Time had passed in the same way it always seemed to for her and Tarin: seeming like it had been forever when just a short time had actually passed. Not forever in a bad way, but forever in the sense that it just felt so natural, so normal, so right that it felt like they had known each other much longer than they actually had, and when they were actually together, time didn't really have any real meaning.

So Lee was a little surprised one night by what Tarin said sleepily before he passed out. About how the first couple months as newlyweds were the best.

Originally, Lee had been planning on falling asleep there with Tarin; she didn't have too much energy that she couldn't fall asleep, though she was still having a bit of difficulty actually falling asleep next to Tarin.

At least that had been the plan until Tarin had made that off-hand, half asleep comment. Then Lee's mind started working. Calculating. She had been planning on going to sleep, but now she wasn't sure she'd actually be able to.

The first couple months of being married were the best, Tarin had said. And, for the most part it had been amazing. As she laid there, Lee counted. It had been over six weeks since they had gotten married, and they had been in Texas for a week before they had made the drive up to Las Vegas.

Seven weeks.

Lee blinked into the darkness as her breathing quickened a bit. It had been at least seven weeks. Try though she did to search her memory, Lee honestly couldn't remember the last time she had had her period, but she knew for a fact that it had been before she and Tarin had gone to Texas. Before Tarin, there had really been no reason to keep track, plus she and Tarin had always been careful.

Lee sat up straight in the bed, her eyes wide as she started almost hyperventilating. They always had been careful before, had since, but Christmas night in Texas hadn't exactly been planned by either of them....

More than seven weeks...Lee's hands moved to cover her stomach. She couldn't be. She just couldn't. Not...pregnant...

Marriage was a great thing…Tarin decided as he lay next to his wife. His eyes were heavy lidded, as they always were after a lot of close contact with Lee. There was never any talking, pillow talk, or whatever it was called these days. That was the curse of Lee’s powers. The miracle was that what was happening was even possible.

Tarin had learned years ago not to question when good things happened to him. For a long time they’d been so few and far between that he’d clung to them like points of light where nothing but darkness had existed before. That was different now, the points of light were like short bursts of daylight instead of a pinpoint, but Tarin couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that always accompanied the good times.

Half-asleep, Tarin was used to Lee getting up and leaving, walking around to work off some energy or going to watch TV after showering. That was happening a little less frequently lately. She stayed sometimes. No contact, of course, but she stayed. It was nice.

Tarin’s eyes were closed and he was drifting, but he wasn’t really sleeping. Not yet. Just kind of basking in the feelings. Then Lee moved.

Tarin didn’t think anything of it at first, Lee usually moved, usually got up, and usually left. None of that was out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary was that Lee just sat there. Tarin could hear her breathing. Something was wrong, Lee never got winded like that. Something had her really upset.

Immediately, Tarin was up on an elbow, trying to peer at Lee in the darkness of the room. “Lee?” he said, “What’s wrong?”

"Lee?"

Lee heard Tarin's voice, but she didn't react to it at first. She was too busy thinking, desperately trying to remember details of that night under the stars in Texas. Her body was too busy panicking, gasping for breath, eyes wide in the darkness, her hands clutching at her stomach.

Lee knew that they had been careful, quite careful considering the fact that it had been their wedding night, in Las Vegas. And, even though it had been six weeks, Lee could remember what she had felt that night under the stars, but for the life of her, she could not remember actual details of the night.

More than seven weeks...

"What's wrong?"

Tarin's voice again, sounding worried, as it had every right to sound.

Not turning, her hands still clutched around her middle, Lee swallowed and tried to control her breathing a bit so she could speak. She wasn't extremely successful.

"I think..." Lee said, the shock and panic evident in her voice. "I might be..." that last word, thought, that was hard. When she finally managed to get it out, her voice, barely a whisper, managed to crack. "Pregnant..."

Lee didn’t answer at first, and as he waited, still trying desperately to see in the dark, Tarin really started to think something was seriously wrong.

Then Lee spoke. Her voice was so quiet that at first, Tarin was sure that he’d misheard what she’d said. The continued silence after the revelation was confirmation enough though.

”What? Tarin said, sitting up more fully and peering at Lee across the bed. “You think you…you’re…and we...”

Well. That was unexpected. Unexpected to say the very least. Lord knew they’d been doing enough of what was required to make a baby lately for it to happen…but still…ohhhhhhh. Tarin remembered a certain night under the stars and winced in the darkness. Yeah…that.

Well. They were married, they’d talked about this before, though at that point Lee hadn’t really thought it was a possibility, and definitely hadn’t wanted to experiment. This was a good thing though, right? Another thing that Lee’s powers weren’t going to keep them from doing. It was just so…so…soon.

“You think or you know? You haven’t been sick or anything…aren’t you supposed to be getting sick? And you haven’t wanted pickles and ice cream or watermelon and spaghetti…” Tarin realized he was rambling and shut his mouth, thinking for a few moments, then a wide grin spread across his face,
“Lee…this is a good thing…”

Tarin didn't say or do anything at first, as if it was taking a couple moments for what she had said to actually sink in. And then Lee felt him move, sitting up properly beside her in the bed. But Lee still didn't turn to look at him, she simply sat staring straight a head in the darkness.

After than first somewhat stammered questioning, it took Tarin a few more minutes before he actually said anything else. During which time Lee kept trying to simply control her breathing. If she was, if she actually was, panicking and hyperventilating like she was probably wouldn't help the baby.

“Think,” was all Lee was able to say to Tarin's next question. But really, if she had known, if she'd been completely sure, how could he have expected her to be this calm about it? He kept going, though, kept asking questions, before Lee could say anything else. Asking whether she was supposed to be feeling sick, asking about her wanting weird foods.

“How should I know, Tarin?” Lee asked, her fear in her voice. “It's not like I thought this would ever happen, so I don't exactly know what to expect.”

“Lee…this is a good thing…”

Lee's eyes widened even more if possible in the darkness, and she turned in the bed to look at Tarin for the first time since she had had her little revelation. “How the hell is this a good thing?!” Lee asked, her voice cracking again, tears sprang into her eyes as she wrapped her arms even tighter around her stomach. “Look what my powers can do to you. At least I can stop touching you, but what am I doing to it? For nine months, Tarin! Nine months. What's that going to do? I can't...” Lee trailed off as she started shaking her head.

Lee was obviously panicking. She couldn’t form more than a sentence to answer his own rambling questions. She was just sitting there, breathing heavy and freaking out about the whole situation. Tarin understood, to a point, he was a little freaked out by the prospect that there was a possibility of parenthood so early in their marriage. As time passed in the dark room, however, it became obvious that wasn’t exactly Lee’s concern.

Lee shifted and as his eyes adjusted to the dark of the room he could see the utter fear written on her face, and when she spoke, it was evident in her voice. Her words, however, stung, no matter their intention. He listened though, let Lee vent, listening to her fears and convinced that once she calmed down, everything would be alright.

She stopped talking, trailed off into nothingness actually and Tarin frowned down at the sheets as he full sat up, leaning against the wall, but not taking his eyes off Lee. For a few moments he sat like that, then he took a deep breath.

“Well, to be honest, I can think of lots of reasons that this could be a good thing.” He said softly and gently, trying not to belie the undercurrent of chagrin in his voice as he spoke. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings for being afraid of something like this. From what Tarin had seen of pregnant women, which wasn’t much, they worried like crazy. He knew his logic in the next statement would win Lee over and they could start dealing with the larger problem of how they were actually going to manage to raise a child when Tarin was hardly capable of taking care of himself. Not to mention the dangers he brought to the situation…but all that could be dealt with later.

“Lee…” he said softly, wanting to reach out and touch her but unsure of the way she’d react to contact in her emotional state. “If this couldn’t happen…then obviously we wouldn’t be having this conversation. If it’s possible that you are….” He still couldn’t say the word, “…then obviously it’s a natural thing to happen. If it wasn’t going to work…it wouldn’t have worked a long time before you’d have had a chance to think you were…”

He could think of lots of reasons this could be a good thing? This was a good thing? How the hell could this possibly be a good thing, Lee wondered, asked herself. What was so good about being pregnant? No, not even just simply being pregnant, but her being pregnant?

“Like what?” Lee tried to ask, but she couldn't put any power behind her voice, so it came out almost inaudible in the darkness. A good thing? Lee had been worried, scared, terrified of this possibility pretty much from the time it had been possible. How could there honestly be anything good about it?

Tarin didn't stop there. He went on, seemingly trying to reassure her. It even started to work a bit, Lee's breathing dropping back more down to a normal rhythm as Tarin said that if it wasn't going to work out, it already wouldn't have.

Her eyes dropping to look at the bed in front of her, her brow furrowed as she thought, Lee realized that what Tarin said did make sense. If her siphoning was going to have that serious an effect, if it was going to do what she feared it was going to, chances were it would have already happened without her even knowing in the first place. She did siphon all the time. Maybe Tarin was right. Lee nodded slightly.

But nine months was forever, though. What if something changed during that time and something horrible happened? Lee looked back up at Tarin, the fear that hadn't fully left back in her eyes. “But what if something happens later?” Lee asked him, her voice quavering slightly. “What if I can't even hold it?”

Lee was still in panic mode, Tarin still didn’t really know how to deal with that. The usual mode of operation was to crack a joke but for some reason Tarin didn't think that this was the time. Besides that fact, he wasn't in the most joking of moods either.

"Well, for one...I'd love to see a beautiful baby with your eyes and my shining personality toddling around the apartment." Tarin said, his voice soft and slightly filled with hope at the idea. "It would give me an excuse to keep you in here with me all the time when we turned the other room into a nursery." Tarin grinned in the dark at Lee, "There's lots of ways this could be a good thing Lee."

She was still terrified, still absolutely convinced that her powers would do something to any child she tried to carry. The logic hadn't worked and Tarin's smile slowly started to fade as she refused to look at him. That went on for an indeterminable amount of time and Tarin waited, not saying anything more until Lee looked up at him.

"Lee..." he said, reaching out and putting a hand over hers, "I can't know for sure...butif you're pregnant...then obviously the baby is compatible with your powers. We've both got the gene Lee...obviously any kid of ours will too."

Tarin looked at Lee steadily and lifted his other hand to put it against he side of her face, "We don't even know for sure Lee. But one thing you need to do is stop freaking out. We'll find a doctor first thing tomorrow. We can even go see that fancy guy at the mansion if you want to. Once we find out for sure...then we can start freaking out."

A baby, their baby, running around the apartment, the other bedroom turned into a nursery...Lee wasn't sure whether that thought was supposed to make her smile or panic more. Maybe both?

Then she looked over at Tarin finally, and she felt his hand on hers. Trying to reassure her. If she was pregnant, the baby could deal with her powers he said. It was just that it would be so small. It wouldn't take much for her to take all the energy it could possibly possess.

But if that was the case...As Lee started calming down ever so slightly, her mind started working a bit more rationally, and what Tarin was saying started to make more sense. There had been a couple times since getting back from Texas that she had been very mad, and thus had siphoned quite a bit. If that hadn't caused problems, then maybe it was possible?

Feeling Tarin's hand cupping her cheek, Lee leaned into the touch and nodded. That was what was supposed to come next, wasn't it? So much of their relationship hadn't been conventional, hadn't followed normal patterns, but this was different.

"I don't know if I can stop freaking out," Lee said, biting her lower lip as she looked over at Tarin. He was right, though. She thought she was pregnant, was pretty sure considering how late she was. But they didn't know.

Taking a shaky breath, Lee leaned over and wrapped her arms around Tarin, hugging herself to him tightly. "First thing tomorrow morning," she told him. Then she squeezed her eyes closed, burying her face in the spot between Tarin's neck and shoulder. "I don't think I'm going to be able to fall back asleep tonight," she finished in a whisper.

She was more calm, if nothing else, and Tarin breathed a mental sigh of relief. He let it stop at that though, any external sigh could send Lee back over the edge into pure and simple panic. Tarin sat like that until Lee had time to digest what he was saying. Then, all of a sudden, the panic dam broke and Lee started to relax. She leaned into his touch as he reached out his hand to touch her face, then she was wrapping her arms around him.

Tarin reacted immediately, his arms wrapping tightly around her, his hands rubbing slow circles on her back. "First thing in the morning." Lee snuggled her face into his shoulder and Tarin leaned his head against hers as she spoke. He was tired, there was no doubt about it, but something about the way Lee had spoken said that she didn't want to be awake alone.

"I don't think I can either. What do you want to do? Is this something we want to talk more about, or do you want to find something to distract you?"

It was going to be a long night, Tarin couldn't help but think, and his mind really was buzzing. A long night, Tarin couldn't help but thinking as he stared off into the dark as he held his wife, it might be a long 18 years. But he smiled at the thought, a long 18 years.

Why hadn't she touched Tarin, hugged him, let him really do the same, before now? Having his arms around her, his hands rubbing circles on her back, was calming in a way that his words just couldn't possibly achieve.

First thing in the morning couldn't come fast enough as far as Lee was concerned, though.

Tarin was agreeing that he didn't think he'd be able to sleep that night either. Good, Lee hadn't wanted to spend hours fighting off this panic while he was snoring away. As he spoke, though, Lee shifted around on the bed so that the hug they were currently sharing was a bit more comfortable, draping her legs over Tarin's lap as she tightened her arms around him.

Then she heard his question about what they should do with the rest of the night. That didn't take her much thought. "Distraction," she said softly, though she wasn't sure exactly what kind of distraction would work at this time of night. Still, distraction was definitely the right answer for Lee.

Lee had already had a number of long nights since she'd gotten together with Tarin, but this was likely to take the cake.