The Red String of Fate

Helpless

4 months later

Levi's hand rested on Anya's belly, him standing behind her as she folded the last of the receiving blankets, and stuffed them inside a drawer of the simple white dresser they had bought for the nursery. They had finished decorating the majority of the nursery - The painting was redone by Mikasa and Jean, the furniture was arranged perfectly, and above each of the three cribs, a mobile of different animals hung.

Two rocking chairs stood on either side of the bay window at the end of the room where multicolored curtains hung, filtering out the light. Everything was in place, and ready for the arrival of those precious little lives. On the walls of the room, they had decided to decorate with paintings of animals and flowers, as well as pictures they had taken throughout Anya's pregnancy of Levi holding her ever growing belly.

They had been stocked up on diapers, bottles, formulas, and plenty of stuffed toys by the surviving members of the alliance. It seemed like every other day someone was stopping by to check on anything that needed to be done.

There were already two duffel bags by the front door of their home, one with everything Anya would need in the hospital and one with the same but for Levi. To say they were prepared would be an understatement, yet still they shared the feeling like the day couldn't come quickly enough.

Anya was in more and more pain everyday, feeling contractions that were expected in addition to furious kicking and cramping, leading her to spend most of her days on strict bed rest as ordered by Nathalie. Tonight was no exception, but alas - the intense pain from the heartburn and nausea meant Anya wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. Every few minutes, she turned to the cup of chipped ice that Levi had prepared for her earlier in the night, and chewed on the tiny shards of ice that soothed the pain in her throat and chest.

Levi hated seeing her in so much pain, and did everything he could to make this time easier on her. All of the cleaning, all of the laundry, all of the cooking - he knew it was nothing compared to what her body was going through and the pain she was in.

He'd still find her bent over the bathroom sink, hair tied back as she splashed cold water on her face for a sweet moment of relief from the intense heat that seemed to radiate from her body. Even more often, he'd see her unable to eat anything, and what she could eat she couldn't keep down - he would hold her hair back, and give her a cold washcloth for her head after helping her brush her teeth and carrying her to bed.

It was like her body took every single thing expected in pregnancy, and amplified it to a hundred times the normal amount. It was almost like her body was attacking her.

And he couldn't help but blame himself.

Because ever since they were just children, he had spilled all those deep secrets to her - how he wanted to leave the underground and just be normal. Have a normal life, settle down, and have a family with her. And he knew she instilled that as her dream too - to give him that normal life, and that normal family, after everything he had been through. Even more so now, after all he had seen in the horrors of war and fighting titans for so, so terribly long. If anything, she was more determined to make his dreams a reality and make him happy, even if it meant she - his precious, sweet Anya, was in pain.

So there she was, 8 months pregnant and miserable, while he bore much simpler burdens in exchange. And never once did she complain, never once was she anything but happy and smiling when she looked at him. She never said a sour word to him, and always asked him how she could help - and however much he refused, she would insist until it all became too much. And even then, she would still try, despite his protests, to help him with everything.