The Emperor's Rose

Chapter 73// Don't Cry

Hisato wrapped his arms around her waist and gently caressed her back. He waited as all of the men slipped out, groaning and silently cursing the Empress. "This is a pleasant surprise," the Emperor smiled, nuzzling his face in her neck.

Aiko nodded and stiffly patted his arm. Hisato, confused, lifted his eyes and blinked a few times. "What's wrong, darling?" He asked, worry coiling in his stomach like a warm and suffocating rope. He straightened his back, his eyes jumping from her face to her body, trying to find a wound. "Tell me, Aiko, what's wrong?" Hisato mumbled, panicked.

Aiko had been fidgeting with the fabric of her kimono as the Emperor worried over her. She had been trying to gather her courage but it was just slipping out of her hands. Aiko took a deep breath, dark thoughts swirling in her mind. What if he doesn't want the baby? What...what if he leaves me for the concubines? Sweat started sliding down her back as a loud weight settled on her chest. Her breaths became shallow and ragged.

The Emperor noticed, gently wrapping his arms around his wife and caressing her back with soothing movements as he tried to gently coax out of her mouth her problem. "Tell me, petal, what's wrong?" Hisato placed kissed on her jaw to calm her running heart.

Aiko was smooshed against his chest, hiding her face in the fabric of his kimono and enveloping herself in his homely scent. Aiko slowly looked up, the words on the tip of her tongue. "I....I...."Aiko opened her mouth and closed it various times.

The Emperor was starting to feel cold dread choke him, slowly. Is she leaving me? He thought, starting to descend into a twirling tornado of darkness and gut-wrenching pain. He could see obscure clouds rolling in his vision, his heart crumbling.

"I'm pregnant!" Aiko finally pushed out, screaming it loudly. She scrunched her eyes shut, waiting for the rejection.

Hisato heard her voice, muffled, as he pushed back the dark curtain of pain. Her words resonated in the room as the Emperor took them in, the fear disappearing and a feeling of incomparable joy spread through every inch of his body. The rope of fear disappeared and his heart started glowing. He was so surprised he couldn't utter out a single word, too afraid to destroy the perfect moment.

Aiko mistook his silence for disapproval and burst into tears, trying to disentangle herself from his warm embrace, tears running down her face. "I'm...I'm sorry! Please...please don't kick me out!" Aiko sobbed, hiding her face in her quivering hands. She felt humiliated: she realized that he actually didn't love her.

The Emperor had been too lost in his joy to express his feelings to his terrified wife. He realized with shock that Aiko was crying since she thought he wouldn't want her to have a child. "Oh no! My little rose, come here! I'm not mad! I'm the happiest man in the palace at this minute!" Hisato said, immediately, placing her back in his embrace and smothering her with kisses.

"Really?" Aiko sniffled, too scared to look at his face. Her heart was thumping against her chest, hoping for a show of love.

"Petal, you don't know how happy I am...I'm almost crying...a child! Ours!" Hisato laughed, actual tears springing in his eyes. It was the first time he cried since the death of his mother. He gently sat her down on the table and crouched down to stare at her stomach and it's slight bump. "Wait, th-there's....a...already?!" The Emperor asked, shocked as he placed both hands on her stomach, feeling it and stumbling with his words. He was too drugged with joy.

"Yes...apparently I'm three months along," Aiko bit her lip, her tears slowly creasing as she realized she was wonderfully happy. Her smile was wide on her face and she couldn't wait for the moment she'd meet her baby. She realized that the Emperor loved her and the unborn baby. Aiko couldn't ask for more.

The sun was slipping inside the room and warming the couple, complimenting them in his own way. "I think it's going to be a boy!" Aiko said, caressing Hisato's hair, glad he hadn't forgotten her. Hisato looked up from her stomach and shook his head furiously.

"I want a girl!" He whined, standing up. Aiko laughed and hid in his chest. She was feeling close to heaven. Just a fingertip's brush away. She was pregnant with Hisato's child. She was ecstatic. Hisato was the same. His beautiful rose was pregnant with his child; he couldn't ask for more.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too,"

"I can't wait to meet our child,"

"Neither can I, but we have to wait five months still,"she laughed.

"It's going to pass in a flash," he reassured her, prepared to protect her from anything.

"I know," Aiko cuddled in his side, feeling reassured since she knew the Emperor would be by her side for the rest of the pregnancy, loving her like never before.