Redhawk Caldera run away with me now

The moving in close and grooming helped to ground him a little. Eljay felt a weird swirl of emotions between the butterflies in his stomach and the anxiety about their future and the family they were supposed to have together. He wanted to tell her all about that, but he just couldn't.

His heart hammered in his chest as Maia said after some time, a lot more contemplative than her usual bubbly self, that they would decide together. It still didn't answer the questions, well, it sort of did, he supposed.

But what about... What if we... What about if we wanted... The words got stuck in his throat in between breaths, even though his breathing had steadied somewhat since Maia had moved in closer to calm him and ground him in a way that worked much better than his own distraction tactics. He wanted so badly to finish that sentence, but the words just seemed to get stuck in his throat every time. What if she didn't feel the same? What if she didn't want a family, or to settle down, or to be stuck to children like that? He'd still love her, of course, and he'd still be happy, but the thought was scary because he wanted it to work so badly and he really, really wanted more children of his own.