The two of them kept at their routine of physical training, training their abilities, finishing the cottage and expanding their mana farm. 80% of the land within the fortress was now primarily dedicated to the mana plantation and the next batch had 2½ weeks left, using their earthly calculations, to fully sprout. With the past experience of their first attempt, the process of the 2nd attempt was pretty quick. The two of them also embarked on trying to come up with different kinds of clothes by threading the linen thread left by caterpillars. Animal hide and animal fur were probably best for winter, but during the blazing heat, they proved to be a discomfort.
Tanatswa didn't relent on his wish to have his girlfriend dress decently and only have her show her raunchy sensual side to only him. Shami was slowly adjusting to his conditions and even tried by all means to not strip tease him. Since she wanted to wait, it would be appropriate to act as if she wanted to wait as well. Everything seemed to be going fine as they encountered no hiccups. There was no sign of Tichaona and at this point, they both believed that he had probably gotten scared shitless and didn't want to face Tanatswa ever again.
The two individuals who were several kilometres away, as highlighted by their navigation points, had moved closer to each other and at one point, upon getting close, the other point disappeared briefly and then reappeared. Shami had assumed that maybe the other point had killed the other one, but the point that disappeared temporarily, reappeared again, which was a mystery they could not explain. Regardless of this, the two of them toiled in peace as Shami counted her days.
The girl had counted the number of days, but for a different reason. She believed that 30 days had passed and she hadn't had her period. Another thing that concerned he was that her breasts felt slightly swollen and she couldn't keep up with the intense training anymore. She would often take long breaks towards the last days of her count down and she also did this to secretly work on something that she wanted to give Tanatswa.
The young man noticed her gradual deviation in behaviour and got worried, but she would just deter him from snooping whenever he would inquire more than she was willing to tell. This made him focus on his training and he was on the brink of entering the level 3 realm. As her man got preoccupied with the ambitions of strength, she slowly became more and more frantic about her fate. Was she pregnant or not? Was she late on her cycle or had Tanatswa's seed finally bore fruit. If she had fucked up in the past, she could confide with her sisters, sometimes her mother if she wasn't in a judgmental mood and definitely her dad, who was more or less her best friend.
In Goshem, where isolation was a thing, learning to deal with your own shit was a prerequisite. So Shami began to play out scenarios in her head; several versions ended with them in tears as they came to the conclusion that they had no fucking idea what to do, but others ended with Tanatswa chickening out of his parental obligation and ditching her ass. Shami honestly didn't think Tanatswa was the flaking type, but her stress drove her to imagine the worst possible end. Shami couldn't take a pregnancy test and had no means to confide with a doctor, so she decided to use the most useful thing in Goshem, the custom goal mechanic.
Shami decided to go for something she never thought she would ever do, a DIY (Do It Yourself) pregnancy testing solution. The custom goal mechanic listed 3 options, but she went for the one that was the safest choice regardless of how high the difficulty was. Shami even cursed profanities internality at the fact that the safest choice always had a high difficulty. Shami had to look for 3 particular plants which she needed to make a solution.
The sap from each plant would be mixed, coagulated, filtered and then applied on any none serrated stick that she would have to place inside her vagina. If any discolouring would occur upon taking the stick out, it meant the solution reacted to the ph. Scale and she was pregnant. If no change at all occurred, then she was fucken safe. This all happened behind Tanatswa's back as he fervently pursued crossing over to level 3. This process was as stressful as the time she collected her A'level results, but unlike getting good or bad grades, having a child, without question, was going to change her life in Goshem.
The final day had come and Tanatswa, who was mostly excited about getting his dick wet inside her, had no idea what was instore for him. Tanatswa was on cooking duty that night and made sure to make everything appetizing. He wanted to make everything perfect and if she was satisfied by his prowess in the kitchen, he believed nothing could stop them from making love that night. Having cultivated his ability to do amazing things that he didn't think were even possible, he had garnered a lot of self-belief that made him exude with confidence.
He was a muscular titan of strength with good looks, fantastic health and a power that made him think he could take on anybody. The old Tanatswa, who was weak, insecure and whined about being fucked by life, was no longer there. This Tanatswa only retained the positive remnants of his character and was blessed with a beautiful woman who he probably could never get if he had been alive. As an icing on the cake, in Goshem there was no currency or money to use to place value on others. As a man who felt strongly about his meagre upbringing, not having to have a bank account determine your social status was something marvellous to him. Your strength and will to survive were all that were necessary. So in the end, he finally felt lucky for the first time.
Tanatswa dished out the meal as they sat in what was going to be the living room. The fire from the hearth acted as a light that lit the entire room with vibrant yellows and orange colours. Shami had gone to the master bedroom to get something and Tanatswa was expecting her to come back looking sexy for the night. Shami did indeed return, but with something that looked familiar. It was an acoustic guitar, one that she had made by herself. Tanatswa's mouth became agape as he looked at his gift. That was definitely not what he was expecting, but she surely put a smile on his face.
"So, like I said, I want to hear you play the guitar. So I know you get all moody about your short lived musical days, but fuck it. We are in the now, in Goshem, so let's move on looking forward to the future." she said, as she bent over to hand him the guitar. Tanatswa received it and gleamed. He examined the carvings and noticed markings of construction lines. The strings were actually twined like vines that were salted and mixed with something that gave them the feel of actual guitar strings. The frets and the tuners were all made of wood and when Tanatswa strummed it, it gave him a familiar sound that got him all excited.
"This is incredible Shami, like how did you pull off such a thing? You even did the fret markings properly. You're more than amazing, you're freaken fantastic. Damn it, I love this girl." he said, as he pulled her in for a hug. Shami embraced him and loved the fact that he had given her positive reception for her work. Making the guitar wasn't at all easy, but she wanted to make sure she had assurance. Something that was going to lessen the blow of what she was going to tell him.
"So I am guessing you love it." she said, with her twinkling eyes, that flickered due to the lighting of the flames of the hearth.
"Yeah, it's amazing. You're incredible babe." he said, kissing her by the cheek.
"Well, play something."
"Like right now? What if we waited until we finished eating?" he asked, taken by surprise.
"Nope, with all due respect, I made that guitar for you because I wanted to stop replaying Katy Perry music in my head. Just kidding, but since you did say you played, I do intend to hear you play something, so come on, it doesn't have to be something complex, just make our night sound different just this once." she pleaded with him.
"Okay then. I am a bit rusty so give me like 5 minutes to get acquainted with this instrument."
"5 minutes? I hope you're not tripping with me. Okay, I will eat this meat as you get yourself prepared," she said, picking up a piece of meat and taking a bite, "fuck, this is amazing. You cooked this? You really stepped up your cooking game."
"Yeah, enjoy."
Tanatswa began to worry that his lack of practice on the guitar would not get him laid, at the same time; Shami was buying time for her big reveal, going through several scenarios in her head as she waited for the right moment to speak. After 6 minutes, Tanatswa remembered a song he came up with in his teens which had a simple chord progression. It had a silly title, but he decided to change the name to suit the occasion.
"So I am ready. This one is called Radical girl." he said, as he got his fingers into position.
"Hmm, Radical girl, is that directed at me?" she asked.
"No one else drives me this crazy as much as you do, so, you're my radical girl."
"Well that sounds endearing so let me have it." she said, cheering him on before he began to play. As soon as he began to play, Tanatswa accompanied the song with his singing. When he sang he was surprised by how clear his voice sounded. When he was living at home with his mom, his voice was affected by dust and it sometimes gave him inconsistent vocal tones which made him prefer making music rather than singing. But now, none of that phlegm was going to affect him and he felt like he owed it to the clear ear in Goshem. Shami did the usual obnoxious scream that women did towards celebrities or musicians they loved, which caught him off guard.
This moment was happening and he didn't want to fuck it up. Since his voice sounded so great, he had hyped himself so much that if he were to play the rest of the song now and make mistakes, he would disappoint her. Tanatswa then decided to use his ability Refiner. He hadn't refilled his mana bar, but hoped what was there was enough to make him finish the song without making any mistakes. Tanatswa thus began to play and sing and the song went like this:
I fell in love with a dame
And she fell for me.
I thought she was just a pain
But I fell for her
Nothing was ever the same
When I wailed for her
Forever I was insane
as I remember my
Radical girl!
Nothing but a radical girl
She was my radical love!
Going crazy for, my crazy love is
Radical girl! X2
Shami looked at him as he played and loved how he sang, strummed and put passion into it. Even if his level bar had increased which made it clear that he cheated to make this performance remarkable, she was still overwhelmed to tears by his playing. When Tanatswa was done, he noticed her crying and thought he had done something wrong. He then moved in a little closer and asked her, "Did you not like the song. I am sorry if it was…"
"No you idiot, I loved it. You're amazing, that was a beautiful song." she said as her tears trickled down her eyes.
"Then what's wrong?"
"I am pregnant Tanatswa. I am pregnant with your child." she said as her crying worsened.
"Me and you are having a baby? Are you sure?" he asked, not sure if she was pulling a prank or if this was serious. Shami just nodded. Tanatswa fell silent for nearly 2 minutes as she cried, going through several emotions and wondering what to say. He then started to cry as well and then moved in to hug her. Shami was not prepared for this, but he then asked her, "So how long into your pregnancy do you think you are?"
"I don't know, I don't fucken know. That time when you were supposed to be careful, you weren't. I have no idea how I am going to be a mother Tana, like there is a lot going on here that I don't know. I don't think…" she said before being interjected.
"You have me. You have me to figure that out. I am going to be a father so I am going to be right there with you. Don't be afraid." he said, embracing her in his arms.
"You're not just saying that to make feel better right, because you made this happen." she said, striking his back violently, angry at the fact that the unplanned pregnancy was his fault.
"I will be a good father and good husband, don't doubt me Shami. I will be there for you and my child."
The two of them laid together, in warm embrace, trying to figure out how they would make this work. One thing for sure, Tanatswa was going to commit to this unexpected path in his life, head on. He was going to become a father and he would help the mother of his child, Shami, every step of the way.
As the power couple dealt with their issues, deep in the Ethereal Woods, something spectacular was going on. The newcomer known as Tichaona was deep into his own brutal training, succumbing to the harsh requirements that were imposed on him. The dark figure watched as her prodigy overcame the obstacles, who was now currently ranking at level 5.