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Missing Scenes #1
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: The original version of Dead Flowers was supposed to be much longer and much more detailed, but I realized that if I left it that way, the fic would end up novel length, so I cut a great deal out of it, most of which I didn't bother to save. Here is one tiny piece I did save, in case I opted to use it anyway.
Pregnancy Woes
First it had been the cravings. Lumaria had been bewildered the first time he woke up in the middle of the night craving pickles with peanut butter, and he had been reluctant to bother the servants with something so strange, but they had simply nodded in understanding and gotten what he had asked for. Later it had been waffles with cheese, followed by (Thankfully normal.) fruit and salads and other fresh greens. His attendants assured him that such things were normal and that they were eventually go away.
The second thing had been the morning sickness. Lumaria lost track of the mornings he spend hunched over in bed, vomiting into a basin on his lap, while his nurse carefully held his hair back out of the way. Just the smell of eggs or pork was enough to make him sick again no matter what time of day, and things had only become worse when his bastard of a husband figured out that, by making retching sounds, he could make Lumaria even sicker. Though he'd gotten a nice bit of satisfaction when the physician, upon learning what the man was doing, ordered him to stay out of the room during the sickness bouts. The man hadn't been happy, but he couldn't do anything without making it appear as though he wasn't concerned about his wife's health.
Then there were the mood swings. One moment he would be fine, the next bawling like a babe, and then ready to tear into everyone and everything. Of course, considering what he was being forced to endure to keep the pregnancy going, severe and frequent crying really didn't surprise him, but damn, a sad scene in a book would have him crying his eyes out, while his nurse looked on with that knowing look on her face. He snapped at his attendants when they bathed him, snarled at his parents when they visited (That one really didn't surprise him either, seeing as they were the ones that allowed him to be put in such a state to begin with.), and sniped at his husband when the bastard spent time with him. Of course the last one usually got him slapped for insolence, which only caused him to cry again. Then there were the days when he spent lying in bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling, ignoring any and all attempts to get him interested in a book or conversation. The bouts of depression could also be blamed on his miserable situation, but the pregnancy didn't help them.
As the baby grew (And the morning sickness settled down, thankfully.) she began to move and kick, and she soon proved to be an active one. The physician assured Lumaria that the baby had periods where she would sleep, but she only seemed to sleep during the day. At night, when her mother was trying to sleep, she eagerly kicked and rolled and generally did whatever she could do to keep Lumaria awake. She especially loved waiting until he was about to drop off and then stomp hard on his bladder, bringing him back to full wakefulness instantly. It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that he was not permitted to walk, and late at night, there was no one to carry him to his bathroom, which meant asking his nurse to get out the chamber pot. He hated using that thing.
He then had to contend with his changing shape and size. His belly grew round and large, and he was horrified one day to see that he was growing breasts. They were very small, but they were there, and the mere sight of them made him howl in terror until the physician was summoned. The man patiently explained to him that such a thing was expected, and that once the baby was born, he would be capable of nursing her if he wished. Lumaria's frantic head shaking had put an end to that idea quickly, upon which he was told that they would go away after the child was born and the hormones supporting the pregnancy were gone. Needless to say, he had been very relieved to hear that.
As he neared the end of the pregnancy his back hurt, his ankles were swollen, his feet were always cold, he had trouble breathing due to the child pressing against his lungs, he continuously had to relieve himself, he couldn't get comfortable, and he just wanted it to be done, so his body would go back to normal.
Of course, the end of the pregnancy meant labor and delivery.
Ugh...
-- #2 Nightmares
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