#kaider pregnancy

[impossiblesuitcase]

Kai: I am a better pregnancy pillow than that thing could ever be 😤

Sometimes, Cinder says: "Of course you are, babe. There's nothing else I'd rather hold."

And then other times it's: "YOU THINK YOUR BONY ARMS AND ROCKHARD CHEST ARE COMFORTABLE? YOU THINK I CAN SLEEP WITH YOU WRIGGLING AROUND? LEAVE ME AND MR. PILLOW ALONE."

And then she wakes up the next day feeling bad, saying shamefully, "I'm sorry, I was just so tired. I didn't mean it."

Rinse and repeat.

[eerna]

now that the Kaider wedding is one sleep away, let me state my opinion that Scarlet and Wolf deserve an eye for an eye and one of the routes should include them announcing their pregnancy during the reception

[princessselene126]

I headcanon kaider will have one daughter some headcanons about when cinder's pregnant and after she's born?(pls don't name peony) or well name whatever but headcanons!

I actually have a whole series dedicated to the second gen rampion crew right here! There's a fic or two about Cinder's pregnancy on that masterlist and some other fun stuff.

And yes, I have their daughter named Peony. Sorry not sorry. We all know it would happen because 1)Kai knows how important Peony was to Cinder and 2) they never would have met had Peony not gotten the plague. It's sort of a way to honor that she's the one who brought them together in a really sad way. However, I have her middle name as Songsuda--which is what I named Kai's mother--because I thought they'd also like to honor her and the name is pretty.

[just2bubbly]

The Dinner!

Masterlist

Rumors and Affairs: Chapter List

// This is an update of Breaking the News..

Kai’s Persective: 

“Your Majesty, are you okay?” the American President Vargas asked.

“Yeah, just Emperor Kaito would do.” he said as he had learned the hard way that the President liked to use his title of ‘Emperor’ wherever possible.

“Okay. As I was saying it’s time for dinner so we both can walk together to the dining chambers”

Kai nodded his head. President Vargas had interrupted on his comm with Cinder and he did not look ashamed about it as well. He was angry after realizing why Cinder seemed so dejected, but could he really shout at the President of the USA because of Cinder’s mistake, a big fat NO.

Cinder.

 What was she thinking today? He was excited to go home now that he would finally be seeing Cinder after like 9 days 21 hours and 58 seconds-now it becomes 59 seconds. He was definitely not counting. Now he was looking forward to going home back for an entirely different reason. He had to solve this mess that was already looming on his head before he had come to England. He was trying to postpone addressing the rumors for his own sake and sanity. He was happy in his own bubble- where everyone was happy as the royal couple was expecting a child. Alas! Fantasies were not made for Emperors especially not for Kai. His life with Cinder felt like a dream but the press ruined it all the time. The first thing he would do after going to Eastern Commonwealth was put restrictions on the press.

“Emperor Kaito, are you listening?”

Kai zoned out. He should pay attention to avoid saying something wrong like Cinder.

“My apologies President, I got distracted. Could you repeat what you were saying?” he asked with a polite smile.

“Nothing much actually, I was just asking how you feel about the meeting that took place in the morning?”

“Oh, About that! I must say I agree with Queen Camilla for once. The prospect of abolition of cyborg needs of guardians is very much acceptable to the Eastern Commonwealth. It is actually done in the Commonwealth thanks to Cin-my wife you see. It would be good if the Earthen Union follows lead. ”

“I agree as well, Emperor. It seems your mind is in the Commonwealth where your dearest wife Selene is.”

“No President, I am wholly involved this conversation.” Kai replied, his ears becoming pink. Why did he have to blush and get flustered so easily, he could read Cinder cliché love letters and she would not show a sign of blushing and here he was getting all flustered at the mention of his wife.

“I was just kidding, Emperor. Remind me how far along the Empress is?”

“She is 7 months along” he said, feeling quite happy now that they had reached the dining chambers. He would be able to avoid talks with President Vargas, never his favorite one.

“Here you are Emperor Kaito and President Vargas. I would request you to take a seat so that we can commence with dinner. We were expecting your arrival.” addressed the Queen.

He and the President took their seats. His seat was adjacent to Princess Sophie, Queen Camilla’s daughter.

Feeling a bit out of his element, he avoided talking with any of the world leaders. ‘Out of his element really huh, Kai!’ he said to himself. He had been raised to be presentable at such meetings and political dinners, how could Kai be out of his element, then again when did he ever feel out of character at Rampion even when he had not been raised to have friends who were criminals for a time- being.

He could not really avoid any talk for Princess Sophie was sitting next to him, she was rather known for her talkative nature. Not only this but the sitting arrangement was awkward for Kai who had recently learned that the princess had some royalty-crush upon him. He really had no idea how to sit beside a person who might have a crush on you. Besides he was a married man, expecting his first born child.

Someone coughed a bit too loudly to seek his attention.

“Emperor Kaito, are you enjoying yourself?”

“Well, Queen Camilla I certainly am, why would you ask that?” he said evidently lying.

“No, Emperor you seemed a bit too lost in thoughts.” Kai wanted to shout at her if a man could not maintain a calm face through an idiotic and might he add unnecessary delay of dinner, but he would not to that because he was THE Emperor.

“Don’t disturb the Emperor, Camilla.” President Vargas said with a hint of mischief in his tone.

“And why would that be Vargas?” talking as if they were friends since college, they seemed to forget that a few hours earlier Camilla wanted to chop down his head.

“He was distracted with me as well. His mind is somewhere else.”

“And where would that be?” asked Africa’s Prime Minister Kamin.

“Don’t you get it Kamin, the Commonwealth.” The Governor-General Williams from Australia replied.

“Obviously, Empress Selene has stayed behind.” President Vargas said in a way of confirmation.

At this remark of the President, both Princess Sophie and Queen Camilla looked crestfallen. After the Lunar Revolution, Torin had told him about how Camilla wanted her daughter to be married to Kai, in order to form an alliance but his father never acceded and Kai had already fallen for the Queen of Luna later. He was watching the conversation going around him, royally failing to keep a straight face. Kai had become uncomfortable and it was evident that he was trying his hardest to not blush. With the ongoing talks around him and in an effort to change the topic he said, “May I know why the diplomatic dinner is used to discuss my marital life?”

“Oh! Emperor we don’t do diplomatic talks at the dinner table here in Europe but I guess it’s a common practice in the Commonwealth.” The Queen replied.

Why couldn’t she understand that he did not want to talk about his life at this dinner. Could he ask her about her plans to marry her daughter at the dinner hosted by him? NO RIGHT! The old queen could not evidently think this through.

“It appears that the Emperor is feeling uncomfortable, we should really not talk about his feelings for the Empress in such a teasing manner”, Princess Sophie came to his rescue.

“Yes, it is not diplomatic of us to make fun of the Emperor. Besides, tell me Kaito, how far along is your wife?”

If Kai would have not been used to the gossip attempts made by the Queen he would have taught her a lesson. Did she not hear what her daughter just said? Maybe he should gift her some hearing-aids for Christmas.

”She is seven months along, could not ride a plane so far in pregnancy. Hence, she could not come otherwise she would have definitely loved to attend the meets on cyborg rights”

“Cyborgs that she is.” European Prime Minister Bromstad said. He always had some sort of prejudice with Cinder and her cyborg-ness. It got on Kai’s nerves every damn time.

“Yeah, she would be better able to give suggestions regarding the changes after being a first hand victim of cyborg prejudices you see.”

The Prime Minister nodded. Kai must have been a little too outspoken and protective of Cinder against cyborg prejudice recently.

“Besides that, how are you and Empress Selene taking the news of the baby? “The Queen asked.

She was really getting on his nerves now. Was it so hard to understand that she was testing his patience and already crossed all boundaries of professionalism?

“We are very much excited to receive the child. I personally was delighted with the news.” He replied, a new sort of emotion feeling his heart and warming his soul at the mention of his child.

“Parenthood is a demanding role, Emperor”

“I know that and I am ready to accept it wholeheartedly, Queen Camilla”. He said, putting much authority in his voice. If not for his royalty status he would have told her ’Shut up, I already know that.’

“And what did the Empress think about carrying the royal heir?” she snubbed her way into his train of thoughts again.

“As I already said, she was very delighted and protective of the baby.” Why were all the world leaders suddenly so interested in their baby, as far as he could remember Queen Camilla had not even congratulated them upon the news.

“Have you revealed the gender of the baby?”  Princess Sophie asked curiously.

“It’s our decision to keep it confidential till the birth of the baby.”

“And? ” asked Prime Minister Bromstad.

“And what?”

That’s when it hit him like a train. These people are world leaders and they know the world happenings. Obviously, they know about the rumors regarding Cinder and Thorne and that’s the very reason everyone especially Queen Camilla is so interested in the discussion of his baby. He felt like an idiot to not have realized this beforehand. It seems they wanted to add salt to the injury. Were they really so foolish to fall prey for such rumors? Like hell they have seen him and Cinder doing the lovey-dovey stuff from up close, he was much convinced that they were blind.

Before any of them could ask him anything, he decided to leave the dinner.

“Excuse me, but I have some important business to attend to.”

“It appears that the Emperor would enjoy the company of someone else other than us.” Well a good time without them, he certainly would.

 “Very well emperor Kaito, it was an honor to receive you as our guest.” If looks could kill, everyone at the dinner would already be dead.

Nodding his head, he headed towards his room. He needed to talk with Torin at the earliest.

__

A/N: Needless to say, There is more!

( I also have an another Kaider fic named ‘ Nightmares’, if you like Kaider fluff you can check it out!!  🖤 )

Likes, Reblogs and Comments will be much loved!  🖤

P.S Can you suggest some baby names for Kaider child, both the gender please.  

[dawniebb]

Breakfast Time

 This is like….the second TLC fanfic that I upload here. And honestly it’s not that good because I only wrote it to have a good time lmao.

Here you have 1191 words about Kaider my dear otp dealing with pregnancy cravings like the dorks they are

I hope you like it XD

To Kai, the temperature and other factors in the bedroom were just fine, but he could tell Cinder was uncomfortable. She never moved this much, not even at night.

Her acting like this right now really took him by surprise, because it had been a long day and as hours passed by he figured Cinder would be exhausted by the time they could make it to the bedroom. After all, she was pregnant.

But, surprisingly, she didn’t seem exhausted at all. Not that she was full of energy, but she was awake enough to be moving like a blender next to him.

Kai heard her groan. It was a cute sound, but it made him feel like he was in danger.

“Kai…Hey, Kai.”

Kai took a deep breath and rolled his body towards her.

“Yes?”

Cinder was staring at the ceiling, absently. She had her hands interlocked on top of her belly.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Naw. I wasn’t sleeping.” Answered Kai. And, well, he wasn’t lying. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Totally fine.”

Kai giggled.

“Then what is it?”

Cinder frowned, as if she had eaten a really sour candy.

“I suppose you haven’t tried the sticky buns they sell at the market.”

“…err. I haven’t had the pleasure, I believe. “

“What a coincidence.” Cinder drew her attention to him, smiling. “Me neither.”

Kai laughed as his eyebrow raised.

“How come?” He asked, genuinely confused.

Cinder turned her head towards him, but her body didn’t move.

“Did you know that those people don’t serve to cyborgs? “ She clicked her tongue. “Rude much?

Kai sighed. Actually, he did know people at the market were reluctant to serve to cyborgs, which made him very angry. The situation had gotten better after Cinder had reclaimed her place as Selene Blackburn, but they still had a long way to go as a country and as a unified world. Sometimes, people still stared at Cinder’s hand instead of her eyes, which was not only impolite, but also discriminatory.

Fortunately, over time Cinder had learned to ask for respect in calm and patient ways. She barely paid any attention to the glares directed towards her anymore, but at those times when she was so stressed she would get extra sensitive, Kai would intentionally hold her hand and even place a tender kiss on it to let her know she mattered, and that they were the ones who were wrong.

So, yeah, he pretty much had a clear idea about how cyborgs were treated amongst society even when their Empress was one of them and New Beijing was supposed to be a cyborg-friendly place.

After the pregnancy was announced, they started getting all types of nonsense questions about whether or not Cinder’s circumstances would affect the baby, and they refused to answer the majority of them because…

Well.

Rude.

“You did mention something about it.” He limited to answer. “They knew, right?”

“Oh, boy. They knew.” Cinder groaned. “And it was Hell. Blame it on the cyborg. The cyborg this. The cyborg that. But anyways, that’s not my point.”

“Are you sure? Don’t you want to talk about…?”

“No, not today.” Cinder shook her hand to brush the topic away. “The thing is….you’ve been to that market, rig…Ugh. Of course you have. “

“Yep.”

“So, you must know there’s booths and there’s street vendors. And they sell a lot of street food. Sometimes I would send Iko to buy some for me because, you know, they wouldn’t sell anything to me.” She complained. “Until one day a guy asked her who did she belong to and we both got really offended and never came back. But somehow, he knew she belonged to me…and Iko’s pretty recognizable because she speaks a lot, so soon they all knew that hey! That’s Linh Cinder’s cursed android.”

Kai waited. She barely spoke about her days at the market, so it was always really interesting to hear her.

However, he did ask:

“Cursed?”

“Yep. Cursed. Because Iko has more personality than half of the people I knew back then and they just couldn’t take it.” Cinder rolled her eyes. “…Can you remind me why I was telling you this?”

“Uhm…”

“Oh, yeah. Street food.”

Out of all the answers there were, Kai certainly didn’t expect that one.

Weren’t they talking about social inequality?

“There was a lot of street food. And there was this booth next to mine. Chang Sacha’s store. She was a baker.”

A chill ran down Kai’s spine.

“Chang Sunto’s mother.”

Cinder sighed.

“That’s her.”

Then, they stayed in silence for a couple of seconds…minutes, perhaps, before Cinder dared to speak again.

“Kai, I want sticky buns.”

He couldn’t help but snort.

He should’ve seen it coming.

She was pregnant. This was supposed to happen, wasn’t it?

Kai had never taken care of a pregnant wife before, but he had heard Wolf telling jokes about how demanding Scarlet could get when she was going around with a bloated belly with moving babies inside.

“Don’t laugh. I really, really want sticky buns.”

“I’m not laughing.”

He was.

“How can you say that? Kai, I’m right next to you! Geez. So cynical.”

Kai burst out laughing. And even if she pretended to be mad at him, he could hear her laughing too.

“You want them right now?”

“Yes. Right now.”

“Right now? At this very moment?”

“Yes, Kai. Right now. At this very moment.”

“It’s three in the morning.”

“Excellent! Breakfast time!”

Kai groaned jokingly, as he started getting up from the bed. He felt a ball full of laziness dropping on his back to the mere thought of leaving the warm blankets and having to walk all the way to the kitchen to check if there was any already made sticky buns. If there wasn’t, he would have to go through more trouble and ask an android to wake the baker.

“…Wait, no. But I want Chang Sacha’s sticky buns.”

“What the…?” Kai passed his hands through his face. “Darling, Chang Sacha is…deceased. Didn’t they burn her bakery? She got infected with letumosis the day I met you.”

“But I didn’t get to taste her sticky buns and they smelled nice!”

“I know, they must’ve smelled nice, but…” Kai scratched his temple. “Fine. What do you suggest?”

Cinder blinked and shifted herself into a sitting position. Kai helped her, trying not to hit her belly (not that that could do much harm, but still).

“…I have no idea.” She concluded.

Then, she snapped her fingers.

“Maybe we could talk to her husband and ask him for the recipe and…”

“Oh.My.Stars” Kai laughed as he tenderly pulled her against his chest and kissed her forehead. “You really want those sticky buns, huh?”

“I told you I really wanted sticky buns and I meant it, Kai.”

“Yeah, I can notice that.” Kai smiled at her.

She looked pretty when she pretended to be annoyed.

“We’ll look for Chang Sacha’s recipe when the sun rises.” He promised. “In the meantime, I’ll ask someone to bake you sticky buns. It’s still breakfast time after all, and we shouldn’t keep our daughter waiting.”

[creampuffqueen]

Kaider and Jacinter kids having a beautiful cousin relationship

I realized as I was writing these that the kids here have the same age gaps as me and my own cousins, so these are a little inspired by my own relationships lol

~~~~

Winter tells Cinder and Kai she’s pregnant first, after Jacin and his parents, of course

She does this by stopping by the palace “for a friendly chat”

Baby Peony is having tummy time in the nursery, and crying over being on her stomach

Winter picks up her niece and says “Don’t cry, little one. Soon you’ll have a little cousin, and then you’ll be the best crawler.”

Kai speaks first- “Are you pregnant?”

Winter spends a lot of time during her pregnancy with Cinder and Kai. She and Jacin learn how to take care of kids by babysitting Peony

And Peony repays them for taking care of her by hating her new baby cousin

When Evret is born, Cinder and Winter try to coax one-year-old Peony into letting him sit on his lap, but she’s having none of it

She continues to cry whenever she sees Evret, up until he starts to crawl

Then they’re absolutely inseparable

Since Evret is a year younger, Kai and Cinder catch on to the fact that Peony likes being the older, in charge cousin. Which leads to-

“Peony, you need to share your toys. Can you teach Evret how to share?” and “Peony, we use our forks at the dinner table, not our hands. How about you show Evret how to use his fork?”

Needless to say, it works like a charm

When Veda Clay comes along, Peony is four years old

And she is enamoured with her new baby cousin

She’ll sit still for hours with Veda on her lap, furiously shushing everyone who speaks in more than a whisper

Unlike her relationship with Evret, she loses interest in Veda when she starts to crawl and walk, because she doesn’t like being held as much anymore

Evret gets his cousin back, and the two go back to causing trouble

They can play hide and seek for hours, and always find new places to explore in the palace

When Peony gets older, she loves to do Veda’s hair, since it’s so different than her own and therefore a fun challenge

When Cinder is pregnant with Badar, and on bedrest, Peony spends the summer with her cousins, both on Luna and on Earth

She’s been to Luna before, but she loves it even more with Evret and Veda’s grandparents

And she has an absolute blast travelling on a ship to Winter’s ambassador meetings

She and Evret comm all the time. They talk for hours, sharing ideas and talking about everything that comes to mind

The two are practically joined at the hip

Evret dumps all his girl woes on his cousin, looking for her ‘expert’ advice

And Evret is the first one Peony talks with when she begins to question her sexuality

Evret helps Peony write speeches

Peony helps Evret by giving him ideas of what to write about

She’s the only one who’s allowed to see his sketchbook and his writing journals

They tried to learn to cook together (it ended badly, of course)

And they have so many inside jokes that they can pretty much just look at each other and lose it

They watch net dramas together, curled up with popcorn and blankets

Evret lets Peony play with his hair and put bows in it

And Peony will hold a pose for hours so Evret can sketch her

Veda and Peony do have a relationship, but not as strong as hers and Evret

Peony is one of the only ones besides her parents who will listen to her ramble

And Peony will walk with Veda in the massive libraries and let her look at all the second-era books

When Luca is adopted, Peony is over babies

At least, she thinks she is

When Luca puts his little hand in hers, the crown princess is speechless

When her cousins leave, that’s when she begs them for a baby brother or sister

When Badar is eventually born, about a year later, It’s Luca who is in love the most

Luca and Badar go on to act like brothers

Badar is super shy, but he will always get more confident around Luca

The two get into just as much trouble as Peony and Evret used to

[impossiblesuitcase]

Kai ranting about how frustrating everyone was in a very long meeting that left him so emotionally and physically exhausted that he’s on the verge of a breakdown as cinder rubs his back.>>> 👌👌

(Also very good chapter of mmm, love a good title drop)

Did I take this prompt and use it as an excuse to write an idea I've had for ages? Noooooooo. I would neveeeerrrrrr.

Voices in His Head

“The Eastern Commonwealth’s blatant loyalties to Luna make it wholly unequipped for any rational discussion—”

No.

“—the Olympic games is a fundamentally Earthen event, and not only is the empress asserting that we should include Lunar and cyborg athletes—”

Stop.

“—but she even insiuntates that it should be held on Luna.”

Shut up.

“Empre—”

SHUT. UP.

Queen Camilla’s words freeze in his mind, scratch and almost start up again.

Kai walks into the bathroom, bleary-eyed and spent. His dress shoes clack on the marble tiles and tinnitus crawls into his synapses, so awful it makes him want to wrench them off and shove them into his eardrums. 

“Empress Selene would even imply tha—”

A shower. He needs a shower. He’s sticky and greasy and his hair is clinging to his forehead. At this very moment, he’s certain every arachnid mite living in his pores is raving.

(He’s been in his air-conditioned office all day.)

Their bathroom is straight out of one of those architecture netfeeds Iko pores over. Tall ceilings, double sinks with basins cut from a geode and coated in glass to protect their hands. Dim lights framing the mirror. A large freestanding tub with hidden jets, and overhead a bespoke chandelier. The shower has built-in seating and three heads and is wide enough to fit four, five, ten people and a horse.

Cinder is leaning against the sink, back to the mirror. Her hair is unusually free and tumbles down her shoulders as she scrubs her teeth. Her chequered red shorts and white singlet have lost opacity where they are stretched over her midsection.

Six months gestation, and though she’s hurled up her guts almost every single one of those days, she’s still the most beautiful mother-to-be he’s ever seen.

He is noticed as she turns around to the basin, her toothbrush lodged between her teeth. “‘Uo’re back!” 

Kai pauses at the towel rack, steadying his hands on the metal bar. The shelf adjacent is already home to three rubber ducks, two bottles of baby shampoo, a microfibre koala towel and a thermometer.

“‘Ow was da meeding?” she garbles. She leans over the faucet—spits, gargles, and wipes her mouth with a towel. 

His feet are finally free of his shoes, next his socks. When she straightens, he’s struggling to pull off the left with his toes.

“Kai?”

“It was fine.” 

She sighs, stringing the towel over the rail. “Isn’t it kind of the union leaders to choose a time that’s great for their time zones and terrible for ours?”

He forces a single scornful chuckle. His sweat has left condensation on the rail, and his towel is absent.

Cinder passes him a fresh one unbidden, then bumps the drawer closed with her hip. “Sorry I left you to fend for yourself in there—Doctor’s orders and, oh! Doctor Li moved the blood count test to Friday.” Eyes alight, bright and hopeful. “Do you wanna get away tomorrow?”

“We have the meeting with the chancellor,” he reminds her flatly. 

She deflates, thumping her forehead with the heel of her hand. “Stars, I can’t remember anything these days. Stupid”—wack—“pregnancy”—wack—“brain.”

“It’s almost 1 am. You need some rest.”

She’d been napping when he left for the meeting, not before moving her from the couch to their bed. He’d hoped she would stay asleep. But she woke up, on purpose, to wait for him. Again.

“You look like you need it too.” She smiles tenderly, extending her hand for him to take.

He takes it. Squeezes. Pulls away. “I’m gonna have a shower.”

The smile falls. “You already had one this morning.”

His hands fumble with the hem of his shirt, trying to pull it free—it’s stuck around his wrists. Kai dumbly pulls and grunts. Pulls, pulls, pulls.

When he doesn’t respond, her brow creases, quietly worried. “You look tired. Why don’t you just come to bed?”

Finally, he figures out that the shirt is a button down. The button holes are near impossible with numb fingertips but eventually he’s slinging the shirt across the bathroom floor.

Then, wordlessly, he approaches her, kisses her forehead, and crouches to kiss her stomach.

Cinder looks at the ground; at him. “I’ll wait for you.”

Don’t. But she’ll ignore him anyway.

Kai makes it into the shower and puts it on full blast. It’s scalding. He curses under his breath, steps out of the stream, turns around for the soap.

Cinder is still in the bathroom, lingering by the doorway. She isn’t looking at him—more towards the bay windows and seven potted plants underneath. Yet there’s a reason she’s here.

She’s done this—this pensive hovering—a lot over the past year and a half. The year and a half which was better chronicled by months; months of hoping, months of disappointment.

He grabs the soap, catching it as it slips out of his hands. Footsteps retreat into their bedroom.

It’s his fault, of course. He has no siblings. No aunts or uncles. He is the last in line for the throne.

Kai scrubs his chest.

Hereditary male infertility. Cinder had even reasoned that perhaps her cybernetics had damaged her reproductive system—trying to take some of the blow. But the doctors said in no uncertain terms that she was as good a candidate for pregnancy as any.

It’s his fault.

Months of vitamins almost as many calories as his breakfast congee. Months of the exact same soul-crushing, taunting, singular pink line. Every time, Cinder would hug him and assure him that she didn’t blame him, that it would happen for them.

“It takes two to make a baby, you know. If one of us is having issues, we both are,” she’d said.

He had smiled weakly. 

But as the waiting went on too long, she stopped telling him that the tests were coming back negative. Stopped telling him she was taking them at all. But he’d hear her curse when she got her period, not just in annoyance for the blood staining their bedsheets. Hear her hushed conversations over comm with her obstetrician. Complain of more headaches than usual—the ones she gets in place of crying.

He turns off the water, feeling a sting in his own eyes.

———

Kai is shivering by the time he leaves the bathroom.

Cinder is still awake as promised, though her heavy eyelids imply it’s an active fight. The bed sheets are wrinkled from her previous nap and she’s snuggled into the baby blue pregnancy pillow that Scarlet recommended for sciatica. Kai grudges the fluffy cocoon because its walls keep him from holding her at night. But he wants her to be comfortable, so he doesn’t let that fact reach his vocal chords.

Cinder absently scrolls through her portscreen as he approaches the bed. Feet jelly, he flops onto her side and crawls over her legs.

She giggles under her breath. “Lazy.”

Drained, Kai thinks.

His side of the bed is cold. Despite this, he can’t be bothered to pull up the blanket or turn off his bedside lamp. He just stares blankly ahead. Little flickers of light scatter outside, like stars in his vision. He’s forgotten to close the blinds to the balcony window, he vaguely realises.

Can’t be bothered.

Then again, it’s not a bad thing to fall asleep to. Though the front of the palace stands towering above the crowded New Beijing metropolis, this side faces a picturesque mountain range. Where the city welcomes more artificial light than darkness, the mountain lights are patchy; sparse from town to town.

He and Cinder love to stand on their balcony at night and gulp in the air and dream about getting lost in those forests.

“What’s wrong, love?”

The port has been moved to her nightstand, plugged in and facing down. She’s looking at him.

A safe shake of the head. “Nothing.”

Her hand snakes out from underneath the pillow and tucks around his back. It’s frighteningly cold; it skips like stones over a frozen lake on his skin. A moment later, he realises it’s actually warm, hot even, and his brain has misinterpreted the temperature.

Cinder stalls the hand at the small of his back. “Please don’t lie to me,” she whispers.

He sighs deeply, explanations clogging his throat. That warm flesh against his skin reminds him of the hot metal rods used for archaic torture and interrogation. It’s a disturbed, callous thought he regrets immediately, even if he couldn’t control it escaping from his deep unconscious. 

“It was just…the meeting.”

“Didn’t go well?”

Something derisive leaves his throat. “You could say that.” 

Deep brown eyes that still visit his dreams, imploring. Her hand cups his waist. “Tell me about it.” 

“Empress Selene would even imply that her trauma validates her opinion over ours.”

“No,” he says firmly. “It’s not important.”

She scoffs. “It obviously is, if it’s got you this drained.”

He rolls over, facing away from her. “I’m fine,” he says curtly. “Don’t worry about me.”

Kai tempers his breaths. This new position is already growing uncomfortable. He waits.

No sarcastic response. Not even a pitying reply. A glance over his shoulder reveals her frowning, pinched lips.

There it is again, that lingering. Kai hates having her worry about him. He hates that, before, he was too overwrought and uncoiled from wanting to curse into the wind to really take care of her as much as she needed. Hates that during that time he could bring down any cheerful mood, like when they played a boardgame with Cress and Thorne—which Cinder had deliberately arranged as a breather for him—and he became snarky when he was the only player to not land on a ‘have a baby’ tile.

Of course, they have all the univs on the planet. All the resources in the galaxy. They could’ve marched into their doctor’s office, get hooked up to the latest high-tech fertility machines and walk out soon-to-be parents.

But the procedures would be incredibly invasive for Cinder. Just hearing the lengths of it made his stomach flip-flop upside down and inside out. 

Cinder had endured surgery after operation and trauma after mutilation. He couldn’t do that to her. Not when this was a simple, fundamental thing he should be able to give her.

So they waited. And he underestimated how much that waiting would corrode him. Now she’s pregnant, and he isn’t going to let a minute pass by without taking care of her.

Ignoring her, freezing her out, is not taking care of her, chants a voice in his head. 

“Kai, my love, look at me.”

He does as asked.

She reaches over, stroking his cheek. Her eyes drop to his chest. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything.”

Wistfulness envelopes her face. “You know, it doesn’t matter what you could be talking to me about—the apocalypse, certain death.” The switch back to his eyes is sharp. “What really stresses me out is when you don’t talk to me.”

That voice was right. Stupid stupid stupid.

“I don’t want to worry you,” he repeats.

“I know.” Lines crinkle around her eyes with her smile. “But I will always worry about you. That’s the deal. And you won’t stress out Peony either: she can’t hear.”

“Actually, her ears are already formed and functioning. I was reading up on it the other day.”

“Well, she can’t comprehend what we’re saying.”

“Cinder,” he feigns offence, “are you calling our daughter dumb?”

A long eye roll. “Kai.”

“Sorry.”

She sits up unexpectedly, extricating herself from the baby blue pillow. It’s thrown to the floor with groan and no doubt a few jugfuls of strength, then she secures herself in his arms instead. 

He’s too tired to dial down his eagerness. This is what he’s needed all day, all month, all ever. He cradles her rapaciously.

“Talk to me,” muffles against his shirt.

And he does. Gripes about Queen Camilla barely shrouding her prejudice against Cinder, and the other leaders agreeing, despite everyone in the room knowing it was born out of jealousy for the younger, more popular ruler. Rants about President Vargas and his new bill that would fold all trade route monopolies into his hand, and how the fully-informed other leaders supported it! All because the Union was growing suspicious of the Commonwealth for opening new internal routes, believing they were attempting to splinter off and rely on their own economy.

He does and he does until he’s almost crying from frustration, because this is the last thing they need right now. These inane arguments would persist until after Peony came, and they didn’t deserve to have to entertain and coddle squabbling politicians. They shouldn’t have to cradle fragile adults when they should be cradling a fragile daughter.

Cinder listens and holds him. Listen and hold, listen and hold. As he winds down, recoils into back his spring, she pulls his hand to her heart, the other to her stomach. Peony is awake too.

Badum, kick, badum, kick, badum.

“Thank you,” she says finally.

“Thank you,” he says meaningly.

Under his palm, a thin, jagged scar peeks out from her singlet, starting at the swell of her breast and reaching her sternum. It’s the length of his pinky finger and almost the length of her ring finger; they’ve measured it before.

Kai caresses the pale memory under his thumb. It’s faded over time, but it could fade more. Doctors recommended laser treatments, skin grafting, cell turnover acceleration. Cinder declined it all. She wears her scar without apology. It wasn’t her fault her crazed aunt stabbed her in the heart.

It isn’t his fault.

Cinder directs his chin with a warm metal hand and kisses him like she’s the one whispering that assurance to him. Like she means it. 

Badum, kick, kick, badum.

“Can we reschedule the meeting with the chancellor?” she whispers after a while.

He laughs. “No. I’d love to say yes, but we really can’t.”

She squints. Yawns, not too disheartened. “Then can we do something this weekend?”

“Like what?”

Deep brown eyes that still visit his dreams, sparkling and romantic. “Since Peony can hear, how about…” She shifts awkwardly in his hold to point at the glistening mountainous skies. “A walk through the forest?”

A deep inhale. Crisp air, frozen in time. Towering trees that would remain and thrive despite any number of problems he faced or caused.

“Birds chirping, a creek burbling, just like when you proposed?” She gives him a nudge, though he needs no convincing. “Won’t that be nice for her?”

Wind rustling through leaves. Twigs crunching under his feet. Cicadas humming where he’ll never see. 

“Peace and quiet for Mummy and Daddy?” he teases.

A laugh, and then she tucks back into his neck. 

———

The forest is silent, yet Cinder’s smile is speaking a thousand unsung words. It’s okay. I love you. You’re doing your best.

Maybe he can listen to the voices in his head, when it’s her.

Notes

My reasoning as to why Kai may be infertile.

Hey, question! Anyone like Cresswell fic and would want to be tagged?

@cinderswrench @cindersassasin @hayleblackburn @spherical-empirical @salt-warrior @just2bubbly @gingerale2017 @zephyr-thedragon @holdmysparks @oceanspray5 @icarusignite @shellyseashell @kaider-is-my-otp @slmkaider @luna-maximoff-22 @cosmicnovaflare @kaixiety @shellyseashell

[impossiblesuitcase]

I really like the idea of a paparazzi photo of cinder being released one day where she is wearing sea-bands, and immediately everyone is like “OMG BREAKING NEWS THE EMPRESS WAS SPOTTED WEARING NAUSEA BANDS SHE MUST BE PREGNANT” weather cinder is actually pregnant or just didn’t feel good that day is up to your imagination

(btw this is not a request ik they are closed it’s just an idea you can react to)

I believe that as soon as she and Kai get married, absolutely anything Cinder does becomes: "EMPRESS SELENE IS PREGNANT CONFIRMED". She wears a dress and it becomes, "She's hiding her baby bump." Her sarcastic comment becomes, "Selene's display of rudeness: mood swings?"

Even canon itself says that when Cinder was on the run, people theorised "she had seduced Emperor Kaito and was now pregnant with a Lunar-Earthern-cyborg thing." Sis can't catch a break.

I, for no particular reason at all, believe that Cinder is extremely nauseous during her first pregnancy. Forget glowing, she looks green most of the time. So motion-sickness bands would make a lot of sense. Why do I make her suffer? I dunno ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Buuuut on the counter side, I do believe her final pregnancy is a piece of cake. Cress or Scarlet is pregnant at the same time, totally jealous of Cinder because they are absolutely miserable whilst she's off running, hiking, happy as ever.

(And don't worry about the requests thing, it's more for me than you because I have no self-control. I have 6 or so drafts and every time I buckle down to write them I go, "OOOH NEW IDEA".)

[impossiblesuitcase]

Why do so many ppl in this fandom love the idea of nobody knowing Kaider had a kid until years later, but more importantly don’t people realize royalty having secret babies is borderline impossible? As a child of the emperor and lunar-cyborg-revolutionary empress, that kid is getting the fanciest birth announcement imaginable regardless of what their poor parents want 😂

It is pretty hilarious to me. Even if Cinder and Kai actively shielded their kids from the public eye, they could only do so much. They are the two most famous people in the world. Not knowing they had a kid would be simply unrealistic. Also, unless Cinder stayed inside for the entirety of her pregnancy, there would be photos. I think people like the idea of them being royalty but don't want them to have the breach of privacy, but the two are irrevocably intertwined.

[impossiblesuitcase]

What’s a headcanon you have for Kaider that probably seems unconventional or surprising to other people?

Hmm...well tell me if any of the ones I've posted in the past are surprising. I can't always tell.

Not a head-canon, but in some modern AU fics, I see authors saying that Kai is in love with Cinder but is too afraid to tell her. This always struck me as out-of-character. Kai wastes no time making his intentions clear towards Cinder in canon.

Related, I don't understand why some say Kai is bad at flirting. He is arguably a smoother flirt than Thorne, because while the latter has cliched punchlines, Kai's flirts are smooth and genuine.

In my opinion, Cinder would hold nothing back from Kai. I know some say she doesn't let him hear her sing, but Cinder says she feels that "she can tell him anything," so I don't think she'd let her insecurities get in the way.

Here's a unusual head-canon:

In canon, Kai is noticeably worried about Cinder's health: hovering over her, taking her straight to Dr. Erland, asking if they require more funding for equipment, refusing to leave until she insisted she was fine. And of course in Winter, Cinder wakes up from her stab wound to Kai by her bedside, so he was evidently spending most of his time there.

Having lost both of his parents, I feel that his friends, but particularly Cinder, getting sick would make Kai panic. He's lost too many people; he can't lose her.

It's not obvious at first. Once they are engaged and together in the palace, he becomes on edge when she gets sick. He'll force her into the doctor's office and supply her with medicine and heat packs and food and hugs. He'll comm her regularly for updates. It's a little excessive, but hey, Cinder figures it's regular loving fiancé and later husband behvaiour.

Except he becomes insanely anxious. Starts having panic attacks more frequently than she coughs. She doesn't connect the dots until she asks him one day to join her for support at a doctor's appointment. The doctor ends up doing a check-up on Kai rather than her because he is visibly distressed, pale and clammy palms and shaky breaths.

From hereon out, Cinder and his therapist set boundaries for Kai. If she catches your run-of-the-mill cold or tummy bug she tells him, "I'm okay," and he doesn't concern himself with it. Because he is a caring husband, he can't live with himself if he does nothing, so she lets him bring her supplies and hug her and such. But she limits him from too much more, or asking too many details.

Of course when it's more serious health issues, Cinder imposes no restrictions, because when she's throwing up daily from pregnancy nausea, he is going to be stressed anyway. After a few years, Kai gets a better grip on his mental health and he can now approach Cinder's sicknesses without it consuming him.

[impossiblesuitcase]

The hc of kaider having fertility issues is such an odd assumption I occasionally see from some users. In the book Cinder it mentions that she has a pristine or rather "untouched" reproductive system, assumably done on purpose by the scientists in hopes that she'd reclaim the throne in the future and thus continue a lineage. If you're assuming Kai is the source because he doesn't have any mentioned family, that idea would also be somewhat of a reach. Only children exist and it's plausible that he doesn't have any siblings due to his parents' busy lives as monarchs. Although topics like this are usually written for angst prompts, I find it a bit weird when it's mentioned so often by certain users as if it's canon? Which it isn't. I agree that the two of them having children, and three as I've seen you mention, is very cute and like them, as depicted Cinder's Adventure though that was not canon. Second gen kaider is cute from you but maybe less of the fertility issues stuff in Cinder pregnancy stories because the two of them don't deserve any more troubles</333

When I--and others--analyse that Kai could potentially have fertility issues it is not to designate it as a fact. It is simply a guess as to why he would have no family. And, yes, it's true that only children do exist, but the books state that there are literally no other heirs to the Commonwealth throne. Considering the Commonwealth was founded by Kai's great-great-great grandfather, for there to be no other heirs at all is far too prominent to ignore. After all, Marissa intended that there wasn't any other heirs, otherwise Levana wouldn't have stayed empress after killing Kai.

So then why? How do we explain this? I think it would be even more of a reach to say that 5 generations simply chose to have 1 child each. If we compare it to modern monarchies today over 5 generations, there's an overabundance of heirs. Yes, infertility is not necessarily the most bullet-proof conclusion, but what else is there? The reason I even proposed infertility in the first place is because Cinder is designed to mirror Levana, and Levana was infertile. That was the closest contextual explanation I could grasp.

In truth, Marissa probably didn't think this aspect through. But this is why we headcanon infertility; it's our way to trying to fill in a gap, not us asserting that it is definite or canon. If other users are discussing this, I can only assume they are also referring to the same headcanon, not denoting that they believe it to be fact. If you or others have different plausible explanations, I encourage them to be shared! Tumblr is the place for these open discussions.

I want to respond to your last statement: "the two of them don't deserve any more troubles".

Life sadly does not always reward us with things just because we deserve them. I understand that these are characters and therefore the fates we give them are up to us, but I personally view and write these characters with a realistic angle. And infertility is very common in couples. If we give them a happily ever after with no troubles to the end of their days, they become unrelatable. Boring, even.

I also have plenty of kaider parenting headcanons that have nothing to do with the infertility and I can't say I know of any other creators who are actively writing about it. I've only written one fic about it--the rest don't even mention it. But if you don't want to see it at all I recommend you seek out other blogs because I will continue to write tlc the way I perceive it. I know that might not be everyone's cup of tea but that's why it's so great that we can all share our own interpretations.

[impossiblesuitcase]

I haven't seen anyone talk about the potential infertility in Kai's family. Kai has no siblings, and while he may have aunts, uncles and cousins on his mother's side, they aren't royalty and wouldn't have much bearing on the story.

His father's side though would be royal, however there isn't so much as a mention of aunts, uncles, cousins or even grandparents. This leads me to believe that the royal family has had few children in its five generations, potentially due to infertility. If such relatives existed, Levana killing Kai would be pointless, as his cousin or such would ascend to the throne. But the impression is that Levana will remain empress after his death, so she can hatch her plot to conquer earth.

My only other guess would be based on the fact that the dynasty was founded in the turbulence of a world war. Perhaps the first couple generations were so busy healing a scarred nation that they felt they did not have the luxury of a large family. But that would likely phase out by his great-grandfather's generation, so the question of fertility can still be raised.

A lot of people go down the infertility angle with Cinder because Cinder mirrors Levana, and Levana was infertile. However, Dr. Erland said that Cinder would likely have little issue producing children on her part, and as the Princess of Luna, Logan Tanner would have ensured she was fertile. After all, if she were barren, the Blackburn line would die out.

I think it'd be more interesting if any infertility issues Kaider had were because of Kai rather than Cinder, particular since it has grounding in canon.

When a woman is infertile, society views it as a tragedy because of the stereotypes that bearing children is a woman's sole goal in life. But male infertility is just as devastating for couples, and for men who may feel inadequate in their inability to give their spouse children. Kai is shown as a very sensitive person—in tune with his emotions—and you can likely imagine how this would affect him emotionally.

I have no doubt Cinder and Kai would have children, but it is possible that there'd difficulties along the way. Of course, this is set in the future, and particularly for royalty there'd be the latest methods of IVF and surrogacy (though Cinder's ability to retain a pregnancy isn't the issue).

Update:

"The last in line to the empire", so there's literally no one left after Kai, so he doesn't even have the aforementioned relatives that could possibly take over.

Update 2: I wrote a fic

[just2bubbly]

Breaking the news..

Masterlist

Rumors and Affairs Chapter List

// This is an update of  What was she thinking?! 

Cinder’s Perspective: 

She decided to go through the articles. Most of them were dated from when she had escaped out of prison with Thorne. They said how Cinder had run away with her ‘lover’ criminal Thorne. She cringed on the word lover. The more recent ones were about her and Thorne at the Ball. After reading many such articles, she came across the article that was the root cause of all the rumors. It had the picture of her and Thorne standing outside the hall while the ball was going on. He had brought her outside to tell her about how he was going to propose to Cress and Cinder had become so happy to see how far her best friend had come. She had hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Being pregnant had made her super emotional; she could have a headache or laugh over the silliest thing. The media captured this specific affectionate moment between the two and right now she wanted to kill herself for her idiosyncrasies. She was just hugging Thorne why did they have to make such a fuss about this. Well after reading the entire article she came to realize that the media had misinterpreted the scene between the two. They had thought that the two were meeting outside to have a word without the Emperor catching them and it became a bit affectionate but Empress Selene restrained herself in the fear of getting caught.

Cinder recalled how she had confined Thorne that she was literally more scared of doing childbirth than leading the lunar revolution and he had assured her in a rather affectionate way, where he did hold both of their hands on her swollen stomach. The media had definitely misinterpreted and made a fuss about it. Plus Thorne was known for his flirty personality all over the world and also Luna.

All such times she hated how the press and mass media could not have any restrictions and limitations. Stars, they should not publish stuff that they did not have a clue about.

She was having a strong headache meaning that if she had tear ducts she would be crying now or maybe she was just having a headache from frustration. Either way it was not good for her or the baby. Last month they had a riot outside the palace gate about her cyborg-ness. The hatred towards Cinder had been high time since Kai and she had announced that they have been expecting an heir soon. Kai did his best to make her feel better but she was so insecure in moments like these. After all she had received this hate since she was 11. Memories don’t fade easily, especially bad ones.

She was walking in the gardens when the whole incident had happened. The riots were peaceful but Kai and Torin were all shaken up. It looked like they had been expecting this sometime sooner or later. Well saying that Cinder was not expecting this would be a lie for she had so many nightmares about her being close to a crowd and then a riot would start where she and the baby would be harmed in some way or the other.

Cinder herself had taken so much effort to remove cyborg prejudice. Even then she had to suffer through first hand cyborg hate taking in consideration that she was the Empress of the Eastern Commonwealth.

That’s when she saw it. It was Kai. He had commed her. In a normal and peaceful situation she would be happy and bubbly(I know I just made a reference) to see him but now that the situation was anything but calm and normal. She wanted to not pick his call. Not receiving his comm won’t help her though. So she gave in.

“Hey! You took a lot of time to pick up the comm, were you sleeping?”

Seeing him in front of her eyes she just wanted to hug him and let him whisper to her that everything was fine-

“Hail to Cinder! Are you there?”

“Yeah! Why?”

“Well respond so that I can understand”

“When are you coming back?”

“Oh! I see you were so lost in thinking about me that you forgot to realize that your dear husband Kai is there in front of you! Tell me Cinder, Am I wrong? Did you spend all your time thinking about me then?”

“Don’t flatter yourself Emperor. It does not suit you well.” Technically she had been thinking about him all the time but pregnancy had not made her lose her mind so far so she would not blurt out about how she was day-dreaming about her husband.

“C’mon Cinder why can’t you just accept that you missed me?  I do it all the time.”

“Okay Kai. Tell me when are you returning now?”

“I will be there in New Beijing besides you till tomorrow afternoon. I would have left tonight but Queen Camilla invited us to dinner at the royal palace. I don’t want to go-”

“What? You will be coming tomorrow?” she screamed, maybe.

“I thought you would be sad to know that I am delaying my flight because of some stupid dinner.”

“No Kai, it is not like that. Well I certainly do miss you and am happy that you will be there here tomorrow. Stars, it has been difficult without you here but I thought you had yet a week to come and stars above I have so much stuff to do and things to fix. I just don’t have the time to do it before you get back I can’t believe I am running late on my schedule Kai I want-”

“Calm down Cinder. I had asked you to do nothing if you remembered. Plus Torin told me.”

Cinder had covered her face with her hands. She peeked at him a bit scared of his reaction. Why the hell was he being good and not yelling at her if Torin had already told him?!

“What did Torin tell you?”

“Why? Is it problematic that my advisor tells me all about you?”

“That’s not the point Kai. What did he tell you?”

“Nothin’ just how you over-work yourself and do not rest well and keep zoning out between conversations. You really do get hopeless without me.”

“Oh! That’s what Torin told you. Thank goodness”

“Why? Was there something else?”

“NO! Nothing else…. for now at least- I can’t ...I don’t know” why couldn’t she lie towards Kai as easily as she did with the others. It felt like Kai could just look through her soul and realize the truth.

“What happened Cinder? Are you okay? Is the baby okay? Did something happen to you? Did Dr.Nandez say something about the pregnancy? Cinder tell me! ” He looked desperate and all the worst possible scenarios were running through his mind now. She could tell it.

“Kai, I am fine. The baby is fine. Everyone is fine. Well not everyone because Torin and I are all panicked because I did some mistake and screwed up big time….” she trailed.

“Oh! Only that much. Well I thought something happened to you and the baby.”

He sighed before continuing, “What did you do?”

“Well it’s related to the baby. In the head staff meeting I said something that made the entire Thorne-Cinder affair rumors worse.”

“Oh.” he had not expected that.

“Can you brief me about it if it is okay for you or should I ask Torin?”

“Well I kind of blurted out that the rumors about me and Thorne are true while I was zoning out and although I tried to assure them I don’t think that they are much convinced. Shit. I screwed up Kai.”

His eyes had definitely widened. Cinder could tell that without looking. He was trying his best to remain calm but she wanted him to talk. Bloody hell she wanted him to talk now. She was a mess on the inside. Thankfully there were no new rumors about her and Thorne or any news about today’s meeting on her newsfeed yet.

There was an unwanted and suffocating silence between the two of us.

“Well you did screw up big time Cinder but it's okay. Do they know that I know about these rumors?”

“I don’t know. Mostly likely not because I think usually courting outside of marriages are to kept a secret.

“Cinder please.” She should not use sarcasm in situations like these. She nodded and whispered a sorry.

“What should we do?” she asked again trying to take a hold over this bizarre situation.

“You really cannot do anything anymore. Whatever you say will not be given much importance and most likely be doubted so you would only give a single official statement in my presence when I return. For the rest, I will come up with a plan with Torin’s help.”

“Kai stop fighting my battles. You already have done enough by not kicking me out okay. I should take responsibility of my mistakes-”

”It’s okay Cinder. Everything is okay. You and I know that we are madly in love with each other. That’s all that I care about. You would no longer over work yourself. I guess you should stop holding meetings for time being as well, you know as a precaution.” he said the last part teasingly but yet I felt disheartened.

I was glaring at him but then the rumors about our child’s parentage hit me like some train. I could not tell Kai this. He would surely be disappointed. He would be heart-broken.

What should I tell him huh- Hey Kai! The media thinks that the child I am carrying is Thorne’s and not yours. Lol, but you know the truth right?

Sue me.

“There is something more Kai.”

“What?” he asked a bit concerned, a furrowed brow forming.

“They questioned about our baby’s parentage as well”

Upon hearing this he really looked so sad. His face had fallen and he avoided looking at her.

She heard some commotion from his side.

“Cinder I have to go. I am sorry we will talk later. I will figure it out with Torin’s help. Bye. Take care.” He was croaking. Cinder had a headache coming as well.

Before she could reply, he had ended the comm.

Glancing at her net-screen Cinder sighed. There was no news about today’s meeting anywhere. Torin might have done his miracles on the staff again.

__

A/N: I am thinking about a good damage control idea, so it might take a while. Needless to say, There is more!

( I also have an another Kaider fic named ‘ Nightmares’, if you like Kaider fluff you can check it out!!  🖤 )

Likes, Reblogs and Comments will be much loved!  🖤

P.S Can you suggest some baby names for Kaider child, both the gender please.  

[just2bubbly]

The Father She Never Had

Masterlist 

Rumors and Affairs: Chapter List

// This is an update of  The Dinner! 

Cinder’s Perspective:

After having her comm with Kai she really did do nothing but drown in her misery and bemoan about how she had caused Kai grief. He would be coming tomorrow and there was no way in hell that she could solve the entire matter all by herself in just a few hours.

Cinder wanted to dig a hole and disappear and never come back or maybe die. She could not dare share her worry with anyone else because she was rather ashamed and humiliated of the mess she had made by confirming the rumors.

Someone knocked on the door.

“May I enter your majesty?”

“Yes please, Torin.”

“I heard that you broke the news to Kai. He did not look very happy about the whole incident.”

“I was not expecting him to be happy.” She snapped at Torin.

“My apologies, Your Majesty but I believe snapping at me or anyone else would not help our condition. No one present in the meeting would say a word about today’s happenings. I have taken an oath of secrecy from all the Heads.”

She sighed with relief. At least the press would not make a scene out of her foolishness.

“I assume you already know that Kai would be returning tomorrow.”

“Yes. He had commed me asking details about what happened. I am happy to say that we have come up with a plan.”

“Kai has already come up with a plan?” she was surprised. He was trying to solve the mess while she was self-loathing.

Torin nodded.

“What’s this plan about?”

“I am not sure you would want to know this.” He replied with a grimacing face.

“I want to know. I am not a fan of the entire situation myself, so I would be pleased to know this damage control.” What had Kai planned that she would be left disappointed?

“Ok, after His Imperial Highness comes tomorrow a press conference is to be held. He would confirm that all the rumors about the heir’s parentage and the Empress’s courting are false. You would most likely not be present at the conference. The reporters will be given a right to ask questions regarding the entire scenario and the Emperor will be liable to answer them unless they are on controversial matters and breach the royal family’s privacy.”

She was not disappointed by far if not for the point that Kai had to solve her problems.

Torin coughed to draw her attention. There was more.

“The press would not believe without proof so the prenatal paternity test would have to be done so as to give an official statement about the parentage of the royal heir.”

This certainly did sadden her but bitter actions had to be taken in order to enforce the trust among the citizens of the Commonwealth.

“Is that all Torin?”

“Yes.”

She had to agree to this, which was certainly clear. No matter how much Kai tried to keep her away from stuff like this, the test had to be done. If not for her idiosyncrasies, some mild action would have to be taken. Unfortunately life never came easy to either Kai or Cinder.

“Well what has to be done has to be done.”

“I had a suggestion.”

“Yes Torin?”

“What if we inform Mr. Thorne about this incident as well?”

“Why would you suggest that, Torin?” She did not like where this idea was going. Telling Thorne and Cress was never on her list of damage control ideas.

“I believe they would take the news better from you than the extravagant articles of the press. Also, Mr. Throne does have the right to hear about this incident from you as he is personally being questioned. Besides, he is a dear friend of yours.”

Why did whatever Torin suggested have to be so right to the entire situation?! Why did he always come up with such brilliant ideas?!

“I would think about it Torin.”

“Okay, your majesty.” He bowed

She was speculating if she should ask such a question to Torin who was an advisor and a father figure to both her and Kai. In the end, she decided against her intellect. 

“Torin!” She called for him.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

She cautiously asked, “Do you question the parentage of the heir and my role as the Empress as well?”

She was expecting something optimistic from him. He returned her gaze with the same aura of confidence as ever and answered, “It is not my right to question Your Majesty.”

She felt like retorting at him to question. Whatever Torin had to say was important to her. He had to tell her if he believed in her or not. She had to know.

It seemed like that was all.

Until he continued, “After having seen Kai so much in awe with you since the day he laid his eyes upon you, I can’t question the love that you feel for each other. Besides I know you both were very excited- needless to say Kai was super-enthusiastic about being a father, so I am neither a fool like others nor an unwise person deprived of  my senses to question either you or the heir. You may be assured, Cinder. ”

Cinder had never felt any sort of elderly respect for anyone before she met Torin. Torin was so much of what she needed to guide herself through the hardships of being an Empress. In that moment she felt so much of respect and love for Torin that she raised herself and embraced him. Pregnancy and hormones were catching up.

“Thank you, Torin.” She muttered

They fell in a comfortable silence. She knew how much his words and trust meant to her. He knew it as well.

“Don’t worry about Kai, he is sad over the way the Commonwealth is treating you. He might look disappointed upon you however he is just sad about the rumors. He loves you and would forgive you, plus you already know this.”

Cinder nodded her head, agreeing with what Torin said. She felt calm as relief flooded over her tensed shoulders. 

“You should take rest. Even though sad the Emperor wants the best for you. If he finds you are ill or exhausted he would make havoc about it.”

She knew that Kai would not stop from doing such an action; rather he had already done such a thing when she had been late for lunch one afternoon. It was quite an amusement to her and Torin.

She giggled as Torin made jokes at the Emperor’s expense. Torin was a fatherly figure that she had got. She had never really thought about the need of a parent in her life until she saw how life changes with the presence of one. Cinder never remembered how her mother was like, she did not even know who her father was but she had Torin. Even though not a father he was so much more for Cinder. Now that she had him, his presence made her feel like she had the blessings of a father.

Cinder never really had blood ties that were worthy of remembering. They say you cannot choose family- they were wrong. Cinder had chosen her friends which turned out to be her family. Her life. She had come to value these relationships but she was going to treasure it forever.

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A/N: Thanks for sticking around, so far! It’s not farewell !

( I also have an another Kaider fic named ‘ Nightmares’, if you like Kaider fluff you can check it out!!  🖤 )

Likes, Reblogs and Comments will be much loved!  🖤