Sarah never wanted to get so good at this. (zencheerleader) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-07-24 07:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | douglas cornfoot, sarah cornfoot |
RP Log: Douglas and Sarah Cornfoot (BACKDATED)
Characters: Douglas and Sarah Cornfoot
Setting: An appointment with the midwife, just a couple of weeks ago.
Summary: Wherein they learn the sex of the Cornfoot Yet To Come.
Rating: G
"C'mon, Douglas..." Sarah murmured under her breath. He was late - not very late, just a little - and ordinarily she'd just go on in and talk to Tabitha, make sure everything was going all right, and go on back to relieve the babysitter of Lizzie Duty, where she'd leave Douglas a quick journal note to let him know everything was fine. While she was happy to have him be such an involved husband and parent, she didn't need him at most of her appointments with the midwife.
This one was different, though. This was the big exciting one, where they'd finally find out which one of the sets of names they were thinking about they should concentrate on narrowing down. They'd be answering The Big Question: Boy or girl. Of all the midwife visits, this was the one he really needed to be there for. Sarah wanted him there with her, so they could find out together rather than her just telling him after the fact.
She still had hope that he'd make it, though. She'd only been at the office for a few minutes and had just been called back for Tabitha to check up on her general health (which was excellent, as always), so hopefully Douglas would manage to break away from work before they got any further. Usually he did - she just hoped he didn't miss all the exciting bits.
Had it been any other appointment, Douglas might have sent an owl to the midwife's office to let Sarah know that he wouldn't make it, but because it was an important check-up, Douglas knew he couldn't miss it. He knew that Sarah would never be mad at him for missing it for work. She understood how things changed in an instant in his office, especially since for someone like Douglas, who was one of the bright stars of the department. He hoped she understood, at least, but he wasn't taking any chances. This was the day that they found out if Sarah was carrying a boy or a girl. Any other appointment, and he could have lived with missing it. This one? He wanted to be there with her, and he wanted to find out with her.
His meeting had run late, but once it was over, Douglas left the room in a flash, ignoring his colleagues' questions, speeding towards a Floo portal so he could get to the appointment. He'd have to explain later, after the appointment. He checked his watch - okay, ten minutes late. That wasn't too bad.
He stopped at the desk in the midwife's office, breathing a bit more heavily than usual from rushing around. He asked after his wife, and upon discovering that she was already back in a room, he was led back as well, waiting outside the room until Tabitha opened the door to let him in.
"Sorry I'm a bit late," he said immediately. "Meeting ran late, as usual."
"It's all right," Sarah replied, smiling and reaching her hand out to him. "You're actually just in time."
"Sarah's doing just brilliantly," the midwife said, turning to give Sarah a grin. "I hardly feel like I earn my fees with you, easy as you are." This second time around young Mrs. Cornfoot didn't even have the first-time jitters that she had with Lizzie, so her appointments really did run just like clockwork.
"So now we're going to have a look at the little one and see how he or she's doing...and see if we're looking at a he or a she," Tabitha went on. "Ready?"
Sarah beamed, holding Douglas's hand. "Very ready," she declared. She'd been excited about this appointment all week long, in fact, and could not possibly have been more ready. She was biting her lip in anticipation as the midwife waved her wand over her belly and started the spells to be able to see what the baby was up to.
Douglas beamed at his wife and hurried to her side, even though there was no reason to rush now that he was there. One of the few times he really let down his guard was around Sarah - and Lizzie, too - and his excitement and joy were radiating all around him. It wasn't only expecting mothers who 'glowed'; Douglas proved that wrong, embarrassing as it could be when he caught himself grinning like an idiot and babbling about either Lizzie or the child that was on its way.
"I'm ready, too," he said, squeezing Sarah's hand gently, reassuring her that everything was going to be just fine. "I think it'll be a boy this time around," he continued, sounding completely sure of himself, like there wasn't even another option. He'd be thrilled with a healthy little girl, of course, but he wanted a boy. "Just a feeling." It might have been wishful thinking, but he couldn't shake it. "A girl would be wonderful, too."
"Well, Mr. Cornfoot..." The midwife examined the image of the baby for only a moment before she looked up at the two of them with a smile. "You may want to look into a career change - it seems you've got a gift for Divination."
Sarah gasped with delight, squeezing Douglas's hand tightly without even meaning to. "It's a boy?!" She had been hoping a little in that direction too, for all that she never said so. No one wanted to be the one mother in the world who didn't just say "I just hope it's healthy", after all.
"It's a boy," Tabitha confirmed.
This time Sarah laughed, and she looked up at Douglas with a happy cocktail of excitement, love, and pure unadulterated glee. "We're having a boy!"
Douglas could hardly believe his ears. Had the midwife really just said what he thought she said? That they were having a boy? Not one to be superstitious, Douglas hadn't kept his desires too secret, especially not from himself, but part of him had still tried to make sure he didn't get his hopes up. He didn't want to be disappointed if he didn't get a son, because ultimately, the only important thing was that both baby and mother were healthy.
That didn't stop him from grinning broadly at the midwife, however. "I was terrible at Divination at school, but perhaps my skills were only waiting for the right time to make their appearance." He leaned down to give Sarah a quick kiss and squeezed her hand tighter, the pride and excitement on his face even more obvious than before. "It's really a boy? And everything's fine, right? He's --" It felt so good to say that, he thought. "And he's healthy?"
Sarah looked away from Douglas for the answer to that question, as that was the real purpose here. She had always thought that she would somehow know if something was wrong, but the midwife was indeed the expert.
"Very," Tabitha assured them both. "He's got a nice strong heartbeat, limbs and lungs and all developing right on schedule - I couldn't find a more perfect textbook pregnancy if I looked in an actual textbook."
"Oh, that's wonderful," Sarah sighed, smiling happily once again. As Tabitha waved her wand again, the image turned and they were able to see the baby for themselves. He looked just perfect to Sarah, and it was almost enough to make her cry. Not quite, though - it turned out she was too happy for that.
That was such a relief to hear, and Douglas relaxed visibly at the news. Everything had gone perfectly with Lizzie, so Douglas had no reason to doubt that the second time around wouldn't be just as perfect, but he couldn't help worrying. It was only natural, he told himself, to worry over one's family. Before Lizzie, and even before Sarah, he hadn't imagined ever feeling such intense emotions over anyone else, but as cheesy as it might have been, they'd changed a lot for him.
"Think he's going to be a famous Quidditch player?" he asked Sarah, partially in jest. "Or... Minister of Magic?" Whatever he chose (for the most part), Douglas really just wanted him to be happy and well-rounded. "I hope Lizzie's not too disappointed that she won't be getting a baby sister."
"I'm sure Lizzie will find out that baby brothers are just as much fun," Sarah replied. She liked speculating on their baby's future just as much as Douglas did, and she had no doubt that with her husband as a role model the little fellow would turn out just fine.
Tabitha waved her wand a few times to stop all the spells, allowing Sarah to sit up and put her top back down. "So I'll just see you two back in four weeks, unless there's any kind of trouble," she said. "Keep on doing exactly as you are and everything should be just fine."
"Thank you very much," Douglas said, stopping himself just before he reached out to shake the midwife's hand as he did with most other people out of habit. But he wasn't making any sort of deal, and they hadn't just met, so he held off. "See you soon, Tabitha." But hopefully not too soon, he thought.
Once they were alone again, Douglas turned back to his wife, giving her some space to get situated ad straighten out her clothes. "I don't have to go back into the office just yet," he told her, taking a glance at the clock. "Want to go to lunch? Celebrate a little?"
"Sure!" It wasn't often she got to have lunch with Douglas anymore, which was sort of funny given that it had been the primary basis of the beginning of their relationship. Now he worked and she was at home with Lizzie, though, and while he did occasionally manage the time to come home for lunch, the two of them getting to go out together was rare. Sarah was happy to be able to take advantage of the opportunity.
"Where shall we go for celebrating?" she asked, taking his hand as she got her feet back on the floor. "I'm fine with anything, so if you've a preference, go for it."
"No preference," he replied as he led her from the room, pondering where they could go. He was lucky to have a good memory, especially in terms of locations and direction, and it only took him a few seconds to bring up a rough mental map of the area. He didn't know the area as well as he knew others, but he knew it well enough (or so he hoped).
"I think there is a nice cafe just a few blocks away," he suggested, easing his arm around her torso. "If that's all right with you?" He was sure it would be, but it was polite to ask. Even though he enjoyed spending time with Sarah, part of him was eager to get back to the office so he could owl his parents with the good news, making him a little more restless than usual.
"Perfect," Sarah agreed. She didn't want to keep the babysitter waiting too long, so a quick decision to go someplace nearby was ideal.
As they walked out of the office, she found herself beginning to grin merrily all over again. "We're having a boy!" she squealed, bouncing on her toes for a few steps. "I know I'm not supposed to care, but I'm so excited!"
Douglas couldn't help smiling again. It really was exciting, even though he knew they would have been just as excited to have another girl. "It's only natural to care a little bit," he commented, casting his gaze towards her. "We have a girl already. A boy will be different." He was glad that Sarah understood what he was feeling, the excitement to have one of each, rather than trying to pretend that they didn't care. "As long as we care that he's healthy, and know that we would still love the child if it was a girl, I think we are allowed to have a slight preference."
"Exactly," Sarah agreed. "If we were having another little girl, I would still be thrilled...but it's exciting to know for sure we get at least one of each. I'll enjoy getting to do the nursery a different way and doing all the fun little boy things and buying a different kind of baby clothes and everything. I will not feel bad about being excited."
In fact, just saying the word excited made her grin and take another few bouncy steps. "Can we start telling everyone?" she asked. "Oh, my brothers will be thrilled! And we can start really narrowing down the list of possible names now!"
For his own part, Douglas thought he was most excited not about the nursery or the baby clothes, but definitely about doing distinctly boy things. Not that he couldn't do some things with a girl, too, but... it would be different with a boy.
"We can start telling everyone as soon as you'd like," he told her with a smile. "My parents will be thrilled, and my sister. Amos and Vivian, too. Bet Cedric will be glad to have a boy to play with, rather than just Lizzie." As for the names... well, he'd been overwhelmed when choosing one for Elizabeth, so he didn't expect it to be any less overwhelming now. All he wanted was something solid and strong, something that would always be classic and wasn't hard to pronounce. "What are you thinking now, in terms of names?"
"My current top three are Robert, Stephen, and David," Sarah replied. "I still like William and Edward too, though." Luckily she saw directly eye-to-eye with Douglas on names. She liked simple, traditional names, without getting so traditional as to have children named after constellations and magical herbs. She also preferred to avoid the confusion of giving a child the same first name as a living relative, though she thought she might like to use Douglas or Michael or John as a middle name. "Do you have any preferences yet?"
Meanwhile, she'd already started mentally ordering her list of who needed to be told first. Family first (probably parents initially and then siblings), then close friends: Amos and Vivian, Doc, Charity (because even though they weren't "Doc and Charity" anymore, they still fell together in Sarah's mental lists), Molly and Arthur, Andromeda and Ted...and then she could just make a journal announcement for the rest of the world.
Douglas shook his head, pulling open the door to the cafe once they arrived and stepping aside so Sarah could enter first. He, honestly, had not given the name much thought yet. Between everything else going on (the war, her pregnancy in general, Lizzie, his job), it hadn't occurred to him to start making the decision. They had months to decide, after all. He also knew that Sarah would be on top of that, making his life exponentially easier by offering some suggestions.
"No, I don't have any preferences yet," he admitted, guiding her to a two-person table near the window. "But those are all good names." If his memory served him well, there was a William somewhere in his family tree, but he'd never seen any need to name any of his children after a relative, unlike some families (his own parents, for example). "How about we sit down tonight and get out one of the name books and have a look?"
"That sounds lovely," Sarah agreed as she took a seat in the chair he'd pulled for her. She always enjoyed the time they spent together at home, especially when the stresses of the outside world were causing them to have so little of it. "We should let Lizzie look, too. She'd like that."
And of course, if they did the baby name shopping before Lizzie's bedtime, that would leave the time for just the two of them open for other things. Some women's sex drives went down during pregnancy, but just as with the first time, Sarah's was kicked into high gear. Whether it was a function of hormones, general happiness, improved self-confidence, or simple glee over going up a cup size, Sarah was already thinking about the lacy underthings she planned to put on now that her appointment with the midwife was over and throwing herself shamelessly at her husband as soon as Lizzie was down for the night.
Douglas chuckled lightly, unable to hide his smile. "I'm sure Lizzie will have some very interesting suggestions." Even if they didn't use one of hers (which he was sure they wouldn't, given Lizzie's imagination), he was sure that she'd still enjoy being included.
After they ordered their meal, Douglas settled back, basking a little in Sarah's happy glow. He would have loved his wife no matter what, but he was glad that instead of moaning about this or that, she was able to embrace her pregnancies. He knew that it couldn't have been easy on her, but knowing she was healthy and taking care of himself was a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. The rest of the meal went the same: the two of them chatting happily about the appointment, their son, their daughter, all of the baby things they needed to get sorted, and even a little bit about his job, even though he didn't particularly enjoy talking about that while off the clock. It was nice, however, to have another perspective on his work.
"I should be home on time tonight," he told Sarah as he stood up and offered out an arm to her. "I'll write if not, but I don't anticipate any changes to my schedule."
"Wonderful," she said, taking his arm as help in standing up. She wasn't nearly to the point that her pregnancy would start slowing her down at all, but Sarah was never one to turn down a courtesy when it was offered. Once on her feet, she went up on her toes to kiss her husband's cheek. "I'll see you this evening, then. Love you!"
"Love you too, sweetheart," Douglas replied, allowing himself one cute nickname -- which his coworkers would say had fulfilled his entire quota for that adorable couple stuff for the entire year. Not true, but Douglas simply preferred to keep that part of his life to himself. "Give Lizzie a kiss for me." He gave Sarah a quick kiss before rushing off again, feeling comforted that he could go right back to work without worrying any more about his wife's well-being, or that of their son.