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Nadine broke down in my arms, sobbing into my chest.
I gently stroked her hair. “Nad, what’s wrong? You seemed so excited a moment ago.”
“I am. That’s why I’m crying. I’m so, so happy.” She drew away and wiped her eyes. “That’s not all, though. Lucas, it’s twins!”
I willed myself to remain upright. Two babies! I could hardly believe my ears. I could’ve sworn time had stopped altogether. I had to pull her tighter into my arms to remind myself time was still moving forward.
“How did we…? We use protection every time…” I stammered.
“Condoms break, Lucas,” she said gently. “We conceived the night of our wedding. It’s funny, because Chloe blessed me with fertility in the bridal ceremony before the wedding.”
It took several moments for me to process what she’d said. I could hardly believe this was happening. “How’d you find out? I want to know everything.”
The sound of voices came from outside the door. Nadine shot a quick glance at it, and we heard footsteps shuffling down the hall.
“Maybe we should take a walk,” Nadine suggested.
I took her hand, and we peered into the hallway. I didn’t see anyone, but it definitely sounded like someone was snooping a moment ago. We went to the front door and pulled on our jackets, then headed outside.
It was chilly out, but I think we were both too overcome with emotion to care. I kept Nadine’s hand in mine as we walked through the trees, following the same path to the stream where we had our wedding ceremony.
“How long have you known?” I asked.
“I found out this morning. I thought I was getting sick, so I went to the clinic in Hok’evale, and they did a pregnancy test.”
I got worried then. “What did the doctors say about your health? Is a pregnancy going to harm you?”
“They called it a high-support pregnancy, which means they’ll be monitoring me closely,” she said. “But they believe I have a good chance of delivering the babies safely. I trust my body with this, and I want to go through with it.”
I relaxed and raked my fingers through my hair. “Wow. I can’t believe it’s happening so soon. I thought it’d be years… that we’d have more time to prepare.”
Nadine slowed and turned to me. “You don’t seem scared. It’s not the reaction I expected.”
I hadn’t expected this reaction from myself, either. There were tons of reasons to be scared of becoming a dad—scared of how pregnancy might affect Nadine’s body, scared of becoming like my father, scared of bringing a child into the world in the midst of the Miriamic Conflict, scared of being able to provide for them…
But none of that could compare to the great joy I felt when Nadine said we were going to become parents.
I took her hands in mine. “Of course I’m scared, Nad. We’re in the middle of a war with the priestesses, and I don’t know what that could mean for our family. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to have a family with you at all. It’s certainly unexpected, but I’ve become very familiar with fear, and I know that the only way through it is to face it.”
“You’re not scared of what world we’re bringing these babies into?” she wondered. “We don’t know what having children could mean. I can’t battle against the priestesses when I’m pregnant, and when the babies are born, someone will always have to stay behind to take care of them.”
The last thing I wanted was to put my wife or children in danger, but there was nothing we could do to back out of this. This was happening to us now, and all we could do was see it through to the end.
I squeezed Nadine’s hands. “Children are born every day to all types of circumstances. Whatever happens, we’ll do everything to protect our family, even if that means using the Oaken Wands to keep our babies safe.”
Nadine drew a deep, calming breath. “It means everything to hear you say that. I can’t believe we’re going to be a family!”
She threw her arms around my neck, and I inhaled the rosey scent of her hair. I didn’t know what the future held, and that scared the living daylights out of me. But I knew from the moment I saw those words on that paper that I wanted to be a dad, even if it was the most frightening thing I ever did. I didn’t know if I was going to be a good dad or not, but I could sure as hell try to be the best father I was capable of.
I drew Nadine closer, and she rose to her toes to place her lips on mine. I relaxed into the kiss, gently lifting my hand to the back of her neck as she kissed me harder. I had to pull away to catch my breath.
“We’re going to be a family,” I whispered.
Nadine laid her head on my chest. “I can’t wait.”
I took her hand again, and we continued walking. The forest was quiet, and it was really nice to be alone with her. “Have you thought of any names?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Do you have any ideas?”
