"You need to promise me, Sweetheart- once you start showing, we tell Anduin the truth."
Varian's words rang inside Val's head as she stood deathly still in front of their floor length mirror. For the past eight weeks, she'd not had to think about such a promise. It'd been easy enough to conceal her pregnancy from both the world, and the boy in question.
But now, as she stared at the small roundness that protruded from her stomach, she was thinking about nothing else. A cold slither of dread snuck its way up her spine, and she realised that this was it; there was no hiding it anymore. People would only need to glance at her to see that she was with child.
On the one hand, she was elated- this meant that her pregnancy was viable, and her child was growing. On the other, however, it meant that the metaphorical powder keg was about to explode, and she couldn't be sure how much damage it was going to cause.
For the hundredth time in the past half hour or so, she lifted her hand and ran it down the soft curve of her belly. She didn't know what she was expecting to happen; it was too soon to feel any sort of movement. But still, the touch itself felt rather gratifying, and she found it difficult to stop herself from simply standing there and repeating it over and over.
A wobbly smile started to work its way onto her face with every stroke, but that smile couldn't stay. With every whimsical thought she had about the babe that was nestled within her womb, she had another about the child she already had- the one who was about to join his parents on an emotional roller-coaster.
So far, Anduin had shown no signs of knowing about Val's condition. Of course, he'd asked why she was still being sick every now and then, or why she'd sometimes fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon, but it seemed that Varian's plethora of rather awful excuses had worked on the boy, and he'd not questioned things any further.
Val had to wonder if it was all a front. Anduin was a smart lad- even she and Varian underestimated him more than they'd care to admit. Maybe he already knew, and was just waiting for the two of them to stop their game of charades and talk to him like an adult?
Reaching back, she knew at his age, she was starting to grow frustrated by the grown-ups in her life treating her as if she were stupid, purely because she was a child. Maybe it was the same for Anduin?
Her long drawn train of thought was cut off by the squeaking of hinges that hadn't been oiled in a while, and the soft thud of thick rubber soles on stone flooring. Val didn't even need to look around to find out who caused the noise- the mirror was angled in such a way that she could see their chamber door perfectly well.
More importantly, she could see who was coming through it in time to throw a robe on, should the need arise.
"Light above, it's bloody freezing out there," Varian declared, closing the door behind him and rubbing his bare hands together.
"Bet you're glad that I told you to wrap up now, aren't ya?" Val teased, and Varian chuckled as he began to unfasten the clips of the sleeveless gambeson he had on.
"How was your run?" she asked, watching his reflection hunch down by the fire that had been blazing since sunrise.
"Good, thank you. I managed to circuit the Dwarven district with hardly anyone noticing me, which is always a bonus," Varian boasted, feeling the sensation coming back to his fingers.
"It makes me think that these early morning sessions are the way to go," he added, and Val, who was genuinely glad to hear it despite her constant refusal to join him on his city-wide jogs, flashed him a smile.
"As long as you can get ready without waking me up, you can go whenever you want," Val playfully warned, and Varian finally turned to her with a raised eyebrow- one that only went higher when he noticed her state of undress.
"Here I am talking about how cold it is, and you're standing there in your damn knickers! Where are your clothes, woman?" he scolded, swiftly getting to his feet.
"I'll put them on in a minute, I promise. I…I just needed to look a little bit longer," Val admitted, and her husband's face softened as he came behind her and held her shoulders.
"A sight to behold, isn't it?" Varian mused, and the only noise Val could make as the two of them stared at their mirrored counterparts was a soft 'hm' of complete agreement.
"I don't think we got this far the last time, did we?" she asked meekly, and Varian answered with a light kiss to the back of her head.
"No, Sweetheart, we didn't. Which makes seeing you like this all the sweeter," Varian said. Both of his large hands slid down the outline of her body until he could bring them forward and cradle her tiny bump in them.
Val flinched at the touch, but neither of them could be sure if it was out of fear, or merely because his hands were still cold. Varian would've loved to believe that it was the latter, but something in Val's expression told him otherwise.
He didn't press it, however- she'd been making such progress in terms of her attitude towards her pregnancy, that it would be too risky a move.
"You realise what this means, don't you?" Val asked with a quaking voice, and the mirrored image of her husband's face hardened with a frown.
"Of course I do. But we've been the subject of idle gossip so many times, Val, that I honestly can't find it in me to worry about it anymore," said a rather candid Varian.
"But it's not just about usthis time, Varian- there's kids involved," Val bemoaned, and Varian relented his grip on her so that she could turn around and talk to him, instead of his reflection.
"I know you're worried about Anduin, love-"
"Of courseI'm worried about Anduin!" Val cried, taking his hands away completely and becoming far too loud for his liking. "We're about to upheave his entire life for the third time running. That's not fair on a seven year old boy who's only just become settled again!"
"Val! Calm yourself, for Lights sake!" Varian growled, and the sudden shift in tone was jarring enough to have the desired effect on the queen, who stared incredulously at him, as if she couldn't believe the audacity of the command.
"I have no doubt that Anduin will be as initially upset as we were when he hears that you're pregnant again. But the difference with him is that he has usto answer all of his questions, and be a shoulder when he needs it. He will be fine, you just have to give him time," Varian told her, using the one moment he had to get everything he needed to say out in the open.
"He's going to hear so much crap over this, Varian- we won't, because the people in this Keep know that you won't tolerate it. But he's so little, and so gentle, that those bastards won't think twice about whispering in front of him," Val argued, and while her point was perfectly valid, Varian couldn't help but feel uneasy about how pent up she was getting.
"They presume he doesn't listen, but he does, and that's what I'm most concerned about."
"Then we surround him with people we trust, Sweetheart, it's as simple as that. And if that means the only staff in his rooms are Wyll and Johanna, then so bloody be it," Varian compromised, but as he'd expected, Val looked as sullen as ever.
"It's all well and good saying that, when he might not even be able to trust usafter today," she muttered, and Varian fought the urge to sigh, even though she could well be right.
Were he in Anduin's shoes, he'd be furious to learn that his parents had waited ten weeks to tell him such important news…but then, Varian had always been considered an 'intemperate' child compared to his son, so really, there was no telling what his reaction was going to entail.
"Do you honestly believe that our Anduin, the boy who's known for being as vicious as a cupcake, would ever hold a grudge against us?" Varian asked in all seriousness, but with Val being…well, Val, she started to snicker.
"Answer the question, woman, before I start sprouting grey hairs," Varian prodded, despite the fact that there was a chuckle sitting at the back of his throat.
"That's not the point," Val weakly argued, and her bare arms folded themselves across her chest in frustration.
"This isn't us telling him that Greatfather Winter isn't real, Varian…this is another brother or sister that he may not get to meet. We can't expect him to be happy about the fact that because of me, he's missed out on eight weeks of enjoying the baby, when Light knows how much longer we have with it."
That was when Varian took both of her hands and gave them a firm squeeze.
"Enough of this. Anduin will understand ourmotives as soon as we explain them. Stop acting as if I didn't willingly follow your lead," Varian scolded, and Val's eyebrow started to arch in that skeptical way of hers.
"I didn't exactly give you a choice, love- it was either you went along with me, or you slept outside. Any smart man would've chosen the first option," she dead-panned, and Varian could feel his back teeth beginning to grit.
"I chose 'the first option', because believe it or not, I somewhat agreed with you," he retorted, and a quick inhale calmed his senses enough to make his face soften.
"But now we're at a point where it's both appropriate, and necessary, to tell him everything. And I hope you concur when I say that it needs to be done today. Preferably as early as possible."
Val's face screamed that she wasn't on board with the idea at all. Which was why Varian was all the prouder to see her slowly nod.
"It'll have to be before school…but then, I feel like we should just let him have the day off today," Val mused, and Varian couldn't fault such logic.
"Schooling isn't important today," he affirmed, stroking his stubbled chin and growing silent, which told Val that he was falling deep into his thoughts.
"It'd probably be too obvious if we took him down to the house to tell him, wouldn't it?"
Val mulled the idea over for a brief moment, but it was easy enough to choose the best answer for it.
"Anduin's smart, Varian, but he's still a child- I think he'll just be too excited about going there instead of the classroom to think there's any pretence," she pointed out, and she was clearly on board with the idea of the lake-house, for her shoulders had finally started to lose the hunch that they'd harboured for the last ten minutes.
"Besides, being at the house gives us complete privacy- so we don't have to watch our words."
That cinched it for Varian, who lightly pounded a fist against the other hand's open palm. "No, we won't…and it gives the entire day with him in order to let it sink in- no being called away for lunch, or audience," he reeled off, clucking his tongue. "I can miss council easily enough. I doubt the government will implode if I did - so in theory, we can go straight after breakfast."
"The only problem with that, is that your absence will tell them all it needs to," Val debated, but Varian waved it away.
"That's not so much a problem, as it is a shortcut. They can figure it out for themselves, and I'll have Gregor put the public announcement up this afternoon, so we can kill two birds with one stone- the people, and our court."
"Meanwhile, we'll be at the house, so Anduin won't hear a word of their reactions," Val added, cottoning on to his plan.
"Exactly. It's the most preferable scenario. By tomorrow, the dust would've settled, and we would've had all night to prepare answers for the few questions people will have. Then, it's life as normal," Varian concluded, clapping his hands together.
"Right then, that settles it," he declared, kissing Val's forehead. "You go and dress in something comfortable, and I'll start packing a bag for the both of us." Val made no move to carry out his instruction, however. Instead, she put her arms around his torso and rested her head upon it.
"Thank you," Val murmured, and Varian couldn't help but find himself thoroughly confused.
"For what, Sweetheart? I've not done anything," Varian said, returning her embrace.
"For understanding," she said simply, and Varian smiled into her still sleep-frizzed hair.
"You honestly thought that I'd do anything else?" he asked, giving her an affectionate squeeze.
"I don't know- things have been all over the place lately…I wasn't entirely sure whatyou'd do," Val admitted, with her eyes drooping from sheer exhaustion.
"You can always count on me to understand, Val. I may not always agree with your methods, but I'll understand them," Varian assured her, and he let her go after one more kiss.
"Now go on, before Anduin walks in here and finds his mum half naked. We've enough to explain to him today without having an anatomy lesson on top of it all."
Not three hours passed before the Wrynns alighted their carriage at the border of Mirror Lake. So used were they to the wards surrounding the house, that not one of them panicked as they were met with dense forest that matched the rest of Elwynn.
If anything, Anduin grew more excited by it, for it meant he could watch his father raise his key aloft and cause it to glow a soft, shimmering blue as it brought the magical barriers down.
"Did you want a cup of tea, George?" Val offered the clearly exhausted driver once he took their bags down, but the elderly man politely shook his head.
"No thank you, Your Majesty, but that's most kind of you," George said humbly, and Varian inclined his head to him.
"Come back for us no earlier than ten o'clock tomorrow, my good man. And make sure you take that letter of credit to Lord Fulton," Varian instructed, and with a cheery goodbye, the coachmen drove off with the thundering sound of four pairs of hooves.
"Did you send the maids here first, Father?" Anduin asked, clearly as nervous about going into a house that hadn't been occupied in months as his mum was.
"No, son, I didn't- there wasn't time. But rest assured, I'llgo in before you and make sure there's nothing untoward lurking about," Varian promised, and for once, Anduin was a little glad to see Shalamayne's hilt poking out from the top of his cape.
"I think we're going to have to abandon the thought of pumpkins this year, Little Lion," Val said forlornly as she used the toe of her boot to lift what limp, dry mess was left of the stalks they'd planted.
"I did warn you two that we're not here enough to nurture any sort of life," Varian teased, but as he'd expected, Anduin wasn't fazed by it.
"We can just try again next year mum," he concluded happily.
"Right then, you two wait here, I'll scope the place for bears," Varian playfully commanded, and although Val knew that there was absolutely no way that such a creature could be hiding in their home-away-from-home, Anduin's face dropped.
"He's just joking, right mum?" Anduin asked nervously, and Val held his shoulders so that she had the stability to bend down and kiss his head.
"Of course he is, baby. Take no notice of him," she soothed, and they both waited patiently while Varian's heavy footsteps travelled throughout the cottage.
"Alright, all clear," the High King eventually called, and before he'd even finished the word 'clear', Anduin scurried inside and slammed the washroom door shut.
"I told that boy to go before we bloody left," Varian grumbled as he came back out to fetch their bags.
"You never listened to Llane at his age, love. So you can't be that surprised that he gave you the same courtesy," Val pointed out, taking one of the smaller ones.
"Put that down, right now, woman," Varian growled, but Val stood her ground.
"I'm pregnant, Varian, not infirm. I doubt a satchel of food is really going to do anything," she argued.
"Don't you dare take anything else, do you hear me?" Varian barked, with his neck turning a shade of red that told Val that he wouldn't tolerate any arguing.
"Loud and clear, dear husband," she answered, taking the bag inside and plonking it on the breakfast table.
"Mum! Have you got the bum paper?!"
"I wish to the Light he wouldn't call it that," Varian muttered as he closed the door with his foot and dumped their trunks by the stone cold hearth.
"It's your fault that he does, Varian, so stop whinging," Val retorted, pulling the aforementioned item from the depths of her satchel. and gently knocking the door to tell Anduin she was opening it.
"I said it to him once!" Varian protested, and Val only started laughing harder as she passed it through the small gap that Anduin made in order to keep his modesty.
"And once is all it takes- you'll find that out the hard way with this...one," she trailed off, and both she and Varian were glad that the door had already closed again.
"You're allowed to talk about the future, Val," Varian said softly, but she didn't seem on board with the idea.
"I don't want to jinx things," Val said simply, and apparently, that was the end of the conversation.
"Anduin, hurry up in there, your mum and I need to speak with you," Varian called, and his booming voice echoed off of every wall of the small cottage.
"We're doing it now?" Val asked, and Varian nodded as he continued unpacking.
"I think it would be best to rip the bandage off," he affirmed, despite how the very idea was making Val turn pale again.
"You could've at least let me take my shoes off first…" Val murmured, but in her heart of hearts, she time here to either calm Anduin down, or enjoy the news with him…it all depended on how the boy took it.
They didn't have to wait long, and before Val had even come to terms with the fact that this was actually happening, Anduin bounded out the washroom and dried his hands on the hem of Varian's shirt (the towels weren't unpacked just yet, so the king allowed it).
"What do you need to speak to me about, Father?" Anduin asked, and Varian gave his wife one last look that said 'are you ready?'.
She wasn't, nor did she think she ever would be. But it had to be done, and that was the mantra she repeated inside her head as she held her hand out for Anduin's.
"Come and sit down, darling," Val gently commanded, and of course Anduin happily ran over and slipped his little fingers between hers. Val guided him down to the stool that sat in between the chaise and Varian's armchair, and waited patiently for the King to join them.
"We wanted to talk about something rather important, Anduin, and we're not sure how exactly to say it," Varian started, surprising Val with the nervousness that coated his normally firm voice.
Apparently, Anduin noticed that nervousness, and the young Prince looked at both of his parents with confusion written all over his face.
".…is this about the fact that Mum's pregnant?"
Even though it wasn't possible for Val to see the expression on her own face, she was sure that it matched the one Varian was wearing. She couldn't describe it any better than 'absolutely flabbergasted', and the two of them couldn't even conjure a single word for a good few seconds.
"You…You know?! How the hells do you know?!" Varian sputtered, and his confusion swiftly turned into anger. "Who told you? Was it Nan?!"
Anduin shrugged, and seemed curiously calm about the whole thing compared to the two adults sitting in front of him.
"No-one told me, Father. I just guessed," he said, giving his thoroughly floored mum a warm smile. "I'm happy about it, if that's what you're worried about."
Val physically shook herself in order to regain her wits, and when she finally did, she swallowed hard enough to make her throat hurt.
"That's not at all what we were worried about, Little Lion. But it's nice to hear," she said, feeling Varian's hand curl over the top of her thigh. "We realise that we told you there'd be no more babies. First off, we're sorry for going back on our word."
"And what we alsorealise is that there's a certain…fear, that comes with the fact that your mum is expecting again, son. A fear that history will repeat itself," Varian added, and considering that they hadn't prepared for this scenario at all, they were keeping their heads rather straight.
"I did wonder about that. Will this one live, do you think?" Anduin asked innocently, and it took a while for either of them to answer him.
"...The midwife has said that there's a good chance. But nothing is set in stone, Anduin. We still have to prepare ourselves, just in case," Val explained, and Varian made a soft noise of agreement.
"Apologies for keeping it from you. But until this point, things were so up in the air, that it wouldn't have been fair to drag you into it," he added, and as was the norm for the boy, Anduin answered with a warmer smile.
"It's alright, Father- like I said, I'm not angry," Anduin stated, but Val's concern was still written all over her face.
"Anduin, how long have you known?" she asked, despite really not wanting to know the answer. "A few weeks? No one has a tummy bug that long mum, even I know that. So I just assumed that you were pregnant again," he explained, and they could see a small hint of amusement bubbling at his lips.
"Although, it was more because Father was so up your bum about doing anything that wasn't sitting down. That was a really big giveaway."
Laughing had been the last thing that Val had expected to do today. Yet here she was, chortling hard enough to make unsavoury snorts leave her nose. Varian, of course, managed to keep a relative lid on his own chuckles, and after pinching the bridge of his nose hard enough to leave angry red fingermarks, he unfurled himself and cleared his throat.
"Now that, I will never apologise for," he declared, glad to see that things weren't half as tense as he'd expected them to be.
"How far gone are you Mum? Your bump's really small," Anduin asked, and Val found it an appropriate time to shed the cloak that had been so tightly wound around her body all the way here.
It was actually rather nice, being able to sit here with the two of them and openly show her pregnancy. Things didn't feel as secretive as they had been at the Keep, where baggy tunics and housecoats had become the norm.
"Three months…and a bit. So we've passed the first hurdle," Val proudly told him, and Varian's smile widened.
"Aye, we have. And now, all we can do is wait, and see what happens," he said, earning a sure nod from Anduin.
"So do you know what you're having? Does anyone else know about them, or is it just me? Will we have to tell everyone now?"
"Whoa, slow down son. We have answers for every question that you have, but you have to do them one at a time, alright?" Varian interjected, and Val patted the hand that was still on her leg.
"Here's a plan- how about your father sticks the kettle on, you go and put your coat and shoes away, and we'll discuss everythingover some hot chocolate?" she suggested, and of course, Anduin was all for it.
"Yes please!" he trilled, and with a bounce to his feet, and an eager kiss on Val's cheek, he bounded away to complete his newfound task.
"Well…that certainly didn't go as I'd planned," Varian muttered, but Val could see both relief and happiness in his royal blue eyes.
"He took it beautifully. We can't ask for anymore than that," Val replied, and with a grunt of agreement, Varian pushed himself onto his feet.
"No, we can't, and Light bless him for being such an understanding child," he said, offering his hand.
"I'm feeling a bit better about everything now, I can't lie to you," Val admitted, and Varian was clearly glad to hear it.
"I'm the same, Sweetheart. You said about passing the first hurdle- well, I think we just soared over the second," Varian said, and he kissed her forehead with a tenderness that not many would expect from a man of his stature.
"I love you," he whispered, and Val felt the corners of her mouth pull with a wide, happy smile.
"I love you too. All three of you."
"Soppy mare."
"Says you. You dopey git."
"Father! Stop being yucky with Mum and put the kettle on!"
