Romulus had become more withdrawn from the rest of the pack in the later stages of Lillith's pregnancy. What had begun as a wonderful, exciting, and somewhat terrifying experience had taken a total tonal shift. It began at the bonfire festival, with Lil showing greater signs of fatigue. He'd ignored them then, chalking it up to her developing pregnancy and general drain on her already weaker body. But as the days progressed and Lil's belly grew with their children, so too did her symptoms. The fatigue never went away, only getting worse no matter how much she rested or slept. She started to have dizzy spells, almost collapsing if she tried to stand. Keeping food down had become a chore for the dainty fae. Then came the stomach cramps and sharp pains that took her breath. And with each passing day and each worsening symptom, Roman grew more and more concerned for his beloved girlfriend.

The silver-slate brute made his way back upstairs with some food and water balanced carefully on a tray, following a path he knew so well he'd nearly worn a trench in the rugs he'd taken it so many times. Lillith had been confined to bedrest by the healers, so he took it upon himself to care for her in every conceivable way. Try as he might, Romulus couldn't ignore the worried aching in his heart. What if something was terribly wrong with Lil? What if these were signs of a complication with the pregnancy or something bad was happening to their pups? He felt helpless; it was a feeling the young man hated more than anything else in the world. Being unable to help, no matter how willing he was or how badly he wanted to.

Arriving at their room, Roman pushed open the door with his shoulder and slipped inside, kicking it shut behind them for privacy. "Lunchtime!" he announced, his voice muffled by the tray in his jaws, which he carried over to his bloated lover and set down on the bed beside her. "How are you feeling today?" Pausing just long enough to give her a nuzzle and a kiss, Roman headed over to the windows and opened a couple, allowing the fresh breeze to waft into the stuffy room. It was drizzling outside, no longer the full heavy storms of winter which their children had been conceived during, but a gentle patter of water from gray clouds above.

"Speech"

Lillith never expected this pregnancy to be as difficult as it was. She didn’t have much to base her assumptions on but she knew it should have been better than this. Lil was always tired but even that would have been alright to live with were it not for the other symptoms she was suffering through. She could live through life while she was tired, she couldn’t deal with her continual spiral downward. There were dizzy spells during the day and whenever she could get out of bed it never lasted for very long before she found herself on the ground. If she didn’t have Romulus Lillith wasn’t sure she would have made it this far.

Worry did grip her heart everyday, mostly that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the end that was so close. Lil really tried to hide her worry, she internalized much of it because she didn’t want to shift those emotions onto Rolulus, not that she could help it. He was just as worried even if he didn’t want her to see the same. They were enduring all of this together and that was one of the few little hopes she held onto.

She woke up when Roman left that morning, but it didn’t take very long before she fell back asleep in bed. Something she had become very used to. It didn’t take much more than the door squeaking open for Lillith to open up her garnet gaze and focus them on Roman with a smile. It wasn’t forced, but the effort it took to give wasn’t well hidden. He dropped off her lunch and came to her side to give her a kiss and sweet nuzzle. She lived for his affection, and the excitement he always brought in her. From being together to the promise of the future side by side.

It wasn’t a very pretty day, as she could see as Roman drew back the curtains and revealed the drizzling day. Lillith breathed in the fresh air with a deep inhale before she answered him. "Good, or about the same I guess.” She answered after a beat, not wanting to lie. She was doing well right now but everyday it seemed like she was worse.

"Speech"

Try as she might to disguise her fatigue and nervousness, Romulus saw it all on Lillith's face. He knew his lover had been struggling so much for the past few weeks, and try as he might to mask his own unease with confidence that everything would be all right, it was becoming more and more difficult to keep up that facade around her. This was hands down one of the most difficult things Roman had ever had to do. Not only was it physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing on the two young wolves, but it made him feel utterly useless and helpless to do anything but comfort Lil to the best of his abilities. Roman was a go-getter, a problem solver. He hated being sidelined to just do what he could while Lillith took the brunt of the suffering for them and their children. But no matter how rough it got, he couldn't bring himself to regret the decision they'd made nor the lives they were making together. He loved Lillith, and he loved his yet unborn children. For them, he would give and do anything.

Lillith answered his question somewhat groggily, confirming his suspicions about her state. Today was an average day for her—neither good nor bad. He supposed that was good, considering some of the worse days she'd had as of late. Leaving the window to return to her side, Romulus sat down beside the edge of the bed and rested his chin on the mattress, gazing at Lil with a combination of adoration and worry, content to just watch her while she ate. He prayed beyond hope that she and the pups would be all right. They just had to be. "How are they doing today?" he asked in a softer voice, trying to hide the little quiver of anxiousness in his voice while steely silver eyes drifted to her swollen belly where his children were growing within her.

"Speech"

Romulus had been with her for a long time now, he knew her better than anyone, and there was no hiding anything from him. Even if she desperately wanted to. Part of her was denying reality. She was very ill, and it wasn’t only her life that was on the line. She didn’t want to admit that her weak body couldn’t do what she was asking of it. Really though, she was prepared to give up her life for the little babies growing in her womb. If she could just make it to term they’d be alright after that. Roman would make sure. Those thoughts were the ones suppressed as she ignored the truth.

She could ignore it when she was looking at Roman, having him by her side meant that she could do anything. Lil knew they would have these babies, she could see it in Roman’s eyes as he rested his head on the edge of the bed to watch her. She was nearly finished with breakfast when he asked after the precious cargo. "I can really feel them move now,” She said with a smile, not giving up hope that their dream was coming true.

"Speech"

Romulus managed a little smile while he watched Lillith eat, grateful that she had an appetite today. Her body shifted so turbulently with her pregnancy that it did worry him. Some days were better than others, but as time went by, the good days became fewer and fewer. The days where Lil was so weak that she couldn't even get out of bed or eat anything without throwing it up made him scared. More than once he had the dark thought of terminating the pregnancy while they could, but as they neared the end and his sweet lover kept going on like a trooper, Roman held out hope that no matter how hard it got, they'd get through it together. The thought of Lil dying in childbirth had never even crossed his mind, because it was too awful of a future for him to even conceive of being possible. She would always survive in his mind, and they would raise their family together, just like how it should be.

Lillith commented on how she could really feel them moving and Roman's smile widened, his bushy tail sweeping across the stone floor as it wagged with unbridled energy. Shifting his steely silver eyes from Lil's face down to her rotund belly, he slowly raised a massive paw and rested it against her side as if the wrong touch might shatter her like glass. With his paw to her distended side, resting over where their children grew, he couldn't help the flutter of excitement in his chest. It wouldn't be long now! "I can't wait to meet them," he said, tail still thumping with joy against the ground. He looked back up to Lil again, tender concern stealing his smile from his face. "I know this hasn't been easy for you, Lil, but I want you to know how much this means to me that you didn't give up. I'm so proud of you and I love you. But if it's ever too much..." His words were cut off as a sudden hard kick of invisible paws beneath his touch startled him, the soon-to-be father snapping to look at his lover's belly with a huge grin and sparkling eyes. "Hey, take it easy in there, guys! Don't hurt Mom, okay?" he spoke to their children with a chuckle.

"Speech"