'And it's a wonderful surprise, darling!' she assured Verity. 'I've missed you! Italy had better be beautiful, to keep you so far away!' she pouted outrageously. Then she shrugged. 'Although if that lovely Monty is there, then I suppose I can see why you want to stay,' she allowed. 'He is sort of cute....' she teased, her eyes twinkling.
She made sure Verity was comfortably settled in a seat and then hugged her gently. 'Oh, Merlin, it's so good to see you!' she exclaimed happily.
Pansy laughed. 'Verity, it could be soooo much worse, you know!' she said. 'You could be vain like me and pregnant with twins! Imagine that!' she teased. Then she got serious. 'But darling, really. Every pregnant woman feels huge. Your shape has suddenly changed, and it's out of your control. It's hard. But Verity, you are beautiful! You just remember that!' she insisted earnestly. 'And at the end, you will have two beautiful children so amazing that you will love so much, you'll wonder that you ever protested the pregnancy!'
It was a bit of a shock to her that she really meant that. As bad as the pregnancy and delivery had been, Polly was so very worth it all. Enough that perhaps her affirmation that she would never go through it again was a bit hasty.
Marlowe was very quiet and seemed hesitant to be around so many people. Pansy looked at Verity in surprise. 'Mr. Monty?' she repeated. 'Merlin, Polly calls me 'No' and gets away with it because she'll only use two words!' she giggled.
'Marlowe, I'm very pleased to meet you. And there are others here you may know. Let's see,' she tapped her chin with a finger as she pretended to ponder it. 'There's a Pirate Liam. If you've been out sailing, you might have run into him somewhere. Oh, and Princess Violet has graced us with her beauty. And Little Pirate Superhero Ben is here!' She was going to have to work on that name....it was such a mouthful! 'So, Master Marlowe, are you another pirate? Am I being overrun with pirates today?' she teased gently.