"Your cheeks are like red delicious apples." Richard says as he kisses Annabel, his new brides, cheek. Her tension about her first time dissipates as her new husband tells her sweet nothings. Annabel had spent her whole life being prepped and preened to be the perfect wife. She was forced to wear a corset throughout puberty so her waist would be tiny and her breast large. She had fought with many other women to get the attention of Richard Parkinson and now that she was Mrs. Richard Parkinson she could finally relax.
Annabel stares out the window at the starry night while she caresses her swollen stomach. Richard come up behind her and kisses her neck. "How are my angels?" he asks looking down at the woman he was madly in love with. "fine." She says with a faraway look. "Don't worry beautiful, this one will live. I just know it." He says kissing her again before leaving the room. Annabel goes over to the nightstand next to her bed and pulls out the magic mirror her mother gave her. She took the pin out of her hair and stabbed the palm of her hand and lets the blood drip onto the mirror. She chants, doing dark magic. Faces appear in the blood. "Mirror, mirror, tell no lies. Will my baby live and thrive?" she asks the faces in the blood. "Your child will be hale and healthy, your husband secure with love's fidelity." The faces in the mirror say. She sighs in relief and rubs her swollen belly again. "Beware, lovely Annabel, prettiest of them all, your marriage will end when your beauty falls." The faces say. The baby kicks as Annabel worries about the future.
"She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Richard says staring down at the baby his wife just gave to him. The little girl looks up at her father with wonder in her eyes. Annabel went through 10 hours of labor and almost died giving birth to her only child. "a name, sir?" one of the many house elves asks Richard. He looks at her before looking out into the garden that the nursery overlooks. "Pansy." He says with a smile. Annabel grimaces at the name but if that is what Richard wants she wouldn't argue. "Mistress must rest now." One of the elves says. "I will do now such thing! Fetch me my mirror." She says sitting up even though it hurt. Richard smiles at his wife's strength.