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Florence looks down at the little white plastic stick in her hands, trying to convince herself there is one pink line instead of the two very bold ones that present the dreaded results. She wants to break this stupid test in half, throw it at the wall, instead she tosses it in the trash with the other dozens of tests that told her the opposite of what she wanted to hear.
Stomping out of the bathroom and into the kitchen she rummages through the multitude of grocery bags still sitting on the counter.
“Where are they?” She shouts as she digs through empty plastic bags in a fury.
“Where's what?” He asks her, totally unbothered by her attitude.
“The pregnancy tests! That last one I took was wrong, I need another.” She tells him bluntly like he should know.
“What did the last one say?” He inquires further, making her even more furious.
“It was wrong.” She growls, refusing to elaborate or answer his question. “Go back to the store and get one that works!”
She knows how harsh those words are even as they tear from her mouth, but she doesn't apologize or even move as the room falls heavily silent. Even the strong safe arms of her husband are something she can't stand to feel as they slowly wrap around her while she exhales loudly through her nose.
Florence doesn't want comfort now. She wants this to be a mistake, to be wrong, to be over.
“It was positive wasn't it?” Giuseppe asks plainly, making it clear that he knows what the answer is.
Slowly she raises her trembling hand up to rest on his chest, letting it lay there for a moment before balling her fingers into a fist and striking him. It isn't enough to hurt him, with her small frame beating against his broad chest is as benign as hitting a wall and just as helpful to the situation at hand.
“It's your fault!” She cries out, trying to hide the crack in her voice as a sob threatens to break out from her throat. “You did this to me! You said this wouldn't happen!”
“I never said-” Giuseppe begins to speak but lets out a long sigh, he searches for the just the right words that would calm his raging wife down. “This is a big surprise for both of us, but we can handle it, can't we? I know you definitely can.”
Florence pauses for a moment at his sudden encouragement, letting the kind words sink in until she realizes he's only appealing to her ego in a last ditch effort to pacify her. She delivers one last weak swing to his chest before turning to walk away from him and collapsing onto a nearby chair.
“This wasn't supposed to happen.” She lets out a deep tired sigh as she throws her head back and lets her posture slump. “I can't be pregnant, not now. What are we going to do with a baby? What if something terrible happens to her?”
“What do you mean ‘her’?” Giuseppe raises an eyebrow with an amused tone that is a stark contrast to his wifes panic. “Isn't it a little too early to know that?”
Florence hadn't even thought of the words until they came out of her mouth, the idea made her smile. They had only ever talked about the idea as a joke, thinking the two of them in spite of their appearance were too old to have children, and every time they joked as if they would have a girl.
“Yes, I said ‘her’.” She responds plainly, as if it were simply a fact now. “I've decided.”
A little girl, sweet, innocent, perfect, maybe she would even look like her father. The thought of that little girl growing up and being exposed to the dangers of their lifestyle made her blood run cold, her stomach turned as she let her mind run wild; though that might have just been the morning sickness.
“I don't want anything bad to happen to her…” Before Florence knows it she's sobbing uncontrollably and her husband is rushing over to her side. “Someone could hurt her if they're trying to hurt us and we might not even be around to protect her.”
“No, we wouldn't ever let anything happen to her.” He kneels in front of her gently cooing at her like she's a child, she hated how he would talk like that sometimes and she hated how it worked almost every time he needed her to calm down. “You think I would let anything bad happen to her?”
Giuseppe sets his large hand over her stomach, his touch warm and gentle on the small life beginning to grow inside of her. He looks up at his wife with a gentle smile and an expression of pure adoration as he patiently waits for her answer.
“No, I guess you wouldn't.” She concedes with a shaking sigh, running her fingers through his short blonde hair.
“Of course, and I know you wouldn't either.” He purrs softly as he leans in to kiss her stomach. “With the two of us looking out for her no one is going to even think about hurting our little girl.”
It was almost as if that kiss solidified everything, one touch of his lips and this was all real and happening in front of them. As soon as she accepted this another emotion accompanied the fear and suddenly all the rage she had been feeling was directed at any hypothetical threats to their unborn child that she knew without a doubt that she loved more than anything.
“Yeah.” Florence laughs weakly as she wipes away the tears that are falling down her cheeks. “We would kill them before they even thought about it.”
“That's right.” Giuseppe stands and places a kiss on her forehead, nuzzling his nose into her hair for a moment before walking over to the stove. “I'll go make you some tea and then we'll talk a little more about what we're going to do.”
She watches as he turns the kettle on and heats the water, noticing as he pulls out a bag of decaffeinated tea from a box in the cupboard. The very first small change of so many that will gradually turn into a whole new life for both Florence and her husband; and very soon their daughter as well.
In spite of every supernatural aspect of her life she found herself wondering about the more mundane things like decaffeinated drinks, doctor's visits, diapers, furniture for a nursery. All of these things come crashing down at once and for a moment it seems more intimidating than any demon or hybrid creature she had ever faced. In the onslaught of responsibilities she makes the choice to focus her mind on one target at a time for the sake of her own sanity.
“I'm going to have to think of girl names.” She informs him, another decision she will be making without his input.
“Maybe it'll be a boy, we don't know.” He muses as he pulls their favorite mugs out from the cupboard. “That might be nice.”
“No way, one look at you says you're the kind of guy that has a daughter.” She tells him with a smile, it's both a joke and a compliment.
“Really? What makes you say that?” He laughs at the idea though it's clear how much he appreciates the observation.
“The glasses, the goatee, the sweaters, it's all there. Your whole style says ‘girl dad’.” She leans forward on the table and props her head in her arms as she lists the things she has come to love about him.
“Okay then.” He concedes as he comes over to the table with a nice hot cup of tea and slides it over in front of her.
She stares at the steaming liquid in her cup, contemplating it for a moment before remarking. “I didn't ask for decaf.”
“Well you can't have the regular kind anymore.” He explains to her, while it's common knowledge for most women the average man would even think about small things like that.
“I know it's just…” Florence trails off, she can't even begin to describe how much she appreciates him and the many little things he does with her in mind. “Thank you.”
Without a word he simply takes her free hand in his and gives it a firm and gentle squeeze. Florence is still trembling and it's been going on for so long that she can't remember when she started, but the love and support of her husband makes the anxiety more bearable.
“We can do this.” She tells him, though it's clear she is only repeating the words in an effort to convince herself it was true.
“I'll take care of you. I promise.” He swears his voice soothing the very depths of her soul. “All you have to worry about is picking baby names and I'll take care of everything else.”