Closed Bearing A Boulder

[Nell Night]

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh..." Nell frankly didn't think it was possible to be heavier than she was right now, leaning forwards to counterbalance as she did her best to settle into a chair, sighing as her rear finally found its place and she was able to flop back and relax properly. "People only ever talk about the magical pregnancy glow to lie to themselves about how miserable they are, I swear..." She groaned, resting one hand on the prominent swell of her abdomen. Sure, some people probably had easy, comfortable pregnancies that felt like the time of their lives, but Nell mostly just felt wrung out. She wasn't questioning whether this had been the right decision - she was very much looking forward to the actual BABY part of the whole situation - but she was definitely questioning everything she'd ever heard about the magic of pregnancy.

"You owe me so many days on nappy duty." She added, glancing up at Jasper with a small smile. As crap as she felt at pretty much all times these days, she was also more certain than ever that she was the luckiest woman alive. There hadn't been a doubt in her mind that Jasper would be a rock (ha) through her pregnancy, but she was still grateful for every little thing he had done to keep her comfortable and happy while she was lugging their daughter around inside her. "And maybe a few backrubs." She added, grinning. Nobody else could keep her smiling when she felt so terrible, but just seeing him was enough to make the weight feel a little lighter.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper was thrilled about the baby. Thrilled and utterly terrified at the same time, which made him jittery and restless most days. He had to stop himself from following Nell around all day, asking her if she needed anything. He knew that would be irritating. Though when she sat back in the chair, he got up and grabbed her some water, handing it to her wordlessly. "You know, if we could trade I would." He said, then paused. "Well, I'd agree to switch back and forth, maybe every week?" He hesitated. "Do you need anything now?" As exciting as it was to have a kid, it was still kind of awful to see Nell like this. "Maybe a foot rub?"

 

[Nell Night]

Nell snorted with laughter, then groaned as the occupant of her stomach protested the movement with a small flurry of kicks. "It's fine, you can carry the next one seahorse style." She grinned, leaning the lazyboy back and propping up her poor swollen ankles, even if it was at the cost of having an entire human squishing what felt like half her lungs. She gave a low groan at the mention of a footrub, eyes falling closed with exhaustion. "Oh, please. I didn't think they would hurt this much..."

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper inhaled quickly and nearly choked on his own spit as Nell casually mentioned the next kid, shouldn't they wait until they had this one? He coughed. "Next one..." He said, blinking. He had been so focused on this baby that he hadn't thought ahead. "You'd want... more?" Maybe she was just joking, but he knew Nell had a sibling. Maybe it felt natural to her to have more than one kid. Jasper nodded as Nell agreed to the foot rub, sitting down next to her and gently taking her foot, pulling it onto his lap as he started rubbing it. "It's not much longer now." He said, then smiled. "Then we get to meet them..."

 

[Nell Night]

Nell didn't really realise what had come out of her mouth until she saw Jasper's reaction. She shrugged, fumbling for words for a moment. "Oh, I mean, I had always pictured two kids, so they could be friends with each other." She said with a nervous smile. "But, I mean, if you're not okay with that we can talk about it..." She shrugged. She wasn't really sure how an only child would feel about siblings, but she knew she couldn't picture her childhood without her sister. She relaxed as the foot massage began, letting her head fall back and letting herself feel just how tired she was for a long moment. "Thank god." She laughed tiredly. "I can't wait."

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper nodded as Nell mentioned she had always pictured them with two kids. It made sense, considering she had a sister. "I mean, I was an only child and I was fine... but I did have cousins." He said, thinking back to his childhood. "It's not that I'm not okay with it. Just... hadn't thought that far ahead yet." He admitted a little sheepishly. Jasper thought it over quietly for a while while massaging Nell's feet. He was glad he could do something to ease the pain. "Me neither." He said with a small smile. "We should talk about names more." They had talked about it alreay, but hadn't settled on anything definitive.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell nodded as Jasper gave his perspective, though her heart panged slightly with loss. The thought of her daughter growing up with no siblings made her sadder than she expected, and she didn't know quite what to do with those feelings yet. "Yeah, it's something we can talk about in the future. Not like we need to make plans right now..." She did her best to keep the sorrow out of her voice, giving Jasper a cheeky smile instead when he brought up names. "Hmmm, how about Sulphur, to keep with the rock theme?" She teased. "Or Gold, because she's so heavy?"

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper nodded as Nell said they could talk about it in the future, that sounded good. He needed some time to think on this. He hesitated at her joke. "I know you're joking- Merlin, I hope you're joking... but I do feel a little conflicted about that." He said hesitantly. "It's kind of silly, and a lot of the names especially for boys aren't... wonderful, but it is also an old tradition in my family and it would be kind of neat to... I don't know, continue it." He shrugged, rubbing her feet and looking down. "Maybe we can find a middle ground and find a name that is a gemstone and also a normal name? Like... Ruby." He suggested quietly. He had been thinking on the name for a bit and honestly quite liked that one, though it wouldn't work for a boy. They probably had to let the theme go a bit if it was a boy, unless he could think of any good ones, or unless he wanted to name the kid after himself or his dad. "What do you think?"

 

[Nell Night]

Nell's face settled into something more serious as Jasper spoke, nodding. "No, I'm completely on board with it. I do like the rock names." She added with a small smile. "I like Ruby. Or we could do something more out there, like.... Tourmaline, or Rutile, or something." She smiled. "I'm a fan of interesting names." She rested a hand on her stomach, thinking about it quietly. Ruby...

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper grimaced a little as Nell started listing more obscure rock names, he appreciated the sentiment, but it was exactly that what he wanted to avoid. "I would rather not have my child bullied for seven years." He said, somewhat dryly. He shrugged. "I know that might not happen, but I'd worry..." He hesitated. "You like Ruby?" He asked, just for confirmation.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell nodded reassuringly, wishing she could reach forward and touch Jasper's shoulder, but there was a mountain in the way. "No, that's fair." She smiled slightly at his question and nodded. "Ruby Night - sounds pretty cute." She smiled fondly, resting a hand on her stomach instead. "Are you a Ruby?"

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper smiled fondly as Nell talked to the baby. He rested his hand on hers and smiled up at her. "Maybe." He said softly. "I can't wait to meet them, even if we figure out another name." He added softly, squeezing Nell's hand slightly.