It appears her smile is contagious, his own features STRETCHING into a broad grin– unfitting on him, yet filled with as much love and adoration as any soon-to-be father could have. Her confirmation only solidifies the feeling within him. Cyrus did not doubt her in the slightest.
Her fingers caress him like a ghost, and Cyrus finds himself instinctively LEANING into them. Her eyes reflect all the overwhelming things inside him like a mirror, and at that moment, though much is yet to do, Cyrus is at PEACE.
“You did perfectly.” He soothes. No, Cyrus had never been one for surprises and the like anyway. Direct, abrupt, these were things that resonated better with him. The privacy of this moment, just the two– no, three now– of them, was one that would stick with him for the remainder of his lifetime. He cannot hold fault with her for being on edge, nervous— he has never expressly talked about raising a family, and it would be questionable at best if he’d want one, given his past.
Honestly, if you’d asked him any day prior, he’d have avoided the question. Perhaps outright denied it. But here, faced with the situation, Cyrus finds he would rather have nothing else.
“Yes— you have no reason to fret. I– I want this too.”
Cyrus is the first to break eye contact, turning his gaze to her belly. Surely, he knew the basics of how pregnancy and the like worked, but there was something more MAGICAL about knowing that inside her now rested a life he too created, an achievement he once (and occasionally, when the world proved TOO much, still) longed to accomplish.
Reverently, he lays a hand on hers. Yes, they would do this TOGETHER.
“I will assist in any way I can. We’ll have to get a room set up– confirm appointments– Arceus, there’s so much to buy—I’ll have to read up on care and the like, find out what is safe for you to eat—”
He trails off, mind already racing to account for all the newly added variables. A demon in his head gnaws at him, a reminder that he is INADEQUATE at this just as much as he is at maintaining a relationship. Perhaps it breaks the spirit of the moment as worry mars his features.
Its implied that he means so much more than raise a child. No, to be a FATHER, a PARENT, responsible for another life when he’d fought so long to take them.
“Do you think I’ll be able to do this?”
ㅤㅤ They'd never tried to not have a child.
ㅤㅤ For all the ' fretting ' she had done, there were times when Elizabeth called upon that knowledge and it SOOTHED her. Surely Cyrus knew that there was always the possibility that she could get pregnant. He had to. It was always in the back of her mind that she should get on some form of birth control, or at the very least buy some condoms. OBVIOUSLY that never happened, an oversight that tended to be lost on them in those intimate moments. Some might call it IRRESPONSIBLE, but they were in love, married--that was more of a foundation to start a family than others were given.
ㅤㅤ Sex, for them, was less of a physical act and more of an emotional one, supplemented by smaller, more frequent gestures of INTIMACY and care. There was a recent study she'd read that couples who had sex once a week were happier than those who did so more regularly, and while she couldn't speak for all married couples, that certainly seemed to be the case in her and Cyrus' experience.
ㅤㅤ His reaction gives her peace of mind. Knowing that this is something he wants, however unexpected, whatever fears she had prior to now are immediately ASSUAGED; it was something he was very good at doing. The delicate weight of his hand over hers, and hearing him go on about all they needed to do to welcome the newest chapter in their lives made her heart swell and her head spin with the realization that this was real; she was pregnant with Cyrus' child--THEIR child.
ㅤㅤ She knew that he would have his own misgivings about fatherhood. From what he'd told her of his childhood, his parents, and grandfather, she would have been more surprised if he didn't. There was that, and also Cyrus' ongoing struggles with the weight of the BURDEN of human spirit, feelings, and expressing those feelings, but Elizabeth felt that he could, with some time and no small amount of effort and encouragement, turn those weaknesses into STRENGTHS for when their child would need their father.
ㅤㅤ " You've come so far, Cyrus. There's not a single shred of doubt in my mind that you're going to be the most AMAZING dad, because you know the kind of parent YOU needed growing up. "
ㅤㅤ A small smile worked its way onto her lips, and she hopes her words are reassuring. She gently fingers the inked PROMISE tattooed around his left ring finger that matched her own. " You're already thinking of our child. Everything you said just now hadn't even crossed my mind yet. I guess it’s still sinking in, but... I can't think of ANYONE else that I would rather share this with, this... little piece of you and me. " ㅤㅤ
