//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: The Path to Parenthood // by FictionFreek //------------------------------// Shape, size, height, and several other features change as a pony ages; that much is a given. As such many ponies place their self-worth on their own appearance. And will go do whatever necessary to make themselves appealing to the eyes of others. However there are a small few who do not have this option, and unfortunately to her, Claire was one of them. Again she found herself staring at the mirror, again noticing the one part of her body that has and will continue to grow in the coming months. “You’re just going to keep on growing aren’t ya?” Claire said to the mirror “I’ve literally spend decades keeping my figure, and yet somehow you managed to reverse that in a few months.” By this point Claire began to pace back and forth, her eyes never straying from her reflections. “Oh but you’re fine with that am I right, sitting there all snug and comfortable.” Claire stopped for a moment and tapped her chin “But then again I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable, I mean, I do want you to grow healthy and all. But I know exactly how this is gonna end up, you’ll come out of me and leave the baby fat behind. It’s not easy for me to lose weight you know, it took mom two years to lose hers after she had T. Which means I might have to spend years-“ “Who are you talking too?” in a moment of surprise Claire let out a high pitched ‘eep’, followed by an impressive jump. One which launched her to the ceiling, her claws imbedding into it and preventing her fall. This feat which was adorable, impressive, and hilarious all at once however would never leave the room after that day. With the initial shock finally gone Claire looked down-or up rather- to see who had spooked her. “Lu I hate it when you sneak up on me!” she said. Both she and Illusion stared at one another for a moment, the latter of whose muzzle was scrunched in a battle of willpower not to chuckle. It was only when Claire tried to pry one of her claws from the marble ceiling did Claire finally break the silence. “Um…I’m stuck.” She said with a light blush. “Not hard to sneak up on someone who’s talking to herself.” Using his magic Illusion slowly pulled Claire free, lowering her upright onto the floor. “I wasn’t talking to myself…” she deadpanned as she turned towards the mirror again. “I was talking to the baby.” Illusion looked at her for a moment with an arched brow “Mothers talk to their foals while they’re in their stomach all the time, it’s not unusually.” She defended. “Talk, yes, though yours sounded like an interrogation.” Claire stuck out her tongue at Illusion through her reflection, pointing her nose into the air. “My way’s more fun.” From behind Illusion let out a small chuckle, gently wrapping his arms around Claire’s stomach. “Fair enough, so what were my two favorite ponies talking about?” he asked resting his chin on Clair’s shoulder. Claire let out a small sigh as she leaned back on to Illusion’s hold, rubbing her rounded belly for a few seconds. “Just about how much its grown, along with me.” Though the sight of her size increase wasn’t the highlight of her days, Claire couldn’t help but smile. In the months since its conception, her foal had grown large and healthy. And over five months into the pregnancy, the time when she’d finally see it with her own eyes was drawing near. “It…” Claire said under her voice. “What was that?” “Have you ever noticed how we refer to the foal? It’s usually, the baby, the foal, or ‘it’. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels a little…impersonal?” Illusion gave a light shrug, he could see what Claire meant, wanting to have a better way to refer to their unborn foal. Something that could help form a better connection between them, even if the foal couldn’t hear it said. “But we agree not to give it a name until after it was born.” “True, but, what about the gender?” she asked “This far into the pregnancy there’s a chance the doctors can identify it, don’t you think?” Illusion thought this over for a moment, up until now any checkups on the growth on the foal was to insure it was healthy. Not once had they tried to figure out the gender. Even Clair’s willingness to have an appointment showed just how much she wanted this. But there was a slight problem. “Thing is…I kind of want to be surprised.” Said Illusion “Sure maybe it’d make things easier, give us a better way to prepare for the birth. But I’ve always had this idea, you and I would be in the hospital, you having just given birth. And then the doctor would hold out our foal, and we’d see it for the first time. We’d get to see the hair color, fur, race, and even the gender; and we’d know that this was something we brought into this world, together. I just feel that knowing any of that ahead of the time would steal from the magic of that day.” Claire looked up at Illusion and placed a hoof on his face, chuckling lightly. “You can be so cheesy sometimes,” she said giving him a kiss “No wonder I fell for you.” But still there was a problem to be solved, one wanted to find out the gender, while the other wanted to be surprised. “So what do we do?” it was a tedious situation, but not one without an answer, and fortunately Illusion had one in mind. “We can do what my parents did. When mom was pregnant she couldn’t wait to find out my gender, but dad wanted to find out when I was born. Eventually they just decided to settle for the best of both worlds. After they went to the hospital dad left the room while mom found out the gender, then she just kept it a secret until I was born. Seemed to work fine for them.” It seemed like a grounded plan. But then Claire threw a wrench into it: “But if I keep it a secret I won’t be able to use him or her, and we’d be right back to where we are now.” Claire let out a small sigh “It’s not like not knowing the gender will hurt the foal, plus I’d prefer it if we were both on board. I guess it can wait for a few more months?” she shrugged. Illusion let out a small sigh of relief, he was sure something like this would have blown out into a long discussion. But it seems he’ll get out guilt free this time. “Besides, I’d hate to keep a secret like that from you.” Or so he thought… “I mean, sure you might be okay with it, but for me to know something so important and not tell you about it, it’d probably tear me up inside.” It may not have happened to Claire, but Illusion could already feel it. How long has gone by since he set up that team, a few month? And still Claire was none the wiser. Each day with nothing happening would convince him that she was fine, that what happened was a one-time event. But the fear that it wasn’t insured that the team had continued their job. He didn’t want to make the risk, even if he had to carry the guilt with him until the foal was born. “Besides, I doubt you’d be able to keep something so important a secret from me, right?” through loving eyes Claire looked up at him, a warm smile spread ear to ear. Tightening his hold on her, Illusion nuzzled her affectionately. “Of course…” Though hers and Illusion’s moment was great, his royal duties sadly had to get in the way. Soon enough Illusion had to leave and attend to an afternoon meeting, leaving Claire to herself. Laying on her back Claire looked down on her stomach, many questions forming about the foal developing inside. “I hope you don’t come out like T, I could hear mom from the waiting room when she gave birth to him.” She said, cringing from the memory of her mother’s screams from giving birth. There was no telling how big the foal would grow, it wouldn’t just have dragon genes, but a piece of everything Illusion was made of as well, there was no telling how it would develop. “Oh but I’ll love you anyway.” She said rubbing her belly, giggling lightly from the tickly sensation. This was until she heard a knock at the door “It’s open,” the nod turned soon after, and through the door stepped in one of the maids. “I apologize for the inconvenience, I just need to change the bed sheet.” She said. “No worries, go right ahead.” Said Claire as she rolled off the bed to allow the maid to do her job. “I see your pregnancy is coming along nicely,” said the maid as she worked on the bed. “It’s had its ups and downs, but overall it’s been a wonderful ride so far.” Said Claire. “Though I could have gone without the morning sickness.” She added with a chuckle. “Ah yes it can be a challenge, for my sister it was the mood swings. One moment she’d be a bright as the sun, then a second later she’ll be prepared to rip your mane off.” Said the maid. Claire thought of this for a moment, she’d have expected mood swings before, yet surprisingly they never came. She’d often wonder how she’d act, given her dragonic genes, there was no telling how fierce she could become. “Oh but it’s not something to fear, her swings were very rare and even then they were brief.” The maid assured her. She watched as Claire smile rubbing her belly, the sight of a soon to be mother was always something that could bring a smile to ones face. Deciding not to press further the maid continued to work on the bed. With the sheets removed and new ones set in their place, she was prepared to leave. But then she heard Claire gasp. “Is everything alright?” she asked quickly turning around, Claire didn’t answer at first, simply staring at her stomach, both hooves placed on it. For a moment the maid contemplated calling for medical help, but then she saw Claire began to smile. “It…it moved.” She gasped “I felt the foal kick!” to call it a squeal of joy would have been an understatement. But who could blame a mare for such a reaction after feeling their foal move for the first time. The let out a small breath, relieved that nothing wrong had happened, with a smile she took a few steps closer to Claire. During her moment of glee Claire had turned around, her back now turned to the maid. “Oh yes they can become quite lively at times,” she said with a chuckle “Would it be alright if I felt it?” she asked. It was in that moment that something strange happened, all the joy, all the giggling coming from Claire, it all just seemed to stop. The maid just stood there for a moment in the silence, wondering what caused Claire to stop, she’d seemed so happy a few seconds ago. “P-princess?” she stammered, wondering if she might have offended in some way. She watched as Claire head rose, and slowly, it turned to look back at her. When Claire stopped turning her head the maid could only see the side of her face, a shadow cast over it. And her pupil was slit, locking its sight with the maid before her. “I-is everything okay?” the maid said taking a step back, a bead of sweat running down her face. Claire didn’t answer, all she did was slowly turn, standing on low as her claws extended. As the maid backed away Claire would only step forward, slowly, a light growl heard as she inched closer. The maid wasn’t sure what was going on, but she thought her best choice was to get out of the room as slowly as fast as she could. But then she bumped into something solid, daring a look she saw that her back was literally against a wall. And the door, in the one place she wished it wasn’t, on the other side of the room, with Claire standing between them.