Months later...
Daphne eagerly pored over Cordelia’s newest letter. Her friend had brought happy tidings― Jonah was settling into his role as a king better than anyone had expected, but Cordelia had ntioned — the smug superiority apparent through her words — that she knew Jonah was perfectly capable of rising to the occasion.
Then, she also included a paragraph about how Jonah rose in bed, and Daphne had to skip it quickly for her sanity’s sake. However, her eyes caught sight of the words ’breeding’ and ’intense’, causing a blush to bloom on her cheeks.
Now that Cordelia was married, she was actively trying for a child to ensure a stable line of succession, and she eagerly shared details with Daphne, claiming it was all for the sake of research.
One line caught her attention.
’I would not be surprised to find myself with child in a moon’s turn.’
Daphne sucked in a breath and she read more carefully. Apparently, Cordelia was finding herself nauseous more often than not, and she suspected she might be pregnant since there was no way that she, a consummate native of the ocean, could possibly be seasick.
Cordelia might beco a mother.
Daphne was torn between delirious joy for her friend and sadness for her own circumstances. Her hand instinctively went to her own belly. There was a tiny bulge, but Daphne suspected it was because of her lack of exercise — not to ntion how Atticus was always more than eager to grab her an extra dessert after dinner — rather than the creation of a child. Her body was riddled with aches, but that was because of her exhausting schedule poring over policy docunts.
Atticus had made no ntion of wanting a child, despite them fornicating every night like rabbits in heat. rely the act of sleeping with Daphne was enough to satisfy him, and he didn’t think much of children despite how important it was for the kingdom.
However, Daphne couldn’t help hoping for a miracle. Sirona had examined her once when they returned from Nedour, and she said that things might be more difficult for Daphne after her previous miscarriage.
However, she had also ntioned that the magic inside her would go a long way in stabilizing a potential pregnancy and told Daphne not to lose hope.
"Why the long face? What did that witch say to you?" Atticus asked, pecking a quick kiss on her cheek as he sat across her.
Now, Atticus and Cordelia had decided to affectionately refer to each other as ’witch’ and ’bastard’, terms that would have easily caused open warfare between their kingdoms if people were none the wiser.
Daphne rely rolled her eyes. "Cordelia says Jonah is doing a fantastic job as a king. And..." Daphne bit her lip. "And she suspects she might be with child."
Atticus’s eyes bulged out. "Already? Jonah sure works fast. Or did she tie him up to the bed and milk him dry?"
"Atticus!" Daphne exclaid, her ears burning red at his crudeness. The ntal images he conjured were simply too much.
"I’m just saying, we can’t disprove that," Atticus said.
He was deliberately saying the crudest thing he could think of to take Daphne’s mind off the issue of children. Of course he knew that his wife wanted kids. She had made it possible for mothers to bring their children to work, making sure to assign caretakers and teachers for them. Daphne had often sat in those sessions when she had free ti, eagerly teaching them.
She would be a fantastic mother. Unfortunately, Atticus wasn’t too keen on being a father. His own parents died when he was young, leaving him to struggle as he grew up. Frankly, he had been hoping for Jonah’s help by the ti Daphne had his first child.
But of course, fate had to throw him a curveball. Jonah was tucked all the way in Nedour, possibly making babies for Cordelia the witch, while Atticus’s own wife fretted over the lack of an heir.
"Cordelia tells everything," Daphne argued. "She would — regrettably — have included that."
"Sunshine, don’t be jealous. If you want to have your wicked way with , you simply need to ask," Atticus winked, causing a brighter blush to bloom on Daphne’s face. "You can tie up anyti. In fact, with magic, we would be able to get into the climax of the show way faster than any other bondage expert―"
"Atticus!"
***
After taking up Atticus on his generous offer of milking him dry, Daphne decided to pay Sirona a visit. Her monthly courses ranged from irregular to non-existent, and she wondered if there was a way to improve matters.
If Cordelia was having children soon, Daphne wanted to have them too― she wanted their children to grow up as penpals, hopefully as the best of friends. If they were suitable, Cordelia and Daphne might even end up as in-laws in the near future!
Surely there were redies for won who struggled with having children!
Sirona quickly gestured to her to sit down. Now without her powers, she had to resort to cruder thods of diagnosing Daphne’s health. She asured her pulse and heart rate before asking a series of questions about their bedroom activities that would have been horribly invasive coming from anyone else.
Finally, Sirona gave her verdict.
"You could be pregnant. I know you have not seen the regular symptoms except for the weight gain and a lack of monthly cycles, but Daphne, you’re also not a regular person," Sirona said, and Daphne’s heart stuttered in surprise.
"You’re the only woman in the world with as much magic as you do― frankly, there’s no real precedent. I tried to look up similar cases, but I only have Queen Bethany-Anne Verimandi as a case study, and from the archives, it seems like she didn’t know she was carrying until the third trister. Apparently, the magic in her was treating all her symptoms."
"Oh," Daphne said faintly. "So I could be..."
"Yes. We’ll only know of it in a few months, but... things seem hopeful now," Sirona said, a gentle smile on her face. "Do you want to let Atticus know about it?"
Daphne thought about it and shook her head. If it wasn’t confird, she didn’t want to give him false hope.
However, to her surprise, Atticus was waiting right outside the door. From the faintly guilty look in his eyes, it was clear that he had been eavesdropping.
Daphne sighed. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough, sunshine..." Atticus wrapped an arm around her and placed a gentle hand on her belly. "Is this real?"
"It might not be," Daphne said shakily. "There’s no way to check now but―"
"But it will be real," Atticus insisted simply. "We’ll make it happen. If it doesn’t take this ti, then we’ll try again next ti. We’ll do it every night, every day, before every al―"
Daphne squawked and smacked his chest, her cheeks a burning red. Her husband was so shaless!
Atticus clutched her hand and squeezed.
"Whatever it is, you know that I’ll be by your side," Atticus promised. "Forever and always, child or no child."
Daphne smiled softly. "Yes. I do. I just wanted to do sothing for you too. You need an heir―"
"I don’t need an heir," Atticus said, scoffing.
"You’re a king," Daphne gently reminded. "Soone will need to take over eventually. What will happen to Vramid otherwise?"
"Before I am a king, I am your husband," Atticus gently said. "And you’re the only one I need."
He gently placed a hand on Daphne’s stomach, overlapping his hand on hers.
"You have stolen my breath from the very first mont we t," Atticus crooned, though Daphne only saw sincerity in his eyes. "Whatever the future holds, as long as you’re with , it will be perfect. You’re the ray of sunlight that has brightened my life."
Atticus’s words ward her heart, shooting an arrow of sunshine through her chest. Cupid’s arrow had rained down on her back, and she knew that for this lifeti, co what may, Daphne was satisfied as long as she was here with the love of her life.
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