Cheers to Forever, Love.

Panic

Chapter Twenty Two.

A week had passed and Freya found herself in Rumple's shop, looking for something in particular.
"Miss Klay. What can I do for you?" He asked from behind his counter.
"I'm looking for some jewellery - something that holds a particular stone." She replied, looking around the shop.
"What stone would that be, dearie?"
"It's called Lapis Lazuli. It's the same one in my ring." She showed the ring on her left index finger, allowing Rumple to see the navy blue tones and gold flakes.
"I see. I may have something. Is it a ring you're looking for or anything, so long as it has the stone?" Rumple asked, looking to a display unit to his left.
"It's the stone that's important. It just needs to be something my daughter can wear." Freya replied.
Rumple looked around his shop for a little while, examining every piece of jewellery he had until he came across a necklace.
"I think I may have found what you're looking for." He finally said.
He pulled out the necklace and laid it over his knuckles for Freya to see.
The stone was oval and set in silver. Decorating the stone was a silver tree, which reminded Freya of her Viking upbringing. It looked just like the World's tree; Yggdrasil.
"It's beautiful. I'll take it." Freya smiled. "What shall I repay you with?"
Rumple sighed, handing her a jewellery box to put it in.
"Nothing. I feel like I owe you for effectively killing Astrid. So the least I can do is ensure she can carry out a relatively normal life in the sun."
"How did you know this can protect her from the sun?" Freya frowned, putting the box in the pocket of her leather jacket.
"It wasn't difficult to piece together. You have one, you were searching for one for Astrid, your sire and his brother had one when they visited and Lance has one too." Rumple gave a half smile.
Freya chuckled. "Well thank you, Rumple. This will do perfectly."

Back at the house, Freya went up to Astrid's room.
"Hi mum. What's up?" She greeted the Heretic with a bright smile.
"I have something for you."
"Oh?" Astrid frowned, moving over to her desk where Freya had placed the jewellery box.
"I didn't want you losing your mind being cooped up all day." Freya chuckled, watching as Astrid opened the box.
"Is this what I think it is?" She gasped, looking up to her mother.
"Yes, sweetie. It's a Daylight amulet. I've spelled it already, so all that's left is for you to put it on." Freya smiled.
Astrid beamed with genuine excitement, something the Heretic hadn't seen for longer than she could bare, as she pulled the necklace from the box and handed it to her.
Astrid turned around where she stood and held up her hair, allowing Freya to slip it round her neck and fasten the clasp.
"There. It looks beautiful on you." Freya clapped her hands together in delight.
"Thank you, mother. This means the world to me." Astrid wrapped her arms around Freya's middle, squeezing her tightly, but minding her bump.
"You're most welcome, my dar-" Freya's smile faltered as she felt a stabbing pain on the right side of her abdomen.
She instantly grabbed for it and crouched down, her legs threatening to give way.
"Mother?" Astrid gasped, concern written across her face as she placed a hand on Freya's back.
"I'm fine." Freya winced. But another shot of pain ripped through her, causing a loud groan to exit the Heretic's lips.
"No you're not." Astrid shook her head. "Killian!" She shouted.
The Captain ran up the stairs and saw his love hunched over Astrid's desk. He immediately ran to her side.
"What's the matter, love?" He asked, a sense of desperation in his voice.
"I don't know. Something's wrong." She gasped as yet another shot of pain raced toward her spine.

At the hospital, the three waited for Doctor Whale to come back with some test results.
"You're just over nineteen weeks pregnant, aren't you, Miss Klay?" He asked when he eventually appeared, not looking up from the charts.
"Yes. That's right." Freya nodded, clutching her stomach protectively.
"Well, everything seems to be normal on your blood samples and your baby feels okay. So I would diagnose this as a simple case of Round Ligament Pain."
"What the bloody Hell is that?" Killian frowned, gripping the Heretic's hand, tightly.
"Nothing to be particularly worried about. It's perfectly normal for this stage in the pregnancy." The Doctor turned to look at Freya. "It's basically your muscles moving around, adjusting and stretching so that your body can accommodate the growing girl you've got in there." He smiled. "My guess as to why it's particularly painful for you would most likely have something to do with the fact that you're technically dead and this whole thing shouldn't be possible."
"But my baby is safe, yeah?" Freya pressed.
"As far as I can tell, yes. I think part of your pregnancy deal is that your magic is also protecting your baby. I shouldn't worry about it." Doctor Whale gave the three a reassuring smile as they took a sigh of relief. "However, do let me know if the pain persists. For now, just remain on bed rest and drink plenty of fluids - whether that be water or blood is up to you."
"Thank you, doctor. I don't know what we'd do without you." Freya breathed a chuckle.
"It's what I'm here for. Have a good day." He gave a small bow of his head and walked away.