I never thought that the day would come when I would feel hot as a winter fairy. Granted, we are trudging through the desert, where the sun’s scorching rays could literally give you instant sunburns. The loose clothing that we have doesn’t do much but protect us from the sun.
“Stella, where were you!?” Kellar looks at me out of concern while rearranging the scarf on my face as it’s starting to slip. “You’re burning up. Do you want some water?”
“Kellar, you’re mothering me again.” I chortled and adjusted my hold on the cloth in my arms. “Besides, I can cool myself. The only thing I’m not really safe from is the sunburn.”
Kellar pauses and gazes at me. He looks like he wants to scold me again, but he decided against it in the last minute. He sighs. “I was worried when I came back to find you missing.” Kellar then starts to notice that I am carrying something in my arms wrapped in a blanket, which makes him quirk up a brow. “What’s that?”
I smile and unravel the fabric, showing a brown fennec fox in my arms. “It’s Reo. Vivi’s friend.” I explained. “Vivi was crying a while ago because Reo ran away.”
Kellar closes his eyes and shakes his head. “You mean to tell me that you trudged the dessert alone with no food or water, even though I told you not to, because Reo ran away?”
“Kellar, you make it sound like I’m going to die out there.”
“Stella, you’re a winter fairy. Heat is your enemy!”
“I am not just a winter fairy. I am also a guardian, which makes me more powerful.” I pout. Even though I am not pleased with what he just said, I also see his reaction as valid. He is just trying to keep me safe. To be fair, this is the first time in weeks since we traveled together that he’s been acting like a mother hen to me. We are, after all, in a desert, and it is common knowledge that winter fairies can not stand the heat.  I do feel uncomfortable here, but since I am also a guardian, I manage to survive. “Come on. Let’s go back to the Oasis. I am sure that Vivi is waiting.”
The Oasis that I mentioned is the equivalent of the Enchanted Forest in this country of dessert. Kellar didn’t want me to go with him to visit this particular country, knowing that I would be weak, but after hearing that there was a guardian like me nearby, I insisted. Kellar caved in, but only after I promised him that I would always stick by him—sadly, I broke that promise.
“Stella!” Vivi, a petite, young, green haired kid, comes running towards me. She’s abeastkin and also the guardian of the oasis. Beastkins are hybrid humans who have some animal traits. Vivi has prominent fox ears in place of human ears and a tail that can not be missed. Vivi embraces me as she sobs into my shoulder. I suppose it is because she is so young for a guardian that I feel a little responsible for her safety.
“Hey, Vivi. I brought Reo back.” I say, unwrapping the cloth that I imbued with a little bit of ice magic to help cool down the animal. The fennec leaps on Vivi’s shoulder as soon as it recognizes her and licks away the tears on her cheek. “He got caught up in a sandstorm.”
“He got caught up in what?” I flinch when I hear Kellar’s threatening voice behind me. I turn back and see that he’s crossing his arms and waiting for me to explain. “Please tell me that you did not go into a storm.”
“Deal. I won’t tell you.” I agree immediately, even though that’s completely what happened. It's not like he doesn't know about that anyway.
“Stella…” Kellar shakes his head tiredly. He takes a deep breath before ruffling his hair and turning away. “Get some rest. I’m sure you’re pretty tired. I’ll go and make something for you to eat.”
I feel a twinge of guilt while I watch Kellar walk away. 
A tug on my clothes brings my attention back to Vivi. Since she’s shorter than me, I have to kneel before her to get to her eye level. “Yes?”
“Thank you for bringing Reo back.”
“You’re welcome.” I smile and give her a gentle pat on the head. Her ears flicker, letting me know that she’s enjoying the touch.
Then, as if remembering that she wants to tell me something, she grabs my hand on her head and gently lowers it. “Stella, you didn’t have to do that. You were risking a life.”
“You don’t have to be worried about me. I’m strong.”
Vivi begins to shake her head. “I wasn’t talking about your life.” She begins to say. Reo, the fennec fox, looks at Vivi and starts to make a sound. Vivi, in return, gives her attention to her friend and gives it a small nod. 
“Are you two having a conversation?” Seeing the two conversing is nothing new to me, but I do feel a little awkward at times. 
Vivi and Reo look at me. “We were.” She gives me a smile. “Reo was just confirming the new scent that’s coming off of you.”
“Okay?” I begin to feel a little self conscious and smell my clothes. I smell like heat and sweat, but thankfully, it’s not body odor. “I don’t smell bad, do I?”
My statement made Vivi chuckle. “No.” She shakes her head. “We aren’t talking about that kind of scent. It’s—”
***
I don’t exactly remember what happened during the rest of the day. All I know is that I was wandering aimlessly in the Oasis after Vivi and Reo told me about this new scent. It sounds so surreal, and I don’t even want to believe that it is true, at least not yet.
I’m sitting on one of the boulders watching the sunset when I feel Javi sitting beside me and resting her head on my lap. I gently pet her until I hear another sound coming from behind me, taking the free spot on my other side. She points her nose at my stomach and purrs lovingly.
“Something tells me that you knew about this but didn’t even bother to tell me or Kellar.” Javi’s response to my accusation is a wag of her tail. Of course, she would have known. 
“I’ve been looking for you. I thought you left the Oasis again.” Kellar begins to hand me a bowl of soup. “I thought you were hungry, so I decided to bring you food.”
“Thank you.” I received the food from him without looking in his direction. Normally, I would look at him, but right now, I don’t even think that I can do it without looking like a tomato. My strange behavior did not go unnoticed by Kellar because he started to sound concerned.
“Are you angry?” I didn’t say anything and tried to play it cool by stuffing myself with food and pretending not to hear. “Stella, if this is about me scolding you earlier, I’m sorry. I was just worried for you. Please don’t be angry.”
“I’m not angry, Kellar.” I hand Kellar the empty bowl as I prepare myself for the revelation. “I’m just worried.” It was at this moment that Javi left, probably sensing that Kellar and I are going to have a discussion.
“What are you worried about?”
Come on, Stella. Just spit it out. It’s Kellar. He ought to know what Vivi and Reo told you! After all, he is involved in this as much as I am.
“Vivi and Reo told me that there’s a change in my scent.”
“Okay?” Kellar sounds puzzled. “You don’t smell any different from me. Then again, I am not a beastkin, so I doubt my opinion counts.”
“It’s not that type of scent, Kellar. It’s…” I blush. I finally looked at him with one hand on my belly. We held each other’s gazes while I hoped for him to get what I was trying to imply with my gesture. I already expected different reactions from him, but what I did not anticipate was for him to laugh. 
“I’m sorry, Stella. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just that you were being dramatic when you just wanted to use the toilet.”
“Use the…” It occurred to me that Kellar had a misunderstanding that made me feel more embarrassed. “Kellar, you idiot! I’m telling you that I am with child!”
Shock froze Kellar in place for a few seconds before fear and worry replaced it. “You’re okay, right?” He pulls me towards him like he is checking something on my face. For a while, I could not make sense of his peculiar reaction to the news, but then I recalled something. Kellar's mom passed away the day he was born. He shared the news with me a long time ago about his fear of having children in case it would kill me. Kellar hugs me tightly and buries his face in the crook of my neck. “Stella, I love you. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t.”
I place my hands on his back and gently rub them. Kellar may be a grown and independent man, but deep inside, he still has scars from when he was a child. How he lost his mother is definitely one of them.
“I love you too, Kellar. I’m not going to leave you.” I whisper to him. He did not move and just continued to embrace me. “Kellar, darling, can you look at me for a second?”
Kellar pulls back and frantically wipes his eyes to hide the fact that he cried. He looks so silly with his red eyes and his brows shakily drawn together that I have to laugh. “Kellar, not every mother is going to die giving birth. My sister literally gave birth to two kids!” I reach out and wipe the tear streak on his cheek. “We’re going to be careful, Kellar. I promise.”
Kellar didn’t say anything. He looks like he is in deep thought, that I was kind of worried on what’s going on in his head that I just blurted out,
“I want to keep our child.”
“Wha–I wasn’t suggesting that we get rid of the bean! I just—”
“Bean?”
“The kid inside your belly? I mean, we don’t have a name or a gender for it yet, right?” Muttering and trying to hide his red face, he looks away. “I’m sorry about earlier, Stella. I wasn’t trying to ask you to get rid of the baby. I was just scared. Honestly, I still don’t know how to feel about the kid. It might take time for it to sink in, but for now…” Kellar firmly grab my hand in his. “I’m going to support you in any way that I can. I just want you to know one thing.” 
“What’s that?”
“When I get my feelings sorted out, don’t be jealous if I love the little bean more than you.” He smirks.
“No way. I will love Bean more than you.”
He chuckles. “I hope the name Bean won’t stick until the end.” It was comforting to hear Kellar joke around like this. It might not be much, but I feel like I have healed a bit of Kellar’s emotional wounds. “Speaking of which, how far along are you?”
“About a week, I guess. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until Vivi told me.” The humiliation that I felt when a child told me about my pregnancy is so unexplainable that I don’t want to linger on the topic.
“I see. Regardless, you know that we have to return to Thalia, right? Vacation is over.”
“So soon?”
“Of course!” Kellar looks serious and dedicated as he goes back to his protective gear. “I want to make sure that you are taken care of—you and little Bean, of course. We need to be careful with you and your health!”
Oh boy. I don’t think I can find a way around this.
“Alright fine.” I breathe out. A small smile plays on my lips as I find this side of Kellar adorable. 
“Good. We’re leaving tomorrow, so you better get some good sleep!” He gets up with full energy before looking down on me. “Can you get up? No, wait. Let me help you.” Kellar carries me bridal style. When I saw the smile on his lips, I knew that he was doing this to tease me rather than help. 
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“We have to practice how to become a family, right? I’m just practicing on being a good husband and father. There’s just one thing that I am worried about.”
“Bean’s arrival?”
“That and how your sister and Ace will react when they hear the news.” He tries to laugh, but it sounds rather nervous. “Who knows if I am going to live long enough to see Bean…”
I burst out laughing. I can only imagine how my sister would be on the verge of fainting while Ace would probably threaten Kellar about getting me pregnant after allowing us to go on vacation. I wrap my arms around Kellar’s neck and plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Don’t worry. We’ll tell them together. We’re family now.” 
“Family. I like that.” Kellar smiles and plants a kiss on my lips. “Now, stop trying to play me and let’s get you and Bean to bed.”
****THE END****