Shadows like mine

Bonus Chapter 3

70 years later

"Florence," Aurora said with full confident. Sitting beside her, Azriel shook his head. The sunset made the sky look like a pallet with mixed pastel colours of paint. Their shadows were intertwined like fingers around them.
    In their own garden, they looked over the Sidra. Their house was on a high hill above Velaris. The perfect place to look at the shining city.
    "Not Florence," Azriel said and Aurora raised an eyebrow.
    "I like the name so much!"
    "How about Luna?" With his fingers he pushed back her loose, black hair. With the other hand he caressed Aurora's pregnant belly. His first reaction when he found out was pure fear for a moment. It was quickly replaced with everlasting joy, but the fear was still there.
    He exactly knew how Rhys had felt during Feyre's pregnancy.
    "Then we have an Aurora and Luna. Dawn and moon. Wouldn't that be beautiful?" he tried. They had no idea what gender their child would be. Aurora thought it would be a girl. It was the first thing she said after she told him.
    "It's pretty..." She did not sound very convinced. Aurora placed her hand over his. Their baby was finally calm in her belly. Especially during the night the child was kicking and turning around, as if he or she was trying to annoy Aurora.  
    Aurora would get frustrated, sometimes even sick, restless. Azriel got up with her to walk around in the depths of night, trying to calm the active baby. One night it was so bad that Aurora cried, she was so tired. It was one of the many moments he had felt powerless, a feeling he hated when it came to his mate. He wanted to take care of her, make her feel good. Have control over the situation.
    Well, Aurora's pregnancy was something he absolutely didn't control. It drove him mad when he couldn't do anything about her mood swings, swollen feet or cramps.
    Sometimes he worried about the birth. Not only because the risk of Aurora dying was so big, but also about the baby. Would he be a good father? The child wasn't even born yet and he already didn't know what to do. Damn, he didn't even know what to do when Aurora got her first cramps.
    He had been running around and talking out loud about... what had he been ranting about? Gods, Cassian had laughed at him for weeks after that moment. He had looked absolutely ridiculous.
    "But?"
    "I like Florence so much," she said with a pouted lip.
    "And what if it's a boy?" he asked. Nyx was now training in the Illyrian Camps. He was doing an amazing job. And after a long battle, women were finally training with them. Nyx was having the time of his life, if Azriel believed the rapports he received.
    "It's not a boy," Aurora immediately protested. Her golden eyes burned.
    "But what if?" he pushed through and kept drawing circles with his fingers on her belly. They child softly moved under his hands, as if he or she knew he was reaching out. "What do we call him?"
    Aurora needed to think for a moment. Azriel folded his wing around his pregnant mate, a cold wind reached them. With her head she leaned against his strong shoulder.
    "I must say I have no idea."
    "Come on!" he said laughing and kissed her cheek. "There must be a name."
    "Well, you come up with something then." Azriel stared at the glistering Sidra as he thought. He didn't confess that he actually didn't think of a boys name either.
    "Sol?"
    "Sol? You mean Sun? We don't live in the Day Court."
    "But you're from the Dawn Court!"
    "So? Do we really need a name that represents something? Like Moon or Sun?" she asked with a daring voice and with a hand she followed his sharp jawline. The movement alone made him remember the night their child was conceived. It made his wings shudder. That night was the wildest one he ever had. With anyone.
    "No! But I thought..." Azriel shrugged. "That it would be nice."
    Aurora relaxed and giggled. "It is nice," she agreed. "But not for our girl."
    "It might be a boy."
    "Well, you don't feel her like I do. I'm sure it's a girl." With both hands she traveled down her stomach and smiled when their baby kicked against her hands.
    "It's probably a boy," Azriel said and tapped with his fingers against her stomach, so the baby kept kicking against his hand. He loved the feeling. It was the closest he could get to him or her.
    "Why do you think that?" asked Aurora curious.
    "Why else is he kicking so much? Must be a boy." Aurora slapped his hand, as if that would make him back down. He just smirked devilishly at her.
    "That she is kicking so much, doesn't mean it's a boy," Aurora said and protected her belly with her hands and shadows. Azriel laughed loudly with his head in his neck. He kissed his mate's cheek.
    "I don't care. As long as he or she annoys Cassian it's all good." Now it was Aurora's turn to laugh.
"She and Nyx will be friends. I hope," she said and gasped when the baby kicked harder than before. Azriel was still tapping with his fingers, provoking his little girl or boy.
"Of course they will be friends," he promised her. "Nyx can learn her how to fly."
"He can barely do it himself!"
Azriel smirked. "That's right. He has a few more lessons to go. But he is a strong flyer. Just like ours."
"The wings will be so big," Aurora mumbled and immediately Azriel felt that clenching fear again. It made him sick to his stomach. His heart overflowed with joy whenever he felt their baby kick, or heard the soft, fast heartbeat whenever he laid his head against his mate's belly.
But Mother, he wanted to punch something until his knuckles broke, just to distract himself from the idea of Aurora not living through the birth. And neither their child.
Finally, after so many centuries, he had everything he ever wanted to have. Azriel was the happiest he had ever been in his life. And within a few days it could be ripped away, because of their half Illyrian child.
"You're overthinking again," Aurora said and with her fingers she caressed the deep frown in his forehead, so he would relax. "Don't, love. It will be fine. I feel it."
"Just like you feel it's a girl?"
Aurora smiled and kept caressing his face, as the Sun finally descended into the sea. "Exactly," she said. "I feel it."