For a moment, I was unable to speak, no matter how hard I tried. There was no way I could find an appropriate response.
"I know that it's unexpected," I said. "Especially after what just happened. But I think it would be best if we kind of…you know, started over. There's no point in us fighting, especially if we're going to be stuck here for another four months." He hesitantly laid his hand on my stomach. "And I know how much you want to keep him."
I felt a kick, and Leif's hand recoiled.
"Did you just do that?" he asked me.
"I'll go out with you," I blurted out. Great, my mouth had finally decided to work, but a little bit late. "And no, he's acting on his own."
"O-Okay," Leif said. "Great. I guess we'll just go, then. Does nine sound like an okay time?"
"Sure," I replied.
Eunice came bounding into the room.
"Do you want me to help with the cooking?" she asked excitedly.
"Eunice!" Leif cried. "Were you eavesdropping?"
"Of course, Leify," she replied. "It's an important moment!"
"We've gone out before," I said.
"True," Eunice said. "But I think this time is going to be different. Now, Leona, I'll come back around six, and we can start the cooking."
I looked over at Leif.
"What do you think she means by that?" I asked.
"I have no idea," he replied. "All I know is that she's crazy."
"But you know you love your big sister, Leify!" Eunice called. I heard the front door close, and I sighed heavily.
The baby was kicking up a storm, so much so that I could see the movement through my shirt.
"That's freaky," Leif said. I looked over at him, and saw that his eyes were wide, but he also seemed to be smiling a bit.
"You're telling me," I said. "And he always does it at the most inconvenient times. It's more distracting than it might seem."
"Have you thought of a name for him?" Leif asked.
"I've been trying not to think about it," I replied. "I don't want to name him if there's the possibility that I won't be able to raise him myself." I sighed. "Besides, the only suggestion I've gotten, and the only one I've even slightly considered, is Raguna."
I gasped, as I felt the hardest kick out of all that time, and it had happened right when I had said the name.
"What happened?" Leif asked. I decided not to answer his question.
"Raguna," I said again. The baby kicked.
"What's wrong with you?" Leif asked. "Why are you saying Raguna over and over?" And as I expected, the baby kicked.
"That's his name," I said.
"What?" Leif asked, sounding more perplexed than ever.
"Every time one of us said the name," I said. "He kicked. That's his name. Raguna."
"I don't understand," Leif said. "But okay, why not?" He paused, and frowned. "I don't think I can spell it, though."
"Well," I said. "We can work on that. I'll even help you." He smiled sheepishly.
"Didn't think of that," he murmured. "And…your dad will be pretty happy, I guess."
"He'll think we're sucking up to him," I replied. "But who cares? I kind of like it."
"Yeah," Leif said. "Well, I think I'm going to get dressed. I don't want to be too lazy."
"I should do the same," I said. "I just realized that it's cold in here."
"Actually," he said. "You can get dressed first. I'll start a fire in the fireplace."
"So chivalrous all of a sudden," I said, smiling at him. He didn't respond; he just smiled back.
I went into the bedroom, and started to change into warmer clothes. Once I was dressed, I headed back to the door and opened it, but instead of walking through the doorway with ease, I walked right into Leif, who just happened to be coming through the doorway at that exact moment. I heard a loud thumping noise, and realized that Leif had hit his head on the wall.
"Ow!" he cried.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Uh, yeah," he replied sheepishly. "Are you?"
"Yeah," I said. "I'm not the one whose head bounced off the wall!"
"Don't worry about it," he said. "But I do need to get changed."
"Oh," I said, moving out of the way. "Sorry." Leif walked into the bedroom, and shut the door behind him.
I walked back to the living room, where the fire was just starting to heat up the room. I picked up a book I had been reading the previous day, and started reading it again. Strangely enough, I had left off at a very interesting section.
"Music and prenatal development?" I wondered aloud. I skimmed the section, furrowing my brow.
Leif came out of the bedroom in his change of clothes, and I looked up at him.
"Do you play an instrument?" I asked.
"No," he replied, looking confused. "Why?"
"I just read this section of this book," I said. "And it basically says that if I listen to classical music, the baby might become some kind of genius."
"Oh," he said. "Actually, I think I can help. A few months ago, Mom and Dad got this machine that plays music through these things called records. They have a lot of old music, so maybe we'll find something there."
"That's perfect," I said. "Do you think they'll let us in?"
"Probably," he replied. "The only way to find out is to go over there."
"Let's go, then," I said.
We walked quickly over to the inn, and went inside. Turner was sitting at the front desk, and he stood up slowly.
"Leif," he said sternly. "You know you're not supposed to be here."
"I know, Dad," Leif replied. "But we wanted to see that record player you keep in the bar."
"Ah!" Turner exclaimed, sounding a little more like his normal, cheerful self. "Go ahead, then. But no drinking."
"I know," Leif groaned, as though he'd heard that a million times.
We went back outside, and then into the bar.
"Here it is," Leif said, walking over to a strange machine. I saw that there was a box next to it, and Leif started looking through it. "Damn."
"What?" I asked.
"No classical music," he replied. "All they have right now are…" His voice trailed off. "On second thought, why not?"
He took a black disc out of the box, set it on top of the record player, and moved some sort of needle on top of it. He pressed a button, and I heard the energetic jazz start to play. Leif started stretching.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"You'll see," he replied. "But you can't tell anyone about this, especially your dad."
"Okay," I said. I actually was curious to know what he was going to do.
As the music played, he counted softly, but what he did next, I never would have expected. He started to dance. I recognized it as a tap routine, but nothing I had ever been able to do. I had taken a few dance lessons while in Palermo, so my dancing ability was pretty mediocre. But I never would have expected Leif to be such a talented tap dancer.
After a few seconds, he took a deep breath, and bowed.
"I'm a little out of practice," he said.
"How and where did you learn to do that?" I asked. "Leif, how come you never told me about this?"
"You know how my family has always taken a yearly vacation?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, we go to this city a little ways away from this little town called Alvarna, and they have this dance academy there. Even though it's a small city, it's really top notch. Anyway, ever since I was about four, Mom has always made me take dance classes while we're there. We only stay in that town for about a week, but I've learned a lot in all those years."
"Leif," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. "That's…amazing. I could never do that."
"Do you dance at all?" he asked me.
"Yeah," I replied. "I figured if I didn't get into the royal troupe, I would end up working in a smaller venue, and it's good to have as many skills as possible."
Just as I said that, a different song started playing, and it was much slower than the last.
"Do you know how to partner dance?" Leif asked.
"Of course," I replied. Without a word, he smiled and held out his hand. I took it right away.
Even though I hadn't danced with a partner in what seemed like forever, I still was able to follow along with him.
"Someone wants to cut in," Leif said softly.
"What?" I asked. He laid a hand on my stomach. "Oh, yeah." I laughed.
We continued to dance all the way through the song, until the end. He let go of my hand, and he bowed to me, and I curtsied back. However, I was mortified upon hearing the sound of applause. We both turned our heads to see Turner, Rita, and Eunice standing in the doorway and looking highly entertained.
"See?" Rita said to Turner. "Those lessons for him really did pay off!"
"I can tell!" Turner exclaimed cheerfully. "That's my boy!"
"Leify!" Eunice squealed.
"I hate you all," Leif muttered, looking down at the floor.
Even then, though, I could tell that he was smiling. I couldn't help but smile as well. It was the first time I had seen him legitimately proud of one of his accomplishments, and some part of me felt as though I'd see that expression again.
Aw, how cute!
And the idea of Leif being a good dancer wasn't originally there, it just kind of came to me. I figured he needed to have some secret talent, and for some reason, it just worked.
Now who's excited for the next chapter, about the actual Night of Holies? Let me know!