Time Warp: A Ten Pound Bowling Ball (Xun)

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January 2017

Aerina shuffled up the stairs of the apartment building, one careful step at a time, with one hand gripped tightly on the railing and the other cradled underneath her swollen belly. She panted, feeling like she weighed down by the heavy coat and scarf and knitted hat she wore, all on top of the mass that was still growing slowly in her stomach. Not her stomach, literally, but….it sure felt like it! She felt fat, and that was that! Tiny and fat and she was never going to be her pretty petite self again was she??

When she reached the top of the flight, she stopped. Just to rest a bit, she was just fine. Aerina looked up to see how much further she had to reach Xun's apartment. Just a few more feet. It was just at the end of the walkway, it wasn't that far.

Rina was tired though. And didn't want to move any more. She took in on deep, cold breath.

"XUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!" she hollered towards his apartment door. "COME AND GET ME I CAN'T WALK ANYMORE!!!"

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Had Aerina called Xun when she’d gotten to his apartment complex, he would have gladly run down to help her up the flight of stairs so she didn’t strain herself too much. As it was, he was busy laying out the feast he’d prepared for her coming over – it wasn’t a special occasion or anything, but he always felt like he constantly owed her for all of the pain and discomfort she was dealing with during the last several months, and took it upon himself to spoil her as much as possible.

He’d tried to get everything that he remembered she liked. Hamburgers and cheeseburgers (not the fast food kind, the better quality kind) with extra pickles, handfuls of French fries, some mashed yams… And for dessert, some chocolate-covered strawberries to decorate on the sundaes he had chilling in the fridge. It cost quite a bit, but Xun had been working at the local sporting goods store for some time now, and could afford to treat her like this on occasion.

Speaking of treating her… His head snapped up as he heard the faint sound of her voice outside and down the hall, and immediately ran out the door and skidded to her side, taking only a few seconds to get to her thanks to his ability. “Rina! Are you alright?” he asked anxiously, putting one gentle hand on her shoulder while the other fell to her rounded belly. “You should have called me, I would have helped get you up the stairs….” He carefully scooped the petite girl up in his arms and carried her back to his apartment, kicking the door shut behind him and gently placing her on the couch with the feast spread before her on the small table in his living room. “Surprise,” he said meekly, rubbing the back of his head. He hadn’t told her what he was planning beforehand, and hoped she would enjoy it. “I… I hope I remembered everything you like.”

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Rina wanted as much as she could to be independent and self-sufficient. It was nothing but a pain in her rear end(and her back) to be carrying around this heavy weight here and there and everywhere, and she hated the lack of mobility if caused her. She had to forego classes this semester because of it, at least any physical ones she would have liked to take. If it weren’t for online classes, Aerina didn’t think she’d be able to make any progress! Because she sure as hell wasn’t going to let a little thing like pregnancy stop her from finishing her schooling!

But there was a point where Rina had to throw in the towel and accept the help she knew people would give her, and that happened to be at the top of the stairs at the father’s, Xun’s, apartment complex. He’d really been so supportive, Aerina could’ve cried! Actually she did. Many many times…

“I’m okay,” she said with a tiny glittering smile. Then her lip pouted. “I don’t need to call you for everything!” Her voice came out as a slight whine as she was picked up like she didn’t weigh a million pounds(she felt like it!), and carried over the threshold of Xun’s apartment. “Oh my~” she gleed in jest, holding both arms around his neck. Of course they weren’t an official couple though. That’s probably what made Xun such a wonderful person. He hadn’t tried to run away when Rina told him the news. “Oh!” she exclaimed when her eyes laid upon the spread. “It’s amazing, I love it!” Rina wrapped her arms around Xun once more before pushing off to go did in with all the grace of a ravenous warthog. “Mmm! So good~” she hummed as she took her first bite. “Where’s Devyn?” she asked, turning to look at the older boy with a bit of ketchup stuck to her lip.

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Xun honestly didn’t know how Rina did it. She was so tiny, and the bump in her belly was getting so big, he didn’t know how she managed to get herself around at all. He constantly felt guilty for being the one that had made her go through something so difficult, even if they had both been at fault for the situation that led to the baby’s conception. But while he was still able to go to school and work and not have to deal with morning sickness and muscle aches, Rina didn’t have a choice. And so he did all that he could to make up for it, even though he never felt like it was quite enough.

She sure did look pretty, though. Even if they weren’t a couple, and never really had been, there was no denying that. He was still pretty clueless about everything that had happened and everything that was happening, and Devyn got after him a lot about it, but it was hard when having a baby had been the last thing he’d ever expected to be doing at this age, or ever.

“I know…” he replied in a wavering voice. “But I could have at least walked with you…” And walked behind her, really, to make sure she didn’t fall. Xun was constantly worried about her health, although they’d been told over and over that both mother and child were perfectly healthy. He smiled a little down at her when she gleed, feeling his heart ache a little despite himself. She really deserved someone that could give her the love that he had for someone else… But at least he could give her some things, like food. “Did I forget anything?” he asked as he sat beside her, smiling as Rina dug into the food. “I know you said you crave pickles, and yams… I have some ice cream in the fridge, too.” He slid closer to the petite girl and lifted his hands to gentle knead into her shoulders and back, knowing how sore she usually was. “Devyn? Oh, he said he would come by later after classes and stuff. We were probably just going to watch a movie or something.” The ‘or something’ hinted towards the fact that they usually did do more when they were alone in the evenings. “How are you feeling?” he asked, concern touching his voice while one of his hands fell to her belly.

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What brought this situation to be was, quite honestly, a memory that was understandably quite fuzzy to the small Indian girl. A night out. A house party. There were some drinks. It was about a month later when she found out about the small life growing in her belly. Many tears had been shed over it…and many more probably would be.

“You worry too much! I’m fine!” she told him. And she was! For the most part. For now, Rina just wanted to enjoy being pampered while she could, and chow down on all her favorite foods(actually some of these were only a recent favorite, she’d never liked them before!). Rina shook her head, her brown curls whipping gently back and forth as she did. “MmMmm, nothing!” she said with a mouth full of food. She took another greedy bite of her burger.

When Xun mentioned the ice cream, her eyes sparkled as though he’d just offered her a trip to Disneyland. “Ohh, I want that!” she declared without hesitation. Not that she’d forget about the other things, but her appetite went where it wanted, and right then it wanted ice cream! She giggled and rolled her shoulders, nothing but a happy smile on her lips as he massaged her. “Mm, okay. Well, if I miss him, tell him I say hi!” she gleed. Those two really were a cute couple. Someone might think that Rina ought to be jealous over the father of her child having another significant other, but…well, she wasn’t supposed to be having a kid in the first place. And she was going back to India eventually too… “I’m good! Absolutely nothing wrong with me! At least nothing I’ve noticed.” She was feeling pretty chipper at the moment too(though who knew how long that would last). “What have you been up to? Things at work are okay?” Xun was in her life, yes, but they didn’t exactly see each other every day either. She bit into her burger again. It was almost gone completely.

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Xun grimaced at Rina’s insistence that she was fine. “I… I worry just enough,” he replied in a soft voice. After all, she didn’t have a boyfriend to worry about her (that he was aware of), so he assumed that that role of support should go to him even if they weren’t together. At least he’d gotten to know what made her happy, especially when it came to food. “Okay, good,” he breathed. “Just… Let me know if there is ever anything else you start craving, okay?” Food was important. He could do food.

He straightened at her announcement that she wanted ice cream, and quickly darted off to the kitchen to grab it, back in a flash thanks to his ability with a big carton and a big spoon. “I thought the strawberries would be good with it…” Xun mentioned with a small smile as he sat back down and went back to work on her shoulders. “Okay, I will,” he agreed with a nod. The Chinese boy was relieved that Rina liked his boyfriend – it would have been that much harder if she didn’t.

His hands moved down her back as she spoke, finding and rolling out any tight muscles that he found along the way. “Yeah?” he replied, smiling in relief. “I am glad to hear that. When is your next appointment? Do you want me to come with you?” Not that he ever really knew what was going on during those appointments… He just wanted to know that everything looked okay, and he was happy. “Ah… Mostly just work and training. I have a competition in a couple months so I am preparing for that. And work is fine,” he added as he rubbed out a stubbornly tense muscle. “How are your classes going?” He knew she wasn’t going to regular classes, but was relieved at least that she could do something during this time. “You are not pushing yourself too hard, are you?” There he was, being a worry-wart again.