"I'm so excited, Fio!.. I can hardly wait to see our child!"
Those were the last words Valiant had said to her the day before he left to sea without her.
Fiona could not understand why he had left her at Hemlock Harbour. She was supposed to come aboard the Mermaid with him to leave to a brand new life in England, but for some peculiar reason, they had left her behind. All day, she had waited eagerly for the ship to return for her upon the pier underneath the sky; the orange tint taking over the light blue colour, later turning into a darker blue, and mysterious thick clouds gradually rolling in. By now, the sky had been blocked out of view by the dark grey clouds. Fiona could not even watch the sun set for the least bit of comfort. She caressed her hands gently on her large abdomen, with her child safely inside.
Her anxiety grew as she stood atop the docks. Fiona tried to scan across the surface of the trembling waters, but could hardly see a yard from the end of the docks to the seas, due to the eerie fog. Worriedly, she mentally attempted to make up an excuse for Valiant's absence. Perhaps he had forgotten?
No, he couldn't have. If he had forgotten about his fiancee still onshore with their soon-to-be first child, he would have arrived much sooner.
Perhaps she had arrived late?
Not at all. Fiona had arrived at the pier as she had been instructed; 5:00 PM. In fact, she figured that she had arrived a bit earlier. Now that it was late in the evening, her heart sank at the thought that Valiant was not going to return, and had left for England alone.
Suddenly, a dark silhouette of some sort of shape within the fog approached the shore. Fiona then hoped with all her heart that this was the Mermaid, and with a very worried Valiant inside. But as her eyesight became accustomed to the moonlight, it was instead a smaller boat speeding up towards the pier. Once it had docked, a man exited upon the pier. Fiona frowned, as this was not her Valiant. In fact, she could not recognize this person at all.
As he walked closer to her, she could notice that he wore a black pea coat, and had pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes. He kept his head low, and was very silent. Right when he was about to pass by her, Fiona stopped him with a tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me, sir..." she asked in a small voice. "Are you alright?"
The man had stopped in his pace when he heard her speak, and turned to her, revealing extreme sorrow on his face. There was a shocked and depressed look in his eyes behind his spectacles, concerning her even more. He stared at her, horrified, then his mustache twitched before he mumbled the words, "It's all my fault..." He only looked more horrified when he noticed her abdomen. "Were you... expecting someone?" he stammered.
Fiona narrowed her eyebrows. She hadn't any idea of what he was talking about, but really wanted to help out this poor man. She asked, "Who are you?"
The man swallowed down his dry throat, reluctant and constantly pulling his words away from his mouth. Finally, he sheepishly answered, "The lighthouse keeper."
At first, Fiona was wondering why the lighthouse keeper was not at his post when it was this dark and foggy, as it was very dangerous for any ship to travel across a sea in this condition.
Now that she thought of it, she has not seen the lighthouse turn on at all that evening.
The lighthouse keeper's lip quivered as he asked in a feeble voice, "Were you the wife of anyone aboard the Mermaid?"
"I... I'm going to be," she stuttered, with her eyes wide. "Why? What's wrong?"
He seemed to be at the verge of tears himself before he reached up to his cap and brought it to his chest. "I'm... so, so sorry..." His words were almost as quiet as the cool wind, but it struck Fiona like the lightning that had flashed right as he spoke. She backed away from him, shaking her head in denial. "No... no..." she pleaded. But the truth was all too clear.
Valiant was dead.
The world spun around Fiona as she collapsed onto her hands and knees with her face down, quietly sobbing to herself. The lighthouse keeper placed his cap back onto his head and tried to approach her with comfort. "Ma'am... I didn't mean to, I-" Then, he saw that she was now hunching over and putting her hands over her abdomen. She looked up at him helplessly, breathing heavily in and out her mouth. "It's... It's coming... The baby's coming..." she gasped.
Panicked, the lighthouse keeper bent down to help her to her feet again, bringing one arm over his shoulder. "Come on, we'll get help!" As they limped off the pier towards the nearest building, Fiona took one last glance at the ocean, only to see the fog covering up the entire view of the ocean. "Valiant..." she whimpered, before she closed her eyes.
Fiona woke up with a start in cold sweat, staring up at a blank, white ceiling. She already knew that she was in some sort of bed, covered up to her chest with a thin blanket. Was she just dreaming? She held her breath hoping so. She clung onto them, until she looked to her left and saw, at the end of the room, the lighthouse keeper, holding his head down and muttering to himself.
"Where am I?" Fiona asked in her frail voice. The lighthouse keeper's head shot up to see her, and sighed in relief. "You're alive," he said, running up to her bedside.
Reality then washed up on her, and she began to tear up. The lighthouse keeper picked up a small rag from the table next to them and dabbed her forehead. "Listen, I'm really sorry..." Before he could finish, there was a soft knock at the door. Every time something brought forth her attention, she wished that it was Valiant.
The door opened, and a nurse poked her head inside. "Excuse me, miss," she started. "A man named, 'Henry Flatbottom' would like to see you. Is that alright?"
Fiona glared at the name, then relaxed herself. "Tell him that I don't want to see him right now, please."
The nurse nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Then she smiled and added before she left the room, "And congratulations."
Fiona's head sank back on the pillow. She turned back to the lighthouse keeper. "What happened?" she asked, not being able to remember how she ended up in this infirmary.
"Y-You were getting weak as I was trying to carry you to the nearest hospital. It was a good thing that someone else was around when I called for help," he explained, then shifted his gaze. "Don't you remember giving birth in here before passing out?"
Her head lifted slightly upwards. "I did?"
He nodded. "Yes," he replied. "I thought you were dead, so I curled up beside you and waited until the doctors would come back to kick me out."
Just then, there was another brief knock at the door, and a doctor entered the room before Fiona could say anything. He glanced down at his clipboard before smiling warmly at her. "Congratulations, ma'am," he said. "They're both healthy boys."
Fiona struggled to smile, but abruptly stopped.
"Both"?
The nurse from before walked in the room, cradling a swaddled baby in her arms. Then, she was followed by another nurse with a second swaddled baby. Fiona choked back her tears, not being sure if they were of happiness or depression.
It was fraternal twins.