Chapter 442: No Delay

Chapter 442: Chapter 442: No Delay

By the time the imperial aircraft descended over Deira, Arik expected Liam to sleep for at least twelve hours.

The return flight had been quiet after Alexandria. Liam had spent part of it reading through engineering reports he had deliberately ignored during the wedding, part of it answering messages from the academy, and the remainder with his head against Arik’s shoulder while the clouds moved beneath them.

They landed shortly after noon.

The capital looked almost unnaturally familiar after Wrohan—the pale stone districts, dark roofs cut with gold, ether-lit transit lines moving through the city, and the imperial complex rising above everything with the calm permanence of something that had survived being hidden from the world.

Home.

Liam breathed out as they stepped from the aircraft.

Arik expected him to go upstairs. Perhaps eat. Possibly sleep.

Instead, Liam handed his travel coat to an attendant and said, "Where is my physician?"

Arik stopped.

Rubis, who had been walking several steps ahead with a tablet in hand, turned slowly.

"The medical wing, I believe."

"Good."

Liam changed direction.

Arik stared after him... and followed.

"You are not going upstairs?"

"No."

"You have been awake since before sunrise."

"I slept on the aircraft."

"For forty minutes."

"That counts."

Arik caught up easily, his longer stride reducing the distance in a few steps. He had changed into a pale charcoal suit before landing, though the tie had disappeared somewhere between Wrohan and Nuria. Liam wore dark trousers, a soft cream shirt beneath a fitted coat, and the determined expression Arik usually associated with laboratories about to be reorganized without warning.

"What are you doing?"

Liam looked at him.

"Removing the implant."

Arik nearly walked into a column.

He recovered before anyone noticed.

Liam kept going.

For the first time in years, Arik found himself genuinely stunned.

He had expected this conversation to continue once they returned home. He had imagined Liam taking several days to think, perhaps reviewing medical recommendations, becoming distracted by some new ether interface or imported technology, then burying himself in work until Arik eventually reminded him that they had decided to start trying for a child.

Arik had privately prepared for that.

He had even been looking forward to being obnoxiously persistent about it.

Apparently Liam intended to deny him the opportunity.

"You are serious."

Liam stopped outside the medical wing and looked up at him.

"We discussed this."

"We did."

"You want a child."

"With you."

"So do I."

Liam pushed open the door.

Arik followed, still processing.

The imperial medical wing occupied one of the quieter sections of the eastern palace, designed with warm stone instead of clinical white surfaces and large windows overlooking the inner gardens. Ether monitors remained integrated into the walls behind carved panels, almost invisible until needed.

The physician’s assistant looked up sharply when the imperial couple entered without an appointment.

"Your Majesties."

"I need to see the physician," Liam said.

The woman stood immediately.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I want my contraceptive implant removed."

The assistant blinked.

Arik had to look away before he laughed.

Liam glanced toward him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That face means something."

"I am admiring your subtlety."

"I do not need subtlety. I need an appointment."

The assistant recovered admirably.

"I will see if the doctor is available."

She disappeared through the inner doors.

Liam sat.

Arik remained standing in front of him.

"You did not even unpack."

"Someone else will unpack."

"You usually complain when people touch your equipment."

"My equipment is not in my luggage."

"That sounds dangerously unlike you."

Liam crossed one leg over the other.

"I want the implant removed, Arik."

There was no hesitation in it.

That did something to him.

Arik had spent years watching Liam approach everything important with relentless concentration. Engineering problems. Political systems. His family. Nuria’s modernization. Anything that captured his attention became something Liam pursued until he understood it completely.

Arik had simply never expected to become the target of that focus in this particular way.

A child.

Their child.

Liam was not treating the idea like a distant possibility anymore.

He had apparently transformed it into a project.

Arik found that incredibly attractive.

"You are staring again."

"I know."

Liam narrowed his eyes.

Arik stepped between his knees.

The empty waiting room gave him enough privacy to place both hands on Liam’s thighs and lean closer.

"You expected me to change my mind?"

"No."

"Delay?"

Arik considered lying.

Liam’s expression suggested that would be pointless.

"A little."

"Why?"

"Because you become distracted."

Liam looked offended.

"I do not."

"You once forgot lunch because someone sent you a new coolant regulator."

"That regulator reduced system waste by eleven percent."

"Exactly."

"It was important."

Arik smiled.

"I thought I might have to remind you."

"You thought you would have to chase me into having your child."

"When you say it like that, it sounds terrible."

"It sounds exactly like something you would enjoy."

Arik’s smile widened.

The physician entered before Arik could say so.

She carried Liam’s file on a tablet and looked between them with the calm expression of someone who had dealt with imperial reproductive health long enough to no longer be impressed by either of them.

"I understand you want the implant removed."

Liam nodded.

"As soon as possible."

"We can do it today."

Arik’s attention snapped toward her.

Liam smiled.

The physician continued before either of them could become difficult.

"I want bloodwork first, then I’ll review your cycle history, medications, nutritional markers, and recent ether readings. The removal itself is simple. After that, fertility may return quickly, but timing varies."

Liam was already listening with the concentration he usually reserved for technical briefings.

"What about the suppression history?"

"We’ll account for it, though your cycles have been stable for a long time now."

"And the bond?"

"Potentially relevant to cycle synchronization, but not something I would use to predict conception with precision."

Liam nodded, and the doctor explained everything in one go, like she didn’t trust imperial attention span.

Arik barely spoke.

Mostly because he was too busy realizing that Liam had already moved past wanting a child and into making one possible.

The feeling that settled through him was almost painfully warm.

Possessiveness came with it, certainly.

Desire too.

But beneath both sat something quieter.

Love so deep it made every other thought feel temporarily unimportant.

The physician finally left to arrange the bloodwork.

Liam looked over.

"What?"

Arik took his hand.

"You are terrifying."

Liam blinked.

"That is your reaction?"

"You came home from another country and immediately marched into a medical office to remove contraception."

"You wanted me to take it seriously."

"I did."

Arik lifted Liam’s hand and kissed his knuckles.

"I just did not realize you would take it more seriously than me."

Liam smiled.

"That bothers you?"

Arik stepped closer.

"No."

His gold eyes warmed.

"Gods, Liam. I love you."