Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 21
21
He froze. Actually, they both did. Neither of them moved a muscle. Neither of them looked away or even blinked. If it weren't for the crackling of the fire and the muffled sounds of the party, it would have been easy to think that time itself had stopped dead.
So, in a way, she had gotten her wish, although not quite in the way she had wanted.
"Ander?" she whispered, not liking the hoarse quality her voice had taken on.
He kept staring at her, his mouth slightly open.
Oh crap, I broke him. "Ander? Please say something."
He blinked, and his mouth opened a little wider, but no sound came out.
"Really, anything."
A weird croak escaped his lips. It sounded kind of like a frog being stepped on.
"When I said 'anything' I actually expected a little more than that, Ander. Please, I... I can't stand this any longer. Just say something!"
"Di- Did you say... 'pregnant'?" he stammered. "As in... 'with child'?"
She nodded and bit down on her lip, trying her very best to interpret this weird cockeyed expression he was wearing. Everything was so uneven right now. One of his ears was sticking straight up into the air, while the other was hanging down as if paralysed. One corner of his mouth was open in shock, while the other was twitching uncontrollably. Even his nostrils seemed to have flared to different extents, making one seem slightly larger than the other.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, are you really, really sure?"
"Positive." She lightly traced the curvature of her belly, still not quite sure what to make of this life growing inside of her. It still seemed so unreal at times. An actual baby, right here, beneath her hand? Living and growing, actually touching her this very moment? But it was real. So very, very, terrifyingly real, she could barely wrap her head around it.
Ander placed his hand over hers, covering it completely, his large, rough fingers spilling over to caress the gentle swell beneath. "You're going to be a mother?"
Kiana nodded, her heart beating like crazy, like it always did whenever he touched her. "That's what happens, typically."
"And I'm... I'm going to be a father?"
A single tear dropped down onto their hands and broke across their clasped fingers, but it wasn't one of hers. She looked up and saw him, staring back at her with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.
A smile... It was such a simple thing, but it was also a miraculous thing. It could wipe away all your fear, your dread, and every bad feeling that kept you awake at night. It could make you feel warm and happy and loved, and if you had that, then nothing else mattered, only the one who could make you feel that way with a simple smile.
Kiana smiled back as her own tears streamed down her face, too, the warm, salty taste of them caressing her lips. "Yes, Ander. You're going to be a father."
"We're going to be a family?"
She sniffed and, not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.
"Kiana... Kiana!" He swept her into his arms and hugged her tight, spinning and laughing and crying at the same time, and Kiana hugged him back, holding on for dear life, her feet dangling above the floor. "Kiana! Kiana! Kiana!" he said her name over and over again.
"Ander!" she gasped, feeling a weird mix of happiness and queasiness. "Stop, stop or I'm going to throw up!" He stopped his spinning and Kiana used the opportunity to wrap her legs around his waist, desperate to hold him and touch him with as much of herself as she possibly could. "Ander, I was so worried you were going to freak out!"
"I think I am freaking a little," he admitted. "But... but Kiana, this is the most amazing thing that has ever happened." He slid his arm underneath her rump to keep her from sliding down, and with the other he brushed back a lock of hair from her face. "I love you so, so much, Kiana. You make every day happy."
"Ander..." Kiana wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you. I love you..." She couldn't think of anything else to say, because there was nothing else _to_say. It was the most important thing, it was the only thing. "I love you..."
She felt his hand on the back of her neck, lightly pushing her closer. She could feel his breath wash across her face, making the lines of her tears burn against her flesh like fire.
Their lips locked together in the most passionate kiss of her life. She could feel everything, the softness of his fur, the warmth of his body, the beat of his heart and the strength of his arms. The way he held her and ran his hand through her hair, the way his lips moved against hers, it felt like they were sharing everything with each other, like they weren't even two separate beings anymore, but a single entity. It was pure bliss.
They parted, but the kiss stayed with her. She could still feel it on her lips and on her tongue, as if it had become a part of her in more ways than just taste.
"Ander..." She rested her head on his shoulder, feeling truly at peace for the first time since she noticed the changes in her body. "I'm not afraid anymore. As long as I can hold you and love you like this, I know there's nothing in this world that can hurt me, not even those monsters beyond the mountain."
She closed her eyes and nuzzled against his neck, breathing in his scent. It was hard to believe that just a few minutes ago she had been dreading her future. It had seemed like a deep, dark tunnel looming ahead of her, unavoidable. There could be anything in there, but now that she didn't have to go through it alone, it didn't seem so bad at all. Ander's love and support was a constant, something she could always count on, no matter how bad things might get. And as long as they had their love for each other, there was nothing the world could possibly throw at them that they could not overcome together.
"I'll protect you," he whispered in her ear, his voice as soft as velvet. "And our child. No matter what it takes, I'll do it. No matter how hard it gets, I'll go through with it. I'll do it for you, no matter how... how evil it might be... I'll do anything for you..."
Kiana's warm little bubble suddenly passed through a cold spot. Evil? What was he talking about?
Kiana wanted to ask just that, but the moment she opened her eyes her heart stopped dead in her chest and all thoughts of Ander's enigmatic words flew out of her mind.
There was a Wolfess in Ander's doorway, the one with the black claw around her neck, her hand frozen on the knob, her eyes as wide as they could possibly go. Even worse, she wasn't alone. There was a Fox with her, the one Fox she wanted to see least of all right now, his mouth hanging open so far that it completely obscured his throat.
It was Mateo.
He tugged on Nilia's garb, his expression frozen in place. "Um, Nilia? I know you guys don't have doors back home, but here in the 'Glen we have a little thing called 'knocking'..."
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