Unexpected gifts

Writers: Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 10th April 2019

Characters: Ninaine, N'call
Description: Ninaine gives N'call three birthingday gifts, two unexpected.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 11 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Yanley

Ninaine

N'call

Ninaine walked back from the infirmary almost mindlessly, but still
clutching the sack of herbs that they had given her. She had
suspected, but hadn't confirmed it, and like Yanley had suggested,
stopped taking the teas. Her hand fluttered down to her stomach. She
hadn't even been sick yet like with Callaine, so she was certain it
had just been stress. Almost two months along and nary a symptom except the
stop in her monthlies. She absently wondered how many times she'd been
expecting before she started to /between/ regularly. Did the teas just
not work?

As she entered the weyr, she laid the digestive teas on the table, then the
other package that had she had just had wrapped. She plopped down at
the seat on the table, uncertain as to what to think. What would
N'call think? She looked at the package and fingered the wrapping. She
hoped he'd like it. She wasn't sure about the other unexpected gift
she was going to give him.

"Hey," he called to Ninaine with a smile as he walked into their Weyr.
"How did it go?"

Her eyes lifted immediately at the sound of his voice. "Uhm..." She
didn't want to tell him everything, especially not on his birthingday,
but time was critical. "Well, there's some things we have to talk
about, but first..." She pulled the package towards him. "I got you
this for your birthingday."

"Oh?" He smiled with pleasure and came over to kiss her a thank you
before he reached for the package. "That's sweet," he said lifting it.
The package felt a little squishy. But he opened it careful and shook
out a beautiful Harper blue tunic. Then he noticed the fine embroidery
around the yoke and cuffs. "Did you do this?" His eyes opened wide.

Her eyes warmed with pleasure at his surprise. "Yes. One of the things
I did really well at when I lived at Amber Hills. Lady Benani taught
me herself when I started learning. Do you like it?"

"Oh yes," he said as his fingers smoothed over the embroidery. "This
must have taken a lot of work. Thank you."

"I've had the time." She admitted, but she'd had to hide it from him
while she was in their weyr. "I'm glad the effort was worth it and
that you like it." She took a breath, then looked up at him. "N'call,
I would have waited to tell you, but it's important. I'm pregnant."

"I love it," he said then did a double take. "Wait what?"

"I'm pregnant, N'call." She rose and led him to the other chair,
pressing on his shoulders to urge him to sit. "The Healers confirmed
it. I missed my monthlies, but I thought it was stress. I _was_ taking
the teas. But...the Healers heard two heartbeats, N'call. I'm carrying
twins."

"Whoa," he said and sat down heavily. "Twins?" He looked at her eyes
and then pulled her into his lap. "How do you feel? Are you alright?"

She willingly went to his lap, one arm laying lightly over his
shoulder so she could thread her fingers through the hair at the nape
of his neck. "I'm feeling fine, really. I haven't even been sick.
N'call..." Her brow furrowed as she tried to find the right
words."Carrying twins...it's dangerous, N'call." She had attended two
twin births while at the Hold, only one of the poor babies had
survived and it had been sickly. "The Healers think I can "carry
well and my hips are fine for it, but...it's really risky. I could
die, or the babies could die or all of us. Or the babies could be born
early and be sickly or damaged in some way. "

"I love your hips." he said and then wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I don't know about healing," he said. He could see that she was
worried though. "So what do you want to do?"

She smiled; he'd often said as much and over the past turn, she'd
finally grown comfortable with them. "Well, I have to make a decision
really quickly. I'm nearly two month along, N'call, and I'm right at
the point where if I decide to go /between/ with them, I need to do it
as soon as possible." She played with his hair. "I'm not sure." She
admitted. "Part of me thinks that I should try and Faranth knows that
I love you and love Callaine. Everything I was taught is telling me I
shouldn't, but..." Ninaine's brow knit. "I'm not what I was taught.
I've learned that. And I don't know with Luneth and the risk...I'm
just not sure what the right thing is to do. I don't know if I'm
ready."

He was very sure if she was talking this way to him then he was the
father so he didn't need to check that with her. In fact, he was so
sure that it barely crossed his mind. "I know you're worried," he
said. "But didn't Lady Benani have twins?"

She was worried, but then she smiled ruefully. "She did and they were
just fine. And she has narrower hips than mine. Mine are much
more...substantial." Her brow furrowed. "What do _you_ want? They're
your babies too. You should have say."

"I love my children," he smiled into her eyes. "All of them. But this
is your body sweetheart." He put a hand on her abdomen. "If you think
this is too dangerous for you, I'll support your decision."

His hand on her belly was warm through her tunic and she could feel
the outline of each finger. Ninaine looked into his eyes and inwardly
struggled. She had hated being pregnant with Callaine; she'd been sick
most of the time and the hold-bred shame of being with child out of
wedlock had cast a pall over the entirety of her experience. Now, it
was different. Would this pregnancy be different? It already had been.
She felt calmer, more loved, and no sickness had yet touched her. She
actually felt very healthy and surprisingly good.

Her thumb caressed his neck as she studied N'call's face. She had
doubts, certainly, but she loved him. And he was an excellent father
to Tecall and Callaine. Slowly she smiled. "Happy birthingday, N'call.
You're going to be a father again."

His eyes flew wide and he grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you love,"
he said. Then bent her back to kiss her thoroughly.

That smile was enough to let her know that she had made the right
decision. Wrapping her arms around his neck to return the kiss, she
pushed the worry to the back of her mind. Right now deserved some
happiness and some hope.

Last updated on the April 16th 2019

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Unexpected gifts