A couple weeks had passed since Edward and I had consumated our relationship. I had just gotten up for the first time in a while to vomit.

I tried to sneak quietly out from under the silk sheets and through Edward's arms. I held my breath when I noticed him shift slightly, but was relieved to find that his eyes were closed as I hurried to the bathroom.

I barely made it to the toilet to release my stomach's contents into the bowl.

As the bile came up, it burnt the inside of my esophagus, the acid chipping away at tissue. My eyes watered and I quickly turned the sink on, to drown out the sounds of my vomiting.

I was completely terrified now. Paranoid that I would be burdened with a child, scared that I had made the worst mistake of my life.

My tears dropped into the water, my eyes clenched shut, along with a few chunks of dinner.

"...Eliza?"

My eyes widened, but before I could react and lock the bathroom door, another purge caused me to face into the white bowl.

Suddenly, a few seconds later, the door swung open and there stood Edward.

"Eliza!?" He rushed to me, wearing only pajama bottoms, and swiftly pulled my hair back to save it from the bile. There was nothing I could do at this point but accept his help.

I didn't want him to know... not yet.

"Eliza, Mein Gott, what's the matter, did you eat something that didn't agree with you? Are you running a fever?" After I'd thrown up for the fourth and last time, he reached a hand around to my forehead and placed the back of his palm there.

"Hmm... you don't feel warm." He stated. "Cold, actually." I listened, unable to look at him, as he grabbed a dark blue towel and doused it in water, wringing out the excess. He kneeled down to me and took my hand, placing the towel in it. "Here you go, the clean yourself up a bit." I thanked him as best I could and used the towel to wipe around my mouth. Luckily, all or most of the vomit had ended up in the bowl, which I reached up to flush.

I tried to stand up when I felt I was done, but my legs felt very shaky, so Edward helped my to my feet. He supported my weight on his chest.

"Do you know what caused this, liebling? Did you eat something?"

I knew that this wasn't the case, because if it were, Edward would likely be throwing up too. I looked up at him wearily and nodded.

"I-I guess..." I lied.

Edward kissed my forehead gently. "Come back to bed, you must rest. It's the best treatment for sickness."

I let Edward lead me back to the bed, and I sat down on the side with my head hung.

"Sit here, I'll get you a glass of water." Edward said and proceeded to the door.

I held my stomach and bent over. Though it seemed the urge to vomit had passed, the nausea had not. I brushed my teeth and washed my mouth thouroughly to get that awful bile taste from my tongue. I tried to keep my mind away from it and focus on something else, but I couldn't keep my thoughts off of the ultimate theory for my sickness...

Pregnancy.

A cold chill rushed down my spine and I shook my head.

"Please... no, God, please..." I was on the verge of tears when the door creaked open.

"What's that?" Edward asked, handing me a glass.

"Oh, nothing..." I covered.

Edward sat on the bed next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"How long have you been feeling this way, Eliza?" Edward questioned, a gentle lace of concern stringing within his sentence.

"I... I've felt nauseous for a few days..." I decided to tell him half the truth, because really I had felt ill for longer.

"Honig... you didn't tell me?" He sounded a bit confused... and maybe slightly hurt.

"You're worried enough at work, I'm not that important." I shrugged the comment I had made off, but as I looked at Edward, he seemed to take personal offense to it. His eyes widened.

Suddenly, he took the glass of water out of my hands and quickly set it on the end table. Before I could protest or even tell what was going on, he'd grabbed my hands gently and pushed me back onto the pillows in the softest manner achieveable.

"You are that important." He kissed beneath my jaw, and my face heated like an oven. "You are the most important thing in my life. Why must you fight that?" Edward kissed from my jaw up to my lips, and I blushed as he pressed his lips against mine.

I was left only looking up at him, and blushing uncontrollably. He smiled down at me and rolled to the mattress beside of me. He pulled me to his chest and I simply listened to him whisper.

"When you're sick, I want to care for you... when you're hungry I want to cook for you, when you're tired I want to rest with you, when you're sad I want to hold you... I'm the one that's supposed to be here for you, Eliza. You don't have to be your own rock anymore." He kissed me smoothly.

"Lean on me. I love you."

I blushed and looked through the dark, into his eyes. My heart fluttered as it usually did, and I instictively wrapped my arms around him.

"I love you too, Edward..." I croaked, holding some tears back as thoughts of all the bad things ran through my mind.

But of all of those terrible things that I thought of, amongst them was one that could normally bring me back to reality...and his name was Edward.

"Rest now, Liebling... I will be here, ja?" He rested the back of his hand on my cheek, dragging it softly along my skin.

"O-okay." I agreed.

I slept soundly for the rest of the night, but woke up early the next day. Edward was already doing his morning routine it had seemed, as he was not in bed beside me and the bathroom door was shut. I sighed and got up, rising to my feet, only to stumble back into the bed sheets again. I felt dizzy immediately upon impact.

"What the...." I whispered. I groaned and tried again, holding my head. I finally was able to make my way toward the kitchen to prepare breakfast, but not before downing a large glass of pure water.

I went for the most simple option for Edward, and that was instant oatmeal. Even so, I cut up some strawberries to add a bit more flavor to the simple and small dish, along with a tall glass of milk.

I sat the bowl of oatmeal down in Edward's usual place, and waited at the table for him. A few minutes later, he appeared next to me.

"Morning." He said, as I took my head off of the table and he kissed my head.

"Good morning..." I huffed.

Immediately he noticed my tone.

"You still aren't feeling well..." he sighed, looking at me with concerned eyes.

"It will pass..." I assured, though I wasn't even sure myself. Edward got up and come to me, placing a hand on my forehead.

"Again, you aren't running a fever... you are't discolored or yellow, your eyes are only slightly pink, but that's likely because you vommitted last night..."

I shrugged.

He gasped as if something had come to him. "Eliza... have you had any cold chills, any sudden shock, dehydration, abdominal pain, nausea, anything of that sort?!" He seemed very frantic all of a sudden, and he grabbed my palms, tracing over them with his thumbs like he did when he was nervous for me.

"I...I've been kind of nauseous... and thirsty..." I said.

His eyes lost a bit of zeal.

"Mein gott..."

"What?! What does that mean?" I asked, as suddenly he had me worried.

"What if... its cholera?" His face turned white and I felt a little strike of fear instill inside of me.

My face drained and I looked at the ground.

"My... mother died of cholera... her symptoms were much worse, Edward. I assure you. This is a baby compared to what she had to live through." I held back tears, thinking about mother.

Or at least... that's what I had been told... did she die of cholera? Sometimes, with all the thoughts... I wasn't even sure anymore.

His eyes widened and softened. "I..I didn't mean to bring it up... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He kissed my hand, and I tried to smile at him.

"It's okay, Edward. You shouldn't worry so much." I pat his head. "Eat. I'm fine I promise."

Hesitantly, he returned to his bowl and kept a close eye on me, as if I could pass out any second.

I looked away uncomfortably and rubbed my hands together. "Really Edward, I'm fine... you don't have to watch me like a hawk." I assured when I noticed him staring again.

He remained very silent and looked away.

"Eliza... the scars."

I knew the question would eventually come up. Why he would choose now to ask, was beyond me.

"What?"

"Oh please, Eliza. It's been bothering me for two weeks... I want to know what happened."

I looked at the clock for a way out.

"Also, I want to know why-"

"Edward, you're late." I cut him off, and thankfully I didn't have to lie to get him off the subject. He really was late... again.

He huffed loudly, almost angrily. "Right... eight in the morning." He scoffed, taking his half empty bowl to the counter before slipping on his coat.

I followed him to the door, and I knew he was troubled.

"I love you, Eliza..." he said as he bent down to kiss me.

"I love you too." I mused, and he opened the door. I didn't see him smile... he walked away frustratedly, but I knew he was trying not to show it. I closed the door behind him and returned to the couch.

Richtofen's POV

I walked through the doors of the research facility, nearly ten minutes late.

"Edward?" Sophia called before I could slip past her.

"Ah... Sophia, charmed to see you this morning." I forced a smile.

"You too... this is the third time this month that you've been late, you know... I'm going to have to start reporting it."

"What? I....Uhh.... I'm sorry, Sophia, I don't mean to be late, it's just..."

I scrambled for an excuse.

"My servant hasn't been waking me up on time... pesky girl." I lied, as it was the only thing that came to my mind.

Nice one, Edward. You blamed it on Eliza. As if she needs another problem, what a great person you are!

Sophia's features twisted. "Hmm... yes. She can be a pest. Very well, just go ahead. I wouldn't report you for something so small anyway." She smiled, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I walked to my lab.

My mind tried to focus on designing excavation weapons for the Panzer Soldat, but I wondered.

Eliza was keeping something from me. It was painfully evident. So far, other than the vomitting, she hadn't shown signs of cholera. She wasn't running a fever, and oddly enough, she'd only been throwing up within the wee hours of the morning. I never noticed her feeling down any other time.

And then, it hit me.

My blood ran cold and I felt the goosebumps on my arms intensify. I put down the pencil that I was idly holding, and froze stiff.

What if Eliza was... pregnant?

I shiverred. No. That couldn't be. All of these signs were coincedental, they had to be! It's impossible for it to happen on the first time!

I flattened my palm onto my forehead.

Damn it, Edward. You didn't use protection... you should always carry protection. Everyone knows that!

I sucked in a deep breath. I refused to believe that it was true. It was much too early to decide, at any rate.

But... what if it did happen? What would we do with a child? We're so young, much too young to have children, besides... we weren't even married. Also... there's no way Eliza could hide a child.

For the first time, as I sat there... I truly realized the reality of our situation.

If I stayed here, Eliza and I could never truly be happy. Maxis would always be looming over us, always watching and waiting.

Could he be reasoned with? Maybe. Just... maybe...

But if not?

We were doomed. We could never have a family. Never have a life together here... even if Maxis would allow it, there would always be that barrier.

My heart clenched in my chest. This is what Eliza felt every single day, and this was just half of the pain.

From that moment on, I knew I would one day have to choose. Either I keep my job, and loose Eliza and our love, or lose my job and become a fugitive to Maxis and Group 935, but somehow escape Europe and flee with Eliza to somewhere safe. If it was even possible.

For me, it was an easy choice... but one that I hoped and prayed that I would never be forced to make.