Addy finds out she’s preggo and some sequential moments thereafter
The two double lines were enough to make her cry. She had bought a second test just in case. She took it, and it yielded the same result. Addy let out a squeal and jumped did a dance. Kai was at work, so there was no one to celebrate with at the moment. It was way too early to tell anyone else.
“Oh my gods,” she breathed with a smile, smacking the two positive tests against her palms. “Yes!!”
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“Hey babe!” Kai greeted, pushing through the door. His hair was damp, no doubt a consequence of spending the day teaching surfing to tourists. His hair was faded along the sides, Addy’s personal favorite style of his. It made him looked distinguished.
”Hi!” she said, practically running and leaping into his arms.
He was surprised, but not taken aback. Kai swung her up easily and spun her around the living room.
“What’s up, Sunny?” he laughed before setting her down. “Good day?”
“Great day!” She affirmed. “So great in fact, that I got you something.”
“For lil ole’ me?” He asked with a grin, sauntering into the kitchen after her. Kai touched the many house plants on his way into the kitchen, and they perked underneath the graze.
“Just for lil ole you,” she confirms, sliding over a box.
Kai grins at her before digging into the box. It’s stuffed to the brim with paper maggots, and he cocks his head.
“Dig through it, there’s some surprises in there.” Addy urges, bouncing on her heels.
“Why are you so wiggly?” He asked while digging through.
“Just do it, Kai!”
Kai shook his head as he exhumed whatever his prize was. Soon, he dug out a mini surf board. He smiled. “This is cute! I could make into a necklace. Thanks babe!”
Addy rolled her eyes in impatience. “Oh for Demeter’s sake, find the thing I want you to find. Down at the bottom.”
Kai stuck his had back into the box and pulled out a stick.
“A pregnancy test?”
“What’s it say?” Addy prompted. Kai looked at it, then looked at Addy, then once more looked back at the test.
“You’re-“
“Yes!” Addy squealed, tackling Kai in his chair. The two of them tumbled over to the tile floor.
“Really?” He asked quietly, brushing the hair out of her face. “Really, really?”
Addy nodded. “I took two tests this morning,”
Kai’s eyes watered, and he hugged her tightly. “Holy shit,” he yelled. “I’m gonna be a dad,” He pushed the bangs out of his face with a wide smile. “I’m gonna be a dad!!”
He took Addy’s hand and ran out the front door. “I’m GONNA BE A DAD!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Both Addy and Kai laughed when they heard the faint “congratulations!” from one of their neighbors.
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Kai squeezed Addy’s hand as the machine hummed to life.
“This looks great. Both heartbeats are strong,” their doctor confirmed with a smile.
“Oh that’s such a relief,” Addy said automatically. Then she blinked. “Wait, heartbeats?”
“Yes,” the doctor affirmed. “Twins,”
“Haha, that’s a funny joke,” Addy laughed, expecting their doctor to break character and join in on the joke. She didn’t.
“No, you’re having twins. Do you want to know the sex?”
Kai and Addy looked at each other and nodded. “Yeah,” Kai confirmed.
Context: an Apocalypse AU - Another step closer to healing.
Addy breathed in the warm morning air, and nuzzled into Kai’s chest. She felt him adjust to accommodate her spooning, his grip tightening around her. His skin was warm against her, and she breathed in his scent, not wanting to get up. But breakfast would be starting soon, and it was her week to muck the Pegasai stables, and then she had to wash up for the first round of archery lessons…
Addy opened her eyes, and wasn’t met with the Demeter Cabin. She was met with Kai’s room at The Farm, which, while it was welcoming, wasn’t where she wanted to be. She let out a heavy sigh, and looked up at her husband and studied his face in the soft light. Somehow, some way, he managed to maintain the upbeat smile that she adored. His hair was cropped, and he had wrinkles. A decade of surviving will age anyone, and Kai was no exception. Kai had chosen to lose his earrings and nose stud a few years back. Addy had a sinking suspicion he did this to try and forget what they had lost in The End. She’d almost lost him.
Before the End, he had just proposed. After, they began to pick up the pieces. They were on cloud-nine, despite their losses in the End, and everything was looking up. Then the disaster happened, the Fall came, and Marcie and her were away on quest. Addy tried to get a hold of Kai, but he was no where to be found. Those weeks of thinking he was dead, think they were all dead; were agonizing. She felt like the sun had disappeared, even though her father kept raising every day without fail. She’d prayed to him, to Demeter, to anyone who would listen. Addy lost a part of herself in The Fall. And, even though it had been a moment since the Fall, some wounds were still fresh it seemed. It had been getting easier, and she found herself able to breath more, and to take a moment, and spend time in places for more than a week.
As if sensing her thoughts, Kai pressed a kiss to her brow. “It’s been so nice ta ‘ave ya here, Ads. I miss ya.” He said softly, his voice heavy with sleep. He cuddled in, and she snaked her arms around his side as she leaned up for a proper kiss. She nodded in agreement. It had been a wonderful month. But she always had somewhere to be, someone to help. She couldn’t sit still like she used to be able to.
“I miss you too,” she promised. “every day, every hour.”
Mornings like these, in the quiet, before The Farm woke up, everything seemed almost normal. And as illogical as it was, Addy couldn’t move passed it. She and Kai had talked about kids, about moving out to Hawaii, about having dogs of their own. It was all there, and then it was all snatched away.
“Then stay,” He said softly, holding her close. Not a command, a plea.
Addy looked up at him. His big, brown eyes. There were so many emotions there; sadness, joy, concern, understanding. All of them for her. Addy felt the tears welling, and she blinked them away.
“You could come with me,” She suggested softly.
It was Kai’s turn to sigh heavily, curling her short hair around his fingers.
It was their agreement. Kai stayed, Addy went. Kai had The Farm to help maintain, and Addy had people to heal. He made sure that people got fed, and she made sure that people had the supplies that they needed; ambrosia, gauze, herbs that aided. Sometimes she fought off monsters that lurked, sometimes she helped out in the medic tents. It suited her; as she felt the constant need to check on everyone; make sure everyone was okay and had what they needed.
“It’s not fair.” Kai said finally.
“No,” Addy agreed as she tightened her grip on him, snuggling into the blanket. She thought to the future that they were supposed to have. “We were supposed to have kids,”
“We still could,” Kai said hopefully. Addy looked up at him, a betraying burst of excitement bubbling before she could suppress it. All they wanted to do was to be parents. To raise children. Maybe two or three, not like the nine that Kai wanted. Maybe it could work, Addy reasoned. Maybe they could stay with Kai on The Farm and Addy could visit. It was safe; there were demigods everywhere, some semblance of normal. There are some other kiddos running around,
“You know we can’t,” Addy replied softly, the hurt in her voice echoing the hurt in Kai’s face. He understood, she knew. She wouldn’t’ want to be away. And even if they thought The Farm was safe, they also thought that Camp was safe. There were always monsters, and sometimes monstrous people, and she could not live with herself is something happened to them. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, take that chance.
“I know,” Kai agreed. “But we can’t stop living, either.”
Addy nodded quietly, letting her vision blur as blinking no longer kept the tears at bay. She knew they couldn’t stop living. She knew this, and she was still trying to get to that place. But why didn’t she seem to be healing like everyone else was? Everyone else seemed to find joy, why couldn’t she? Why couldn’t she be the happy person she was before? Why couldn’t she be the person she knew herself to be?
“Addy,” Kai said sternly, tilting his wife’s face towards his. He knew her so well, and he knew where her mind was. “It’s not a race,”
She searched his face for an answer, desperately wanting to believe what he said. Her eyes widened.
Maybe, she thought suddenly, maybe she wasn’t healing because that old version of her is unattainable. Maybe that old version didn’t exist anymore. Maybe she was healing, but into a new person. She was doing the best that she could, and maybe that was enough.
Addy let out a relieved sob. “I love you,” she announced to him. He blinked, not surprised by the words, but by the sudden change in mood. Suddenly it seemed lighter. “I love you so much,” She said with a smile, grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him into a kiss.
“I love you too, sunshine.” Kai said with a grin as they parted. “So much.”
Kai wrapped pulled the blanket securely around them, and they held each other.
