Sarah never wanted to get so good at this. (zencheerleader) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-09-09 17:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | florence corner, sarah cornfoot |
RP Log: Sarah and Florence
Characters: Florence Corner and Sarah Cornfoot
Setting: The Cornfoot House, afternoon of Tuesday, 8 September
Summary: Florence comes over for tea, and they talk about kids and family
Rating: G
Florence couldn't help smiling, even if it was the other way around she still would have been happy. They were going to have a boy. In five months, her and Jonathan were going to be brand new parents to a boy. Plus the pregnancy was still going well considering the amount of stress Florence had over the past week. Now everything seemed more real knowing that it was a boy and they could work on the nursery.
Despite her happiness, Florence wished she could tell her mother. All her anger towards her family this past year had begun to dissipate over the last few weeks because she was pregnant. At least Gavin was still talking to her. However, she was going to stop thinking about her family for just a little bit. Florence wanted to enjoy her tea with Sarah and tell her that she was having a boy too. Florence liked that she had this opportunity to make a new friend as many of them currently did not approve of her marrying Jonathan.
So when three pm arrived, Florence was at the Cornfoots.
Sarah was just setting biscuits out on a plate, and jumped a little as she heard the knock. She'd been expecting it, of course, but she couldn't seem to help being just a touch jumpy these days anyhow. With so many people attacked in their homes, one couldn't be too careful.
Thus, when she went to the door she peeked outside first, insuring that it was indeed Florence Corner standing on the porch. Douglas probably wouldn't approve of her inviting over someone that she knew so comparatively little, but little Florence Corner struck her as someone who needed a friend. When she found out from Andromeda that Florence was in much the same position she had been: a proper Pureblood girl marrying a Muggleborn, they had collectively decided that some outreach was definitely in order.
"Come in!" Sarah declared with a smile, opening the door and stepping back to allow her through the door. "You're right on time - the tea's just about steeped now. How are you?"
"Thank you. And thank you for inviting me for tea, Sarah." Florence said as she passed through the doorway. "I'm doing well! Had my appointment today and it went well. How are you?" She looked around and thought that Sarah had a very lovely home. "You have a beautiful home."
"Oh, thank you!" Sarah chirped in reply, leading her back toward the kitchen. She prided herself on having her house well-kept - and of course with all the attacks, she and Lizzie hadn't been getting out as much as usual, so there was plenty of time to spend on the dusting. "And I'm doing very well, thank you. Lizzie's playing with the dog in the back garden, so I've just been keeping an eye on her through the window here - I want to let her enjoy these last few warm days outside as much as possible."
As they came into the kitchen, Sarah went to the teapot to have a look and a sniff at the tea. It seemed about right now, so she carefully pulled out the tea-ball to set in the sink. "So tell me about your appointment! Were they able to tell you boy or girl yet?"
"Seems like a very good plan. I know I'm going to miss the warmth when it starts to get cold. Is she excited about having a little brother?" Florence smiled. "Yes, they were able to tell this time. I have a feeling he gets his stubbornness from me. The midwife was pleased to tell me that I am going to have a healthy baby boy as long as I take care of myself." More specificially, the midwife had told her to worry about the baby and think about the baby at all times. "Now I just need to start thinking of baby names."
"That's wonderful!" Sarah declared as she brought the teapot over to the table. "Oh, just think of that! We'll both be having boys within just a few months of each other, and Molly not too long after you. I know she's hoping for a girl this time, but so far the odds really aren't in her favour," she added with a grin. "I've got Earl Grey. I didn't know if you had a favourite, but so far I don't know anyone who just can't abide Earl Grey."
"And our boys could probably be the best of friends!" Florence liked the idea of her little boy already having another boy to play with. "I can't imagine how she does it. Of course, I might understand a little more once he's born. I do hope she does get a little girl. She has five little boys doesn't she? The odds certainly haven't been with her at all." Florence nodded her head. "Earl Grey is perfect. I don't know a single soul who doesn't like Earl Grey."
Sarah poured them each a cup as she carefully navigated around the chairs. That was a more complicated process now, as she was nearly six months along and taking up more space than she was used to. "Please, have a seat!" she said as she took her own and started back toward their earlier bit of conversation. "I've got one, and I honestly can't imagine how she manages with five - soon to be six - either. I think I might like three, but that's likely my stopping point."
"How is your pregnancy?" Florence asked as she took a seat the table and sipped her tea. "I know that I don't want that many, but I'll be happy with however many I do have. Wouldn't want to have twins either. I know my brother and I were a bit of a handful for our mother when we were young."
"Oh, I didn't know you and your brother were twins! At least you weren't identical - I know Fred and George drive Molly a bit mad with that sometimes, just because even she can't always tell them apart." Sarah took a shortbread biscuit from the plate, having just a nibble before continuing. "And I'm doing very well, thank you. Pregnancy seems to be something I'm good at, or at least lucky with."
"I'm grateful we aren't identical. I would not want to be mistaken for my brother and I know he would hate it more than I would if that were the case. My parents are glad too since I was first out and dad really wanted a boy. Although being able to drive someone mad like that when you're little does sound like fun." Florence couldn't help laughing at the thought. "That's great! I'm hoping I'm lucky with my pregnancy."
"It sounds like things are going very well for you so far!" Sarah replied after a sip of tea. "So have you started thinking about names at all yet? Or are you just getting started now?"
"Just starting really. Before today, I had thought if I had a boy that I might name him Xavier after my father, but I don't think that will be received well." Florence drank a bit more tea and took a bite out of a biscuit. "I've got plenty of time to decide on a name. You've decided on a name, right?"
Sarah nodded. "Stephen Douglas," she answered, but she caught the reference to Florence's father and recognized the mention as some indication of a need or desire to talk. If Andromeda was right about her situation, the poor girl probably didn't have many people at all to talk to right now. "Do you not get on with your parents, then?" she asked, because after all she wasn't technically necessarily supposed to know about any of that. It seemed better to let Florence share as she saw fit.
"That is a nice name," Florence told her. "No, not exactly," she answered. She finished the rest of her biscuit before she said anything more. Florence hadn't meant to bring that up, but if Sarah was willing to listen Florence would say something. It was nice to have someone to talk to finally. "I disappointed them."
"Andromeda had mentioned your family weren't much happier with your marriage than hers were with hers," Sarah replied, her voice and expression both showing genuine concern. "And they haven't softened on it at all, even with a grandchild on the way?"
Florence shook her head. "No, they really weren't." She wished that they had. Florence knew that Gavin didn't care and he was probably waiting for the day when she wasn't pregnant. "No. Gavin is the only one I've gotten to talk to me. Doubt they even care." Florence knew that her parents had to know she was pregnant by now considering she sent a letter a month ago. "I don't know what to do."
"Oh...oh, my," Sarah murmured. She couldn't imagine being completely cut out of her family that way, much less when she was going through something as completely life-altering as pregnancy. Not to mention actually having the baby and getting started as a mother...oh, that poor girl!
Filled with as much determination as caring, Sarah reached across the table for her hand. "I'm so sorry, love. Do you...do you think there's any chance at all that they'll stop this nonsense?"
She looked down at Sarah's hand before looking back up at her, biting her lip to keep from crying. Florence had done well with keeping emotions so far, though it was becoming difficult not to. "I-I don't know if they ever will." Florence knew what they wanted: leave Jonathan. She had no idea what they thought of the baby. "They want me to leave my husband. That will never change."
That had to be the absolute most horrible thing that Sarah could imagine. She couldn't see how anyone would do that to their own daughter, especially not to a girl as sweet as little Florence Corner. She could see, however, that the girl was already getting emotional - not that she could blame her in the least - and that she might very well not have much support from anyone outside her husband.
"Is your brother standing by you, at least?" Sarah asked softly, hoping that maybe she had at least a little family to look after her.
"He'll talk to me, but he's just like them. Guess I was born into the wrong family." Florence shook her head as she wiped away a few tears. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean to bring all this up. I do have my husband's family though." But it's not the same. "And thank you for listening." Florence was sincerely thankful that Sarah had invited her for tea and the talk.
"Oh, darling...don't even think twice about it," Sarah assured her, and then offered a slight smile. "Listening is one thing I'm good at. And anything at all you need help with...I know pregnancy can be scary enough when you have plenty of support, and I can't imagine trying to do it with hardly any at all. If you've ever got any questions at all, or just need a little moral support or someone to complain to, I'll always be happy to listen. And I'll introduce you to some of my other friends who are mothers, and you'll have a nice little support network before you know it."
Florence gave Sarah the best smile she could muster. "I'd really appreciate all the help I could get." She thought back to the other day, while eating another biscuit, with her conversation with Chloe in the journal. Florence did have a question she wanted to ask Sarah. "I do have one question. At least, one that I can think of right now. How much worrying is natural? That's all I seem to do these days and its often not about the baby at all. Oh, and a support system does seem ideal."
"Worrying?" Sarah's smile flagged a bit, becoming a slightly sad little thing as she glanced out the window at Lizzie playing in the grass. "From what I understand, worrying non-stop about your children until the day you die is normal enough. And with the way things are now...we all worry. Every one of us. There's nothing abnormal in that."
"I didn't know that. And I just wanted to be sure I was normal. Don't exactly know what is and isn't." Florence doubted her mother worried about her. Maybe when she was younger her mother had, but certainly not now. "Doesn't make for an ideal time to have children."
"It's not," Sarah had to admit. The world was a mess, there was no denying that. "Still...I can't really feel there's anything wrong with taking some joy in life and feeling some hope when so much is in ruins. We have to cling to the good in the world, or it all falls apart."
"I think so too. Though, I really do hope that this war is over before most of them can remember it." Florence didn't want her son to grow up in a war that had already lasted almost half of her own life. She had too high of hopes for the war to be over before she had children, but there was no telling how much longer all of this would drag on. For now, she would just be happy for what she had.
"Douglas and I have both said that," Sarah agreed. "If Lizzie and Stephen never remember a bit of this, I'll be only too happy. I hope that for everyone's children, just because it's not fair for any of them to have their childhood taken from them by this war."
"Me too. And not their family either." Florence drank the rest of her tea and was still rather glad to have been invited over. "So how are you decorating Stephen's room?" She asked, wanting to switch to a bit of a different topic.
Sarah was perfectly glad for the topic change. All of the dark and depression that surrounded everyone at the moment could be really exhausting. It was nice to talk about something light and pleasant instead.
"We're doing a Quidditch theme," she replied, smiling warmly as she prepared to launch into discussion of baby room plans. She and Florence could bounce ideas around and eat biscuits and it would be fun. There was precious little of that lately, and Florence probably hadn't had much of anyone to discuss baby things with outside of her husband, and husbands were not exactly known for their participation in decorating-planning.
"Just general Quidditch rather than a specific team. We're Magpies supporters, and the black and white is just a bit severe for a baby room..."