Chapter Text
Penelope Featherington had always dreamed of romance, with every book or movie she watched; she always imagined herself as the heroine of her own chaotic love story. She pictured herself as Sandra Bullock finding love with the last person she expected or living out an old-fashioned romance like in Pride and Prejudice. She longed for a grand declaration, a kiss in the rain, and all those things that happened in her favorite films.
Romance was a part of her, an innate quality that was as attached to her as her arms and legs. Yet, life showed her different paths; she had always believed she wasn’t enough, not pretty enough or thin enough for a boy to want a serious relationship with her.
Her mother didn’t help much with her judgments about her choice of boyfriends over the years; some were too much for her, too tattooed, or simply foolish and maybe better suited for Philippa than for her. That last part always made her question everything about her mother. Sometimes she felt her mother saw her as insignificant, and other times she felt her mother had expectations that were too high for her youngest daughter. Penelope had grown tired of it, of always trying to please her mother, so she didn’t hesitate to leave home as soon as she finished university.
She started writing her first book at 17, and to no one’s surprise, it was a historical romance. By 20, she spent her free time meticulously editing every detail of her novel, and by 25, she was about to publish her first book.
Now she was in Scotland, celebrating with Sophie in a picturesque pub filled with warm lights and vibrant music that echoed off the stone walls. Sophie, with her contagious energy and carefree laugh, was the complete opposite of Penelope. Extroverted to the core, she always knew how to light up any room she entered. She worked as a designer at the same publishing house where Penelope was an editor, and that’s how their friendship had begun a few years ago. Since then, Sophie had become the spark that broke up Penelope’s quiet routine, always pushing her out of her comfort zone.
This time was no different. Sophie had insisted, with her usual unstoppable enthusiasm, that they celebrate the upcoming book launch with an unforgettable night. And, as expected, Penelope couldn’t say no; no one could resist Sophie’s determination.
The dance floor was an organized chaos of laughter, movement, and music that resonated in their hearts. Penelope let herself get carried away by her friend’s energy, spinning, laughing, and forgetting the world until her feet, trapped in heels that felt like medieval torture, finally gave up. Breathing hard and with a smile still on her lips, she left Sophie reigning the dance floor like the queen she was while she awkwardly stumbled toward the bar, searching for something to quench her thirst and fatigue.
And then she saw him.
He was sitting at the bar, casual, as if the world around him didn’t exist. His broad smile had an effortless charm, and his eyes, deep and bright like the sky on a clear day, seemed to capture her in a moment that stretched longer than usual. A curly lock fell carelessly across his forehead, adding a relaxed air that contrasted with his intense gaze.
When his hand rested on Penelope’s waist to steady her, a warm heat spread from where he touched her to her cheeks. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice soft but with a hint of amusement that seemed to tease the scene he had just witnessed.
Penelope knew she could speak. She had learned to do so at some point between her birth and her twenty-five years, but in that moment, all the words seemed to have left her mind, leaving only a clumsy stutter she hoped he hadn’t noticed.
He smiled again, pulling his hand away with a gentleness that made her wish he hadn’t. “I’m fine, thank you,” she managed to say at last, a shy smile curving her lips as she still felt the ghost of his touch on her waist.
“I’m Colin.” “Penelope.”
Her name came out softer than she intended, like a secret she wasn’t sure she wanted to share.
She didn’t know how things had progressed so quickly; they simply radiated a dangerous and incredible chemistry. They talked about everything; Penelope learned that Colin was a travel photographer, that he was in Scotland for a few days, and that he would soon be heading to Greece. She told him she worked for a publishing house and was in Scotland to celebrate the launch of her upcoming book. They talked about everything and nothing at the same time; they both loved writing and enjoyed a good Italian meal.
The conversation flowed as if they had known each other forever. Each word they shared seemed to add another piece to the puzzle that connected them. Penelope found herself laughing easily, forgetting her usual shyness. There was something about Colin that made her feel seen, not just for what she showed the world, but for what she had always kept hidden.
Time seemed to stop for them. The noise of the pub faded away, as if the world had shrunk to just the words they shared and the glances they exchanged. Penelope had never felt so seen, so understood. There was something in the way Colin listened to her, with a smile that reached his eyes, that made her forget all those times she had felt invisible.
When the lights began to dim and the pub started to empty, Colin suggested going for a walk. The night in Scotland was cool, with a breeze that made the leaves dance. Penelope hesitated at first, aware of the time and how quickly everything seemed to be happening, but something in him, in his relaxed and sincere manner, gave her the confidence to agree.
They walked down the cobbled streets until they reached a small viewpoint overlooking the river. The lights of the buildings reflected in the water, creating an almost magical scene. Colin took off his jacket and draped it over Penelope’s shoulders when he noticed she was shivering.
“Did you ever imagine something like this?” he asked, his voice low and soft, as if afraid of breaking the calm of the moment.
Penelope laughed, a shy but genuine sound.
“A nighttime walk with a complete stranger? Not exactly.”
Colin smiled and gently took her hand, tracing small circles with his thumb on her skin.
“I didn’t mean that, but... to feel this. Like the world disappears when you’re with someone.”
Penelope felt her heart speed up. She looked at him, those blue eyes that seemed to decipher every corner of her soul. Before she could respond, Colin leaned in, slow, giving her space to stop him if she wanted. But she didn’t.
Their lips met in a kiss that started soft, filled with curiosity, and then deepened, full of an intensity that surprised her. There was something freeing in that moment, as if everything she had read in her novels had come to life, but without the need for exaggeration or perfect scripts.
When they pulled apart, Colin rested his forehead against hers, their hands still intertwined.
“I think you should write about this,” he murmured with a mischievous smile.
Penelope laughed softly, still a little dazed by what had just happened.
“Maybe I will... someday.”
It all ended later in his hotel room, exploring each other’s bodies with their hands and mouths. Everything happened so quickly and so satisfyingly that Penelope couldn’t believe she was really living it; but there she was, kissing a complete stranger she knew only a few things about.
The next morning, she woke up to the relentless ring of her phone and a pounding headache. She reached out for the nightstand to grab her phone and knocked over a glass in the process.
“Hello?” she asked with a dry throat and eyes still squinting.
“Penelope Anne Featherington!” she heard her friend’s voice on the other end of the line. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out with a complete stranger?”
Then all the memories came flooding back in that moment—how things had escalated after the kiss and how they ended up at the hotel; how he had been sweet and caring with her and, at the same time, could be overly passionate and enthusiastic about her body. She also remembered that they had fallen asleep together in the same bed. But when she looked around, she was completely alone.
“I’m sorry, Soph,” she murmured, an apology as she tried to sit up on the bed. “I guess I never looked at my phone.”
“I figured that out,” Sophie retorted sarcastically. “But anyway... tell me how it went with your mysterious guy.” Her voice didn’t sound as annoyed anymore, but rather amused.
Before Penelope could answer, Sophie added, “Wait, is he still there?”
Penelope looked around the room more attentively. It wasn’t very big; a small bathroom, the bed, and a tiny sitting area in another corner, but everything seemed quiet. “He left,” she murmured, sitting up on the bed, reaching for the glass of water she had knocked over moments before, and noticing a piece of paper, soaked with water, on the floor.
“Seriously?” Her question sounded incredulous and annoyed.
Penelope picked up the note from the floor, trying to read what it said, but the water had ruined almost all of the text. The words were smudged, the ink barely visible, and the only thing she could make out was her name at the beginning, written in a firm yet now smudged handwriting.
A knot began to form in her chest as her fingers clenched the wet paper. What did it say? Had Colin left an important message? A way to contact him? Her mind raced with possibilities, each more disheartening than the last.
“Pen?” Sophie’s voice brought her back to the present, still on the phone.
“There was a note, but I can’t read it... it’s completely ruined,” she said in a whisper.
Sophie fell silent for a few seconds before speaking again, now with a softer tone.
“Hey, don’t get so worked up. Maybe it’s not as important as you think. And if he really cares about you, he’ll find a way to contact you, right?”
Penelope let out a sigh as she stood up and left the crumpled note on the table. But Sophie’s words couldn’t calm the sting of disappointment she felt. It had been a magical night, like something out of one of her favorite books, and now it seemed to be crumbling with a dawn full of doubts and uncertainty.
“Yeah, I guess,” she replied, although her voice didn’t sound convinced.
Sophie sighed on the other end of the line.
“Look, I’ll be there in half an hour. Make coffee, and we’ll go through every detail of that night until we figure it out.”
Penelope hung up the phone and looked around the room again, trying to find something else, any clue that Colin had really been there and that it wasn’t just a dream. But there was nothing else. Just the illegible note and the echo of a night that now seemed as fleeting as it was unreal.
As she began to get ready, she couldn’t help but feel hurt. It wasn’t just that Colin had left without properly saying goodbye; it was the feeling of having lived something so extraordinary only for it to fade with the first light of day.
Still, a small spark of hope remained. If Colin had truly felt the same way she did, maybe this wouldn’t be the last chapter of their story together.
A month later, Penelope had resigned herself to never seeing her mysterious guy again. She had spent hours on Instagram, desperately searching for "Colin, travel photographer," the man she had met on that magical night at a pub in Scotland, but each search ended in a dead end. Gradually, she began to accept the possibility that maybe it had only been a fleeting adventure, something special but transient, and that perhaps all the romance she had imagined between them existed solely in her mind.
Returning to London wasn’t easy. Although Sophie made every effort to distract her with girls' plans, nights out, and relaxing afternoons, Penelope couldn’t help but let her thoughts drift back to that night. The spark of excitement she had felt with Colin was hard to extinguish. Finally, she decided that the best thing to do was focus on her projects and stop dreaming about what could have been.
But even her resolve wavered during her book signing.
The event had been a success. Penelope felt deeply grateful and moved as she looked at the endless line of young readers eagerly waiting for her to sign a copy. Her heart swelled with pride as she thought of the 17-year-old girl who had started that story, never imagining that one day so many people would read it. In those moments, all the hard work was worth every sleepless night, every page edited over and over again.
At the end of the event, when the line of readers had finally disappeared, Sophie approached with a mischievous smile and her own copy of the book in hand.
“Will you sign my book?” she asked cheerfully. Then, with a glint of excitement in her eyes, she added, “And afterwards, we should go out to celebrate your success.”
Penelope took the book with a tired smile and began to sign it.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Soph,” she replied, scrunching her nose.
Sophie raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.
“Come on, Pluma. Is it because of your mysterious guy?”
Penelope quickly looked up, feeling caught.
“No, of course not,” she said, her voice a bit sharper than she intended. Though she couldn’t deny that this morning, she had fantasized about Colin unexpectedly showing up at her book signing, that wasn’t what was stopping her from going out that night. “It’s just... I haven’t been feeling very well lately. I’ve had nausea all morning, and I’m exhausted.”
Sophie’s smile faded as she studied her with a mix of surprise and suspicion.
“Nausea? Tiredness?” she repeated slowly, as if putting the pieces of a puzzle together. Her gaze turned sharp, inquisitive. “Penelope... is there something you’re not telling me?”
Penelope blinked, confused by her friend’s sudden change.
“What? What could I be hiding from you?”
Sophie crossed her arms and gave her a meaningful look.
“Have you considered that maybe you’re pregnant?”
Sophie’s words hit Penelope like a blast of cold wind. Her heart lurched, and for a moment, the air seemed to disappear from her lungs. Pregnant. The word floated in her mind as her face paled and memories of that night with Colin flooded back.
“No... it can’t be...” she murmured, but even as she spoke, she felt a seed of doubt beginning to sprout inside her.
Sophie crossed her arms and leaned slightly toward her.
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but... have you thought that maybe you could be pregnant?”
Penelope’s world seemed to stop for a moment. Her eyes widened, and her mouth moved without sound, as if trying to deny the idea before it could even take root.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” she snapped, but her voice sounded weak, unconvincing even to her own ears.
Sophie wasn’t intimidated.
“Pen, think about it. Nausea, tiredness… And if we do the math, it was just a month ago when... well, you know, your magical night with the mysterious Colin.”
Penelope felt a wave of heat rise from her neck to her cheeks. She shook her head while her mind scrambled to find a more logical explanation.
“No, it can’t be. Besides, it was just once!” she replied, though her words barely seemed to soothe her growing anxiety.
Sophie raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.
“Sometimes, once is enough, sweetheart.”
Penelope swallowed hard. Suddenly, the symptoms she had been ignoring for days seemed to fit into a picture she didn’t want to face. Was it possible? Her mind was filled with memories of that night: the warmth of his lips, the sparkle in his eyes, his easy laughter... and then the intensity with which they had given themselves to each other.
“You should take a test,” Sophie said, breaking the silence that had formed between them. Her tone was softer now, but her gaze was still firm.
Penelope ran a hand over her face, trying to process what was happening.
“It can’t be,” she murmured to herself, though she no longer sounded so sure.
Sophie placed a hand over Penelope’s, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
“Look, it might be nothing. Maybe you’re just stressed or tired from all the book stuff, but... what if it is? You have nothing to lose by finding out.”
Penelope nodded slowly, though the knot in her stomach only tightened.
“Alright, I’ll do it,” she murmured finally, her voice trembling.
POSITIVE
The five tests they had bought at the pharmacy on the way to her apartment were lined up in a row on the bathroom counter, each one showing the same result. Penelope’s heart pounded in a frantic rhythm, as if trying to escape from her chest, as her eyes settled on those small plastic rectangles that had changed her world.
What would she do now? She hadn’t anticipated her life taking such an unexpected turn in such a short time. Part of her knew that, someday, she wanted to be a mother; she imagined a future in which she would marry someone special and create a family full of laughter and cozy afternoons at home. But this, without a doubt, was the complete opposite of what she had planned.
Sophie was by her side, her eyes filled with compassion and a hint of concern. She took Penelope’s hand gently, transmitting some of her own strength. With a serene smile, as if she could read her deepest thoughts, she said, “You always have a choice, Pen. You don’t have to decide now.”
A shiver ran down Penelope’s spine. Sophie’s words unsettled her; it was an option, of course, but part of her, the one that sought romance and happy endings, rebelled against the idea of making such a drastic decision.
“I... I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice trembling as she tried to sort her thoughts. “I’ve always wanted to be a mother; of course, I never imagined it would be like this, but... I guess I’m happy.” A timid smile began to form on her lips, a smile that seemed shy but carried a glimmer of hope.
Sophie looked at her carefully, trying to catch the true emotion behind her friend’s words. “Pen, you’re going to be a mom,” she said softly, but with a warmth only she could convey.
“Yes, I’m going to have a baby,” Penelope replied, and suddenly, fear dissolved into a torrent of emotion. A soft laugh, almost a whisper, emerged from her throat, and the smile on her face widened, lighting up her eyes.
“You’re going to have a baby!” Sophie exclaimed, bursting into laughter that echoed in the air like a melody of joy.
“I’m going to have a baby!” Penelope repeated, this time with a joy that surprised her. Fear had turned into a warm embrace of excitement and anticipation. The bathroom, once filled with uncertainty, now glowed with a new light, a promise of a future full of surprises.