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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 7 2010, 08:17 PM (1,066 Views) | |
| Mateo Cisinerros | Feb 7 2010, 08:17 PM Post #1 |
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Cisinerros #4/ Thing 1
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![]() ![]() ![]() Yes. . .it is only accessible by sliding pole. (With a note on the adjacent wall reading 'Not for practicing performances') Mateo and Miguel strive to make this workplace a place of fun and excitement; where you can do your job and not have feel like work; the sliding pole was a mutual and unanimous choice. The employees have to feel comfortable and relax as well, they after all deserve it. |
![]() [Did I mention Dea <3 is my hero?] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Oct 6 2010, 05:23 AM Post #2 |
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Damn poles. Who in the world thought those were really a good idea? Seriously; the girls spun and spun on them for their routines, twisted around them for private shoes, enabled them to show themselves off, and yet when they were all finished they had to come back here and get more thigh burn by sliding down another damn pole, just to get to the couches. Or, perhaps, the sink for some water. In Athena's case, she was rushing to the bathroom. Her routine had taken a bad turn when she started feeling dizzy; started having the ground fly up to meet her and tilting in ways she didn't know was possible. In her defense, she finished her routine but now? Now she was going to retch, and this damn pole was making it worse. Clammy hands gripped the silver metal as she slid down inch by inch, breathing shallowly from her nose. It was as if she was drunk, stumbling over the floor and rushing herself into the very nice bathroom. From that moment her strained muscles, tired and weary, fell to the floor as she cradled her face in her arms, emptying the meager contents of her stomach into the bowl. For whatever reason, Athena had never gotten sick. Ever. She had been blessed with great health, and she supposed the paint fumes killed stuff too. Even when she had worked herself to the literal bone trying to put together the cash for her mother's hospital bills and didn't sleep, she only grew tired and weak; not sick. Therefore this? This was a serious fluke. It must have been one of the other girls bringing the flu to work or something, and Athena'd just gotten an extra bad dose of it. She'd just have to talk to the girls about staying the hell home when they got sick, or going to Mungo's and getting potions, or something. Anything other than this ridiculous flu bug that wouldn't leave her the hell alone. She'd thrown up more times in the past three weeks than she had in her life, and she was not happy. To be honest, it wasn't just feeling completely ill that was irking Athena. Earlier that day, she'd been searching in the library for a book for her artists study, a novel to enhance her studying for her midterms. She'd been reaching up for it, of course having spotted it on the highest shelf, when this odd woman passed by her, looked back, and walked into the rack. It would have been a simple explanation to think that perhaps the woman had come to help her get out the book, except for that the woman had been shorter than she. She had also been wearing a long, colorful skirt and scarves and bracelets...she was just eccentric. For a moment, the woman had stared; just looked at her from her head, and then squinted at her stomach. Of course, Athena's shirt had rode up a little in her reach, so she had just assumed the lady was subtly pointing out 'inappropriate' wear or something. There were a lot of odd people in England, that was for sure. However...then came the words. "Congratulations!" "Sorry...for what?" "Well for the baby, of course. You're pregnant." "Excuse me?" "You're with child. It's alright; I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about." "I'm not worried about- what are you talking about? I'm not pregnant." "Yes you are, dear. I can see it in your aura." And then that infuriating woman walked off without a single backwards glance, and Athena was left with those words. Baby. Pregnant. With child. That woman must have been completely off her rocker; bonkers. There was no way that Athena was. For one, she was careful. She was on the potion, and the pill, and she always made the men use condoms. For another, since she'd been feeling so sick lately, she hadn't had any hookups. Previous to that she had definitely been with Carlos - and they had used protection, right? Details were slightly hazy - and before that, she was healing from the alternate schooling thing. There was absolutely no reason that she was pregnant. Yet...her period was late. And on top of that, she couldn't stop throwing up. But she had been losing weight, not gaining it, and she was stressed. It was midterms of her last semester. She always ate less and had her period get all out of whack when she was stressed. That was a normal occurrence. There was just simply, no way. Which was obviously why she had a test in her bag. There was no truth to it; Athena knew she wasn't pregnant. Being pregnant was just simply out of the question right then. She was being supported by her ability to have her body look supreme and flirt, she had just gotten accepted into the most prestigious art school in London (a fact that she would have celebrated, had she been feeling better), about to go onto graduate school and her future. Her bills were breaking even and she had money for more than just ramen noodles and tv dinners. She had a gallery show, people buying her things, a trip to Paris coming up as soon as she could swing it. She had her entire life laid out before her, and she'd been careful. Hell, no. That lady was just clinically insane. She'd just take the test, confirm what she already knew to destroy any lingering subconscious anxiety about what the woman had said, and go to Mungo's the next day to see if she could get anything for the nausea. Tonight she'd simply down a little tequila and tums, and get right back on the stage for an encore. Ten minutes, that's all it took. Getting up to brush her teeth and straighten herself back out, Athena realized that she was looking tired and washed out in the mirror. See, that just couldn't do, now could it? She idn't want anyone to think the 'Goddess' was losing her sparkle. Pulling out her makeup bag with that potion she'd grabbed at the store on the way out - totally ignoring the judgmental look the clerk gave her - Athena first drowned the vile potion, then set to ridding her mouth of the taste, soothing the puffiness under her eyes and the cracks in her lips. Awful. Just awful, what being ill could do to one's complexion! So certain was she that her stomach would be glowing red in just a few moments, Athena packed her things back up and walked back out into the lounge, feeling much better as she readjusted her costume on properly - as she'd kind of ran out as soon as she was off stage - and heading back towards the club. Red, no problem, no baby, just some senile woman playing a joke, life would go on as normal.. Athena was smiling into the mirror as she walked passed it, glowing blue. She was still smiling when she headed up the first couple stairs. It dropped in a matter of two seconds after that, spinning on her heel and nearly falling down the two stairs she'd gone up just to run to the mirror once again to see that blue. Frantically she stared, and then her hands went to her stomach, patting like it was hiding something. Her eyes switched between looking down and looking into the mirror, her eyes widening feverishly as she took in the fact that she was blue. Blue was the color coming out of her stomach, blue... Black. Stunned to her very core, Athena had forgotten to breathe for a second, causing her legs to fall out under her like they had just been cut off; jerked by a puppeteer. Her lashes blinked frantically in the cold room, staring at her now normally-colored stomach like it was not hers. It didn't feel like hers. It seemed like a totally foreign concept that right then that her stomach wasn't normal. It held a...she was carrying a... Her throat closed, lips barely moving as she breathed a whispering, "Baby." For a while, all there was left of her mental capacity was that one word; baby. It spun around and around in her mind until all of a sudden, she gasped out, "Oh, ~censored~!" They hadn't used protection, had they? Things had been hazy, they'd managed to get all those cocktails into their system and then there was that fish, and his mouth and then just... oh, ~censored~. ~censored~, ~censored~ ~censored~ ~censored~. How does that even happen? Was this fate's way of telling her that she was on the wrong path? Was she really just destined to become her mother? Was there any way this was logical, or okay? She had school to think of. She had bills to pay and... shit. How as she supposed to support a baby when she was going to get fat and not be able to work and not even paint to sell things because the fumes were deadly to babies and she was going to have to get a job as a waitress or something equally as horrible just so that she could manage to pay for her house and save for a baby but tips didn't do much for anyone unless she was working at a place like this and she loved, this place more than anything and the stage and the coworkers and her trip to Paris, it wasn't even possible, how was it possible for her to do that when she had a baby in her stomach? A baby was in her stomach! Dear merlin, how in the world was she supposed to go to graduate school taking care of an infant? How was she supposed to raise a kid in a flat full of toxic things? How was she going to raise a kid at all? How was she supposed to do this? Her mother had managed...her mother had been superwoman. Her mother had struggled through jobs and given up her dreams and...and... All she wanted in that moment as sobs threatened to take over her body was her mummy's lap to crawl into so that she could make everything alright once again. But Athena couldn't even have that. Ignoring the fact that they were supposed to do an encore, Athena grabbed her things, wiping her face without prevail on the heavily flowing tears and apparated home as soon as possible to head for the rocky road ice cream and her pillows. Pregnant. |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 7 2010, 03:48 AM Post #3 |
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Cisinerros #2
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His niece was a very exuberant little girl. When Linda had come in through the club's doors saying that her babysitter had cancelled on her at the last moment, Alexandra was merely sitting on her mother's hip, looking very amused with the situation. She wasn't startled, or bothered by the employees running around, or the club patrons beginning to arrive by floo or apparating; Alexandra merely had looked around, surveying everything and everyone. Carlos had come in tonight, though it was his night off, at Miguel's urging because he wanted Carlos to double check the state of the kitchen. Needless to say, he didn't know what was in the air tonight but people were acting like chickens running around with their heads cut off. He had brought order to the kitchen well and rapidly enough; people knew by now that when it came to his kitchen, he meant business. He had only barely escaped the kitchens, however, when he had encountered a frazzled Linda, explaining the situation to a less rattled Miguel. Carlos had immediately offered to babysit Alexandra, and Linda had given the almost one year old to him immediately, filling him in on feeding instructions and diaper instructions and which toy she preferred and other details he had actually done well in remembering. Because Linda was still apprehensive of leaving Xandra in his care, Carlos assuaged her worries by promising to stay in the Employee Lounge where Linda could check up on them whenever she wanted to. In the employee lounge he was, sitting on a chair while Xandra sat in his lap and babbled to him in the midst of him reading her a book. She would be turning one in less than a week, a birthday party his whole family was practically attending because they were killing two birds with one stone and celebrating hers and Guillermo's birthdays together because they were so close together. "Then the wolf said, "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in, can you do it Xandra? One, two, three," and the two of them blew out together, imitating the wolf. Xandra stopped first with a laugh, and then she kept watching him as he continued, and laughed even more when he didn't. She put her tiny hands over his mouth, urging him to stop in small frantic babbles and he did, laughing too. He kissed the palms of her hands as she giggled and then batted him away as she pointed to the book with another babble, telling him to keep reading, turning the page clumsily with her small fingers. "Okay, okay, I get it. The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks," he continued to read her the book of pigs being eaten by wolves. How this constituted as a children's story, he didn't know. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 7 2010, 04:07 AM Post #4 |
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It was just one of those days. Athena couldn't really understand why Saturday nights made everyone so frantic, but they did. She'd heard the kitchens were a disaster to the point of the twins needing to call up Carlos to get people to chill out and do what they were supposed to, and she'd done some work herself to avoid some major catfights and emotional breakdowns among the dancers. Of course, that didn't mean she didn't have her own little snapped statement here or there but...that was the environment of stress with hormones. It just happened. Luckily, Athena only had a early night shift that day; she wasn't dancing, she was tending. She'd gotten to play with the regular early afternoon drinkers into the beginning of the late night clubbers, but Friday night had been her long shift. Thank merlin for her being off duty; she was about to grab Charlene by her overly-teased fried hair and drag her off into a dark corner to rid her of shadowing Athena's presence ever again. She only had to put up her apron and grab her bag out of the break room, and then she was home free to go...sleep or something. She wasn't all that interested in going out herself that night. Yet, when Athena silently slid down the pole into the lounge, she heard a voice she was very familiar with... and a story she hadn't heard in forever. Instead of announcing her presence, Athena leaned against the wall around the pole, shifting just enough that she could see Carlos sitting with an adorable toddler on his lap, watching them imitate the wolf. She watched as the little girl giggled and attempted to cover his mouth with her tiny hands, watched the exchange. Who's child she was, Athena did not know but... "I see who's in charge here." Athena moved from her hiding place, her voice quiet so that she didn't startle the two. "Who's this pretty little blonde?" Edited by Athena Stryker, Nov 7 2010, 04:13 AM.
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 7 2010, 04:44 AM Post #5 |
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Cisinerros #2
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Carlos looked up, stopping mid-sentence as he heard a voice addressing him from the entrance pole. He smiled upon seeing who it was, and chuckled at her comment before answering, "Well you know, I have a weakness for beautiful women." He tickled Alexandra's feet afterwards, causing her to squeal in delight and try to get away from his hands at the same time as she reprimanded him with a small "No!" one of the few words she did know. He grinned as he looked up at Athena again, "Speaking of which, hello beautiful." Because after all, he couldn't let his usual greeting go without being said. "This is Alexandra, Linda and Alejandro's daughter and my niece," he introduced as Xandra watched Athena curiously, three of her fingers in her mouth. "Can you say 'hi' to Athena, Xandra? Say hi," Carlos took her hand away from her mouth and moved it in a waving nature before she took over and waved herself, stringing together a ramble of babbles together in what Carlos was sure was a foreign language of sorts, only understood by babies. Looking back up at Athena, same grin still on his face as it had been the whole night, he further explained exactly what he was doing with this pretty little blonde. "Linda's babysitter cancelled on her unexpectedly, she came in fretting, worrying, you know how she worries. I offered to take care of her for the night. And a bit unfortunately, this one seems to be nocturnal." He bounced Xandra on his lap, to keep her attention, knowing that any minute and she would start to feel ignored. Yes, it would be a lot easier to play babysitting uncle if all he had to do was keep watch over a sleeping child, but that would also be a lot boring. Besides, he was glad to be spending time with his niece. "How have you been, bella?" |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 7 2010, 04:57 AM Post #6 |
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Athena tilted her head in acceptance to Carlos' answer, unable to resist from smiling back at him at his response. As usual, though the greeting was neither necessary nor unexpected, Athena couldn't help but feel a little warm inside at the notion. Most people had that built-in need to be paid attention to and loved, and she was no different. Hers was perhaps even moreso developed, given her addiction to the limelight. Still, it was the toddler that caught her attention for the most part, coming into the lounge to sit on the little coffee table in front of them. "A Cisinerros woman? Oh dear. Hi Alexandra." Her smile turned delighted when Xandra waved on her own, saying something or another in return. "Not a shy one are you?" Uncle explained why the family resemblance was strong, and Athena nodded. To be honest, Carlos was all but glowing with his little niece in his arms, and Athena was wondering just when he decided he was going to hang out with all the mere humans on earth. "I do know how she worries." She agreed, laughing a little. "Poor thing, having to drop her off with you." Except for...not really. He seemed more than well prepared to take on the toddler. "I am exhausted." Athena started, before her smile flashed back up and she teased, "Do I get to snuggle up and have you read me a story too? I think she has the best deal here, though she's almost too young to appreciate it." Of course, she wanted to know his answer to his own question as well, so she commented, "You're really good with her. Was that natural? And tack on how you've been as well please." |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 7 2010, 05:52 AM Post #7 |
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Cisinerros #2
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Carlos had a bit of trouble deciding on which beautiful blonde to look at at the moment, so rather than choosing one, he alternated between the two of them. He had seen Athena around, of course, because whenever she was tending she served him his nightcap, and when she worked upstairs at the restaurant as a server, they saw each other in the kitchen. Nevertheless, it wasn't like right now where it was more or less quiet and devoid of patrons. Time flew by so quickly, and so easily that it was mildly frightening. Athena's remark caused Carlos to chuckle, nodding along knowingly. "I know. First one in two generations. She's going to be a nightmare, I gather." Heaven knew what might happen with their genes in a female form. Even his own mother, who was not a Cisinerros by blood rather than marriage, could be one of the scariest people he knew. Alexandra, however, wasn't scary quite yet, just demanding. She wanted to be the center of attention, and pouted and whined if she wasn't until she was given the right amount of attention once more. Which meant all attention, naturally. "You wound me," he commented jokingly with a small pout. "I'll have you know, this little angel is in good hands. Her mother just worries too much, doesn't she sweetie?" Alexandra babbled away for a couple of seconds before Carlos 'translated', "We can take that as a yes." "Well you could have fooled me, love, you look ravishing as always," though now he was curious as to her source of exhaustion. Granted, it was a Saturday and therefore their busiest nights and that meant anybody and everybody would be feeling at least somewhat stressed out, but it was still pretty early. Some would say the night hadn't even properly begun. Lips twitching in amusement as Athena teased about asking if she was going to get a chance to be on his lap as well, he pretended to give it a fair bit of thought before he answered, "I think you would have to fight her for it, honestly. Though once she's gone to sleep, I will be more than happy to oblige." That was, if Alexandra ever decided to sleep. Right now, her wide blue eyes were too attentive and sleep seemed very far away. "Thank you. Comes with years of babysitting for younger cousins. I have been rather bored actually, nothing the least bit interesting to share. . .I mean, I could talk about thunderstorms near the ocean or the mess going on here tonight, but not very exciting over all." |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 7 2010, 06:23 AM Post #8 |
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Athena shrugged, tying back her hair now that she was off work. "It'll be good for all you big boys. If she has everyone wrapped around her finger like she has you...well. It'll be a sweet nightmare. You won't even know you're catering to her every whim until after it's happened." And ha, wouldn't that be the funniest thing to watch ever? Of course, poor girl when it came to dating age... Oh well. She had time to perfect her way out of having four scary uncles and one super scary daddy frightening away any cute guy or girl she might decide to like. "It looks like she is." Athena agreed sincerely, amused as ever to hear Xandra continue to talk and interact with them. It was curious to her; she wanted to know if babies actually understood what everyone was saying, or if she was just responding to the tones. It wasn't like anyone was going to actually experiment on babies, but she still was curious about that. 'The baby can hear you', well, what did that even mean? But she digressed. "Mmm." He was looking at the glamours and saying that. Ravishing as always, but with a stomach extending a foot out before her that he wasn't looking at, and then saying so. It wasn't that she really cared all that much that she had a pregnant belly; she actually loved it. She loved being able to feel the baby kick and move around inside of her, loved the warmth and...she just didn't know how to explain it properly. It was just there, a feeling like she was complete in some ways now. What she cared about was the fact that maybe...she had been a little too hasty in deciding to hide this pregnancy. It had been a knee-gut reaction, something done for her to keep her job and be able to protect herself. It helped with the denial at first too, and she wasn't proud of it. Maybe, he deserved to know. Well, shit. There was no maybe about that; he did, actually, deserve to know. This child was his and the problem was maybe, she didn't have the guts to say it. "Ah well. I can cut my losses; I know when I've been out-adorable'd." There. That was the problem; there was just this dynamic of friendship that she didn't want to lose. What if it was different with a child that might be his? What if he only liked children when he could play with them and then hand them back in? What if he freaked out and didn't want anything to do with her? She wasn't getting him enough credit, but the last question was all that she knew. It was, after all, what her own father had done. "You know, that's what you told me the last time I was over at your place, before you realized you had things to oil and pictures to show me." She pointed out, fidgeting with the bottom of her zipper for a moment. "It's really nice to see that not all men are freaked out by babies, you know? I mean... my dad..." She wryly smiled, looking at the book with it's cartoon wolves and pigs. "My dad freaked out like someone told him there would be no more oxygen in the world and skipped, just leaving my momma a note saying he didn't want anything to do with 'it'. I found that in her things when I was packing up the house after she died." |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 7 2010, 07:09 AM Post #9 |
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Cisinerros #2
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"A sweet nightmare," he repeated both with amusement. "Can't say I've had too many of those." He didn't actually know those were capable of existing seeing as how it was such a oxymoron, so ironic. A sweet nightmare that happened while you were awake, Merlin, there were too many contradicting statements in that sentence alone; trying to assign it a meaning would have been too complicated for his taste. But as always, Athena had an answer that would at least explain it halfway. "Meaning we won't know we're spoiling her until it's too late." A sweet nightmare it was. Now, that was odd. Maybe it was his over-analytic mind at work again, but usually if the sentence he uttered had even the least bit of a compliment headed in her direction, she appraised it and then accepted it, usually with a smirk or a grin on her face. Sometimes, maybe, even both- a feat which Carlos had thought pretty impossible before her. This compliment about her not looking the least bit tired though was for all intents and purposes ignored. Again, maybe he was just thinking too much into it but that was his normal thinking patterns in the first place. He didn't press her any more on the matter, instead allow the conversation to keep flowing. After all, if a conversation was like a river, who stopped in the middle to turn around and go upstream? Except certain fish during mating season? He made no more sense at all. "Don't beat yourself up about it too much, I don't think anybody is capable of 'out-adorabling' a baby. Otherwise, I have no doubt that you would have won and this lap would be all yours. Storybook and all, optional of course." The mental scene of him actually reading The Three Little Pigs to a cuddling Athena was actually a bit ridiculous, mostly because of the story reading. "Well you brought me the thing to oil, which only proves my statement that most exciting things happening in my life you bring into them." Now, whether that was best characterized as sad or sweet, he wasn't aware of yet. As the conversation turned into a more serious tone, Carlos kept bouncing Xandra gently on his lap while she flipped the cardboard pages of the book, as he watched Athena while she spoke. She rarely ever spoke of her parents, her father even less often. In fact, he didn't think he remembered her ever bringing him up. And now as it turns out he ended up not being anything more than a runaway Joe. "'It'. Wow, well, were I not in the presence of someone with very delicate ears I would use words a lot more vulgar. As it were, for now I'll just stick with coward. He was a coward, and an idiot." He shook his head, looking down at his niece as he wondered the thought process those men would have to have in order to leave behind a child, refer to it as an it, abandon a woman during such a critical stage. It was...pretty sickening, actually. "The strong pursue and the weak flee," he quoted from...he wasn't quite sure where he heard it before but he felt it was appropriate for the situation. "It must have been pretty tough, finding out that way." Growing up without a father, as well he figured, maybe for normal people but Carlos knew Athena had never gone wanting, she had loved her mother and however few occasions Athena actually brought it up, it was pretty obvious. Well, then again, he also had eyes like a hawk and an intuition of...he actually didn't have a simile for that. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 7 2010, 07:36 AM Post #10 |
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Fully aware that Carlos was trying to make literal sense of her description, Athena waited patiently until he accepted what she had said completely before admitting, "I read that somewhere." She grinned, knowing all full and well it was from one of those 'dirty chick books' that every girl loved but not many admitted to reading. Her? She would admit it if it suited her at the time, or deny that she had enough time to read things like that if she felt like it would hinder her. After all, everything was about presentation. And unfortunately, the foot-and-a-half-long female had better presentation, this go round. She didn't mind; it was almost as good as cuddling with him to see him cradling his niece instead. Besides, the toddler was there first, and as a rule she didn't tend to get into other woman's territory unless she had a reason. And for now, she had no reason. "I think the storybook should be included, though I have to say I'd have to switch out pigs and wolves for something more...princessy." Like Snow White; that story always made her laugh, especially when she got to the part about the little men. "Flirt." Was her mere response, a slight smile on her face as she shook her head. He just didn't think of the little things, when it came to 'exciting'. His pictures the last time, for example...she found those exciting. How was it not exciting to have basically an entire house underwater? Sheesh. Although Athena didn't...necessarily mean to go into the details about her father, she did realize it was a subconscious way of getting the answer to her real question. It was her way of making sure he wouldn't do the exact same thing. She found herself relaxing further as his first reaction was to resist cussing, the smile returning to her lips once again as she returned to studying him - as he was watching Xandra, only. It was a really sweet response, though Athena was long over it. In fact, she was so far over it the clenching in her stomach was just her baby telling her to hurry things up. It had nothing to do with talking about her...'idiotic coward' of a father. "It was...just simply because I guess you never get rid of the hope he'll come to his senses." But, enough talking about her dad; that made her uncomfortable enough. Now, now was the time to do it. There was no need for finesse and especially no need to change the location. He just needed to know. She needed to tell him. "I have something to tell you." Athena rushed out, afraid that if she didn't act on her decision saying that his response about her father was all the proof she needed, it would never happen. But...then she stopped. Edited by Athena Stryker, Nov 7 2010, 07:37 AM.
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 7 2010, 08:08 AM Post #11 |
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Cisinerros #2
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"I'll take your word for it then," he told her with a small chuckle and a shake of his head. He could trust her, at least, even on matters which weren't so trifling as this one. A linguistic or semantic technicality that it could be- why was he still paying this even the smallest bit of attention? "Princessy? You know, I always knew you would be a secret lover of fairytales," he teased with a small grin. He didn't know many of them, of course, because all of the bedtime stories he had as a child were of monsters or ninjas, or powerful wizards battling dragons and other dangerous creatures; his mother tended to pass the part where the hero would rescue the damsel in distress because they simply weren't interested in it at the time. Then again, knowing his mother, she probably would have altered it so the hero would be knocked unconscious and then the damsel would save the world, only to let the poor, with-a-concussion hero to think he really did all the work. "You say that as if you're reprimanding me," he 'tsked' in a reproving joking manner, before he grinned impishly and winked. The irony of the matter was that he wasn't actually that much of a flirt, not really. He just happened to be comfortable with Athena, to be able to joke and tease openly. They were friends, but if he tried flirting with someone he had just met at the bar for example well...sometimes it didn't quite always work out. Then again, most of the people one would meet at the bar don't usually need more of a sentence than "Want to dance?" followed by "You're place or mine?" So, needless to say, he wasn't particularly fond of that specific ritual. Although that could also stem from the fact that he wasn't always successful at it. What was the real cause and what was the real effect? What came first? He had to stop internally talking himself into circles. But sometimes talking to himself internally was the only solution seeing as how speaking his thoughts out loud right at that moment would have Xandra's ears scarred for life and then Carlos, after coming to his senses, reeling with embarrassment. He couldn't help it, it must have been the small toddler sitting on his lap right at that moment, but the thought of a man leaving his child had him furious. Well, as furious as he could possibly get. "I'm guessing he had no senses to come back to, to begin with," was his rather immediate response, spoken in somewhat of a rushed tone. Looking up from Xandra, he simply said, "It was the biggest mistake of his life." Of that he basically had no doubt- he deprived himself of a life with his daughter, his amazingly beautifully artistic daughter. With Xandra beginning to fuss, he returned to bouncing her as he reached into her bag and pulled out one of her favorite toys- her toy wand. It did nothing more than light the wand tip and shoot harmless sparks but it amused her just the same. Xandra was appeased immediately, and as Carlos cast his attention back up to Athena, she was speaking to him again, in the same serious tone, yet a little different, from before. "What is it?" he asked, concerned evident in his tone and face. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 7 2010, 08:23 AM Post #12 |
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Satisfied that Carlos wasn't getting too worked up into the technicalities of the phrase choice she had used, Athena dropped the conversation to one much more amusing. Like, him teasing that he had her pegged as a closet fiction-lover. She paused for the moment before putting a finger over her lips and whispering, "Aye, but if you tell anyone, I'm going to have no choice but to kill you, and then dump you in your backyard's ocean." Pfft. As if she could kill anyone, and secondly, as if she could kill Carlos. As if anyone could kill Carlos. Merlin, just look at him! The man oozed of so much good and amazing that she figured danger would just...bam. Bounce off. At least, in her opinion it should. "Maybe I am." Athena pointed out, laughing a little, "You're teaching your niece at an early age the...finer, points in gaining brownie points." Yet, the shallow 'flirting' had absolutely nothing on his sheer, outraged response ending up in bashing her biological dad. It was absolutely nothing compared to how it felt hearing him even defend her that way, when there really was no threat in the room. They were things that she had thought herself, obviously, when she was still angry about the entire situation but what could she do about it? She had nothing but one single, old picture of him. No name. Her mother had told her that on her 21st birthday, Athena would be told. Miranda took that secret to the grave. Telling this sweet, attentive, incredible man that he was in the same situation and was going to be having a child of his own in a mere four months shouldn't have been hard. After everything that he had just said, just done for her without even realizing it, it should have been easy. It should have just come out of her mouth. And yet it didn't. The concern that he was showing just served to make her nervous, finally just clasping her fingers together as she took one deep breath, and actually looked at him. "We're pregnant." Swallowing back apologies and explanations, Athena just let those two, simple words hang for a moment. |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 7 2010, 09:14 AM Post #13 |
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Cisinerros #2
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"Would I be allowed a final request?" Obviously, he was speaking teasingly because he didn't think Athena could ever commit murder. Then again, he had thought the same about himself and if it was spoken on the technicality of he made someone's heart stop beating then yes, he had in fact...already done so. However, that was a gruesome thought and he would rather avoid it for as long as he possibly could. Realizing that Athena had a small point, he looked at Xandra and began to address her in what could only be described as his pretend-serious voice. "Xandra, you are not allowed to use these tactics for brownie-point gaining until you are at least...seventeen. Okay?" She didn't babble or coo a response. He didn't know if it was because his tone had adopted, even if falsely, an authoritative ring to it but she was practically ignoring him. Yes, this little girl was going to be a 'sweet nightmare'. Xandra kept amusing herself on his lap as Carlos waited for Athena to tell him whatever it was she needed to. She seemed to be getting herself ready for it physically at least, clasping her fingers and taking deep breaths and looking at him directly. Carlos thought she would never speak it out, that was until she spoke. Man, did she speak. Shock of course was the first thing to go through his expression. Who wouldn't be shocked, especially at those words. First, it did everything to bat away any mistakes- it was his baby. Yet that simple statement was so different from an "I'm pregnant, you're the father" even though it meant the exact same thing. They were pregnant, Carlos himself would not be carrying the baby, of course, because that was nature's or God's design since the beginning of mankind not including a couple of surgical mishaps that had women being turned into men with the baby still inside- He was getting off track. It was the word they, it was the fact that they were in this together, that this was a team effort, that this required two people. After all they had just discussed men who ran away from their responsibility from their children, their responsibility as fathers- He was going to be a father. He exhaled, as the thought captured him and enveloped him. He, Carlos Cisinerros was going to be responsible for the life of another human being. He was, they were, going to nurture their child and raise their child and he was...going to be a father. At that moment he didn't know whether the shock or the fear was greater. But the difference was that the fear didn't stem from worry about how this child was going to affect his life from now on but rather whether or not he was ready for such an important step. He would get ready. He was a grown man, he was twenty eight years old, and he wasn't a sex-crazed teenager that had gotten his girlfriend pregnant at a senior prom; he had his life built already, to the best of his capabilities. He had a job, he had a home, he had friends and family and he was pretty much stable. This wasn't a bad thing. No, in fact, this wasn't a bad thing at all. It is a surprise, boy was it a surprise, but so far he could no come up with any reason to worry. Except for the fact of course that he was going to be a father of a child. And it didn't matter when or where or the circumstances of how it happened- learning that he believed, would always be something frightening. "We're having a baby," he finally spoke out, shock still laced in his words, as well as a simple awe. He sighed, "You know this means you're never getting rid of my family, right? You're stuck with them. For life." He chucked lightly, not sure why that remark was the first to come out. Well, it was true, good heavens, he could already hear his parents. He was still in so much surprise, he was so overwhelmed and it made him want to run. To the bookstore. To buy every single, imaginable, baby book that there was out there to prepare himself for this. "Athena...we're having a baby," even repeating it...there were no words. "Xandra...you're getting a cousin." Because, apparently, letting Alexandra know was crucial. Not. He didn't know! He just felt like he needed to keep repeating it, and just keep talking. That need to start talking, finally came out. "How far along are you? Are you okay, is the baby okay? Do you need help with...anything? Buying supplies or, I mean, I know they'll go through diapers like crazy. Prenatal vitamins, that's what those are called right, are you taking them? I-" deep breaths here helped, definitely. "I'm going to help. With everything, everything at all, everything this baby could possibly need, I want to help give it to them. I...we...We is definitely the pro-noun of choice here. We...we can do this." He nodded, with no hesitance. "We...just...wow, dear Merlin," he passed a hand through his hair. It was strange, how out of order his reactions seemed to be. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 7 2010, 09:47 AM Post #14 |
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"One single request, and goodbyes for everyone." Athena decided on the fly, pleased at how 'generous' she could be. Ha. Ha. Either way, it was a pointless conversation and another one really was taking up all of her ability to truly thing. She was overwhelmed with worry of just how much of his life he would see fall apart or what he would do in respect to her words. She shouldn't have just thrown it out there like that. There were...better times, better places...she wasn't ready for him to know. She wasn't ready for it not to be a secret anymore. It would be easy to just keep on glamouring for another couple...months, right? And then just... Oh, who was she kidding? She didn't blame him for taking a while to process it. Hell, she took weeks to process it, not truly even thinking about it all that much as real until she felt the baby kick. Once she could feel the baby, then it was all over for her but...he was just finding out right then and there. So she simply waited, practically seeing the cogs turning in his head despite the stunned expression on his face. Finally he just reworded her statement to the final result, and still she stayed silent, simply nodding her agreement to his words. The next thing he said confused her. Her eyebrows furrowed together, wondering how he had gotten to that thought. From them having a baby to...well. On the other hand, Athena could see it. Thinking of what his family would think? But at the same time she just thought that maybe she had been getting there slowly and surely anyways. Athena was alone in the world; she was the very last one of her that she knew until this child came along, so while large families intimidated her slightly, she was drawn to them as something she didn't have herself. "I don't...have a problem with that?" She told him, unsure how to take him saying that they were having a baby over and over again. She hadn't even been able to say it completely outloud like that yet, and there he went. One, two, three. Five minutes, three announcements. Maybe it was his way of wrapping his mind around the concept. One second he was repeating the same words, the next throwing a ton of questions at her. It was then she realized that she was still glamoured and she'd missed the large reveal, the 'We're pregnant", big belly pops out. Better late than never, right? To avoid stretching out her shirt, Athena rolled it up her ribs and then pulled her wand out of her pocket, ending the spells. It felt so, so much better that way. "I'm nineteen weeks." That...sounded bad. "I honestly was completely ignoring it myself until I could feel the baby move, and I would have told you sooner, I promise I would have, it was just... I'm spineless, apparently." To this she gave a small laugh, and then moved on to the next question, "The baby is fine... I actually have another doctor's appointment soon to see what sex the baby is. Uhm, I mean, if you want to. I can just find out and keep it a secret, or just not find out if you'd prefer that or...we can talk about that later if you want, actually. I..." For some reason, the concept of going through diapers like crazy made her laugh. She just stopped trying to answer his quickfire questions, and just started giggling, her hands going to her face as she quickly turned to tears, and then back to laughter. This was insane. "I know." Athena beamed at him, realizing just how much lighter she felt with him knowing. It didn't make any sense to her; she had budgeted and made room and planned out everything and yet, she wasn't her mother. She may have been able to do it by herself - but she didn't want to. And quite bluntly, Athena thought she had better taste in men. "It's a lot to take in, I'm sorry. But...thank you. So much, Carlos. I mean, believe me. I'm just as overwhelmed as you are. I had this...life plan going on, you know, and then this just happened and..." She shook her head. "I still haven't completely grasped it, and I'm...." She sighed and gestured at her large stomach to finish her sentence. |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 8 2010, 04:58 AM Post #15 |
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Cisinerros #2
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His mind had never been so full of such messy, jumbled up, incoherent and mostly half-finished thoughts ever in his life. None that he could remember, that was. He was sure that when he was a child he was full of crazy and completely illiterate thoughts and questions and he was also sure that they had been in any language he knew how to speak right at that moment. If there was one thing he did know it was that he wasn't particularly found of the messy disarray he was experiencing internally at that moment. Carlos was known for his calm demeanor, his clear thoughts, his very stable being, among other things. All of those things, well he was completely devoid of them now. All gone, vanquished into the wind by a simple sentence. Suddenly he was feeling nerves, nerves that didn't even compare to how he felt right before his photographs were scrutinized and analyzed. No, if he were to accurately create a resemblance, he would say that someone would have to take nerves of, oh, public speaking for example and increase it tenfold. Then add infinity to it. Carlos was not a nervous person, but this was...this was huge. And he wasn't making any sense, even as he spoke he realized that he must be confusing Athena more than she probably already was. He wasn't even sure what he was certain of anymore. He knew it wasn't the feeling of having your world turned upside down -he had already experienced that by complete other ways- but it was certainly a very sudden motion in an entirely different direction. Not a bad thing, not at all, this certainly wasn't bad news at all. He had always envisioned having children, eventually, once the right time had come. Granted, he hadn't expected for it to be right now, under these circumstances but in the words of John Lennon, life is what happens to you while you're too busy making other plans. He wasn't aware he had been talking rapidly and extensively and asking her questions until he was shut up again by Athena rolling up her shirt and releasing the glamour. Well, of course it must have been a glamour. He hadn't actually begun to do the mental math -mostly because he was rather slow at it- but it had been quite a while since they had been intimate so he hadn't had time to process the fact that she would be showing until she was. Similarly, he didn't know he could be in further shock and awe than what he had just experienced upon being told he was going to be a father, until he was. There was a baby, an actual human child growing inside of her right at this very moment. He was rather speechless, if only for that moment at least. He was intrigued by a sudden want to...touch the belly, but he was able to refrain himself from simply reaching out without any previous warning. "You can feel the baby move already?" he asked, still in the surprise and awe and shock that he was sure was not going to go away for...Merlin, he didn't even know how long. "No, please, don't...it's okay. I can only imagine how you must have felt, it's fine." Yes, he was vaguely, very vaguely, insulted that she hadn't the confidence or trust in him to have told him before but that small and really insignificant feeling at this point didn't compare to the fact that she had confided in him eventually, despite her horrible experience with her own father. But things didn't stop going, not at all, it was continuing. She had a doctor's appointment to find out the gender of the baby, for Merlin's sake they could already tell, and Carlos felt as though he needed to better his game to be able to keep up. "Well...do you mind if I come? I mean, I want to..." If she didn't want to, though, that was a bit of impediment. Maybe then he could also corner the healer or doctor to tell him...well, could one learn everything you needed to know about about preparing for a child in less than five minutes? Probably not. To the bookstore he would go. "You don't have anything to thank me for, I want to do this, I...yeah this is quite overwhelming isn't it?" Another deep exhale because, as he kept reminding himself, breathing was quite necessary in order to stay alive. Get the oxygen to the blood and the organs for cellular respiration and...other things. Briefly putting a hand around Xandra to steady her as Carlos scooted forward, the same hand went to take Athena's hands in his, in what he hoped came off as comfort and support and not as a need to hold on to something in fear of passing out. "We're in this together. You can count on me, Athena. Even for the most random of cravings you may get at 3:47 in the morning, I'll help." He said the last part with a small smile and a light tone though he wasn't joking. Not by a long shot. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 8 2010, 05:34 AM Post #16 |
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There was no revulsion in Carlos' eyes as he literally watched her stomach pop out from where it had been magically hidden, rubbing the sore skin gingerly for a moment before it stopped tingling. Glamours were definitely not comfortable for pregnancies, especially the larger she got, because it squished her all in to her usual flatness. If she had thought it was dangerous to the baby she wouldn't have done it, but she'd watched many women glamour away pregnancies. Hell, they were even doing it in that nightmare with Hogwarts. Still, there was some kind of look there as he took in her pregnant stomach, and Athena was too flustered to figure out what it was. Sometimes she was brilliant at reading people; other times her mind felt too sluggish for her to figure it out. Then he was asking questions again. "Oh...yes, I have for about a month now. It really hurt at first, just because I wasn't used to the feeling but the more he or she does it, the more it's just a reminder to me that there is actually a baby inside of me. I mean, it still hurts a little because it's so weird, but the first time it happened was what really drove this home, I guess. Feeling that kick made this whole situations...real." She was rambling now as well, trying to get out as much as she could share with him as possible. Seeing his reaction now just made her feel all the more guilty for not telling him sooner. She should have known he would have never reacted in a way that would have been detrimental to her child. He was actually taking it incredibly well. Yes, she could see just how shocked he was at the whole situation. That she didn't begrudge at all; she herself was still overwhelmed and confused and lost as well. Yet, he wasn't running off, asking for time to process what she had told him before making any decisions. His first reaction was to wrap his mind around it, and then ask if she was healthy. And then tell her that he would be there for them. Both her, and his child. It made her want to cry. "I want you to come." She told him, a smile spreading over her face. "You'll love ultrasounds; you can actually see the baby like, right there, moving around in real time. It's insane. He or she's already, uhm, sucking their fingers and things like that and you can see it on the screen if they're doing it at the time. It's really, really cool." She had pictures from the other ones she'd gone to that she could share with him as well, once the news had worn off a little and she wasn't throwing too much at him all at once. "It's unbelievably overwhelming. I guess it also kind of proves that just when you thought you had things figured out for yourself, fate decides to throw a wrench into your wheels and make you spin out and go in a totally different direction." So maybe she wasn't quite, over, giving up her acceptance into the best graduate school in the country. "And I really understand if you need some time to like...process this. It's kind of a huge deal." She said that, but she really didn't want it. She didn't like the concept of waiting around for however long it took, wondering if he was going to be talking himself back out of his immediate decision. But she also was through with doubting him, so when he took her hands she held onto them tightly, trying to relax her face. It helped that his very last comment hit rather close to home, and she laughed a little, responding, "I don't know how logical it would be for me to apparate to your place to tell you I wanted something to make you go get it for me." But either way, it meant a lot to her. At the end of her own sentence Athena found herself taking a slightly shallower breath, sitting up straighter so that she could take one of Carlos' hands and set it where their baby decided they needed to be in on the conversation too. |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 8 2010, 07:25 AM Post #17 |
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Cisinerros #2
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Carlos briefly wondered what it would feel like to have something inside of you, moving around and kicking, before becoming quite freaked out by the idea and dropped it out of his mind. Not that the whole aspect was freaky; being able to feel them move as an outsider, that wasn't entirely too weird. But, feeling the baby moving around and kicking at your own insides however...well, this is why he was not the mother. That and the fact that he was, indeed, male. The whole concept, however, was still very and quite honestly shocking- which in itself was not surprising, and by being so was therefore ironic. That was confusing-he kept confusing himself, which he needed to stop doing because it was not amusing or entertaining anymore. All he was going to do is work himself up into a tangled web of thoughts that would only leave him with a headache which he would spend the whole night trying to get rid of. Now, if only keeping himself from thinking in complex and complicated webs was as easy as that. "Wow," was the first coherent thought to be translated into words after he had processed the whole 'baby kicked and it hurt a little but really they were just trying to make themselves known' information. "See, he or she is already demanding attention. I wonder where that gene could have come from," he teased lightly, trying out the sentence to see whether or not it was too early or too awkward to be saying such things. He found he was able to say it without convulsing into seizures of panic- which wasn't likely anyway but he digressed. Feeling relieved that Athena did want him there at the ultrasound appointment, and then feeling grateful for feeling something other than shock, he smiled and nodded once, "Then I'll be there." Ultrasound appointment. That was actually pretty...well, that was really important wasn't it? He wasn't very familiar with the technology of it, but basically it provided them with a picture or rather video of sorts of what was happening in the womb...fetus (which word was correct there?) and according to Athena, the baby was developed enough to be able to tell their gender and to be able to see them sucking on their thumbs. They had thumbs. Well, of course, they had to have thumbs because human beings had thumbs but the fact that the baby was developed...the baby had thumbs and they were sucking on them. That was...how didn't they drown? Maybe that was a question best saved for another time. Or rather, a question best answered by a book. He wondered if there was a "Pregnancy for Dummies" book out there somehow. Not that he would buy it, of course not...he might glance upon it, however, if necessary. If it existed, that was. "I was...thinking almost the exact same thing, actually. You're not reading my mind are you?" He chuckled, briefly shaking his head before he caught Xandra's wand as it was rolling down the chair before it fell to the ground and handing it back to her, kissing the back of her head afterwards. Just to think, give it a few months and he would be doing the same only instead with his own child. Never would he have guessed that when he woke up today that he would have so much to think about. Almost every decision he was going to make from now on he would not only have to consider how it would affect him, but also how it would impact his child, and the mother of his child, his friend. "Process meaning to...get used to the idea? Fairly sure the ship has sailed. I tend to...over-think. You wouldn't believe some of the thoughts that passed through my head." Mostly because he couldn't believe them himself. "Fair point," he amended when she pointed out that the logic of his offer wasn't exactly very solid in nature. "Nevertheless, you know where to find me and my kitchen at any hour of the day." It was the very least he could do, and certainly not the least he would do, but he had to begin somewhere. Apparently, he was beginning at the source. Athena had taken one of his hands and guided it to her stomach, and to a specific spot. His hand rested against the skin gingerly, waiting momentarily for the movement to come again and it did. He couldn't control himself anymore, his jaw unhinged slightly in wonder and in predictable awe- it was soon going to become a permanent part of his facial expressions if it kept going like this. "They kicked," he said incredulously, a small smile spreading across his face soon afterwards. He looked up at her, "Strong baby," he commented with a small laugh. "Wow." It summed it up. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 9 2010, 01:10 AM Post #18 |
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Athena was surprised, if not completely happy, when Carlos decided he felt comfortable about the situation enough that he could tease about it. True, the baby kicked more than the books had described as normal but... she hadn't even thought about it in terms of whether or not the baby was insuring attention. They were, weren't they? It worked well; every time she felt that sharp jabbing into her stomach or ribs, she certainly sat up and took notice. "Must be your genes." Athena said carelessly, waving a free hand. To be honest, Carlos was probably the least attention-seeking man she knew, but she liked the idea of continuing the lighter-hearted mood. She herself felt a lot lighter, if only because he said he wanted to be involved, and support her with this. He was promising to be there, even at awful hours in the morning. Sure, it was easy for people to say 'I'll be there for you', but he went and mentioned one of the more difficult side-effects of being pregnant. "Guess getting used to the idea could be t he result of processing. Or decide just how far you want to get into this, or...whatever." Athena answered, though he had already gone on to tell her there was no point for that since he had somehow already gotten to a firm decision in, what? Ten minutes. If he was solid in this in that short of a time period, then he was basically amazing. She was still processing herself, though it was getting a lot better the more she was feeling better and getting excited about having a child of her own. Still, she was curious, "What are you thinking? Over-thinking isn't a bad thing, sometimes. I mean, clearly we weren't thinking," Athena flushed a little, "-thanks to me proving that the prices for the cocktails are actually fair because they work so hard and all but right now, you're just finding out and your first response was to ask me if I was okay. That doesn't...obviously I know that you want to be involved due to the rest but I just...are you okay?" She simply nodded gratefully at his declaration that he would be at the ultrasound, and then smiled at the offer of his kitchen. She was certain that she would be much more excited about raiding his usually extensive arrangement of food when the certain conversation they were having wore off in it's high emotions. Although it wasn't the first time Carlos had touched her stomach - hell, it wasn't something she thought she could count on her fingers anyways - he was incredibly careful...and then his mouth dropped open. It made her need to bite her lips, avoid laughing at how stunned he was at that too. The smile afterward was really the answer that she had been hearing the whole time, but nonverbal communication was much more easily trusted. Body language. "Definitely a strong baby." Athena agreed, joking, "You should feel them at night. They're going to be a raver, or at the very least, be a night owl." |
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| Carlos Cisinerros | Nov 9 2010, 05:32 PM Post #19 |
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Cisinerros #2
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Carlos laughed, a gesture that he would have previously thought impossible given how serious the situation was, when Athena responded who's genes they were. "Hmm, oh yes, you know my love for the spotlight." Yes, he was still in shock and only just beginning to comprehend the extensive meaning behind all of this. Carlos couldn't deny that compared to other people he was more than likely to think things through at a much faster rate, even while paying attention to small and minuscule details because that's just the way his rather abnormal mind worked. Though right at that moment it was the most disorganized mess he had ever encountered. "Well, I'm pretty good at multi-tasking. I can process and be here simultaneously, no extra time needed," he assured her with a brief smile. That was preposterous, extra time with what not seeing her? That wouldn't exactly be productive not to mention, he would just be feeling anxious and nervous the whole time, wondering how Athena was, if the baby was still kicking normally, and other things that he probably couldn't bear not knowing and he wasn't exactly ready to become medically insane. Alright, so he was a bit overdramatic, but still... Was he okay? "Well I'm still in...complete shock, I have no idea when it's going to wear out, if it ever is going to wear out. I'm...nervous and I feel wholly unprepared and that's why one of my thoughts was going down to the bookstore and buying ever baby book I can afford. . .I had a moment where you said the baby is sucking their thumb and I just wondered how they don't drown in there," he chuckled in slight embarrassment before he kept talking, "I was thinking about what my family might think...and then stopped worrying when I quickly realized that the most common reaction would be positive. I was thinking of how to alter my budget to put aside some money for when the baby comes, I already have a fair amount that I put away and won't let myself touch for just-in-case moments or emergencies...I thought about how weird it would be to have something kicking at you from the inside." He was over-thinking, like he had said, a fair amount. "I'm definitely okay, my thoughts are a mess, I'm nervous as hell if hell could be nervous, but I'm okay." That was the sincere fact of it all. He would probably be better once he started breathing normally too, without having to remind himself that breathing was essential. But it was a bit difficult to keep breathing when so many things just kept wanting to make him stop. Like feeling their baby kick and move around; some part of that was...so surreal, and a bit creepy if you thought about it for too long, but for the most part it was just...wow. "A raver?" he asked, looking up at Athena before he laughed. "Okay now that might be something I would need time to process. Thankfully, I have a good eighteen years or so...maybe." Wow. Eighteen years. Time had just taken on a whole new meaning for him. |
![]() [[I love my baby, Dea! <3]] | |
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| Athena Stryker | Nov 9 2010, 07:30 PM Post #20 |
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Athena shrugged at Carlos' mild sarcasm, her lips quirking up in a smile once again as she moved on. From what she had read, constant kicking was a good thing. It meant that the baby was figuring out how to use his or her limbs and making themselves comfortable. She paid more attention to Carlos explaining to her that he was thinking his way through it while being actively there with her right then, and Athena considered that for a few minutes. It made sense, she supposed. He was always the quieter one, and there were times when she could just see the cogs turning in his head but... apparently that worked for things this huge too. She was a little relieved that his original reaction was going to be the one he was sticking to, and stopped asking about it. Instead she focused on him telling her if he was okay or not. "Hopefully it'll change into a different kind of shock. Like, the ohmymerlin I'm so excited, shock? The uhm, we only have a few more months, shock?" Of course he wanted to go buy a bunch of books. It made her laugh a little, and she told him, "I have a few at home if you want to go through them. I don't have any new daddy books, but I have general ones." His question on why babies don't drown made her blink for a moment, deciding to leave that to the books. Her first thought was that it was because they weren't breathing, but if they weren't breathing, how were they moving? Didn't the body need oxygen to move? It was all very confusing. Then, her attention got caught on him wondering what his family might think. Because this had been such a spur of the moment decision to tell him, she hadn't even considered his family. They weren't teenagers, trying to find some way to make this happen. It wasn't a "mom and dad, I've been having sex... and I'm pregnant" moment. At the same time though, this was an unplanned happening and an expensive one to boot. She didn't think about the family at all, because she didn't have anyone herself to tell. Carlos saying that the common reaction would be positive caused her to actually think about it. They always said that you could tell a lot about a man by h ow he treated his family though, and as Carlos had already mentioned them involved in this twice, Athena figured it was important. The talk of money made her feel lightly uncomfortable, just simply telling him, "I've been selling my paintings and once I've finished this semester, I'm done with school. I've also been clearing out room for a nursery." Painting; there was something safe. "I was trying to figure out a color scheme? I figured a calm, soft green could be the base and then whichever gender the baby is could be the secondary shade. a gentle pink or blue." For the meantime, the baby had stopped kicking so Athena stopped directing his hand to the certain spot, admitting, "It is weird. The whole concept of carrying and delivering is weird. All I know is that women have been doing it for centuries so... I can figure out how to as well." Instead of letting him just drop away his hand, she took it in hers. "We'll just have to be nervous together. Believe me. I have no idea what I'm doing with any of this." Having an adult child was just something Athena was doing her best not to think too hard about. That was just...way too far in the future for her to consider. One step at time was all she was managing; anything more and she was going to lose it. They two spend a little more time together just trying to process the situation, but before long the last shows of the night were finished and Athena reglamoured herself to keep their secret. With a last hug, she headed home for the night, feeling lighter now that she was not alone. |
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