Shannon
Shannon chewed her lip as she headed down the hall.
Zac had told her he didn't mind if she told people that he was the father of her child, so she decided to use this permission to tell the person she felt deserved the most to know.
She swallowed as she stopped, and knocked at Sergei's door.
Sergei
"Moment, please!" Sergei called out, grabbing his pants and dressing, as he had just come back from the communal shower.
A rub at his hair with the towel before throwing it in the laundry basket, and he opened the door. He smiled slowly at Shannon.
"Hello, beautiful..."
Shannon
Shannon blushed slightly.
"Hello handsome," she replied. "May... May I come in? There is something... important that I want to tell you. That I think that you should know."
Sergei
"Sure, come in."
Sergei stepped back to let her in.
Shannon
Shannon smiled and stepped into the room.
"It is about... about..."
She paused, looked around, and finally put her hand on her stomach.
"It is about... this," she said softly.
Sergei
"Da?" Sergei said questioningly.
He put his hand over hers looking into her eyes.
"What about the baby?"
Shannon
"I... I..." Shannon gulped a little. "You might remember the tape you destroyed for me? When my mother informed me of my... disownment? Well, I... I was betrothed. But when I met the man for the first time..."
She shuddered.
Sergei
"He was not a good man?" Sergei guessed.
He rubbed his hand over the small of her back comfortingly.
Shannon
"Not at all," Shannon confirmed. "I would not have liked to spend the rest of my life with him. So... so I... I came up with a plan to get out of it. But the only way I knew of would be to... to..."
She never thought it would be this to say aloud.
"I asked a... a friend of mine to... help me make that video tape... where..."
It couldn't be this hard surely. Aranince would probably blame her reluctance on her Elvish heritage,
"The... conception of this baby."
She felt a bright blush cross her face.
Sergei
Sergei nodded slowly, silvery pupils burning.
"Da. I understand. The father...is he helping with da baby?"
Shannon
"Until... until last night he didn't even know I was pregnant," Shannon admitted. "I did not want to drag him into it. He... he had already done me a favour. This was just an... an unexpected consequence and I did not want him to feel obligated to help me."
A small smile crossed her face.
"He did offer, virtually the moment he found out. I... I told him just what I told you. He still wants to be a part pf his daughter's life though."
Sergei
"Does this man have a name?" Sergei asked quietly.
His anger at what Shannon had had to do to remove herself from the dictates of her people nearly choked him.
Shannon
"Zac," Shannon replied softly. "He was really very sweet about it, but a little hurt I hadn't told him about the baby."
She figetted nervously.
Sergei
"Zac..."
Sergei thought for a moment, trying to put a name to the face. No, there wasn't anyone named Zac at the mansion...but there had been.
"Zac Hanson?"
Shannon
Shannon nodded.
"Father of Julie's twins, and Rachel's daugher," and Shannon promptly buried her face in her hands. "And now my daughter. I just... I just felt you should know... You have been so, so good to me."
Sergei
"Oospokobtyeh, moyeh kraseevyehyshyehyeh, ono boopyeht tochyno," Sergei murmured, stroking her back.(Quiet now, my beautiful, it will be alright.)
Shannon
Shannon sniffed.
"Thank you," she whispered, tentaively wrapped her arms around him.
Sergei
"Is alright."
Sergei kissed her cheek.
"Don't cry."
Shannon
Shannon sniffed again and wiped her eyes.
"I just wanted you to know," she said.
Sergei
"I am honoured that you told me," Sergei said quietly.
He kissed her gently.
Shannon
Shannon kissed him back.
"You mean so much to me," she replied. "I do not want to keep you in the dark."
Sergei
Sergei smiled.
"And you mean much to me, kratkoya."