Time passed and me and Diana went on numerous dates together, as promised, she was able to wear a lot of nice dresses and, in general, the two of us had the time of our life. To the great disappointment of Sara, we even moved in together. When she heard about her precious little sister moving in with me, she about lost it, shouting and crying about how I 'stole' Diana from her. It was an amusing performance.
"Why?! Why are you leaving me!? Are you really picking that damn 'Dragon' over your own flesh and blood big sister that always looked out and protected you?!" Sara cried while holding onto Diana's legs and her luggage when Diana was trying to move out.
"Sister, while I do appreciate all that you've done for me, you know that I can't stay with you forever, right. It's time for me to move, besides, we'll still see each other every day, we'll just sleep in different inns, that's all."
"No fair! If I had known that he would take you away, I would have never spurred your relationship on! In fact, you're too good for him, dump him and come back to meeee!" Sara cried.
I started laughing while watching this whole comedy unfold, but a stern gaze from Diana stopped me immediately. Girls are scary.
We finally were able to take the luggage and, with great difficulty, unclamp Sara's vice grip from Diana's legs. Sara was left alone in her room, absolutely sobbing, while me and Diana carried everything to our new place.
"I hope that she will understand my decision. For as far as I can remember the two of us were always together. I feel bad leaving her alone like this…"
"There's no need to worry about her, Diana, I'm pretty sure that it was mostly an act. No normal person reacts that way." I tried reassuring her.
"Oh, you talk as if you know anything about being a normal person, Isaac."
"Don't be like that, I'm trying my best to learn. Just give me some more time and I promise that I'll become the most average person in this world!"
"There's nothing average about you, though." She laughed.
"I hope that that's a compliment…"
"At least you're optimistic."
We spent two months together, living as a couple. Diana was the last thing I saw before going to sleep and the first thing I saw in the morning. We lived in a small, two storey house in the outskirts of town. We especially picked it because it had a large kitchen and Diana could cook almost everyday.
While I might seem like a total slob that pushes all of the household chores on my girlfriend, in reality, I did help. A little. Diana was responsible for cooking, cleaning and laundry, I helped out by gathering firewood and lighting the fireplace. We still went adventuring with the others and we'd meet everyday at the guild hall. My new life was like an idyllic dream that I never wanted to awake from. But all dreams have to come to an end.
One day, when I came back home late at night after finishing some miscellaneous task, I was greeted by Diana and Sara, who was giving me the stink eye.
"Hey girls, what's up?" I was worried, all my instincts were telling me to run.
"Isaac… I have to tell you something… Something important…" Diana was fidgeting in her seat.
"Did someone die? Why do you look so serious?"
"It's actually the opposite of that… I… Haven't had my period for a while now…"
"OK, I'll be honest, I'm not a doctor, so I don't know how I can help, nor do I know what that means." I thought for a minute. "Oh, do you need money for a doctor's appointment? If it's only that, then there's no need to worry."
"No, I already went to see one, so that's not it, but…"
"Oh, are you sick? Is it bad? If you need any medicine, just say the word. I promise that I'll find it no matter what."
"N-no, I'm fine, it's not that."
"Then what?"
"God, you're a dense fool, aren't you, newbie." Sara finally interjected. "Diana, I can't listen to this any more. If you don't tell him straight, your conversation will drag on for ages."
"Hey, Diana, what does she mean? I'm totally confused right now."
Diana fidgeted for a minute before answering. "Well, you see… Our family will soon become a bit bigger…"
"Ah, so Sara is moving in, huh? I thought that we already had that conversation and decided against it. Sorry, Sara, no big sisters allowed. House rules."
"Oh, this idiot will never get it." Sara looked pissed. "She's pregnant! The two of you will soon have a kid running around, do you understand what that means? Honestly, I hope that the kid doesn't inherit your intellect. We don't need any more potato heads…"
You could hear a pin drop.
It took me a while to process what I've just heard. I looked at Diana, thinking that it was a joke, She was as red as a tomato. They're not joking!
Me, a father? This is bad, very, very bad. But I kinda get it. We did do it almost every night and I never did pull out, but I never thought that with my body, I was able to spread genes to begin with. Wait, why didn't Diana stop me? We did talk about kids, and I kinda agreed to having them, but it was supposed to happen in the far future, I was purposely stalling for time. Who knew that my irresponsible decisions would throw me into a mess like this!
What to do, what to do? I could always run. Nah, that doesn't work, I'd be abandoning Diana, that wouldn't fix the problem. I looked around and saw that the girls were looking at me, obviously waiting for an answer. What the fuck am I even thinking about? This isn't a time to be a coward! After all, I faced the 'Flame dragon' - a being on par with a god and didn't back down, a child won't scare me! Besides, it doesn't matter what I want or don't want, what matters is Diana and if she wants to have a kid with me, who am I to object.
I finally spoke. "Diana, do you want this? We did talk about children, but I thought that we would have them later in life."
"I don't know… What do you think about all this, Isaac?"
Wait, she doesn't know? Then maybe… I opened my mouth to speak, but then caught myself at the last second. No, this is definitely a trick question, if I say that I don't want it, our relationship is most likely doomed. There's no helping it, I internally sighed. "If it's with you, then I'd love to be a parent."
This was the right answer, the tension in the room Dissipated instantly and Diana smiled with a smile full of happiness and relief. "I'm so glad! See, sister, we were worried for nothing!"
Sara seemed to ease up a bit as well. She smiled and said. "I'm glad for you two. It seems that I'll become an aunt soon." Then she turned to me. "You were this close to losing your balls just now. Consider yourself lucky." So that's why she was here? She's getting more and more scary by the day…
Satisfied, Sara left us alone in the house. We were told to figure out things from here alone. Diana was super excited, she started planning the room and clothing for the baby, she wanted to pick out a name for it right there and then. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information and mentally checked out, but was still extremely happy for Diana's happiness.
When the talk turned to Diana's future as an adventurer, I was opposed to her continuing, reasoning that it was dangerous for her and the baby, but she insisted on continuing to adventure with everyone and since she always stayed in the back, she would be fine. She was adamant, so I had to yield for then, but I was sure that Sara would be able to convince Diana the next day.
That night I went to bed with a head full of conflicting thoughts. On one hand I was terrified of becoming a father. I had no father growing up, so I wasn't sure about how I was supposed to act. What was I supposed to teach the kid, which parts of myself I was supposed to exaggerate and which was I supposed to hide. I didn't want him to turn out like me, hell I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's a miracle that there are people in this world that actually accept me.
On the other hand, if I tried hard enough, I could become a father to be proud of. I could be the father that was missing from my own life - someone that would care for and protect the kid from the dangers of the world. I'm confident that, apart from the other 'True dragons', no one can stand as my equal in this world, so the child would always be safe.
I kept racking my brain for hours about what to do until I finally came to a conclusion. I need advice, I need advice from someone knowledgeable about the world. I need Clive.