It was finally starting to feel real that the war was actually over a month later, and while Callida threw herself into this new assignment from the king that she couldn’t talk about, Rogue set about studying obstetrics in earnest. It was interesting to merge his already significant experience and self-developed treatments and methods with actual, scientifically studied medical knowledge and find existing overlap, things he disagreed with, and things that were new and worth further study.

“How’s it going?” Callida asked, rapping her knuckles against the doorframe of the parlor where he was sprawled across a couch on his stomach, resting his chin against his hands, and staring at an illustration detailing how to turn a baby in its mother’s womb for easier delivery.

He puffed and rolled over to stretch and grin at the beautiful creature now quirking her head to the side expectantly. “It’s going well.”

“Are you still studying childbirth complications?”

“Uh, not so much. I mean, yes?” Rogue frowned in thought and sat up to pull the book into his lap. “I’ve moved on from the ‘rare’ complications and I’m trying to focus on the more common ones that really aren’t so complicated but still need some know-how.”

“‘Anything particularly interesting?” Callida queried, and helped herself to the seat next to him where she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek before looking over his shoulder. “What’s that?” She pointed, and Rogue grinned at her curiosity.

“That is a very simple procedure to try and encourage labor. Basically, you reach up to the cervix and gently separate it and part the uterus from the amniotic sac–”

“Where the baby grows?”

“Yeah.”

“Couldn’t that hurt… something?”

“It could. If the placenta is covering the cervix, which is an entirely different and very serious problem, trying to strip it from the cervix could kill the baby and be dangerous to the mother.”

“Why?”

“Well, the placenta is the thing that connects the baby to the mother, and a lot of blood flows through it to support the baby and allow it to live and grow. It’s all quite fascinating, actually, but to your original question, damaging the connection between the mother and baby can kill the baby and result in severe blood loss for the mother.”

“So then, why would you risk the procedure at all?”

“Well, either way, you need to know if the placenta is in a bad position.”

“And if it is?”

“Uh, well, if the placenta is covering the cervix, that’s the baby’s way out, so you’d have to perform surgery to get the baby out at all.”

“Surgery?!”

“It’s… not very well studied, and it’s highly controversial, but there is a technique I’ve been studying where, when the baby isn’t able to exit the body safely for one reason or another, you literally cut it out of the mother’s body through a carefully created surgical opening–”

“Ugh! Ok, I don’t want to know,” Callida’s nose scrunched up.

“Wow, really? This grosses you out?” Rogue snorted and rotated his torso to look her in the eyes.

“It’s not that it grosses me out!” Callida protested. “It just… I don’t know. Cutting someone open to expose their insides, rummage around in the entrails, and pull things out of them sounds….” She gagged. “Ok. Yeah. It grosses me out.”

“Which one of us kills people for a living?”

“Hey!” Callida smacked his arm but giggled and snuggled in more tightly to nuzzle her nose into the mop of black hair behind his ear. “Hm. You’re quite overdue for a haircut; it’s getting long,” she fussed, her fingers combing through the gently textured locks.

“Meh,” Rogue shrugged.

“You don’t have any excuses with Tonsor on staff,” Callida snorted. “Or are you growing it out on purpose?”

“‘Just don’t care.”

“And you cared more when you were a bandit living in the wilderness? You did a better job keeping your hair trimmed out there than here with a designated hair specialist in your house,” she chuckled. “Shaving too,” she observed, her fingers moving to trace his scratchy jawline.

“Whatever,” he grumbled

“Hm,” Callida got up to stretch. “Well, I’m off to work again.”

“Already?!” his head snapped up to project disappointment.

“Sorry, I got a late start on my lunch break, and I have a meeting with the council this afternoon about some public works project. Wish me luck,” she added with a small snort and eye roll.

“But you’ll be home for dinner, right? Remember, I was gonna cook tonight — give the kitchen staff the night off.”

“‘Which means that dinner will be an adventure,” she teased, leaning down to peck his cheek, her eyes sparkling. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

“You’d better not,” Rogue pouted playfully.

“When was the last time I skipped out on dinner, Qiangde?” she grinned, tapping his nose before standing up straight again. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Bye,” Rogue muttered, trying to keep the sulking to a minimum.

***

“Callida!” Verum beckoned her closer as the council conversed in clusters amongst themselves before the meeting.

“Your Majesty?”

“Callida, come here.” He gestured more animatedly, standing up from his throne to get… really close, his hand holding her waist to keep her in place while he whispered in her ear. “Flore thinks she might be pregnant again.”

She pulled back barely an inch so she could meet his anxious gaze. “Is it confirmed?”

“No. We’ve followed your instructions: no doctors.”

“How far along?”

“Maybe a few weeks?”

“Ok, so really early.” Callida looked down, the wheels in her head spinning at about a million miles an hour, calculating the time it would take to prepare the last few details. “We could be ready tonight if this is it,” she whispered, stepping back to create the space to justify speaking a little louder. “Would you and Her Majesty care to come over for a… culinary experience this evening?”

Verum quirked an eyebrow at her choice of words. “You mean dinner?”

“No. I said it right the first time.” Callida smirked cryptically.

“So… should we eat beforehand, or….”

“Maybe a light meal.” Callida nodded. “Just in case.”

“In case of what?!” Verum squawked with some mix of amusement, curiosity, and pure nerves.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“In case it’s inedible,” Callida laughed.

“Uh, we’d be happy to join you… I think?”

“Good. ‘See you tonight.”

***

Dinner was a marriage of flavors that may or may not end in divorce as per Qiangde’s usual cooking style. Growing up in the wastelands from the time he was ten years old, Rogue had always just made do with whatever edible things were available, often not accounting for flavor at all, and when there were spices and flavorings to be had, he wasn’t picky about the combinations, often throwing all of them together all at once. Occasionally, now that he had access to more spices and herbs than he’d even heard of, he’d still get a nostalgic itch and want to throw all the flavors together in an explosion that was borderline sacrilegious to anyone with taste buds.

“Smells interesting,” Callida said generously, wrapping her arms around Rogue’s waist while he cooked. “What are you making?”

“Uh… an experiment?”

“Are you making enough for four?”

“Callida!” He turned to growl at her.

“What?” She batted her eyes at him innocently, and Qiangde sighed.

“Who did you invite?”

“Verum and Flore.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Rogue slapped aside the ladle he was using to stir something with to better grouch at her. “Tonight?! The king?!”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You couldn’t have picked a night when the usual cooks are working?”

Callida just grinned and lifted onto her tiptoes to kiss him. “I’m sorry to spring this on you last minute, but it needed to be tonight.”

“But why?!”

“Qiangde, how long would it take you to pack for a long trip?”

His eyes widened, something flirty adding to a sudden smirk. “How long of a trip are we talking?”

“Seven to nine months?”

“Months?!”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?!” Rogue’s smirk became an excited grin as his hand snaked around her waist to her lower back and drew her in closer to sway gently from side to side. “Where would we be going?”

“Would you want to go visit Saghira?”

“The Sphinx Tribe?”

“What do you think? How much time would you need to pack? Do you think Saghira would be alright with that?”

“Oh, Saghira would be thrilled! I could be packed in ten minutes, and I think I’ll manage quite happily keeping you all to myself for seven to nine months.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Callida frowned.

“The… trip? …That you suggested we might go on?”

“Oh! Oh, no, I’m sorry, Rogue. I didn’t communicate that very well. I’m talking about that assignment that you’ve been studying for. You know… pregnant, not me, woman? Seven to nine months?”

“Whoa, wait. So… you’re not coming with me?”

“Well, no. I can’t get away for that long.”

“You–! You’re sending me away for seven to nine months?!”

“Maybe… but eventually, definitely. Why? Was that not clear?”

“Callida, you just got back! We… we have spent more of our marriage apart than together at this point! And now you’re sending me away?!”

“If you don’t want to do it, I can… find someone else. I just already know that I can trust you,” Callida explained, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip for the scolding. “Sorry. I know I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with the details of this mission. It’s just really quite sensitive.”

Rogue sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I guess I just didn’t put all the pieces together.” Another sigh, and he turned back to his pot of flavor explosion. “So this mission: do you know when I’ll be leaving?”

“Possibly tonight.”

“Tonight?!” He wheeled around again.

“Uh–”

“Callida! You couldn’t give me any notice?”

“I only just heard that it might be time this afternoon! It’s not the sort of thing that I could predict an exact timeline for. That’s why I told you to just do whatever you needed to do to be ready.” He was back to stirring, a little more aggressively than before. “You’re upset.”

“I–!” He huffed a little, taking control of his temper while he worked. “You gave me very minimal information to work with and base my expectations off of, and now you’re throwing this at me all at once, giving me no time before it’s time to go to process it, and our possibly last night together for the next seven to nine months is going to be spent entertaining royalty over experimental food of the not high cuisine variety, and it’s just a lot! All at once!”

“Yeah. I can see why that would be upsetting.” Callida bit into her lip again, her head bowing in surrender. “I promise that I had good reasons for… the way I did things. But I am sorry.”

“Can you tell me now what this mission is and what it entails?”

“Over dinner. But first, I’m going to need you to confirm a pregnancy.”

His brow lifted in a question that he knew she wouldn’t answer before he turned back to his cooking yet again, and Callida watched his scowl shift subtly to a vague understanding. She’d given him most of the pieces at this point. “This isn’t a run-of-the-mill pregnancy we’re talking about, is it?”

“No,” she confirmed.

“That’s why they’re coming over?”

“Yes.”

“And the reason I’m going on a trip for seven to nine months is because…?”

“I think you already know that I can’t tell you that.”

“But you’re investigating that reason while I work the other side of the issue.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think I like that you’re going to be here with him while I’m there with her.”

“Why?”

“He’s your ex, isn’t he?!” Qiangde growled.

“That was a long time ago.”

“Not long enough!” he spat, and Callida’s already prominent frown deepened. She had yet to learn how to manage and soothe Rogue’s jealous insecurities, and she had very little personal experience with those types of feelings to inform her next steps. “He was the complicated one right before you met me, wasn’t he?!”

“We’re just friends, Qiangde,” Callida said with tempered exasperation. “We were never in a relationship officially, and I never wanted–”

“Oh, please! You told me about him when I asked you about any–”

“Rogue, stop!” Callida cut him off, feeling a sudden urge to cry. “Is this really how you want to spend what might be our last night together for the next however many months? Verum and I have history together, yes. I have a past, yes! But Verum and I have reached a hard-won understanding, and we are only friends, and he’s not you. I don’t know how to prove to you that you’re the only one I want, and, I’m not going to lie, the fact that you don’t trust me… well, it really sucks!”

“It’s not you that I don’t trust; it’s–”

“Don’t do that! Don’t villainize him because he has the misfortune of being someone that I used to have feelings for. We all have a past.”

“And yet you are choosing him over me right now,” Rogue insisted angrily.

“Do you honestly believe that?” Callida asked quietly after a moment spent staring numbly at his left ear. “I’m doing my job. The role I had in mind for you is not compulsory. If it bothers you so much, you could back out now and stay here so you can babysit me and make sure I don’t cross any lines. Primordials, Rogue! What do you want from me?!”

He huffed, his shoulders slumping in shame and continued jealousy. “I just… I hate that you spend so much time with him as it is, and I’m trying not to–” He exhaled heavily, and Callida could tell that he was fighting an internal struggle to calm down — which meant that Shyaam was probably driving his current jealousy. “Look, m’lady, I’m sorry. I told you I’d take that assignment; I’ll follow through. And I know rationally that you’re just doing your job, but it’s still hard to…”

“… convince Shyaam?”

“Yeah. He’s been struggling without a pack. I mean, you are his entire pack right now; Goldie is, anyway. When you’re not around, he just feels sort of lost. And he’s easily threatened by anyone he thinks might try to take Goldie from him. 'Take you from me. You know?”

“Hey.” Callida caught his cheek to guide his gaze to hers. “I’m not going anywhere. You know that the reciprocal is true, right? You are my pack. That year after my brother died and you disappeared? That’s how I felt. Goldie felt? We? Whatever. Spiritualism makes this way too complicated. Anyway, that year I just felt lost without…. You call it a pack, but I call it a family. Qiangde, you have to understand, when I chose you, I chose you. No take backs, and no regrets. Please, if nothing else, trust that.”

“I do, Callida. I trust you. The jealousy isn’t exactly rational.”

“But it’s still coming from a place of insecurity,” Callida argued. “Why are you feeling insecure? Am I doing something wrong?”

“No. In fact, maybe that’s part of the problem,” he snorted in wry amusement. “I can’t imagine anybody not wanting you.”

She grinned and shook her head for the absurdity of such a statement and then smacked him playfully upside his head. “You’re ridiculous, and I love you.”

He grinned, his teeth baring in a low growl, and Callida realized too late his intentions. She squeaked, attempted to dodge, and ended up only delaying the inevitable. He got an arm around her fleeing hips and yanked her backwards, off her feet, and into a hug that quickly turned into a strange wrestling, makeout fusion.