She got big! (2 of 2)

Writers: Suzee
Date Posted: 12th October 2011
Series: It takes Time to Love

Characters: Kaiafel, Tavia, U'kaiah
Description: U'kaiah and Kaiafel come for a visit.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 7 of Turn 6

Tavia

Kaiafel had found a boy his age down on the beach and as enthusiastic he
had been about washing the green, it was not long before the temptation
of having a partner in his firelizard hunt became too strong and he
begged his father to let him go. U'kaiah liked the idea that his son
might have a playmate at Dolphin Cove to play with during their visits,
and decided to encourage the friendship as much as possible. But that
did mean that he would have to get the green finished before joining
Tavia. Finally, with a triumphant slap to the dragon's side and an
extra scratch to the eyeridge, he considered the job finished.

"There you go," he said, setting the bucket and brush down next to
Tavia's blanket. "One beautifully polished green, and one bronze ready
to compliment her on my handiwork."

}:He scrubs nice and strong!:{ **Oh you liked that did you.**
}:Yes:{ Tavia could hear the self satisfied almost purr in her
lifemates mind voice as she took off to the heights to be admired.

"Sounds like she liked the scrubbing," she smiled at U'kaiah. "She
said you're strong, I couldn't agree more." She knew how much she
herself enjoyed those strong arms.

"Stong, eh?" U'kaiah made a show of flexing his muscles for her, mostly
jokingly, but he also liked the fact that she seemed to admire his
physique. "Shall I put my strength to good use, then?" he asked,
walking around behind her and sat behind her on the blanket, one leg on
either side of her, as his powerful hands behind gently massaging her
neck and shoulders.

"Oh my," she said at his flexing muscles and giggled at his pose. Then
when he walked behind her and those fingers began the most wonderful
dance on the muscles of her neck. "Ah," she shivered slightly. "I'll
give you a candlemark to stop that."

"You want me to go for a candlemark? I can go for a candlemark," he
murmured close to her ear teasingly, his hands drifting down to gently
squeeze her upper arms before moving back up to her shoulders. Shards,
her hair smelled good he noted as he pressed his lips to the edge of her
ear.

She chuckled. "That wasn't a challenge. Although you haven't worn me
out... yet." His hands felt so wonderful she she had goosebumps and
she wanted him to continue even though this really wasn't the place.
She lifted her hand to caress the side of his face when he leaned in
to kiss her ear. "Mmmm."

U'kaiah didn't need much encouragement. It had been a while since they
had spent the night together, and he could hardly wait until they were
truly alone. His hands curled around her bulging stomach almost
possessively as he obliged her by trailing kisses down her neck and
along her shoulder before suddenly stopping in surprise. "Whoa. Did I
wake him up?" His fingers touched the spot where he had felt a very
strong kick underneath his hand.

She looked down at his hands wrapped around her and smiled when the
baby chose that moment to kick. "Oh no, she's been awake since you got
here." Indeed the little one had been rolling and turning and kicking
her in the side for over a candlemark. "She had hiccups not too long
ago."

"Hiccups?" he asked incredulously. The rest he could see, but how could
she tell the baby had _hiccpus_? "Don't you need to breathe air to have
hiccups?"

She smiled "No, it's just a spasm of the breathing muscle same as for
you or me." She didn't add that if it were continuing all the time and
never let up then she'd be concerned.

Well, he wasn't about to dispute a healer on the subject, but it still
sounded rather odd to him. For him, the baby was just something that
made Tavia's stomach grow bigger, that kicked out every once in a while
to prove to the world it was there, but otherwise wasn't truly real.
Not yet. Not until he could see it, hear it, and touch it. How very
different this whole experience must be for her than it was for him. He
almost wished he could trade places with her so he could experience some
of these mysterious feelings for himself. Almost.

"Does it hurt?" he asked as the baby gave another strong kick under his
fingers.

She chuckled. "No not usually though as I get closer to term kicks in
the ribs might not feel so good." It amazed her how much just sitting
there with his arms around her made her world feel better. "Sometimes
the baby stretches and _that_ feels very odd." She had been wanting to
talk to him about names but didn't know if he had any ideas yet. "So
do you want a boy or a girl?" He had usually talked about the baby as
a 'he' so she figured she had an idea.

"Why, does my opinion have much sway in the matter?" he chuckled,
rocking her slightly as the waves lapped gently up onto the shore in
front of them. She had asked him the same question as they had sat in
the Stands before the Hatching. "I told you, it doesn't much matter to
me."

"Because you're the father. It matters to me. Just sharing hopes is
all." She twisted a little to look up at his face with a smile. "I'm
glad you're here."

He grinned in reply. "Well, I like being here. With you." She really
did have a beautiful smile. It made the navigating scheduling
conflicts, the time differences, the humidity and the trips /between/
all worth it to see her looking up at him like that.

She squeezed his leg where her hand rested. The sun was setting on a
wonderful day and she felt in harmony with the whole world. It was
simply a great feeling. She turned back to the view and leaned back
against his shoulder again enjoying the beginnings of the evening
breeze. Excited boy's voices sounded nearby. "Do you think they've
found something?"

U'kaiah peered down the beach towards where his son and new friend were
running around, followed by some new playmates. "Yes. They found a
couple little girls who want in on the action. Those boys can't run
fast enough." He chuckled, shaking his head. "That will certainly
change one day." He kissed her shoulder once more before leaning his
face against the side of her head, his eyes turning back to the horizon
as the sun dipped visibly lower. "I say ten more minutes."

She laughed. "Probably right." Just then a contraction rippled across
her abdomen and it became almost as hard as rock. She, of course, felt
the difference right away though it didn't really hurt at all. She
poked it with a finger to be sure. "Haha, Look at that... a
contraction."

The bronzerider knew very little about childbirth, but one thing he did
know, or at least thought he did - contractions were what pushed out a
baby. His hand jerked back like it had just touched fire, eyes widening
and mind starting to race. "Wait... what, _now_?" It was too soon! He
had to get Kaiafel home! He had to tell D'ale to take over the wing!
It was just too sharding soon! Did they have time to get her up to the
infirmary? Was it going to happen right here? Should he leave her to
get help? Did _he_ have to do something? **It's too soon!**

"Wait, slow down bronzrider," she said when he flinched and tensed up.
"It's false labor. It's common in late pregnancy." She sat forward so
she could turn around and look at him. "U'kaiah?" He looked a bit wild
eyed still. "Think of it like drills. My body is just getting ready
for the real thing."

Her words did calm him. She was a healer, after all, and should know
about these things. If she said it was nothing to worry about, he could
trust her. But could she really be taking this so calmly? "Yes, but
Tavia, when drills are done you grab a bite to eat, down a beer and find
a little evening entertainment. When _this_ is done, it changes your
life forever."

"I hope so," she said. She had seen the faces of new mothers when that
long hoped for baby was laid in their arms for the first time. The
unadulterated joy on their faces what what she was hoping for. She was
pragmatic enough to know she would have at most a few weeks with her
child before she expected to hand it off to it's foster mother. And
she knew she would. It was right and good and best for their baby.

"Did Kaiafel change your life?"

"Not at first. Well, not so much. It was always something in the back
of my mind - 'Faranth, I'm a father!' But I really wasn't a part of his
life until he was about five turns, and then I couldn't help but pay
attention. I mean, really, with that head of hair, how could I ignore
the fact that he was mine?" U'kaiah chuckled, remembering watching that
curly, mop haired little head bobbing along in the dinning cavern, on
the beach, through the kitchens. He couldn't help but notice. "And
once I did decide to become an active part of his life, then yes, in
some ways, it did change my life. I had to find a way to go from
knowing I was
a father to actually _being_ one. Luckily he's such a great kid, he
made it easy on me."

"Mostly what I think about is really labor and delivery but the thought
of being a mother is terrifying and wonderful." She didn't think she'd
feel comfortable saying that to anyone else but he seemed to want to
be part of her life at least for now. "I know there will be help
available but it's still mind boggling to think we'll be parents... I
mean together."

This was going to be much different from his first time being a father.
He and Felke had barely known each other, and Kaiafel had not brought
them together. At least not until Turns later. As unexpected as this
pregnancy had been, U'kaiah couldn't help but think that it had been an
incredible stroke of luck that of all the women he had been with, it was
Tavia he would be sharing this experience with. "Oh, I don't know, I
think I feel _better_ knowing that we'll be doing this together," he
said, leaning his head against hers.

She closed her eyes, leaned into his embrace and hugged his arms
across her belly. She wasn't quite sure how he did it but he always
managed to say exactly the right thing when she needed it.

Last updated on the May 14th 2024

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