Choosing Life

Chapter Twelve

Elle smiled as her mom passed the pitcher of iced tea to Akiho. It had been a rare moment where they had the chance to visit with her parents and her little sister, their travels taking them closer to Arendelle or visiting Emir and Emma.

Aladdin and Jasmine had gifted the two of them a small wing in the palace for them to use whenever they wanted to visit—or if they got bored of their castle in the Summerlands which had been a wedding present from Emma's parents.

And of course there was Akiho's shadowing of Ben that they needed to fit into their schedules. No matter how old they got, he still insisted on being there for Ben since, as Akiho would often say, if Ben was going to refuse to have guards then he was going to have to put up with his best friends always being there.

"I have to say Elle, honey, you look beautiful," Ariel said. "Why, it's almost as if you're glowing."

"Really?" Elle asked. "I hadn't noticed. It's probably just the sun, mom. I got some from when Akiho and I went to Agrabah to visit Emir and Emma."

Ariel nodded. "It's possible but it's not exactly a tan. More of a..."

She trailed off with a smile growing on her face.

"A what? Mom, what do you mean?" Elle asked, visibly confused as she looked over at Akiho.

"Don't look at me, I can't read minds like you can," Akiho told her.

"Dear...it's more of a pregnancy glow," Ariel explained, keeping her voice gentle even if she couldn't stop her smile from growing.

Elle froze as she stared at her mother.

"Wha...? No mom that...that can't be possible—."

"Who told you that?" Ariel asked, tilting her head as she looked at her daughter.

"I just..." Elle said, her voice soft as she looked down. "It's been so long since we've got married after all. It's been what? Three years and no pregnancy?"

Ariel smiled softly as she gently lifted Elle's head so that she was looking into her daughter's eyes. "Every woman differs when it comes to pregnancy sweetheart. And yes for some women there's the possibility of never getting pregnant but until a doctor tells you that, it doesn't mean it's not possible."

"But I haven't been nauseous or anything...I missed a couple of periods but I just thought that was stress..."

"And every pregnancy is different. Some women don't get nauseous."

Elle paused and looked at Ariel, hope shining in her eyes. "Could...mom, could I really be pregnant?"

"I see no reason why not," Ariel told her, having heard her daughter's whisper. "Do you want to be pregnant?"

"Of course but..."

"But what?"

"I just...don't want to get my hopes up," Elle said softly. "It might be harder to think...that I am pregnant and turn out not to be..."

Akiho reached over and gently squeezed her hand, as if reminding her that he was still there as Ariel gave her daughter a small, sad smile.

"I might be wrong honey but...I don't think I am," she said gently. "The way you're glowing...that's the kind of glow that could only come from pregnancy."

Elle looked over at Akiho. "We should find out for sure shouldn't we? I'd hate for the press to find out before we even know," she whispered.

Akiho nodded. Anything to avoid that circus—though somehow they hadn't figured out that Mal was pregnant so maybe Snow was reigning them in. Granted it was understandable with Emma being pregnant herself—something that had only recently been discovered and which had caused Emir to apparently bounce around Ben's office when the two of them were able to get together for a meeting.