Chapter 5: Time and Tea

The next morning, Arissa woke up to a text from her husband, stating that he would be having a business trip for a week so she shouldn't bother to wait for him when he comes back. As much as it lightened the burden, the young mother was perplexed.

Why does she felt lonely yet relieved at the same time?

She decided to distract herself from those thoughts by vacuuming the house as much as the baby allowed her.

Just then, she heard a noise that was close to the window. Thinking it was a bird, she was about to shoo it away until she was met with a pair of reptilian eyes. He entered the window slowly but what she noticed was the bit of reddish-brown liquid at the corner of his mouth. It looked like he had something with ketchup but knowing the space dragon, that was not the case.

"O-oh! Hello, Ichi," she greeted the golden dragon with a shy smile. Ghidorah bowed his head as a response, his neck craned to present his height. Something about Ghidorah seemed so regal. Arissa wondered why the baby never fussed whenever Ghidorah was around...

::Greetings, little woman. You look much better today than last night. I dare say you are glowing,:: he commented, causing her to feel flushed. She couldn't remember the last time Vinn had complimented her ever since their marriage.

When he changed, she tried to ask her mother-in-law and her own mother about what to do. Needless to say, they were very protective about him and wanted to make sure nothing taints his image. He was still a big shot amongst the family in every invited gathering they've been to.

However with her five-months pregnancy, Arissa seldom followed her husband to these events, afraid it might stress out the baby. Although she was grateful for his concerns, she yearned to venture outside where she could feel the breeze or even join those programmes for first time mothers.

::You're very quiet, for a human. Your mate doesn't like hearing you speak?:: Ghidorah asked, examining the vacuum cleaner. Arissa sat on the sofa with a slump. "Don't you get tired of hearing other people talk? When you had your brothers, don't you ever want them to shut up?"

He responded with a deep growl, his neck was almost glowing with yellow flashes that resembled lightning but he stopped. Despite the intimidating display, Arissa was in awed of the dragon before her as he crouched down with his head on the floor.

"Ichi? Can you hear me?"

Ghidorah nodded, closing his eyes. ::Indeed. As much as I despised my brothers' insignificant squabbles, I do...do wished I could hear them one last time. Ni would throw insults at any of us while San gets his head in the stars to even follow through with my plans. Don't get me wrong, I love my freedom but...::

Without thinking, she placed a gentle hand over his back. It was cold as ice!

"...you missed them, as much as you don't want to admit it," she finished the sentence while stroking his back. Ghidorah made a small rumbling noise before meeting her eyes. ::You are very observant for a human. How come you don't have a kin or family close by? I thought all humans love to be close since you are social creatures.::

Arissa pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. To her surprised, he gently nudged her shoulder with his snout. "I..well, not everyone wants to be close. I wasn't originally from here so being away from my family gave me a sense of freedom but..."

Ghidorah had not said a word telepathically but his eyes held a lot of emotion. So far, the baby had not kicked her or caused her pain whenever the golden dragon was present. Taking a wet tissue from the table, she began to dab the brownish red stain at the corner of his mouth. His expression changed into confusion and his tail began to flick.

She was thankful that he had not bitten her or considered her as his next meal.

::I-I appreciate the offer,:: his voice sounded flustered, ::but where is your mate? Should I be attacking him at any moment?::

"No! I mean- no, he's not here," Arissa steadied her tone, aware of Ghidorah's teeth. "Vinn is on a business trip and I don't want to call him because it might distract him. He brings home the money to provide this house and everything, really."

Ghidorah only tilted his head. ::Hmmm, I would not count on it.::

Not wanting to simmer through this tension, Arissa excused herself to wash up since she was done cleaning.

...

A shower was nice after a long day of housework but it was also a pain with the awkward position of her body inside the small shower stall.

Stepping out, Arissa observed her reflection in the mirror and recoiled with disgust.

Her body had a few faint scars from the bruises inflicted upon her by Vinn whenever he was unhappy or her mother if she was out of line. The swelling from the black eye had gone down but the bluish-black hue still remained before her.

'Haven't I done enough? Am I good enough?' she tends to ask herself everyday whenever Vinn was in a piss-poor mood or her family's criticism about her overall life as a housewife. She tried to do the best she could and make sure people were happy with her work.

She learnt a long time ago on how to put others before her.

::Arissa?:: A familiar voice called from outside of the bathroom. Pushing aside all of those thoughts, she donned a bathrobe to cover herself and exited out of the bathroom. Ghidorah was staring at the photos on Vinn's desk. It had their wedding and a picture of them riding a ferry to their hotel for their honeymoon.

That was the last time she saw Vinn smiled.

"Those are our wedding photos," she explained quietly, masking the oncoming tears. When did everything go wrong? What went wrong?

Ghidorah turned his attention to her, eyes narrowed. ::Not as content as these memories you kept. Your mate must be daft if he was to leave you without anything. Anyways, I made a drink out of those dried leaves and boiled water. You can have some if you want.::

Now this was amusing. Who knew he learnt how to brew tea without any prior knowledge! The way he carefully analysed his surroundings and how he examined each item fascinated her. It's been so long since she had a conversation with someone other than her husband or pestering family members.

::Something funny?::

"How do you know how to make tea?"

This made Ghidorah smirk. ::I have my fair share of witnessing a few humans during my flight, carousing away. Though odd, the scent of those 'drinks' as you referred to, were very enticing. Not as enticing as the prey while I am at this size.::

"Ichi, that's stalking!" she teased, poking his neck, causing Ghidorah to emit a few thrills and tapped her back gently with the tip of his spiked tail.

Just as they were having a laugh, she felt a sharp pain from her belly. Clutching her stomach, she began to sit at the head of the bed, praying that it would stop. Ghidorah prodded her side with his snout, his expression was calm.

::May I see it?::

Through the pain, she wanted to ask what he had meant but after experiencing what the baby felt around the dragon, she nodded. A few things were ringing in her mind:

Was she going behind her husband's back?

Does it count since he was a former titan from outer space?

Had she gone nuts through all of the turmoil?!

Slowly, she began to disrobed herself to present her natural state in front of Ghidorah. With caution, he laid a snout over her pained belly. Arissa almost gasped when the claws from his wings were resting on her sides, massaging oh so gently. She almost lets out a soft moan from the pleasure.

::Why are you thrashing about, little one? Your mother's worried something might happen to you. She will always be here to protect you.::

Despite the voice being telepathic, it warmed her heart to know that the pain was going down. Every stroke of his rough, scaly head against her smooth skin caused her to have a few goosebumps. She wanted to lean back but was simply in awed of how Ghidorah was affecting her.

She almost leaned into the touch until she heard her phone ringing in the living room.

Gee, I wonder who's calling her at this hour? I have some cute ideas between these two so stay tune!