Judith Regulus - Tumblr Posts

Imperial Domesticity: Expectant Father

A story about Callisto during Penelope’s first pregnancy. I just want some fluff.

Callisto helped Penelope up and out of the cave as carefully and gently as he could, it wasn’t lost on him that some of his most significant moments with her were in caves. The weight of his sword was a comforting presence of safety as they made the (slightly hazardous) trek back up the mountain and into the little hovel… er house, that Penelope had been living in while she worked for the last few years. He had been there a few times for short visits. He knew the house quite well, though it was quite bare and utalitarian since most of her things was in their shared bedroom within the Imperial Palace.

His fiancee (his pregnant fiancee), yawned tiredly even as she shivered. Callisto frowned at the sight and led her to the bedroom, or at least he meant to. He paused midway as he observed the way the house seemed emptier, the stacks of papers on the desk was higher than usual and he worried that she was overworking herself when she was pregnant. He clucked his tongue and made sure to speak to the wizard who he had assigned to her before he resumed his steps, eventually just sweeping her up into his arms when she almost fell out of sheer exhaustion.

He placed her gently on her bed and helped her strip off the wet clothes before he reached for the towel and helped her dry herself. Then he helped her dress in her nightgown before tucking her in. When he was certain she was asleep, he stripped and lit the fire in the fireplace before returning to the bed. He stared at her for a few moments, happily taking in the beautiful sight of his fiancee illuminnated by the moonlight before his gaze fell from her face and down to her still flat stomach. His hand reached out and gently stroked it before he dipped his head and kissed the womb where their unborn child grew.

‘I would love a girl.’ He thought. ‘But, so long as you and your mother are healthy, I truly don’t care if you weren’t. You would always be our beloved little one.’

And then he lay down and pulled his Princess, no, his soon-to-be-wife, into his arms and let sleep drift into him.

-

-

In the morning, Callisto woke up to the annoying ring of the communication orb that only Cedric used. Penelope groaned as she stirred and he immediately answered it.

“Your Majesty! Where are you?!?” Cedric asked in frantic annoyance.

Callisto glared at the man with quite a lot of spite as Penelope began to truly leave the realm of sleep. “With the Princess.” He answered as bluntly and flatly as he could. After all, where else would he be if he wasn’t in the Imperial Palace?

“It’s not a visitation day though.”

“So?” He was the Emperor, he could do what he wanted. Though he had been good and had been playing nice for Penelope’s sake as he waited for her to finally be ready despite knowing that there was a large possibility it would never happen. That was why he was so happy for their little blessing. He had accepted that Penelope might never be ready for marriage or to start a family. And that it would just be the two of them living as lovers and nothing more. But this… to know that Penelope was finally ready to marry and that they were soon to become parents? No amount of happiness could overcome this.

“There are papers that need to be signed. What time will you be back?”

Porter knew that trying to get him to leave the Princess’ bed right now would only end in him vindictively dumping more work on his desk and was careful not to push on the issue of his returning to the Palace immediately.

“Is there a war?” He asked.

“No.”

“Is there an emergency where lives are at stake?”

“No.”

“Is it something that would go away if I kill the nobleman who was responsible for it?”

The Princess pinched his arm at his words and Cedric stared at him blankly. “No.”

“Tch, then just leave it. I’ll deal with it when I return. Just make sure to have the wizards ready to get the Princess and I when I call.”

He cut off the call immediately and placed it back on the table before he pulled her back to him. His hand tangled itself into soft magenta curls. “We’ll need to start planning the wedding soon.” He murmured into her hair. “I can send people over to pack your things.”

“There’s no need.” Penelope told him.

“Are you planning to just leave them here?” He traced patterns into the soft, unblemished skin of her back and arms. His hands wandered here and there, leaving goose bumps where his hands touched. Could feel her heartbeat pick up. “It doesn’t matter to me, either way. I can just call for some tailors and seamstresses for you.”

The Princess placed gentle kisses on his neck before she looked up. “No, it’s because the house is pretty much packed up.”

“What?” Then he scanned his surroundings now illuminated clearly by the morning light. And he finally noticed that, yes, her clothing was mostly packed away in bags now. And the sparseness of the room was to a different degree.

Though this wasn’t the kind of thing that could have been achieved within a day. “But you only found out about the baby yesterday?”

“Yes.” His Princess confirmed with a chuckle at his confusion. “I found out that I could be pregnant yesterday, but I’ve been preparing my replacement and packing things for the last month.” She explained as she kissed his lips. “I decided that I was ready to get married right after our birthdays. That’s why I’ve been so busy recently. I wanted to surprise you when I went home tomorrow that I’ll be there to stay.”

It always brought him an irrational sense of joy whenever she called the Palace, home. And especially now that he knew that her decision came long before the discovery of the babe.

-

-

The first thing Callisto did when they returned to the palace, to their home, was to set a date for the wedding. Penelope had tried to insist on a small and quiet wedding but he had argued (and won) against it. First, not only was he the Emperor and she, the Empress-to-be, which meant that they needed a formal ceremony so that she could be properly recognized and crowned. Second, people would talk and would perhaps question the legitimacy of their marriage and their child. Third, she was the daughter of the only Duke in the Empire and as such, there would be a backlash, especially by the Eckarts (though he didn’t particularly care for them but had thrown them in for good measure) who would no doubt be upset by it all. And finally, he had waited five years and was going to be deprived of the five-year-long honeymoon he’d been promised.

That had won her over and she finally consented to a proper wedding. Callisto took care of most of the planning, Penelope being too tired from the pregnancy to do much so early in the day, which was when they (he) did most of the wedding planning. Afternoons were set aside for them to do their respective duties with his bride having long ago taken on the duties of the Empress, though in a less official capacity. And the evenings were spent wrapped up in pleasure as the pregnancy inspired new heights to her lust. Which also went hand in hand with why she was so tired.

Whatever free time he had, he spent it having his old palace renovated and prepared for the future Crown Prince or Princess. A project that they had both taken to heart.

The Porters' experiences in child rearing came in handy as they spoke to them quite candidly about their experiences in child-rearing.

And so did the fifty books on parenting he had read, the four hundred testimonials of his staff, and the full medical team he had that was always checking on Penelope and the baby.

He thought he was justified in what he was doing. Between the poison from the Leila, the backlash from using her magic, and the abuse and starvation she had gone through while at the Duchy, he worried for her health constantly.

Callisto also made sure that her duties would be reduced so as not to cause too much stress on her body. Instead, he contented himself with watching her flutter about trying to design the nursery, making toys for the babe, and discussing child-rearing practices from her world, a discussion he gladly took part in. He listened to her talk about all of the novel concepts she had learned from her time working as a nanny for one of the part-time work she had held in her previous life and he found himself drawn to the way things had been done there.

He didn’t want his children to grow up estranged from them, he wanted to be there and be an active participant in their lives, in a way that his father had never been. He wanted to be there for their first words, their first steps, everything! And he wanted to make sure that his child’s right to inherit would never be questioned, especially if the babe was a girl and the only child Penelope would ever have. So he got to work changing the succession laws.

-

-

Callisto stared at his wife in disbelief. Whatever he had expected from his wedding night, it wasn’t this. His new wife was sleeping with a smile of contentment on her face even if she had fallen asleep just as he’d begun his gentle seduction of her for the second time that night. Yes, technically, the marriage had already been consummated earlier as they’d bathed together, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want another, more proper consummation in their marital bed.

Still, he sighed before he let out a gentle laugh as he watched her sleep on. Her face turned to his hand as he caressed it gently. The exhaustion from the festivities of their wedding fell away the longer and deeper she slept.

He pulled away from her for a moment as he went down to her belly and kissed it through the thin fabric of her nightgown. “Good night my baby. Papa loves you so much.” He whispered. “I can’t wait to feel you start to move, especially for the day I get to meet you.”

Then he straightened himself and kissed his wife before he lay down and let her curl herself into his side. “Good night, My Love. Thank you for choosing me.” He murmured into her hair.

“Hmm.” His wife mumbled. “I love you.” She said sleepily before her breathing evened out again.

-

-

Just as the beginnings of the more obvious changes to Penelope’s body began, Callisto decided to call for the tailors and seamstresses to make an entirely new wardrobe for her. It wasn’t just the fact that the baby was now making itself known, it was also the fact that the seasons had shifted and the silks he had dressed her in were now too light and thin to withstand the fall and coming winter seasons.

He lavished his wife with every comfort she could ever want, made it a point to see her at least once an hour if possible, and even put up with the intrusion of his newly reconciled in-laws.

The further along her pregnancy went, the more doubts and fears crept up into him. What if he was a bad father? What if he made the same mistakes as his father? What if something went wrong and he lost Penelope and the baby? What if…

There were too many things swirling around in his mind like a storm that was unable to stop.

And then one day, as the two of them sat down for tea, Callisto had brushed his hand across her womb and felt it. The telltale kick he had been waiting for and bother his wife over the last few months.

It had taken a moment for his mind to understand what it was as he sat there stunned. But then it happened again and again and he found himself laughing in delight. His heart soared with love as he quickly shifted himself to kneel on the floor, one hand on the side of her womb where the baby kicked and his head lay on the other side. Penelope held his other hand as he murmured encouragements and words of love to their little one.

“I love you, Callisto Regulus.” He heard her say. “And I’m very happy with my life here with you. I’m happy that I made the choice that I did, and I’m happy that I chose you.”

Callisto inhaled sharply as something settled in him. This contentment and peace that he had long craved, the connection and unabounding love that he’d lacked and searched for was here, in this very room. His whole world was made of this woman and the child growing in her. His greatest treasure. She hummed a tune softly as she stroked his hair while he waited for his child to move again.

-

-

He stayed with her throughout the whole delivery. His teeth gritted at the way her face twisted with pain as contractions hit her, even as she tried (and failed) to break his hand when she squeezed it tight. He silently prayed that it would be over soon and that his family would be safe.

Even as he wiped away the sweat from her beautiful face as she leaned on him for support, he whispered quiet reassurances. Callisto had broken tradition and had banned any but the medical staff and her loyal maid from entering the chambers while she gave birth so as not to over-tax his wife with the added stress of the many stares of courtiers watching. It was unprecedented, especially the active role he took but he didn’t care. He was the Emperor and she was his Empress, no one stood above them in this empire.

Callisto heard a sharp and loud cry just a few short breaths after the Doctor had announced the babe’s arrival. “It’s a girl, Your Majesty…” The Doctor declared. And from the first moment he had heard that cry, his heart shattered and remade itself. His world grew into two, and is now more tangible.

“But… Your Majesties…” The Doctor was hesitant as the whispers and gasps of the medical team abounded.

His heart sank and he felt his beloved wife begin to shake in his arms.

“What’s wrong?” He demanded, fearful for his daughter’s life and wellbeing.

“She’s healthy.” He reassured them but he was hesitating.

“Out with it!” He commanded.

“She has dragon wings.” The Doctor said immediately as he presented the child to them.

Callisto blinked and shared a glance with Penelope as she reached for the babe, arms a bit shaky.

The two of them looked at their beautiful daughter and he fell deeply in love, as deeply as he felt for his wife, but so very different. And sure enough, their beautiful child had wings sticking out from her back.

There were whispers of prophecies and the second coming of the golden dragon going around the room but that was something for him to think on later. Right now, his attention was on the child that made up the other half of his world.

“Welcome to the world, Judith Regulus.” He said as he grasped her little hand gently. The name they had chosen sat well with their beautiful girl. “We love you very much.” They both whispered to their daughter.

For something that was meant to be a one shot, Imperial Domesticity is now turning into a full on series. I’ll compile this into a proper fic on AO3 when I have the time. Also just me craving for some sweet content between the two. And I wanted a fic about Callisto throughout the pregnancy and just him being so in love with Penelope and the unborn baby and just being so happy but also being terrified of making the same mistakes as his father and being hated by his child.

Have a fluffy headcanon because we all need it

Judith, like her father, has gift giving as her love language. So one day, she makes some matching bracelets for her and her parents. Each necklace has two red beads to represent Callisto and Judy’s eyes, and a turquoise bead for Penelope. They also have little charms on them: a golden dragon, a rose, the sun, moon, and a little star.

Callisto is overjoyed at the gift, immediately having preservation spells put on the bracelets. Everyone he meets later that day has to deal with Callisto showing off the bracelet and gushing about Judith more than usual:

“But just look at what Judith made for me and Penelope, isn’t it beautiful?“

“Yes, Your Majesty. You’ve shown us three times already today.”

“Well, now you get to see it again, my daughter’s creativity deserves to be shown off—“

Penelope is also very happy for the gift, all the servants noting how often she’ll get distracted from paperwork or a book just to look at the bracelet. A soft smile lighting up her face as she gently rubs at a charm between her fingers. (She also finds Callisto’s enthusiasm hilarious, but does have to reign him in at times. Even though when she sees her husband smiling so genuinely, she can’t help but give him a quick kiss that quickly gets out of hand because Callisto can’t help himself.)

Every time Judith gets another sibling, she adds a bead to match their eye color and another star charm. She makes them bracelets as well when they get a bit older.

Penelope ran away from the Eckhart two years ago, it didn't surprise her that it took them weeks to realize she was gone. She returned to her roots, traveling the continent in her little wagon home, the last untouched one that had once belonged to her grandmother. She pedaled her wares and her tinctures while she chased the rumors of ruins and mana beasts. One day, her life changed when she fished out a golden-haired man. And though their relationship was brief, he left her something that would stay with her forever. Her daughter.

Callisto met his match, the dragon's mate, and was foolish enough to let her go. He couldn't get the commoner Penelope out of his mind and bitterly regretted not fighting harder to convince her to stay and at least let her be put up in one of his residences. Not too long after they parted, the war ends but with it comes the appearance of the ancient enemy. When the continent burns and the monsters roam, they take refuge in a small village where he's reunited with his lover and their daughter.

Redemption of the forgotten love

Funny little snippet for this little angst filled fic that is currently one of my WIPs. P.S. that’s just my working title.

Penelope stared at this man, this high lord who claimed to have been her lover, the father of her daughter, and yes, he very much resembled her. But her memories of him were gone, along with any other possible feelings to tell her otherwise. Despite that, he swore a magic oath to speak naught but the truth to her and that he would never hurt her or Judith.

She nodded and turned away still, intending to think things through when she caught sight of golden fur and a frivolously wagging tail. “Callisto!” She called out and her puppy ran to her.

The high lord startled. “Yes, what? Do you remember me after all, Penelope?” He asked hopeful.

“What are you talking about?” She asked him in confusion.

“You just called out my name.”

“Callisto!” She snapped when the rowdy puppy knocked into the high lord.

“There! You just called me again.”

She stared at him blankly. “Your name is Callisto?” She asked. Staring between the high lord and the puppy that was her daughter’s best friend.

Slow dawning realization appeared on the high lord’s face. “Don’t tell me… you were calling the dog, weren’t you? You named your dog after me.”

“Unknowingly, it seems.”

It seemed as though he deflated a bit, now reminding her greatly of when her puppy experienced great disappointment that the food was not for him.

Plot synopsis: Callisto fell under the Laila’s thrall, hurting and nearly killing the woman he loved and causing her to flee. After she escapes, Penelope loses her memory and she gives birth to his daughter. Sometime after that, Callisto breaks free from the thrall and launches a search. After being mistakenly believed to have died in the incident where she lost her memories, Callisto finds her alive and well, daughter, dog, and all. And now he has to win all three over.

Baby Judith: "Mommy's baby"

Penelope: "Your what?"

Judith: "I'm mommy's baby"

Penelope: "You're my baby?"

Judith: "YES!!"

Judith: "And I'm fucking cute"

Penelope: "WHA-"

Callisto in the background: *laughs hysterically*

A/B/O Au Headcannon

Penelope is an omega and Callisto is an alpha.

Penelope is starting her first heat with Callisto after they got together. Their spending her heat in a safe house so they would have some privacy.

She's a bit dazed as her heat begins and is building her nest just the way she always does. She finishes her nest and calls Callisto to have some *coughcough* fun.

As their getting into the mood Penelope drags her hands across Callisto's body and realises that she made the nest to only fit her alone meaning that Callisto would ruin all her hard work just getting in. So she promptly shoves him away to quickly fix the nest to fit the two of them. Callisto spent the next 15 minutes waiting for her to finish her readjustments.

They spent the entire week in the safe house. And 40 weeks later Judith was born.

Hear me out. An AU with Penelope and Callisto as Morticia and Gomez Adams. Callisto already worships the ground Penny walks on in the novel. Callisto proclaims his love for her, Penelope looking at him like he's the only thing she can see.

They'd have their haunted gothic mansion Callisto has a torture chamber while Penelope has her laboratory. They take long walks in the forest or dance in their ballroom on date nights. Judith is obviously Wednesday but more expressive and joyfully torturing her younger sibling and poor Cedric is Lurch.

People of the VADD Fandom. What are your little headcanons about the story? It could be about the characters, the world, the magic system anything. Reblog your answers.

An Au with slight canon divergence. Everything is going according to the novel except Penelope and Callisto in the heat of the moment do the devil's tango in the cave during the hunting arc. Things proceed as normal but low and behold Penny is pregnant.

At first, she didn't think anything was wrong considering she never had a regular period cycle, to begin with. So to her, it was not a problem that her period hasn't started.

By the time Yvonne is brought back to the duchy, she is already getting morning sickness and nausea. Only then does she consider the possibility of her being pregnant, but she doesn't get the chance to confirm it. She is rightfully horrified, I would be too if I found out I was pregnant and the father told me that he sees no value in love.

Anyway, later she is confronted by Laila who was initially going to stay hidden and steal the mirror shard to carry out her evil plan yada yada. Laila basically confirms that she is pregnant and tries to brainwash Penelope in her moment of shock.

However, her wizard blood and the magic of the golden dragon prevented that from happening stunning Yvonne and giving Penelope time to flee to her room. Once there she packs an emergency bag with the mirror shard and map and teleports to a random far away town near the sea.

There she meets an older woman, an apothecary who offers to let her stay the night at her home to get her bearings together. The next day Penny asks the woman if she can do a pregnancy test for her. The woman agrees and Penelope does the test.

While waiting for the results, there is a knock at the front door the apothecary is occupied in another room with the test results so Penny answers the door. Only to wish she didn't because right on the other side is none other than Callisto Regulus himself, who tracked her down with the copy of the magic map. He is furious and invites himself in, demanding to know why she ran away all of a sudden making everyone think she was kidnapped.

The apothecary oblivious to the commotion walks into the room and loudly announces that the test results came back positive and that she is in fact pregnant. YAY!

Silence. Absolute silence, Callisto is stunned at the news and Penelope is terrified about what he may do next. The older woman is putting the pieces together and realises that he may be the child's father and leaves to give them privacy.

They do talk but it quickly escalates into arguing both of their emotions are running rampant at the discovery. Callisto realises that they conceived that night in the cave and realises that she was pregnant throughout the past months and keeps asking how did she not realise this soon such and such. Meanwhile, Penny is on the verge of a breakdown crying and yelling out all the things she's been keeping bottled up before reminding him that he said he did not love her.

They finally calm down enough to have a more civil conversation, Penelope states that she's not going back to the Duchy for a while. He is curious as to why she ran away in the first place and gets her to explain everything specifically about the fact that Yvonne is Laila among other things.

Anyhow the event of the original novel happens faster here minus the coming of age part. Penelope and Callisto find the magic wand to defeat Laila who at this time is beginning her attack on the kingdom to use the golden dragon to revive her clan etc. Laila is defeated, Penelope and Callisto get hitched and months later Judith is born. YAY!

PS. sorry if everything seems rushed coming down to the end. I have an exam tomorrow but wanted to post this before I went to bed.

Pregnancy Shenanigans

Penelope slept a lot when she was deeper into her pregnancy like you could not wake her up unless it was time to eat or bathe.

I imagine she had quite a death grip on Callisto whenever they slept at night and he had to pry himself away to get up for work.

But no matter what he did he would not escape her for long. Sometimes if she felt clingy she would waddle to his office and sit in his lap without a word and stay there.

Penelope ate a lot more food than before thanks to her pregnancy cravings. She had had a better relationship with food even after giving birth.

When the doctor recommended going on walks every day to build muscles for labour, Callisto made sure she went on a walk three times a day after every meal.

She hated it.

I imagine that later in her 2nd trimester is when the shenanigans started.

Penelope and Callisto didn't know what to expect when it came to their future child. Given that they both descendants of ancient wizards and the golden dragon respectively.

So it didn't surprise them that much when their child was suddenly using magic while still in the womb.

It was mostly harmless things like levitating small items in whatever room Penelope was in nothing else.

But there was one incident where an assassin tried to assassinate Penelope in the night when Callisto had to work late. The guards were alerted to the intruder right away but the assassin held her hostage in an attempt to escape.

In all of the commotion no one noticed Penelope navel glowing gold as the baby reacted to their mother's fear and levitate a vase to smash it into the assassin's head making him release Penelope from surprise. He was executed by the guards present.

After that they moved the Empress to a another room for the rest of her pregnancy. Callisto became paranoid after the incident.

Luckily the rest of her pregnancy went smoothly.