So much silence. So much staring at her, gawking at her. He was still having trouble comprehending what she was telling him and as hard as she knew it was to accept it, Navia was ready for Théadan to fully understand. She wanted to see him happy she’d been able to give him something he wanted; she wished to celebrate with him. He was proving to be difficult to coax to that point however, and she was having to force herself to be patient. It had taken her a month to finally acknowledge what the signs had been telling her; she was asking Théadan to do it in a span of a few minutes. She had thought sharing all the evidence with him would have been enough; he had seen and touched some of the signs after all, but had figured having him touch the most concrete evidence would finally get him to understand there were no jokes involved, no lies.<br/><br/>After placing his palm where she wanted him to feel her abdomen, Navia waited patiently, watching his face closely. She just wanted to see the joy fill his features so badly, wanted him to be pleased. Théadan only continued to be flabbergasted by it all though, his eyes an owlish mixture of disbelief and astonishment. Her own hand went back to help keep her sitting up a bit, her elbows resting in the cool sand. Her gaze never left him though, so she would have a first-hand view of the moment Théadan decided it was all real. So much emotion was running through him; she could see the confusion in his eyes, the struggle with the truth, and then finally fear. It wasn’t how it was supposed to go, was it? He shouldn’t look at her that way; it was supposed to be a happy moment for them, one they would remember for the rest of their lives. Instead of laughter or excited kisses, Navia received a bewildered<i>How? </i>from Théadan that chipped at her patience.<br/><br/>Eyes rolling, a small sarcastic snort leaving her, Navia was fully prepared to drolly explain just how it had happened, but he was bluntly stating she could not have children in a way that pained her even if she knew that was no longer the case. Where had her eloquent, supportive lover gone? Who was the bumbling, uncertain man beside her? They were obviously the same man, but Navia was at a loss. She never would have guessed Théadan would freeze up so much. Where was that confidence she found so attractive? “How is this, what? Possible? I don’t know,” Navia answered in exasperation, struggling with keeping a grip on the last strings of her patience, “I don’t have an explanation for you, Théadan. I don’t know why this was able to happen and I don’t understand it any better than you do, but…” Her eyes locked onto his hand on her belly and how right it was, how it was something they had both wanted, had both thought they could not have. Why weren’t they celebrating?<br/><br/>“I want this,” Navia suddenly announced resolutely, eyes snapping over to him as she sat up, “We may never know why this was not possible for Devam and I, yet somehow is for us, but I don’t care.” Her hand laid atop his again and she squeezed gently, “This is a piece of us. This is just another way our love has persevered and survived the impossible. I thought you would be happy. I thought you wanted this, that you would be thanking whatever gods blessed us instead of questioning it.” Then her expression hardened, her defenses coming up as her hand carefully pushed his away from her. “But I see the fear in your eyes, Théadan,” she nearly whispered, a mixture of pain and anger swirling in her eyes, “This is not something I want to do without you, I would much rather us continue to be happy and celebrate this miracle together, but I can and will have this child without you if I must.”<br/><br/>Saying it was far from anything she’d thought she’d be saying after deciding to sit down with him and share with him what she’d thought would be some of the best news she could ever give him. Raising a child without Théadan would be completely heartbreaking and such a reality would change her forever, but what else could the fear in his eyes mean other than his reluctance to be apart of something so permanent and all-consuming? It caused a lump to form in her throat and tears to well up in her dark eyes, which Navia wiped at with the back of a hand while she went to rise up and retreat from him. Théadan was wrenching at her heart too much with his confusion and apprehension, she knew of nothing else to do but get away from him.