Sarah never wanted to get so good at this. (zencheerleader) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-11-01 00:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | douglas cornfoot, sarah cornfoot |
RP Log: Douglas and Sarah Cornfoot (BACKDATED)
Characters: Douglas and Sarah Cornfoot
Setting: On the way out to dinner, BACKDATED to 24 October 1979
Summary: With Lizzie over at Uncle Benjy's, Douglas and Sarah get to have a night to themselves.
Rating: G
There were lots of women who felt bloated and tired when they were pregnant. Sarah Cornfoot was not one of them. Oh, she usually took a nap in the afternoon these days, but she was a woman who really did very well with pregnancy. She felt energetic and beautiful and happy and tended to belt out "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" while she swept the floor. People who talked about pregnant women glowing? They meant Sarah Cornfoot. And tonight, she actually got to celebrate it a little bit.
As she put the last pin in her hair, Sarah beamed at herself in the mirror. She looked fantastic, she had decided. Her makeup was fixed up pretty, she'd actually had time to do her eyebrows that afternoon, her hair was done up in something besides a quick ponytail to get it out of her face, and she had a pretty red dress that she'd bought just for the occasion of actually being able to have a night out with her husband. They were going to have to do something spectacular for Benjy for giving them the night off.
"All right, I'm ready!" Sarah called, and finally stepped out of the washroom and into the bedroom, slipping her shoes on. Flats, unfortunately, because that was the one way in which pregnancy would not cooperate with her: she couldn't stand wearing heels. Usually she had no problem with them, but once she got past about four months they just made her balance feel all weird. But in the grand scheme of things, there were worse fates than wearing flats out to dinner.
Douglas bit back his immediate reaction of finally, only because all he'd needed to do was shower, comb down his hair, put on a suit and a bit of cologne, which was significantly less than his already-beautiful wife felt the need to do. That had been expected, but even after nearly ten years together, Douglas still wasn't used to waiting around. He was a patient man, most of the time, but he'd been planning their night out for weeks and he was eager to get the evening started.
It wasn't anything more than dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant in Edinburgh, although he'd considered buying tickets to see a play as well. He was glad that he hadn't, however; after the previous night's birthday party, he was tired and he didn't want to keep Sarah out terribly late. Instead, it was dinner and then he planned to whisk his wife back home for a quiet (or not-so-quiet, depending on how she was feeling) evening in their bedroom. He had splurged on a car and driver to pick them up, and he expected the driver to arrive any minute.
He was waiting in the doorway of their bedroom when she emerged, a broad smile spreading across her face as he took her in. "You look beautiful," he told her, crossing the room to give her a kiss. He hadn't intended for the kiss to be anything more than a peck, but he often found himself losing a bit of control around Sarah. "I suddenly wish we had decided to stay in tonight instead."
Sarah's eyes lingered closed for a moment as she just enjoyed the kiss. Nights like this were all too rare, and they'd only be more so after Stephen was born. She wanted to savor every minute of this one.
Finally her eyes opened, but she was still smiling blissfully. "I promise to eat fast," Sarah playfully replied. "Because you look entirely too handsome for me to not get to show you off." She could certainly see the attraction of staying in, but she also wanted to have their night out looking pretty. They'd just have to balance a bit of both.
"That won't be necessary, I don't think, and you wouldn't want to make yourself sick," Douglas chided gently, his smile warm and playful in its own right, "since Benjy so kindly offered to keep Lizzie overnight, if we end up not feeling well at the end of the evening, it won't be nearly so fun to come back home."
Outside, a car door shut and a few moments later, there was a knock at the door. It was still slightly unnerving for Douglas to allow anyone near his home without being able to follow their normal security procedures, and he was sure he would never get used to it, not completely. He answered the door alone, first, and once he was sure it was who he expected -- explaining that their cousin had been robbed in his home recently, sorry for making him wait but one never could be too careful these days -- he led Sarah to the car. Riding in a car was something else he didn't think he would ever be used to, but their options were limited. It seemed safer than broomsticks, however.
"So I was thinking," he began, draping an arm over Sarah's shoulders as the car started off down the road, "after reading what Dee wrote in the journals about the Virgin Islands, about planning a holiday of our own. It's been a while."
"It has," Sarah admitted, smiling at the thought of it. The Virgin Islands - how lovely that would be. "Maybe we should plan something for the summer. I can probably be ready to get back in a swimsuit by then."
If she had a goal like "be fit to run around the beach by July", that would give her plenty of motivation to get the baby weight off. It would be a fun family holiday, and they could probably arrange for at least a night or two where the children had a babysitter while they were there, so they could have some fun of their own as well. They could all use some fun, as difficult as things had been. While she would like to think that by summer the war would be over, they had all been hoping that for a few years now. Sometimes, even someone as optimistic as Sarah had to be realistic.
Summertime would mean Stephen would be about seven months old, which wasn't exactly the ideal time to travel, not when he was too young to even realise anything was different. Lizzie, on the other hand, was nearly old enough that a holiday would be a big adventure, and old enough that there would be something to occupy her for an afternoon or several. They would have to travel with a young child eventually, however, if they wanted to; Douglas knew Sarah wanted one more after Stephen. It was never too early, in his opinion, to share the world with his children. Sometimes he thought he should have been a Ravenclaw.
"If you don't mind travelling with an infant, then I don't mind either," he replied, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Somewhere warm? This continent or another?" The options were nearly endless, since he knew she didn't need the same sort of holiday that a family like the Notts would expect. Sarah had been right, about not letting the Death Eaters control their lives, not completely. He could make some changes, but he still wanted his family to live. "The Caribbean would be nice."
"The Caribbean would be beautiful," Sarah agreed, smiling just at the thought of it. "We could rent a beach house for a week or so, maybe, or go to one of the resorts down there. Some of those have children's activities and things...maybe we should start a little research and see what we can find out."
The idea of a beach house had the advantage of being very low-pressure and easygoing. The advantage of a resort was that everything was taken care of and there was absolutely no chance she would have to cook a single thing while she was there. Sarah rather liked that notion.
"The Caribbean it is." Whatever Sarah wanted, she usually got, and Douglas was in another one of his spoil-his-wife moods. They deserved a good long break, all four of them. Douglas was already imagining building sand castles with Lizzie and teaching her how to swim in the ocean, taking care of Stephen while Sarah and Lizzie had a girls' day, finding a babysitter so he and Sarah could have a night out.
"I can ask Dee what she's learned about the British Virgin Islands, and look into other options, too. Anything you want, love. I mean it." He gave Sarah a quick kiss on the cheek. "Us and the kids." Just as it should be, he thought.
"You spoil me absolutely rotten," Sarah replied, beaming. She and Douglas did a good job of taking care of each other, she thought. Like any married couple, they had their rough days and their misunderstandings, but there had never been any reason for either of them to doubt the other's love. He spoiled her, and in her own way she spoiled him, and it worked out splendidly for them both.
Thinking a little more on this idea of the Virgin Islands, Sarah nodded. "Yes, let's ask Dee what she came up with. And while we're at it, I'll ask her for some tips on travelling with children."
If not the Virgin Islands -- because he wouldn't want to steal Dee's idea, although it would be fun to coordinate a holiday, now that the idea occurred to him -- Douglas was sure they could find something else. In any case, it was a good idea. "You deserve every bit of it. Now, do you want to guess where we're going tonight, or do you want to be surprised? It's good, believe me."
"I would be surprised, but I think you would like me to at least try guessing a bit," Sarah replied, leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek to soften her teasing smile. "Is it...Italian? French?" Those were standard romance foods, after all. A good start at guessing, certainly.
Douglas tipped his head back, chuckling. "You know me too well." Either that or he'd picked something that he knew she'd enjoy, which just happened to not be terribly difficult to guess. The restaurant itself was one they'd never been to, so he had that, at least. "Or I'm just not very clever. It's one of those, but I won't say which. Something should still be a surprise tonight."
"All right, you can have your surprise," Sarah agreed, laughing along with him. And then, rather than saying any more, she simply rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. She didn't need to know where they were going, really. Whatever Douglas had picked would be lovely, she was sure, and right now she just wanted to enjoy a little bit of quiet. There was precious little quiet in the life of a woman who had a four year old daughter.
She did have one more thing to say, though, softly and with a little smile.
"I love you."
"And I love you," he replied, placing another soft kiss on her head, careful not to mess up her intricate hair-do.
Even after nine years together, Douglas still grinned like a mad man every time he heard Sarah say those three words. Call him sentimental and sappy; he didn't really care at the moment. He knew he was lucky to have Sarah, and to be even more in love with her than on their wedding day. Time and children had changed that, for the better.
Despite all of the changes, the night already reminded Douglas of early on in their relationship, when they didn't have nearly as much to worry about. He missed those carefree days, although he was rarely carefree, even then. It would do them a lot of good to get back to that, just for a little while.