#fic sample

She was about to open the envelope when her phone buzzed. It was Lars. She sighed, answering after a long pause. 

“Hello? Is everything ok?” Her voice was shaky.  

“Oh, hi. I was going to leave you a message. Um...everything’s fine. Just letting you know how they boys are. How’s work?” Lars had begun doing this since they’d had Myles. When he was home and taking care of him, she had a hard time adjusting to being gone at first. Lars knew it made her happy and didn’t want her to worry. 

“Work’s been tough.” She stopped, trying to fight back tears. “I’m sorry Lars. I’m sorry I couldn’t let you go.”  

“What are you talking about? Let me go....when?” He furrowed his brow. He’d just put Layne down after a diaper change and left the nursery. 

“You wanted to end things and I held you back. Neither one of us is truly happy Lars. I used our baby as a weapon and that’s not fair.” All the guilt she had over their separation and everything since was coming out. She sobbed quietly. 

“Skylar, can we talk about this at home? You sound tired, have you slept?” Lars was worried and wondered if he needed to go see her at work. 

“Home? Is it anymore? You’re there for now. But not much longer.” Her tone sounding sad and lonely.  

“Are you ok?” Lars had only seen her this emotional if she was overtired. Also, if she was on her period or pregnant. But she used an IUD, so he figured she was hormonal during what would be her cycle.  

“If down the line, I had a baby with another man, would you be upset?” She bit her cheek, shocking even herself with the question. 

“No, I wouldn’t. I’d be happy for you and that the kids would have another sibling. Why, are you considering it?” His mind started racing about Mark again. 

She tried to ignore the pang in her heart and the bile in her stomach that churned with disgust she felt at hearing Debbie referred to as an inmate. How the hell had she not come sooner? There may have been a lot of anger, jealousy, and devastation between them, but she should’ve done the right thing. Should’ve tossed aside the I told you so she still clung to deep down and ran to Debbie to offer her something even if it was just commissary money or magazines. She hadn’t given her shit to hang onto while she was stuck inside here and she wanted to sit down on the floor and cry.

There was time with Debbie she already wanted to rip back from the universe and now she had a sentence of five years she wanted to tack onto it. Why had she been so god damn stubborn? There were certain events that just forced you to get over yourself and toss issues aside, and prison was definitely one of them. Anger and hurt had blinded her too much.

“Oh,” he nodded. “Then you need to be screened before you can visit. Lou Miller is your legal name?”

“It’s Louise,” she sighed.

“Miller?”

"Sov... Dearest... Are you sure about this? There's really no need to put yourself through -"

"No, no! This is okay. I can deal with this! It's fine! I'm fine!"

Rolan watched his lover as she hunched miserably over the swell of her baby bump. Her breathing was still coming in staccato gasps in the after shocks of another panic attack - not even the first that day. He quietly dabbed the sweat from Sovereignty's brow, biting back his argument for now, though his tail spoke of his agitation loud and clear.

Thank the gods this 'pregnancy' was only a trial run. - It had been a long, strange road since first meeting the newest Hero of Faerûn in the druids' grove, to the final confrontation with the Absolute, to now, more than a year hence. The road had not gotten any less strange.

If someone would have asked Rolan only a year ago, if he thought he would want children, let alone be helping the love of his life practice a pregnancy, he would have laughed them right out of the room!

Except... Someone had asked if he wanted children... and he mist definitely had not been laughing...

In actuality, at that reunion party (Sov insisted that he go! So she could "show off her handsome wizard" although Rolan suspected some of that 'showing off' would be rubbing her rebound in that other wizard's face... Rolan only groused a little about going, and he would never willingly admit that he also wanted to rub his good fortune in Gale's face) someone had asked, "So, Sov - When are you two going to have some little Sovlettes running around?"

She had been the one laughing then, sharing a joke with friends, when she turned to him - lavender cheeks flushed plum with one too many glasses of wine, her eyes twinkling with mirth and firelight - to ask the same; "Yeah, Rolan. When are we going to have some little Sovlettes?"

He had nearly choked on his drink while Sovereignty hurried to reassure him they weren't serious, they were just kidding!

Nonetheless, the idea had been planted, and it had not taken long at all after that for it to bloom into something serious.

One night, months later in bed, he had turned to Sov. Myriad thoughts and fears had been running through his mind, but all stilled and coalesced into one firm conclusion as he watched her read by the light of her magelight lantern. "Sovereignty..."

"Rolan?" The way she said his name, in sing-song, like it was a sweet she was savoring, made his heart skip a beat. She marked her place in her book to give him her full attention, especially when she could see how nervous he suddenly was.

"Do you remember when... back at the party..."

"Yes...?"

"When Shadowheart asked when we were going to have... or, well, if we were going to have..."

"Kids?"

He nodded, slowly letting out his held breath to replace it with a fresh one.

Sovereignty set her book aside and sat up a little straighter. "You've been thinking about that?"

He nodded again.

Her smile had gone a little funny then, in a way Rolan couldn't quite read. He'd never been the most people-literate on a good day. "Aww, Rolan. You know we were just messing around, right...? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset -"

"No! - Sorry - I mean no, you didn't upset me." Rolan tried to brush it off, but his tail's flicking tip betrayed his anxiety. Sov's own wrapped around his leg to give a reassuring squeeze. She looked properly concerned now, and he knew he’d have to spit it out before things could start going sour. "Quite the opposite, actually." He could feel his already-red cheeks getting darker. "I think... maybe..."

"You want to have kids?"

"Well - kid. One. No need to get ahead of ourselves! But... yes. I... well, the idea's grown on me... and... I don't know if you've given it any actual consideration - !" Sovereignty's mouth overtook Rolan's before he even knew she'd moved. Her hands were on his cheeks to hold him in place, leaving him with nothing to do but melt into her and her kiss until she saw fit to release him.

"Gods, Rolan, yes! Of course!" Her wide-eyed smile was infectious, and if that kiss hadn't been enough, it reduced him to a mushy puddle in their sheets. "There are so many orphans that we could provide an amazing home for!"

Rolan's smile faltered, just a little, going a little strained.

"What is it...?" Surely he wasn't having second thoughts this quickly?

"It's nothing - You're right. We can make arrangements with the orphanage, of course."

"But...?"

"... I... was... just hoping..." Rolan had to avert his eyes lest his bashfulness overwhelmed him. "...I thought that maybe our first could be... Well, ours. Biologically."

Sov smirked as she snuggled into Rolan's side. "Our first? Now who's getting ahead of himself?" She rested her head on his shoulder and watched him, her smirk only getting smirkier. "And I think you're forgetting something."

When Rolan turned to face her she couldn't help but giggle. "Neither of us has the right equipment for... you know. Carrying."

"Well - I - yes, I know that. We would talk to a transmutation specialist, obviously. But - well, I mean... I assume you've thought about this?"

Sov nodded, nuzzling into him. "Of course. It'll be a big change... But we have the time now. And the money for it. We'll have to find some way to babyproof the tower, of course..."

Rolan snorted. "That shouldn't be too much of a problem so long as they don't inherit any magic more wild than yours."

"At least they'll have a wonderful teacher~" She smiled wryly against his cheek. "I'm starting to get a handle on things, I think."

"Just last ten-day you nearly burned down - Augh!"

Sov blew a razzberry against his skin before rolling over, away from him. "Other than that!"