Trek For Survival

"Vonn! You should feed this la.s.s more!" said a drunk halfling, stumbling up to them and sizing Gia up with his eyes. "She"s not eaten more than a dozen plates of food! Go get her some more!"

"Beorn, I heard they were opening another bottle of that wine you"ve been eyeing," said Bob with a smile, coming up behind the unsteady halfling.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, turning and almost falling against a group of older women but righting himself at the last second and disappearing into the crowd.

"Thank you, Bob," said Gia in relief. "I don"t know how to thank you!"

"Perhaps you should join in some of the dancing? It would allow you to mingle more, instead of standing here to like statues," he chuckled, giving her a wink.

Vonn took her arm with a laugh and pulled her on the dance floor where they tried to mimic some of the halfling"s dance steps. As he spun her around, Gia caught glimpses of the drinking contest in one corner, the entire wall of food that was still straining under the weight of all of the food that kept appearing, and her parents sitting and chatting with several older halflings off to one side. Her brother popped up next to her, and grabbed her away from Vonn for a time, as everyone laughed and had fun.

Several hours had pa.s.sed before she found herself sitting in a very short seat, her knees pulled up to her chin, almost, and Vonn handing her a mug of something clear and fruity.

"We can go to our room anytime," he said gently, sitting next to her and nibbling on a cookie.

"Do you think it would be proper to leave? The party is for us, after all," said Gia, apprehensive about what was coming.

"Bob told me that the halflings would be partying half-way through tomorrow, and maybe even the next day, as they woke back up," chuckled Vonn.

"Alright," she almost whispered, as he stood up and pulled her to her feet.

Just as she was pulled through the door, a cheer erupted behind her, but Vonn didn"t let her glance back to see what was going on.

"We"ll go upstairs, and get out of these horribly tight clothes, away from all of the noise and little people," he sighed, guiding her up the stairs that were so small, they could take three or four steps at a time.

"Vonn," Gia finally managed to squeak out as he shut the door behind them, and she had full view of the room. The bed seemed to loom in her eyes and she almost felt sick to her stomach. She had eaten so much food, she didn"t know what could be upsetting it.

"Giavanna, are you scared of me?" he asked, stepping in front of her and taking her chin, he tilted her eyes up to see his.

"No," she whispered as her heart beat furiously in her chest.

"You trusted me to get you and your family out of the city safely, and you trusted me to get you out of danger so many times. Trust me with this, okay?" he said gently, his hands flowing down her dress to the ties that held it on.

Gia stood there with her hands clutched to her chest, afraid to meet his eyes as her dress lay crumpled at her feet. Even in nothing but a shift, she felt more naked before him than any of the times she had actually been undressed in front of him…

As his lips touched hers, she felt something inside slip, and the next morning arrived in a daze of bright light shining through the window. His arms held her against him in a warm coc.o.o.n of love, and she couldn"t bring herself to break free.

When her eyes drifted open again, the sun wasn"t shining directly inside, as it had the last time, and she was going to pee the bed if she didn"t get up right that moment. Struggling against his arms, he pulled her in closer for a hug before finally letting her go with a laugh.

"So, determined to get away from me already?" he asked, rolling to his side of the bed and sitting up with a sigh.

"I would stay in your warm embrace all day, if my body would let me," she said, trying to remember everything that had happened the previous night, and her cheeks turned bright red.

"Such poetry, Gia. You heard too much from those bards last night," he said as he waited to use the chamber pot himself.

"I liked some of the songs they were singing. They were pretty," she said, trying to remember them.

"The music was pretty, but the stories that were sung were very lewd," he said as she reached for her shift and slipped it on.

"I don"t remember," she sighed. "Do you think everyone"s alright?"

"You said Bob was a G.o.d, right? Do you think he would let anything happen to our family?" he teased, reaching over to kiss her forehead.

Warmth curled around her at his words and she leaned her head back so his kiss, that had been aimed at her brow, hit her mouth instead.

"Careful, I might pull you back into that bed," he whispered after they both had to come up for air.

"There will be plenty of time for that, once you build one in our own house," she laughed, pushing him back so she could slip on her crumpled dress.

Grabbing up his pants, he watched her struggle with the unfamiliar ties for a moment, before shaking his head and grabbing her arm.

"Nope, I just can"t help it. That dress is a complete mess. There"s no hope for it, we"re just going to have to stay in bed today."

"But Vonn!" she laughed as he pulled the dress off again. "What about something to eat, or getting back on the road?"

"That can wait. I"ve been wanting to marry you for far too long to stop just yet. Don"t worry, I"m sure there will be plenty of food left," he growled into her neck, causing her to squeal.

As the moon finally started to rise over the horizon, Gia was able to get them out of their room and in search of something to eat. She was tired and sore, but happier than she could ever remember being. Their first stop was to the room that had their things. There were tubs set up for them to bathe in, and that took even longer than she could have imagined, but once they were done getting cleaned up and dressed, she dragged Vonn back to the party room.

Halflings were in full swing, with music and dancing, food filled the table, and her parents and brother were in the same corner, chatting with the same people.

"Are you sure time didn"t stop just for us?" she asked in a whisper, confusion on her face.

"And if it did?" he asked with a grin.

"Bob could at least have had the decency to make me a little less sore," she joked, holding Vonn"s arm tightly as they made their way over to the table with all of the food.

"Back already?" asked Juniper with a laugh, handing Gia a plate piled high with cakes and pies, meats and fruits, vegetables and cheeses.

"I was starving," said Gia, taking a bite of a chunk of cheese, savoring the flavor.

"I understand," laughed the halfling woman, handing Vonn a plate of his own. "There"s plenty more where that came from!"

"Thank you!" said Gia before Vonn dragged her over to an empty table.

Watching her family laughing and having a good time made her happy, and she turned her smile on Vonn.

"We"ll need to hurry, to get to the human lands," Vonn said seriously, taking a bite of a rich piece of cake.

"Why?" asked Gia, "Juniper said it couldn"t take another month or so to get there."

"But I need to have time to get our house built before winter hits," said Vonn. "Also, we need to have a house built, and everything prepared before it"s time."

"Time? Time for what?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Vonn gave her a wide smile and leaned in close before saying, "Time for the baby to arrive."

Gia managed to swallow her drink and not choke. She hadn"t thought about that. Well, she had when they were discussing her being wed, and it had occurred to her before going to their room, but all thoughts of a baby had left her mind once he first kissed her last night. Placing her hand on her belly, she glanced back at him and nodded very seriously. If she was going to get pregnant, they had just made sure she would be.