♦Hold♦Me♦Forever♦

[potter_fan122]

((Aiden, otherwise it`s closed. Everybody else go away and wait for the fan fic.  :-* ))

Have you ever had a really bad head ache? One so painful that your teeth hurt at any flicker of light or breath of sound made your head swim in agony? Bright spots dancing before your eyes every time you took a step, and almost falling over with dizziness? Have you ever hurt so much that ever the lightest of touch against your skin made you feel like you were going to throw up? The mere thought of having to get up being enough to keep you rooted to the spot?

That was how Stacey was feeling, perched up in the window seat in her and Aiden`s room on the second story of their home. Outside was cold and miserable looking, the trees all bare and wet and the ground covered with six inches of the evil thing called snow. Everything was a dismal shade of white or grey, winter having whipped allcolor from the world. Even though it was only January third and winter had technically just began only two weeks before, everyone was ready for the sun to come out and bring back life. Especially Stacey.

She hated winter-- hated the cold and wet that came with it-- especially today. The sun that reflected off the white of the snow felt like it was piercing into her eyes, and it sent a sliver of pain into her temple. But the thought of turning her head just made her shiver in pain, so she just closed her dark eyes. She was curled up in the little window seat, trying to get warm. She was running a really high fever, but she herself felt cold. Her knees were pulled up close to her chest and she was holding onto a round, tan little pillow. The window was fogged up with her slow and steady breathing. It was cold there, but she didn`t mind and she didn`t dare move. She had been sitting there motionless since she had gotten home two hours ago.

Stacey was waiting for Aiden to come home, which he would just seconds after five o`clock, using their rather secret for of transporting to get home as fast as possible. He knew that she had gone to St. Mugno`s today. Both having Muggle parents, it was hard for them to keep up with all of the fancy wizard diseases. She had gone to the wizard hospital to have a full blown checkup. It had taken a bit longer than she had expected, but they had to do some different tests than she thought they would do. Aiden had offered this morning to take the day off work and go with her, but she had somehow discouraged him from that. She didn`t really like the doctor`s, but she didn`t want Aiden to see her freaking out about needles when she had taken down much scarier monsters.

Stacey`s head throbbed suddenly and so painfully that she moaned and leaned over so that her forehead rested against the cool glass and her stomach churned in protest. She thought about those two little pills that she had taken when she had when she got home. She had to squint her eyes against the soft sun, even though it was setting quickly.

Her mental clock told her that it was two minutes till five. She knew that she was exactly right without having to look at a clock. Her head was just ticking off the seconds until she could see Aiden again. Even through the pain, the thought of being in Aiden`s arms willed her enough to stand up. Stacey grimaced, her head rolling, and tried to ignore the fact that it felt like her head was going to split open with each careful step she took. She was suddenly immensely glad that the wood floors were new enough that they hardly creaked.

As soon as she made it out of the bedroom and to the stairs a wave of nausea passed over her. She reached out and grasped the railing, one foot on the top stair. The fact that it was a sprial staircase really wasn`t going to help. After about ten long seconds the maddening swirling stopped and she continued down the steps. Ever time her foot hit the next stair a shot of pain went through her.

The house had grown dark with the setting of the sun. Stacey shivered-- freezing despite the fact that her skin was a hundred and one degrees-- then winced as a ripple of pain went through her again. The windows didn`t let in hardly any light now that there was no sun, so she closed them all with a flick of her wrist. It was almost five, and while she wouldn`t lie to Aiden and say that she was fine, she didn`t want to be cowering in the doorway when he got home.

With that little burst of self-defiance Stacey continued into the living room and clenched her teeth against the throbbing. Then she realized that she was still holding the little pillow from upstairs. She cursed mentally, knowing that there was no way she could walk up there and back, and she wasn`t really in any condition to Apparate or transport. So she just tossed the pillow towards the stairs and headed over to the couch, sinking into the cushions just as a wave a nausea hit her again. Squeezing the bridge of her nose, Stacey tried to push down the feeling of sickness. With another flick of her hand a row of candles on the coffee table flickered to life, sending a soft light throughout the room.

She stared into the cold, empty fireplace. The she was cold, but even the light of a small fire would cause a lot of pain. She didn`t want to do that. She just wanted to be there when Aiden got home. She closed her eyes and waited for the small pop that would announce her husband`s presence.

[Aiden]

Aiden walked through the door, barely opening it as a low creaking sound echoed through the silent house.  The house, which was normally very warm and inviting, suddenly felt cold and eerie.  Aiden instantly knew the reason. 

He didn't want to go to work today.  He would rather stay home with Stacey knowing she was sick and getting worse.  Aiden did his best to arrive home as early as possible, but his boss made him stay until his shift was done.  However, he was grateful that Stacey had finally agreed to go to the doctor.  He knew it was bad enough that she would need some sort of medicine to her mysterious sickness.

Aiden closed the door behind him, looking across the front room.  He could sense she was in the living room, but an odd feeling came across him.  He walked to the left and into the living room.  His eyes instantly came across Stacey laying on the couch in an odd position.  Had she really gotten worse?


He quickly walked over to her, lighting the fireplace as he passed it.  He sat beside her, his forehead having a large crease down the middle which suddenly made him look older with worry.

"Stacey?"  Aiden managed to choke out.

[potter_fan122]

Stacey easily eard the low click of the door opening, then the low creak that followed. She winced and sat up. Strangely, even though she was in pain, knowing Aiden was home made her want to get up and run to him. She stayed put, though. He probably wouldn`t like it if she did that, then told him about her headache.

She heard his quickly steps on the floor, then the pop as the fireplace was lit. She narrowed her eyes against the sudden light it gave off and lowered it with a wave of her hand.

"Hi." She said somewhat cheerfully as Aiden sat beside her. Her eyes glowed bright blue just at the sight of him, even if his forehead was creased with worry. Worry for her, and she felt a little guilty about making him look like that. "I`m a little better." She said as se reached out and took his hand. "Really, I am." It wasn`t even a lie. It was like a cloud had followed Aiden home and enveloped her. It wasn`t the medicine working, she knew that much, but it was just her and Aiden`s love for each other, the smae feeling that made her stomach warmer whenever he was near. She squeezed his hand, then looked down at it with a frown.

His hand was colder than hers. That never happened. Her body naturally ran a lower temperature, and his higher. He wasn`t the one who was colder, she was hotter. The fever must be higher now. Stacey sighed and ran her hand across her pink cheeks, also warm.

[Aiden]

Aiden wrapped his warm fingers around her blazing hot ones.  His eyes looked down, noticing that nothing was visibly wrong with her hand.  Was her fever really that high?

Aiden lifted his eyes to look at her face.  He searched her eyes, looking for any sign that something was wrong.  He could read the pain on her face, but otherwise he couldn't read anything other than that.  He slowly reached his other hand to caress her cheek.  He could feel her skin radiate heat from every inch of her.

Aiden blinked, coming back to reality.  He had become to enwrapped in his thoughts to respond.
"What did the doctor say?"  He asked, his voice even.

[potter_fan122]

(( ;D ;D ;D ))

Stacey closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against his hand. His cool hand felt really nice against her skin. The doctor said that her fever was unbelievably high, so high that a normal person`s brain cells would have been sizzling, but hers were perfectly fine. It was a mystery to him, but Stacey knew that it was probably because she had gained some random things from using vampiric powers from her friends.

"Well..." She said softly, opening her bright eyes and moving so she was cross-legged and facing Aiden. She looked down at their hands entwined together, her flushed skin against his pale skin, warm against cool. She looked up into his eyes, unreasonably dark and full of worry. He should have gone with her today, he had wanted to, she could see that. But for some reason what the doctor had told her made her glad that she went alone. She felt like she held something for him, like a surprise.

She lifted her free hand and traced her fingers along him cheek and a slow smile began to flow over her face, her eyes glowing a little brighter.

"Aiden, I`m pregnant."

[Aiden]

((XD))

Aiden blinked, dumbfounded for a moment.  His eyes simply stared at her face, but they seemed to be looking at something that wasn't there.  His mouth stood frozen halfway open, and he blinked again.

"What?" He spoke without thinking.

His eyes instantly shot down to Stacey's stomach.
Pregnant?

It took him a moment to realize that he was just staring off into space like a mindless freak.  Aiden looked up at Stacey's face, his eyes swirling a mix of colors between dark and light brown before settling on a medium color.
"Are you sure?

[potter_fan122]

Stacey watched him, trying desperatly not to bust out giggling. It wasn`t that funny, but for some reason she thought so. She just smiled, instead, watching.

Squeezing his hand, she replied, "I`m sure. I mean, yeah... they`re sure." She ran her fingers over the back of his hand. Her eyes were glowing a soft blue, bright in the dark room.

[Aiden]

Aiden's eyes went wide for a moment until he looked away into the fireplace.  Once his expression was composed, he turned to look at Stacey again.  He squeezed her hand ever so lightly.

Aiden watched her face, noticing that she was smiling.  It almost looked like she was trying not to laugh.  This obviously wasn't a joke so he didn't get her expression.

"And you're okay with this?"  Aiden asked, leaning forward, closer to Stacey.

[potter_fan122]

Stacey`s face slowly dropped and she looked away again, playing with his fingers absent-mindedly.

She thought about his question. It wasn`t like they hadn`t not tried, but they hadn`t exactly talked about it before. This was why she was glad he hadn`t gone with her. This was why she didn`t call him right after she got home. She had wanted time to think about it, and the two hourse she had still didn`t seem like enough. Was she okay with it?

Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair, ignoring the sharp stab of pain it sent through her.
"I... I don`t know." She answered truthfully. "It... it just seems so-- so soon." Her voice cracked and she had the sudden urge to cry.

[Aiden]

Aiden pressed his lips into a straight line, and he tilted his head to one side in that same familair way.  He pulled Stacey gently towards him, and layed back.  He hoped the gesture didn't hurt her.

Aiden pressed his fingers to Stacey's cheek, and turned her head towards him so he could see her face.  So many thoughts ran through his mind at once, but right now all he could focus on was her face.

"It does seem so soon... so unexpected."  He replied, his voice quiet.
Aiden searched her eyes for something to say.  He noticed that she was about to cry.

"I think we're going to be okay though."

[potter_fan122]

Stacey sniffled and rested her head against his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply. Her pain was momentarily forgotten, Aiden`s worry working much better than any medicine would.

"We`ll be okay." She murmured, pushing back her tears. Her head was spinning slightly. She had hoped that once Aiden got home everything would be okay. She hoped that he would know what to do, even though she knew it wasn`t right to push that much on him. Then she remembered something.

"Um, Aiden... there`s something else...."

[Aiden]

Aiden stiffened, noticing her tone.
More?

Aiden looked down, unable to see her face.  His eyes swirled dark and they looked almost defensive now.  He took in a deep breath as his stomach ached with nervousness.  He didn't like her tone.

"What?"  He replied, his voice slow and quiet.

[potter_fan122]

Stacey opened her eyes and chewed the inside of her cheek, her eyes swirling between grey and purple. She thought about her brother Hayden, her recently found twin. She hadn`t talked to him since the wedding, but she was more than fine with that. He was too much like their mother to be much fun, and they weren`t really comfortable around each other yet.

"Well, there`s...." She paused, wondering how he would react. For the shortest moment, she didn`t want to tell him, feeling suddenly defensive about the small beings inside of her. But the feeling was quickly fashed away.

"Twins." She breathed.

[Aiden]

Aiden froze, his whole body stiff with shock.  His mouth dropped and he let out a gust of breath.  His eyes swirled another round of colors between black and dark brown.

"Twins?"  Aiden repeated so quietly that it looked like he mouthed the words.

Aiden looked down at her stomach again.  He couldn't help but reach his hand out to touch her.  However, he stopped himself before moving his hand any further incase it caused her pain.

"How long?"  Aiden asked, looking at her face.

[potter_fan122]

Stacey smiled almost sadly as Aiden reached out to her stomach.

"You`re not going to hurt me. Really, I feel a lot better now." She leaned back to look into his eyes, hoping he would see it was the truth. There was a large part of her that wanted him to reach out to her stomach and be happy about all of it, but there was another part just as big that wondered what he was really thinking.

"Three weeks." She said softly.