"I didn't really...I mean, I wanted to talk to you about it first...I just thought Samuel Miguel was a nice name, that's all, and it just slipped out..."
D'oh. Um. She covers her mistake by grasping her husband's hands tighter, trying to pull him back closer to her. She realizes belatedly that she just scared the poor man. He must have thought she was hearing something else.
"Can't you hear it, too? I mean, you're the master plaga around here, daddy."
He stops. Reaches out with his parasite, listening closely for the sounds of that developing, infant one. And all he can 'hear' is the sweet, familiar song of his wife's, which is even happier than usual thanks to her bliss over coming in contact with her child like this.
But then he realizes if he links into hers, and then feels a little ways past it, like looking through gauze...He can hear another, tinier song. One that makes even less verbal sense than any other parasite he's heard before. It doesn't translate into rational thought processes like humanoid carriers. It doesn't translate into wants and input like animal carriers. It's simple, content musical communication, simply putting out little pulses of warmth and existence. It's simply saying that it's there.
"I know! I know!" She's grinning so big she's about ready to cry, her hands shaking over Ramon's.
She'd had half-formed hints, sweet little clues that the child forming in her womb was capable of this sort of thing, but then was never one hundred percent sure that she just wasn't imagining it. This, though...this is not her imagination. It's the voice of her son. And, yes, she knows that it's a son, now, no question. The ultrasounds of the last few months had been disappointing, in that respect. So many legs in the way meant that they had no clear view as to the baby's gender.
But now she knows. He's most definitely a he. And his delicate, wordless, joyous song of life and love is the most beautiful thing she's ever experienced in her life.
Ramon lapses into silence for nearly five minutes after that, listening to their infant. That heartbeat of a soul.
"...I can't hear it unless I listen through you, though." He doesn't sound disappointed, he's just informing her. "But-...Dios, that's beautiful." He doesn't want to stop listening now that he knows it's there.
She's content to remain silent with him, listening to her son as well. The news that he can't hear it on his own is just one of those little quirks, she supposes. Mothers always have a special bond with their children, anyway. Sorry, daddy!
Then, she looks up at her husband again, leans in and kisses him again. Utterly content to remain in this little tableaux for as long as they can, bonding with their child and with each other.
After a bit longer, he slowly, reluctantly, draws his 'influence' away from her, the sound of the baby forming inside of her fading like the last strains of a song. He doesn't remove his hands from her stomach, though. Or stop kissing her.
She can feel that pulling back, as weird as that sounds, and she can also feel his reluctance. The last little bit of worry that she had, about him being afraid of being a father, vanishes. Everything's going to be just fine.
Eventually, she breaks the kiss and pulls back, resting her hands over his, and catches his look.
"You mean how you're carrying him now doesn't count?" he teases. Yeah, yeah, he knows. But come on. The baby's currently inside her. Doesn't get any closer than that.
"Honey, don't take this the wrong way, but if this one ends up being an only child, I don't think I'd weep too terribly badly. I feel like I'm walking around with a bowling ball between my legs."
"Well, we were both without siblings, and we-...Well. Er. Nevermind." That was also a joke. Mostly.
"It's understandable, mi amor. And given what our child's going to be like, one should be enough. He'll be a handful, and I'd like to devote as much attention and time to him as possible."
"No kidding. You know how difficult it's going to be to baby-proof this place? I shudder to think. Heck, the stunt you pulled getting in here is a perfect example. If you can crawl through that opening, so can the baby. Ay carumba, to coin a phrase."
She pokes him in the ribs, gently and playfully.
"Hey, I sincerely doubt our problems are from being siblingless, goof. But...would you want another baby? Really?"
"I...don't know. Probably not. Or at least not right away. One baby, even if he's as special as he is already, is still hard to adjust to at all. The thought of having another down the line," or God forbid, a little girl the second time around, "is a daunting one."
"B...esides, wasn't this time a...scientific fluke?" Ah, that old sore that will probably never fully go away.
"Yeah, let's have this one, first. At least I know I'm not having surprise twins, like Jun and Derek did. I've been photographed from the inside so many times..."
Resting her head on his lap again, she hears that 'sore' spot in his tone and sighs.
"Honey, it was what it was. We now have a son, regardless how it all happened. I still dislike the choad, but we're having a son. Who cares? Eiko had said she would help us conceive, if we ever wanted to. So the next one, if we go there, wouldn't be a fluke. Okay?"
"I didn't really...I mean, I wanted to talk to you about it first...I just thought Samuel Miguel was a nice name, that's all, and it just slipped out..."
D'oh. Um. She covers her mistake by grasping her husband's hands tighter, trying to pull him back closer to her. She realizes belatedly that she just scared the poor man. He must have thought she was hearing something else.
"Can't you hear it, too? I mean, you're the master plaga around here, daddy."
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He stops. Reaches out with his parasite, listening closely for the sounds of that developing, infant one. And all he can 'hear' is the sweet, familiar song of his wife's, which is even happier than usual thanks to her bliss over coming in contact with her child like this.
But then he realizes if he links into hers, and then feels a little ways past it, like looking through gauze...He can hear another, tinier song. One that makes even less verbal sense than any other parasite he's heard before. It doesn't translate into rational thought processes like humanoid carriers. It doesn't translate into wants and input like animal carriers. It's simple, content musical communication, simply putting out little pulses of warmth and existence. It's simply saying that it's there.
"...Oh dios."
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She'd had half-formed hints, sweet little clues that the child forming in her womb was capable of this sort of thing, but then was never one hundred percent sure that she just wasn't imagining it. This, though...this is not her imagination. It's the voice of her son. And, yes, she knows that it's a son, now, no question. The ultrasounds of the last few months had been disappointing, in that respect. So many legs in the way meant that they had no clear view as to the baby's gender.
But now she knows. He's most definitely a he. And his delicate, wordless, joyous song of life and love is the most beautiful thing she's ever experienced in her life.
Reply
Ramon lapses into silence for nearly five minutes after that, listening to their infant. That heartbeat of a soul.
"...I can't hear it unless I listen through you, though." He doesn't sound disappointed, he's just informing her. "But-...Dios, that's beautiful." He doesn't want to stop listening now that he knows it's there.
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Then, she looks up at her husband again, leans in and kisses him again. Utterly content to remain in this little tableaux for as long as they can, bonding with their child and with each other.
She's going to have the best family ever.
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Eventually, she breaks the kiss and pulls back, resting her hands over his, and catches his look.
"I can't wait to hold him."
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"Honey, don't take this the wrong way, but if this one ends up being an only child, I don't think I'd weep too terribly badly. I feel like I'm walking around with a bowling ball between my legs."
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"It's understandable, mi amor. And given what our child's going to be like, one should be enough. He'll be a handful, and I'd like to devote as much attention and time to him as possible."
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She pokes him in the ribs, gently and playfully.
"Hey, I sincerely doubt our problems are from being siblingless, goof. But...would you want another baby? Really?"
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"B...esides, wasn't this time a...scientific fluke?" Ah, that old sore that will probably never fully go away.
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Resting her head on his lap again, she hears that 'sore' spot in his tone and sighs.
"Honey, it was what it was. We now have a son, regardless how it all happened. I still dislike the choad, but we're having a son. Who cares? Eiko had said she would help us conceive, if we ever wanted to. So the next one, if we go there, wouldn't be a fluke. Okay?"
Reply
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