Life was..peaceful. Or as peaceful as it could get. It certainly more than Urpi had ever had.
Despite living in it for a couple of months now she still took the time to tour around the house, her and her husband house. A house he had been with his own two hands in his sleepy hometown, a house he had given her complete creative control over decor wise since he ādidnāt have the faintest clue what did or didn't qualified as good stuff for a living spaceā. Despite that claim, he seemed to love every knit tapestry or multicoloured rug she set down.
A nail tapped against the plastic stick, its two lines terrifying her more than any priest raid ever had. Pregnant, she was pregnant and worst of all she couldnāt even feel excited without wave upon wave of dread threatening to drown her.
Pregnancies back home were a joyous thing no doubt but thereās always an undercurrent of bittersweetness to it. One new life meant Shandora had less of a chance of disappearing but it also meant less food to go around, less people working to keep their ever precarious standard of living and as heartless, another life to lose and so easily at that. Urpi had closed many eyes of her people as they rested from as old as 70 to as young as 2. It made her swear to never have children until they were home, until she could guarantee their safety.
What kind of mother would she be if she couldnāt at least do that?
Oh Nika, she was going to be a Mamay! Her! She couldnāt even imagine it, being any semblance of a good mother! She-!
Her snail purred to life, its large eyes fluttering open as it chirped. Her anxiety seemed to melt away as she heard the boisterous voice of her lover.
āHello Dear. Is everything alright? Itās not even lunch yet.ā
āWanted to know if you were feeling any better since this morning.ā
Ah, thatās right. She had been feeling quite ill. It had been quite the ordeal to convince Garp to still head to work. He had āorderedā her to bed rest until the problem went away (somewhere in the dirtier regions of her mind, Urpi knew frequent bed rest was the inciting factor in her sickness).
āItās definitely more manageable now.ā
āWell thatās good! Still have half a mind to come and check on you myself though.ā
āTelling me about your day might help.ā
So off Garp went recapping every detail. Usually, these conversations of theirs were more lively, nice tennis-esqe back and forth as Garp told her both water cooler chat and government secrets she definitely shouldnāt know but today Urpi's mind was elsewhere. She had to tell him, he had every right in the world to know but she was uncharacteristically terrified.
āThatās about it. Anything interesting happen on your end?ā
In the sweet name of Nika's laughter why did she just blurt it out?! Wasnāt it supposed to be more special?! Like putting a bread bun in the oven and giving him a mug, WHY DID SHE DO IT OVER THE PHONE??!?
This is okay. This is fine. She can still salvage this, use that quick wit that has never failed her on the battlefield!
So, in a continued moment of ill-conceived thinking, Urpi hung up the phone.
ā¦Maybe her Tayta was right, maybe her overthinking really would be her undoing. She placed her head defeatedly in her hands, mentally apologizing to her baby. What kind of mother was so scared of her own creation? Her fingers danced above her stomach before retreating.
Objectively, raising a child here wouldnāt be as hard as back home (bile rose in the back of her throat at that thought, what a selfish thought that was). She had no war to dedicate her life to fighting, no guard patrols losing sleep and nearly breaking her neck at every slight sound. Her baby could want for nothing as a child of the Blue Seaā¦
But what if they were more like her? What if her daughter had her eyes or her son had her nose and oh Nika what if they had wings!? What if they too were dragged to that retched Sabaody and sold off to the highest bidder and she wasnāt there to save them and-?!
The well built, hard oak door fell into the house with a decisive thud. Standing in the doorway bathed in sunlight stood her husband, breathing heavily and lined with sweat. Too lost in her own spiral Urpi jumped at the sound. Garp's lips parted but only air rushed in and out harshly. Urpi brought him a glass of water that he took but didnāt drink. He carefully placed it down before dropping to his knees and lightly touching his forehead to her stomach.
āYou..you said..you're really?ā
A beat. A beat that couldnāt have lasted more than a moment but seemed to stretch on and on before she looked down and saw him smiling. His eyes were alight with pure joy before he began kissing all over her belly. Relieving laughter spilled out from the dove's lips and pats to the shoulder went largely ignored.
Eventually Urpi caught her breath and looked down again to meet a new look from her husband, one she had only ever seen the day he proposed to her: Fear.
āDove..I'd be lying if I said I wasnāt scared.ā
Urpi cupped her husband's face. āSo am Iā¦but I think itāll be okay.ā
She leaned in, grazing her nose against his own. āOf course. Itās you and me: we make things work.ā
A smile graced her love's lips again. āDamn right we do.ā
Without another word Garp scooped Urpi up and carried her back to bed. There would be time for fear later (somehow, she got the impression sheād be scared for a while) but Urpi already loved her child more than words and would do whatever it takes, make every mistake, to give her baby a life of peace.
The baby didnāt cry when he was born. He screwed up his little face in frightful scowl and huffed and puffed about the whole ordeal, but he didnāt cry. He didnāt breathe as often, either. He was light, too. Lighter than one would think was normal for a baby of his size.
At first, the nurses and midwives were flitting about with worry, and that terrified Urpi and Garp bothā¦
Until the staff saw the tiny wings on his back.
He wasnāt breathing as often for a human baby. He was lighter than a human baby of his size should be.
Sky Islander respiratory system. Sky Islander pneumonic skeletal structure. With that quick course correction in mind, it was smooth sailing from there.
The boy was healthy. Quiet, but perfectly healthy.
āHe looks just like you, Dove.ā Garp sounded just as awestruck and in love as the day she had told him he was to be a father.
āWell, his mouth doesnāt look all that much like mineā¦ and his wings are shaped a tad more for soaring than mineā¦ I wonder what big, handsome sea bird could have given him those.ā Urpi hummed, sneaking a kiss to a whiskery cheek. She wasā¦ loopy from the pain medication. A loopy Urpi didnāt have a filter.
Garp chuckled, reining in his typical roaring laughter to a minimum while their baby slept.
Slate gray eyes looked the tiny, feathery limbs over. Not hatchling down, but feathers. They came in while still in the womb, apparently. That sounded pretty damn uncomfortable to him, but his wife wouldnāt be stuck with it anymore, at least.
They certainly did look like a soaring birds. Somewhere between a gull and a vultureā¦
āYou remember when I took you to see the sennenryu?ā Garp asked.
Urpi blinked, then followed his line of sight.
āLike a little dragonās, arenāt theyā¦?ā
They had a name for him. A different one than what they had initially decided on. A risky name, yes, but it felt like Fate had laid it in their arms along with the infantā¦
It felt wrong to go against that current..
And besides, Monkey D. Dragon had a rather interesting ring to it, didnāt it?
