Anything Could Happen

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Morning After

Slowly waking up, Briana grumbled to herself as she felt something warm pressed against her back; it took her a moment to remember what had happened the night before. 

It felt unreal that she was actually married to Lionel now, Briana had no idea what she was going to happen now that she was a princess; it was so weird to think how much her life had changed in the last few months. 

Moving to climb out of the bed without disturbing Lionel who was still asleep, Briana barely got to move an inch before something wrapped around her waist and kept her still. 

"No," Lionel murmured wrapping his arms around her to keep her in place, he buried his head into her neck and closed his eyes feeling tired and wanting to sleep some more. 

His tail continued to wrap around Briana's waist until he was certain that she wasn't going to attempt to leave the bed; they had a few hours before anyone would disturb them. 

Briana stared at him almost surprised that he was practically holding her hostage, she had thought that she would have been prepared for whatever came after last night. 

It was certainly not what Briana had been expecting, she watched Lionel's face still in awe of the fact that he had been so tender with her the night before. 

Lionel had done everything in his power to make sure that he didn't hurt her, he wanted nothing more than to make all of this as easy as possible. 

"Leo... I have to go to the bathroom," Briana mumbled attempting to get out of bed again, she was again pinned back to the bed and she jumped in surprise at the noise that came from Lionel. 

The warning snarl that Lionel gave made her still and she laid back on the bed not wishing to make things anymore awkward; Briana stared up at the ceiling wondering if he'd let go when she wet the bed.

Lionel took several deep breathes before he released Briana, he opened his eyes and watched his wife climb out of bed; he hadn't meant to snarl and he knew that it had probably scared her. 

He slowly sat up and leaned back on their pillows, Lionel was sort of pleased that no one would be disturbing them anytime soon; he didn't think he could handle sharing Briana right now. 

It wasn't long before Briana returned to the bedroom, she hurried to cover herself up at the sight of Lionel waiting for her; she had expected him to go back to sleep when she'd left him. 

Climbing back into bed, Briana attempted to make herself comfortable before Lionel wrapped his arms around her; he held her close and whispered softly in her ear to calm her. 

He didn't have to wait long before Briana fell back to sleep, Lionel smiled when she did so and cuddled her close knowing that she was going to need all the strength that she had. 

He had talked with the royal doctor about how a pregnancy would affect Briana, Lionel couldn't imagine how this would work since they were both different species. 

There weren't many other Aulean and human couples that they could compare their relationship too; they had no idea what a baby would be like between them. 

However, Lionel had no doubts that he had gotten Briana pregnant last night and he would do anything to ensure that his wife made it through this along with their baby. 

The royal doctor had reassured him that it was possible for Briana to carry Lionel's child and there wouldn't be too many differences between the parents that would cause any problems. 

Lionel looked down at Briana, she was everything to him and he would do anything to ensure that she would be well looked after while she was pregnant.

***

"How are you?" Lionel asked as they prepared for their honeymoon, they would be leaving soon and he was sure that things would work out; he couldn't resist peeking down at her stomach. 

A smile formed on his face, there could very well be a baby in there growing right now and Lionel couldn't deny that he was thrilled with that idea; he wanted a little prince or princess to spoil. 

"I'm fine," Briana reassured trying to ease her nerves, she wanted nothing more than to hide away and avoid people looking at her; she could only guess that they were thinking now. 

The papers were already trying to guess when a baby would be born between her and Lionel, Briana had no idea how she would be as a mother and that worried her a little. 

Everyone would be keeping a close eye on her now that she was married to Lionel, it was bad enough they would be watching her every move; they would also be keeping an eye out for signs that she was pregnant. 

"So where are we going?" Briana asked curiously, she still had no idea where Lionel was taking her for their honeymoon and she was hopeful that they would be left alone. 

It had been strange enough having everyone watching her wedding to Lionel, there had been so many people from across the galaxy just watching her knowing that she had won the lottery by marrying into the Aulean royal family. 

Lionel smiled to himself thinking about where they were going, he was sure that Briana would be thrilled and he couldn't wait to be away from everyone so that he could relax. 

"I thought we might go to Earth first," Lionel explained gently, he wanted to see what it had been like for Briana there and he knew that it was a part of her that she couldn't ignore even if she was a Princess of Aulea now. 

Briana stared at him a little surprised by the choice, she had assumed that they would stay on planet so that she could learn more about it; she had never thought that he wanted to go to Earth.

***

Taking a deep breath, Briana sat back in her seat while the ship prepared to take off and she prayed her stomach would be able to handle the trip; it had been bad enough coming to Aulea and she wasn't looking forward to the flight again. 

"Relax," Lionel said reaching over and taking her hand, he didn't like flying either but it was the fastest way to Earth. 

He leant back in his seat and brushed his fingers back and forth over the back of Briana's hand attempting to comfort her as their ship started to take off; Lionel couldn't wait until they were able to relax. 

He had so many plans for them for while they were away from Aulea and their royal duties; the last thing that Lionel wanted was for them to be harassed so soon after the wedding. 

Briana nodded her head, she closed her eyes trying to ease her mind and she hoped that the flight would be over soon; she clutched at the arm rest as their flight started. 

Her stomach lurched making Briana swallow painfully, she had no idea if she would ever get used to this and she hoped that she wouldn't have to do this again any time soon. 

Lionel did his best to distract himself from what was going on, he hoped they wouldn't be assigned any off planet assignments any time soon. 

He didn't think he would be able to handle that and he didn't think that Briana was even remotely ready for that sort of responsibility; Lionel wanted to protect his new wife for as long as possible. 

Things were going to change now that there was a competition for the new King and Queen of Aulea; the last thing that Lionel wanted was for things to change for them so quickly.