MCSM: Deceiving Perfection #5

Part 1 (Petra and Lukas)

"No way!" Radar flew his hands into the air, "Isn't that thing cursed in some way?"

Petra scoffed, "Of course not! The only reason people say it's cursed is because that's what the person hundreds of years ago who put it there said. I mean, we've all heard the legend of Newel. He was the richest guy of his time! All because he had that meteorite piece! He only said it was cursed so that he could be the only one with the legend of owning that stone." Six of them sat around the table in the Order Hall.

"Then how do you explain all of the people in the past who tried to take it?" Lukas raised a brow, unconvinced, "Instead of returning from that island with the meteorite, one man came back without his right arm, swearing he'd never return to that island again!"

"He must have been careless. Not to mention the fact he went alone." Petra mimicked her own sword moves through the air, pretending to hold a sword, "Of course it's bound to be dangerous! It contains the most wanted treasure the world has ever seen!! So it's only to be expected that there are mobs beyond reason just waiting to be killed." Her eyes glinted with a slightly terrifying excitement.

Jess nodded in agreement and opened his mouth to put his input, but Jack cut him off, "Look, I know what's in there. I've been there. Those dangers are not what you expect. The monsters aren't what you need to worry about. They were surprisingly amateur."

Jesse leaned forward, "Then what do we need to worry about?" Everyone sat in anticipated silence as Jack sighed, "Nothing happened to me because I didn't bother taking the meteorite. I saw it. I reached out to touch it, and full chills went through my whole body. It was just the strangest feeling. I pulled my hand back just before touching it and my friends and I agreed to leave it be. We just didn't trust it, so we left."

"Even when it was just right there? The rarest treasure in the entire world?!" Jess gaped in disbelief. Jack nodded, "Like I said, I'm not certain some curse or something was placed on it, but I just couldn't bring myself to even try. But if you guys still want to go, you could. I wouldn't recommend it, but I will give you directions and advice since I can already tell two of you are going to go whether I tell you two not to or not." He eyed Petra and Jess. "I'll let you judge this artifact for yourself."

"Awesome." Petra grinned. "Who's on board?" She placed a hand above the center of the table.

Radar was stunned, "Did you not hear Jack just now? Even he didn't dare take it! Imagine what could happen to us!" Jess ignored Radar and placed his hand over Petra's.

Lukas gave Jesse an understanding gaze and both of them placed their hands on the others'. "We're not going because we want the treasure." Jesse stated firmly, "We're going to help make sure nothing backfires. We need strength in numbers."

Radar stared wide-eyed at everyone before sighing, "Same for me then." He reluctantly put his hand over the stack. "Are you sure Radar?" Jack asked, "Don't think that you're obligated to do this, you have the choice."

"I know." Radar said firmly, "I'm choosing to go with them."

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Lukas' index finger traced around the edges of his cup of water as Jesse scooped soup into a bowl. He glanced up at his wife, "What do you think of all of this?"

She shrugged, "I think it'll be kinda fun. We'll get to go on an trip without the worry of having to capture some bloodthirsty villain. Plus, it's a perfect opportunity for you to write another book on our adventures!"

Lukas shrugged, "Yeah, but what about the other people who went there?"

Jesse approaches the table, setting a bowl in front of each of them before sitting down, "Honestly, I'm hoping they can resist like Jack did. Maybe once they see the artifact they'll call it good." Lukas was still unconvinced, but left the conversation there.

They said a prayer over their meal together and started eating when the oven beeped. Lukas instantly stood, "I'll get it." He walked to the kitchen and grabbed the oven mitts. He opened up the oven and realized it wasn't hot. But there was a bun inside, "Did you just set a timer for the bun in the oven?" He was confused. Jesse called from the table, "Oh yeah, I forgot I left that in there, can you bring it here?" He laughed to himself before setting me oven mitt down and grabbing the sheet bare-handed. It was warm, but not hot.

He brought it to the table and they continued to eat, conversing casually as they usually did. When Jesse still didn't get any of the bun, Lukas eventually let temptation get the best of him as he tore it in half. Something fell from a hole in the middle of the bun. Now his confusion went up even more.

"Umm.. Babe, why is there a little box in our food?" Jesse looked as though she was containing her laughter, "I'm not sure. Strange.."

Now he knew she was up to something. She looked as though she was waiting for him to pick up on something for a long time.. but he just wasn't getting it. Finally, he picked up the plain brown box and tore off the tape sealing it shut. He opened it up and gaped. Was it what he thought it was. He glanced up at Jesse who just kept watching, giving no more hints. He tipped the box to the side, letting the stick slide out.

It was a pregnancy test.

And it was positive.

His hand flew over his mouth to contain his voice threatening to erupt with joy.

The bun in the oven!! Why didn't he pick up on it sooner? His eyes returned to Jesse's and he noticed tears lined in her eyes as she giggled at his obliviousness. He then felt a tear drop from his own eye as he stood up from the table and scooped his wife up in his arms. "We're going to be parents!" He spun her around in circles as they both laughed. He has always wanted to be a dad, and he'd been waiting for the day the love of his life would tell him this news since the day they got married nearly a year ago. He kissed her passionately before setting her back down on her feet.

Jesse gazed up at him, "I'm glad you didn't pick up on it sooner. But I'm surprised you didn't notice this bump. I'm 12 weeks along." Jesse pressed her shirt down to reveal a bump there he hadn't paid attention to before.

Lukas laughed, "What? I'm oblivious! But we both are, remember before we dated? Neither of us could see how much we loved each other." Jesse laughed in agreement. Lukas continued, "But I did kinda notice, I saw that your six pack was slowly vanishing." Jesse glared playfully at him, "Yeah, it's going to be hard to get those back. And all my muscle I have yet to lose." She said sadly.

Lukas suddenly felt bad for her, he hadn't thought about the fact that this change would influence her muscles she'd been building all this time.

She perked up, "But at least we'll get to go on one last adventure before I'm confined to the house!"

Suddenly the thought of his expecting wife heading into dangers unknown scared him.. a LOT.

But he could already tell that she wanted this- maybe even needed this. The least he could do was let her go.

He'd just stick by her side the whole time, just in case.