Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 86

Musical inspiration: Take Me To Church – Hozier

"Zee would you please stop pacing! You're driving me nuts!", Lilith shouted at her witch from the bed.

Zelda was muttering her mental to-do-list to herself, running from here to there, occasionally slipping out to retrieve Hecate-knows-what from Hecate-knows-where while Lilith refused to move an inch from her comfortable seating on the bed, hugging pillow to her belly, legs half tugged under her bottom – someone had to balance out Zelda's hustle.

"Zelda, you still've got two hours and everything was finished yesterday! Please, I want to spend some time with you before I have to go..."

The redhead was absentmindedly chewing on her nails – something she rarely ever did anymore, but she was too nervous and set on making this day perfect for her sister. For once in her life, she wanted to be the big sister Hilda deserved, make things right.

The more Lilith was pleading her to pay attention to her, the whinier her voice got until Zelda could practically hear her pouting. The demoness was becoming more and more childish and needy the further along she was in her pregnancy and though it was somehow cute, it annoyed the heaven out of her sometimes, especially when she was stressed.

"Lilith, would you please just stop for a minute so I can think straight."

"Lesbian."

The word slipped past her lips before she could determine if this was the right time to make jokes. Zelda bellowed at her, dead serious, she was not up for silly games and Lilith ducked, unconsciously expecting the redhead to throw something at her.

"Okay, I'll be quiet for five minutes so you can finish stressing about whatever irrational issue it is you're worrying about and then you come here for cuddles. Deal?"

Zelda pursed her lips and looked at her girlfriend for the first time, meeting her big blue doll eyes, and finally blurted out: "Fine!"

Lilith watched the redhead hurry out of the room, leaving her sighing and playing with the pillow's tassels to distract herself. She had noticed she was mirroring Zelda's emotions frequently lately, either because she was so damn in love with her or because of the baby. As beautiful as it could be, it also exhausted her whenever Zelda was in a bad mood. It was going to be a long nine months, that was for sure.

When Zelda finally returned, Lilith was curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed, hugging her pillow tight and watching the door longingly as if her witch had been gone for a week. Zelda's features softened discovering her like that and she came to sit on the bedside, bushing some strands of hair away and caressing Lilith's face.

"If it were in my hands, you could cling to my side all day long, darling. I wanted to ease the coven into having you around anyway. But it's your responsibilities preventing that, my dear."

Lilith let out a soft whimper, lips still in a slight pout and eyes closed, enjoying her witch's attention and affections. Zelda let her fingertips dribble along the side of Lilith's face, her sharp cheekbone and jawline and all the way up again to her forehead. The chocolate mane was still a mess and everything in Zelda screamed for her to fix it but watching Lilith's thin lips curve into a smile in response to her ministrations made her forget all about it.

"Lie down with me?"

Zelda nodded and curled up next to Lilith, wrapping an arm around the brunette and her pillow, their faces close. They gazed into each other's eyes silently, either following their own thoughts, but somehow together.

Burying her fingers in chestnut tresses, Zelda became aware of how soothing Lilith's presence was, how curative spending some quality time with her had been for her otherwise restless state during the past few weeks after their fight. Although she spent most of her time fussing about her Lily and the baby, the demoness managed to push her into giving herself a break from time to time (backed up by Marie). And as much as she would like to deny it, it helped her build a balance for her life.