Calliope Corvin (sweetsandtarts) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-11-07 20:51:00 |
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There were always a multitude of emotions that accompanied November the fifth for Calliope. It was what she and Thomas had lovingly referred to as Calliope Freedom Day since the night that he had climbed that tree at her parent’s manor and released her from the prison they’d locked in her. Later on that very same day, they’d legally defined themselves as the family that she’d known them to be in her heart already. It was a day that she remembered vividly. That unseasonably warm day on campus that had brought all the students out to study on the lawns was her saving grace. Seeing him there hadn’t been part of her plan. She didn’t even have a plan. Still, she would always be grateful that he’d looked up when she called his name. He had come for her. With her hand tucked lightly into his now as he drove, she could still recall him reaching his hand toward her. The beloved ring that she now wore as a symbol of their commitment had been in his hand. "Come with me, Calliope. Once and for all.” She had. There had never been a moment when she’d been tempted to look back. Any hopes she’d had of earning her parent’s affections and acceptance had been dashed entirely, and she had chosen the only real thing in her life. She had chosen Thomas. They had built a life together that she would never trade. That day had just been the beginning. Their legal marriage had begun that morning, but they’d celebrated that commitment in March with their loved ones. Every year, they still commemorated her escape by returning to the restaurant where they’d picked up food in the middle of the night. Though they no longer had keys to their old apartment, sometimes they would drive by the building, too. They returned in Thomas’s car, and he always drove, even if it was not the road-worn blue sedan that they’d driven until it stopped working entirely. So much had happened since those days. Their careers had both taken off, they’d moved to another apartment, and then away from DC entirely to their current home. The dreams had begun. The bakery was coming along now, too. Most of all, though it had been unknown to even Calliope until that very morning, their family was soon going to expand from two to three. Though they had agreed a few months prior not to prevent any pregnancy that might occur, Calliope hadn’t anticipated it to happen just yet. The timing, she thought, would have to work out regardless. She felt a fool for not noticing it sooner, really. The dreams and the busy schedule with the upstart of the bakery had kept her distracted, but she’d had a soured stomach every morning for weeks. It wasn’t until she’d been digging around in their bathroom that morning for tums that she’d realized her last period had been too long ago. She had taken four tests. Each of them had been glaringly positive, and it had taken everything in Calliope not to march into the high school and drag Thomas away from his pop quizzes and lessons. She was not accustomed to keeping anything a secret from him for long, though she had convinced herself that maybe it was best that they carry on with the plans they had for the day as normal, and she’d figure out how to tell him along the way...back where they defied the odds to claim the life that they now had. A life that was now going to include a child that was a little of both of them. As they’d planned, the two of them had gotten into his car just after the school day ended so they would have plenty of time for a leisurely drive through DC, and any destinations that they should choose to revisit. Calliope was honestly trying to distract herself from just blurting out the news while he was driving by keeping on other topics, “The kitchen remodel at the bakery is officially set for next week. It should only take a few days, from what they told me.” -- Though they wouldn't publicly celebrate their wedding anniversary until early next year, Calliope Freedom Day marked the legal anniversary of their marriage- five years now, today. It was a quiet knowledge shared only between the two of them- and, well, and the legal files of the District of Columbia, Thomas supposed. The austere ceremony that day in the office of the Justice of the Peace had none of the pomp and circumstance that one might normally attribute to a wedding- but after everything else they'd been through to come to that moment, Thomas wouldn't have changed a thing. Their lives hadn't always been easy, no, and very rarely glamorous. The first few years had been taken up in schooling and job searches. They tried not to dip into Calliope's trust fund except in extreme circumstances, and though they lived rather… simply, perhaps, they'd been happy. And that was more important, in the end. This would be the first Calliope Freedom Day that they celebrated while no longer living in DC, so it was slightly different, just in the need to drive into the city where they'd met and fallen in love. But, mercifully, the school day had passed quickly, and Thomas had picked up Calliope and they'd made their way onto the highway, hands clasped over the center console as always. They'd just passed the beltway, the more-or-less-official entrance to the DC Metro area, and Thomas chanced a quick glance over to her before retraining his eyes on the road. "Still planning for a soft opening on Black Friday, then?" -- She hoped that the traffic would not be terrible. As it was, they’d be going into the city when everyone else was trying to escape it. She still had a fondness for the place where she grew up, even if many of those years had been more miserable than she had realized until she had distance from it all. It was still the place where she’d met Thomas, and where she’d discovered the true joys of life. Those pleasant memories outweighed the bad, even if she didn’t have any desire to live in the city again. “That’s the hope,” she agreed with a smile, “I haven’t really printed up any advertisement yet, but the painters are going to be in and out of the main space tomorrow, and all of the counters and display cabinets are going to go in the day after. I think I finally decided what I want to do with that extra space in that corner, too.” She grinned, hoping that he’d like the idea, “I want to turn it into a reading nook with seating space...fill some shelves with our favorite books, and expand it over time.” -- DC was never meant to be the end destination for Thomas, though he hadn't particularly chosen where he might end up in his pursuit of a career. He'd even considered several Ivy League schools, when he was looking, but wound up in DC after a particularly enticing campus visit with the head of the science department. He wouldn't claim DC as his hometown, no, but he had spent many years there and gone through some of the most drastic and dramatic changes. It had shaped him, for better or for worse. "It's a nosy sort of town, really. I'd wager that just seeing the construction going on, people will start to talk." That, too, had its benefits- at least for the sake of marketing. "I love that idea," Thomas gave Calliope's hand a little squeeze. "A little lending library, do you think? Or just a sort of… bring one-take one idea?" -- His claim that Dunhaven was a nosy town was accurate, though Calliope found that she didn’t mind that terribly. She’d made good friends there since the beginning of the year. She hadn’t hesitated to trust them like she might have others she’d met in the city. There had been a sincerity to those friends that she’d never questioned, “Once I’m certain things will keep to schedule, I’ll make a real announcement about it.” She shifted a little in her seat, looking over to him. She knew that he had to pay attention to the road, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t pay attention to him, “Something of a lending library, I think. I might give a discount coupon if someone wants to donate to the collection, though. I was thinking that when someone wants to check out a book, I’ll just take a picture of them with it and post it on a bulletin board. When they bring it back, they can have the picture to commemorate the read if they’d like.” -- Having grown up in a smaller suburb of St Louis, Thomas wasn't entirely unused to the idea of small-town gossips, though Dunhaven was smaller still than that hometown. Still, like Calliope, he didn't entirely mind it. For the most part, it seemed innocuous. And, moreover, seeing Calliope able to branch out and make friends without the worries that some people might somehow be tied back to the influence of her far-reaching parents. Thomas gave a little grin at the idea of a billboard to mark the book lending. It was unconventional, perhaps, but it had… a quirky sort of character. "I like that," he nodded, another quick glance aside before his gaze was once again trained on the road ahead. "Accountability, but also happy people with books. Mom would be proud." -- “I hope that Mom and Dad get to see it sooner rather than later,” Calliope admitted. She loved his parents, and wanted them to be able to share in what she was so quickly becoming proud of. Perhaps that would come to fruition, with the news that she now knew they would be imparting. He’d warned her when they had decided to try for children that the Corvin’s would likely make the move over state lines to be closer to them once a child was in the picture. She found that the idea gave her even more reason to be happy about the situation they now found themselves in. “I know most people will just float in and out of the bakery buying their cakes and moving on, but for those that stick around for a little bit of a visit, I think it will be nice to have a comfortable space. Our favorite things in one space,” she gave his hand a small squeeze, and added, “I’m going to try out some new flavors for the opening, too, so I hope you’re ready for taste testing.” -- "It's our turn to head out there for Christmastime," since Thomas and Calliope tended to switch out whether or not they went to St Louis or their parents came to (then-DC, now-Dunhaven) them. "Though I am a little surprised that they didn't ask to switch the years around, just since so much has changed with us since their last year's visit to DC." Thomas could also imagine, of course, that he would be spending more than a few evenings after school tucked up in that little corner, grading papers or re-reading a book for the nth time. "I'm pretty sure taste-testing was in my wedding vows." -- Although Calliope hadn’t yet done research on how traveling might look for her come December, she was aware that there likely wouldn’t be any restrictions on it so early. Besides, she liked the idea of telling his parents in Thomas’s childhood home, and getting to see that home again before the Corvins decided a move to Dunhaven was imminent, “I don’t mind going out there. Maybe we can arrange a visit for them to come see us, though. After the start of the year.” A small laugh bubbled past her lips when he commented on their probable wedding vows, “Even if it wasn’t explicit, it was certainly implied.” Calliope always had a little more confidence in her creations once she had an outside opinion. Even with Thomas, she knew that he was always going to be honest with her, regardless of his own bias. -- "Maybe for the cherry blossoms," Thomas mused aloud. Which was later into the year than Calliope might have initially thought, true, but, "Mom will be less stressed if the snow has passed, and they've only been out here for the blooms when I graduated Georgetown." The graduation from George Washington, for grad school, had been less pomp-and-circumstance, and Thomas hadn't asked his parents to attend. "The implied vows are almost more important than the explicit ones." He gave her hand another little squeeze. -- The cherry blossoms were a good idea, though she knew that his parents would likely need plenty of time to search for a house in Dunhaven when the time came. If she’d figured her calculations just right, she would likely be due in the middle of June. It was perhaps a little later than they’d hoped when they had originally planned, but not by much. She wouldn’t complain. Even though it was becoming increasingly difficult, she kept her thoughts silent for now. She hardly wanted to just spout the news while he was driving down the highway, “I’d like to see the blossoms again, too, really. It’s been a little while since I really paid them much mind.” Those little joys that her mother had taken from her needed to be reclaimed, and maybe now was the perfect time to do it. She gave a small hum of agreement, though they’d made many grand and romantic vows to one another on the day that they’d formally married with their friends and family onlooking. Every feeling could never be conveyed in the amount of time that they had to do so, but the most important ones were there, and the new promises that they made to one another over time were just as important. Her stomach growled as they took yet another turn towards their destination, and Calliope admitted, “I had some oatmeal this morning, but this meal is all that’s sounded good to me all day.” -- The written vows- to have and to hold, in sickness and health, etc.- those were important, of course. And of course Thomas would keep to those as long as he lived. But the other little promises, adjustments, compromises, and understandings that had come in the five years since that day… those were what made them as strong and as sure together as they now were. He glanced over to her, eyes slightly narrowed, at the admission of her day's meals. Or, well, meal. He sighed, perhaps a touch over dramatically. "Well, at least we have plans for- as my students say- all the things." -- All in all, Calliope had not been able to stomach much more than the oatmeal that she’d eaten. There was a part of her that worried about the heaviness and the grease of the meal that they had planned, but it honestly did sound appetizing whereas everything else she’d considered making for herself did not. All other attempts of additional snacks had turned her stomach. “We are going to eat the equivalent of at least two meals,” she pointed out amenably, though his sigh did remind her that perhaps she should be trying harder to eat more even when she didn’t feel like it, “Don’t be surprised if I eat a slice of pizza while we’re driving to campus.” -- All in all, Thomas had no real interest in controlling Calliope's eating habits- she'd had more than enough of such behavior from her own parents, over the years. But, at the same time, he worried- especially when, as recently as a few months ago, she'd been self-restricting in her diet. "That's a fair assessment," he agreed, compromising. "There will be enough food that you can eat a slice of pizza and some fries, even, on the way, and neither of us will starve." -- She knew that any frustration he exhibited was purely out of concern, and with her history, she understood those reasons better than anyone. Thomas had always been her most steadfast supporter, and the one that reminded her in her darkest moments that food and regular meal times were far preferable to any restrictions she might put on herself. She could at least take comfort in the knowledge that her lack of appetite was there for a very good reason, and that she would just have to find meals that sounded palatable to her until this stage had passed. “I promise I will save you some fries,” she vowed, lifting her free hand and crossing her heart emphatically, “As always, the part I’m looking forward to most is the milkshakes.” -- "My wife is such a generous soul," Thomas replied in a monotone- though even this charade couldn't really be held up for much more than a moment afterward, and he chuckled to himself, grinning. (The irony, as they both knew, was that his words were entirely true- despite his halfhearted attempt to speak otherwise.) "Likewise," he added. "I enjoy the Dreamery as much as the next Dunhavenite, but there's just... just something about that double dark chocolate peanut butter." -- Calliope grinned almost conspiratorially at his comment, though she knew it was a tease. She was, in fact, generous, even though her dream self was less than charitable after the things she had suffered. There were moments when Calliope could almost feel those things trying to slip into her waking hours, but she was careful to keep a tight rein on those emotions. "There is. Especially the chocolate part. You can tell it's not just syrup," Calliope gave an almost wistful sigh, "I love Lorelei and her unique creations, though there's also something to be said about the simplicity of traditional flavors." -- The Cath that Jest had known was generous- perhaps even too much so. Her hopefulness and- at times- delight had drawn him in, after so many years of endless war. But it hadn't lasted- even if, as Jest, he'd never know as much. Thomas knew. "I'll be sure to keep our little secret," Thomas held his hand up between them, extending a pinky for her to latch onto, to seal his word. "Lorelei will never know that we sometimes prefer the simpler things." -- Although Calliope highly doubted that Lorelei would take offense of their indulgence in simpler flavors, she latched her pinky to his with a grin, “Deal. Our indulgences in Dunhaven will remain at the Dreamery, but what happens in DC…” she gave a small laugh as she trailed off, excited now that they were drawing ever closer to the restaurant in question. “I’m glad that we’re still doing this,” she said after a moment, “Even though we moved and things have been busy...it makes me happy that we put aside a moment for coming back here.” -- "Honestly, even when we started talking about leaving DC, I always sort of... had it in my head that we should be within driving distance of the city, for the sake of this day's traditions. Not that we couldn't have flown in, if I'd found some sort of gold-encrusted job offer further afield, but this is just... easier." And for as much as Thomas didn't much hold to any sort of religious traditions, the ones that he and Calliope had made were nothing short of sacred. Finally pulling into the restaurant, Thomas glanced over to Calliope. "Drive-thru, right?" -- Staying close to the city had been a good benefit of him finding a job in Dunhaven. It had allowed Calliope to retain some of her clients from the metro area while still expanding her business in the small town, “It’s much easier, certainly. I’d like to think that we’d make a point to return - even if it wasn’t possible every year - should we be led further away, but I like having the opportunity to hop in the car and return.” She gave a nod with a grin and agreed, “As usual.” Though as he pulled into the drive through and Calliope glanced over at the menu - already knowing their order - she caught sight of the milkshake combinations and her mind latched onto a new, different flavor. One that was a combination of the two shakes they always ordered: Now combining double chocolate banana! She bit her lip in hesitation just for a moment and nudged Thomas, her heart thumping behind her ribs, “We should get a kids sized double chocolate banana to try.” -- They'd gotten the same things every time they'd come, so Thomas didn't have to ask, once they'd pulled up to the order box. "Two slices of pepperoni pizza, a burger, one order of cheese fries, and two extra large milkshakes, please. One strawberry banana, and the other double dark chocolate peanut butter." Will that complete your order? We should get a kids sized double chocolate banana to try. Thomas glanced over to Calliope, surprised at the addition, but gave a slight shrug and told the operator about the last item to their order. Thank you, please pull forward. As Thomas put the car back into gear, he smiled a bit. "I always wonder how many people they think we're ordering for." -- It was an opportune moment. She very easily could have told him right then. The answer was at the tip of her tongue. I don’t know. Maybe two and a smidge. Still, the car was still in drive. If she told him then, they’d sit in that drive thru for the next five to ten minutes at least, holding up the lines. That, or he wouldn’t have time to properly enjoy the revelation before they were pulled out of it so as to not inconvenience anyone else. Even if she told him after they had gotten the food in the car, by the time they actually ate the food, it would be long-cold. Calliope smothered a small sigh, but a genuine smile was brought to her lips, “Probably at least three. Maybe four. We don’t look like the sort of people who can work our way through that entire order of food, but we manage.” -- "We like defying expectations." Once they'd pulled forward, it was quick work to pay. The process of gathering up all of the food was a bit slower, just since there was so much of it, and Thomas had to pass each bag and cup over to Calliope in turn. "Looks like we've got it all, right?" With that confirmation, Thomas carefully pulled out of the drive-thru and back onto the main road, now heading toward the Georgetown campus. -- Calliope looked into the bags as they were passed along to her, confirming that their orders were correct. They had a drink tray for the three milkshakes, a bag for the burger and cheese fries, and two triangular boxes for the pizza slices. She settled the bag with the burger and fries and one of the pizza boxes where they would not tip over, and balanced the drink tray in her lap as Thomas began to drive toward campus. As promised, Calliope flipped open the pizza box still in her hands and took a large bite. She made a small hum of happiness and almost melted back into the seat, “This really is the best worst food in all of DC.” -- He heard the one box open, and Thomas had already laughed a bit before he even noticed- in his periphery- what it was that Calliope had taken a bite of. "It's a good thing you saved so much room, then, really." The tease was gentle and not genuinely meant to offend, of course. The drive from the restaurant to the Georgetown campus wasn't far, and the neighborhoods were still familiar, even after having been gone for almost a year. Once they had found a parking spot- closer than they had any right to expect, really, but Thomas thought that counted for a nice bit of luck on their day- he helped Calliope to gather up the food (he took most of it), and they set off toward the large trees that bordered the roundabout in front of Healy Hall. -- She had saved room, and she grinned over at him with a bite of pizza behind her teeth. Calliope chewed that bite before she said, “I need all the room I can muster to truly appreciate this meal.” Another bite was taken directly after, and by the time they reached the Georgetown campus, she had finished her own slice of pizza, and wiped the grease from her fingers with one of the many napkins that had been provided. Calliope carried the drink tray, and they brought the rest of the food out to the lawn to eat. A blanket for them to sit on had been thrown across her arm as they left the car, and once they found a favored spot beneath the trees, she had put down the drink tray and spread the blanket for the both of them. With a little adjustment, she’d settled onto the blanket with Thomas and the food before them a moment later. She cut the burger in two like always for them to share, and ate a particularly cheesy fry, “The perfect spot for the perfect meal.” -- Even before that day, the two of them had spent more than a few afternoons right here on this lawn- whether it was studying or just enjoying the sunshine. Thomas took a seat on the blanket so he could face Calliope, and as she started to cut the burger in half, he reached for one of the milkshakes. They hadn't been labeled, so it was more or less random- though he added, aloud, a moment later, "Strawberry banana. Good." He grinned over at her around another sip through his straw. "Happy not-anniversary, Mrs Corvin." -- They always seemed to share the two milkshakes in some form or fashion, but Calliope grinned when he announced he’d reached for the strawberry banana one. The kids milkshake there in the tray reminded her yet again of the news that she needed to impart, and it set her heart to racing all over again even as he wished her a happy not-anniversary, “I’ve officially been a Corvin for five years.” Even though they didn’t celebrate their wedding anniversary until March, Calliope had taken Thomas’s surname that November day, and she’d never looked back. Being a Pemberton wasn’t worth the price. Calliope paused a moment and took the larger of the remaining milkshakes out of the tray. She took an experimental sip, and found that it was as decadent as ever. After a moment, she also pulled the kid’s milkshake from the tray and settled it on the blanket directly between them. Popping another fry in her mouth, she commented, “This is just enough...for two and a smidge.” -- Thomas had set his own milkshake down and reached for his half of the burger. It already came prepared in a way they both liked, so there was no need to add or amend its very simple components. He took a bite, then held up his free hand with five fingers. "We'll need two hands to display that number, soon enough." Which, yes, was an obvious remark, but still. Thomas watched as she took a sip of her own milkshake, then set the smaller one between them. It had been a new flavor, and he didn't mind that she'd added on to their otherwise traditional and unchanged order for the sake of something so little. "Well," he seemed to think for a moment, "it's a big meal, but considering that you only had a very small breakfast, you're probably due to eat two-and-a-smidge meals." -- Calliope followed suit with picking up her half of the hamburger, careful not to let any of the drippings fall onto her otherwise un-stained clothes. She figured that soon enough she wouldn’t care about those things. In the kitchen, she already expected it, but her day to day outfits were likely soon to change in favor of patterns that wouldn’t show spit-up stains or fabrics that would hold up wash after wash, “I look forward to when we can no longer count those anniversaries on one hand.” They had been together more than seven years now, but the legalities had come later. She had known even when she said it that Thomas was unlikely to pick up on the subtle comment. She would likely need to be direct, though this now seemed like the perfect time to lead into that conversation. Though maybe it would have been kinder to wait until after their meal had concluded, Calliope was bursting at the seams to have that knowledge be shared, “Oh, I would certainly agree with that. I’m eating for more than just me now, though I think the due date is sometime more around June…” -- "As do I." Thomas tried not to hold his own parents up as the paragon of marriage, but they'd seemingly always been married for double-digit years, somehow. He and Calliope would get there, eventually. It wasn't that he didn't like subtlety, but rather that he just... didn't always notice it. Thomas dealt in facts and figures and surety. But even he knew what a due date was. Unfortunately, so did his gag reflex. A bit of the hamburger got caught in the back of his throat, and Thomas quickly set the remainder of his food back down in its container, coughing and tapping his palm to his chest. "I- I'm sorry, what?" -- She was not in any rush for the passage of time. She wanted to enjoy every moment of those years with Thomas, and though they’d been together for a long time now, she knew that it would never be enough time for her, no matter how long the years wore on. Though she hadn’t really played through how this conversation might go in her mind, she hadn’t anticipated him to nearly choke on his bite of food either. Her eyes widened in alarm, and she had likewise set her half of the hamburger down, but before she could do anything to really assist, he seemed to be recovering. Her heart was in her throat, her pulse a constant thrum in her ears, though the panic that had risen in her was perhaps a little more intense than what was actually warranted. Cheeks flushed and filled with concern, she squeaked, “Sorry! Are you OK? I didn’t mean to...I’m sorry.” The apologies tumbled out of her mouth in tandem with his own question, but her hand had reached for his, squeezing perhaps a little too tight. -- He'd heard the words, and- logically- Thomas knew how to draw the conclusions he was meant to. But he still looked at their now-joined hands as if, perhaps, he might never have seen them this way at all. She was... "Sorry for... for being... Calliope, I-" -- He was, for all that she could tell, recovered and breathing fine. He was shocked, perhaps, though if it was from the words that she’d said or the nearly choking on his hamburger, she wasn’t entirely sure. Her eyes widened a little more and she shook her head, “Not sorry for that. No, I’m...I’m sorry for nearly making you choke. But I could never be sorry for carrying our child. And I am pregnant. I...God, I took tests this morning and I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you all afternoon.” -- The choking had been a momentary distraction or lapse, and though it certainly hadn't been ideal, Thomas' mind had already whirled on past that particular event. And I am pregnant. Thomas took several slow, deep breaths. His hands rubbed against his trousers where he had his legs crossed. A nod, and then another one. Right, right. They had been planning for this to happen, eventually. "Pregnant," he managed to say the word aloud, at least, though it felt unfamiliar on his tongue. "You... you're going to have a baby. In June." -- Her gaze followed his movements as he seemed to come around to, and accept the idea that they were, indeed, going to be having a baby. She nodded along with him when he voiced those words into the air, “Yes.” After a moment, she did amend, “Well, we are going to have a baby. I think I’m a few weeks along now. I don’t know exactly how long because I haven’t been to the doctor yet, but if I counted correctly, June.” -- He could have argued the semantics of that particular sentence- said that, technically speaking, only one of them would be having a baby, but... But that wasn't the point. There would be a baby, and it would be theirs, and they were going to be parents, and... And his emotions had nowhere else to go but up. Thomas fell back from his seated position- though his legs were still crossed- and even as his eyes re-focused on the tree branches overhead, he just... found himself laughing. It was ridiculous, of course, and he covered his face with a hand after a moment more, but the sound hadn't stopped. -- Of course she knew that the physical burden of this pregnancy would be almost entirely upon her shoulders, but she still knew the end result was a change to their combined family. He would still be there to support her, even if there were certain things he could not bear for her. This time, her brow raised with a small smile on her lips as Thomas fell back, laughing in what she presumed - hoped - was uncontainable joy. For her part, she took another sip of her milkshake, calmer now than the moments of panic she'd experienced before, "I'm going to assume that you're basking in joy." -- It wasn't that Thomas never laughed, of course. But certainly such a prolonged period of it was a little unusual for him… But, still. He didn't care. They were going to be parents. He was going to be a father. He reached his hand out in Calliope's direction, quirking his fingers to gesture her toward him. "Come here." The words managed between laughs that were all but giddy. -- She didn’t hesitate when he gestured her forwards. She set the milkshakes aside where they wouldn’t be tipped over, and shifted the food away from where it had been spread out between them. It only took a moment before she was stretched out beside him, face up to the trees. She slipped her hand into his and drew their joined hands there to rest just over her abdomen before she looked over to him, “I love you, Thomas Corvin.” -- She had taken his hand, bringing it to rest over her abdomen. There was no real physical change here yet- surely he'd have noticed if there was- but Thomas knew such things would happen with time. He couldn't quite imagine it, despite having seen such examples in various texts. It would be different when it was Calliope. He pressed his hand just slightly there, perhaps as a quiet sort of hello. After a moment, Thomas rolled over- first onto his side, but then using his free hand to prop himself up so he was able to meet Calliope's gaze. There were, then, the faint starts of tears in his eyes- but he ignored these in favor of leaning down and kissing her soundly. -- Had she thought it through more, maybe she would’ve picked up a copy of What To Expect When You’re Expecting and gifted it to him when they had come home for the evening that night. Maybe the initial shock would have been a little less for both of them, then. Still, as she felt that gentle press of his hand against her stomach, she couldn’t regret the way that this had gone. There would be changes over the next few months. They would be preparing their house and their lives for a new, impossibly small person that they would be responsible for. She was excited and terrified in equal measures, despite having hoped and planned for this moment. There was still a long wait ahead, but she knew it would go by quickly. She smiled when he pushed himself up so that he could see her. The kiss was more than welcome. Her fingers tightened slightly around his in a faint squeeze, her free hand rising to slip gently into his dark hair. For a moment, she felt like that whimsical and naive girl that had fallen in love with him on this very campus nearly eight years ago. They had grown so much together. Their love had changed her life in ways that she never could have anticipated, but she knew that all roads would have led her here, to a moment just like this one. She couldn’t have accepted any other fate. |