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Cute and fluffy and Hel. M...yeah
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She knew it to be true. But how to explain to him? What could she possibly say? That they would be parents? That thought alone was enough to give her chills. Loki's blood. Loki's brood. In her, growing, were the children she and Styx had thought of having. She hovered for a moment on the threshold of their house and peered inside. He was arranging shelves again, trying to get them to look straight. Hel leaned against the door frame and tried to find her voice. She smirked to herself. She, a warrior and fighter, reduced to a gibbering mess.
Stepping inside, Hel walked to him and placed her hand on his arm, her muzzle nudging him slightly. She had to tell him, she had to talk to him. It didn't scare her that he might leave. They were mates, pups came with mateship. But still the dark shifter had problems finding the right way to say it. Was there a right way? I'm pregnant. There. If there was a right way to say it, she'd messed it up. If there wasn't... well, at least he would say something to show her he cared.
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Argh! Why wouldn't they stand straight? Styx muttered under his breath at the lopsided shelves that probably had been water-damaged at some point. Perhaps Hel would be able to fix them? Or, really, he should try to work it out himself. He couldn't always run to Hel whenever something needed to be fixed. And speak of the devil, there she was. Styx looked up as Hel approached him, and smiled.
"Hello, cariad," he murmured, nuzzling her slightly. She seemed... worried? Was something wrong? She looked as though she was trying to say something, and he waited, not wanting to rush her.
"I'm pregnant." In the silence, her words pierced him to the core, filling him with surprised elation. He blinked, his eyes growing huge as he stared at her. Pregnant? His gaze shifted down to her so far flat stomach. Perhaps she was a little bit rounder? He couldn't really tell.
"Pregnant?" he repeated, astonished. "I... Wha..." He had no idea how to express himself. Life. They'd managed to create life together. Well, unless she'd been with someone else, of course. He hadn't smelled anything of the sort on her, but she could have washed carefully. Still, it didn't matter. They were mates, so whether or not anyone else had fathered them, they were his pups. His hand reached out to rest on her belly. There were so many things he wanted to ask, but all seemed redundant and ridiculous. 'You are?' She'd just said so. 'You're sure?' If she hadn't been, she wouldn't have told him. 'Are you alright?' Why wouldn't she be? "I love you," he said, feeling rather stupid.
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Hel had been watching him mend the shelves and considered him objectively, something she both hated and loved about herself. It wasn't detachment from her emotions, it was simply watching him as Asgard would watch him. He had changed so much. When they had first set out, he had been hopeless, almost a burden. But she enjoyed his company, his wit, his charm. Now he was much more secure, he set up camp and caught small game, he fixed and mended things, he gave her a tattoo of Yggdrasil, the world tree, on her shoulder blade. And now he would father her pups.
His touch confirmed the excitement she felt and she closed the small distance between them, her arms coming to rest around his neck, her nose buried in his soft hair. They would be parents, they would raise pups together and she was grateful they had found a pack, she was at home here. She thought of what Iskata and Deuce would say and decided that they should know. But for now, she just wanted her and Styx to share the joy. I love you too. I thought it might be a while before we notice it, but it makes me so happy, Styx, you won't believe how happy. He knew about the sailor. She had slept with no one ever since coming here, she wanted Styx and him alone. She brushed the side of his muzzle with her own, licking it softly. There is so much to plan, my love. Like maybe a room for them, when they are old enough? And... She stopped and pulled back, her eyes slightly wide. She hadn't thought of this. What about Connor? Hel's words fell flat in the room.
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Styx was happier than he'd been since he and Hel had become mates. Leaning against the taller wolf, he smiled. Cheekily, his tongue darted out to lick her nipple, before he glanced up at her with a boyish grin. "It makes me happy, too," he said. Really, he wanted to bounce around, yelling, "We're going to be parents!" loud enough for it to be heard to their latest campsite. But that would just be ridiculous. So he settled for just grinning widely. "I can't wait. How long do you think...?"
The house they had did have enough rooms for them to be able to designate one as the puppy room. More to give himself and Hel some privacy than anything else, of course. Styx had grown up in a tight-knit family, and, well... He'd caught the grownups having sex more than once, and he didn't want the same to happen to him and Hel. Not if he could help it. Besides, it would teach the children some independence.
Suddenly he wondered how many pups there would be. He knew his family had had litters of between two and three pups, but he didn't know about Hel's side. Well, yes, he knew she had siblings, but not how many of them were litter siblings, and which ones of her siblings were litter siblings to each other. And then she pulled back and asked him a question, shaking him from his thoughts. "Oh. Connor. Umm..." Yeah, real intelligent, there. "Well, it's not like you've found him yet, have you?"
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Hel shivered. Although the gesture in itself had been cheeky and silly, it still made her knees buckle slightly. She smiled at him, her grin toothy but honest and nibbled on the side of his ear a little. Parents. She and Styx. She, black and tough, he, wiry and grey. And they would be able to have pups together, beautiful little puppies. She thought about his question. In truth, she could only guess how far along she was, because it seemed like little was visible. It may have been that she simply would show her pregnancy closer to the birth. I think about 4 or 5 weeks. I think that's about right. It may have been I got pregnant that day we set out, remember? In Halifax? She remembered. It had been the time she'd confessed her sexual adventures with a sailor. And he'd still taken her in his arms and made her forget that part.
For a moment, she slipped into a daydream, imagining the pups running around them, Styx teaching them how to pierce and tattoo, Hel choosing the fittest to follow in her paw prints. There might be three, or four, that seemed about right in the family. She wondered if they would be sons or daughters or both. If they'd take after him or her. If they'd be independent at a young age or if she'd have to gradually let them go. She wondered about a lot of things and realised that what mattered the most was that it was Styx she was having them with.
Hel had not thought this through completely. She hadn't found Connor yet and as her pregnancy advanced, the chances of her going after him diminished by the day. She would have to wait here, to give birth and raise them a while, enough for her to go two days at a time without the pups suffering. Here, it came to a choice. Her family and her trade. She could not stop being what she was. Neither could she simply destroy her family. I haven't found him, no. And in a couple of weeks I'll stop looking. I can't jeopardize these pups, our children, for the sake of scum like him. I just don't want to lose his trail again. He's here, I just need to find him. Her knuckles clenched and she growled low in the back of her throat. He needs to pay for what he did, Styx.
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