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036. Enthralled
Lithuania is doting, nearly to the point of being insufferable. Taiwan insists that she's pregnant, not crippled or deathly ill; it's okay for her to go take a walk when it's still chilly outside, bubble tea won't hurt the baby, she's fine! really!
He backs off, but hesitantly, not wanting to impose on her, but still worrying about his child. As her shirts grow larger and her stomach swells, his nerves fray more and more, until it seems like they're steel wool under his marked skin.
Finally, he is almost apathetic; he still rubs her feet, willingly heads out in the middle of the night for the snacks she craves, but his smile becomes a rarity.
What worries Taiwan the most, though, is that he does not want to feel his baby kicking. She attempts to guide his hand to her belly when she feels those bubble flutters, but he firmly pulls back; though it's easy to write off as nerves, the possibility of that sort of thing creeping him out, she has nothing better to think about when she is left alone one afternoon.
On that particular day in that particular frame of time, Lithuania arrives home tired but cheerful. His meetings with his boss promise that things are letting up, that the steps to freedom are slowly revealing themselves. Optimism, a usually timid emotion within him, peeks her head out. He smiles brighter than he has in a long time, until, that is, he opens the front door to his home.
"Mingxia?" She is sitting on the couch, hugging a pillow, her shoulders shuddering in the way only those who are sobbing can manage. The only indication that she hears him is that she moves to tuck her legs up to her chest. He's on her in an instant, gently moves her so that he can rub her back until eventually, she calms down some.
"Mingxia, what's wrong?" He is tentative, worried that he's done something wrong, or hasn't done something important.
She shudders and hiccups, wipes her eyes, before answering.
"Y - you don't want him ... " And with that, she is crying again, pressing her face into the already soaked pillow. Lithuania stops. Not want his son?
"Impossible." He murmurs reassuringly, resuming his massage. He hums a quiet folktune while she calms down again.
"You've never felt him kick." The waterworks look like they're about to start again. "H - he'll be born a - and figure you don't love him s - so he'll hate b - b - both of us, and--" the rest of her words are a jumble of slurred, hiccuped Taiwanese.
Lithuania looks away for a moment, hands moving on autopilot. How to explain.
"If I..." deep breath, Toris, you trust her. "If I touch him, it feels like i'll curse him somehow. He'll absorb my bad luck and feelings and... I'll hurt him." He shakes his head.
Out loud, it sounds ridiculous, but don't all feelings? She is silent, still, for a moment. He holds his breath, waiting for her laughter. That, he can deal with. Not the silence. In his experience... silence is the worst thing you can hear.
When she looks at him, she is smiling; her hands, soft and warm, cover his and bring them gently to the rising curve that will become their future. Gingerly, she lets his hand go, fingers spread wide over her taut skin.
As if on cue, he kicks; faint as a pulse at first, then stronger. Taiwan's face is still as she breathes through it, but the look on Lithuania's face whisks all of the pain away. Incredulous, bright, full of adoration for the both of them.
"Mažai riteris." He murmurs, maneuvering over to kiss one of his son's skin-trapped feet. Taiwan glows and leans against him. She worries, she frets, she's a mess when she cries, but in the end, that face is entirely worth it.
 men getting pregnant · Tue Jan 05, 2010 @ 03:56am · 0 Comments |
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