Welcome to Gaia! ::

Something was wrong... Had been wrong for at least the past week. She had been tired and lethargic to the point of rarely leaving the chambers that she and WinK had shared since returning from their weekend honeymoon. Of course, it was easily waved away as having to do with all of the excitement... And perhaps the way the moon was so full. It often effected her in such a way.

It became severly noticable the day she didn't return to her chambers, having fallen asleep in her study while a potion was left bubbling on the burner. It wasn't like her... Not at all. She was never so careless.

He'd made sure the children were in bed, telling stories and threatening with chores by turn and what worked best for each child. When he made his way back to his room a soft frown pasted over his smile of just having left Aurora's room, the girl dead tired after digging a new plot for a hydrogarden all afternoon. Where was Skye?

With a sigh he ambled off to her study, opening the door slowly and looking at the scene before him the frown on his lips only deepened as he walked over, glancing at the bubbling liquid, but not touching it. "Skye?" He touched her shoulder gently to wake her.

She groaned softly as she was stirred, body seeming to curl in around itself; position most uncomfortable to look at as she was leaning on the table from her stool. When finally she awoke it was with clouded silver eyes that she greeted him, feigning a smile as best she could. "WinKling... I must have fallen asleep... What time is it?"

He smiled softly and kissed her forehead, though worry filled his eyes. "It's time for bed, but I see you've been slumbering early tonight. Is everything all right?" He'd never known her to get sick, just as he wasn't apt to and this odd behavior worried him.

"I... Was working on something... And before I knew it, I guess I was asleep." She chuckled softly in a way that seemed almost awkward, fingers reaching out to turn off the burner as she did so. "I think the potion's ruined... I'll have to try again come morning, I think."

Nodding he glanced around the room, making sure there was nothing that could be causing her sudden tiredness, but chocked it up to him being a paranoid newlywed. "Let's go to bed, all right? I've got to run to town in the morning and settle some bills, and I know you'll want to get back to work on that potion." He gave her a warming smile, knowing his beloved and how she loved her work.

She nodded slowly as she tried to stand, finding herself a bit wobbly on her feet. If asked, she would simply sum it up to being stiff from sitting for so long. There was no need to admit that she suddenly felt an extreme wave of lightheadedness... Afterall, she simply didn't become ill.

He frowned and reached a hand out, steadying his love. Studying her face his frown just deepened, causing the angelic face to look rather rapturous. "Skye, this isn't like you, what's wrong?" he demanded quietly.

"I'm just... Sleepy, I suppose. Perhaps I was sitting like that for a bit too long." She brushed her fingers over his arm, allowing a soft smile to tug at the corners of her lips, faltering only when a stabbing pain jolted at her side. "Ooh..."

About to return her smile, his worries flared higher as she winced. His mind was racing, this couldn't be right. The pair of them just didn't get sick ... especially not Skye, not so soon after they'd found each other and started a new life together. "What's wrong?" his voice cracked as he moved his hands to either of her shoulders, supporting her.

"Nothi--" She winced once more, facial features contorting into something akin to pain mingled with a great bout of nausea. An arm lowered to her abdomen as she found herself leaning heavily against WinK. "I don't feel so well..."

That was all the prompting that he needed. As gently as possible he picked her up and held her in his arms, leaving her work room and floating gently down the stairs. Finding 'Vyn still awake and brooding (when was he not brooding when he was by himself?) WinK told the boy to make sure everything was fine while he was gone and left, sprouting wings as soon as he was outside and took off, taking Skye to the nearest hospital.

She bit down on her lower lip as she was carried through the air, finding the feeling of the wind whipping against her very much less than calming. Her arms wrapped as tightly around his kneck as possible, slipping free only when they landed out of her strange exhaustion. Such an odd site they made upon arrival, of course they were greeted by a small army of medics; a few convinced that the apocolypse was upon them and the angel was coming merely to warn them to repent.

He snarled as one person near him started to pray and said something nasty about God and Jesus, which surprised the repenter into silence before looking around. "My wife is sick," he said, sounding very exhausted, his voice strained. "Please ... help." That's all he could ask. What could possibly be wrong? He protested when they were seperated as they took Skye off for testing but took to terrorizing the waiting room to the point of being yelled at, only to yell back, his wings fluffing up as he worried, his imagination running rampant with nasty, vile things that could be happening to his beloved.

For the time being, it was probably for the better that Skye was between realms of awakening and sleep. There was a reason why she had relied upon never being ill... She despised doctors; with the poking and the prodding as well as the needles? It was pure misery.

Finally, when all of the tests had been run, the doctor appeared in the waiting room. He shuffled papers nervously before looking up to the angel. "Mr... Angyles, is it?"

He stopped his frantic pacing which had scared the others waiting to the far side of the waiting room, his wings flaring slightly before he realized the doctor wasn't a threat. Not until he bespoke bad news anyway.

His lips twitched, still getting used to the name himself, even more-so than Skye. "Yes? Is she all right? Is my baby all right? What's wrong with her?" He barraged the doctor with questions, snapping his mouth closed when he realized the doctor needed time to answer them.

"Baby? So you knew?" The doctor was taken by suprise. Generally, in cases such as this, the man would simply say that his wife was pregnant and they'd run various diagnostics from there to gauge the issues. This man hadn't seemed to know much of anything... "She's a bit exhausted and slightly dehydrated... But she should be fine, Mr. Angyles."

He frowned. That didn't explain anything. Knew? Knew about what? "If she's fine then what was the pain in her stomach?" He looked past the doctor as if he could see Skye walking down the hall, but she was no where to be seen so his fixed his emerald gaze on the man again. "What in the name of heavenly wrath are you saying to me?"

"But..." There were so many strange creatures here in Gaia. Most of them chose this hospital to frequent... The doctor was seriously begining to ponder early retirement. "You said 'baby'... I assumed that you knew that..." He shook his head, clearing his throat before continuing. "Mr. Angyles, your wife is pregnant."

He stared at the man, dumbstuck. Obviously the man was daft. Angels couldn't have children, and neither could ice dragons. Combine the two ... and well, it wasn't exactly going to be a big happy family of herediatary children now was it? "Are you sure?" His face was scrunched up, confused entirely.

"Sir, we ran the test twice... It came up positive." At this point the doctor held up one of the papers on top of his stack, pointing to what must have been the results of said test.

He pushed his face close to the papers, and even closer when he kept reading and rereading the results, his heart racing faster and faster until he felt as if his head were soaring through the clouds. Pregnant. They were going to have a child. A child! "Is Skye all right? May I see her?"

"Your wife is alright... But she's resting. They've hooked her up to an IV, which she didn't seem too pleased about, but it was necissary." He shook his head slightly as he took the papers back from the winged man. "Just down the hall... Room 103."

He listened, nodding and taking all the information in and thanked the doctor, still in a daze as he walked towards the room, his eyes scanning the room numbers. Was she awake? Had they told her? He walked into R103 and looked down at Skye in a hospital bed and felt his heart leap in two directions: he hated seeing her like this but at the same time ... a child. "Skye," he said, whisper-soft as he sat down next to the small bed.

She scrunched her nose as she heard his voice, seeming to realize that the last time he had drawn her from sleep she had landed here in this bed. Her arms seemed slightly bruised where they had taken the blood to run the tests but, for the most part, her color had returned and she seemed healthy. "No more needles..."

He smiled in spite of himself. "No, sweetheart, no more needles." For a moment he was content to sit and brush her hair from her face and look down into her blue eyes, glad she was safe. "Has the doctor come to talk to you yet?"

"I told him to go away..." She huffed softly, opening one eye in order to peek up at WinK. "He's not coming back, is he?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No, sweetheart, you're well enough at the moment that we can go and not have to come back for a while," he said, squeezing one of her hands gently, his heart overflowing. "Sweetheart ... you're pregnant." The last two words came out in a soft rush, his excitment too much for him.

"Naw'm'not..." She shook her head slowly. "Can't be... Doesn't work that way... Even if the doctor told you... Silly people and their technology. It lies, y'know."

His heart wrenched as she spoke those words. He wanted to believe so badly that they could have a normal life (as if an ice dragon and an angel could every truly be normal anyway) together. "He said .... they ran the tests twice. Both came back positive, I saw the results," he said, his voice cracking.

"But... Even if I could... You couldn't..." Her lip quivered slightly as she pulled the pristine white sheet up over her body, clenching it tightly between slender fingers. "I didn't, WinK... I swear..."

He blinked, looking at her, surprised by her actions until he realised she was thinking he might be blaming her of infidelity. "No!" he was shocked. "I know you didn't lovely, I know you didn't! ... but the doctors still say that you're pregnant." He laid a hand on her stomach, his fingers spread out. "Can't we at least hope?"

She sniffled slightly, listening to the words that came from his lips. Her hand moved shakily to cover his, squeezing it gently. "I do hope... That you're right."

He looked up at her and smiled, leaning in to kiss her, his hand squeezing hers with all the hope he had in him. "Now ... I think it's time to take you home ... poor Vyn looked positively scared when we left," he said with a chuckle.

"Did they... Did they say you could bring me home?" She questioned after returning the kiss, leaning her petite body against his. If these doctors were right... She wouldn't be petite much longer.

He blinked, thinking for a moment before he excused himself to pester a nurse just outside the door before coming back in with the woman who looked annoyed as she gently removed the IV. "Time to go home sweetheart," he said with a smile, offering her a hand.

The nurse continued to quietly lecture WinK as Skye shifted from the bed, telling him to be careful with her... That they still weren't quite sure why she'd been in so much pain... And that he should be careful, yet again. Despite this all, Skye slipped her arms around her husband's neck, tail flickering sofly behind her. "Take me home..."

He smiled down at his love and placed a soft kiss on her lips, before insisting that the nurse call a cab if they were so worried about Skye he wouldn't be flying any time soon with her in his arms. Not until they were sure everything was all right.

The cab was called, and, in no time, despite more protests from Skye about riding in a 'rediculous metal box', they were on their way home. She spent most of the time sleeping, waking only when they were jostled by a bump.

He cuddled her gently in his arms, paying the driver when they arrived and carrying his sleeping beauty into the house without a problem, merely floating above the ground to make it at smooth as possible. He shushed 'Vyn, who was wide awake and sitting on the couch, about to ask a barage of questions at the sight of his parents. "In a moment," he mouthed before walking up the stairs with his wife in his arms.

'Vyn huffed but, seeing as though his mother had been returned, he dutifully returned to his own rooms where he'd be left alone. He'd badger more come morning... But, for now, he would sleep like the dead. Alone.

"WinK... Dun tell the kids yet..." She murmured softly as she nuzzled against him. She wanted to tell her own children, at least... Especially Keith. Heavens only knew how that would be accepted.

He nodded and kissed her cheek, settling her down on the comforts of their own bed. Too tired to change he simply lay next to her, glad he usually went barefoot as he didn't have to kick off shoes, and curled around the dragoness. "All right ... I'll tell Aurora in the morning once breakfast is done." Probably while she was gardening. She should be calm then. Should.

She would have replied had she not already been deep in the arms of sleep... Sleep... Such a beautiful thing...

It was nearly time for dinner and WinK had been thrown out of the kitchen by the older kids. He'd only wanted to make dinner for Skye, but mayhap they were right. He'd burned a hole through one pot, and according to 'Vyn they'd be damned if they let him do it to another. His lack of cooking skills strikes again.

Instead he trod up the stairs, humming, intent upon getting Skye to come out and eat dinner with the family. Or, with anyone who would stay around long enough. Life in this house was in constant motion, never stopping until the sun went down and bed times went into effect. Even then they had to catch up to and capture some of the children who thought curfews were too juvenille for their liking.

"Skye?" he said, opening the door to their shared bedroom, his eyes adjusting to the light quickly as he looked around for his wife.

Long pink bunny ears poked out around from the corner, as Laire attemtped to look into the kitchen without being noticed. She'd heard some fuss earlier, and was curious as to what it was about.

Lana came from around the corner, and grabbed laire by the back of her shirt, shoving her into the kitchen. "I believe I've caught us a spy...I wonder what we should do with her...I say chaining in the basement by her big toes...How 'bout you, 'Vyn?"

She groaned and attempted to roll over, opening her eyes to peer up at WinK only when she found that his hands were keeping her from doing so. "Not 'ungry... But you're going to make me go anways arn'tchuu?"

... ... ...

"As tempting as that is to take you up on that offer, Lana... I think the parents would be a bit upset." He chuckled before handing her a plate with slices of bread on it. "Be a doll and take this to the dining room for me and I won't call you a doll again." He was glad that they weren't fighting anymore... At least, not often. He didn't like getting his a** kicked by a girl.

Ash finally managed to shoo the Ashita out of the kitchen, but only if she followed him too. With a little wave to Keith the two of them took off after the creature; up to no good, no doubt.

WinK smiled and shifted so that she could move easier. "Of course I'm going to make you go. We all miss you," he said quietly. "Besides, the kids get jealous that I get to spend so much time with you," he said, a sly smile crossing his face.

Hearing the thunk and the cursing he chuckled gently. "Even Flarie is coming for dinner ... come on, sweetheart. Food will be good for you. I believe 'Vyn is making you something special."

---

If Aurora noticed the cookies she didn't say anything but finished setting the large table and then started bringing food from the kitchen to place on the table.

Keelan made his way into the dining room, watching his hooved steps carefully in case anything ran out in front of him and offered his help to the girls.

Flarie made her way downstairs, in a grumbly mood. She was hungover from the night before, having fallen into a small bout of depression, and drinking herself to sleep. She blinked as downstairs came into focus, and sniffed the air. "Food.."

She walked into the dining room, where everyone else was seated, and plopped down on a chair herself. "What I miss?...What meal is this?...And what time is it?"

Laire also plopped down into a chair, bringin her cookies down under the table and onto her lap, where she could keep them safe until the food stuff started. Stupid health food... "Flarie! You're awake!...It's about time!"

"You're grounded."

Lana snickered, and dropped her wings to the floor, as she watched to make sure everyone else was seated, and nothing else needed to be brought out, before she sat down. She rolled her eye's at the wolf-boy's comment, "What? Miss me coming in there to bother you?"

'Vyn's ears flickered at the strange sounds coming from Aurora's goblet. All of the noises in the house... He longed for the silence of his room again but, after his talk with Toki, it became clear that they were the only two who could be trusted with making a decent dinner. It wouldn't do at all for the little ones to go hungry because the adults lacked the skills to make anything decent.

He took a seat next to Lana while the strangly colored feline took the seat across from him. "All the time, don't'cha know." He chuckled... Maybe it wasn't all that bad. The food was definately good... It'd be better once they could eat it... Once Skye came downstairs.

Soon enough she did, clad in a pair of black silk pajamas with her hair pulled back into a braid. She didn't exactly look horrible... But she didn't look her best either. Carefully she sank into a seat beside Keith, offering him her best smile. "Good to see you, Nodel-mam. Uncle-Da almost burned down the kitchen. 'Vyn made teastuffs for you and mom came down to dinner along with Laire an' everyone else."

"So I see..." She chuckled softly before flashing a smile at Flarie. "Good to see you awake, dear."

Aurora jumped a bit at the napkin, the glass ceasing it's musical notation as her finger left the rim. She smiled good naturedly and laughed as the girls talked. She flashed an apologetic look at 'Vyn, remembering his sensitive hearing a little too late.
Keelan wrinkled his nose, silently agreeing with 'Vyn's unvoiced wish to be away. He was used to the orchard, and while he got along with everyone the stars were surely beautiful tonight, and he didn't want to miss them at all.

WinK laughed, blushing just a bit at Keith's proclimation of the angel's impending doom upon the household via his lack of ability to cook. "I think it's time to eat," he said, serveing himself and passing one of the large containers of spagetti and meatballs over.