[G] [C] 739.01.11 | Exciting News

She had been to three Healers in the last several days. Rhaedalyn didn’t want to take any chances and had gotten a second and third opinion, letting them poke and prod her as much as needed so they could give their best estimation. Once she was satisfied with the news, life seemed even brighter than normal.

She was having another baby with R’nya!

And this time, it wasn’t from a Flight. They both loved Alyren to the moons and back but she had been conceived from their second Flight together. Now that she was pregnant again and Aradissicath on the Sands again, Rhaedalyn didn’t want to take any chances and wanted confirmation from when she conceived. She didn’t want R’nya to think the only time she would allow herself to be pregnant was when it came from a Flight and her own dragon couldn’t do the trip between. In fact, she never even thought about those trips. She loved children and wanted to have at least two more with the man she loved.

As she set out the dishes, placing each utensil delicately in the right place, Rhaedalyn wondered how R’nya hadn’t already caught on. She was three months’ pregnant now but the signs had definitely been there—though most of them he wouldn’t necessarily notice, or assume he had caused them. She had missed her monthly flow and soon after that the nausea started. It didn’t happen too often in the morning, like women always said, but hers came more in the evening. That was kind of a good thing, since the girls were usually tucked into bed and R’nya was sometimes working late or off mingling with Holders to help keep the peace. Her mate was so dedicated and wonderful!

But her breasts were tender and swollen, fatigue started to hit her by midday, and a headache would appear at random. They were all symptoms from her first pregnancy as well but still she didn’t want to jinx anything and ask a Healer too early on. She had waited several more weeks before deciding she was starting to show and it was a good time to confirm everything, including how far along she was. Since she was becoming a pro with note taking for her Weyrwoman duties, Rhaedalyn had a detailed timeline of every symptom to pass along.

And so it was confirmed she conceived roughly a month after her dragon had Flown.

Rhaedalyn sang softly to herself as she stirred the stew she had left simmering all day with the help of D’hys. The bluerider was surprisingly handy in the kitchen and was just as surprisingly patient with her as he taught her his secret recipe. They had an odd friendship, considering he was close with Z’ia, but he had always been nice to her and seemed to help R’nya a lot. D’hys was usually the one to let her know when the bronzerider was working late when R’nya forgot to do it. He had left an hour ago, promising R’nya had told her he’d be finished doing his task by eight and a late dinner would be appreciated as he had no doubt the Weyrleader would be famished.

So Varlea and Alyren were sent to stay with a friend for the night because Rhaedalyn wanted the night to be perfect and without interruptions, especially given how she knew she wanted to celebrate as she didn’t feel queasy or sore. And while she had vastly improved on her baking over the years since her first attempts at treats for R’nya and her fellow Golden Girls, Rhaedalyn opted to stick with a classic cookie she knew he loved. At least, he said he did. She didn’t think he was humouring her but it wouldn’t have surprised her either. He was too kind to say or do anything that would intentionally hurt her but Rhaedalyn felt like she was getting better at telling when he genuinely liked something as opposed to when he said he did.

She was just pouring the wine when she heard Xyreith land on the ledge. She quickly finished up with the drinks and spooned out the stew into the waiting bowls and turned the plate of buns around twice before she was happy with their presentation.

She smoothed a hand down the loose dress she was wearing, making sure it was straight and everything was perfect. “Welcome home!” She greeted as soon as R’nya walked in the door. “D’hys said you would be out late due to working hard on relations with some holders. He expected you to be exhausted and starving so I made a quick dinner before getting you to bed.”

R’nya was tired, but not for the reasons D’hys had alluded to; he had actually gone to Fort Hold for a time to talk to various leaders – which had definitely given him a headache - before detouring to Telgar to let Quilriana know how her son was doing. He had not meant to stay as long as he did, but they had gotten talking (as they usually did) and time had slipped away. He had probably had a little more to drink than he usually did, but he was a far cry from drunk; just feeling slightly buzzed and a little fuzzy in the head. He decided, as Xyreith landed on the ledge of their weyr, that a nice hot bath with some of Rhaedalyn’s relaxing bubble liquid sounded marvellous and then to curl up in bed and go to sleep until late the next morning.

The bronzerider smiled warmly when Rhaedalyn greeted him, stepping close to her and kissing her lightly on the lips and then the tip of her nose. “Thank you, my love.” He kissed her again, this time on the forehead, before peering over her shoulder. “What have you been up to?” He quizzed with a gentle, playful tone. “D’hys been teaching you more tricks of the trade?” The bluerider was full of shit feeding Rhaedalyn strange tales to explain R’nya’s time away from the Weyr, but he was a decent man and R’nya liked that he kept Rhaedalyn company when he himself was called away by his duties. Maybe he could take Rhaedalyn down to Fort next time he had a meeting. He was sure she would enjoy the women of the court there, or perhaps she could take the girls to the local gardens now the flowers were beginning to bloom.

“Fort was as boring as always,” R’nya smiled, rolling his eyes as he took Rhaedalyn’s hand and led her to the table. Pulling her chair for her, he glanced towards the girls’ room and raised an eyebrow; he could tell by the fact that the curtain was not pulled that they were not in there. “Where did you send our babies?” He asked, neither upset nor worried, but obviously curious. Rhaedalyn never sent the girls away for a night without good reason, simply because they both missed them so much when they were not there. R’nya was more than used to waking up to a toddler’s arm in his face or sprawled across his stomach, and found it odd whenever they woke up without at least one of the girls having crept into their bed during the night.

Pushing the chair in gently when Rhaedalyn had taken her seat, R’nya slipped into his own seat and smiled appreciatively. His wonderful lady’s cooking skills had greatly improved over the Turns, through her own determination but also apparently through finding strangely talented cooks such as D’hys (who would have guessed?) to help guide her and teach her about how to not destroy ingredients. R’nya appreciated that, since he enjoyed good food more than burnt food. Lifting his glass of wine, R’nya tilted it to Rhaedalyn’s and smiled at her with deep affection. “To my greatest love.”

You mean me? Xyreith said loudly, to both riders and Aradissicath. Sir! How kind of you! I love you too! The bronze dragon’s tone was sassy, and R’nya laughed softly at the intrusion, tossing an amused wink at Rhaedalyn, enjoying her expression more than he cared to admit; she always seemed so star-struck when Xyreith spoke to her! “Bugger off you great lump!” Xyreith rumbled with amusement and turned his attention to teasing Aradissicath.

“The girls are with the usual kind soul that doesn’t mind taking them for a night,” bless that woman for adoring the girls so much and especially for taking them last minute. Rhaedalyn felt like she was imposing on her kindness and vowed not to do it too regularly and to make sure a nice thank you gift was given. Maybe she’d ask R’nya to look for something on his next trip to Fort Hold and she could bake something. That way they’d both have contributed to a gift of thanks. “It’s been a while since we had a quiet night in together.”

Her thoughts were interrupted by Xyreith popping into her mind and Rhaedalyn gave a little squeak of surprise and her eyes went wide. The great bronze beast bespoke her so little that the rare time he did always startled her. Sometimes Rhaedalyn thought he did that purposely to get those very reactions out of her. She quickly got over this round of surprise, though, and giggled at Xyreith’s antics. He always came across as stoic as his rider but she knew R’nya’s sillier side and felt the dragon matched that perfectly as well. “You two have such a wonderful relationship,” she giggled again before eating a few bites of stew. It was delicious! D’hys had been right about how much of that spice to add; it was simply perfect.

“And yes; D’hys was amazing today! He showed me the best way to slice the meat so it cooks evenly and gets tender but not tough from over cooking. How much of each spice was also a great tip. Thank you for keeping him as part of your staff.” Rhaedalyn smiled and took another bite. D’hys wasn’t anything like Z’ia despite them once seeming to be inseparable and he was rather lovely. She refused to believe any of the gossip about him being a playboy, heartbreaker, and rough in Flights. But then, it wasn’t like she was all that up to date on gossip since becoming Weyrwoman so all of her info was outdated. Maybe he was like that and had calmed down over the years?

“Anyway, finish up. I have a surprise for when we’re done.” She didn’t want to mention anything during dinner as she didn’t want R’nya to neglect himself any further than he already did on busy days. She’d say she was pregnant and he’d likely be extremely happy and then forget all about food. Especially if she got her way about how they would celebrate.

“She is a wonderful woman,” R’nya agreed, smiling gently. She was also trustworthy and knew to get in contact with them the moment anything happened with the girls. If R’nya had been over protective of his Golden Girls, it was nothing compared to the protective streak he possessed for his little girls; Faranth help the poor souls that sought their affections when they were older! R’nya already knew both girls were going to be stunning, though he could only take some of the credit for that on part of Alyren; Varlea was going to be no less beautiful though he was glad she wasn’t showing the personality traits of her parents!

R’nya smiled warmly at Rhaedalyn’s compliment on his relationship with his dragon, but did not deign to comment on it. He found it strange when people didn’t have a good relationship with their dragon, though he’d seen it enough over the Turns to know it was something that did happen, and perhaps with more regularity than a lot of people realised, even other dragonriders. That wasn’t to say that riders and dragons didn’t love each other, but he’d seen a lot of bickering between partners in his time, and it was hardly limited to proddy greens and their lifemates.

Following Rhaedalyn’s lead, he sampled the stew and found it to be extremely good; R’nya smiled around his mouthful, which he finished before responding to Rhaedalyn. “Perhaps I should re-assign him to the kitchen,” he teased, though they didn’t get a lot of their meals from the community kitchen, he was sure a lot of the other individuals in the Weyr would surely appreciate eating something as good as the stew before him at least once a week or so! He could only imagine what trouble the bluerider would cause if he were to be locked in the kitchen with the kitchen staff once a week, though! R’nya was quite sure he would petition for a transfer before R’nya had finished making the suggestion!

“A surprise?” R’nya asked, raising an eyebrow and his lips tilted slightly in a playful smile. Rhaedalyn was not usually so demanding and pale eyes sparkled with amusement. “Very well then.” Tossing her a teasing glance, R’nya made a great show of eating extremely slowly, for all of about two minutes before he laughed and set about eating at a more proper pace; slightly faster than he’d normally eat but hardly fast by most people’s standards. He finished in a timely manner, however, and pushed his bowl away as he licked his lips, eyeing Rhaedalyn suggestively. “I am ready for this surprise now,” he grinned.

Rhaedalyn giggled at the thought of D’hys down in the kitchens. That could go in so many ways, she didn’t know which one would happen or what she’d end up thinking about it. She settled on whether or not he shared his special recipe, he’d still charm the skirts off of everyone down there and everyone would starve while D’hys thoroughly distracted the ladies. “Probably best that we keep him to ourselves.”

She watched, sometimes with her nose scrunched in annoyance, as R’nya made a show of taking his time. At least he seemed to be genuinely enjoying the meal! While R’nya dragged the dinner out, Rhaedalyn thought of ways she could show her appreciation to the bluerider. A larger weyr was probably too much favouritism but maybe they could give him several extra days off so he could go and do what he pleased. She’d have to remember to bring that up with R’nya later. Right then, she had a surprise to give now that her mate deemed himself ready.

“Weeeeell,” she dragged out the word as she got to her feet. It took all her energy to keep from bouncing and grinning like a fool before she could get R’nya to his feet. The cookies were forgotten as she took his hand and led him to the bedroom, knowing full well what he’d be thinking but also knowing she was okay with that line of thought. But first!

She stopped them at the foot of the bed, leaving R’nya behind her as she quickly went over the speech she had decided on and been practicing for a while and then turned back to face her mate. “I know how much you love our girls and how wonderful a father you are. And I also know you’ll have just as much love for our new little one we’ll have in about six months.” And with a bright smile, Rhaedalyn shimmied out of her loose dress, no longer shy and embarrassed about being nude in front of R’nya, and placed his hand on hers over her just beginning to show bump.

R’nya was trying valiantly not to laugh in delight at Rhaedalyn’s obvious excitement about whatever her surprise was. He had a solid idea of where it was going to go, indicated quite neatly by the way she lead him to the bedroom, and he enjoyed the view of her from behind as he followed her. Her hand was warm in his, and her hair was swaying against the back of her shoulders. He lowered his gaze and watched with appreciation the sway of her hips as she walked, resisting the urge to reach out and grab her, to pull her back against him so he could show her how much he loved her; she was beautiful and captivating. Moreover, she was sweet, fun, and wonderful company. He loved eavesdropping on her stories, especially the sweet tales she made up for their daughters.

Stopping when she did and leaving the distance between them that she had initiated, despite the warm curl of lust flowing through his tummy and lower; he ached for her as he watched her, waiting. When Rhaedalyn turned to face him, R’nya lifted a questioning brow, a smile lingering on his lips and his eyes bright with both his love and his lust for his wonderful mate. When she started speaking, confusion caused R’nya’s eyebrows to furrow slightly and he tilted his head to one side, wondering where she was going with that line of thought. He did love their girls, but he wanted to focus on how much he loved Rhaedalyn right now! He almost did not catch the tail end of her statement and it took him a couple of blank seconds to comprehend, staring at Rhaedalyn with his jaw just slightly dropped. He shook his head slightly, lowering his gaze to their hands on her tummy, and then raised it to stare at his wonderful mate, face glowing with pleasure.

Stepping forward, R’nya swept Rhaedalyn into his arms, stealing her lips in a heated kiss as he held her tightly, absolutely thrilled more than he could ever put into words for her. Therefore, he did not tell her in words, he showed her with actions – some of their favourite were sure to come into play, he had no doubt! Dropping down her body, R’nya placed a hot trail of kisses along her chest, down her belly where their youngest child was currently growing, and continued until he reached her sweet spot. He encouraged one leg over his shoulder so he had better access as he knelt before her, teasing her first with simply his warm breath for a few moments, before giving kisses, licking, sucking and nipping as he thrilled in the sounds she made. They’d been together long enough that he had a good idea of what and how she liked things, but he was still careful to pay attention to her movements and sounds, picking up queues from those and adjusting appropriately.

He delighted in his current task, enjoying her taste, her sounds, her responses, and ultimately holding up the bulk of her weight when she collapsed against him in bliss. Licking his lips and lowering her leg back to the floor, R’nya kissed his way up her stomach until he was standing before her once more. Carefully, he picked Rhaedalyn up gently and held her against him for a few moments, face buried against her neck, before he carried her the couple of steps so he could gently lay her down on the bed. Smiling affectionately, he set about removing his own clothing, smiling at her with adoration as he finally climbed onto the bed beside her, nuzzling against her and letting his hands wander. “My wonderful Rhaedalyn,” he said gently, shifting to steal her lips for another kiss.

Everyday Rhaedalyn marvelled at how R’nya was her Prince Charming that she had always dreamed about and told stories of. Why it had taken her so long to see it still baffled her but the way he paid homage to her body, scooped her up, and then held her close made up for any lost time. He was a gentleman, though also a thief. He had stolen her heart long before she accepted that fact but was so happy he had. She held out a hand in invitation after being deposited on the bed and watching him strip; that was something else she delighted in. Everything about R’nya was just so perfect!

She giggled at his words before enjoying the kiss and his touch. She knew he’d be happy with the announcement and know it was his. Unlike when she discovered she was pregnant with Alyren and told Z’ia. The bluerider had denied it was his and broke her heart in a span of seconds, but with her bronzerider, they both knew the child was R’nya’s and that he’d want another one just as much as she did.

Spurred on by the affection for R’nya, Rhaedalyn grinned wickedly as she shifted to her knees. She wasn’t the only one that was going to be pampered and left feeling like jelly from a skilled touch. “I’ve cleared our schedules until late morning so we can celebrate properly however we want and for as long as we want,” she placed a finger to his lips to keep him from replying as she wanted him to focus on the here and now and nothing more about their duties.

Moments later she was mimicking R’nya’s earlier actions of trailing kisses down his body and along one thigh, purposely avoiding the treasure she was after a little longer. Anticipation could make something all the better! Once she was convinced R’nya was well and truly tortured, Rhaedalyn moved to the prize, gliding her tongue up the underside of his shaft. She was going to take her time pleasuring him before giving into any other desires. After all, they did have all night and just the two of them were home (she’d even sent her firelizards off to watch over the girls) so she wasn’t going to rush anything.

R’nya’s hand was moving gracefully across Rhaedalyn’s stomach, his face awash with a gentle glow of delight and a small smile. He was thrilled by Rhaedalyn’s surprise, loving how she’d delivered it and what it was she’d told him. Another baby! He’d always known women were prone to getting clucky when there were babies around or they wanted one or another one, but he’d never thought he would be so affected! But, as he watched his baby girls growing up, he was startled by how much he missed them being little. He loved both girls desperately, Alyren and Varlea, who was as much theirs as Alyren was. R’nya would never deny the girl that she was borne of blueriders, which ones, or why she was with them. Nevertheless, she was young yet, and knew only what she could comprehend.

R’nya looked up, slightly startled, when Rhaedalyn moved and was suddenly kneeling. His lips twitched at her expression, pale eyes brightening in amused anticipation. He took a breath, parting lips to speak a pleased response, when Rhaedalyn silenced him with one gentle finger. He laughed and made a grab for her finger with his lips, though she was off and moving and he hummed in pleasure at her warm kisses. Her teasing was incinerating and R’nya lifted his head to frown down at her, though the expression was playful. He flopped back down with a gasp as her tongue! Laughing softly, R’nya enjoyed Rhaedalyn’s delightful skills for as long as he could, before wriggling out from under her and playfully pinning her to the bed, her arms above her head.

“Enough torture,” R’nya growled huskily, before kissing Rhaedalyn slowly, tempting and teasing her – and himself – before pulling away, enjoying the way both their breaths were coming in desperate pants. Smiling down at her, R’nya released his gentle grip on her wrists and brushed hair off her face, kissing her on the lips fleetingly, then down her jawline and her neck, across her collarbone and down over her breasts.

* * *

R’nya smiled lazily as he pulled Rhaedalyn’s delightfully limp body against him, nuzzling her neck and kissing her gently on the shoulder. He didn’t know how much time had passed since she’d shared her secret, her surprise; a lot, probably! The way the time had been filled had been thoroughly enjoyable and most wonderful, and R’nya was sure from her words (and lack thereof) that Rhaedalyn had enjoyed it as much as he had.

“You are a most amazing woman, Rhae-my-love,” R’nya’s voice was still husky and lower pitched than normal as he murmured in Rhaedalyn’s ear, peppering her with butterfly kisses between words and because he could, his hand caressing her stomach lovingly.