Covenant (A Lapidot Fanfiction)

Chapter 29: Anticipation

Eight months. The baby could come any day now.

The chance that she would come so early in the eighth month was very rare, but I was worrying like I had never worried before. Lapis was constantly humming to the baby and talking to her like she was here already. It was quite adorable. I had always found it adorable. Now, any talk of the baby frightened me. It was getting so close.

Lapis was sitting on the couch, talking to the baby as usual. She was cradling her stomach as she spoke, telling the baby about everything that had happened that morning and not leaving out any details.

"Peri!" Lapis saw me as I was walking by. Her eyes were glowing with happiness.

"Yes?" I asked, turning to her.

"How are you?" Lapis replied.

"I'm alright," I answered. "You seem very happy this morning."

"I've been happy for a while," Lapis said. "I'm just so excited!"

"Yeah," I responded. "I'm gonna get some breakfast in the kitchen. Call me if you need me."

I walked into the kitchen and took out the toaster, placing it on the counter. I plugged it in and took out two slices of bread. After placing them in the toaster and pulling down the lever, I sat down at the dining room table. This time, I didn't feel like reading comic books. I just wanted to sit and think. The baby was going to be here soon. I didn't feel anywhere near ready. Lapis was going to be in pain. The baby's birth would be such a process. What about at the hospital? What if they thought she was sick? Everything terrified me. If the baby were a werewolf, it would be easy to believe that she was sick. She would be much too warm for a normal human.

They could take her away from us.

I growled. I couldn't let that happen.

Suddenly, I heard the lever on the toaster. That made me get up to get my breakfast. I placed my toast on my plate and spread apple butter on it. Something delicious to get my mind off of this. I bit into the toast. The crunch of it interrupted my thoughts. I tried to make sure I could only hear that instead of my worries. I needed some way to calm down. Some way, any way. I just needed to think about something else.

Lapis came into the room, smiling cheerily. She immediately danced to my side and kissed my cheek.

"Toast again?" She asked in a singsong voice.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Would you mind if I had some?" Lapis asked.

"Of course not," I answered. "Go ahead."

Lapis took one of my slices of toast and took a bite out of it, nodding approvingly.

"It's good," she said.

"Finally remembering the glory of apple butter toast?" I asked smugly.

"Yeah," Lapis answered, giggling.

"I can make you some if you want," I said.

"That's nice of you, but I already had breakfast," Lapis replied. "Maybe next time."

She kissed my cheek again and walked back to the living room. She was probably going to talk to the baby again. I ate my toast very slowly. I was too upset to eat quickly. How was I going to raise a child? I had no experience. I didn't have any siblings. To make matters worse, I didn't even have any cousins. I had absolutely no experience with children. There was no way I could do this! No way! I would probably end up getting her killed!

Halfway through eating my toast, it became tasteless and bland. I couldn't stand to eat it anymore. I threw it away and stared at it in the trash can. Finally, I made myself kick it back into the cabinet, and I walked away. My head was hurting from all of this thinking.