To Heal A Lonely Heart

It's Happening

After days of begging, Geralt finally budged.

I woke up to an empty bed, wrapped in a cocoon of thick blankets, the fireplace in our bedroom lit, dipping the dim room in a golden light, its warmth seeping into my bones even from the distance. I turned my head to the side, still wishing to spot my husband next to me, even though I felt his absence before I was even fully awake. On his pillow was a piece of parchment.

"I've left to get the bard. I'll come back as quick as I can. Stay in bed. I love you two." It read and believe me or not, but I could almost hear Geralt muttering these words while pulling on his boots, and I could almost see him stomp out of the room afterwards. I could even hear the door opening before slamming shut again –

No wait! This wasn't just my imagination. This was real! He was back already. They were back!

"Stay here, I'll go, see if she's awake. Be quiet, she doesn't get much sleep at the moment," I heard Geralt grunt at Jaskier from downstairs.

The bard mumbled a 'yeah, yeah' in response, audibly setting his bag and lute down on the table. Next thing I heard were tentative footsteps making their way up the stairs. For a man of his size, Geralt could be so quiet (if he wanted to) it amazed me every time. When he reached the top of the stairs, I shut my eyes, pretending to be asleep.

"Nienna? Are you up?" I heard him whisper and I couldn't supress a smile, my plan failing miserably. Opening my eyes, I smiled sleepily at him, stretching.

"Morning," I mumbled.

"It's way past noon," Geralt chuckled, leaning down to give me a soft kiss, "Morning, my love."

I slightly shuddered when his skin met mine. Apart from his lips, warm and soft against my own, his face was cold. I yawned once he pulled back, stretching once more, not really wanting to get up, rather wanting to pull Geralt back into bed with me, cuddle with him for at least another two hours.

"They didn't let you sleep much, hm?" Geralt asked after a while, when I didn't make any attempt to get up.

I shook my head, sighing. "No, they didn't."

It was true, I was rarely able to sleep the night through now. Geralt tried his best to help me, massaging my belly, talking to our little one, asking them to stop so I could sleep. I loved him for it, so I didn't dare to tell him that through his talking, he only made it worse. Sure, when he asked our child to stop kicking, they did, but once we were back asleep, the kicking would start again, and it would only stop if Geralt talked to them. I tried to do the talking a few times, but they wouldn't listen to me, only to their dad.

"Do you want to sleep more now?" my husband's rough voice sounded softly through the room. I didn't even notice that I had closed my eyes again; I must look very tired. Opening them, I shook my head and started to sit up.

"No, the little one is hungry. Plus we have a guest. We should probably just go downstairs. Can you help me up?"

"Hm-hmm."

Geralt helped me, to only to sit up, but also to get dressed in a thick wool dress and equally thick wool socks, braided my hair and wrapped one of the many blankets on our bed around my shoulders. He was just about to pick me up to carry me downstairs, but I hissed at him, wanting to walk on my own. So he walked down the stairs in front of me, slowly, so one of my hands could hold on to his shoulder, while the other one grabbed the railing.

Once we reached the bottom and Geralt stepped next to me, holding onto me by my waist for support, I was greeted by the bard with a "Nienna! How ar- woah, you got big!"

Smiling, I put a hand on my large belly – how tiny it looked! "Hello, Jaskier," was all I brought out before having to put a calming hand on my husband's chest as he started growling at the bard again. Again, my hand looked tiny compared to the broad chest of the large man at my side.