Marianne seldom was one to think on her actions. She was known for spontaneity, for taking her romantic partners on surprise weekend getaways, or for any number of generally astonishing things; whether it be sexual in nature or not. This situation, however, left Marianne on her bed, tossing and wrapping herself in sheets in fits of anxiety and general loss of words.
She rolled onto her stomach and let sepia hair fall to messily frame her face. She glanced at the digital clock that peacefully watched over her antics, and read that it was five minutes until noon. Five minutes until Arthur's lunch break. Marianne's entire body visibly clenched in nervous anticipation, and she unraveled herself from her bed sheets. She clambered to the bathroom and splashed some cool water on her face in an attempt (a useless attempt, at that) to calm herself down. She spoke a few encouraging words to her reflection and wandered back into her bedroom.
Then, the clock read three after twelve. Marianne glanced at her phone on her nightstand, and took it with shaky hands. She dialed Arthur's number, with fingers idling on the keys to procrastinate. For a few moments, Marianne just stared at the ten-digit code on the screen, and it took every fiber of her being to brave up enough to press Call.
Marianne counted how many times the phone rang before she heard the sound of crackling and a soft greeting following it.
"Hello?" said the man on the other line. Marianne bit her lip at the naivety in that tone of voice. But she was nervous enough that she forgot to talk, and Arthur had to repeat his greeting.
"Ah, yes! Good afternoon, Arthur, dear," Marianne responded as she recovered from her daze, "How has your morning been?"
From there, Arthur went on, elaborating about forgetful coworkers and how the lunch Marianne had made him was tasting Okay and that she knew leftovers weren't his favourite, but it was better than nothing. He paused momentarily.
"How was yours?" Arthur asked, and Marianne went silent for a moment as she allowed the butterflies residing in her stomach to at least try to settle. She cleared her throat.
"Well…" she began her voice was shaky, "I looked over my calendar this morning, and couldn't help but notice something."
"Are you insisting you drag me somewhere again?" Arthur interjected, "I have work, Marianne." Marianne shook her head, even knowing Arthur couldn't see.
"No, Arthur, it isn't that," her voice broke as she spoke, and she heard her boyfriend croak a Is something wrong? on the other line. She heaved a heavy sigh as her head spun, and decided it was best to spit it out before Arthur got worried.
"I skipped this month," Marianne clarified, "and I took a test earlier. Well, two actually. I think I might-"
"Oh god," Arthur interrupted, "Pregnant?" The line is dead for what feels like ages, and Arthur repeats himself, "Pregnant?"
"Oui- yes," she corrects herself, "Pregnant." There is no sound again for a few seconds.
"I'm going to be a father? I am the father, right?" Arthur asks. The questions are admittedly stupid and obviously that way due to shock, and Marianne can help but smile a little.
"Yes, on both accounts," Marianne answers, "So long as you- ah, want to keep it." Arthur shouts and Of course I want to keep it! into the phone and finally she can feel Arthur's excitement when she hears him place the phone on his desk and announce to his surrounding cubicles the news of the day. She hears shuffling too, and Arthur picks the phone back up.
"I'm getting my stuff together right now, Marianne!" Arthur says excitedly into the phone, "I'll be home in a bit and I-" the man happily chokes on the words and his girlfriend can tell, even over the phone, that he's crying, "I love you so much." He hangs up before Marianne can respond.
She's in the living room by now; she had been pacing the entire way through the conversation. She lay down on the couch in relief, with eyes wet with unshed tears, and from then waited for Arthur to come home (which was another 15 minutes later).
When Arthur was finally at home with his love, he kissed her with an unrestricted and excited fervor that would have made a cardinal saint sob. When their excitement got to the point of wanting to make love, Arthur questioned the safety of it, but neither of them truly knew. Nonetheless, they threw caution to the wind, and touched each other with a tenderness that made nerves and hearts sing to a volume that felt like their chests were going to burst.
Both Marianne and Arthur agreed it was nothing short of fantastic.
And they wed in April, a month before they became parents of two lovely blonde twins.