All sound faded from the room, from the world. It was a serene silence, a blissful moment in time. And, all Felix could do was stare blankly at the Sage.

"W-what?"

"You're going to be a father, Felix," Aluin repeated.

"A…father?" The word sounded strange as it rolled off of Felix's tongue. His mind raced for what that meant until his eyes drifted to Eri's resting form.

It dawned on him then.

"Eri is pregnant," he stated flatly and without emotion. "Eri is pregnant," he repeated as he started to tremble with excitement.

Without warning he jumped from his seat. "Eri is pregnant!"

His mind now raced with exhilaration and he could not contain it. He pulled Aluin into a hug without thinking or caring, and began to almost dance. But he wasn't the only one who was elated by the news.

Still watching and listening, the two dragons expressed their excitement, albeit in their own ways. For Zira, she merely offered a simple congratulations. However, it was clear she was holding back. Kyrith, on the other hand, had no such issues. In fact, there was no doubt he was outside prancing with joy.

I'm going to be an uncle– Do you think I can be an uncle?! OH! Right! We talked about being a guardian! I'M GOING TO BE A GUARDIAN!

Zira grumbled, but her true emotions betrayed her. She was wondering something similar…

You two can be both aunt and uncle and guardians! Felix shouted with glee. His response was met with a draconic roar that caused the windows to shake.

Meanwhile, as Felix pulled Aluin along in his exciteful dance, Oralyn's eye twitched.

"Felix!" she hissed all of a sudden, loud enough to catch his attention. She scowled and pointed to the bed. "Eri is sleeping!"

And suddenly, Felix froze. He had completely forgotten about her. It was ironic, but he instantly felt regret. And, more importantly, a thought occurred to him.

"Does she know?" he asked as he pulled away from Aluin.

The poor Sage quickly straightened his clothes before answering. "No."

"Oh…" Felix looked down at his lover, his girlfriend…his mate. She was going to be a mother and she didn't know it yet. That took the wind right out of his sails.

Now calmed down, Felix sat back down in his chair. "I want to be here when she wakes up. I want to be the one to tell her."

Aluin gave him an understanding nod. "About that, actually." The Sage waited until he had Felix's attention.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

The elf shook his head no. "I have something to discuss with you about Eri's pregnancy, something you should know."

Felix raised an eyebrow but gestured for Aluin to continue.

"First, how much do you know about the different stages of pregnancy?"

He thought about it for a moment, even going through all his new-old memories. "Honestly? Not much. I know that a woman's body goes through some changes and takes about nine months… Outside of that though? I don't know."

"Understandable. For us men, it can be quite hard to fully grasp. However, I have assisted with plenty of pregnancies and delivered my fair share of babies. There are some things I must first explain before I get to the real topic."

"I'm listening, especially if it can help Eri in any way," Felix said, bringing his full attention to bear upon the Sage. Both Kyrith and Zira were doing the same. "Oh, I nearly forgot, but I have something I wanted to discuss with you as well."

"We'll have plenty time for discussions while we wait for Eri to wake," the Sage commented before taking a quick pause to gather his thoughts.

"Both elven and human women go through three stages of pregnancy. The first is the least noticeable. There can be symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, but that can easily be caused by any number of illnesses. It's only usually when they get to the second stage that it becomes obvious."

Aluin held up three fingers. "Each stage lasts roughly three months and the pregnancy itself lasts for a total of nine months. So, it's only around the start of the fourth month when the pregnancy becomes noticeable. Also, it's around that time where you can start to hear the child's heartbeat."

There was another pause as the elf dropped his hand. "Now, this is where things become a little different between elves and humans. And it all has to do with mana… You see, Felix, for a human baby, they don't need mana to develop. Even if they can make use of it later. But for elves, that isn't the case.

"We need mana, even as we develop within the mother's womb. It starts out with the mother providing said mana to the child as it grows within her. This often leads to them feeling light headed and exhausted. Normally, all they need is rest and this lasts until the end of the second stage…"

Felix listened along intently, mentally taking notes. Of course, he had questions but as Aluin continued, one by one they were being answered.

"…Once the pregnancy reaches the third stage, the child will have developed enough to be able to start taking in the ambient mana. And it's here where something rare, but not unheard of, happens. For as I hinted at, the child and mother are wholly connected and, occasionally, the child will share its mana with the mother.

"This can lead to what happened to Eri, a mana high." The Sage fell silent and looked expectantly at Felix.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

And he quickly caught on. "So… Wait. Are you implying that Eri is in the third stage? Is that even possible?"

Aluin smiled even as he shook his head no. "Absolutely not. And I checked, she is definitely going through the first stage. This is what I wanted to talk to you about."

"And I assume you know it was the baby giving her mana?"

The sage gestured towards the bed. "You can check for yourself."

But Felix didn't move, he trusted the Sage on this. Besides, I want to save the moment for when Eri is awake… "Has this… Has something like this ever happened before?"

"I have never seen it nor heard of something like this. It is…concerning. But! I don't believe Eri is in any serious danger. She, and you, will have to be careful though. And I will have to do constant checks."

Felix drew a deep breath and said a prayer. Mirezabeth, please let this pregnancy go smoothly. I can't bear to lose Eri or the child. Finished, he spoke up once more. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Of course, you know what to be on the lookout for now. And, if she goes through another mana high then you can do something similar to what you did earlier. Though, I would recommend not trying to absorb the mana. Instead, try to help her dissipate the extra mana from her body."

Felix cringed at the subtle chastisement. "In fairness, I was trying not to panic and acted quickly," he said in his defense.

"I know, which is why I won't hold it against you. Anyway, your mana manipulation is quite helpful in this regard. Makes the process that much faster."

"Is there anything else I should know or do?"

Aluin shrugged. "Get me, or one of the other Sages. There's going to be at least one of us here at all times. Especially after what happened… And don't worry, I will fill them in after we're done here."

The room fell silent as Felix mulled over everything Aluin had discussed. He tried to think if there were any other questions he had, but he was starting to feel a bit weary from all the excitement and his, still present, headache. Nothing came to mind…

Still, there was one topic he wanted to discuss with the Sage. Not to mention, he absolutely wanted to be alert for when Eri awoke.

"About what I wanted to discuss with you…" Felix said, changing the topic.

"Hmm? Ah, yes. What is it?" the Sage asked.

"This morning… I, uh… I started to feel strange urges–"

Aluin's brows furrowed in confusion. "Urges?"

"Yeah, urges… Draconic urges."

***

Felix sat quietly as he gently held Eri's hand while she slept. Aluin and Oralyn had left not long ago while Kyrith and Zira had decided to give him some time to think. And there was a lot to think about…

He was in deep contemplation, slowly realizing how much his life would soon change. It didn't help that the Sage had no answers as to why he would be suddenly feeling all these strange instincts. They both had guesses but only that, guesses. There was one potential person who might know, however, they were still missing…

Closing his eyes, Felix discarded those thoughts and decided to focus solely on Eri. What will she say? he wondered. Will she be excited? Happy? Or will she be angry? Regretful?

The last question made him freeze. It was doubtful, perhaps impossible, that she would feel either of those emotions but he couldn't stop himself from worrying.

Even with our bond, we can still hide our true thoughts…

He shook his head, hoping to remove the thought. We've talked about having children. Hells, we've talked about marriage. We already have a family…

Felix took solace in that. They were a family already. Eri, Kyrith and Zira, they were his family and now, they would be adding a new member to it.

That did leave one issue, marriage. We'll need to marry soon, he realized and not because he thought it was only proper. The elven Chiefs will want us to be married before Eri can be crowned Queen.

He pursed his lips in frustration. They all were running out of time… We need the full cooperation of the Chiefs. Damn it.

There was nothing more to be said. He and Eri would have to marry, and it would have to be soon. Still, he smiled at the thought as he glanced down to the ring Eri had given him.

I planned on marrying her anyway… What difference does it make if it's now or in a few years? His heart settled and most of his worries vanished. And, as they did, Eri began to stir.

Felix stood up and waited for her eyes to flutter open before leaning over her. "Good afternoon. Sleep well?" he said and kissed her.

"Sort…of?" she answered, as he pulled away. "Where… Oh, we're back in your room."

Eri slowly sat up in the bed and winced. "Gods, what happened? Why do I have such a painful headache?"

Retaking his seat, Felix couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Mana high."

She gave him a confused stare. "What?"

"You weren't feeling well, remember?"

"I…remember that, yes," she responded and began to massage her temples. "But then everything became hazy."

Felix nodded. "You went into a mana high. And… You aren't sick."

Eri's confusion only deepened. "Then what exactly happened?"

He thought for a moment on how best to break the news to her. An idea came to him. "Come sit here at the edge of the bed and take my hand."

"Okay…?" Puzzled about what this was all about, she did as he asked.

"Close your eyes and enter my mind. I will show you," he added as their hands clasped together.

As he felt Eri enter his mind, Felix activated his mana sight. The world turned vibrant but he focused on his lover. Specifically he focused upon a small, yet brilliant, mass of mana that coalesced near her womb.

What… What is that? she asked, stunned by the brightness.

Eri, look carefully where that mass is… See how it is keeping time with your heart? He waited with baited breath as she contemplated what she was looking at.

After several seconds he felt her frustration building. Felix, I don't– She instantly cut off her words. He knew then that she figured it out.

Ending his mana sight, Felix brought his gaze up to meet her face. Her eyes slowly opened as her expression became one of pure shock.

"Eri, you are pregnant with our child."

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