I don't know if anyone is still using this site to read this, but just in case, I'll complete this here too! xD

So, uh...let the emotional rollercoaster begin? I'm sorry? You're welcome? We'll see, lol.

Also, it's Carnaval and I AM Brazilian, so...I won't be able to post on Wednesday xD But I'll be back on Sunday!

Okay, that's it. Happy reading xD


Iris

"So this is where you grew up?" Raven asked in awe as she stared out the glass wall into wild forest, holding the white sheet wrapped around her waist to her chest and sipping tea from the mug in her other hand. Their exclusive, charming cottage was cozy and private, away from people and in the heart of wildlife, which was perfect, because neither of them had anything to fear from nature. She took in the beauty and peace surrounding them and sighed contently. Even in violence, nature has a serenity and balance to it.

Gar propped himself up, leaning back on his hands on the large bed, allowing the sheets to slip down to his crotch, and admired her bare back. "Yep. Nice, isn't it?"

"It's beautiful." The empath whispered truthfully, then she turned around and smiled playfully at him. "Like you."

The Changeling blushed and grinned smugly. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"You are." She sipped her tea again and smirked. "Besides, the Animal Kingdom is yours to rule. That's hot."

He chuckled breezily. "I don't wanna rule it. I wanna protect it."

Her face was immediately taken by tenderness. "Even better."

"You're beautiful, by the way. Standing there like some marble statue of some mythical creature in that ethereal lighting with those perfect curves of yours and that perfect face smiling at me." He brought a hand to his chest. "Gotta tell my heart to calm down."

Raven giggled softly, unknowingly doing the opposite of calming his heart down. "So where do you want to go today?"

They had been there for about a week. Everyday Gar took her somewhere important to him, revisited childhood memories and reconnected with people he hadn't seen in years – which gave her a chance to practice Swahili and French, which he found adorable – while enjoying the amazing sights, experiencing everything with her as if it was all new to him too. And then sometimes he would just shapeshift and run out into the wild with her riding his back. It had been blissful; sharing this part of him – his world, in a way – with her, especially because she was so interested in everything he had to show and tell her.

"I wanna take you to a party later. But other than that, your choice, love."

"In that case, I think it's time for your Christmas present."

The Changeling gasped. He'd completely forgotten about that. "Oh, cool! What is it!?" He waggled his eyebrows in a goofy way. "Is it some kinky shit?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Not even close."

She sounds serious. He frowned and straightened up. "What is it, love?"

"Well, I…" She whispered. "I need you to take me to where your parents died."

He took a sharp, sudden intake of air and his eyes grew huge. Fuck. "I-I…why?"

Raven placed her mug on the table and walked up to him, sitting on his lap and cupping his face in her hands, letting the white sheet fall down to her waist. "Trust me."

Garfield swallowed, looking into her eyes and allowing her calm gaze to ease his troubled mind. I can do it as long as she's with me. "O-okay."

As soon as they got to that river, his instinct was to run away. As much as he'd faced his past lately, this was his most haunting trauma. Just being here made him feel like crying. And he wasn't sure why Raven was arranging candles and crystals in a circle on the floor or why she'd brought a magic book with her. But she'd asked him to trust her.

"Uh…love? Could you maybe tell me what we're doing?"

The empath sat cross-legged in the middle of the circle and looked up at him. "Do you remember when I asked you what you would want if you could have anything?"

He searched his memory for the conversation she was referring to. "Yeah and I said a chance to go back and fix that mistake. Then you said, anything that doesn't involve time traveling?" He smiled slightly. "And I said that in that case, you."

She fought back a smile and rolled her eyes. "Mhmm. And then I said, anything you don't already have? And you said…"

"I said I'd want my parents back." He whispered. "And you said…"

"Anything that doesn't def-"

"Defy the laws of nature." Garfield completed her sentence, feeling more emotional, fearful and hopeful by the minute.

Raven nodded. "Then what did you say you would want?"

"…a chance to say goodbye."

She gave him a tiny, sad smile, opening her palm to reveal his parents' wedding rings. "I'll do my best. Hope you don't mind me borrowing these."

He felt his breath catch in his throat. "Wait, Rae, what are you talking about!?"

But she was already in trance. Her long hair levitated as a whirlwind formed around her, earth, water and leaves revolving in the wind as the sorcerer's eyes glowed white and she floated into the air. She chanted her mantra a few times and her hair slowly turned that silvery, pearly white it did when she accessed her purest form. He watched in dread and awe, unsure of what would happen next and afraid of trying to guess. After a few terrifyingly long seconds, the wind ceased and her body lowered itself to the ground, eyes still closed, hair back to purple, chest still rising and falling. He wasn't sure if she was still in trance or just tired and if it was safe to run to her and interrupt whatever this was.

"Garfield?"

The Changeling felt his heart jump in his chest and hastily turned around at the sound of his mother's voice. He thought he must have been confused – it'd been years since he heard her voice, so he couldn't possibly be sure. But then he saw them and a loud, sharp breath escaped his parted lips. His parents were standing there, only the ethereal shimmer around them to remind him they weren't flesh and bone. They were smiling at him, teary-eyed, and apparently just as surprised as he was. Gar shook his head to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"M-mom? D-dad?"

"It is you, son." Mark Logan said, smiling through the tears.

Marie approached him and held his face in her hands, instantly sobbing at the realization that she could touch him. Garfield closed his eyes and wept. Her touch was cold, but it was her. He could actually feel her hands on his cheeks.

"My boy…my sweet, beautiful boy." Marie caressed his face, a mesmerized smile forming in her lips. "You've grown so much."

Garfield opened his eyes and blinked a few times to allow the tears to fall so they could stop blurring his vision and he could properly look at their lovely faces. Gar gave her an enormous grin. "Hi, mom…" He glanced at his father, who placed a kind hand on his shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. "I miss you guys so much…"

"We're always with you, son." Mark said. "We haven't seen everything, but we do watch over you. We're so, so proud of you and the man you've become."

He chuckled and cried at the same time, in an overwhelming mixture of joy, grief and gratitude. They immediately pulled him into a tight hug he'd longed for since he lost them. Garfield sobbed in their arms, but smiled through the tears.

"How is this possible?" Marie asked, kissing her son's forehead in bliss.

The Changeling's eyes widened and he turned around at once. Raven was watching them fondly from where she was still seated cross-legged on the floor, looking exhausted.

The empath sniffled and looked away. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to pry."

Garfield let out an outraged snort and detached himself from his parents' embrace to walk up to her and gently pull her to her feet. "You did this?"

Raven stared into his eyes. "We can talk about it later. You only have a few minutes before they go back to Heaven. Don't waste them."

The Changeling fought back the urge to tell her how much this meant to him and held her hand, turning back to his parents' spirits. "Can I introduce you to the love of my life?"

Raven gasped, feeling her cheeks warm up, and immediately wiped the leaves off her cloak. She wasn't expecting this. She wasn't expecting to be introduced to his parents. "Gar, that's not necessary…"

"You!" Marie walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her, feeling the sorcerer's body stiffen in shock and chuckling apologetically. "Sorry. I've just been dying to meet you. No pun intended."

Raven almost smiled at the thought that now she knew where Gar got his sense of humor, but she was too taken aback for that.

The shapeshifter, on the other hand, laughed breezily. "Jeez, mom…"

She pulled back and Raven realized Mark had approached them too and they were both smiling warmly at her, which was rather unsettling. "Oh, I…really?"

"Of course?" Mark said, pulling Garfield into another hug. "How could we not?"

"Well, I…I mean…you know who I am, right? What I am?" The empath frowned. I can't possibly be what they envisioned for him.

"Of course we do." Mark stated, ruffling Gar's hair. "You're the girl our son loves."

The Changeling chuckled blissfully again.

"I'm not exactly a girl…"

"Raven? We know." Marie said softly, locking eyes with the sorcerer to reassure her they did not care about her heritage.

Raven's face relaxed and she allowed a soft smile on her lips. Was that approval? Did that just happen?! "Oh. Thank you."

"Thank you. We heard a call. Was that you?" Mark asked. "You guided us here?"

She just nodded once, so Garfield decided to fill the silence. "Isn't she amazing!? She can do anything! I mean, you should have seen the…shit, which story do I tell!?"

Raven rolled her eyes fondly. "Tell them about you. Tell them about everything you can turn into now."

He nodded quickly. "Right, right. Well, I can do alien creatures, other worlds' creatures, even create my own! Dragons are nice. Oh, and a few demons too."

Marie smiled lovingly, but Mark chuckled whole-heartedly, swelling with pride.

"That's my boy! And you turned out handsome like your father, too." He said, giving his son's shoulder another gentle squeeze.

Gar smiled smugly. "Yeah and I can access the force that connects all animal life in the Multiverse and travel through it! Raven thinks I'm meant to be its guardian or something."

Marie smiled wider at that. "Well I'd say she's right."

"I usually am." The empath said casually, biting her lip right after, because she forgot who she was talking to for a second and she didn't want to sound conceited, but they just laughed happily, putting her at ease again.

"Mom? Dad?" Garfield suddenly sounded sad and serious again. His clouded eyes were once again full of tears as he faced his parents. "I…I'm so sorry…I couldn't save you…"

Marie sobbed and wrapped her arms around him even more tightly than before, stroking his hair. "My dearest boy…you listen to me now, Garfield Mark Logan, don't you dare blame yourself." She spoke in a gentle, but firm voice.

"Listen to your mother." Mark rubbed his son's back. "You've given us more than any parent could ask for. You being happy is the greatest gift we could ever receive."

The Changeling finally pulled away and wiped his wet cheeks, smiling peacefully, as if he'd had the weight of the entire world lifted off his shoulders. "I love you both."

"And we love you."

"So much."

"We're running out of time." Raven whispered regretfully. "I'm sorry, I wish I could give you more-"

"Don't even start apologizing." Mark kindly interrupted her. "Thank you."

Raven cleared her throat and gathered up the nerve for what she wanted to do next. "I just…well, given who I am, we won't meet again, so I just wanted to say…" She lifted her sincere eyes to face them. "I love your son endlessly."

That made an insane amount of happiness, care and sorrow – probably because of her reference to not getting into Heaven – pour out of Garfield. She glanced at him and he was looking like he was about to burst into tears, with an incredulous smile plastered on his face. Mark was next to him, smiling at her as well. And then Marie cradled her face and tilted her head to kiss the gemstone on her forehead.

"You know, sometimes life gives us answers when we least expect them." She whispered to Raven, sustaining her sure gaze when the empath lifted her eyes to meet hers in surprise. Marie shot her one more reassuring smile and moved to cup her son's face again. "You are everything a mother could hope for and more."

Garfield beamed at her and she pulled him into one final hug. Mark wrapped his arms around them both. They cried softly together, but it wasn't sad. Raven watched them with a tender expression on her face and watery eyes of her own. And then Mark Logan stretched out his arm and pulled her into their hug as well. Marie and Garfield immediately embraced her and she relaxed into it, trying not to let her shock keep her from enjoying how sweet and special this moment was. They stayed like that for a few seconds until Mark and Marie Logan slowly dissipated into celestial glow and Raven and Beast Boy were left holding each other.

Several more seconds passed until he steadied his breathing enough to look up at her. "Do you have any idea what you've just given me?"

She just pressed her lips against his in a soft, sweet, lazy kiss.

"I'll put a smile on your face everyday for the rest of our lives." He promised quietly against her lips.

Raven chuckled slightly. "Yes, I think you're quite capable of that."

Back in their cottage, Gar prepared the bathtub with warm water, foam and rose petals and stripped to wait for her with a playful grin on his face.

The empath walked out of the bathroom and stopped at the sight before her, unsure of whether to look away, stare, laugh or tease, but aware of her face flushing either way. "We're just going to completely ignore clothes now?"

He shrugged. "What's the point? It's just us and nature here."

I suppose that's true. Raven sighed and slowly removed her own, dropping them on the floor. "Happy?"

The Changeling grinned, admiring her freely. "Very."

She floated to the bathtub and smiled contently as he joined her. "This is a nice vacation."

"The best." He agreed, staring at her with passionate eyes and reaching for her feet under the water, pulling them to his lap.

"What are you- oh!" Raven smiled and leaned back on the tub when he started skillfully rubbing her feet. "That's nice."

"You're my downfall, you're my muse…" Garfield sang softly while he gave her his best foot massage to date. "My worst distraction…"

The empath watched him lovingly, enjoying every cheesy second of bliss. They went on to rub each other's backs, wash each other's hair and cover each other in devoted kisses until they got pruney fingers. And then they put on their soft honeymoon robes and continued kissing passionately on the bed. Eventually they needed to stop and cool down for a moment, because she didn't want to turn her powers off – she was basking in his happiness and didn't want to give it up just yet – but they'd soon continue their free expression of love with no fear of being caught or interrupted by the trouble alarm.

They had dinner by a fire, enjoying the typical food, music and dance from the local community. Gar was in his uniform so he could shapeshift and Raven loved watching how much he enjoyed making people happy. The kids would gather around him in joy and he'd play with each and every one of them. In some ways, he was completely at home. So she made a mental note to come back here with him whenever they could – even if it wasn't for a full week or in a fancy honeymoon cottage.

"Are you having fun?" The Changeling asked as he sat down beside her again. She seemed content and pleased, but since her reactions weren't that easy to read, he wanted to make sure she was having a good time.

Raven nodded. "You don't need to worry about me."

"Young man, I was just telling your lady friend the legends and stories of our people." An older woman said sternly, leaning forward and raising an eyebrow at the shapeshifter.

Garfield put his hands up apologetically. "Sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt."

Raven chuckled softly. "They're rather fascinating stories, too. So don't worry, I'm enjoying myself."

He beamed at her. Yup. She's happy. "Can I listen too? I promise I'll be quiet."

The empath turned to the white-haired woman with an amused expression.

She sighed. "Oh, alright then. But don't interrupt me again."

Later that night, Gar was reading The Hobbit while Raven took a suspiciously long time to change into sleeping clothes in the bathroom – which she insisted on doing even after he reminded her there was no need for those. Either way, he put his dinosaur boxers on to wait for her, because he figured she'd be amused and he wanted to make her smile as many times as he could on this trip.

Raven cleared her throat. "I know that's an interesting book, but…do you mind?"

He curiously brought the book down to look at her, and then he choked on saliva. The Changeling sat up straight, coughing and trying to catch his breath, because she was leaning against the wall in the sexiest black lingerie he'd ever seen, complete with fishnet tights and her harness. It instantly made his palms sweat as if he were back at that party seeing her in a dress for the first time five years ago. And then she conjured their black dog collar to hang from her finger and his heart got impossibly faster.

"So do you want to wear this or put it on me tonight?" Raven asked playfully.

Fuck. Unholy shit. Okay. Chill. Breathe. Garfield finally managed to take a deep breath and clear his throat. "Why not both?"

She deactivated her powers and smiled mischievously. "Very well. I'll start."

And then she snapped her fingers and the collar covered in spikes was around her neck. The Changeling's eyes darkened and he grinned lustfully before turning into a snake and crawling up to her. Raven moaned when he slid up her leg and crotch then across her stomach and chest, making her quiver and take short, shaky intakes of breath.

Garfield turned human and stared at her hungrily. "Are you mine?"

"Yes. Just tell me what to do."

"Kneel."

The sorcerer dropped to her knees, her heart beating faster at his commanding tone. She looked up at him and he ran his thumb over her bottom lip then pushed it inside her mouth. She sucked on it, staring up at him the whole time, loving the amount of lust that filled his eyes as he smiled down at her. His touch was firm, but still tender. She felt completely safe.

"Do you wanna put that pretty mouth of yours to good use?"

She nodded eagerly, already pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Okay, pet. Show me what you got."

After several sinful hours of power play interspersed with moments of tenderness, they drifted off to sleep completely naked, intertwined with each other, enjoying how the nightly breeze soothed their otherwise burning skin.

Garfield woke up to someone placing wet, lazy kisses on his chest and opened his eyes to smile at her. "There's a part of me that's always scared in the morning, you know? To find out it was just a beautiful dream or something."

She rested her chin on his chest and whispered. "Me too."

The Changeling reached out and stroked her hair. "I know you'll just say I'm being dramatic, but I still idolize you. In fact, if it's possible, I feel even luckier than I did at the beginning."

The empath smiled softly at him. "I know what you mean."

And then she moved and laid her head next to his on the pillow and carefully closed his eyelids with her fingertips, proceeding to peacefully run them over his features, slowly contouring his nose, lips, jaw, ears, eyebrows and cheeks.

The shapeshifter wasn't sure what was happening, but it was the gentlest touch he'd ever felt, so he kept his eyes closed and enjoyed it, his lips automatically spreading into a lazy grin. "Watcha doing, love?"

"Worshipping you." Raven whispered sincerely.

He almost opened his eyes to shoot her an incredulous look, but he didn't want her to stop, so he chuckled softly instead. "Really? That doesn't sound right."

"I don't think you have the slightest idea of how much I love you."

His heart skipped a beat and he opened his eyes as she stopped tracing his face with her fingers and cradled his head. He knew there was an insane level of vulnerability in his gaze, but he didn't mind her seeing it. He didn't mind her seeing any part of him. She leaned in to kiss him slowly and he tenderly wrapped his arms around her.

The soft glow coming from the glass walls and the sounds of nature waking up let them know it was dawn. And in that moment they forgot all about Trigon, Sakutia, Jump City, their powers and everything else. Raven hadn't reactivated hers, so they didn't even need to be reminded of their struggles. They just made love in the most peaceful, romantic, intimate possible way, thinking about all they'd done for each other or would do for each other. And they'd never felt closer.

Going back to Titan Tower after that was a mixture of emotions. While their time alone had been heavenly and they'd greatly enjoyed every second, they did miss their friends and their home, so it felt nice to go back. Still, now they'd shared this unique, private experience and felt like it had changed them forever – little did they know just how much.

Raven chuckled quietly when Salem jumped into her arms. She'd missed him immensely as well. "Hey, did Starfire treat you right?"

The black cat meowed contently, snuggling up against her chest, and she shot her Tamaranean friend a grateful smile.

"So how was it?" Cyborg asked them, eating another slice of bacon.

"It was PERFECT!" The Changeling answered theatrically, making Raven roll her eyes fondly. He turned to Dick. "No, seriously, THANK YOU!"

Nightwing laughed light-heartedly. "I'm just glad nothing too bad happened and I didn't need to call you and cut it short."

Cyborg grinned. "Yeah, we've been pretty lucky lately, huh?"

"It's not luck, it's hard work." Richard said pointedly. "Not many threats that could actually challenge us out there."

"Yeah, totally." Superboy breezily folded his arms behind his head. "Like anyone's gonna mess with us."

Nightwing rolled his eyes. "I mean, we still need to stay sharp. But…yeah."

Garfield noticed Raven frowning and whispered worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, giving him a small, reassuring smile. The truth was she couldn't shake off the sensation that something bad did happen. She'd figured the others would tell them what it was, but apparently, there was nothing to tell. "I just...I have this bad feeling. It's vague, though. I'm probably just worrying too much. I'm sure it's okay."

He nodded at her as the others exchanged slightly concerned glances, but then everyone silently decided to believe her words in a unified cloud of wishful thinking.

Over the next weeks, however, Superboy would stop and shoot Raven weird looks – particularly directed at her abdominal region. She noticed, obviously, but some voice in the back of her mind told her ignoring it was the best course of action.

That is, until she couldn't anymore.

Conner was frowning in concern, staring at her stomach as if there was a bomb inside. Raven sat up straight. "Spill it out, Kon-El."

"Are you sick or something?" Superboy asked bluntly. He had been eager to address this already, mostly because he was worried.

The Changeling dropped the video game controller and rushed to Raven's side, staring at her with questioning eyes. "What's he talking about?"

Everyone else unapologetically started paying attention to their exchange.

The empath shrugged. "I have no idea."

"You don't?" Conner asked in surprise, making every head in the room turn to him again. If she was sick, he figured she would be able to detect it because of her powers. He pointed at her abdomen, feeling more confused than ever. "There's…something inside you."

Raven frowned and instinctively placed a hand over her flat stomach.

Garfield freaked out. "Wait, what do you mean something? What's inside her!?"

Conner raised his hands up in the air. "I don't know, dude! It's all…unshapely. I thought it was nothing cause she said nothing so I let it go, but…it's growing."

Krypto barked desperately to let them know he could see it too.

The Changeling felt his blood run cold. Wait, that sounds like a tumor.

Raven watched her boyfriend turn back to her with fearful, pleading eyes. She sensed everyone else's gaze on her too, and an absurd amount of concern and dread in the room. "No, wait. I'm not sick. I would know."

"Are you sure?" Garfield asked her intently, looking her dead in the eye.

She nodded surely and spoke in a reassuring voice. "I promise, I'm not sick."

"But then what…" Conner's voice trailed off as he tilted his head, trying to figure out what it was that he was looking at with his X-Ray vision.

Nightwing suddenly dropped a glass and it shattered on the floor. "Oh, shit."

Raven looked at him and wondered why he looked so shocked and stiff, but only for a moment, because they shared a look and she connected the dots herself. Oh, fuck. Her eyes widened and the palms of her hands instantly turned sweaty and cold. The TV exploded in dozens of pieces, making the Titans jump, but no one dared to complain.

Now Garfield was really concerned, because he couldn't remember ever seeing her look this pale. "R-Rae?"

"I-I…" She stuttered, fighting against the urge to vanish into the floor. "I need Kory."

Starfire hurriedly flew to her best friend, dragging her out of the ops room before she had a public mental breakdown she would certainly regret.

Everyone turned to Richard. He bit his lip, avoiding Garfield's pained eyes, and wondered if he should tell them his suspicions. If he was right, it's not like they wouldn't find out soon enough. She was probably testing their unspoken theory with Kory's help at this very moment. "I mean…think about it. There's something growing inside her since your vacation and it's not a tumor…Conner, how much do you know about anatomy? Would you say it's possible it's located in her…womb?"

There were multiple gasps around the room, because now they all understood what he meant.

Garfield's entire world turned upside down. Wait, she's pregnant!? His lips instinctively spread into a wide grin as his heart soared and he got a wonderfully warm – though slightly scary – tingling sensation run through his whole body. "Oh my God."

Dick grimaced when he saw the bliss on the shapeshifter's face. "Maybe we should wait for confirmation…"

"No need." Superboy stated tiredly. "I'm pretty sure I just heard Starfire squealing about something being positive."

Rose frowned at him. "Do you always eavesdrop on people when they're in the bathroom?"

Conner huffed. "Again, I can't just turn it off! You think I like this?"

"Wait, it's positive!?" The Changeling beamed.

And then Raven and Starfire teleported back into the ops room. The Tamaranean looked like she was trying really hard not to smile. The empath's face was…blank.

"You're pregnant?" Cyborg asked indiscreetly after silence filled the room for several seconds.

Raven nodded slowly, never removing her gaze from the floor. She avoided Garfield's eyes at all costs, even though she could see him approaching her out of the corner of her eye. Wait, he's happy. Why the fuck is he happy!?

"Someone wasn't careful…" Ravager said teasingly.

Raven muttered under her breath. "I thought I was infertile."

"Yeah, how is this possible?" Dick furrowed his brows. "Given your, uh…unique heritage?"

"Maybe BB's ability to mutate and adapt his DNA made it possible." Cyborg pondered seriously. He wanted to congratulate them, but the empath still seemed a bit lost. "I mean, it may have made itself compatible with…"

Gar gasped and turned to Raven. "I didn't do it on purpose, I swear!"

"I know." The sorcerer whispered blankly. She frowned when Krypto merrily leaned on her to lick her stomach, and gently pushed him away. "Stop that…"

"He's just happy." Gar said softly. She's just overwhelmed. We just need to tell her we got-

"And why are you so happy?" Raven blurted out, turning her head to stare at him sternly.

The Changeling was a little taken aback, but recovered quickly and smiled at her again. "What do you mean? Of course I'm happy! You're pregnant!" He gestured towards her. "Why wouldn't I be…" A slight twinge of fear filled his heart. "I mean, it is mine, right!?"

Raven folded her arms. "Are you serious?"

Garfield exhaled loudly. "Right. You're right. Duh. Of course it's mine! I knew that."

The empath deepened her frown, because he was beaming. This wasn't an appropriate response. Why is he acting like this is good news? "If you think for a second I'm actually having this baby-"

"WHAT!?"

Raven struggled to remain calm in spite of the feelings emanating from him. Shock, fear and confusion completely replaced his joy as he stood there with huge eyes, dreadfully waiting for her to elaborate. "I'm not giving birth to this child, Gar."

The Changeling took a loud, sharp intake of air. "What do you MEAN you're not- it's already inside of you, what are you talking about!?"

The sorcerer looked away from his pained face and hugged herself, fully aware of everyone else's discomfort at this point, but she couldn't care less. She didn't mean to hurt him, but she was mostly annoyed with him for ignoring the obvious problematic aspects of this. "See this is why you shouldn't date demons, Garfield." She said in a cold voice she hadn't used with him in years. "This thing isn't just your baby. It's Trigon's grandchild. It's probably evil."

Garfield desperately closed the distance between them and held her face in his hands, looking into her eyes. "You're Trigon's daughter and you're not evil."

Raven's expression shifted from stoic to pained. "I'm not taking that chance." She whispered. "I'm not risking the world on a whim."

He immediately let go of her face and took a step back, his heart wrenching painfully.

"What if I give birth to the Antichrist?" The empath argued urgently, trying to make him see things from a reasonable angle. "What if it's meant to burn the world?"

"You were meant to burn the world." He said sternly. "Did Arella give up on you?"

Her breath caught in her throat and lightbulbs exploded everywhere. "Well Azarath paid the price for that."

"That wasn't you, that was Trigon."

"I know, but-"

"And what if you're wrong?" The Changeling asked in an even more severe voice.

He didn't think he could or should make this choice for her – as much as her choice would crush his spirit. What really wounded him and caught him completely off guard was that she'd apparently already made up her mind without even discussing it with him. That cut him deep.

She knew he was holding back, because now she could sense anger in him. "Garfield, you're not thinking straight. Even if it is good, it will be cursed like me." She raised her voice a notch to match his intensity. "Whatever this thing is, it's not getting into Heaven either. It's his lineage; it should end with me!"

"STOP talking about our baby like that!" Garfield shouted through watery eyes. "And you don't KNOW that!"

The enormous glass window cracked in several places.

"Stop yelling at me!"

"I'm sorry love but you're talking about killing our baby!" He did his best not to shout, but his voice was still dripping with emotion and shaky and his vision was still blurred by tears he refused to drop. "You're breaking my heart!"

The kitchen counter split in two, making the Titans jump out of the way. Dick glanced at Raven and realized she was absolutely trying to stay in control, so he shot the others a warning look to let them know they shouldn't say anything that could upset her further.

Fuck. Her chest tightened. Pointing out it wasn't a baby yet seemed dumb. He knew that already. It obviously didn't make it any easier. Look at what you did to him. You should have never let him fall for you. She could feel her own eyes welling up. "I'm sorry this is confusing for you-"

"No, I'm not confused." Gar cut her off, walking up to her. "There's nothing confusing about it." He placed a hand over her stomach, looking into her eyes and speaking in a softer voice. "I love you. You love me. This is a product of our love. This is good."

The shapeshifter spoke with so much confidence she nearly believed him. Raven lowered her voice to a whisper. "Just because you want it to be good that doesn't make it so."

Garfield frowned, allowing a few silent tears to roll down his cheeks, but sustaining his sure gaze on her. "Just because you're scared it's bad that doesn't make it so either."

He left without another word and the empath inhaled deeply and held her breath, because that was the angriest he'd ever felt towards her, but the worst part was how hurt he was. After several agonizing seconds, she disappeared into the floor.

"Still don't know what could possibly go wrong, bro?" Damian muttered to Nightwing.

The Changeling had gone outside to sit by the rocks, but when he realized Cyborg was coming after him he turned into a hawk and flew away to bawl his eyes out in peace somewhere. He wanted to just be angry with her for not even letting him have a say, but it was Raven. He loved her so much, all he could feel was heartache. Suffocating, crushing, overpowering heartache.

By the time he miserably went back to his room he almost felt hollow, as if his heart was hurting so badly he could no longer feel it. Maybe the pain was distracting enough to keep him from sniffing her, or maybe all the crying had affected his sense of smell, but either way he certainly wasn't expecting to open his door and find her waiting there, cross-legged on his bed.

On any other day, he would be thrilled to see her there. But he didn't want to hear her reasonable explanations about why she had to do this. The truth was he couldn't even look at her – it would hurt too much. Just don't yell at her again. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but…I think I want to sleep alone."

"Please don't do that. Don't push me away. Don't leave me alone in this."

The level of vulnerability in her voice instantly broke his defenses down, because it was Raven and she was carrying his child – or what could soon become his child anyway – and he knew she was hurting too. Her words pierced through his sore heart, because leaving her alone in this was not something he meant to do.

Raven finally breathed out as a strangled sob escaped his lips and he ran to her, kneeling on the floor next to the bed, resting his head on her thighs and crying. She closed his door shut with her powers and stroked his hair. "Gar…"

"Please don't do this, please…" He whispered shakily, urgently wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her stomach. He'd come to terms with never being able to have children with her, but now that it was here and it was real, things were different. "I know I said I'd never ask anything of you ever again and I'm so, so sorry, but I need to ask you this now." The shapeshifter looked up at her pleadingly as more desperate tears rolled down his face. "No, not ask, beg. I'm begging you. I'll love you forever no matter what, but it will shatter my heart. Can we at least talk about it, plea-"

"Love, stop and listen to me." Raven urged him, gently wiping his wet cheeks with her thumbs and taking a deep breath, because his emotions were excruciating.

He sniffled and fell silent, still looking up at her with fearful eyes.

"I'd never do anything that causes you this much pain."

Gar immediately let out a shaky, heavy breath of air and cried even harder in relief.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She whispered sincerely, caressing his face. "That was wrong of me. I'm not deciding anything tonight, okay? Of course we can talk about this."

It hadn't really taken her that long after he stormed out of the ops room to decide to go after him, but by then he wasn't around anymore, so she went into his room to wait for him, because the plain truth was he was right – she didn't know, couldn't know what would happen, and she realized utterly destroying him like this over speculations simply wasn't something she could live with. Fortunately, he seemed to be catching his breath.

Gar smiled through the tears, allowing her words and touch to soothe his heart and release it from the wrenching pain, and slowly sat on the bed next to her. "Thank you. That's all I want. Thank you, love."

She grabbed his hand and rubbed circles into his palm with her thumb. "I shouldn't have handled it like that. I just…I freaked out. Please forgive me."

And just like that, all his anger deserted him. As usual, the way she could pull at his heartstrings was terrifying. It's okay. I have time to persuade her. It's all good. He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her softly. "I do, love…just don't shut me out. Please."

She whispered against his lips. "I don't want to shatter your heart. I love your heart."

The Changeling pressed their foreheads together and nodded, feeling calmer by the minute. "I'm not being naive, Rae. I swear to you, I just…know." He held onto the sides of her waist, softly massaging her skin under the t-shirt's fabric. "It's good."

Raven kissed him tenderly. "I'm sorry for putting you through this. I shouldn't have just assumed I couldn't-"

"Don't be sorry for that." He smiled slightly. "I'm so freaking happy."

She pulled away and rolled her eyes. She could sense it now – he was thrilled about the whole thing. "Well, that makes one of us."

The shapeshifter sustained his loving smile and massaged her waist again. She'll get there. She's just afraid. I'll make her feel safe. I'll help her get there.

"Do you, um…do you still want to sleep alone?" Raven bit her lip. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, please stay." The Changeling said quickly, caressing her toned stomach and kissing her neck, whispering into her lavender-scented skin. "Both of you."

Raven gratefully tangled her fingers in his hair and accepted his kindness, practically basking in it, because it felt heavenly after sensing his anger. Maybe he was being naive and optimistic and maybe she should do the right thing and break his heart, but after everything they'd gone through, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. And then maybe…just maybe…who knows?

Maybe.

Maybe he's right.

They didn't really discuss it much in the following days. He knew she still had a dozen concerns in her mind, but he still didn't have solutions to offer, so the subject just continued to silently hover over them. She meditated a lot more, trying to figure out what the right thing to do was. Even if The Presence itself told her to end this madness before she ended up destroying everything she loved, she still wasn't sure she could break Gar's heart like that. He'd looked and felt so broken the day they found out, it kept haunting her.

Raven was actively avoiding the subject around him, but that didn't mean she didn't need to talk about it. So she turned to Starfire one morning at breakfast. There were other Titans in the room, but they were all caught up in their own thing. And Garfield was in the training room, probably letting off steam. "Kor?"

Starfire immediately smiled at her. FINALLY. "Girl talk?"

The empath sighed heavily. "Tell me I'm doing the right thing here."

Kory sustained a sure gaze into her best friend's eyes. "You're doing the right thing here."

Raven frowned worriedly and whispered. "I…I'm not so sure. I know Arella took her chances with me, but…I'm the exception, not the rule. I have six brothers and they're all evil. Those aren't good odds. My bloodline-"

"You're too involved to be wise about this, friend." The Tamaranean said seriously. "So listen to me. You're more afraid than you need to be." When Raven just doubtfully bit her lip, she elaborated. "You're forgetting this baby is his, too. His bloodline, not just yours."

The empath relaxed her facial muscles a little. Right. It IS his baby. And he's the best, sweetest, kindest person I know. And his parents are amazing. "So you don't think this child will be the Antichrist?"

Starfire giggled softly and Raven was just starting to smile at her, but then…

"Children." Conner pointed out.

Both girls stared quizzically at him from across the room.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear." Superboy said easily, unknowingly capturing everyone's attention. "It's just, children, not child. There are two heartbeats in there."

In retrospect, as the room fell silent and he watched color drain from Raven's already pale face and her eyes widen at the same time he caught a glimpse of the Changeling freezing in place as he stepped inside the ops room at that exact moment, Conner thought that maybe this wasn't the best way to tell her. M'gann was also staring disapprovingly at him, which didn't make him feel great. Sadly, it was too late to be more sensitive.

"Wait." Damian broke the silence. "Are you saying Doomsday's having twins?"

Kon-El shot the empath an apologetic look. "I…well, yeah."

Garfield struggled not to freak out again. He'd just gone through a whole training session so he could continue being calm about this and not overwhelm Raven, and now he was a little overwhelmed himself. He loved the idea of having children with her and he loved the idea of being a father. Not that he felt ready to be a father, but he would do his best to get ready. He just wasn't ready for twins. "Awgkwadhs…"

As everyone watched the shapeshifter expectantly, waiting for him to reformulate whatever that was, Nightwing decided this should be a private moment and cleared his throat. "Okay. Anyone who wasn't raised in Azarath or Africa, in the training room now."

The Changeling shot him a grateful look, but Raven was too busy blankly staring at the same random spot on the table. Dick nodded at the green Titan and urged his team out of the room, dismissing the whining and frustrated sighs.

Raven didn't move, but she was aware of him sitting next to her and holding her hand. He didn't say anything, so she inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly. "Two. Two heartbeats."

"I know, right?" He chuckled awkwardly. "What are the chances?"

She turned to him with a skeptical look on her face. "I don't know how to do this."

"To be honest, me neither, love." Gar shook his head. "But…it could be a good thing. Right? I mean, they'll never be lonely. We'll teach them to always protect each other. Maybe two is better than one, cause they can keep an eye on each other and all that."

Raven couldn't fight back an incredulous half-smile. So annoyingly optimistic. "I'm still worried, you know?"

I guess we're talking about it now. "I know."

"I'm tired of hurting, Gar." She whispered truthfully. "I'm just so tired…"

His face contorted in agony as he reached out to cup her face in his hands. "I know, love. You've endured so much. I don't want you to hurt either."

"It's just…" She looked into his eyes. "What about my powers? And Trigon? I'll get hormonal. We're not even sure I can handle it."

"You didn't kill everyone when I…" Garfield bit his lip…when I broke your heart. He didn't need to say it; she knew what he meant. "I think we're okay. We can replace the lightbulbs as many times as you need."

"Even if you're right about everything…" Raven placed her hand over her abdomen. "They're still part demon. It's one thing for me to spend eternity in Purgatory, but…condemning your children to that?"

Gar's heart broke at that – both because it was an extremely valid concern and because her eyes welled up as she said it. I do need to find a solution to that. He'd been pulling all-nighters and studying spells whenever she wanted to sleep alone for a while now, but predictably, there wasn't anything on how to fool Heaven. Back to begging Radiant it is. "My love, I don't have all the answers yet. I wish I did. But…I'm here." He gently stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "You're not alone. You're the love of my life and you'll never be alone. I'm with you every step of the way."

She covered his left hand with her right, intertwining their fingers and turning her face to plant a quick kiss into his palm, closing her eyes and allowing a single tear to fall.

He leaned in and kissed it away, inhaling against her cheek. "We'll face this together."

Raven chuckled ever so softly. "I think you've made me reckless, Garfield Logan. But…okay."

Gar pulled away to examine her expression. "Okay? As in, okay, we'll figure this out?"

She nodded. "Every bone in my body is shouting at me to end this, telling me this is a bad idea. But…that might be the fear talking. So I'm just…"

The shapeshifter smiled through watery, grateful eyes. "You're just what?"

"I'm just going to trust you."

He beamed at her, feeling unbelievably, infinitely relieved.

Raven smiled tiredly. "May Azar and God help us."


Iris (Goo Goo Dolls)