#BUT DESCRIBING BEING PREGNANT AS BEING PUFFY SENDS ME

[b-plus]

i was looking up why my snail was sleeping out of their shell one time (they're fine they just ate too much) and i saw this post

"maybe it's more comfortable sleeping outside your shell when you're puffy!" makes me so unbelievably happy

[afictionalwhore]

Oh Baby!

A/N: this was something sweet inspired by some of my babies at the daycare but then at 1 am, it turned into something completely different. I’ll try to make a part two out of the original idea. I struggled hard with a title. Titles are the worst

TW: mentions of kidnapping, soft yandere, smut, pregnancy

2.4K words

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

Ever since Keigo kidnapped married you, he had kept you tucked away in your new home, a cozy cabin up the side of a secluded, lesser known mountain. You lived so high up in such a densely forested area that only Hawks could find you, completely cut off from the outside world. He never had to worry about you leaving, one woman with a common healing quirk that would do nothing to help in navigating down the mountain. The locals, inhabitants of a small village at the foot of your mountain, believed the woods to be enchanted, so Keigo had to worry less about a villager managing to stumble their way into your backyard.  

It wasn't so bad. Keigo made sure you were never bored. For when he wasn't home for you to tend to his needs, Keigo kept your home well stocked with books. It was the first thing he had shown you in your new home: your personal library. A whole room of the quaint house, your favorites, a whole shelf dedicated to just literary classics, as well as everything on your "to read" list. There was never a shortage of cookbooks. He was so excited that his large wings were flapping as though he were a young puppy wagging their tail, the giant scarlet curtain nearly knocking a shelf down on you.

"I hope you like it." Keigo looked at you, his eyes shining like an innocent puppy. "As much as I love you, I can't be with you all day. Someone has to keep food on the table." He chuckled while keeping a tight grip on your waist, and looking down at you expectantly.

"Oh. Thank you," you replied, your voice small, but loud enough for Keigo to hear. The hold on your waist loosened, and Keigo resumed his tour of your new home.

Of course, there was no TV, lest you stumble upon the news. While he's at it, no newspaper either. You didn't need those to know what was going on outside. It was a scary world out there, full of villains who wouldn't hesitate to snatch you up and use your healing quirk for their own. You were perfectly safe here with him. 

It took some time, but eventually you had come around and loved Keigo back. You were always curled up on the couch, book in hand, waiting for him to come home. As soon as he was in the doorway, you'd make your way to him, like clockwork, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek while helping him shrug off his heavy coat. Your voice was still small and hesitant around him, as though you were afraid of him. This irritated him, as Keigo didn't understand what could make you so jumpy still. He had never raised a hand against you. The two of you would have dinner, usually having to reheat whatever you had made because Keigo often worked overtime. Keigo was so happy you were making use of the cookbooks he gave you. 

You were turning out to be the perfect wife. Keigo was certain you loved him just as much as he loved you, or as close as someone could come to that level of love. He didn't believe anyone could match the way he felt about you. You were even going to have a kid together, a testament of your love. 

When you first announced your pregnancy to him, Keigo was ecstatic. He had come home that day, exhausted and overworked, excited to be welcomed home by his little wife. His stomach growled as he landed in your front yard, and he wondered what you decided to cook up for him. He noticed you'd gotten experimental in your cooking, always asking how things tasted. You were so cute when you had him guess whatever secret ingredient you added. 

When you weren’t at the door to greet him with open arms and a kiss, Keigo was disappointed in you. You were doing so well. He shook off his coat and stretched his wings, taking up the better half of your living room. You weren't nestled in the couch, engrossed in a book, as you sometimes were too distracted in your literary world to realize he had come home.

"Baby," Keigo called out, his voice echoing against the wooden walls of your homely cabin. "I'm home. I know it's a lot later than usual."

 Keigo figured you must have gone to bed already. He could forgive you for not staying up for him, he thought it was rather cute, though next time, he wished you'd fall asleep on the couch. 

When he entered your shared bedroom, Keigo saw you curled up on the bed, your back facing the doorway. You trembled—or was it a shiver? You must be cold without his body heat beside you. Keigo was his own heating unit.  

“Baby bird,” Keigo took a step into the room. “I’m home."

No response from you.

Another step.

"Can I get a kiss?”

You shivered again.

Keigo had taken off his uniform as he was making his way towards you and the bed. Now in just his boxers, Keigo heaved himself on the bed, his weight causing the mattress to sink slightly. He laid on his side to spoon you, wrapping a large, warm arm around your center. At this distance, Keigo heard it: your small sniffles. You weren't asleep; you were crying.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Keigo asked, worry sickening him. "Did ya miss me that much?" He tried to joke, more for his sake than yours.

After no response from you, save for a few more sniffles, Keigo asked once again what was wrong, a little more urgently. His racing thoughts of you leaving, of you not loving him, were sending him into a panic.

You mumbled incoherently.

"What was that, baby? I couldn't hear you." Keigo struggled to hang on to his cool.

You mumbled yet again, causing Keigo's growing panic and frustration with you to snap. He clamored over you, swinging his legs so that you were caged underneath him, his hands at either side of your head. Golden eyes locked onto your watery ones, staring you down.

“(y/n),” Keigo said firmly. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

"I'm pregnant" you spat at him, frustrated at the fact itself and having to repeat it three times. The more you said it felt like the final pat of a shovel packing the dirt above your grave. You wiped away a tear before turning and shoving your face in your pillow. 

“Oh baby.” Keigo was almost at loss for words. He had been anticipating this moment—stocking the bathroom cabinet with pregnancy tests the moment you arrived—yet in it, he didn’t know what exactly he wanted to say. He took your face in his hands and turned your head to look at him.

“Are you for real?”

“What would I gain from lying?” You attempted to make your words hit him like poisonous darts, but your quaking voice only managed to soften him.

“I love you so much,” Keigo dipped his head down to give you a chaste kiss, softer than his usual greedy ones, as though he were afraid of breaking you. Your eyes shut instinctively.

“This is so exciting, (y/n). You have no idea how happy I am."

A kiss to your cheek. 

 "I love you."

A kiss to your other cheek.

"I love you."

Keigo rose up on his hands and knees again.

"I promise to be the best father to our child."

You felt something splash on your cheek. You slowly opened your eyes again to see Keigo crying above you. 

"I love you, too," your voice small and shaky as you looked up at Keigo, knowing he would just continue to stare at you and cry until you said it back.

Keigo beamed down at you before dipping down for another kiss, this one a little rougher, more passionate is how Keigo would describe it.  His warm mouth worked against yours, his lips chapped slightly from the harsh wind on his rushed flight home. 

You thought Keigo would deepen the kiss, expecting to feel his impatient tongue poking between your lips and licking your bottom lip. Instead Keigo pulled away and sat back on your legs, the bottom half of his own legs tucking your legs under him. He studied your body, eyes trailing down your form, stopping briefly at your stomach. 

Keigo bent down again, lips now hungrily, but gently, pecking at your neck. He pulled your shirt off, delighted by your lack of bra underneath, before making his way down your chest to pepper your body with kisses. Between each small kiss, Keigo whispered "I love you" against your body.

His large hands came up to cup your breasts, careful not to squeeze too hard lest he hurt you. Usually Keigo would give them more attention, but that wasn't his main focus for tonight. He hummed as he kissed between them, flicking your nipples lightly. You couldn't suppress a small moan.

Spurred by your shy noises of pleasure, Keigo continued to move down your body. When he reached your lower abdomen, right below your belly button, Keigo's whispers of "I love you" grew more frantic, as though he was trying to tell the baby that was forming in you that he loved them.

When Keigo finally reached between your legs, he planted sweet kisses on the insides of your thighs while dragging your panties down. He tossed them to the side and lifted your legs onto his shoulders before nestling down. Keigo's face between your legs was hit with your heat. He inhaled your sweet scent, and his honeyed eyes looked up to meet yours.

"I love you, (y/n)," he stated before dipping down to lap at your puffy folds.

Keigo was excited, as any man in his position would be. As much as he wanted to pound into your until your voice hoarse from your cries and screams of his name, his main goal tonight was to make you feel good while being as gentle with you as possible. He was terrified of hurting his child in you because of his lack of self-control.

His tongue flicked at your clit, continuing to hold your gaze until your head rolled back with a low groan. Your hands found themselves tangling into his tousled golden hair, your back arching in attempt to push yourself into his mouth. Keigo chuckled against your swollen clit, the vibrations causing you to cry out and tug on his golden locks.

This spurred him on more. Keigo pushed a rough finger into you before hooking it and dragging slowly out of you, drawing a sweet moan of his name to fall out of your lips. This repeated motion combined with his sucking and lapping at your clit caused you to climb higher to your orgasm.

“Keigo, please,” you begged, seeking relief from the coiling in your gut.

Keigo hummed again against your clit, eliciting the same sweet moan and tug from you as before. He took his chance to slip another finger into you, curling both fingers against your spongy spot before dragging them down your walls.

"Keigo, I'm so close," you whined.

"Then come, baby bird." That was all you needed for the band to snap. Moans of his name and incoherent phrases tumbling out of your pretty lips.

While you were climbing down from your orgasm, Keigo found the time to remove his boxers.

Keigo sat down back down on the mattress, settling beside your shaking form with his back to the headboard. His own need was now too painful to ignore. Not wanting to put any unnecessary pressure on your stomach, Keigo pulled you up and into his lap, your entrance, slick with your own cum and his spit, hovered over his weeping cock, close enough for the heat radiating out of you to tease him. 

“I love you.” Keigo held eye contact with you as he sank you down on his cock, his large hands holding your hips. Once you were fully seated on him, Keigo leaned back against the headboard. He gave a few shallow thrusts to test what you (and the baby) could handle.

Keigo settled on a steady, but gentle rhythm. You splayed your hands on his broad chest as he bounced you on his cock. Despite the gentleness and the shallowness of Keigo's thrusts and your bouncing, you were quickly climbing your way to a second orgasm. Already sensitive from your first, Keigo's cockhead managed to nudge against your sweet spot with every roll of his hips.

"Keigo, I'm close." you cried, hiding your face in his neck. One of his hands left your hip to allow his thumb to roll your sensitive bud, causing your walls to tighten and convulse around him.

"Me too, baby." Keigo said, breathless. "I'm so close. So close. Come with me, baby."

With a strained groan, Keigo's thumb on your clit sped up, causing the heat that had once again built up within you to break. You scratched desperately at Keigo's back, hiding your face into the crook of his neck. Your hot walls clamped down on him, the final push Keigo needed to fall off the edge himself.

With chants of "I love you", Keigo began to hump his cum into you before stilling, his hips flush against yours, head tilted back and back arching off the headboard.

Once you had both come back to earth, Keigo laid you onto your back before pulling out his softening dick from you and rolling off you onto his side, white cum leaking out of you. 

"Not that this really matters anymore now," Keigo couldn't help the chuckle that left him. With the pad of his index finger, he pushed his now cooled cum into you. 

At that statement, the fog of your two orgasms lifted, and the realization of your situation set in; you could never leave now. You let out a choked sob as Keigo rested a hand on your stomach before pulling you into him and wrapping a large, red wing over the two of you like a personal cocoon. Nuzzling his face into your neck, facial hair tickling the crook, Keigo gave you soft kisses and gentle words of praise, chalking up your soft sobs to the hormones adjusting your body to his child.

[shewolfofficial]

Levi x Reader Parent! Au

For the sake of naming the kids:

Julia- 4yr old, youngest girl

Isabel- 6yr old, elder sister

James- 13yr old, eldest sibling of the four

Farlan- 8yr old, second oldest

Warning: Cursing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Levi trotted throughout your hometown, horse hooves clip-clopping off the stone pathway as the bright sunlight beamed down from the clear blue ocean like skies misty with white puffy clouds. Scouting cape resting easily on the back of his horse- hood down, his firm yet gentle hold on the reigns didn't falter. He had been planning on visiting you and the little messers for some time now but being Captain of the Survey Corps wasn't easy and never really gave him the chance to go home to his family.

It had been nearly three months since Levi had been in T/N, he had left you with four little rascals that would play and mess around non-stop. Though feeling guilty he couldn't have done anything about it until Erwin finally let him go for a week or two at the most. You had no clue about Levi returning and that's how he would like to keep it- to surprise you.

Finally arriving outside that cosy familiar house he'd given you and the children, Levi hurried and set his horse in the small stables by the side of the house before returning to the front door where he took out a key and easily slipped it into the lock and clicked open the door. As he opened the door quietly- lively giggles of his two little girls rung throughout the house as he stepped inside, his boys were most likely playing out in the back garden on the little jungle gym he had set up while you were still pregnant nearing three years ago.

The frantic padding of footsteps came from the living room that was near the front door, soon his four year old came bounding out with a cheery smile wearing a small pink and white dress accompanied by a beautiful ribbon wrapped around the waist trailing behind her. Upon seeing her father in his military outfit she squealed in delight and took his leg in a right hug before happily calling out.

"Daddy!" She giggled as more voices echoed throughout the house.

"Holy shit, dad's back?"

"DAAAADD!!"

"Wait what? Levi?"

Levi scooped Julia up in his arms and pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek with a miniature smile as she wrapped her small arms around his neck in a hug. Walking towards the kitchen Levi teasingly rose a brow to you before setting down Julia as you took another second or two to render what was happening. He knew you were still figuring shit out since you instantly froze- in the middle of making dinner before a happy grin etched onto your face as he huffed in amusement before letting you take him into one of your bear hugs. "Jesus F/N you're killing me" Levi grunted earning a soft laugh on your behalf. You pulled away and kissed him which he eagerly returned before you were interrupted by two other voices.

"Dad and mom are kissing! Dad and mom sitting in a tree-!"

"Shut up Farlan, get back to reading your book you dingus"

You both pulled back as Levi turned to see both his little boys standing by the back door, James and his younger brother Farlan looking at him with miniature smiles. Both boys looked exactly like Levi except for the fact that Farlan had your eyes and James had your hair colour. Farlan wore one of his dad's old Scouting capes while clutching a book at his side like the little bookworm he is and James had his little football resting by the door.

"Seems like you two have grown up somewhat, even though you're still as tiny" Levi's playful teasing came in as both younger boys rolled their eyes and took their father in a hug. Levi had ruffled their hair and stood back up again before unclipping his cape, folding it and setting it on the counter as the two boys went back outside. You smiled as you wrapped your arms around his neck again and felt him rest his hands on your hips. "I wasn't expecting you to come and visit, should've told me and I would've gotten the boys sorted out. James had been playing football all day while Farlan watched and read" you hummed as Levi softly nodded before digging his face into the crook of your neck and taking in your scent.

"And where's the last one? Isabel?"

Levi's hold on you tightened a little as he nipped your neck. "Isabel is probably in her room, she was just playing with Julia before you came and is probably drawing like usual" you told the male as he nodded somewhat and pulled away before pecking your lips once again and sighed. "I'm sorry for leaving you with these crackheads, especially the boys, I should've been here a lot more" he explained as you shook your head at his statement. "They've been surprisingly good since the last time you visited, don't know what got into them" you took a glance outside to the two. Farlan was on the highest peak of the jungle gym reading with the cape still on while James was practicing some tricks with the ball.

"I'm going to get a shower, then I'll see how Isabel is doing.. Might even see if James' football skills improved and if the other squirt would join." Levi blankly planned as you nodded before letting him go to turn back to the cooking dinner that was just starting.

// Time Skip \\

"And another goal for James!"

"That's a point to dad!"

Both girls sat by your side as you watched Levi and James toy around with the ball, Farlan had joined in for a while but then disappeared to go pet Levi's horse in the stables. You noticed your second eldest had been distancing himself from you and his siblings for a few weeks now and it began to worry you. Was something wrong?

Just as you were thinking you were brought from your train of thought when a light tap came from your shoulder. You turned around with a gentle smile to see Farlan smile somewhat before saying.

"Mom, can we talk for a minute..?"

Worry wasn't the word to describe how you were feeling right then and there.

You turned to see Levi sending you a curious look- thin brows knit together as his orbs flickered to his son behind you before resting them back on your own. "Hey girls, I'll be right back, Farlan and I just have to talk for a minute" you said as both younger girls nodded and hummed before you disappeared back inside with Farlan who nervously fidgeted with the sleeve of his top.

"What's wrong?"

"D-Don't tell dad.. Please mom.. B-but-"

"But what? Something bothering you?"

"T-the kids at school, they know dad is a s-scout and they keep telling me he's going to die! They keep telling me I won't see him again! It's giving me nightmares mom-! I-I don't want to lo-loose him!" The young Ackerman cried out before clutching onto your blouse as you cooed softly at the child before sitting down on the sofa with him in your arms. You gently rubbed circles into his back as he sobbed quietly explaining what the other students at his school had told him. You were angry and upset that your precious son had to go through this, especially from some careless brat who just wants to drive him mad.

"Shhh... Nono.. It's alright, nothing's going to happen.. He's going to be alright, we all will be, those nasty Titans will be wiped out soon and then everyone can go outside the walls, you ignore those kids who are telling you lies like that okay? They're trying to upset you but you be the bigger man and ignore them- don't let them get the better of you... You know? One day I bet your father will retire and live here with us" you suddenly change the subject as Farlan's cries settled down into sniffles and small hiccups.

"Maybe that's what I should do soon"

You jumped and felt the grip your son had on your blouse tug slightly as he desperately began to wipe away the tears. You knew both your boys hated to cry or seem weak in front of Levi considering he was nicknamed as Humanities Strongest and they wanted to be so much like him. Looking to Levi you saw the softened expression on his face when he looked at your teary eyed son in your arms holding onto you for dear life it seemed like. "F/N the girls' are looking for you outside, I'll stay with Farlan and see what's happening" Levi spoke before taking a seat down next to you. Nodding at the man you let Farlan down off your lap to sit next to Levi, knowing full well that he'd try to act tough enough in front of his father. "I'll be back in a bit" you hummed quietly before walking back out to the garden.

Sitting back down on the decking you rested your cheek in the palm of your hand as you watched your three other children play. Isabel and Julia were on the jungle gym, the highest peak giggling away to themselves as they messed about whilst James was still playing with the ball before kicking it into the goal a couple of times. The sun was beginning to go down whilst the sky slowly turned a bright link colour from the sunset.

About half an hour passed and Farlan came running out past you into the garden- soon joining his brother in their little match of football as the girls continued on the jungle gym. Levi walked out and sat next to you with a cup of tea shortly after. He leant back and sipped the drink quietly as you took a glimpse to him. "So- what's the story?" You asked as he set the cup aside and cleared his throat. "Well he's been saying how the little shits torment him about me not coming back one day- which is wrong in every case. Then I talked to him about trying to act all tough and all when I'm in the room- he should have enough comfort to be himself with his own father am I wrong?" Levi quizzed looking to you with a raised brow.

"Yeah, he should be comfortable enough with you, so I'm assuming everything is sorted out?" You continued as the male nodded before taking another sip of his tea. "We should call them in for bed shortly" Levi clicked his tongue before setting his hues upon the darkening sky. Standing up he kept his hold on the rim of his cup "alright, it's getting dark you spoiled brats! Get inside now before I kick ya in there myself" he called out to them, Isabel's laughter filled the air as she and her sister climbed down from their imaginary 'ship' whilst James was putting his ball away before jogging inside soon followed by Farlan who kept his books hidden underneath his father's cloak. Levi brought in Isabel and Julia as you followed them in and locked the doors behind you. "Now- up and get into the bath- don't forget to pop in one of those bath bomb things, though I'd rather not have a bomb go off in my house" Levi commented and ruffled Julia's hair before sending them upstairs, James had disappeared to the sitting room with Farlan.

Once all the kids were washed and dressed for bed you were once again busy with tucking them in but this time you had Levi with you to send them asleep. You could hear him muttering to your youngest in her own little room after you tended to her already. You were ready yourself to fall asleep after tucking the rest into their beds and kissing them good night so you decided to hang around and see what Levi was whispering to her about.

"And daddy's gonna bring you to see all the horses at work one day yeah?" He muttered earning a small 'mhm' from Julia. He was bent over her bed rubbing her shoulder. "That sounds like a great plan to me then, I'll see you in the morning princess... I love you.. shi-Heck I almost forgot your doggie, here." Levi corrected himself from cursing before getting her little puppy teddy he had gotten her while in Sina. Playfully making hushed barking noises as he dug the soft toy into Julia's arms while she giggled and hugged it. Pulling the covers up over her chest Levi pecked her forehead. "Sleep tight cadet.." He whispered before getting up and stepping away from her bed to see you at the doorway watching with a miniature smile.

"I love you daddy.." Julia whispered watching as Levi stood by the door, waving a little to her before shutting it over just enough so light can still get into her room. He let out a tired sigh and another rare smile and walked off towards your bedroom.

Taking off his shoes he set them by the end of the bed before tossing on a t-shirt and some baggy pants before climbing into bed. Levi watched as you got dressed into your nightwear yourself and hopped in next to him. Snuggling into his chest as he looked towards the ceiling for a few seconds. Wrapping his arms around you Levi let you cuddle into his chest before letting out a 'hpmh..' of satisfaction. Kissing you Levi tiredly mumbled.

"See you in the morning, I love you idiot"

"Goodnight to you too Captain, love you~"

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

🏰⚔️🐲🐲👑 DMODT 50?- I don't know if I stuffed my numbers again and this may be 51 - full draft

Eren had been had. At the time of the attack he hadn't realised it, and yet, now he wall and truly did as he watched the world through the bars on his windows. His mail now checked before reaching him. His movements limited to within the manor itself. He couldn't take Luca outside. He wasn't allowed to attend public functions, and all of it was under the guise "that they couldn't guarantee Eren's safety". The alphas foolish enough to have attacked him, had mysteriously escaped the manor's dungeons, Zeke sounding bitter as he informed him. Despite how much he hated it, he'd been forced to rely on the alpha as a storm had hit Marley so severely that Eren had thought he'd freeze to death in his room. Zeke had heard him coughing and wheezing, so had brought him into his chambers where he settled both he and Luca down in front of the fire. Being 5 months pregnant, Eren was starting to worry for the life inside of him. He was still barely showing. It didn't feel like a clutch, yet he didn't feel the movements of a foetus. His omega's need for comfort had kicked him long ago as had the puffy small breasts and sore chest, but all he felt was disgusted at the idea of being held by another, and because he hadn't openly been practicing magic, he feared it was affecting him like Obsydin's collar had. He wanted to go home. No. He wanted to go to Draecia. He wanted to see Historia, and Ymir, even Freya and Steege. Yet all he could do was watch the world through the bars on his windows. "Prince Eren, Prince Zeke has asked you to join him for dinner in his room" Mikasa and Armin both looked to him from Eren's bed where they were playing a game of cards that held no interest to Eren "Tell Prince Zeke that Prince Eren declines his offer" Mikasa looked back to her hand of cards and continued her move. Mikasa didn't care for the two new guards placed outside Eren's door, tiny dark haired woman named Pieck, and a tallish blond man named Porco. Both who'd sworn they were loyal to Zeke, and both of which creeped Eren out. Porco sounded as bored as Mikasa did as she declined the offer. Though, Eren really didn't see why Zeke couldn't just knock on the door and ask himself "Luca and I accept, please tell my husband I'll be there shortly" In roughly 30 seconds once he slid off the windowsill, walked past his glaring friends, unlocked his door and stepped into Zeke's room "Very good, Prince Eren. Dinner is already served, please be prompt" "Thank you, Porco" It was nearly a full minute, Mikasa and Armin both deciding they needed to scold him over the time he was spending with Zeke. They both the saw the need to remind him of who Zeke was, like he didn't know that for himself. Armed with Luca on his shoulder's, his son trilled loudly as they entered Zeke's room. He knew the sweet and adorable times couldn't last forever, but lately it felt as if Luca had entered his rebellious stage, doing everything he knew he wasn't supposed to, then huffing and turning his back on him when Eren scolded him for his bad behaviour. Letting himself into Zeke's room, Zeke was already seated at the dinner table, drinking wine from the scent of it. Walking over to join him, Eren took his seat across from his husband "Prince Zeke, I must say I'm surprised you didn't just knock on my door to ask me to join you" Lowering his goblet, Zeke nodded "I would have, but I feared what Mikasa would do to me for disturbing you" "We both know you don't fear her. Is there something. You wished to discuss" "I want to send you back to Eldia" That got Eren's attention, for the first time a long time he felt something he could describe as pure happiness. It must have shown on his face "I can't remember the last time I saw you smile like that" "There hasn't been anything to smile about" "Your morning sickness has passed? Is that not something to smile about?" Eren's smile fell, both hands going to his stomach "I wouldn't say it's passed... I... I'm concerned about the baby. I'm not exactly human, but..." "Do you require a healer? Are you in pain?" Zeke's voice held concern. Concern Eren didn't want to hear. He had his own thoughts and views on this pregnancy, and a growing suspicion that it wasn't Zeke's. Normally an omega would seek the comforts of their child's father, yet Zeke's touch left his stomach turning. Of course, it was only a suspicion and more than likely simply a manifestation of his burning desire for the baby to Levi's "I don't think a human could help. I... when I was pregnant with the empty clutch, it was different to this... maybe it's because I'm part dragon, but... It doesn't feel normal" Zeke swore softly "I had intended to take you to Eldia. Pieck, and Porco, have both reported you seemed to be growing more and more depressed, and it has been quite some time since I visited... If you're not up for the trip..." "I am! I mean, I am. Just... I don't understand you at all. I asked to return to Eldia before, and it was never allowed" "Pieck, Porco and Yelena all feel it would be good for you, and the Queen has permitted it. It won't be for another few days, perhaps as late as a couple of weeks, storm season is upon us" Storms equalled waves. Waves equalled a swaying boat. Oh, god. No... Swallowing down the vomit that rose into his mouth at the thought of a violently rocking ship, Eren's voice was almost begging for the answer "no" as he asked "I... so we have to go by ship?" "Does that trouble you" "I... honestly, I would prefer not to. You may have been busy fucking in your cabin, but both Luca and I fell ill from the fumes" "Ship is the only way" "Maybe for humans" Zeke shook his head "I cannot allow you to take your dragon form, my mother has decreed that such actions are an act of treason" "I simply cannot understand your mother. She treats you like a pet, to praise only when you've done something right. Has she always been the way she is?" "No one would dare speak of the Queen that way. I remind you to hold your tongue" That wasn't a "no". He'd come to realise that everything Zeke had done was so that his mother might love him. All of his partying, was him playing the act of a ruler who didn't care, because he truly didn't know how to care for anything or anyone on a level that wasn't barely 5 inches on a good day. He'd grown warped and jaded as a product of his mother's indoctrinating. This discovery had been thrust upon him, without his want or need of it. It only served to mess with his head even more. He'd started to sympathise for Zeke, which conflicted with the fact he still mostly hated him... even if he had helped him, and kept his word not to touch him... "Anyway, shall we eat? Luca looks as if he wishes to..." Luca jumped off Eren's shoulder and onto the table, he'd gone through his own mini growth spurt, going from the size of a small cat to a large, and somewhat fat one. His jumping was much more "thuddy", and his lack of stealth even more lacking "Yes. And about Eldia, thank you. I really miss my people" Zeke muttered something about Eldian's not being worth missing, yet Eren ignored the statement, not with being so close to returning home. Luca cut their dinner short, which was fine since they'd dissolved into eating in an awkward silence that left Eren feeling jumpy, with Luca picking what he liked off the side of Eren's plate. His son didn't like what meat was being served, making it shown by smacking Eren's plate off the table, then leaping down and stalking back to Eren's room. Losing his temper, Zeke let lose a string of words at Luca, and about abnormal dragons, that Eren was disgusted to hear, causing him to storm off after his son in just as much of a mood as Luca had been. Slamming the door behind him, Luca growled as he clawed at the bedding while Armin tried to pull him off the sheets his claws were shedding "What happened? Come on, Lu... leave the sheets alone" Luca huffed, if the little dragon could roll his eyes, he would have "Zeke wants to keep me happy and safe, so we're heading to Eldia the next few days we get. You know, I was actually starting to maybe not hate him as much, but he just called... He called Luca a beast that would have been wasted on his parent's sheets, and dragon's freaks of nature" Mikasa growled, jumping off the bed "I'll fucking kill him" "You're not killing him. We're returning to Eldia, and I may have permission to visit Historia about my pregnancy. Just... fuck. I don't know what to think. One moment he's being nice and he's keeping his word, the next he's being like this! This is what I hate about alphas! Just tell me what I'm supposed to feel, because I don't fucking know anymore!" Hanging his head, Luca let out a sad cry. Running his hands through his hair, Eren took a deep breath, trying not to cry and failing miserably "I know. I'm sorry for yelling, but you were naughty and you know it. I have to eat because I'm growing you sibling inside of me, and I can't have what little food I get spilt across the floor... god. Just... fucking Levi... fucking alphas... why did he have to leave?" Abandoning her war pose, Mikasa gathered him up in her arms, before pulling him down onto his bed. Armin and Luca piling in for an awkward cuddle "Eren..." "Can you both stay tonight? I don't want to be alone" Armin stroked his hair, hushing him softly as he rolled away from Mikasa. He loved her, but the whole alpha thing was upsetting his omega "Of course. Do you want to stay in your room, or come to ours? Luca ruined your sheets" Even when he was a shit, he was still Eren's baby boy. And no one got to blame Luca for things without at least attempting to understand why first "He's learning his boundaries, and learning how tiny he really is. He wants to communicate, but can't find the words... That he's lonely. And he's bored. We're both trapped in here... I want to go back to Eldia. I want to go home" "Did Zeke give an exact date?" "No. We have to go by ship too, if I change into a dragon here, it'll be seen as a declaration of war" Armin and Mikasa both groaned at that. They'd seen how sick it had made both him and Luca, and now they had to go back again... and then there'd be the trip back to Marley... "But you are a dragon. Fucking Zeke" "It wasn't Zeke, but Dina who decided it, Mikasa... I just want to go home. Things wouldn't be so bad if we were home" Armin kissed his forehead "Don't worry, we'll be home soon. Nicollo's probably hoping we stay away, fearing for his kitchen" "I miss the castle. I miss our friends" "Even Jean and Erwin?" "No... but only because they're alphas. Sorry Mikasa, but with the baby and since the attack every time I smell an alpha I get so stupidly scared" Mikasa patted his hip "I know. I've been trying hard not to scent you by accident" "Thank you... I'm so sick of feeling like this... and this thing inside me... I'm not ready" "Eren, you still have months to go. If... if you don't want this baby, it's still not too late" "I don't know what I want, Armin. I haven't since he left..." "When I see that midget next, I'm going to break his nose for leaving you" Armin gave a giggle "Just his nose?" "Nose, legs, dick, pretty much anything I can get my hands on" His friends might have found the humour in Mikasa's words, but his omega definitely didn't as he growled in warning "He's still my mate" "He left you..." "Mikasa, maybe we shouldn't. Even I can smell how upset that made him, and I'm a beta. I'm sorry, Eren. Let's just get some sleep? The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we leave, right?" "No. It's... it's my fault for being so hormonal. I'm worried about the baby... I know it has to be Zeke's, but I keep praying it's Levi's. He wanted this so much, and I just keep thinking that if something's happened to the sword, then maybe somehow I fell pregnant before Zeke touched me. I know I'm making myself miserable" "Do you maybe want to talk about what happened when you were gone? I know you said you're not ready, and you don't have to tell us everything, but maybe you can tell us how you met Luca? Or where you went? You said you'd been in Europe. That must have been fun?" Eren sniffled, he didn't know why Gretta was the first thing that came to mind "Someone tried to poison us when we stayed in a whorehouse..." Mikasa shot up, Eren flinching at the sudden action "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?" "Mikasa! You're scaring him" "But someone tried to hurt him..." "That was like 8 months ago. Do you want to tell us about it?" 8 months... it'd only been 8 months since his birthday? At the same time, he could easily believe it. Every day since coming up Marley had felt so long, and he was 5 months or so along... if he did the maths, it was nearly 8 and a half months, which meant it would soon be Levi's birthday. The thought brought a fresh round of tears to his eyes. He wasn't supposed to be here without Levi "Maybe... just a little though... about Luca. These people killed his mum, and he was the only egg to survive... he waited over 20 years to hatch... and his father... Hannes... he died too because of us..." Not meaning to, and unable to stop himself, even through his tears and sobs, Eren word vomited about his time with Hannes. About his new scales, his breath, what Hannes was like and how he cheated at cards. The more he talked about Hannes, the better he felt. It hadn't been perfect there, but it'd felt right at the time, and Levi had been so much better then. As he talked Luca fell asleep mid story, his head atop Eren's as Eren talked himself right to sleep. This left Mikasa to move Eren, while Armin moved Luca in order to take care of the sheets the dragon had ruined. Both of them knew Eren would fix the sheets right up when he could, but would freeze without proper bedding. That was how the three of them found themselves curling back around the omega protectively under Armin's blankets, with Eren's piled on top like some kind of weird nest. * Eren had started to wonder if he was ever getting out of Marley. At first he wondered if it was because of the fact he'd stormed out of dinner with Zeke. His omega instincts jumping straight to him having done something wrong, rather than the acceptance that the weather had been awful. He wanted to be in Eldia for Levi's birthday. It was silly, he knew it was silly, but he just wanted to feel closer to Levi again. He'd already decided he wanted to use Levi's chambers while staying in the castle, under the guise of needing safety and familiarity given his pregnancy. Setting sail on the 21st of December, Eren felt like he was dying the moment the ship hit the first hard wave. Zeke had kept him close as they'd boarded the ship, more or less propping him up as he led him through to the main cabin that would be his husband for the voyage. As luck would have it, the waves hadn't got the memo about his seasickness or pregnancy. The boat rocking, swaying and creaking in ways that did nothing to reassure him. For some reason entirely foreign to him, Zeke stayed. The piece of shit, arrogant arsehole stayed. He held Eren's hair back as he vomited, he forced the omega to keep his fluids up, and in a moment of distress induced weakness, when Eren asked him to hold him, he did. The alpha had spooned up between Eren and the door, protecting him from anyone who might enter without permission. Despite being mostly out of it, he couldn't remember telling Zeke he'd been scared of anyone entering without permission, the alpha had just seemed to know. Like he seemed to know Eren didn't want anything from him other than arm around his waist and a chest against his back. There were no kisses. No gentle touches. No whispers. Zeke had laid there and allowed Eren to position himself how he needed... which was with his face off the side of the bed and the bucket close. He knew the man was trying in his own ways for the sake of the child inside of him, but what if Zeke was to find the child wasn't his? What came after that? To Zeke, Eren was just the thing around his baby, not even completely human. Each and every cruel thing Zeke had ever said about Luca, or to Luca, ran through his head each time his mind began to think back to everything "nice" Zeke had done for him. With his thoughts and his nausea, it was a miserable trip back to Eldia. Weak legged, and dehydrated, Zeke supported Eren off the ship and onto the docks of Eldia. He'd only set foot onto the wooden jetty, but he already felt better. The wind. The smell. The magic. He was home... really home "Eren, if you need me to carry you..." "I'm ok, Zeke. Thank you for asking. I must remain strong for my people" "There's remaining strong, and there's looking so pale you seem as if you're going to fade away" "Zeke, please. I don't want to fight" "You were so violently ill..." "I was just as violently ill on the trip over, and you didn't seem to mind" "You weren't pregnant then..." For a moment, Eren wondered if Zeke knew how pregnancy worked. You didn't magically get pregnant from sneezing. On his shoulder, Luca chirped "Get off of him!" Growling at Luca, Luca growled back at Zeke. Eren's poor head throbbing caught between the pair of them. Yes, it was uncomfortable having Luca on his shoulders given how stiff and sore his body felt, and Luca would probably be better in Armin's hold, but he'd been so sick that he hadn't spent that much time with Luca "Zeke, Luca stays where he is. Luca, I know the boat ride also left you ill. Once we've met with Levi and Hanji we'll take a shower" "You need to eat and sleep" "I might be able to if the world stops swaying... I hate ships. I hope you know I hate ships, it was just as bad the first time" "Eren, the world isn't swaying. I think you need to sit down. You're not well, and the stress on the baby isn't ok" "The carriage is at the end of the jetty. I need to show my strength and reach the end of the jetty. Ok?" "Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?" For a moment, Zeke sounded so much like Levi that Eren's head shot up, the omega's eyes widening as he searched for his alpha "Eren?" The moment had only lasted a heartbeat, when Zeke spoke again he knew with certainty that it'd been him all along "Sorry. It's nothing. Let's head to the carriage" From the docks, it was a short ride through the city to the military barracks where Erwin and Hanji were waiting for them. Both of them looked exhausted, and both of them looked surprised when Zeke lifted Eren off his feet, before pausing to let Luca just from the carriage and into Eren's lap. Striding over to the pair, Eren tried he hardest to ignore the whispers from the gathered soldiers, who'd know all about the threat of war, and just what kind of an alpha Zeke was "Prince Eren requires a healer. Show us to our chambers at once" Erwin glared at Zeke, Hanji immediately noticing the invisible sparks flying between the pair of alphas and shaking her head. He was the youngest out of the four of them, why was he left to keep the peace "Prince Zeke is concerned about the baby. My morning sickness and seasickness doesn't sit well with him" "Eren..." "Zeke, we are in Eldia now. I know you're loathe to be here, but they won't hurt me" "You need a healer. You're sick and you have been for months" "It's called being pregnant" "Then what of your fears and panicking? And of your nightmares? Each day you grow worse. It's not healthy for the child" The child. They all knew about the child. They didn't need to discuss it in front of everyone "Prince Eren will be seen to immediately" Eren rolled his eyes, Zeke wasn't backing down "Fine. Ok, but they'll say the same thing I am. Fluids. Rest. Food and herbal teas to settle the stomach and to help relax" "Then consider this a second opinion before getting a third in Draecia" "If I say yes, will you back off?" "Do not forget you're the one who asked me to hold you" "And don't forget I also told you I could walk. Now, can we head inside? I'm tired of being talked about by everyone surrounding us, and I'm tired of being held like this" Zeke gave a huff, but didn't kick up a fuss as he carried Eren inside.

[sophieellisbextorarchives]

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is the face of a new Pampers campaign supporting premature babies

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is the ambassador for the Pampers Preemie Protection range, which includes the smallest nappy available in the UK. 

When Sophie Ellis-Bextor gave birth to her first baby, she had been dating the father for precisely eight months. “It barely made chronological sense,” she says with a smile and a shrug.

The reason for the unlikely timeline was that Sonny, conceived weeks into a whirlwind romance with fellow musician Richard Jones, arrived early. He was born at just 32 weeks, weighing 3lb 8oz. The young couple, still unpacking after setting up home together, suddenly found themselves parents to a premature baby.

It was a traumatic experience they hoped never to repeat. Five years later, and reassured by her hospital consultant that the chances of the same thing happening again were “like lightning striking twice”, the couple’s second baby, Kit, was born at 31 weeks, weighing a tiny 2lb 6oz.

Those days spent in a neonatal intensive care unit, watching their babies fight for their life, feel far away. The boys are now aged 13 and eight, happy and healthy, and older brothers to Ray, five, and 17-month-old Jesse. Ellis-Bextor finds motherhood a joy, and hasn’t ruled out a fifth (“I can’t really say never”). Her latest album is called Familia.

“With parenthood, you don’t really get to choose much that happens,” she reflects. It is a typically thoughtful response from Ellis-Bextor, who shot to fame in 2000 when her single Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) pipped an aspiring solo artist named Victoria Beckham to the top of the charts. Her refined voice – the product of a west London upbringing and education at the smart Godolphin and Latymer day school – and vintage styling set her apart from the pop crowd, and her subsequent career has seen her combine music with modelling and a stint on Strictly Come Dancing.

Those striking looks can give her an air of nonchalant cool when she performs, but in person Ellis-Bextor, 38, is open and friendly. The daughter of Janet Ellis, the former Blue Peter presenter, she comes from what she describes as “a positive family” that takes challenges in its stride.

It is also a family with a history of premature babies: her younger sister, Martha, was born 10 weeks early, “so one of my early childhood memories is of going to visit her in hospital, seeing her with all the wires, the tubes, the beeping things, and seeing her grow up and flourish and be a pretty amazing girl”.

Nevertheless, she did not expect the same experience. She and Jones, a bassist with rock group The Feeling, were just 24 when Sonny was born. Throughout her pregnancy, she had sensed something was wrong, but her concerns were waved away. “I wasn’t feeling great,” she recalls. “I didn’t feel that I looked like myself. I kept saying to people, ‘I look puffy’ and they’d say, ‘No, you look really good,’ and I just knew it wasn’t true.’ At 31 weeks, at a routine midwife appointment, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a condition that can send the blood pressure dangerously high. Puffiness in the face, ankles and feet is a classic symptom. She was kept in hospital, under close monitoring, and the baby was delivered days later via caesarean.

Her due date was so far in the future that she hadn’t attended an antenatal class or bought anything for the baby. She had envisaged a “chilled” birth with low lighting and music in the background. “And then suddenly when you have a baby early, you’re a patient and your baby is a patient, and that’s very different.”

It was several hours before she was well enough to see her newborn. “I didn’t hold either of my babies straight away,” she says.

“And then I remember being wheeled down to see him, having only seen pictures all day, and being totally overwhelmed. I didn’t really see the box and the machines – I just saw this baby and felt the love for this little person who was now part of our lives, and you just know, don’t you, in that second that everything’s changed.”

Flash forward to 2009 and Ellis-Bextor felt “great” while pregnant with Kit. But when she went to her doctor at 31 weeks asking for permission to fly to Moscow for a gig, she was sent straight home to pack her hospital bag. The pre-eclampsia had recurred. When Kit was delivered, his lungs were partially collapsed and he required artificial respiration. For the first week of his life, she was unable to hold him.

Did she ever fear the worst? “Um… I guess. I don’t know if Richard and I are really the sort of people to have that conversation. But there’s no point me dressing it up: you definitely haven’t had the baby in the way you wanted, and they’re not supposed to be born that early. So the first week or so is pretty scary.”

The routine for parents of “preemies”, once the mother has been discharged from hospital, is daily visits and supervised skin-to-skin contact – known as “kangaroo care” – which promotes bonding and is proven to have health benefits for the baby.

They can also change nappies – a task most parents can take for granted. “It is a really rare opportunity where you can get involved and start feeling like real parents. It takes on a whole new significance,” Ellis-Bextor says. “When you’re given the full-size newborn nappies on a baby that isn’t a full-size newborn, the gap feels so pronounced. So this is lovely - not just because it fits them and everything looks proper, but because it shows people are aware you don’t have that ‘other’ type of baby."

For that reason she is the ambassador for the new Pampers Preemie Protection range of nappies, developed with neonatal intensive care unit nurses for babies weighing as little as 1.8lb. They will be supplied free to hospitals. 

Some 60,000 babies are born premature in the UK each year, representing 1 in 10 pregnancies. Yet premature births, defined as babies born at 37 weeks or less, barely make a footnote in the pregnancy manuals.

"I know so well how isolating it is," she continues. "When they’re in intensive care, your role as a parent is quite limited.” She remembers going in one day to find her baby dressed for the first time. “I’d never seen him with clothes on. And I was a bit, ‘Oh, I would have quite liked to do that…’ But they have to be efficient because it’s a hospital. That’s just how it is.”

Ellis-Bextor talks of the “limbo” of having a baby in hospital. “People aren’t sure whether or not to congratulate you, so you get a lot of, ‘Oh… congratulations?’ And you have to hold your nerve a little bit because you go out and see people who are very pregnant, maybe friends who are continuing in their trajectory.

“Then you see people wandering around with newborns and you think, ‘I’ve got one of those, but you wouldn’t know it.’” It is one of the few times her voice wavers.

Kit was still only 3lb 10oz when he was allowed home at 37 weeks. “But you wouldn’t pick Kit out in a line-up as being a premature baby. And I was always quite wary of labelling them. It’s just something that happened in the beginning and you get on with the business of them being them.”

Her two younger children were both full-term. “Big, bonny babies,” she says with a grin. She loved feeling “really, properly pregnant” and of being able to do regular things with a newborn: breastfeeding, bathtime, allowing friends and family to hold them.

She and Jones live in west London and will soon celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary. Her Instagram feed is full of the simple joys of parenthood: walks in the park, trips to the seaside, running around the garden dressed as Power Rangers (parents included). With four boys to marshal, does she have to be super-organised? “God, no! I think family life is chaos, but I like it.” A “brilliant” nanny helps with childcare, and the pair juggle their work schedules so that one is usually at home if the other travels.

Her mum lives 10 minutes away and is a hands-on granny. Does she put those Blue Peter skills to good use, fashioning toys from loo rolls and sticky back plastic? “People ask me that a lot,” she sighs. “The reality is: absolutely not. But if that makes a nice image in your head then go for it!” And with that she’s off home to the happy chaos.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/health/sophie-ellis-bextor-didnt-hold-either-babies-born/

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

🏰⚔️🐲🐲👑 DMODT - ugh... I have to write another time skip... I don't wannaaaa 😭

Eren had been had. At the time of the attack he hadn't realised it, and yet, now he wall and truly did as he watched the world through the bars on his windows. His mail now checked before reaching him. His movements limited to within the manor itself. He couldn't take Luca outside. He wasn't allowed to attend public functions, and all of it was under the guise "that they couldn't guarantee Eren's safety". The alphas foolish enough to have attacked him, had mysteriously escaped the manor's dungeons, Zeke sounding bitter as he informed him. Despite how much he hated it, he'd been forced to rely on the alpha as a storm had hit Marley so severely that Eren had thought he'd freeze to death in his room. Zeke had heard him coughing and wheezing, so had brought him into his chambers where he settled both he and Luca down in front of the fire. Being 5 months pregnant, Eren was starting to worry for the life inside of him. He was still barely showing. It didn't feel like a clutch, yet he didn't feel the movements of a foetus. His omega's need for comfort had kicked him long ago as had the puffy small breasts and sore chest, but all he felt was disgusted at the idea of being held by another, and because he hadn't openly been practicing magic, he feared it was affecting him like Obsydin's collar had. He wanted to go home. No. He wanted to go to Draecia. He wanted to see Historia, and Ymir, even Freya and Steege. Yet all he could do was watch the world through the bars on his windows. "Prince Eren, Prince Zeke has asked you to join him for dinner in his room" Mikasa and Armin both looked to him from Eren's bed where they were playing a game of cards that held no interest to Eren "Tell Prince Zeke that Prince Eren declines his offer" Mikasa looked back to her hand of cards and continued her move. Mikasa didn't care for the two new guards placed outside Eren's door, tiny dark haired woman named Pieck, and a tallish blond man named Porco. Both who'd sworn they were loyal to Zeke, and both of which creeped Eren out. Porco sounded as bored as Mikasa did as she declined the offer. Though, Eren really didn't see why Zeke couldn't just knock on the door and ask himself "Luca and I accept, please tell my husband I'll be there shortly" In roughly 30 seconds once he slid off the windowsill, walked past his glaring friends, unlocked his door and stepped into Zeke's room "Very good, Prince Eren. Dinner is already served, please be prompt" "Thank you, Porco" It was nearly a full minute, Mikasa and Armin both deciding they needed to scold him over the time he was spending with Zeke. They both the saw the need to remind him of who Zeke was, like he didn't know that for himself. Armed with Luca on his shoulder's, his son trilled loudly as they entered Zeke's room. He knew the sweet and adorable times couldn't last forever, but lately it felt as if Luca had entered his rebellious stage, doing everything he knew he wasn't supposed to, then huffing and turning his back on him when Eren scolded him for his bad behaviour. Letting himself into Zeke's room, Zeke was already seated at the dinner table, drinking wine from the scent of it. Walking over to join him, Eren took his seat across from his husband "Prince Zeke, I must say I'm surprised you didn't just knock on my door to ask me to join you" Lowering his goblet, Zeke nodded "I would have, but I feared what Mikasa would do to me for disturbing you" "We both know you don't fear her. Is there something. You wished to discuss" "I want to send you back to Eldia" That got Eren's attention, for the first time a long time he felt something he could describe as pure happiness. It must have shown on his face "I can't remember the last time I saw you smile like that" "There hasn't been anything to smile about" "Your morning sickness has passed? Is that not something to smile about?" Eren's smile fell, both hands going to his stomach "I wouldn't say it's passed... I... I'm concerned about the baby. I'm not exactly human, but..." "Do you require a healer? Are you in pain?" Zeke's voice held concern. Concern Eren didn't want to hear. He had his own thoughts and views on this pregnancy, and a growing suspicion that it wasn't Zeke's. Normally an omega would seek the comforts of their child's father, yet Zeke's touch left his stomach turning. Of course, it was only a suspicion and more than likely simply a manifestation of his burning desire for the baby to Levi's "I don't think a human could help. I... when I was pregnant with the empty clutch, it was different to this... maybe it's because I'm part dragon, but... It doesn't feel normal" Zeke swore softly "I had intended to take you to Eldia. Pieck, and Porco, have both reported you seemed to be growing more and more depressed, and it has been quite some time since I visited... If you're not up for the trip..." "I am! I mean, I am. Just... I don't understand you at all. I asked to return to Eldia before, and it was never allowed" "Pieck, Porco and Yelena all feel it would be good for you, and the Queen has permitted it. It won't be for another few days, perhaps as late as a couple of weeks, storm season is upon us" Storms equalled waves. Waves equalled a swaying boat. Oh, god. No... Swallowing down the vomit that rose into his mouth at the thought of a violently rocking ship, Eren's voice was almost begging for the answer "no" as he asked "I... so we have to go by ship?" "Does that trouble you" "I... honestly, I would prefer not to. You may have been busy fucking in your cabin, but both Luca and I fell ill from the fumes" "Ship is the only way" "Maybe for humans" Zeke shook his head "I cannot allow you to take your dragon form, my mother has decreed that such actions are an act of treason" "I simply cannot understand your mother. She treats you like a pet, to praise only when you've done something right. Has she always been the way she is?" "No one would dare speak of the Queen that way. I remind you to hold your tongue" That wasn't a "no". He'd come to realise that everything Zeke had done was so that his mother might love him. All of his partying, was him playing the act of a ruler who didn't care, because he truly didn't know how to care for anything or anyone on a level that wasn't barely 5 inches on a good day. He'd grown warped and jaded as a product of his mother's indoctrinating. This discovery had been thrust upon him, without his want or need of it. It only served to mess with his head even more. He'd started to sympathise for Zeke, which conflicted with the fact he still mostly hated him... even if he had helped him, and kept his word not to touch him... "Anyway, shall we eat? Luca looks as if he wishes to..." Luca jumped off Eren's shoulder and onto the table, he'd gone through his own mini growth spurt, going from the size of a small cat to a large, and somewhat fat one. His jumping was much more "thuddy", and his lack of stealth even more lacking "Yes. And about Eldia, thank you. I really miss my people" Zeke muttered something about Eldian's not being worth missing, yet Eren ignored the statement, not with being so close to returning home. Luca cut their dinner short, which was fine since they'd dissolved into eating in an awkward silence that left Eren feeling jumpy, with Luca picking what he liked off the side of Eren's plate. His son didn't like what meat was being served, making it shown by smacking Eren's plate off the table, then leaping down and stalking back to Eren's room. Losing his temper, Zeke let lose a string of words at Luca, and about abnormal dragons, that Eren was disgusted to hear, causing him to storm off after his son in just as much of a mood as Luca had been. Slamming the door behind him, Luca growled as he clawed at the bedding while Armin tried to pull him off the sheets his claws were shedding "What happened? Come on, Lu... leave the sheets alone" Luca huffed, if the little dragon could roll his eyes, he would have "Zeke wants to keep me happy and safe, so we're heading to Eldia the next few days we get. You know, I was actually starting to maybe not hate him as much, but he just called... He called Luca a beast that would have been wasted on his parent's sheets, and dragon's freaks of nature" Mikasa growled, jumping off the bed "I'll fucking kill him" "You're not killing him. We're returning to Eldia, and I may have permission to visit Historia about my pregnancy. Just... fuck. I don't know what to think. One moment he's being nice and he's keeping his word, the next he's being like this! This is what I hate about alphas! Just tell me what I'm supposed to feel, because I don't fucking know anymore!" Hanging his head, Luca let out a sad cry. Running his hands through his hair, Eren took a deep breath, trying not to cry and failing miserably "I know. I'm sorry for yelling, but you were naughty and you know it. I have to eat because I'm growing you sibling inside of me, and I can't have what little food I get spilt across the floor... god. Just... fucking Levi... fucking alphas... why did he have to leave?" Abandoning her war pose, Mikasa gathered him up in her arms, before pulling him down onto his bed. Armin and Luca piling in for an awkward cuddle "Eren..." "Can you both stay tonight? I don't want to be alone" Armin stroked his hair, hushing him softly as he rolled away from Mikasa. He loved her, but the whole alpha thing was upsetting his omega "Of course. Do you want to stay in your room, or come to ours? Luca ruined your sheets" Even when he was a shit, he was still Eren's baby boy. And no one got to blame Luca for things without at least attempting to understand why first "He's learning his boundaries, and learning how tiny he really is. He wants to communicate, but can't find the words... That he's lonely. And he's bored. We're both trapped in here... I want to go back to Eldia. I want to go home" "Did Zeke give an exact date?" "No. We have to go by ship too, if I change into a dragon here, it'll be seen as a declaration of war" Armin and Mikasa both groaned at that. They'd seen how sick it had made both him and Luca, and now they had to go back again... and then there'd be the trip back to Marley... "But you are a dragon. Fucking Zeke" "It wasn't Zeke, but Dina who decided it, Mikasa... I just want to go home. Things wouldn't be so bad if we were home" Armin kissed his forehead "Don't worry, we'll be home soon. Nicollo's probably hoping we stay away, fearing for his kitchen" "I miss the castle. I miss our friends" "Even Jean and Erwin?" "No... but only because they're alphas. Sorry Mikasa, but with the baby and since the attack every time I smell an alpha I get so stupidly scared" Mikasa patted his hip "I know. I've been trying hard not to scent you by accident" "Thank you... I'm so sick of feeling like this... and this thing inside me... I'm not ready" "Eren, you still have months to go. If... if you don't want this baby, it's still not too late" "I don't know what I want, Armin. I haven't since he left..." "When I see that midget next, I'm going to break his nose for leaving you" Armin gave a giggle "Just his nose?" "Nose, legs, dick, pretty much anything I can get my hands on" His friends might have found the humour in Mikasa's words, but his omega definitely didn't as he growled in warning "He's still my mate" "He left you..." "Mikasa, maybe we shouldn't. Even I can smell how upset that made him, and I'm a beta. I'm sorry, Eren. Let's just get some sleep? The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we leave, right?" "No. It's... it's my fault for being so hormonal. I'm worried about the baby... I know it has to be Zeke's, but I keep praying it's Levi's. He wanted this so much, and I just keep thinking that if something's happened to the sword, then maybe somehow I fell pregnant before Zeke touched me. I know I'm making myself miserable" "Do you maybe want to talk about what happened when you were gone? I know you said you're not ready, and you don't have to tell us everything, but maybe you can tell us how you met Luca? Or where you went? You said you'd been in Europe. That must have been fun?" Eren sniffled, he didn't know why Gretta was the first thing that came to mind "Someone tried to poison us when we stayed in a whorehouse..." Mikasa shot up, Eren flinching at the sudden action "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?" "Mikasa! You're scaring him" "But someone tried to hurt him..." "That was like 8 months ago. Do you want to tell us about it?" 8 months... it'd only been 8 months since his birthday? At the same time, he could easily believe it. Every day since coming up Marley had felt so long, and he was 5 months or so along... if he did the maths, it was nearly 8 and a half months, which meant it would soon be Levi's birthday. The thought brought a fresh round of tears to his eyes. He wasn't supposed to be here without Levi "Maybe... just a little though... about Luca. These people killed his mum, and he was the only egg to survive... he waited over 20 years to hatch... and his father... Hannes... he died too because of us..." Not meaning to, and unable to stop himself, even through his tears and sobs, Eren word vomited about his time with Hannes. About his new scales, his breath, what Hannes was like and how he cheated at cards. The more he talked about Hannes, the better he felt. It hadn't been perfect there, but it'd felt right at the time, and Levi had been so much better then. As he talked Luca fell asleep mid story, his head atop Eren's as Eren talked himself right to sleep. This left Mikasa to move Eren, while Armin moved Luca in order to take care of the sheets the dragon had ruined. Both of them knew Eren would fix the sheets right up when he could, but would freeze without proper bedding. That was how the three of them found themselves curling back around the omega protectively under Armin's blankets, with Eren's piled on top like some kind of weird pasta.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

🏰⚔️🐲🐲👑 DMODT 50 still plodding along

Eren had been had. At the time of the attack he hadn't realised it, and yet, now he wall and truly did as he watched the world through the bars on his windows. His mail now checked before reaching him. His movements limited to within the manor itself. He couldn't take Luca outside. He wasn't allowed to attend public functions, and all of it was under the guise "that they couldn't guarantee Eren's safety". The alphas foolish enough to have attacked him, had mysteriously escaped the manor's dungeons, Zeke sounding bitter as he informed him. Despite how much he hated it, he'd been forced to rely on the alpha as a storm had hit Marley so severely that Eren had thought he'd freeze to death in his room. Zeke had heard him coughing and wheezing, so had brought him into his chambers where he settled both he and Luca down in front of the fire. Being 5 months pregnant, Eren was starting to worry for the life inside of him. He was still barely showing. It didn't feel like a clutch, yet he didn't feel the movements of a foetus. His omega's need for comfort had kicked him long ago as had the puffy small breasts and sore chest, but all he felt was disgusted at the idea of being held by another, and because he hadn't openly been practicing magic, he feared it was affecting him like Obsydin's collar had. He wanted to go home. No. He wanted to go to Draecia. He wanted to see Historia, and Ymir, even Freya and Steege. Yet all he could do was watch the world through the bars on his windows. "Prince Eren, Prince Zeke has asked you to join him for dinner in his room" Mikasa and Armin both looked to him from Eren's bed where they were playing a game of cards that held no interest to Eren "Tell Prince Zeke that Prince Eren declines his offer" Mikasa looked back to her hand of cards and continued her move. Mikasa didn't care for the two new guards placed outside Eren's door, tiny dark haired woman named Pieck, and a tallish blond man named Porco. Both who'd sworn they were loyal to Zeke, and both of which creeped Eren out. Porco sounded as bored as Mikasa did as she declined the offer. Though, Eren really didn't see why Zeke couldn't just knock on the door and ask himself "Luca and I accept, please tell my husband I'll be there shortly" In roughly 30 seconds once he slid off the windowsill, walked past his glaring friends, unlocked his door and stepped into Zeke's room "Very good, Prince Eren. Dinner is already served, please be prompt" "Thank you, Porco" It was nearly a full minute, Mikasa and Armin both deciding they needed to scold him over the time he was spending with Zeke. They both the saw the need to remind him of who Zeke was, like he didn't know that for himself. Armed with Luca on his shoulder's, his son trilled loudly as they entered Zeke's room. He knew the sweet and adorable times couldn't last forever, but lately it felt as if Luca had entered his rebellious stage, doing everything he knew he wasn't supposed to, then huffing and turning his back on him when Eren scolded him for his bad behaviour. Letting himself into Zeke's room, Zeke was already seated at the dinner table, drinking wine from the scent of it. Walking over to join him, Eren took his seat across from his husband "Prince Zeke, I must say I'm surprised you didn't just knock on my door to ask me to join you" Lowering his goblet, Zeke nodded "I would have, but I feared what Mikasa would do to me for disturbing you" "We both know you don't fear her. Is there something. You wished to discuss" "I want to send you back to Eldia" That got Eren's attention, for the first time a long time he felt something he could describe as pure happiness. It must have shown on his face "I can't remember the last time I saw you smile like that" "There hasn't been anything to smile about" "Your morning sickness has passed? Is that not something to smile about?" Eren's smile fell, both hands going to his stomach "I wouldn't say it's passed... I... I'm concerned about the baby. I'm not exactly human, but..." "Do you require a healer? Are you in pain?" Zeke's voice held concern. Concern Eren didn't want to hear. He had his own thoughts and views on this pregnancy, and a growing suspicion that it wasn't Zeke's. Normally an omega would seek the comforts of their child's father, yet Zeke's touch left his stomach turning. Of course, it was only a suspicion and more than likely simply a manifestation of his burning desire for the baby to Levi's "I don't think a human could help. I... when I was pregnant with the empty clutch, it was different to this... maybe it's because I'm part dragon, but... It doesn't feel normal" Zeke swore softly "I had intended to take you to Eldia. Pieck, and Porco, have both reported you seemed to be growing more and more depressed, and it has been quite some time since I visited... If you're not up for the trip..." "I am! I mean, I am. Just... I don't understand you at all. I asked to return to Eldia before, and it was never allowed" "Pieck, Porco and Yelena all feel it would be good for you, and the Queen has permitted it. It won't be for another few days, perhaps as late as a couple of weeks, storm season is upon us" Storms equalled waves. Waves equalled a swaying boat. Oh, god. No... Swallowing down the vomit that rose into his mouth at the thought of a violently rocking ship, Eren's voice was almost begging for the answer "no" as he asked "I... so we have to go by ship?" "Does that trouble you" "I... honestly, I would prefer not to. You may have been busy fucking in your cabin, but both Luca and I fell ill from the fumes" "Ship is the only way" "Maybe for humans" Zeke shook his head "I cannot allow you to take your dragon form, my mother has decreed that such actions are an act of treason" "I simply cannot understand your mother. She treats you like a pet, to praise only when you've done something right. Has she always been the way she is?" "No one would dare speak of the Queen that way. I remind you to hold your tongue" That wasn't a "no". He'd come to realise that everything Zeke had done was so that his mother might love him. All of his partying, was him playing the act of a ruler who didn't care, because he truly didn't know how to care for anything or anyone on a level that wasn't barely 5 inches on a good day. He'd grown warped and jaded as a product of his mother's indoctrinating. This discovery had been thrust upon him, without his want or need of it. It only served to mess with his head even more. He'd started to sympathise for Zeke, which conflicted with the fact he still mostly hated him... even if he had helped him, and kept his word not to touch him... "Anyway, shall we eat? Luca looks as if he wishes to..." Luca jumped off Eren's shoulder and onto the table, he'd gone through his own mini growth spurt, going from the size of a small cat to a large, and somewhat fat one. His jumping was much more "thuddy", and his lack of stealth even more lacking "Yes. And about Eldia, thank you. I really miss my people" Zeke muttered something about Eldian's not being worth missing, yet Eren ignored the statement, not with being so close to returning home. Luca cut their dinner short, which was fine since they'd dissolved into eating, with Luca picking what he liked off the side of Eren's plate. His son didn't like what meat was being served, making it shown by smacking Eren's plate off the table, then leaping down and stalking back to Eren's room. Losing his temper, Zeke let lose a string of words at Luca, and about abnormal dragons, that Eren was disgusted to hear, causing him to storm off after his son in just as much of a mood as Luca had been.