a state to move a lot right now, so she basically fell into bed and knew that was where she was going to stay for a while.
"You can go back to the party," she told Orm after Atlanna had left her in his capable hands. "I know you were enjoying yourself."
"I was, but I think I'm partied out for today."
"Done enough butt smooching for one day huh?" Though he didn't have to kiss up to them, she did.
"Would you like me to stay with you?"
"Yes please."
He came around to the other side of the bed, snuggling up against her from behind and holding her. "Better?"
"So much better." A pause, then, "Sing to me."
She could hear the smile in his voice. "As my love wishes." He cleared his throat, followed by silence, then, he didn't miss a beat - no pun intended.
"Born on the wrong side of the ocean
With all the tides against you
You never thought you'd be much good for anyone
But that's so far from the truth
I know there's pain in your heart
And you're covered in scars
Wish you could see what I do
'Cause baby, everything you are
Is everything I need
You're everything to me
Baby, every single part
Is who you're meant to be
'Cause you were meant for me
And you're everything I need
You can say I'm wrong
You can turn your back against me
But I am here to stay
I am here to stay
Like the sea
She keeps kissing the shoreline
No matter how many times he pushes her away
'Cause baby, everything you are
Is everything I need
You're everything to me
Baby, every single part
Is who you're meant to be
'Cause you were meant for me
And everything happens for a reason
It's all a blessing in disguise
I used to question who I was
But now I see
The answer's in your eyes
'Cause baby, everything you are
Is everything I need
You're everything to me
Baby, every single part
Is who you're meant to be
'Cause you were meant for me
And you're everything I need..."
Poor Aurelia just can't get a break! Shoutout to Skylar Grey's song! ;)
As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)