Chapter Text
Sara wasn’t much on the marriage thing, but then she hadn’t really thought she’d ever have a kid either. Oddly enough, that had never been in her plans. She had thought it was just another way her and Shane were perfect for each other. Still, she was adamant (and told Shane more than once) that they weren’t going to let this change them. They would still live the life they believed in. And really, what was 18 years in the life of a vampire? A mere drop in the bucket. Shane didn’t disagree. So what happened next surprised both of them.
It started with Shane taking her out to his garage one afternoon, to ‘show her something’. It was an old, antique wooden cradle. Shane was obviously in the middle of refinishing and fixing it up.
“I just thought it would be nice to, you know, the personal touch”, Shane explained, finger almost shyly tracing the Runes that he'd painted on the side. “These are for protection and good luck,” he explained. “This is Algiz,” he said of the first. “A shield of protection. Next to it is Ansuz, the rune of Odin, the God of our people. It symbolizes the importance of naming, and that’s why her name follows it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Sara managed, although she was pretty speechless at Shane’s demeanor.
And then as if suddenly overcome by emotions, Shane fell to his knees and put his arms around Sara’s body. “Please… Please marry me, Sara.”
Holy shit on a half shell! Well, what else could she say to that? She held his head tenderly. “I’ll marry you because we want to, Not because they want us to.”
He nodded jerkily, trying to get himself under control. “Okay.”
XXX
Sara came out of the bathroom, looking Shane thought, very cute in her baby doll pajamas with the picture of the stork on the front.
“By the way, just FYI… I’m keeping my clothes on for the next six months. I’m not getting undressed in front of anyone.”
Shane pondered that a moment. “Uh, but I’m the only one you get undressed in front of, aren’t I?”
“No matter.”
“Oh.” Another pondering pause. “Why?”
Sara gestured vaguely in the direction of the magazine on the bed. Shane picked it up and flipped through, noting the seminude photos of heavily pregnant women. Sara slipped into the bed and turned off the light.
“Hmm,” he said noncommittally, tossing the mag aside, for want of something to offer. Shane was a thousand-year-old Viking vampire who just a few months ago would have told you in no uncertain terms, that he was 200 percent sure, and he was never going to get a woman pregnant. He was totally a fish out of water.
“I can’t believe this sort of thing is natural.” Sara shuddered, referring to the “horrific” photos of babies inside of stomachs.
Shane would have laughed, but it was all pretty weird to him, too. They would handle it like they did everything else: together. He spooned up close beside her and rested his hand on her belly under her top. It never failed to give him a strange thrill. “Then how are we going to have sex?”
“I’ll wear one of those long nightshirts, no underwear,” she told him shortly.
“What if it’s a turn-on for me?” he continued picking his way through the dark.
“What are you, some kind of weirdo?!” but there was a trace of laughter in her voice and she settled back into him more comfortably, his presence as always, soothing her. Her hand met his, resting on top.
Shane kissed the side of her face, just next to her ear. “No one ever accused me of being normal,” he agreed.
“I’m hungry!” Sara exclaimed a few moments later, not sounding happy about it.
“What can I get for you?” Shane asked solicitously.
“Some of the pie Aunt Pat sent over,” she decided with a sigh. He got out of bed to comply, and could hear her complain all the way to the kitchen. “Watch I get fat while I’m knocked up and can’t lose the baby weight. Then end up having an emergency Turning for some reason and bam! Fat for eternity.”
Shane was starting to catch a clue that the next few months were going to be very different. Sara was already acting out of character. Emotional, modest, worried about her weight, things he had never seen in her. What the hell did the rest of the duration hold?!
They spent a lot of time in Resurrection for the next half year, to Ethan’s delight. Good fortune for him that Sara developed an obsession with Stevie Nicks re: long flowing dresses with lots of material. It was too hot in L.A. for that kind of wardrobe, so for the first time in Sara Adams's life, she chose to be in Alaska.
If the winds of change hadn’t been blowing for our vampires before, the gale was close enough now that the howl could be heard from the woods of the Alaskan wilderness to a small but stylish vampire lair in L.A. It was to be a hurricane that left no one the same.
End
8/25/13