Ill timed but not unwanted...

Sarah blinked and the silence that settled between them was deafening. She looked into Jareth's eyes, wondering if this was a joke, but his expression was serious and in the depths of his mismatched orbs she could see his fear.

Sarah licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. She looked down noticing Jareth's hand still on her stomach. It made sense of why she felt sick. How had she not known about the child forming inside of her? She had been pregnant before, knew how things went. Her weak stomach had been the what had alerted her to being pregnant the first time around. Although the last day's events had given her little time to think about why she felt ill.

Jareth noticed her gaze and quickly pulled his hand away. He looked lost, frightened, wary. She was being so quiet. He needed to hear something...anything from her.

"How...." Her voice echoed through the silent tunnel. "How could that have happened when you used magic on me?"

Jareth's expression was extremely apologetic. "The last time...I was so caught up in what we were doing..." his voice trailed off softly.

"You forgot about the magic." She finished for him. He nodded. He had made an innocent mistake.

"I've ruined everything..." He told her softly. His voice was full of agony.

"No you haven't. How could you say that?" She reached out to touch his face and he let his cheek fall into the palm of her hand.

"Sarah you don't understand...Aryanna has not made her decision yet. "

"What has Ary's decision got to do with this?"

"Everything! If she decides she wants to return, you can not join her. I've condemned you here by an act that was meant in love. She will not understand and she will hate me for it."

"I don't understand."

"Sarah the child that grows within you is a part of me. I'm a creature of magic and I need to be an environment where magic is present to survive. My time spent in the Above ground with you was pushing the limits of the time I can spend away from magic. The child you carry has magic, is a part of magic. The child will need to be surrounded by magic to develop properly. Which means that you must remain in the Labyrinth until this child is born. If Ary doesn't want to be here, she will not understand. She may grow to dislike me for keeping you from her."

"Jareth, it isn't a surprise that I want to stay here with you. You told me I could still see Toby if I stayed, could still travel above ground when ever I wished. Those things have not changed, have they?"

"Besides the fact that you must remain here for the length of the pregnancy, nothing else has changed. After the child is born you could return Aboveground." There was fear in his eyes. Fear he wasn't trying to hold back from her. He was afraid she would have the child and leave him.

"Then everything will be all right."

He exploded, his nerves frayed "Everything is not all right! Has it slipped your mind that you are carrying my child? I swore to protect you from that until it was the right time. I failed you!"

Sarah tilted her head and gazed deeply into his anguished eyes. "Do you love me?"

"By the bog Sarah, I love you more then anything...you know that."

She reached for his hand and positioned it over her stomach, laying her own hand on top of his. "And I love you. Which means that this child was created from our love for one another and that is the way it's meant to be." She smiled sweetly at Jareth who could not believe how calmly she was taking this all. He felt as if he had ruined her life.

"I will talk to Ary. She seems to love this place and if she doesn't...I know my brother. He would be willing to look after her and make sure that she goes to school while we figure everything out." She smoothed the soft pale skin of his hand that still remained on her flat stomach. She would not look pregnant for weeks or months. "She has always wanted a brother or sister. I have the feeling she will want to stay when she realizes how much we love each other." Jareth still looked hesitant, somewhat fearful.

"She was the one who summoned you Jareth. She was the one who knew in her heart that it was you who made me happy. She has seen how happy I've been since you returned to my life, Just as Toby has seen it. She's 8 years old but she's a smart kid. She knows that right now this is the closest I've ever been to knowing complete happiness and that you are the closest thing to a father she will ever know. She may be frightened, unsure of what she feels, but in time she will figure things out. "I'll talk to her. Things have changed and I'll need to make her understand."

"We will both talk to her. This is not just your problem. I was involved."

She reached out to stroke his face. "Not a problem. " She shook her head. "Not a mistake, or an error, but a change in plans. We'll both need to help Ary understand. If she doesn't or can't....I know Toby would take care of her." She lowered her hand from his face, moved her face so that he could not see her saddened expression. "She could still visit me, I could still visit her."

"But Sarah.." he took her chin into his hand, turned her to face him and cupped her face into his hands. "I do not want to break up your family. I couldn't live with myself if I did that."

"Jareth you haven't done that. You brought my family closer together by bringing happiness in our lives."

"But the child...."

"Was created by both of us because of our love for one another. There is no one at fault, no one to blame. The child was created by love."

"But it is my fault, I failed to use my magic... I failed to protect you...even here." He gestured helplessly to their surroundings. " Gorgin took you from me so easily. And had it not been for Hoggle, I fear I would still be wandering the tunnels in search of you. I am nothing without my magic and that....that scares me Sarah. How can I protect you, protect Ary, this child, my kingdom?"

She lightly ran a finger down his cheek. "You understand what it means to be human when you don't have your magic. I'm human, I don't have magic, yet I still thrive." He still didn't understand it, he looked upset and angry with himself. "Jareth, I don't love you because you have magic. I love you because you make me smile, you make me feel wonderful things that no one else has ever made me feel. I wouldn't give a damn if you didn't have magic. So you forgot to put the spell on me, we made love and now I'm carrying your child. You can't always control a pregnancy. Do you think that I think any less of you because you made an honest mistake?" He gave no answer, only looked away from her. "Do you?"

"I don't know..."

"Well I'll tell you. I don't think any less of you because of that. Was this a bit of a surprise to me, yeah sure, but it's not an unwelcome surprise. Do you know what I was thinking about, the morning after we made love for the first time?"

"Tell me."

"I was thinking about carrying your baby."

His brows rose over his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yes. I was thinking that if I ever had another child, the only child I would ever carry would be yours or I wouldn't carry another at all."

"You thought that?"

"Yes. Jareth I love you more then any man who has entered my life. To give birth to the Goblin King's first child would be more than an honor."

Jareth was beaming as the reality of this all hit him. His first child. He had taken many children in his years as Goblin King, held many of them, sang to many, but the child growing within Sarah was his child. His heir, his babe. A creation of his love for the woman beside him.

Jareth grinned, his sharp teeth showing and he pulled Sarah to him, hugging her fiercely. "It's an honor for you to be the mother of my first child...my precious Sarah." He kissed her hair.

A small figure watched from the shadows, just down the narrow hallway. There was surprise in his eyes, at the news of Sarah carrying the Goblin King's child, but there was happiness as well. He smiled a toothy smile and continued on his way to find food.

She hugged Jareth back and he winced, pulling back slightly.

"Oh Jareth, I'm so sorry. I hurt you."

"It will pass." He attempted a smile. She had not hurt him, but had made his heart swell with love and joy. She was honored to carry his child just as he was honored for her to be the mother.

"Let me look." She pulled his shirt from the waistband of his pants. He made a face but allowed her to unbutton his white shirt. She reached the last few buttons and the shirt fell slowly to his sides. She gasped. "Oh Jareth, what happened?" He glanced down to see the damage. Two large purple bruises had formed on his right side. Two bruises, each in the shape of the toe of a boot.

"Gorgin..." was all he said as she carefully traced the out edges of the bruises. He winced slightly and she pulled her fingers away.

"What did he do to you?"

"He kicked me."

"But why?"

"Because I said things he didn't want to hear." He drew in a sharp breath when she lightly kissed the bruised skin. "I think I may have a broken rib." He announced.

She started buttoning his shirt back up. "We need to get you to Meg."

"I'll live." He reached a hand out to cradle her face into his palm.

"Why did he kidnap me Jareth? Why did he hurt you?"

Jareth sighed deeply. "Do you remember what I told you about Artaygon? How he lost his Kingdom?"

"He was betrayed."

"Yes, by the woman who claimed to love him and by his brother....Gorgin."

"Gorgin is his brother?"

Jareth nodded. "And he hasn't changed his ways. He has his heart set on my kingdom. He was banished from his own when it was learned that he was behind the murder of his brother. His powers were stripped from him and he's wandered about from kingdom to kingdom as a highwayman, a thief, a mercenary. When he learned of your arrival in the Labyrinth he saw his window of opportunity to take my land. He tried to use you as a bargaining tool, a weakness that would make me sign over my kingdom."

Sarah looked at him seriously. "Jareth if something happens and we don't make it out of here together, if Gorgin gets a hold of me, you must promise me that you will not sign your land to him."

"Sarah..."

"Promise me."

He shook his head. "I can't do that. If he has you and I don't sign he will kill you." He gently let his fingers glide over her stomach. "And in doing so he will also kill our child."

Sarah blinked, forgetting for a moment about the child that she carried. She realized that in trying to make Jareth promise her, she was condemning her life and the life of their unborn child to death.

"I forgot about the baby."

He leaned over slowly and caught her lips with his own. "I know you did, and I know that you were trying to save my kingdom by offering yourself, a very noble thing for you to do. But you must realize from here until the day our child is born that you can't take any unnecessary risks."

"Are you going to start acting like an over protective father now?" She teased.

"Not only am I going to act like an overprotective father but an overprotective lover and if everything works out with Aryanna and you both decide to stay....I'll be an overprotective husband as well."

Sarah pulled back, her eyes wide. Jareth grinned devilishly. "Whether you were carrying my child or not, my wants have not changed. I still want you to be my queen." His grin faded and his expression became serious. "I still wish to spend forever with you..."

She smiled, reaching out to touch his pale face. She leaned forward to kiss his lips and he met her kiss with one of his own.

"This tunnel's an escape route, not a place to get all mushy."

Sarah and Jareth pulled back to see Hoggle standing with a large amount of roots and some sort of plant. Jareth grinned at the dwarf and pulled Sarah to him, giving her one last kiss. "This tunnel will be whatever I want it to be."

Sarah smacked him lightly and peered curiously at the plants that Hoggle held. "What do you have their Hoggle?"

"Something for us to snacks on along the way."

"How could plants grow down here without sunlight?"

"Ancient magic..." Hoggle told her. "You both rested enough to move again?"

Sarah was feeling much better and she looked at Jareth. She reached to brush back a few stray locks of blond hair that were dangling over his eyes. "Are you ready to travel?" he nodded and she helped him to his feet.

Hoggle took the torch from it's place on the wall started to lead the way. Jareth and Sarah remained behind for a moment more. Jareth lowered his lips to hers for a quick but passionate kiss.

"I saws that!" Hoggle called from further down the hall.

Jareth grinned, his sharp teeth revealed. "Then he saw this too." Jareth told Sarah and he kissed her again He put an arm around her and they went off in the direction Hoggle had traveled.