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Post by Delia Faire on Dec 19, 2009 23:25:28 GMT -5
It didn’t take her very long to notice that something wasn’t right. She just blamed it on being over stressed and that she would feel better after a good nights sleep, though it never mattered how much sleep she got. Delia always felt like she had just run a marathon. Even Zack had noticed a considerable change in her moods, she was frustrated and tired, which usually resulted in her being crabby.
Then other things started happening to her that sent up red flags. Firstly she noticed that certain foods had made her want to gag. Her favourite breakfast food of Foul Medames and Tameya had made her want to chuck it out the window then even attempt to eat it. Then there was the matter of the increasing nausea. The worst incident happened when she was in the living room in the middle of the downward dog position when it felt like the flood gates were going to open and she was going to spew all over her yoga mat. Luckily Delia scrambled fast enough to the bathroom before any major disasters happened. This was the last straw; Delia had to know, because this was just not normal. She never got sick, ever.
After she had finished in the bathroom she cleaned up and then began her search on her lap top. Then it all clicked, Miriam had the same symptoms a while ago and every page she looked up all said the same thing. Delia hastily snapped the laptop shut and looked at the calendar. Her fingers traced past a date and she bit her lip.
Grabbing a jacket she wrapped it around her frame and stormed off towards the nearest pharmacy. She really didn’t want to go through the embarrassment of having to buy something but not knowing would be worse. Finally grabbing what she needed she sucked it up and headed to the cash register and paid. Smiling quickly at the young girl behind the counter she shoved the box in her jacket and said a quick goodbye before exiting the store. Rushing home once more she tore open the box and followed the directions….Then she waited.
The most nerve wracking 3 minutes of her life.
Delia paced back and forth, ran her fingers through her hair and bit her lip.
She then picked it up, and there it was.
That un-holy pink plus sign.
It all made sense now, all the signs; they pointed to this pink plus sign. She never thought a cross would be so scary.
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Post by Zack. on Dec 20, 2009 23:47:39 GMT -5
Zack was not a romantic. Although it was always a bad idea to talk about his ex-girlfriend(s), the fact was that for the one year anniversary of his last serious relationship, he had gotten the girl a pair of socks. She had gotten him an X-Box 360 and his five most favorite games of all time, and all he had bothered to remember was that she often complained of cold feet at night. He'd thought he'd been rather considerate but she hadn't agreed, which was all completely irrelevant because he was married now - not to his ex-girlfriend, obviously, but to someone much, much, much better.
Delia changed a lot, not about him because he was really stubborn, but just life in general. He moved them out of his two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment (had to anyway since they couldn't stay in Missouri) and into a slightly bigger, three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in a part of Seattle (even though he hated the damn place that it wasn't even funny) where they could easily access the school and his office. He drank less regularly and left the toilet seat down, and developed the will and stomach to try every single one of her dishes, whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, because she had said that if he loved her, he would love the food she made as well.
What to take from the two months they'd been married for, or rather the whole year and eleven or so odd months they'd been together for, was that he loved her. She did things to him, on the emotional and psychological level of course, that no other human being on the entire planet could. She was the best thing about his life and he found that he had never been more of a sap than in that moment.
"Honey! I'm hooooome~!"
Sunday the 20th meant an unexpected call into the office for things that anyone else could have honestly done, but his bosses had called him specifically to do. He wasn't happy, but it meant double rates which meant that he could stop eying the third spare room with distaste and actually do something about it. The 20th also meant that it was exactly two months since they had exchanged vows.
In contrast to Delia's morning revulsion of almost everything and her distracted replies to his exuberance and teasing; he had been almost giddy with their small milestone. On his way back from work, he had stopped by a flower shop and had picked up some orchids, her favorite; he was not being romantic, he justified, since he kind of liked the look of them too.
Shrugging his messenger bag to the floor beside the couch and setting the flowers on the table, Zack loosened the tie around his neck before attempting to take it off; he would never get used to them.
"Dee? Babe, are you home?"
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Post by Delia Faire on Dec 21, 2009 0:09:30 GMT -5
Before Zack had even gotten home, she sat on the edge of the tub staring at the shaking positive pregnancy test. Her fingers trembled with nerves and before she knew it, tears of fear sprung to her eyes. It's not that she was upset about being pregnant. In all honesty, she was over the moon, but at the same time she was scared beyond belief.
Thoughts sprang to her mother, and how she would disown her...again. Then she got angry at her mother for the first time in a long time. Hell, she was married to Zack...married, and she was a quarter of a century old. Old enough to be pregnant and married. If she was still in Egypt this would have happened 5 years earlier.
"Honey! I'm hooooome~!"
The sound of Zack's voice seemed so far away. It wasn't until she heard him specifically ask if she was home that she jumped, nearly dropping the test on the floor. Hurriedly she shoved everything in the box and disposed of it. Delia would have to make a mental note to make a doctors appointment.
"Yeah Habibi, just a minute"
Was the strained reply from Zack's wife, as she tied her hair back from her face and quickly washed it with some cool water. He couldn't see the emotion that came over her. There was a time and a place.
Then the thought came over her, how in the world was she going to tell him?! She couldn't just come out and say, 'Welcome home honey! Sorry about not making dinner, by the way I'm pregnant'.
No....this had to be done right.
Delia walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face and leaned against the door frame. Her eyes softened as soon as she saw the man that loved her and she loved back taking, off his neck tie. Then they trailed down to what was on the table.
"Orchids? What did I do?" she joked, feigning ignorance. She knew it was the 20th, 2 months since they had been married; but usually anniversaries were celebrated by year and not by months. It wasn't like Zack to be romantic and she knew that, which didn't bother her; but just as soon as she thought she had Zack Faire figured out he went and did something out of left field.
And she loved that.
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Post by Zack. on Dec 21, 2009 11:13:29 GMT -5
There was only room for one surprise/miracle, and his unexpected purchase of affection took the spot over noticing anything out of place; like the noticeable lack of dinner scents in the air. Zack was a man of many talents, and while he was extremely good at his job (which was admittedly just sitting at a desk all day and sorting through various media correspondents), he was kind of not so excellent at home, regarding things like cleaning and laundry and cooking (although he was learning); Delia had, though, managed to make him clean out their storage space in the basement earlier in the week, after convincing him she'd asked him five times earlier when he'd chosen to sit with FIFA 10 instead of paying attention to her increasing foul mood. He had made his way upstairs two hours later, apologizing for everything and anything the moment he stepped through the doors, except that she had made lamb chops and not her usual choice of exotic dishes; he realized that maybe she was apologizing, although he wasn't sure what for. Evidently, he was also very obtuse.
They key was to make him do something he didn't want to do, such as having to go into work on a Sunday, instead of letting him do what he wanted, which would have been to spend the entire day with her, so he would end up thinking of all the different ways to make up for it the first chance he got. The flowers came in then, and for someone who thought that proposing and consequently getting married was the height of all the romance they were capable of in their life, they kind of were romantic, although Zack would always insist on the word 'sweet.'
He grinned as soon as he saw her; she had a habit of eliciting the best of him.
"Nothing," he answered, giving up on his tie and walking over to where she stood.
"I love you, that's all," he told her, expression bright, right before he kissed her; home was relative until he was near her.
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Post by Delia Faire on Jan 4, 2010 13:17:21 GMT -5
As soon as the words came from his mouth, her expression softened and it almost looked as if she was going to cry for a split second. Delia smiled against the kiss and her arms snaked around the back of his neck, bringing her closer to him.
It was a time like this where she felt that she truly didn't need anything else in the world.
Delia broke the kiss and looked up at him through the stray bits of hair that weren't cooperating with her.
"Sorry I haven't made anything to eat yet" she said sliding her hand to his tie and expertly undoing the knot for him, knowing very well how much ties bugged him.
"I've been a little...." she paused, a little busy? Pregnant? Preoccupied?
"Preoccupied" she finished quickly, to try and prevent any suspicion or confusion about why she REALLY hadn't started dinner yet. The announcement had to be done with precision timing and tact, there was no way Delia could just blurt it out. Though she couldn't keep this from him forever. He'd find out eventually.
"I'm not exceptionally hungry" she started again, sliding his tie from his neck and placing it over one of the kitchen chairs. Looking back up at him she smiled tiredly,
"We could order in, the thought of cooking isn't a good one at the moment"
Delicately, she broke away from him and checked the plant, bringing it over to the sink she watered it slightly and then placed it on the counter, near the window.
"How was your day?" she asked, absentmindedly, as if it was routine that he always went to work on a Sunday. Though, the fact that he DID go to work on this particular Sunday was a godsend. She would have had a breakdown times ten if he had been here when she had found out she was pregnant.
[[sorry for the wait, shit hit the fan over christmas]]
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Post by Zack. on Jan 18, 2010 21:58:47 GMT -5
He loved making her smile, he realized, perhaps for the 600th time, and the lighter mood made him grin as well. His expression glazed over though, as he watched her hands flutter around his neck; she was so hot when she went all housewife on him. His hands snaked up the back of her sweater and, in an attempt to be sensible for once, he kissed her on the nose instead.
"It's okay," he said, in response to her apology, even though he was starving; a mild exaggeration, with only a slight grain of truth. He could use a burger, or pizza; or both.
Zack let her step away, pressing his hands to his own stomach when it started to make a noise of complaint. Distracted by many things, he tried to pay attention to his wife; she was being preoccupied, which was the word she used herself, but it was a little more strange than usual.
"It wasn't too bad," he replied, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his oxford as he walked to the kitchen entrance, expression thoughtful.
"I had to deal with a few inquiries from Washington and a couple of local media outlets, but it wasn't any big deal. Are you okay?"
The question wasn't unexpected; though she hadn't done anything out of character, there was something troubling about the way she was behaving. Maybe something had happened? Or maybe she had a bad day. Zack fumbled with the idea of not being able to read her; it wasn't one that he especially liked or even wanted to entertain.
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Post by Delia Faire on Feb 15, 2010 22:53:32 GMT -5
[[-uberfail-]]
The words 'are you okay?' struck her like lightning and for a brief moment she wanted to throw up, start crying, run away, curl up into a ball and/or shout at the top of her lungs. Her eyes focused on something outside as she stared out the window above the sink for a moment.
She knew how much it bothered Zack when he couldn't figure out what was wrong. She wouldn't like it either if she couldn't read Zack. White knuckling the edge of the counter for a fraction of a second so as to not bring more attention to herself she spun around to face him again.
A genuine, elated smile crossed her face as the realization set in that they were actually going to start a family. Together.
"I'm alright" she started lightly, "Better now that you're home"
Though she shared the same sentiment as he, the apartment was just a place until they were together. Then it was a home that they had built. Delia walked over to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist and gently rested her head on his chest as they stood.
It was at this moment, being near him, she knew everything was going to be okay.
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Post by Zack. on Feb 27, 2010 2:29:03 GMT -5
It wasn't to say that Zack wanted to take Delia's reassurance at face value, but he didn't want to pry any deeper than necessary. He had noticed her change in moods lately, and one thing he definitely wanted to make sure of was that he didn't unintentionally upset her. She seemed like she meant it though, and whatever had been bothering her before seemed to lessen. His slight relief was interrupted by the grumbling of his stomach and he made a face.
Zack's expression became sheepish above Delia'a head, looking a little apologetic for having to think with his stomach first.
"Sorry D," he said, tone perfectly contrite except for that he sounded genuinely hungry as well, "what did you want to eat tonight? I'll go for whatever you want."
And later, they'd talk. While she might have been unsettled in that moment, he did want to know what had happened throughout the day. It was bad enough that he worked long hours during the week, but missing out on the weekend with her was another kind of sacrifice all together.
"I gotta shower first though," he told her, disentangling himself and working on the buttons of his oxford, "maybe later you could teach me some yoga?"
The suggestion wasn't an outrageous one. He clenched the back of his neck and his expression became tight.
"Ugh, I'm so tense."
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Post by Delia Faire on Mar 8, 2010 19:42:39 GMT -5
Stopping a moment, Zack's comment was met with an incredulous stare.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She said with a light hearted laugh, "You want to learn Yoga? Are you sure you wouldn't want a massage instead? Better for those tense muscles.." she suggested, mostly because she didn't want to teach him anything that would make her vomit, which was basically every move now in Yoga. And because she remembered how well it went when she tried to teach him how to dance.
"You go have a shower, I'll go grab us a pizza" Delia smiled softly, tucking another piece of hair behind her ear. She watched him with a hint of attraction, it never ceased to amaze her how day after day she grew more attracted to her husband. Though today he had sacrificed the time they usually spent together; that time apart surely did make her heart grow fonder.
Swiftly she grabbed her coat and slipped it on then standing on her tip toes she gave Zack a quick peck on the cheek and with a quick whisper of "I love you" she was out the door.
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Post by Zack. on Mar 22, 2010 9:58:37 GMT -5
Zack, who had naturally been the sports freak all through his school days, could at least be credited for having a lot of heart; something that wasn't said often about him, since he was good at almost everything he did, a fact he liked to mention. His expression gave him away if nothing else, and Delia's comment was met with a self-deprecating look, though he couldn't say he wasn't amused either.
"Hey, I like what you do," he defended, and the grin that formed right afterward suggested that he liked the things she did much more than actually learning them himself. A sombre moment followed, mostly because he couldn't help it.
"I didn't want to ask, you sound like you've had a full day," he told her, unabashed in his honesty; she was better now, definitely, but he was liking being considerate and thoughtful, it made him feel particularly wholesome even if it sounded ridiculous.
But she was okay enough to go grab pizza, and he found that there was nothing specific about her he loved while simultaneously it was all the little things she did.
"I love you!" he called out after her, rather loudly considering they had neighbors, but he was audacious if nothing else, and he had never been shy. Having her in his life meant that he'd never have to be embarrassed about expressing himself, if he ever had been before, and it was almost freeing when she was near, because it meant that he didn't have to be anything or anyone but himself; someone that she was very much a part of, and could be attributed to.
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Post by Delia Faire on Apr 22, 2010 17:56:11 GMT -5
A smile broke out across her lips and she let out an airy giggle as she heard him yell after her. Though Delia loved Zack's openness she wasn't sure that she'd ever get used to it. She had always been a fiercly private person, but living with Zack had changed that....a little bit.
Baby steps.
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A short time later she had returned with two pizzas, one that Zack liked, and one that she didn't neccessarily get but one she thought she could stomach.
"Honey, I'm back" she announced gracefully dodging the living room furniture and setting the pizza down on the table. Delia moved gracefully getting plates ready so they could sit down and have a delightful romantic Sunday dinner....of pizza.
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