Chapter Text
Week 14
His slumber hadn't been very peaceful to begin with. Consumed with on and off nightmares and strange dreams, Garroth startled awake yet again. This must have been the fifth night in a row. His sleep was usually plagued by tragic visions of his family, something terrible happening to Laurance, or the worst one was either Aphmau or their unborn child dying. Running his hands over his face, Garroth stared up at the canopy above their shared bed. Garroth had insisted he move in with Aphmau after he'd learned of her pregnancy. He wanted to be there for her for anything she might need. He still held brief memories of how his own father treated his mother when she was pregnant with his younger brothers. Although his mother's pregnancy with Vylad had been treated worse because of Vylad's father.
Garroth groaned softly and subtly stretched over the bed as he ran his hand through his messy golden curls. The darkness of the night clung to the room he laid in. It would likely be hours before dawn would even begin to make itself known to the world. While he was distracted with the fading memories of his dreams and his childhood and the quietly rising dawn, Garroth felt the bed shift beside him. He had just barely turned his head to the side when he suddenly heard Aphmau hurling.
Immediately sitting up in bed, he reached for the candle he kept at his bedside and lit it. Holding it out, he saw Aphmau hunched over a bucket cradled in her lap with her legs swung over the side of the bed.
"Aphmau?" he whispered her name with a gentle worry.
The raven haired woman groaned into the wooden bucket she held in her lap. Garroth slipped out of bed with the lit candle in hand and padded to the other side of the bed. Setting the metal candelabra on the table beside their bed, he gently placed a thick hand to her arm.
"Are you alright?" he asked her gently as he carefully assessed her. She had some puke coating the ends of her hair which meant she'd definitely need a bath.
Tears clumped Aphmau's thick lashes together as she trembled from the sudden vomiting. "I feel a little better now." she mumbled half heartedly.
Garroth nodded, although he could see she looked quite green around the gills. After gently taking her bucket from her hands and setting it to the ground, he helped her to her feet.
"I think you're due for a bath." he hummed as he carefully guided her out of the bedroom and into the adjacent washroom. Stepping onto the cold tiles, he brought her over to the large wooden washtub. Garroth tapped on one of the magic stone decor in the wall above the washtub and warm water was quickly summoned into the basin. He had to hand it to Lucinda, such enchantments came in handy more often than he would probably admit. Turning back to Aphmau, he began to carefully undress her from the loose stained nightgown she wore. Although the swell in her belly was very subtle given she had just ended the first trimester, Garroth always smiled to himself whenever he spotted it. Looking up to Aphmau, his smile deepened into a soft grimace. The corners of his mouth pinched down as he saw the exhaustion lining Aphmau's depressed gaze.
"Aphmau?" Garroth hummed softly as he lifted his hand to her cheek.
"You don't have to keep doing this. You should sleep too." Aphmau whispered softly as she raised her hand to cup Garroth's. "You have patrol in the morning."
"You're right, I don't have to help you. But I want to." he replied in a gentle matter of fact tone. Before Aphmau could protest, Garroth lifted her chin up so that their eyes could meet. "I want to do this. I want to help you however you may need. I don't need to be a doula like Zoey to see how difficult your pregnancy has been. So let me help you."
Aphmau relented, and closed her eyes as she nuzzled the palm of his hand. He continued to undo the ties of her nightgown, and let the puke stained dress pool around Aphmau's ankles on the cold tiles floor. He also removed her undergarments - which he was admittedly a little ashamed to be able to do so with such familiarity- and helped her step out of the ring of dirtied cloth. Once her garments were gone, Garroth filled up a bucket with the same warm water from the enchanted stones, and then turned the water off. Using a sponge and the soapy bucket water to wash the crusted upchucked remains from her hair and skin. He watched the soapy water wash onto the smooth tiles and then down the drain onto the floor with each gentle pouring of the water. He worked methodically as he washed the dried vomit from her hair and from her skin. After one final pour of the bucket's water and a quick check of her hair, he then helped Aphmau into the bathtub. He too undressed, letting his sleepwear fall to the ground and soak with the draining water puddles on the floor. He figured he wouldn't need to return to bed anyways, not with how awake he was now. Stepping into the tub, he pulled Aphmau into his arms and allowed her to fully lay back against him while he reached for more soaps and a rag. Garroth continued to help bathe her and was sure to be mindful of how he washed her skin and body.
Even without seeing her face, Garroth could see the exhaustion evident in her slumped posture. He sighed quietly as he gently washed the suds off of Aphmau's shoulders.
His heart ached to see her in such a state. Her pregnancy had been nothing but difficult thus far. Every morning for the past three months she'd been plagued by terrible nausea which would not let go of her until noon. She'd been constantly exhausted, barely able to get up most mornings. Garroth had essentially become the current placeholder for the position of Lord until Aphmau was well enough to return to her daily duties. Everyone had begun to come to him first about almost anything that was happening around the new village. He of course didn't mind such responsibilities upon his shoulders - he'd do anything if it helped Aphmau to not be so stressed or exhausted. But with the arrival of their child looming closer with each passing day, he couldn't imagine it helped much.
"Garroth?"
Lured by the softness in how she spoke his name, Garroth turned his attention away from his thoughts and back to the woman in front of him.
"Yes, love?" he hummed gently. As cheesy as it was, he actually liked the pet names he could give her now. Aphmau had been the one to suggest they start using them to develop the habit for when they were in public with those outside of their village or Phoenix Drop. Something about keeping up the act that they were deeply in love and the child in her womb was the result of that. And that they'd of course been married before Aphmau became pregnant. Garroth leaned over and gently ran the soapy rag over her chest. He had to be extra careful here as he knew how tender her swelling breasts had become. He'd almost accidentally bruised her during a prior bath when he'd accidentally used too much force while washing her. Funnily enough, that bath had also been an early morning wash to rinse away some sickness from Aphmau's hair. In truth, these early morning baths had become routine for the couple.
Aphmau opened her mouth, like she was going to protest him washing her again. But she closed it, and instead opted for a simple and gentle, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." he hummed in return as he helped her stand up on the bath so he could continue washing her back.
After another long moment of silence, Garroth spoke up.
"I thought Zoey said your morning sickness would be gone by now." he noted as he gently moved his hand to wash her sides.
"She said how long it lasts can vary." Aphmau explained softly, still too sleepy to say a lot. "Although I've noticed it isn't as bad as it's been. I'm usually only sick once a day rather than five. So it will hopefully go away by the end of the week."
"I hope it will too." Garroth replied. If mostly for Aphmau's sake, he thought.
Garroth continued to gently bathe Aphmau until he was certain she was completely clean. Finally washing all of the suds away, he tapped a third rock on the pile of enchanted rocks which began to drain the soapy water away. The blond stepped out of the bath first, followed by Aphmau. He wrapped her in a towel and helped her to dry herself and her hair before he did the same for himself. He quickly tied another towel around his waist before he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Should I go make more of that ginger tea for you?" he asked her as he massaged part of her upper back. Aphmau nodded and leaned into Garroth's side as he continued to gently knead at her sore muscles.
The pair made their way into the kitchen, and Garroth put a kettle on to boil some water. Retrieving a wooden cup from the cupboard, he set it down on the table and filled it with the shavings off of the tea cake before he added the boiled water. He briefly glanced at Aphmau as she sat at the dining table, her hand cradling her belly. He made his way over there, and pulled out a chair.
"Careful, it's a bit hot." Garroth warned Aphmau as he set the mug down in front of her.
He pulled out a chair and joined his wife at the dining table. Aphmau lifted the mug to her lips, blew on it, and hummed as she drank some of the medicinal tea. Zoey - of course - had prescribed it to Aphmau to help quell her nausea as best as she could. Resting his chin against his knuckles, Garroth sat in silent vigil as he watched Aphmau take a few sips of her tea before she carefully set the mug down on the wooden table. He felt his wedding rung rub against the scruff on his chin. There wedding had been a simple ceremony with only a few people in attendance. Those being their closest friends from Phoenix Drop and those they'd befriended elsewhere. Zoey had officiated the wedding of course, and Brendan had been able to haggle a guy for a beautiful if simple set of wedding rings. Garroth often found himself toying with it to ease himself if he was ever feeling too anxious.
"I'm sorry." Aphmau mumbled quietly as her empty stare settled on the grain in the table.
Drawn out of his thoughts to the woman next to him, his vision refocused on her. "You have nothing to be sorry for." Garroth replied. He set his hand on top of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It isn't your fault you're exhausted. I imagine it's a lot of work to grow a baby."
A wry chuckle left her. "Still, I've been slacking in my duties as Lord. You've been doing most of the things I should be doing. I can't help with building the docks, I can't help with overseeing the construction of the new homes. Zoey won't let me visit the village through the portal. I'm stuck here in Phoenix Drop and I just feel so... useless."
"You are not useless." he assured her firmly, "You just need to rest. Resting when you need it does not make you lazy or an immoral person."
"I know." she replied in a thick voice as she tried to hold back the tears quickly welling up in her eyes. She hissed angrily as she set her cup down on the table. "Damn the gods these stupid mood swings make me feel absolutely everything in the span of five minutes!"
The blond remained silent, but he continued to squeeze her hand, and offer whatever silent comforts her could.
"I'm sorry." she tearfully apologized as she wiped at her eyes.
"I know." Garroth hummed as he let go her her hand to caress her cheek and wipe away another stray tear.
"I say that a lot don't I?" Aphmau asked as she sniffled.
"Perhaps. But I don't mind."
A quiet comfortable silence followed as Aphmau finished the rest of her tea. Relaxing back into her chair, Garroth watched as her amber eyes began to droop and flutter in between being open and closed. The tall blond rose from his chair, and took the empty cup away from his wife.
"Why don't we get you back to bed?" he suggested as he took her hand and helped her to her feet. Aphmau nodded blearily, her churning stomach finally settled by the warm tea. Garroth patiently guided Aphmau back to their bed, where he fitted her with a new clean nightgown, and tucked her into bed. Kissing her temple, he whispered a goodnight to his wife whom he was sure had fallen asleep as soon as her head had laid down into the pillow. His dark brown gaze flickered over to her clothed belly. He placed a soft kiss there too and pulled back as he ran the pad of his thumb over his wife's subtle bump.
"And goodnight to you too." he whispered softly before he blew out the melted down candle on their bedside.