To Build A Home

Chapter 11- Two Battles

   "How many times are you gonna fix that bed...?" Steven asked, watching her reorganize the blankets of the crib for the fifth time that day.
   "As many times as it takes. I will not allow this room to be messy or disorganized. It's not fit for a child."
   Steven approached her cautiously, "I think it's fine. There's no dirt or debris. It's spotless and inviting." He placed a hand on her shoulder, "come on. Let's leave it for now."
   "I can't, Steven. It's not ready, not yet." She protested, once again repositioning the tiny lion plush in a different corner of the crib.
   "Krolia, it's fine." He reassured her, slowly pushing the toy back down before she could change its location again. An action he would soon regret.
   In an instant, the hand that had been on the lion moved swiftly upwards. With a strong move of her arm, Krolia had slapped Steven's left cheek, with a loud, painful smacking sound of skin on skin contact. There was malice in her eyes, pure hatred. She looked about ready to hit him again.
   "Krolia!" He grabbed ahold of her wrist, holding his throbbing cheek with the other. "What has gotten into you?!"
   She suddenly stopped struggling, the muscles in her face relaxed to a regretful composure. "Shit!" Krolia placed a hand to her mouth, the reality of her actions came to her at once.  "I am so sorry!" She immediately moved her hand to his cheek to see if Steven was okay. "Stupid hormones! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you! It's my nesting needs. Are you okay?"
   "That's what ya' meant?!" He couldn't believe his ears. "I thought you meant you were easily angered. Verbal fights. Not physically hurting someone."
   "What?! No! I meant physical violence! We've discussed this!"
   Steven rubbed his cheek again and again. "No, we haven't discussed that aspect of your nesting process."
   "Steven... I am so sorry! But you can't get between a nesting Galra mother and their actions. No matter how stupid you think it is." Krolia moved his hand away from his cheek. "I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me..."
   "I'm not... It hurts a lot... But I'm not mad. Disappointed, maybe. But not with you. I can't believe you actually hit me..."
"I know, I know. And I cannot tell you how sorry I am!"
Steven could tell she was stressing out about this. A bad kind of stress. One that normally sent her into a panic. A panic that at 37 weeks could induce labor. "It's alright, Krolia. I'm fine. It was a complete accident."
She threw herself into the arms of her lover. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! It was an accident! And—"
   "I said it's fine." He told her calmly. "I thought you were just stressing... I didn't know you were in your nesting period."
   "I'm so sorry. I know you said it's okay, but I feel so awful."
   "Take a deep breath, Krolia. You're stressin' yourself out. I'm fine. Really, I am. It's you who I'm worried about."
   She took a deep breath, resting her forehead on Steven's shoulder. "I'm a total mess right now..."
   "I wouldn't say a mess..."
   "I am though... I can't control my actions, my emotions are all out of whack, I'm constantly panicking, and, possibly worst of all, I'm huge. Like fat huge...!"
   Steven shook his head, soothingly rubbing her back. "You're not fat, Krolia. You're 37 weeks into your pregnancy. In my eyes, you're still as beautiful as ever."
   "You're too kind... Far too kind."
   "I'm just a supportive, soon-to-be father who hates to see you sad."
   Krolia smiled, slowly pulling away, "I don't deserve your kindness... How in the world did I get lucky enough to fall in love with you?"
   "You just happened to be in the right place at the right time, right?"
   "Yeah..." those were her words. That was her explanation for all of this. "I guess we both were."
   Steven ran his hands from her shoulders down her arms to her hands, interlocking their fingers. "I am sorry for forgettin' you had nesting needs. And for makin' you hit me, but I know what's goin' on now, and I won't try and stop you."
   "I just don't understand why they're so late... And why they're here at all. We've set up everything completely. We did that weeks ago."
   Steven shrugged. "You're three weeks from the end of term, I wouldn't be surprised if your body is trying to get you in right mindset for the arrival of your child."
   "Our child. He— They are our child."
   "You really want it to be a boy, don't you?"
   She looked away, pouting in defeat. "So what if I do...?"
   "Nothing is wrong with that. Just be sure that you're happy regardless."
   "Why wouldn't I be...?"
   Steven shrugged, "You're a good mother, you'll be happy no matter what. I just know you will."
   Krolia slowly nodded, smiling. Although, it looked forced.
   He let out a sigh, lightly stroking her arm with his hand, "you look sad all of a sudden..."
   "It's nothing. I'm just worrying over something I shouldn't be worried about. You know... The whole birth thing... I have been for a while."
"Oh..." Steven stayed silent for a bit, taking in her confession. "That's new... When did you start worrying?"
Krolia shrugged, "I don't know... I guess it's due to a feeling I've been having recently..."
"Of fear...?"
She shook her head. "Over the past few days, I've been feeling..." she paused, shrugging her shoulders, "tired. Although there's a better word to describe it. I'm not tired per say, but my muscles just feel... I don't know, weak."
"Have ya' been sleeping well...?" Steven quickly asked her. "You've been waking up at ten am or so, which is late for your standards, but during the night, are ya' awake?"
"No. That's the strange part, I've been sleeping well every night, but I just feel tired."
"Maybe you're going to sleep too early...?"
Krolia shook her head, "it's nothing like that. It's more like a symptom, so to speak."
   Steven stayed silent, waiting for her to explain what she was talking about.
   "It happens with all Galra."
"Why didn't you say so?" Steven asked, before adding "Does it mean anythin'...?"
She only nodded, her gaze slowly drifted from Steven to her round stomach.
"Oh..." His voice became quite as he followed her gaze. "You're close, aren't you?"
"Yeah... Its a natural process that happens anywhere from one week to one month before the baby is born. I don't understand how it all works, or why I'm tired during the day if I sleep a lot at night. All I know is that it is meant to prepare the mother with an adequate level of stamina, one enough to get her through labor and help her to recover faster."
"And you're only just now telling me this? Something this important is only just now being brought to my attention?"
"I've had a lot on my mind, Steven!" Her eyes narrowed, she was quickly aggravated by his presumed lack of sympathy. "Not everything can be explained immediately! I didn't know until yesterday, so I'm sorry it's taken me just under twenty four hours to tell you!"
Steven noticed her facial features changed, she looked offended, but she sounded angered . "That's not what I meant, but—"
"Of course it wasn't. When do you ever say what you mean?!" Her words weren't meant to be harmful. Maybe the tiredness or nesting needs caused her to say what she did, but she didn't mean any of it. "Promising me you'll be home more often, but your schedule hasn't changed! Telling me you'll get all of the supplies, but we're missing so much! We have no bottles! No formula! No diapers! None of that! How am I supposed to raise a child in a house this unprepared?!" Blinded by her anger, she didn't consciously feel the child forcefully kicking her. Her sudden change of emotion, and drastic increased in heart rate were causing her unborn child to become distressed.
Steven could see there was pain in her eyes, though almost entirely covered with anger. "Krolia please... Calm down..."
"Don't tell me to be calm! You're the one who hasn't stuck to their word! You're the one who refuses to complete the simple task of gathering supplies! We had a deal! I would suffer through this," she motioned to her stomach, "and you would get what we need! But you haven't! Why?!"
"Krolia! You have to take a deep breath! You're goin' to send the baby into a panic, assuming they aren't in one already!"
"You're trying to make this my fault, aren't you?! What is wrong with y—"Krolia instantly cut herself off. She felt a wave of pain rush through her abdomen, one much different from a kick, much stronger too. She staggered forward, completely unprepared for the feeling.
Steven was quick to move. He grabbed ahold of her shoulders and waist, holding her up until she regained her balance. "Are you alright?!"
"No!" Krolia took a deep breath, feeling the pain slowly subside. "What the fuck was that?!"
   "Another false contraction, is what I'd assume."
   Krolia shook her head quickly. "No. That was much worse."
"Could it have been real...?" Steven helped her back to her feet, very slowly letting go. "Why don't ya' sit down for a bit?"
With his guidance, she slumped down into the rocking chair by the window. "Please tell me I'm not going into labor..."
Steven simply shook his head. "I don't know... You could be, but it was so sudden, and nothing else happened..."
"It felt like a real contraction though... At least what I would assume one would feel like."
"You said your species had a similar type of process to that of a human's right? Humans have a telltale sign of their 'water breaking'."
She nodded. "Yeah. Galra have something similar..."
   "So...?"
   Krolia slowly shook her head. "Nothing."
   "Then it can't be a real contraction."
   "Unless it was a precursor."
   "If it was," Steven began, using a reassuring and calming tone, "then we'll just have to be prepared."