Rhodnes blinked for a long time, unable to understand what Adrienne was saying.
Then, startled as if set on fire, he grabbed her shoulders and threw her off his body.
Confusion rose between he 'neat and splendid features' that Madame Leblaix had quietly praised.
"...Father?"
His eyebrows twitched in confusion at the word that sounded so unfamiliar to him.
The gleaming red eyes studied Adrien's face intently.
Her dazzling dark blond hair flowed in waves, and her face, where he had carefully prepared her meals, had gained a little more weight than when she first regained her body.
Her cheeks were shiny and rosy with life.
However, her expression was different than usual.
Her bright green eyes sparkled with laughter, and she smiled at him with her large, slightly slanted eyes.
Rhodnes shook his head.
It was as if all thoughts had stopped and only the shell of the body remained.
Adrienne gently took the hand that was still holding her shoulder and brought it to her stomach.
As soon as his hand touched it, Rhodnes flinched.
He didn't understand the situation at all.
“They said a baby has come to us.”
Rhodnes stared blankly at Adrienne's stomach as if he hadn't heard a word.
A large, slightly tanned hand twitched faintly beneath hers.
“I’ll be the mom, and you’ll be the dad, Roan.”
The trembling hands applied no force to the flat stomach except the force that Adrienne guided them.
No, I couldn't do it.
The face that had been pale was now beginning to turn red and blue.
He couldn't believe that there was something in that thin waist and flat stomach.
“It’s been about two months. When we first got married, maybe it happened that day?”
Adrienne asked with a slightly surprised expression, “Huh? Huh?” But there was no answer from Rhodnes.
“Roan?”
"I am..."
“Aren’t you happy?”
Rhodnes smiled for a while even after hearing Adrienne's excited voice.
The man's eyes, which had buried the ominous aura deep inside his body as if he was going to devour her, swung for a moment before distorting. It was a dramatic change.
Adrienne approached him a little closer at his unusual reaction.
“...Roan?”
"Ha."
With a short sigh, Adrienne was sucked into his arms.
Warm, careful hands embraced her as if holding a fragile glass doll.
“It’s hard to express in words how happy I am, I just...”
He doesn't know what to say.
He muttered softly and hugged her tighter.
Adrienne waited quietly for Rhodnes, who had forgotten how to think and was acting like an idiot.
As she listened to his heartbeat beat wildly in his warm embrace, she actually became calmer.
She was strangely moved to think that the baby in her stomach could hear the sound of her heart beating wildly.
Even though he didn't express it in words, Adrienne understood his feelings better than anyone else.
The joy and elation of seeing the fruits of love come to fruition.
A little fear of the unknown world of parenthood.
And the boiling affection for the woman who bore his child, and the awe for the one who bore life.
In addition, there is a thrill that is difficult to express in words, like a small firecracker exploding in the lower abdomen every second.
Because they all resemble the emotions she's been going through over the past few days.
Adrienne patted the back of Rhodnes, who was shaking his arms while hugging her tightly.
The emotions expressed by his wide, large back flowed into her.
“If it’s a girl... how about Letina?”
"...What?"
“The child’s name.”
Rhodnes froze again.
Adrienne pulled out of Rhodnes's embrace and slowly looked up at his face.
Rhodnes' eyes were bloodshot and looked as if they would burst into tears at any moment, and he was gritting his teeth.
It was a face that suppressed the emotions boiling up in her chest.
"Please..."
He took a moment to catch his breath as if he were drowning. The arms that held her tightened.
“You don’t have to... give me an unwanted name, Adrienne.”
Rhodnes, who seemed to have just come to his senses, answered in a hushed voice.
“Just the fact that you thought of it makes my heart swell.”
His trembling lips barely managed to keep his voice from breaking.
“If you were to name it, I thought it would be something like Roarien. I thought about it in advance.”
Adrienne answered, wrinkling her nose.
Rhodnes, whose hair had already turned white, furrowed his brows slightly as he remembered his original name, 'Cowan'.
Adrienne lifted her heel slightly and bumped her forehead against his.
“I guess I’ll have to name the child anyway?”
At the end of her playful words, tears fell from the eyes of Rhodnes, who had been holding back her tears with clenched teeth.
Only after a tear fell down her cheek did Rhodnes begin to smile.
Adrienne kissed the small dimple on his firm cheek.
And she stroked the cheek of Rhodnes, who bent down and pressed his forehead against hers more firmly, for a long time.
His cheeks, which had been wet and covered in cold air, melted into warmth in her presence.
The red gaze as if looking at the weakest creature in the world, looked at the woman gently held in his arms, and looked at her again.
It was such a quiet moment like they were the only two people left in the world. She didn't even know how time passed.
The light in Rhodnes' eyes was Adrienne.
The light in Adrienne's eyes was just something Rhodnes was quietly watching.
The light they had been searching for so desperately was sparkling in each other's eyes.
Beneath their touching foreheads, Rhodnes' trembling lips finally began to move busily.
A soft voice, soaking wet and clammy, flowed into Adrienne's ear.
"I love you."
I love you.
I love you, Adrienne. For fuck's sake, I wasn't going to go hunting for monsters or anything, whether or not Vincenzo was dying...
Adrienne answered in a belated, regretful voice.
“The child is listening, Roan.”
Rhodnes's mouth closed silently and then opened. Laughter like the wind continued to pour out from between her gently opened lips.
The two whispered for a while, giggling as they repeatedly named and canceled the child.
Then, suddenly, as Rhodnes' tears began to fall, Adrienne turned around and hid her face, feeling as if she too was about to burst into tears.
It was out of the question to shed tears on such a joyful and exciting day.
Rhodnes hugged Adrienne tightly from behind again.
And then, carefully, he mustered up his courage and reached out his hand to her belly.
A large hand was placed over Adrienne's hand, which was carefully stroking her belly which hadn't even come out yet.
“Adrienne.”
"Yes."
Adrienne buried herself a little deeper into his embrace.
“...Did I tell you?”
"What?"
“You are my world.”
Rhodnes' trembling hand held the back of Adrienne's hand tightly.
The hands rubbing each other's stomachs were incredibly affectionate.
Adrienne, who had been holding back tears, answered with a faint smile.
“Yeah, always.”
It was a watery question and a watery answer.
Adrienne slowly turned her head and looked up at Rhodnes.
Her husband, who always sparkled day and night, was looking only at her with reddened eyes.
Rhodnes's head slowly tilted towards her. Adrienne whispered as his arrogant nose touched mine.
“I love you, Rhodes.”
At the confession of love that came from her mouth, Rhodnes laughed silently.
It was the smile she loved so much, the smile that made stars break, the sun break, and all light break.
Adrienne was the one who treasured and hid the words “I love you” like a treasure, then took them out one by one.
It was such a hard thing to hear from her, that whenever she uttered those words, Rhodnes felt as happy as a child who had just received candy for the first time.
With the look he loves so much, with the lips he loves so much.
“I love you more.”
Rhodnes bit Adrienne's lips sweetly.
***
“You know, Adrienne.”
A soft breath escaped between their interlocked lips.
“If you say you love me, it still seems to me like I’m dreaming. And now I...”
The breath of Rhodnes, suppressing the heat, permeated my lips.
“I’m so happy that I want to stop time. Is it okay for me to be this happy? It’s scary.”
As he whispered softly, spring sunlight instantly seeped into my heart.
“If I have to die a thousand times to be happy now, I’d be willing to do it.”
For a moment.
Just for a little while.
I thought of the old Rhodnes who said that it didn't matter if he wasn't happy as long as I stayed by his side and didn't run away.
For no reason, tears welled up in my eyes and my nose started to sting.
“I’m happy because you’re here, Rien.”
When he was happy, I was happier.
Expressing these feelings in words was as difficult as holding the sun in my arms and spitting it out, so I opened and closed my lips several times.
Rhodnes looked at it without saying anything, then kissed me on the lips.
The hot, stirring breath blew away all jet-useless worries.
I willingly turned around and hung on his neck.
And I swallowed whole the immense love he was giving me that he was desperate to give me.
Warm lips warmed my whole body, and the warmth that started from my lips rose to the tip of my head.
My soul danced with joy as I returned from my long journey.
Even though I was holding him warmly and bearing his heavyweight, I felt like I was flying through the sky.
“...If you are happy, I am happy too.”
Rhodnes smiled faintly at the sincerity that had been barely expressed after suppressing the cat's emotions.
It was blinding as if the warm sunlight was pouring down only on us.
Through the slightly open window, the end of the long winter was said to have passed, and a breeze carrying the energy of early spring blew gently.
The warm scent of lavender, unadulterated by any foul odor. The fragrant scent of camellia flowers. And the sweet scent of cookies lingered around us in the wind.
Two smiles spread silently and simultaneously as the flowing hair tickled our faces.
Our lips that kept touching were warm, and our arms that held each other were hot.
We are definitely happy now.
END
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