[michime]

"The Romans enjoyed this look but not as much as I do right now," Darius smirked before he picked up Tobias again and carried him back to the bedroom. "Now you get some sleep.  In the morning, I'll be here with a book and some food." 

[Regifortis]

"That sounds really good right now..." Tobias didn't realize it, but the whole scope of events in this day alone left him exhausted. He felt himself sink further into his lover's lap and drift away. He dreamed of scaling a large mountain little by little, his husband climbing apace. They both got to the top, and their children were there waiting for them. They all flew back down to the heart of the valley in a dizzying plunge, Tobias being carried by his treasured in a tight embrace.

He blinked as he woke up, a little startled by how much he grew in the night. But it became a familiar sight to see his belly and breasts a fair bit bigger, to feel his ass and thighs a good deal plumper. And feeling his King play with him of course. They read, he ate, they laughed. He grew. He grew a lot.

And one day, he woke up to truly register the extent of his pregnancy. He was no longer figuratively massive but quite literally so. His body was paralyzed under the weight of playful, squirming whelps and well-formed eggs. He felt a kiss on the nape of his neck.

"My treasured, I never dreamed of seeing a stomach this big. It's..." He rubbed what he could reach. "It's indescribable. I'm so in love with being pregnant, but it's also scary. I just hope our little ones can get out!"

[michime]

Darius placed his hand on the side of Tobias' belly.  "I sent word to the maid and healers.  Don't worry.  You will be well tended when the time comes."   He explained as he cut several slices of bread and cheese for his lover.  He placed the cheese on top of the thick bread then offered it to his cherished.  "And until then, I will see to your needs."

[Regifortis]

Tobias eagerly accepted the food from his treasured, feeling more famished than full these days. He was deeply thankful for Livian and Devan offering as much food as they did. Even the thought of food seemed to send a ripple of energy down his spine and excite their children into squirming more. Little wings and tails impressed on his mountainous belly's skin like fossils in the actual mountainside. It was adorable, and it thankfully didn't hurt too much, but Tobias was grateful that their claws wouldn't develop until after they were born...

The food was gone before he knew it. "I'm so happy you're here," he told Darius. "I'm so happy they're almost here." Tobias accepted a kiss from him, and then he realized something about what was said before. "I'm curious, treasured. Have you ever seen a birth yourself, or were you too busy with other matters?"

[michime]

"Only the parents and attendants witness the birth," Darius explained as he rubbed his hands over the massive belly, "I have been present in a supportive or defensive role but never as a parent.  This will be a new experience for me."  He picked up one of the many books that were scattered around and positioned himself so they could read together. 

"If you need more food or have a craving, let me know." 

[Regifortis]

Tobias had to pause from talking as some of their children were trying to settle again and failing, causing most of his womb to distort from panicked feet and hands. Tobias rubbed where he could to try and soothe them, and his King did the same, and they waited it out until the whelps calmed back down. Then his treasured began stroking over his belly in the same sensuous manner as before. Firmly yet carefully, greedily yet protectively. A dumb grin graced his face at the comfort, and his cock stirred. He never failed to feel better with his mate around.

"You know I'll let you know," answered Tobias at last. "I can't even shift my weight: you're how I get food at all!"

He spied a peek at the book his King got, and he saw snippets of words like "children" and "wish you to know". Then the rest of the conversation came into focus. "This'll be brand new fer both of us, then...I always wondered what it'd be like to have a family with another man. I hafta admit I didn't quite see it like this, but then again I suppose that would've ruined the surprise!" He found himself laughing at the strange wonder of it all.

[michime]

Darius eased himself next to his cherished so he could touch his mate's feet.  They were swollen from the pregnancy and before they got started, he wanted to make sure Tobias was very comfortable and relaxed.  He rubbed Tobias' feet for several minutes until they were relaxed.  "Now that's better."  He moved to the head of the bed with that.

"Now this is a brand new book.  One that no one else has ever seen so you're not allowed to laugh at it," Darius wiggled his finger at Tobias in a teasing manner.  "I do hope you enjoy it." 

[Regifortis]

"When have I ever laughed at anything you've given me?", countered Tobias tongue-in-cheek. "And even if I did, it was only because it deserved to be laughed at. Maybe this is a funny book."

Looking over the book more seriously, it seemed to be illustrated and unassuming. It was meant for his children after all. He spied a few eye-catching drawings and watercolors, seeing how carefully they were done and how light-hearted it made the whole book seem. No tales or war or politics here: just something nice to read.

"I expect I will enjoy it very much," he declared with sincerity. "I'm ready when you are, treasured."

[michime]

"There was a time when dragons and magic were a big part of the land," Darius read as he brushed his fingertips across Tobias' belly.  "Dragons and humans were friends and lived together in harmony.  Then one day, it all went away."  He turned the page to a drawing of a high mountain and dragons running up to the top.  "Dragons escaped to the mountains and let the humans have the cities and farm land." 

He turned the page again and there was a picture of several dragons sitting at a table eating a meal.  "Dragons loved the mountains and grew their families.  They were happy but missed the humans." 

[Regifortis]

Tobias nearly chuckled, but he didn't want his treasured to misinterpret his genuine amusement. "I can only speculate, but I'd say a fair few humans missed the dragons, too! 'Course, plenty of others wouldn't admit it. Ehh...never mind, I'm gonna ramble at this rate." Maybe it was his mate's fingers drawing lines on his stomach, but something made him feel oddly sentimental.

The drawings of a tall and craggy mountain range running down to a coastline, a valley, a desert, even a glacier...and rolling plains beyond that: it all evoked an urge in Tobias to fill in details that may have been left out. He felt that the drawing might have been how some part of the world looked in the distant past. He could look back at the cartography book they had more carefully to check if that was the case.

[michime]

"Dragons lived in different places all over the world for a long time," Darius continued as they snuggled together.  "One day a human came into the dragon land but it wasn't just any land.  It was the land of the King."  He glanced over at Tobias to see his reaction.  

[Regifortis]

Tobias quirked an eyebrow at the King in question. He was willing to stay unassuming and see if it were someone else, but no chance of that anymore. They were cutting right to the chase, and he wondered how the rest of this was going to go already. "I'm very curious how you decided to tell this tale, treasured. Especially with how you've drawn me."

A lovingly rendered picture of a tall and brawny man showed its bold colors of red and blue for the dirty logger's clothes, orange for the chainsaw engine, and a rather pleasing blend of red and orange for the shaggy hair dusting his muscular body. His face looked bored and unhappy, looking around the dark forest colored in deep greens and even deeper blues. Tobias stood out boldly against the gigantic trees and gentle sunlight dappling from the canopy. He looked like he didn't belong there at all.

But most importantly, the artist gave Tobias rather...generous features. He could only wonder how his King drew himself.

[michime]

Darius grinned at his cherished before he continued.  "The human that came to the King's land didn't know how special he was.  He would be the one to truly love the King and united dragons and humans once more."  This being a children's book he left out quite a lot.  He left out the details of just how the King and Tobias' relationship.  He simply turned the page to show a drawing of a black dragon and the human before sitting at a table eating a meal by candle light.  "Yeah I took some liberties.  I hope you don't mind cherished." 

[Regifortis]

"It's certainly easier to explain than what actually happened, so I wouldn't mind at all." Tobias tried to look over his stomach again: the habit developed when he tried to peek at his treasured coming back into the room with more food or a choice book. All of this mass bloating out from his front was their children who would read this book. A bellyful of royal warriors and mages, both in fealty and in blood.

"I'm glad this telling is vague and cute, treasured. Let 'em get a taste of the gentler life before everything else." He sighed into his mate's gentle touch. Fitting.

[michime]

"It's a book for children," Darius remarked as he turned the page.  The dragon and human were in snow covered valley throwing snowballs at one another.  Another image was one of the pair reading the library.  "We'll tell them when the time is right."

[Regifortis]

Tobias shrugged. "I barely read at all in my youth. Most of the stories I heard were just told to me from my parents and some gossip from whoever felt like talkin' to me. So it's good you knew what to do."

The idyllic images on the drawings really were simple and happy. The snow was pure and fluffy and white, with a few shining crystals from the exposed rock beds; the library stretched from page end to page end of books as the two of them seemed to be researching whatever their hands could reach. Nothing about how Tobias got knocked up on what more or less amounted to their first date. It just didn't make for a gentle story, and certainly not a cutesy drawing.

[michime]

Darius pointed to the next page with the dragon and human surrounded by little dragons.  Some held up magic staffs and some had on armor.  "The human and the dragon had a family.  They raised this family and soon the family spread out into the world.  Humans and dragons lived together after that and lived happily ever after." 

[Regifortis]

Tobias watched his King shut the book with a soft clap, showing the back of the book. It was himself and his mate, mother and father, waving either hello or goodbye to the reader. Tobias' stomach was swollen in this picture, already growing the next generation inside him. Part of him wanted to say drawing a picture of it of all things was a bit presumptuous, but the rest of him simply felt the peach-colored hill of flesh rising and falling with his breath and knew that picture was prophetic.

"If only our real lives were this simple," commented Tobias with a smirk. "Then again, I suppose they may be soon enough."

[michime]

"I have learned in all my years that life is never simple," Darius offered before he placed the book aside.  "What do you think?  Does it need some revisions or will it be suitable for our children?" 

He picked up another book, a thick tome this time and showed Tobias the cover.  "I don't think our children will be ready for this until they make hordes of their own but this is the entire laws of the Dragon Kingdom.  I wish it wasn't so big but thanks to some stupid actions in the past, it's now this size." 

[Regifortis]

Tobias eyed the heavy book and found he couldn't muster anything to say about it for now. Perhaps the massive pregnancy weighed down his mind as well as his body, who could say? He decided to focus on the story instead. "Uh...regarding the story, it seems a little short? I know you had to gloss over a few details, but you're explaining how we came to love each other, right? Maybe you could go into that a little more in a sneaky way. Like you 'opened my eyes' to what I wanted, or something like that."

He suddenly felt very self-conscious about making recommendations for something his husband worked on so much. "I-I'm not sure, really. All the other stuff is great, but maybe it needs a little more substance to how we met. That's all."