BONUS

Draven frowned as Sarah walked awkwardly around the cabin. She sighed as she placed the form fitting cloth around her engorged midsection and breasts. Rose had already informed her that she carried a large baby and preparations had been made in the event her body could not birth the child.

"Sarah", Draven spoke up.

She turned towards him, "Yes my love?" Sarah arched an eyebrow, wondering what he was going to question her on.

"Are you pregnant?"

Sarah blinked in surprise. She thought he knew this entire time that she was carrying a child. She believed in the early stages of her pregnancy that he didn't want to mention it as so many first time mothers miscarried their infants. She knew for a fact that he had felt the little one kick and move under his hand on more than one occasion.

"Draven, my love, I thought you knew that I was pregnant. Did you really think I ate too much food and got this large on purpose?"

Draven chuckled and scrubbed the back of his neck, embarassed. "Well, no. But mother always told us to spit out the seeds of any fruit we ate to prevent a plant from growing in our bellies. I thought maybe you had forgotten or accidentally swallowed a seed."

Sarah stared incredulously at Draven. "And the child's movements? What did you think that was?"

"The plant growing?" Draven looked at Sarah sheepishly.

Sighing roughly, Sarah stopped getting herself ready for the day and knelt down in front of Draven's sitting form. "Oh my love. You are quite right. I did have a seed in my belly, your seed. And it did take root and grow. The movement you felt was from our pumpkin growing and moving and making themself comfortable."

Draven's eyes began to tear up as he cupped Sarah's scarred face lovingly. "I never thought that I would be blessed with a child. Nor did I believe that I would obtain such a beautiful, loving, and brilliant wife. Thank you my love."

*Five years later*

The two small children were missing again. Draven sighed roughly as he looked in their normal hiding places. *They are only four years old. How many places can they be?* he thought to himself.

Looking under a pile of ropes that had appeared to have been moved, he heard the rustle of the Guardians and frowned. *Why have they been awaken?* He made his way over towards the sounds and heard giggling. Then he heard a shushing noise. The closer he got, the more his heart sank as he realized where his children had gotten off to. As he turned the corner, he saw the bright red hair of his little girl first, then the darkening brown hair of his son. And wrapped around the both of them was the form of the sleeping Guardian. Blinking in shock, he watched as his daughter gently stroked the arm of the beast, he cherub face smiling softly as her brother stretched and yawned before snuggling even deeper into the beasts embrace.

Looking up at his entrance, his daughter lifted a finger in a shushing motioI. "Hush daddy," came her soft voice, "We got him to sleep and brother is taking a nap too. Don't worry. He won't hurt us. He loves us." She nuzzled her face into the leather-like skin of the beast and closed her eyes. Draven watched as his children fell asleep in the arms of one of the most ferocious beings he had ever witnessed and with amazement he watched the Guardian curl protectively around the children.

"You know, that makes sense" came the whispered voice of his wife.

Draven whispered back, "What do you mean?"

Sarah wrapped her arm around his waist and gently guided Draven away from the sleeping trio before speaking again, this time normally.

"Where the Guardians live, there is a legend that states that each Guardian was once a parent. The reason why they don't all look the same is because they come from different backgrounds. Whether they were human, dwarf, or even dragon, they all suffered the loss of innocence. They lost their child. Not many know that the Guardians will never harm a child or expectant mother. Though, I do want to talk with you about the possibility of leaving the ship and moving to the mainland. Our children, as traveled as they are in this world, need stability and other children. In short, they need a village."

Draven nodded thoughtfully and looked back down the hallway towards where the children had decided to take their nap. "I agree. They need social skills that can only occur when around others their own age." Bringing Sarah close Draven leaned down and captured her lips with his own. "What say you wife? Shall we move into a home with a garden and a fence?"

Laughing Sarah wrapped her arms around Draven's neck. "Well, maybe not a fence, but a home with a garden, near the woods and the sea, sounds lovely for raising a family and a couple of children."