To Heal A Lonely Heart

I Can't Wait To Meet Them

By the time we were ready to get into the bath, the water had grown cold.

"Sorry, but it seems I won't join you in there," I joked, earning an annoyed glance from my husband, before I stretched out my hand over the tub until the water was warm again.

Geralt climbed in first, sat down and expectantly held out a hand for me to hold onto when I climbed in myself. Except that, at first, I didn't. I laid out towels and soap, and prepared a few buckets of clean water for us to rinse out our hair later. I also pulled the leather band from my husband's hair, making the white strands fall free into his face. I let my fingers run through them, gently massaging his scalp.

"Hmm," he hummed with his eyes closed, leaning back against the tub, "Now come here, my love."

I did as he asked, now accepting his hand as I settled between his legs, leaning against his broad chest, his strong arms holding me in a gentle embrace, hands resting on my swollen belly. Sighing, I laid my hands atop his, leaning my head back against Geralt's shoulder. For a while, we just sat there, soaking, listening to the three heartbeats mingling to a peaceful melody.

"I still can't really believe it," Geralt's voice broke the silence. "In, what, about six months, there will be a tiny version of us."

"And they will have the most wonderful father," I sighed, gazing up at him. my comment earned me a kiss on the forehead and I smiled.

"You have way too much faith in me, my love. All I know about children is that most of them are afraid of me."

"Oh, minne, they only are because their parents are afraid of you, wrongly so. But I must confess, you can look a little intimidating from time to time," I chuckled.

"Well, I still have to keep the Witchers' reputation."

"Come with me tomorrow."

"Hm?"

"I wanted to visit Ana. You know, the woman who wanted me as her midwife. Her husband left again, and I wanted to help her a little. Then you can meet her little daughter."

"I... I don't know about that."

"Come on, Geralt, please, for me. And for our child," I begged him, turning around to face him.

"Alright, but if she cries because of me, I'm leaving. I don't want the poor thing traumatized," Geralt gave in.

I smiled, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. "You're the best. I love you."

Then, I grabbed a rag and the bar of soap – scented with flowers from the meadow in front of our house – and started to scrub off my husband. I was relieved beyond measure when I didn't find any new scars on his chest and arms. But that changed when I asked him to turn around. A long scar ran across his left shoulder blade. I traced it with my finger. It was still a little red; must be from his last job before he came home.

I didn't even need to ask for him too answer my question.

"Kikimora again... somehow got one of its legs into my armour."

"You need to be more careful now, me minne," I mumbled against his skin, just before pressing a small kiss to the new scar, "For us."

"Don't worry about me, Nienna. I've been doing my job for about sixty years now, I'll be fine."

"You have no idea how not-calming that is, old man," I laughed.

"You're one to speak," Geralt returned.

"You still look older than me," I huffed, not knowing how else to answer.

Geralt only laughed and turned around, taking the rag and soap from my hands.

"Okay, your turn."

He washed me off, like I had done for him earlier. Once he was done, his hands returned to my belly.

"How big are they now?" he mumbled against the side of my neck, his head resting on my shoulder again. I grabbed his hand, his thumb and put my fingers around the first joint, so only the tip of his thumb was visible, and held it up for him to see.

"About this big," I answered, smiling about how excited Geralt was now about our child, when only a few months ago, he deemed it impossible for us to become parents.

Once the water grew cold, Geralt climbed out the tub, helping me out after him. We dried off, slipped on thin clothes and went outside to feed the animals.

On the paddock, Geralt watched as Shadow and Daisy wouldn't leave my side. They actually kept Geralt from me, wanting to be the ones closest to me. We both laughed and shook our heads. Roach was standing next to Geralt, watching closely what her small herd was doing with me, before coming over and joining her friends, bumping her nose against me belly ever so softly.

"Seems like you're not the only protective one here, minne," I called out, standing on my tiptoes to see Geralt over the tall horses' backs.

"Looks more like they're trying to steal my wife, to me," Geralt chuckled, but with a slightly possessive undertone. Walks around the village would be fun now...

I shook my head, laughing.

"Girls, can you let me go, before someone loses it?" I'm sure they understand every word we say. Blowing through their noses, the three of them stepped back, clearing the way for me to return to Geralt.

Hand in hand, Geralt led me a little into the meadow and pulled me down to sit next to him. We enjoyed the sunset, letting the last rays and the warm air dry our wet hair. Too lazy and content in the situation to get up, I conjured some food and we ate. Afterwards, we lied down, staying like that until the sun disappeared behind the trees, leaving a world of twilight behind.

Only then, Geralt stood up, pulling me up with him. Arm in arm, we returned home and went straight to bed. When we were lying there like we always did – Geralt on his back and I on my side, his arms around me, my head and hand on his chest – his hands still rested on my belly, keeping our child safe. His thumbs stroked light circles on my skin.

"I can't wait to meet them," Geralt murmured into the dark. His voice told me that he was already half asleep.

"Well, I can wait a little;" I laughed lightly, "Giving birth doesn't look like it's going to be fun."

"You said it yourself: it would be worth it."

"Yeah, well, that still doesn't mean that I want to go through that any time soon. For now I just want to feel our child grow inside me."

A moment of silence passed between us. And then: quiet snoring.

"Goodnight, minne," I whispered to my already sleeping husband before snuggling more into his chest and embrace – despite the warmth in our bedroom – and fell asleep not long after, a smile on my lips.