Redsand Canyon they say that time's supposed to heal you

Kallik watched with confusion and alarm as Aquene panicked in front of him. She messed up? He had no idea what she was talking about. He racked his brain and came up with nothing. Was this related to the matrona? She repeated the words and looked so distraught and guilty that he was starting to panic a little himself.

He took a step forward and froze—I'm pregnant. 

For a few moments, he was stunned into numbness. He couldn't process the words. But when her words sank in, he suddenly felt like someone kicked him in the gut. His heart started to race as panic gripped his heart. 

Are—are you sure? he asked, his expression completely blank and not at all matching the chaos within him. He thought this couldn't happen. He should have just asked the imperator to send him to akashingo until her season was done. Shit. How was he supposed to be someone's dad? He felt like a part of him still needed a parent—the injured little pup buried deep inside his heart. What if he fucked his own kids up the way his dad had fucked him up? 

He realized he hadn't said anything ar portrayed any feelings to her. Kallik swallowed. Shit, was all he could get out a first. Shit, Aquene. I can't be someone's father. He didn't want to be a father. He liked the way things were, just the two of them, free to to spend their time together however they wished. Now everything would change and tiny lives would be wholly dependent on him. He was going to fuck them up for sure.