Hydrangea sat on the wooden seat of the boat and gazed at the passing shores. The jungle looked so different from Cadarama's; more vibrant and with less foliage. The white sands added such a different atmosphere, as well as the women walking along them with baskets and babies on their hips.
The crew had taken a different boat and Bastian had said that they were going to stay at a different location.
They drifted past tall mountains tiered with what Bastian told her were rice paddies. Men and women, young and old, stood knee and sometimes waist deep in them. Each had baskets strapped to their backs and each was filling them with whatever they pulled from the water.
By the time the sun was setting and the moon was rising, the small skiff had already reached the capital. Bastian spoke with the driver and after what appeared to be quite the debate, they were led to a house.
Her eyes raised and ran across the arched entrance. It was a small house, but cozy. It was larger than her and her family's by far.
"What do you plan to do?" She asked quietly as they sat in the bathing pool together.
The water splashed quietly when Bastian moved to put his arm around her swelling waist, she bit her lip. He still had yet to say anything about her stomach. She hoped it would be alright; all the changes that her body would go through. Aidana had only listed a few, but she only feared Bastian's reaction.
He wasn't used to pregnant women, or children.
"Well, in the morning we'll speak with the queen and then go from there."
"How do think that will go?"
She felt him shrug, "We will have to wait and see."
Hydrangea nodded. "Do you think she'll just say yes and we won't have to deal with all of the difficulties." She asked, knowing that it was impossible.
He stroked his hand across her collarbone and she saw he was washing her with soap. Her lips spread into a smile. "With everything we've been through, I'm sure we'll be able to handle it, my flower." He finished with a kiss to the crown of her hair.
His hands strayed to her stomach and she couldn't help the way her body stiffened. He stilled and she bit her lip. Slowly, very slowly, his hands both came to circle her enlarging abdomen.
"This is our child." He whispered. Hydrangea's heart staggered at the awe in voice. Her throat choked with tears she couldn't explain.
"It's okay?" She managed to ask through her sudden rush of joy and relief.
The water gurgled as he turned her in his lap so that they were facing each other. She met his brown eyes and her tears turned to sobs when she saw the affection and hesitance.
She hated crying. It was such a foolish thing.
His hands cupped her cheeks and he brought her lips to his to meet in a kiss that left her mind whirling and her body wanting. She was still crying when he broke it and he spoke against her parted lips while his hands returned to her waist.
"Why wouldn't it be alright, Hydrangea? This is our child, and why would I be upset with how it comes into this world?"
She smiled wryly, "Our baby will come into this world crying, with me screaming along with it."
He reared back, "Why?"
Her lips spread into a grin, her tears forgotten, "Because that's how babies are born, Bastian. Labour is…" She met his eyes sideways, "Not easy."
Now she became worried for how he would deal with the labour. Her anxiety of her body was now forgotten, but she wasn't sure her husband could handle the strain of labour. She wasn't sure she could either.
"It hurts?"
She laughed at his innocent question, "Yes, Bastian. Quite a bit." She stood, the bath was now getting cold.
"But why?" He asked as he followed her onto the bamboo floor.
"Ask Samadur." She replied, giving him a shrug. "Can't be helped. There are, of course, substances that midwives will give mothers so that it's easier, but—"
"But what?" He asked. She glanced over at him as he put his clothes back on his dripping wet body. Her eyes lingering on his half hard cock. Heat tingled down her spine.
"Hydrangea, what about the substances?" He asked, not taking her hint. He was still distracted with pulling his shirt over his shoulders.
She pouted, but answered him, "My mother never liked them. She tried it with the twins but she said they made it worse than it had been with me."
"So…you won't use them?" Hearing the anxiousness in his voice she sighed and walked towards him. Her fingers found the laces on his shirt. She just wanted an excuse to touch him.
"We'll have to wait and see. I'm not that far along, we still have many months to see how things are going." She raised her eyes and saw the trepidation in his. Her head tilted and she smiled in soft exasperation, raising her hand to his still wet cheek, she said, "It is not the husband's place to worry about his wife's labour. It's his place to worry whether or not it will be a suitable heir—"
He grabbed her wrist, gently, but still surprising her, "I will worry, Hydrangea. Don't you dare tell me not to. My mother nearly died bearing my siblings before me."
Hydrangea's reply caught in her throat. She'd known Alessandra had had difficulty conceiving Bastian, but she hadn't known Bastian felt so strongly about it. Maybe her being pregnant was changing his view of matters.
He sighed, "Why are my clothes so wet?" His grip loosened on her wrist. He was looking down at where his white shirt was clinging to his torso, leaving nothing to be left to her memory, and his breeches were sadly too thick to reveal any parts of his anatomy below the waist.
A laugh bubbled up in her throat and he gave her a mildly annoyed look. She leaned up on her toes and pecked his cheek, "I'll be in bed."
He turned her cheek and kissed her long and deep, his soft lips pressing to hers evenly, but she could feel his passion behind it. Her fingers grasped his arms and just when her knees couldn't support her weight any longer, he broke the kiss. Leaving her breathless, and very wanting.
"Goodnight."
She sighed, "Goodnight."
She crawled beneath the linen covers of the low lying bed and her desires slowly calmed down. Bastian eventually sorted out his clothes and climbed in behind her, his arms wrapping around her and his nose resting on her neck.
She smiled and raised her hand to play with his shaggy, damp hair. Silence passed between them, but neither of them could sleep.
Her hands still wove through his hair, knotting it and unknotting it and he held her secure in his arms.
"Why don't you call me Hydie?" She asked quietly while staring out past the deck. Their room only had two walls, the other two sides only had railings to look out over the jungle. Her eyes spotted a large, ornate building creeping up out of the dark green foliage.
Bastian smacked his lips behind her, moving to rest his chin on her shoulder. "Just doesn't seem to fit." He replied. Sounding more tired than she was.
She frowned, "It's all I've ever been called by my siblings."
"And am I your sibling?"
Hydrangea's eyes lowered and she felt her cheeks warm, "You are not. But…there's a familiarity to it." She murmured, feeling unsure.
"I prefer not to call you it, because it's not who you are to me. You're Hydrangea, not Hydie."
She smiled, feeling warmth bloom in her chest, "Alright."