Mood Swings
October 14th 2014
by Elise the Writing Desk, Characters by QuinRose
It was all started when Alice randomly skipped into the bathroom. Julius stopped his hands from working to hear a loud torrent noise of barf falling into the toilet bowl. Of course, despite being a workaholic, his worry won over, so he left his room and peeked into the bathroom.
"Alice, what's wrong?" he asked in concern, seeing his lover was kneeling before the toilet, panting tiredly. The man knelt beside her and checked her temperature with his slender hands. "You look horrible,"
Alice deadpanned at him. "As if I don't know that already," she suddenly clamped her mouth and went to shot out her breakfast again into the toilet.
Julius stared at her for a while without saying anything. Alice grunted as she decided that the bathroom floor was comfortable enough, and leaned to the tub, closing her eyes. The man squeezed her hand before carefully standing up.
"Maybe you got food poisoning. I'll make something for you," he said, but Alice caught his hand again and glared up to him.
"Can't you take a hint?" she sighed, and Julius helped her to stand up. "I'm obviously pregnant!"
Julius was really taken aback that he hit the door frame. He paused and looked down to his young lover, eyes slightly widened. Alice kept frowning up to him—it was quite irritating since he was really tall, she had to strain her neck to look into his eyes.
And he didn't budge at all.
He was just, like, standing there, looking down at her.
The only sound was from the blizzard outside.
It was like justifying Julius' actual thought concerning the revelation.
As the good lover she was, Alice clicked her tongue, reading his mind despite she's not Nightmare.
"Don't feel guilty about this. It's not a bad thing, seriously," she crossed her arms and glanced away. "Unless you didn't want a kid..."
Julius finally processed something.
"Oh,"
"Oh?"
"You're not mad at me,"
"Why would I be mad about this?"
"B-Because I got you pregnant...Isn't it my fault?"
Alice opened her mouth, but seeing Julius clueless and confused expression, she closed her mouth and looked at him, even more confused. She thought she knew Julius, but of course, she wouldn't be able to predict his reactions towards finding out that he got her pregnant. Though even now she couldn't even understand.
Why would it be 'a fault'. Why would he thinks she would 'be mad at him'. So did he hate a kid or did he thought she didn't want a kid. Julius could be so mysterious in the dumbest way. She scratched her head.
"Julius," said Alice, leaning to the door frame. "Let's get this straight. Do you not want our child?"
Julius blinked. "Up to you,"
Oh, she hated him when he's that way. Julius quickly understood and gulped, glancing away.
"I-I mean...If you don't want it...I'm okay, but..." he blushed really hard. "I'd be really happy if we can have one...but, really, I don't want you to force yourself to bear my child or anything," he somehow explained himself.
Alice smiled warmly and laughed. "Goodness, Julius. When will you ever be as confident as you were in bed?"
"Um..."
"I love you. I'm a woman. I love cute things. I'd love to have a child from you...No, actually we're really alike in this matter," she sighed, crossing her arms. "I also thought that if you don't want it, I wouldn't force it...I should've figured that we're so much alike, our opinions might be the same,"
The navy-haired man hesitantly reached for her face. "So you'd bear a child for me?"
Alice nodded with a bright smile.
"I'm so excited to tell everyone!"
"...We're not so alike when it comes to this."
~.X.~
"No, you can't. You just can't." Julius deadpanned at Vivaldi, who was already in the room with a suitcase and dressed with an apron and a bandana. "We don't need you here. We don't need anyone. We have Gray and Nightmare, they're already enough fro troubles."
"But Alice needs to be close to a woman—she's pregnant!" Vivaldi insisted.
"I still don't see the point of having the Queen herself offering to be a caretaker for my wife."
"Alice needs majestic care, is the point!"
"No, I can't have Her Majesty take care of Alice!" Julius groaned when Peter White came running into his room. "She deserves steril surrounding and delicate care, not from a brute,"
Vivaldi twitched and glared to her Prime Minister. "We'll consider that you were speaking about yourself, White,"
The navy-haired man clicked his tongue and glared up to their bed where Alice was moodily reading a book.
"Alice, this is all your fault. This is why I didn't want you to tell anyone. Bear the responsibility, will you?"
"I can't. I'm too pregnant."
"You're only pregnant for bloody three weeks!"
Vivaldi and Peter gasped and yelled at Julius' insensitive words. "Noo! How insensitive! Alice can't be with you if you keep this way!"
~.X.~
Eventually they managed to herd away the Heart Castle crazy inhabitants, but then there was Ace.
"I want to see the baby!" Ace said loudly, stomping into the room, gaining groans from the married couple. "Alice, why are you not fat? I thought you're pregnant, as PM's said!"
God forbids they'd spend hours to explain to the knight the process of pregnancy. Julius couldn't even concentrate on fixing clocks anymore, and Alice was hissing at Ace.
"Ace, stop being near my wife,"
"Oh, so possessive,"
"No, it's for your own good,"
Alice slammed her hands to the bed's rails. "Oh, I see! So it's for Ace's own good!" Julius groaned at her mood. "So you're not possessive...I want a possessive guy...I want romantic dinner...No one loves me! I knew it! You love Ace, Julius! You only use me because there's no male-pregnancy, isn't it!?"
"Haha! Males can't get pregnant, they can only get fat!" Ace laughed, earning a glare from Alice.
"What!?" she hissed, and Julius began to give all attention to his clocks. "So you're saying I'm fat, Ace!? I won't get fat if only I don't have to bear his child! A child that he wants just because none of you two can get pregnant!"
Ace was laughing awkwardly and Julius tried his best to make a lot of noise while fixing his clocks. Though Alice was louder by the seconds.
"I knew it all along! After I give birth to his child, both of you will get rid of me! No one loves me!"
Julius tried not to scream in frustration whenever he was reminded that he'd have to endure this for the next nine months.
~.X.~
There were fights, tears and laughters during this process, but overall, everyone was excited. The only one who was smitten during Alice's pregnancy was Gray. Well, he's motherly by nature, but then there was this thing called 'craving'.
So Nightmare and Julius couldn't comprehend how Alice was craving Gray's cooking so much.
"I want more, Gray, it's so horrible but I can't stop eating it," Alice said, holding up her clean plate while Nightmare and Julius speechlessly just stare in disbelief. "I guess my baby is craving for the nutritions you put in it. Gray, you're just amazing,"
"I know, rather than the taste, nutrition is surely more important," Gray smiled happily as he gave her another serving of an odd intangible goop that should be cencored. Alice began to eagerly chow it down.
And Nightmare was the one who wanted to barf.
"Alice, you're crazy." Nightmare cleared his throat, glancing away from the terrifying scene before him. "Of all cravings, it had to be Gray's cooking,"
Julius nodded and just stared at his coffee mug. "If it's carrot cakes or carrot food, I'd understand, but Ringmarc's cooking..."
Alice dropped her spoon and pouted. "Do I disgust you...?"
"No, of course not." Julius had spent weeks with her beig pregnant, so he began to get the ways on handling her. "I find you really attractive" he monotonously said.
Nightmare stared at him in disbelief.
"You know I can read mind, right?"
"I'm sure you won't tell her the truth. I don't think we need a rampage."
"I'm just surprised that you can say it with a straight face."
"Nine months," Julius glanced at Nightmare, his eyes filled with odd gleams. "Nine. Months."
~.X.~
At some point where her belly gotten visibly bigger, Alice began to crave for other things. She got easily bored and lazy, but Vivaldi made Julius swear that he wouldn't let Alice laze around, or it would backfire on her birth delivery.
And for some reason, it had to be the Amusement Park's turn to entertain his wife.
"Local Hermit and his wife is here!" Boris exclaimed. "Alice, you've gotten fat!"
"I'm not fat! I'm pregnant!" Alice hissed, and bent down to take her slipper and went to throw it to the cat. "Shame on you! Hate you! Stupid cat!"
"Alice, sweet pea, we've been waitin' for ya!" Gowland grandly greeted and approached the couple. "Here to have fun, yes? Oh, look at you, so beautiful," the ginger went to reach and touch her bloated belly, but then the couple hissed.
"Pipe the fuck down!" both of them out-of-characterly snapped. "You can't just bloody run up to me and touching my belly, goatee!" Alice began a lecture.
"You could've asked first, hello, pregnant person, may I touch your belly? You bloody douche," Julius, who was stressed and possessive whenever he's visiting the park, didn't hold back as well.
Boris and Gowland were speechless as they watched the currently jumpy-couple went for the rides.
Beginner spinnin-tea-cup. Alice barfed.
Low slide in the pool. Barf.
Eating corndogs. Barf.
Baby Catterpillar train. Barf.
"Are you sure it's okay for you to do this? Like, you don't have to push yourself on extreme for exercise," Gowland said starting to get weirded out because Alice had been barfing weird yellow liquid now that she had nothing else to vomit. "Isn't cleaning up and walking around enough for exercise?"
"I've done that...Though I can't walk around the tower since it's freezing cold," Alice said, and then her eyes glamed at the sight of the roller coaster. "Julius I want to ride that one."
"No."
"Please? This is the last time?"
"Alice," now it was Boris who tried to stop her shenanigans. "You're pregnant. Can't you read the sign? Pregnant woman can't get on the roller coaster. Pregnant woman be sick. Pregnant woman be randomly delivering a baby during 360 loop. No one wants to see a baby rotating and swinging from its umbilial chord...It's summer, blood-rain be damned,"
Alice kept staring at the roller coaster, not giving a sign that she would move from that spot.
Gowland gave a pleading glance to Julius.
Julius pulled out his wrench, which turned into a gun, and he shot to the air.
"Okay, park's closed. It's already night-time," Julius said, and began to drag his wife.
"No...Must...get...on...roller...coaster...!"
Seeing that Alice's power grew tremendously due to her pregnancy—or Julius just didn't dare to get rough on her for this matter, Boris suddenly thought of an idea.
"Oh, what about something else, yeah, old man!" Boris laughed, patting Gowland's back. "Maybe Alice will calm down if you play her some music?" he said loudly.
This froze Alice and excites Gowland.
"Oh, be splendid!" Gowland clasped his hands. "I'll get my violin—"
"Julius, let's go home. Baby should listen to classic music, not banshee's weeping."
Julius sighed in relief as they walked away, ignoring Gowland's whine of disappointment.
~.X.~
In the real world, a pregnant woman should be spending time in a peaceful place, hopefully the child would grow into a peace-lover. But peace-lover be damned in Wonderland. Alice and Julius agreed that they would grow a child that could protect itself, not a useless damsel.
"You're really special, you know," Julius said gently as they walked through the golden crisp of autumn. "Not everyone here live from birth. Most of the people were replacement; a replaced parent, a replaced child...a replaced family,"
Alice hummed. "Is our child going to be a Faceless?"
Julius stopped on his track and frowned at her. "Are you implying that you've been sleeping with anyone else...? Because as you can see, I'm not a Faceless."
The woman laughed. "I was just curious. I thought that a face in this world wasn't something genetically passed, you see? I thought it was something given. I mean if that's the case, it's not a problem to me, since I can still see," she gently patted her belly.
The man sighed. "I'm...different, remember?" he crossed his arms, and they stood beneath a red maple. "I'm a living deadman. I'm still at disbelief that I'm fertile. Or most of the time I'm really scared...what if it's not mine?" he sullenly muttered, looking down with such a worried frown. "I know I should trust you...It's not you, it's just...me,"
Alice didn't say anything, but she quietly took and squeezed her husband's hand. Julius glanced at her gently.
"Our child will have a face, of course. Aside of my circumstances as a living deadman, you're born with a face, Alice. It bounds to have a face,"
"That's wonderful. It would be more wonderful if it's a girl," Blood Dupre interrupted, as they were near his bench. "I don't mind if I can have another chance, even if it's with your daughter," he winked at the couple.
Alice gaped. "No! That's just creepy! Of all people...You're too old!"
Blood blinked. "Don't forget," he smirked. "I can turn myself into a younger version if that would ease your mind, dearie,"
"No!" Alice twitched. "Even as a baby, you'd sexually harrass everyone!"
Julius nodded in absolute agreement.
"I'd prefer Dee and Dum to court my daughter!"
"No." Now he deadpanned. "I don't want my daughter to marry any idiots in this world. No." He mumbled. "I will teach her that boys and girls get rabies when touching each other."
"And...maybe I should get rid of Ace..."
"Alice, dear, you definitely had chosen a terrifying husband."
~.X.~
There were times that Julius just couldn't handle her and gave up.
Such as that one night when she got super moody for no reason.
"Another night of having to bear with a rigid stoic zombie," Alice began her preambule. Julius stiffened, but tried to deal with it and pulled the cover.
"Seriously, what did I see in this oil-machine-stinking man,"
The man turned his back on her, trying to mentally shut her.
"You didn't touch your dinner again. Your room is messed up again. The dishes are piling up again. And of all times you decided to sleep, you decided it's a good idea to sleep now,"
She's pregnant, Julius. This had happened for many times already. Just two months to go and you'll be back to normal. She would be back as that obedient hard-working Alice, and in addition, a baby in your life.
Though it was harder when she kept going on.
"You won't even take me for a date in that new cafe. It was dangerous you said. I told you you have to use that disguise. Really. Is it so hard just to take me for a normal date where I don't have to be harrassed by Blood or barf in Gowland's ride?"
"You don't even have the time to talk to Gray to cook for me. I didn't ask too much. I clean the tower, I shop, I fixed your room everyday, I cook, I wash the dishes. Do I have to do everything here?"
Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag.
Julius sat up on the bed and frowned at her.
Nag, nag nag, nag, nag, nag, nag.
She really could nag a lot for someone who used to be a free-loader.
Yes, he's been dreading those words; what did she saw in him? And it wasn't fair that whenever he looked at her, he could see so many things she could offer; so many things she had given for her. It was really nerve-wrecking and insecure.
"...You can at least give me a goodnight kiss, zombie."
Julius blinked, realizing that she wasn't nagging anymore, but was glancing away with red crossing her face. A smile twitched on the corner of his lips as he leaned in towards her.
It was ridiculous that all of those naggings were just her way of saying that she never got enough of his attention.
And it was even more ridiculous that all she could ever ask from him was solely his attention. His only, no one else's.
~.X.~
And it was just typical of Alice to torn Julius at the worst moment possible; when they were squeezing each other's hands, she's on the bed, ready to deliver the baby, and she was all like;
"Julius...if I die...take care of the baby..."
Julius' jaw fell pricelessly.
"Wh-What are you saying!? You're going to be okay!"
"Do you prefer my life or the baby...? Personally I wish the baby will live...I'm so happy I don't mind if I die after our child arrived..."
"Can you stop and just push it already!?"
Scream of pain, scream of motivation, everyone in the room was screaming that Julius had no time to have second-thoughts from Alice's random question. It was probably the last spurts of her weird moodswings.
But then when it was all over and he was out of the room, Julius found a seat and began to think over about the question.
Between Alice and the baby...which one would it be? Alice, of course. As cold as it sounded, Julius feared losing her. They could just have another kid later if they couldn't save this one.
Yes, life was still priceless for him. He was one with a ticking clock, after all.
Obviously. Alice had to live.
But it was alright now. The light slipped out from the guest room, and a faceless maiden came holding a bundle of life.
Julius stood up, and if anyone could see him right now, they could see te face of a child who just won a prize.
~.X.~
"This one has your face,"
"This one has yours,"
"That one with my face can follow your steps of doom-gloom workaholic. I'll make this one with your face to be a master of sarcasm who's socialable,"
"Can't they just be...themselves?"
Alice giggled and snuggled gently to her baby boy. "Of course. I'll love them no matter what,"
Julius sat on the edge and stared down at the baby boy in his arms. He chuckled and shook his head.
"Nine months, and we got twins." He kissed the infant's forehead gently, and stared into his wife's eyes.
The two nodded in agreement.
"We definitely should get them away from Ace, Blood, Peter..."
"We should make a list."
I just spent a week with a pregnant, near-birth woman. It was really nerve-wrecking because her husband was away, so I HAD TO BE HER HUSBAND. It was like:
Aunt: No one loves me...I'm fat, ugly...pregnant...I'm a lot of trouble, aren't I?
Me: That's not true. I love you.
Aunt: Oh, dear...why didn't you propose to me instead of that bloody bastard...!? Why aren't you a boy!?
Me: Because.
It was so...chaotic.
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