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Tweak says, "SHANNARO!!!"

gretchen watkins is the spice of life (swashbuckley) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-09-06 01:21:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 09, !incomplete, delaney twilfitt, gretchen watkins, titus scabior

WHO: Gretchen Watkins & Delaney Twilfitt
WHAT: Delaney needs to talk. Gretchen happens to be nearby.
WHERE: Diagon
WHEN: Monday afternoon
WARNINGS/RATING/STATUS: None this time, I promise! Just talk of babies and emotions and girly shit like that/PG13?/Ongoing

Gretchen wasn't exactly sure how it'd come to pass that she was picking up lunch for Trevor, but sure enough, here she was, paying for two meals from the Happy Squid and taking them back to a likely ungrateful partner. Thanking man behind the counter, she snagged the bag of food and took an appreciative sniff as she walked outside, her stomach rumbling slightly.

She was hungrier than she'd thought, which sort of made sense, given that she'd foregone any sort of breakfast meal in favour of spending another hour in bed with Trevor. Not that it had been a bad trade off, mind. The fact remained, however, that this food was going to be greatly appreciated.

Strolling past Delaney's store, Gretchen glanced in idly, still slightly uncomfortable with the fact that both she and Trevor had slept with the woman, on completely separate occasions. She was certain it was a first, she didn't generally sleep with women and she would bet all her gold that Trevor had never shagged a bloke. Given her inclinations, a certain level of crossover was to be expected, but she still found it odd.

Oddness filling her head, Gretchen didn't see Delaney walking towards her until it was too late. The other woman had spotted her and Gretch raised a hand in greeting.

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delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 12:25 am UTC (link)

"Well, I suppose it's not so much can't as it is won't," Delaney clarified. "It might sound melodramatic but there's been enough death in my family to last a little while, I thought it would be nice to add a little more life."

That made it sound like she'd decided to keep it, she realized, and she pondered the thought. There was no way she was ready... but on the other hand, she'd had Nico for all these months and he'd turned out okay... but on the other other hand he hadn't been a baby when she'd got him...

"I... don't know," she said sheepishly.

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swashbuckley
2010-09-07 12:31 am UTC (link)

"Melodramatic?" Gretchen deadpanned, staring across at the blonde. "That doesn't sound melodramatic at all." She managed to keep from rolling her eyes, a feat she was rather proud of, and jiggled her foot. Pregnant women made her uncomfortable. It wasn't as though pregnancy was contagious, but talk of babies made her want to run for the hills.

At Delaney's answer, she arched an unjudgemental eyebrow. "You don't?" she echoed. "How many possibilities are there?"

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	delaneytwilfitt 2010-09-07 12:47 am UTC (link)
	As much as the woman might have been trying not to sound bored and disinterested, she wasn't doing a very good job. Delaney winced a little. "Three," she said after a pause. "I've been with three blokes in the time period in question." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	swashbuckley 2010-09-07 12:50 am UTC (link)
	Three. Still, Gretchen couldn't judge. It'd be hypocritical of her and she may have been many things, but hypocritical was not one of them. "Are you going to tell them?" she asked, then before she could stop herself, more out of an innate need for information and less fuelled by a desire to actually know more about Delaney herself, continued: "Who?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 01:03 am UTC (link)

Was she going to tell them? That was a good question, and yet another of the questions on Delaney's list of Questions She Didn't Know The Answer To.

"I don't know," she said weakly. "I mean... I'm still trying to wrap my own head around it. If I tell him... them... then I'm just going to have to deal with them... him... pressuring me to make up my mind. Like, about whether or not to get rid of it - I've already decided I won't, so if any of the three are pro-abortion, that's a can of worms I'm so not ready to open."

Pausing for breath, she plunged into her next rant, a little surprised at how good it felt to verbalize all her inner turmoil. "And then even if we get past that, there's the question of keeping the baby or adopting it out, and I haven't made my mind up, and I refuse to be pushed... plus I don't want to tell some bloke he's going to be a daddy, then nine months from now tell him, oh, no, I'm giving it away."

And the more she thought about it, the more the idea of collaborative parenting... irked her. If she did end up keeping this thing, she sure as hell wasn't going to give up autonomy in favor of having a man around all the time telling her what to do.

"If I tell you, I want you to promise you won't breathe a word to any of them until I'm ready to say something," she warned.

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swashbuckley
2010-09-07 01:10 am UTC (link)

"In my experience," Gretchen leaned back on the bench and made herself comfortable. "Men generally don't want to be daddies." She shrugged and flashed a grin. "At least not those who are willing to sleep with women like us." She hadn't meant it self-depreciatingly, because she didn't self-depreciate. Gretchen loved herself, wholly, there was nothing wrong with the way she lived her life, nothing she regretted (except, perhaps, sitting down beside Delaney a few moments ago) and nothing she'd do over again. Women like her were smart and capable, women who didn't need a man to do anything and definitely didn't need children to hold them back. Come to think of it, Gretchen never had met another woman like herself.

At Delaney's request, she shrugged. "I can keep a secret."

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delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 01:24 am UTC (link)

"I can't say I disagree," Delaney said wryly. "I haven't come across a man yet who wasn't repulsed by the idea of marriage and babies - in fact, I've used that trick a number of times to fend off unwanted advances. But... you never know, you know? It's one thing to hate the idea in abstract. I know I certainly did. But when confronted with the reality of actually being a father... who knows what they might do?"

She leaned back and sighed. "Well, if you're sure... Caine Warrington, Marcus Flint, and Trevor Scabior."

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	swashbuckley 2010-09-07 01:30 am UTC (link)
	As Delaney listed the potential fathers, Gretchen barely had time to react to Caine's name before Trev was mentioned and Gretchen choked, letting out a little, involuntary gasp and staring across the bench. She'd known that Trevor had shagged Delaney, but now he was being listed as a potential father?! Hadn't she taught him better than that? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 01:42 am UTC (link)

Gretchen hadn't reacted well to her list of potential fathers and, blushing again, Delaney buried her face in her hands.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I'm pregnant," she mumbled. "I mean... I've been sleeping around since I was fifteen, and I've been pretty good about getting checked for disease - I am, and always have been clean, just for the record - but I suppose I was too arrogant to think that an unplanned pregnancy could happen to me," she went on. It hadn't escaped her that "unplanned" was the word she had chosen, rather than "unwanted".

"So... what would you do, if you were me? And if abortion wasn't an option, because as far as I'm concerned, it isn't."

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swashbuckley
2010-09-07 01:50 am UTC (link)

It took Gretchen a long moment to be able to focus on Delaney's words, but with monumental effort, she managed to pull herself back. "Abortion is really the only option, 'sfar as I'm concerned." she responded, clutching and unclutching the bag containing her and Trevor's lunch.

"Since you seem to have made up your mind to actually have the sprog, you've either got to raise it yourself or with someone." She sucked in a breath, wondering how quickly she could get away and back to the office. "Tell the father, he was fucking stupid enough to not use protection, so he's got to deal with it now."

She hesitated for a moment, then barrelled on, unable to stop herself from asking: "Scabior... are you sure?"

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delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 02:00 am UTC (link)

It took everything Delaney had not to roll her eyes at Gretchen. She got it, Gretchen would abort. That was well and good, but Gretchen wasn't the one who was knocked up. It was time to focus on Delaney.

"On that, at least, you're probably right," she mused. "Do you think I should owl each of them, letting them know there's a possibility they're the father? Or should I try to find out which one it is before letting anyone know anything?"

Gretchen didn't seem to be able to get past Trev. "Trevor Scabior," she enunciated clearly. "Blonde, cute, bit of an arsehole when he opens his mouth but you can forgive that when you see the size of his dick?"

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swashbuckley
2010-09-07 02:18 am UTC (link)

"How're you going to figure out which one it is without letting them all know?" Gretchen asked, trying to force her mind away from the fact that Trevor might be a father.

At Delaney's description of Trev, Gretchen grinned slightly. That was one of the most apt descriptions of her partner she'd ever heard. "I... know him," she explained, itching to leave Delaney.

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delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 02:24 am UTC (link)

That was another good question. "I hadn't really thought about it, but i suppose I assumed the Healer would be able to tell me at some stage," she said quietly. "I mean, surely to Merlin I'm not the only woman this has ever happened to, and bloody stinking filthy muggles have ways to find out the paternity of a baby, so I can't see any reason why we shouldn't have something ten times better and less invasive."

Watching the small grin appear on Gretchen's face, Delaney couldn't help but grin back a little. "His dick is a bit lovely, isn't it?" she smirked.

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swashbuckley
2010-09-07 02:32 am UTC (link)

"I'm no healer," Gretchen started, shaking her head. "I'd imagine they have to have some sort of sample to compare the result to though."

Delaney's smirk caused a wave of possessiveness to flash through Gretchen and she was torn between agreeing and giving into the urge to slap the smirk off of Delaney's face. "I... have to go," she managed, abruptly, holding the bag of food up as an explanation.

"If you need a healer, I've got one who can be trusted." She wasn't sure why she was offering, except for the remote possibility that this was Trevor's sprog, in which case, she needed to be assured that it would be taken care of, regardless of Delaney's feelings.

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delaneytwilfitt
2010-09-07 02:42 am UTC (link)

"Hmm." Delaney pondered that for a moment before realizing it made sense. Even magic couldn't conjure something out of nothing.

It seemed like the conversation was over, though, and she stood up, indicating the restaurant with her chin. "Yes, I was about to head in there myself," she said. "I wanted to thank you for introducing me to it, the food is delicious, and now that I know what it was that made me sick, I feel a lot better about eating from there."

The offer made her frown. "I've got a healer, but thank you anyway," she said cautiously.

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	swashbuckley 2010-09-07 02:46 am UTC (link)
	Flapping her hand at Delaney, Gretchen didn't even take the time to walk the short distance back to the office, merely spinning in place and apparating. Thankfully Trevor was alone when she got back and she wandlessly locked the door, dropping the bag of food to the desk in front of him. "Trevor." she ground out, her mind whirling. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	opportunist 2010-09-07 02:49 am UTC (link)
	Trevor was begining to notince a disturbing pattern to Gretchen's entrances. He listed and eyebrow and casually shut his journal, tossing it onto his desk as swivelled in his chair to face her, tilting back. "Gretch..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	swashbuckley 2010-09-07 03:00 am UTC (link)
	"You," Gretchen jammed her hands on her hips and stared down at him. "Are going to be a fucking father." As the words left her lips, she spun away from him and stalked a few feet away, another spike of anger shuddering through her. All their power, all their wealth, now had the potential to be ruined by some stupid blonde slag. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

opportunist
2010-09-07 03:05 am UTC (link)

Staring after his partner as she stalked away, all he could was stare with a dumbstruck, slightly wide-eyed expression as his mind starting whirling. He took precautions, he knew Gretch took precautions, and children were the last thing either of them wanted to deal with...

His foot fell off the desk, landing with a thud on the hard wood floor and pulled him back into an upright position. "You're pregnant?" he said, practically sputtering with shock.

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swashbuckley
2010-09-07 03:16 am UTC (link)

"Me?!" Gretchen whirled back around and stared at him, gaping across the room, her expression likely mirroring his. "Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to let you knock me up?"

She sputtered for a moment then, shook her head. "Not to mention, I'm not ridiculous enough to not have dealt with it already!" She waved her arm in the general direction of Delaney's shop. "Not me, you great pillock. That blonde bint you shagged."

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