Hell party people! So, I know this has taken a while but I wanted to be especially careful with this chapter. You'll see why. It was a bit tricky but I tried.

Wendla's Chapter

November 17th, 1892

I had to stop working. I missed having a purpose, even if it was just to help Mrs. Howard get ready for an event at one person's house or to go to the opera. Mrs. Howard was surprisingly nice about the whole thing. She let me keep my job until the baby was born. I suppose Oona had explained my condition. It was times like these I wondered if my mother would have been helpful. In all honesty, I didn't miss her. I realized that she suppressed me to the point that I'm not sure what I would've done with myself. After wondering about my mother, I also realized that she was the one who wanted to be rid of my baby, who I already loved more than words could express. However, as much as I loved this baby and I loved our neighbors, I couldn't stand when people would come over and just go on and on about when they had children. In my new spare time, I had been reading the paper. I knew what was going on in the world. I wanted to know what people thought about Cleveland being elected or their take on Homer Plessy's arrest.

The only person I could talk to about that was Melchior. Naturally, when you sell newspapers, you read them. He would get home late at night and he was usually tired. Of course, I hadn't left the apartment at all. He didn't mind staying up a while to talk to me about the news. He had interesting ideas about the world. I was curious as to how we had lived in the same town but he had these complex and worldly thoughts. It kept me on my toes though. I have to say I was able to stump him a few times. He had been working at the library more and more, which meant I wouldn't see him much. Since it was getting colder, less and less people bothered to buy the paper when they left the theatre so eating became a more valuable experience. I slept a lot and I barely saw him. I was actually fine with that because I felt like a mess. Emotionally, I was all over the place. Physically, I was also all over the place. My new, expansive body took up most of the bed and I felt bad for Melchi, for he was usually hanging off the bed by morning. Then, I remembered that he and I both created this bed-hog. The buttons on my dresses were popping off all the time. It was better when I let it out a bit. The stomach fit better but that wasn't my main problem.

Oona was very patient with me. I emotionally exploded on her multiple times and she dealt with me every time. She was the one person I didn't mind talking to about children. She offered me advice and stories that will stay with me forever. She told me about the time she almost lost Robby, her youngest son and about how long she was in labor with her third daughter, Bedelia. Part of the stories scared me but I knew I could do it, not that I had a choice. We laughed and cried and by the time she had to go to Mrs. Howard's, I had never felt better. She even had Moyna come and check on me before she tucked herself in. Moyna was overly sweet and very smart. Sometimes, she would ask me for the paper, which I was more than happy to pass on. When the darkness took over the sky, my emotions never failed to get the better of me. I asked the same questions over and over of myself and never came up with an answer.

He had to come up with an answer. This equation would kill him before the sun came up and the vicious circle would continue with him not having his homework done, again. Between school and praying for Melchior, Moritz and Wendla, it was all Ernst could do to say stay awake during the day. The investigation was over long ago but Ernst knew Melchi and Wendla were together because while struggling to study for his final, he saw them walk right out of town. It was a secret he could never tell anyone. He worried about them, though. Then Herr Sonnenstich would ask Ernst to stay late again. Ernst did not mind staying late after school but he did mind how Sonnenstich would… touch him and how he would make noises while doing so. Ernst just wanted to understand quadratics but he couldn't get a word in edgewise with that racket. Ernst waited until Sonnenstich finished whatever he was doing to ask a question. Then he would bolt as fast as possible back to the vineyard to see Hanschen, who was actually helping him pass Algebra. Before Hanschen, Melchior would help Ernst before and after school with his homework. Sometimes Moritz would tag along, too. Ernst didn't even realize how much he missed those two. Their banter was incredible and it took all Ernst had to not eaves drop. They seemed truly interesting and they didn't quite fit in but Ernst never felt that he did either. He just wanted to fit in.

December 17th, 1892

I just wanted to fit into this dress. Our building was having a holiday party and with my extra time and extra fabric I decided to make a dress for myself that would, in theory, fit. Well, theory be damned. The top was tight. I wasn't surprised and why should I have been. Oona, who was years older and a bigger person than I, didn't even have anything that fit me. Growing into your body as a teenager was one thing but growing into your body as a mother was far and beyond what I had thought. My sister, Ina, got bigger when she had her daughters but not quite as large as I was. This baby better be a giant, I thought. With the lack of food in our house, a baby could never be as big as the volume of my stomach.

People were visiting family on the actual holidays, so we set up the party for a week before. The city had basically shut down. Oona was off because Mrs. Howard had gone to her husband's family's estate in England until far after New Year's. The theatre district was also dark because of the holidays and because of the bitter cold. No one could sit in a theatre for two hours when the temperature dipped below zero so Melchi and Alaster had been around. It was almost seven o'clock so I decided to give the buttons one more try. The top one was fine. The second one buttoned with a little extra force. Just as I almost had the third and final one in, all three buttons burst off of the fabric. I could've started bawling right then and there. I was just so frustrated with buttons, and myself for God's sake. I looked at myself in the mirror and could see the blush in my cheeks and the tears in my eyes. Melchior walked up behind me, wearing his uniform from school. It was the nicest thing he had. The memories came racing back.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The buttons came off of my dress. Again." I sniffled.

He put his arms around me and was able to rest his hands on my over-swollen belly.

"Well, you know," he said, speaking against my ear, which sent shivers through my body, " I don't mind if your dress isn't closed."

It was funny because while expecting the baby all of these feelings about Melchi, mostly physical ones, came back to me. And he absolutely loved it.

"Melchior!" I jokingly scolded. " I'm not sure Mrs. Tammaro would appreciate it. "

He laughed. " Well then, let me help."

I was suspect at first but he took a green ribbon from a table and threaded it through the yoke in my dress and tied it just so I was covered and comfortable.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome."

We started to kiss and I could sense it was going somewhere further when there was a knock at the door. Melchior reluctantly turned around and answered it. It was Mrs. Yosef, who hadn't really left her apartment after her husband had passed.

" Would you mind accompanying a lady to the party?" She asked.

" Not at all," Melchior answered.

I hobbled my way over to the door because I had the most shocking muscle aches of my life. They went from my back all the way down to my toes. Then came the stairs. Mrs. Yosef, bless her heart, was well into her 90s but even she beat me down the stairs. It probably took me a good five minutes to get down maybe eight stairs. We were the last to arrive at the Diamaids' apartment because of my difficulty. Everyone was receiving each other with open arms and people were especially taken with the size of my abdomen. They all remarked that I would give birth any day now and I readily informed them that I had at least a month and a half to go. We all engaged in light, pleasant conversation and ate little, tiny foods. People kept asking if they could touch my prominent stomach. I allowed it. It was annoying to have people ask that all the time, as were the muscle pains and the too small clothing. On the other hand, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever been a part of to have something growing inside you, feeling it kick and move about.

At one time, all seven of Oona's kids were feeling my belly because the baby was moving around and they thought it was amusing. Aoife, the middle child, said my belly looked like a globe. I couldn't help but smile. I looked across the room to find Melchior in the thick of a discussion with the other men. Suddenly, a sharp pain took over my torso.

" Ouch!" I whispered rather loudly.

A few people turned their heads but then turned them back, carrying on in their conversations. Oona appeared and shooed the kids away and sat next to me.

" You okay?" She inquired.

" Yes, the baby's just a bit vigorous today."

Then there was another one.

"Wendla, can I ask you something kind of personal?"

"Sure."

She whispered in my ear.

" Well, yes. I'm not sure why but I've just been very willing to…"

" Right. How far along are you?"

" I'm not sure. Eight months, maybe seven and a half. Why?"

" I'm just asking because well, when I was having Aidan, I was very willing as well and he was born a couple of months earlier than we had originally thought. "

I looked back on the room and the kids were all asleep in one bed. All of the other guests had left and Alaster and Melchi were talking, over a drink. I felt settled for the first time since before all of this chaos had taken over.

" I'm sure it'll be fine," I said. " As scared as I am, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Well, let us know if there's anything we can do to help." Oona said as Melchi stood.

We were last guests there and it was time to go. We hugged and said our goodbyes. We traveled the trek up the stairs, which was a hassle. We were both exhausted so we lied down, facing each other. Melchior placed his hands over mine, where they rested on my stomach. We fell asleep that way like nights before.

Mere hours later, the same pains I felt at the Diamaids' returned much more severe than before.

"Mother of God!" I screamed.

Melchior woke right away.

"What is it, Wendla?"

"The baby is making such a commotion. Ouch!"

Melchior stood up and his eyes widened.

"Why is the bed wet?" I asked as I looked down, only to see reddish liquid.

Oona had told me enough, that I knew it was time to start pushing.

"Melchi, the baby's coming. Right now."

All the color in his face, immediately, disappeared.

" Alright," he muttered, his eyes darting in every which way. "It's going to be alright."

I wasn't convinced and I know he wasn't either. The pains started getting closer together, hurting more and more. Melchior was at my feet, waiting. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it so that he also screamed but in comparison to mine, it was nothing. I screamed expletives that I'm sure Melchior has never heard me say before. I had never screamed or cursed more in my life. I screamed, squeezed Melchior's hand and pushed one more time. I stopped screaming, let go of Melchior's hand and stopped pushing. The only thing I could hear was my labored breathing.

"She's beautiful."

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