The way words seemed to fail him did anything but assure her. She cringed a bit with a nod as he glanced from her face and down to where she held his hand. Where there was life that was a little bit of both of them flickering in its beginnings. But then he smiled, and there wasn't even a second's pause between when his started and hers did too. She let out a breathless laugh and leaned into his touch, his calloused hand familiar and near thrilling against her. She hadn't thought to have doubts about him, about whether he'd step up - it was her mother that had left them, not their father, and Ronin was in a different league than Cyphas had ever been.
Vanya brought her own free hand up to where his was and nodded, never taking her eyes from him.. but she was grinning crookedly. ”No,” she said. ”After magically appearing in a frightening new world with almost half the people we know missing and no idea what's happened to us, after telling you that I love you, I am not being serious about this.”
Vanya was still grinning, and the sureality of it was settling in. Her heart fluttered, and where their hands rested over her stomach, she pressed his hand just a little bit lower, just below her navel to where she knew the baby would be in its early stages. The second eldest Hali had raised four of her siblings, so she knew how all of it worked. She was no stranger to this, she would be fine. She told herself that, didn't let herself think further than that. She didn't want to think about how afraid she was… or think about how her siblings were absent, that she couldn't tell them they were to be uncles and an aunt.
Instead she grinned and pressed a kiss to his palm, nutmeg eyes never leaving his. ”We're having a baby, Ronin,” she said, and suddenly it was real and irrevocably true. They were having a baby together.
Vanya brought her own free hand up to where his was and nodded, never taking her eyes from him.. but she was grinning crookedly. ”No,” she said. ”After magically appearing in a frightening new world with almost half the people we know missing and no idea what's happened to us, after telling you that I love you, I am not being serious about this.”
Vanya was still grinning, and the sureality of it was settling in. Her heart fluttered, and where their hands rested over her stomach, she pressed his hand just a little bit lower, just below her navel to where she knew the baby would be in its early stages. The second eldest Hali had raised four of her siblings, so she knew how all of it worked. She was no stranger to this, she would be fine. She told herself that, didn't let herself think further than that. She didn't want to think about how afraid she was… or think about how her siblings were absent, that she couldn't tell them they were to be uncles and an aunt.
Instead she grinned and pressed a kiss to his palm, nutmeg eyes never leaving his. ”We're having a baby, Ronin,” she said, and suddenly it was real and irrevocably true. They were having a baby together.
