|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Sept 20, 2011 16:43:58 GMT -5
(Sorry... figured I'd get more inspiration if we did something new. And we need to get them fighting! Not necessarily this thread, lol. Not sure where I want to go here... sorry.).
Riley was home alone, for the time being, though she was waiting on Roland to come home. He was due back any minute now. Riley, out of character, had spent the day shopping... or really, looking at things to buy for the baby. She only purchased one thing, a bright orange, purple, red, blue, and green mobile that she fell in love with. It was made of enchanted butterflies that fluttered as they twirled, and, boy or girl, it was perfect.
She was definitely showing now. Not as much as Andromeda, of course, who had a couple months on her, but there was no hiding the baby bump now. As terrified as she was of being a bad mother, she was finally getting excited too.
The instant the door opened, both Riley and the dog looked up, Riley's face brightening with a smile. "Hey," she said, getting to her feet, followed shortly by the German Shepherd, who knew that Riley always got the attention first. "I got you something. Well, for the baby, really. How was your day?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Sept 21, 2011 22:49:56 GMT -5
Roland hated being apart from Riley, even for just a short while. So far, however, she had resisted all invitations to meet with his parents, so to keep his mother happy, he always went to visit her alone. Roland understood why she felt uncomfortable visiting his parents, considering the fact that she had liked to them about his death. But he didn't think the delay in meeting them was making it any easier. It was just making her worry about it even more. Roland always had been more the "pull off the bandaid" type, and liked to get the unpleasant or uncomfortable things over with as quickly as possible, and usually Riley was the same way... but he supposed this was different.
There was something about being greeted at the door by the woman he loved, and their dog, however, that made Roland forget about all these worries. It was oddly old-fashioned, and very comforting. It was sort of a reverse of the way things had been when he was staying in the safe house, when he had anxiously awaited her arrival each night.
He immediately wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly. "Hey," he greeted her as he reached down with one hand to pat Phoenix's head. "I hope you had a good day. Show me what you bought."
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 1, 2011 16:14:33 GMT -5
"I missed you," was Riley's reply to how her day had been. She felt needy, sometimes, but with everything that happened, she missed Roland every time he left, because she still wasn't convinced that he was coming back. She hoped he forgave her for that weakness. She kissed him again, quickly, and then pulled out of his arms to get a box off of the table.
She came back to him, pulling out a mobile. It was strung with vibrant, enchanted butterflies that turned in a slow, lazy circle. "I read somewhere that the bright colors will stimulate the baby's mind. And I don't care if it's a boy... he'll like it, too."
Her eyes turned from the thing to Roland. "We need a bigger place. I still haven't figured out where to put the crib."
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 8, 2011 0:38:08 GMT -5
It still worried Roland that she was still having doubts of his existence. How could he not worry? She was now visibly pregnant with his child, and still she wasn't always sure he was really here. Part of him worried that it meant she was having doubts about their relationship, and part of him worried that it meant she was having problems telling reality from imagination. Either way, it was a troubling situation, and he was hoping that it would start to get better soon.
"It's adorable," he said, smiling as he looked at the mobile. "I still can't believe this is happening... the baby will be here before we know it."
The lack of space had been on his mind a lot lately as well. The apartment barely seemed big enough for the two of them, and as Phoenix continued to grow, it was definitely getting too big for him. The baby, with its crib and toys and clothes and everything else, would take up even more space. It was going to get very cramped in the apartment.
"I know. I'm working on that," he sad mysteriously. He hadn't told her about talking to Angelique about the safe house yet; he wanted that to be a surprise. He made a mental note to check in with her again soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 15, 2011 0:28:45 GMT -5
"Yeah," Riley agreed about the baby, obviously distracted. She took his hand, much to Phoenix's dismay, and pulled Roland towards the couch. "Listen, I've been thinking."
As she lead him over there, she set the mobile on the table. "This is good, I promise," she added, because she only just realized that words like that from women made men panic. "I know I told you about the dreams and things, but I shouldn't have. It was an off day... So... I'm okay. And I want you to feel comfortable leaving me on my own whenever you want to or have to, because I'm not crazy, okay?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 15, 2011 21:55:36 GMT -5
"I know you're not crazy," Roland said firmly, taking her hands in his. "I also know you've been under a lot of stress lately, and you're all pumped up with pregnancy hormones. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't try to act tough with me, either, and pretend nothing's wrong."
He sighed and squeezed her hands. "I love you, and we'll get through this together, OK? I think it's a good idea for us to spend some time around other people, instead of just being alone all the time. Ted has invited us on a double-date with him and Andromeda."
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 15, 2011 22:09:03 GMT -5
Riley shook her head. "I am tough," she answered. "I mean, not lately, I'll give you that. But being on the outside during this whole thing was really hard, and for just... a little while, I wanted to not be tough. And you indulged me, and I love you for it, among endless other things. But it's time for me to step up and be a big girl again. You liked me because I was tough, remember?"
She kept her face impassive as he mentioned a double date, as her first reaction was to want to say no. But that went against the entire speech she just gave. So she smiled and cracked a joke. "Oh good. You and Ted with two very pregnant women. You'll both have barrels of fun. Just tell me when. I'm going to talk to Angelique about coming back to work. And.... I should see your parents before the baby's born."
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 16, 2011 18:48:09 GMT -5
"I love you for lots of reasons," Roland said, leaning in to steal a kiss. "But mostly because you call me on my crap when I'm being an arrogant git."
It seemed like such a long time ago now, when they had been at each others' throats on a regular basis. He couldn't have imagined it at the time, but now when he looked back on those days, it seemed so funny. He had been acting like an arse, and she had never been afraid to let him know it.
And although he loved that she wasn't afraid to ask him for help when she needed it, he was also glad to hear that she was ready to fend for herself again--if only for her own sake. He knew she hated to feel weak, and she didn't like leaning on him too much.
"Ted and I can handle it," he assured her. It was actually a good thing that they were going through this at the same time, because he had people he could talk to about this. Besides Ted, he could talk to Jamie and to Cyrus, who had already been there.
"I'm glad you're ready to see my parents," he said. "Mum was talking about it, too. She said I should bring you around soon... Maybe to dinner one night?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 16, 2011 23:23:35 GMT -5
"Why is everything you want me to do centered around food?" Riley put a hand on her hip and gave him a teasing look, but she didn't add anything else to it. "Dinner's fine... I just... I don't eat much anyway, and I don't want your whole family asking if I'm okay the whole time, you know? The point of this is to make them feel better about us. Not to make them worry about you more."
She leaned in and kissed Roland again. "But whatever works best... I'm in. I'm strong and good and completely sane, and we can go back to the way things were. I'm sorry I lost that girl for a while, Roland. Thanks for waiting this out with me."
Things weren't magically better, and Riley wouldn't kid herself about that. She still struggled... but she wanted to be herself again, and if it wasn't going to come naturally, she was going to do it herself.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 19, 2011 19:14:32 GMT -5
"You met my mother, right?" Roland joked. "Her main mission in life since the time I was born has been to make sure I'm eating enough. She just took a short break in the middle to worry about my love life, and now that that's sorted, it's back to making sure I don't waste away to nothing."
He chuckled softly and gave her a soft squeeze. "We could just go over for a visit, but I guarantee, my mother will still find a way to serve a full meal. We might as well just let her do it."
If he was honest, Riley's eating habits actually worried him a little bit. She was pregnant; wasn't she supposed to be ravenous? Shouldn't she be having cravings by now? She was still having bouts of morning sickness, which seemed more like all day sickness to him.
But her new attitude was a good start, anyway. Maybe just by trying to feel better and normal again, it would start to be true. He hoped so, because he just wanted her to be happy and healthy again.
"Don't apologize. I love you no matter what, OK? We're going to be all right. We just have to concentrate on getting ready for the baby now."
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 20, 2011 13:54:41 GMT -5
Riley managed a laugh. "Yeah, that's a good point," she said. She forgot sometimes that Roland ate as much as she did. Lately, it seemed like he ate loads more, but she thought it was more of an effort on his part to get her to eat more. Unlike him, her eating habits didn't worry her. The morning sickness still did, but what was she going to do?
"We can go for dinner, I'll manage." She nodded, agreeing with him about getting ready for the baby. "We're pretty close to being able to find out if it's a boy or a girl. Do you want to know? Or do you want to wait and be surprised?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 20, 2011 23:47:11 GMT -5
"OK, I'll see if I can arrange something with Mum," Roland said.
He hoped that this time, they could just have a small get-together, not with the whole family. He was still worried about his parents' marriage, and he felt it was his responsibility to fix it. It was his fault, after all. Maybe some time with them together might help a little.
Roland thought for a minute about Riley's question. It was strange, he was so convinced it was going to be a girl that he hadn't realized that they didn't actually know for sure.
"I don't know, actually. I feel like we should be surprised... but I kind of want to know. It doesn't matter, though... I love the baby whether it's a boy or a girl."
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 21, 2011 15:52:10 GMT -5
"I want to know," Riley said with Certainty. As sure as she was too that it was a girl, she just wanted to know. She didnt want any disappointmebt when the child was born.
"But I also don't want to tell anyone. We'll be inundated with blue or pink and I just don't want to deal with that, to be honest. We'll just surprise everyone else."
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 21, 2011 23:22:59 GMT -5
Roland nodded. "I agree. In fact, I'm tempted to tell everyone that we won't accept anything pink or blue. We want bright, vibrant colors instead. Nothing about our baby can be typical."
Once again, he thought about their living arrangements. They needed to start buying baby supplies and furniture and decorating the nursery. But there wasn't any room for a nursery in the apartment. He was going to have to do something about getting them a house, whether it was the safe house or some other house. And if it wasn't the safe house, then he was going to have to get Riley involved... he was sure she had a very specific idea of what she wanted in a house.
"When's your next doctor's appointment? And are you going to St. Mungo's, or are you going to a muggle doctor?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 21, 2011 23:44:16 GMT -5
"Please do. I'll even give them an acceptable colors list. I want the nursery to be painted like the most brilliant sunrise you've ever seen." Yes, Riley had put a lot of thought into this, and she knew what she wanted for her child, boy or girl. Nothing pastel was going to cut it.
"I've made an appointment in two weeks at St Mungo's. They want me to come in sooner, but there's no point. Not yet, anyway. It's with Dr. Kenyon... I don't think she normally does pregnancy visits, but she's seen me twice and knows what's been going on. I trust her." It didn't need to be said right then, but trust was a big thing for Riley right now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 22, 2011 15:50:48 GMT -5
"It sounds perfect," Roland said approvingly. It was pretty much as he had pictured, too; swirls of red and orange and yellow in warm, vibrant tones that would stimulate the senses. Now they just needed a nursery...
"OK, good. I think it's best to stick with someone we know right now. She took care of you when I wasn't around, and after the fight with Blake, and as long as she doesn't mind doing a pregnancy visit, it makes sense to keep seeing her. I want to be with you this time, OK? I still hate that I couldn't be with you when you found out."
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 23, 2011 2:33:49 GMT -5
"It's just a normal check up, Roland. You don't need to be there. And..." Riley trailed off. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn't feel bad that he wasn't there when she found out she was pregnant... but maybe he should. She forgave him for it ages ago, but she wasn't sure Geoffrey had. "Unless you want to find out if it's a boy or a girl, that is."
She took Roland's hand, her eyes on their entwined fingers for a moment. "Roland... there's more I want to talk to you about."
Her brown eyes shifted, looking up to meet his. "I want to ask Geoffrey to be the baby's Godfather." She said nothing more, just watching for his reaction to this.
(Couldnt remember if this has been asked or resolved yet so I'm pretending like it has not)
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 24, 2011 0:47:22 GMT -5
"Riley, I want to be there. Please?"
Roland gave her a look, silently reminding her not to shut him out. Maybe he didn't need to be there, but he wanted to be... to support her and to feel a more active part of the pregnancy. And if she found out whether the baby was a boy or a girl, he wanted to be with her. It wouldn't be the same if he found out after the fact.
"If you're going to find out, I want to know, too. Come on, let me do this."
When she mentioned asking Geoffrey to be the godfather, Roland just nodded. He expected this. And even though he thought Geoffrey was not really stable enough at the moment to be the baby's godfather, he still had hope that he could pull out of this. "OK," he said simply. "If Geoffrey wants to, that is. But who should be the godmother? Or could we just have two godfathers and ask Hayden, too?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Riley Neves on Nov 25, 2011 0:19:28 GMT -5
Riley raised her eyebrows, ready to retort, but decided against it. She knew where Roland was coming from, and she needed reminders sometimes that she didnt have to do everything alone anymore. She could let Roland be there.
"I thought you wanted to be surprised," she mused,almost playfully. "and all right. Come with me next time. "
His reaction was better than she expected. And if mentioned, she would have to agree that he wasn't stable enough now. But she didn't intend for anything to happen to her or Roland right away. "I was thinking about that. I knew you would want to ask Hayden, and I do too, actually. And I don't really know any girls. There's nothing wrong with being unconventional and asking them both. "
It didn't occur to her until right then that Geoffrey might say no. Goodrich, she hoped he didn't.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roland Ferrera on Nov 25, 2011 1:14:39 GMT -5
"If you're going to find out, I want to know," Roland replied. "I want to be part of this. And besides, even if you weren't going to find out, I'd want to be there. For you and for the baby."
He let the subject drop and focused on the godfather issue. Roland was making an effort to make it clear to Riley that he had no problems with Geoffrey. He wasn't even really jealous anymore; not since he had gone to see Geoffrey and saw what bad shape his cousin was in. He was worried, of course, but jealousy didn't do anyone any good.
"I like that idea, too, asking both of them. I mean, you could ask Lina or Andromeda, but they have kids of their own, you know? I think Hayden would be honored."
|
|
