for richard

[mother_confessor]

Things had finally started to get a little...unwieldy. Kahlan knew that she didn't have many more months to go until Cara came into the world and it felt like all the weight had packed on in the past few days. She also craved everything from frozen treats to fruit to Richard all day and all night long and it made it increasingly-difficult to concentrate on her other pursuits.

It was late in the evening and it seemed the weather had finally cooled when the sun went down, a fact for which Kahlan was infinitely grateful. Still, she laid in their bed with as little as possible on and fanned herself in hopes that she'd just cool off sooner rather than later.

"Richard? Can you just throw water on me?"

Kahlan was certain that the Mother Confessor had never whined before but she guessed that she wasn't technically the Mother Confessor at the moment, was she?

Comments

[truenamedseeker]

Richard felt terribly for Kahlan, and hated that all he could really do was keep her comfortable. And he knew she must have been truly, truly uncomfortable to even come close to 'whining'. It just wasn't in Kahlan to complain unless she was really miserable.

"Well, I could, but I don't know if that would help or just soak the bed. But maybe this will help." Richard came over to the side of the bed with a bowl full of cool water and a cloth, and knelt down next to the bedside. He twisted the cloth to wring out the bulk of the moisture, then dabbed at her forehead, cheek and neck, hoping it would help cool her down a little. "The hut's not quite as cool as the outside temperature yet. By the end of the night you might actually need a blanket. That'd be nice, hey?"

[mother_confessor]

"That feels nice," Kahlan said softly, closing her eyes. She hated that she felt so terrible but it was worth it, considering the reason. Richard, at least, seemed very interested in the baby and in taking care of her. Kahlan doubted it would have been this way with anyone else.

"I'm sorry I'm complaining."

[truenamedseeker]

"You're not complaining," Richard promised her, taking her hand in his unoccupied hand and kissing her knuckles affectionately. "You're carrying a tiny person around in your stomach. Do you want to know what I'd be doing in your shoes? I'd be panicking. Constantly. It wouldn't be pretty. All things considered, you're holding up brilliantly."

[mother_confessor]

Kahlan couldn't help but laugh at the image of Richard carrying their daughter instead of her.

"They say women are weak but clearly men have not thought that through."

[truenamedseeker]

"Well I am definitely not part of the 'they,'" Richard laughed, shifting some of Kahlan's hair so that the heavy mass of it wasn't resting on her neck and shoulders and therefore wasn't making it harder for her to cool off. "Because I would never ever think to call women weak. Is that any better? Are you any cooler?"

[mother_confessor]

"Much, thank you. It is almost unbearable at night. At least during the day I am busy and don't think about it so much."

Kahlan was not sure if she was prepared for motherhood and it was only a few short months away.

"There's so much we have to do before she gets here."

[truenamedseeker]

"We'll be ready," Richard promised her, shifting so that he could toy with her hair. "Well. As ready as anyone can be for a life altering event like a baby. It doesn't exactly come with a list of do's and don't's."

[mother_confessor]

"No, I guess not. It...I just haven't had something like this ever happen to me before and I don't exactly know how to handle it. I don't like walking into a situation with so little knowledge." Everyone had to learn this as they went along but Kahlan was the type to want to know things from the start and do them correctly. The idea that she might not do everything perfectly weighed heavy on her heart.

"I don't want to be terrible like my father was."

[truenamedseeker]

"Oh, Kahlan, no," Richard assured her, wishing that he could hold her close right now, but he didn't want to make her overheating worse. "You could never be a terrible mother. You're amazing with kids, I've seen you. And our kid? A piece of you and a piece of me? How can we not love her and want to protect her and nurture her?"

[mother_confessor]

"I know. But surely my father must have wanted the same once?"

Except he, like all Confessor's mates, had been confessed and Richard was not. Maybe that would make a difference.

[truenamedseeker]

"He was confessed," Richard soothed. "And when your mother was gone, he reacted horribly. That won't happen to us."

[mother_confessor]

"No, I guess it won't," Kahlan said, soothed for the moment. She took his hand and brushed her lips lightly against his knuckles. The worst thing about this pregnancy were the terrible shifts in mood and Kahlan felt like she was out of control most days. She was glad that Con Dar wasn't a possibility.

"I think it cooled off a little? If you want to get in bed?"

[truenamedseeker]

"Okay." Richard smiled and kissed Kahlan's forehead, then rose from his crouch to perch on the side of the bed and kick off his boots. He left them, his vest and shirt in a rather untidy pile in the floor, and laid down behind Kahlan, cuddling up to her back and wrapping an arm around her middle as best he could with her belly being as round as it was.

[mother_confessor]

"I really don't think we're going to fit together much longer," Kahlan remarked, laughing a bit at just how awkward she felt. "I feel like I'm twelve times the size I actually am and that nothing is where it should be. I thought women were supposed to feel wonderful when with child."

[truenamedseeker]

"Well, your back's not changing visibly, just your front," Richard assured her with a chuckle, dropping a kiss to her shoulder. "So my arm might not go all the way around, but we'll manage. I guess maybe the 'wonderful' kicks in in hindsight? Maybe once you have the baby in your arms all the other stuff kind of fades from memory."

[mother_confessor]

"I think that is probably it, the haze of new motherhood," Kahlan said with a light laugh.

"I just wish...I have never been particularly vain but I do wish I still felt beautiful. Right now I just feel like you could roll me up to the Compound like a snowball."

[truenamedseeker]

"But you are beautiful!" Richard insisted, dropping a kiss against Kahlan's shoulder and neck. "Maybe you don't feel it, but you look...really amazing."

Richard was absolutely blind to any of the ill side effects of pregnancy on Kahlan--if her face was ever puffy or her feet were swollen, he didn't see it. He thought she looked beautiful, soft and glowing.

[mother_confessor]

"Yes? Maybe you'll just have to convince me." Kahlan was not opposed to it if Richard thought he could manage it; positioning would be terribly awkward but she thought she wanted it enough to make up for that.