Se'aeylwa
A soft gasp left my lips as I immediately looked down at my stomach, where the baby had finally made themselves known at their fathers touch. Lo'ak slowly placed his free hand on the other side of my flesh as he looked intently down, waiting for another little kick as I stared. I softly smiled, my lips tugging upwards as I saw his focus, it looked as if he had blocked everything else out, not flinching when the wind carried leaves down around us, and when the gusts made some smaller branches around us creak. I was still slightly fearful, but by the way he looked at our baby I knew things would work out, even if it took time.
"They know their daddy's here" I whisper, putting both of my hands above his as he tenderly ran his finger along the flesh that occupied a child. He took a hand off to wipe under his eyes and only then had I realised he had been tearing up.
I'm slightly scared he would pull away but I couldn't help but pull him forward and embrace him in a hug.
"I'm going to be a Dad" He breaths out like he can't believe this, like it was all a dream and he was terrified to wake up. He holds me even tighter, one hand still pressed to my belly as another strong thump meets his palm. He wipes a hand over his face, trying to keep it together. He looks at me with the utmost sincerity removing his hand and cupping my cheek as I lean into his warmth.
"I'm so sorry I left, I'm so sorry you had to do this on your own" He croaks, new tears brimming as he apologises with all of his heart. I hold his cheek in my hand, smoothing my thumb along his face as I look into his eyes.
"I see you, I see both of you" He breathily says, looking to the baby and then back up at me as I can't help but lean in. He does the same, our lips slowly connecting as his fingers fiddle with the fabric of my armband that I had refused to take off. He smiles against my lips, running a hand along the beads.
"You never took it off?" He murmurs against our conjoined lips.
"Never" I grumble back, he reaches below me and pulls me by the bottoms of my thighs into his laps as we get as close as possible. The kiss turns feverish as his hands roam around my body. He hums in content as he separates our mouths, connecting our foreheads as we hold one another ad take deep breaths of the same air. Before I could register what was happening he had slowly connected our queues one more, letting the bond course through us stronger than ever before.
My chest rises and falls in exhilaration as my hips begin to ache. I flinch when I move, a harsh pinch nipping at my lower back and hips. Lo'ak can feel the discomfort through our queues as he opens his eyes, helping to aid me as I try to stand on the unbalanced material. He stands up immediately holding my arms as he truly realises how large I am, and how it effects my movements.
once we're both on the branch he looks to the sky, noticing eclipse about to fall as he tries to rush me into getting down. If anything I take longer than ever, but luckily he was patient.
He had been nothing but a smiling mess of a man all the way down, happy to help me when needed. He barely needed to do any work, his height giving him even less challenge than before.
Once we reach the ground an automatic hand is placed on the small of my back. And only is it then when he notices the brand new tattoo on my shoulder. He stares at it intently his other hand running along the permanent mark as he looks at me.
"What's this one for?" He softly asks, not trying to push anything. How was I supposed to tell him? It was practically a big slap in the face that he wasn't there for me, that he hadn't gotten the marking Eywa had destined for the both of us.
He patiently waits for a response I'm not sure how to word as my mouth opens to say something, then closes when I realise the sentence doesn't make sense, or it comes out a bit too mean.
"It was our mating tattoo" I manage to get out, even if it was quiet. He stops for a moment, looking at his blank shoulder as he sighs once more. I didn't want him to think he missed out on everything, but in reality that was all he was thinking about, because it was the truth.
We continued walking as he stayed in deep thought. Only snapping out of it as the loud squeal of a nine year old catches our attention.
"Oh my Eywa Se'aeylwa you're huge!" She screams. A part of me falters, not expecting that comment. My hyperactive hormones are screaming at me to cry, and Lo'ak feels it. He runs forward scooping up the girl before scolding her. He uses a hand to signal that I should go inside as I comply walking into our home as I stub my toe on yet another toy Tsireya and Aonung had gifted me.
I murmur a soft 'ow' and even that sends Lo'ak rushing back inside from worry.
Lo'ak
I hear a small indicator of pain before I leave Tuk and rush back inside, only to see my mate frustratingly trying to bend down and pick up a toy. I stride forward, doing it for her as she says her thanks. She places it on an elevated shelf as I guide her down to the floor, helping her sit comfortably as I turn back to my little sister. Now knowing she wasn't injured immensely.
"What do you have to say?" I prompt, standing back and watching as Tuk knelt down and poked her stomach.
"Why isn't anything happening?" She asks, looking back at me like I had lied to her "Lo'ak said there was a baby in there but I don't see a baby"
Se'aeylwa muffles a cute giggle as she turns to Tuk and places her hand on the enlarged area, she waits for a moment until her eyes light up, it looked like literal sparkles where in her eyes as she pressed her ear where her hand used to be.
"Woah..." She mutters, sitting on her knees while she stares at Se'aeylwa. Who had just given her a fruit to much on. She starts biting down viciously before rambling on with questions.
My focus is slightly broken at the sound of my Dad's voice through my ear, where the earpiece laid stationed, ready for his call. I hold a hand up to my neck, pressing on a few buttons as I respond.
"Hey Dad, can you hear me?" I ask.
"Loud and clear" He responds.
"Where is she?" A voice breaks through, I chuckle at my grandmothers bluntness as I look back on the girls who are looking drowsy enough to pass out.
"She's asleep with Tuk right now" I tell her. It wasn't entirely a lie, they looked nearly all the way there as I watched the two cuddle into one another. I hear her sounds of disappointment as I lowly chuckle. I decide now is the perfect time to tell them the news, and hopefully they would respond better than when I told them Tuk snuck out and was now with me on my journey to Awa'atlu.
"Is everyone there? Neteyam, Kiri, Grandma and Mum?" I ask "I have some news I think they'd all like to hear"
I hear harsh whispers, some groans and shuffling before my Fathers voice sounds out once more.
"They're all here" He confirms.
"What's the news baby brother!?" Neteyam shouts over, obviously curious.
"Se'aeylwa's pregnant" I calmly say. All I receive is radio silence before it's broken by none other than Kiri.
"Holy Shit! I'm going to be an Aunt" She yells. Shouts of surprise and joy coming from the other end of the phone. I can hear the sounds of fists connecting one another in a fist bump and the excited whispers of my siblings as my grandmother once again bluntly asks a question.
"Have you decided where you're going to raise the child?" She interjects, the line falls silent as I think about it. I could only imagine the awkward stares on their end as Neteyam and Kiri look at each other for some sense of comfort.
"We haven't talked about it yet, we should have another month or two to figure it out though" I reassure. I hear hums of approval as my Father ushers everyone out, leaving just the both of us, as groans of annoyance sound out before the shuffling of feet.
"Congratulations, I didn't think this day would come so soon"
"Thanks Dad" I kindly respond, it was exceedingly rare to ever get a moment alone with my father, especially when that moment involved me.
"Don't screw this up for Se'aeylwa, she's a strong young woman, but she'll need you more than ever, do your best and make her proud. You have to remember that it's a big jump, you won't figure out how to do it on the first try" He warns, I nod on my end, remembering he cant see it as I agree, telling him I'd give it my absolute all. We mumble our very informal goodbyes to one another as I disconnect the device. Putting it on a ledge as I stand above both of the girls. I quickly pull out the camera my father had given me before I snap a photo.
Tuk was curled on Se'aeylwa's chest, using her stomach as a teddy bear as she wrapped her arms around it, her cheek smushed as she rests her head along the top.
Se'aeylwa lightly smiles, her arms wrapping against the girl as she protectively keeps her in her grasp. I put the camera down, soon sliding in beside Se'aeylwa as my long arms snake around the both of them, keeping them both firmly in my grasp. The moment filled my heart with joy. I felt like we had our own little family, snuggling into one another. And I could only imagine these moments when the baby would be born. Tuk already act's more like my daughter than my sister anyway, and as I began to mature that instinct only became stronger.
I happily sighed, holding them both close before I joined them in their slumber.
•●•●•●•●•●•●•
I wake up immediately, not feeling the warmth of Se'aeylwa in my arms as she slowly moves around our home, tidying and rearranging area's. I notice the small limp in her walk, deeming it cute before I sit up and stretch, making it noticeable that I had woken up. She briefly walks past me as I stop her in her tracks, placing a hand on her thigh as I press my lips quickly and softly to her belly, giving the baby a small kiss as I look up and find her flustered face. She almost drops the seaweed in her hands as her cheeks blush a brilliant red.
I pat her thigh a few times before I stand, giving Se'aeylwa the real thing as I lean down and give her a passionate kiss, placing each hand to either side of her face. I was trying to rebuild our relationship, to make it what it once was, and it was coming along much quicker than I had originally thought as I separated us, one of her arms that wasn't holding the seaweed hooked arpund my neck, keeping it down as she placed a chaste peck on my cheek. I bit hers in return as she fumbled with the things in her hands before turning away, still blushing like maniac.
I cringed at how slow and out of breath she looked, even with the simple task of bending down to place breakfast on the fire. She always had a hand on our baby, as if she was always waiting for a kick, or if it was the kick that pained her, I could never tell.
From what I know, Tuk is out with a friend, judging by her loud giggles that I could barely hear from the distance. I notice that she's cooking the fish rather quickly, the golden brown coating it as she pulls it off, placing it on a leaf and then handing it to me and ushering me to eat.
"I have a place I wanna show you after breakfast" She cheerfully says, shoving the food in her mouth as she eats it alongside a piece of seaweed that definitely didn't match the type of fish.
I gave her a weird look before shrugging and quickly scarfing down my own food. It must be meaningful for her to go all this way to make sure we got there on time, even if it was the earliest I think I had ever woken up.
She grabbed my hand and all but dragged me with what little strength she had, I could've easily stopped her movements, but she seemed so excited I couldn't build up the courage to stop her.
She moves into a marui close by as I nearly fall asleep once more, the room was dark, full of glowing aspects as little cots are scattered around the room.
She smiles brightly, bringing me to one of the only fussing babies before lightly nudging me.
"What?" I ask, confused on what I should do.
"Stop her whining, have a go at it" She encourages. I swallow a lump in my throat as I reach forward, awkwardly holding the baby as it only breaks out into a loud cry. I try bumping it up and down on my shoulder, but it doesn't seem to work at all as it only screams louder. Tuk was an easy baby, she never cried and she hated being held, I didn't have to worry about anything, but now it was coming back to bite me in my skxqwng ass.
I knew I was royally screwing up when the baby was taken out of my grasp by my mate. She held her close to her chest, humming a tune and cooing at the baby as she rocked her back and forth.
Se'aeylwa was a natural mother, and me? It seemed like any baby within a three kilometre radius started crying as some of the other babies around us started to fuss. I did her a favour, walking out as I paced. How was I supposed to be a good father if I couldn't even calm a baby that wasn't even crying until it was in my grasp?
Se'aeylwa walked out soon after as I crouched and held my head in my hands.
"Don't worry Lo'ak it takes practice" She assures, rubbing a hand up and down my bicep as it instantly calms me.
I could only hope that I would be ready when Se'aeylwa needed me, because right about now it looked as if she already did, now more than ever.