Arcadia retold

One: past and prolonged

In the sleepy town of Arcadia, the lake couple was having their anniversary of their wedding a year ago today.

As Barbara and her husband j( a nickname his wife gave him ever since they meet in college) were having a special dinner that j cooked for this special occasion with great pride in his work since he had married the woman of his dreams.

Barbara was giving off a loud grin as the couple ate the food, not just because j had amazing sheaf skills but because she had a incredible anniversary surprise for the both of them that she thought would change their lives for the better, how wrong she was, very very wrong.

"Honey?" J asked Barbara, his wife " I know it's our anniversary, but you've been smiling ever since we sat down for dinner"

"Is that so?" Barbara rhetorically asked her husband, as she looked at her stomach for a moment.

"Well, I know that we planned a trip to that new ski lodge in Vermont and I don't know if we can afford any cancellations, you know how those places are"

"Well, maybe I'll just have as much of a good time inside while you ski, I never liked the snow anyway"

"Ok, whats the surprise" j asked in a polite tone as he
Slightly Smiled

"What makes you think I have any surprise?" Barbara asked in a joyful chuckle

"We've been married a year now babe and knew each other since college, I know when you're hiding something" j implied with a a grin "so what do you got for me, I promise I'll likely love it"

"I think you mean him" Barbara correct with a sassy tone

"What?" J quickly asked, confusion in his voice and mind

What could she mean by that exactly j thought to himself, did she have adoption papers somewhere hidden in the house, or had it been- oh no"

"I'm pregnant!" Barbara loudly exclaimed with excitement as she stood up from the table and put her hands on her stomach, looking at the unborn baby with excitement

"What!?" J exclaimed with horror and shock in his face and eyes.

This was bad j thought to himself, he knew changelings like himself weren't allowed to mate with humans but he just thought it wasn't even possible and that whole matting thing was just a lie so they wouldn't be disappointed or saddened by the thought of not being able to have a child or that they might not be able to control their changing abilities and might get exposed, even if the child would have, any but that wasn't the case.

J didn't know what to do nor could he do anything about it without ruining his marriage or his life, he couldn't tell Barbara to get an abortion because she always wanted to be a mother but j thought that they would just adopt if that was the case.

Barbara noticed the look of worry and fear in her husband's eyes and face, did she do something wrong Barbara thought to himself

J always gave her the idea of adopting a child from the nearest orphanage because j always had the tone that giving birth to a child might not work for them, but she always wanted a child of her own and never gave up hope

"You, I, ga-" Mr lake struggled to find the right words for his situation, but came up with nothing before getting up from the table and looking at his wife with nervous fear "it's nothing dear, I'm all right"

Nine months later, Barbara was in her final year of pregnancy and lying on the couch so nothing bad would happen to the baby as j was doing all the housework when suddenly Barbara felt a contraction happening as she screamed in pain

The baby was coming

J heard the screaming from Barbara and knew what it meant, so he picked up his phone and called some of his fellow changelings that he could trust to keep the secret of his child from the Janis order, telling them that it was time