Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 16 of 30

The waiting stretched into weeks. Kai woke each morning to Azure already up, one hand on her stomach before her feet hit the floor. He learned not to ask. She would tell him when there was something to tell. He kissed her instead. At the doorway before she went to the field. On the back of her neck when she bent to lace her boots. On her horns when she passed the table. She started to expect it and slowed down for it. One morning she stopped in the tunnel and waited without turning around until he caught up and kissed her ear. "You're going to wear me out," she said. "No, I'm not." "No. You're not." They kept trying. Nights in their bed. An afternoon in the pasture when the goats were penned and the sun was warm on the grass. She laughed once, quick and surprised, and he stored the sound. He kissed her mouth to keep her laughing. She let him. A month passed. Then two. Azure counted days without saying she was counting. Kai saw her mark the calendar behind the kitchen jar and did not mention it. He kissed the back of her hand when she sat down to eat. He kissed her palm when she passed him a bowl. She stopped pretending she did not want it and started leaning in first. One evening she came in from the field and set her basket down and did not pick up the knife. She stood at the counter with both hands flat on the wood. "Kai." He came over. "I went to the midwife today." He waited. "She's sure." He put his hand on her stomach the way she had taught him. She put her hand over his. "Sure," he said. "Sure." He kissed her forehead. Then her cheek. Then her mouth. She held onto his jacket with both fists and did not let go for a long time. When she pulled back her eyes were wet and steady. "Say it plain," he said. "I'm pregnant." "Say it again." "I'm pregnant, Kai." He kissed her again. She laughed into it, the same quick sound from the pasture, and he held her face in both hands to keep her close. They ate late. Azure pushed her plate away half full and pressed a hand to her stomach and made a face. "Already?" he said. "Already." He cleared the plates. She went and stood in the doorway of the new room. The lamp was lit. The rug was down. The chair sat in the corner with the quilt folded on it. She looked in this time and did not walk past. He came up behind her and put his chin on her shoulder. "It's not cold anymore," she said. "No." She leaned back into him. He kissed the side of her neck. She let her weight rest on him and stayed there.