Love is Like Atroquinine: Slow Acting, But Powerful
Chapter 23
"Keeping Turnabout Secrets"
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters and cases from Ace Attorney. All credits go to Capcom, they own the rights to everything. This storyline here is completely original and was created by me.
Second Disclaimer: I can't claim credit for the existence of Raoul, Deston, and Seren. All credits for their hilarity goes to the amazing Stormy. As usual, I thank you lots for letting me work for them!
Third Disclaimer: NEW one! I can't claim credit for the new OC's that make their literary debut in Love is Like Atroquinine. The Edgeworth family, including Valerie, Milly, and Gregory belong to the awesome Lunaroxi, who approached me last week about bringing her characters into LILA. I found the perfect scenario of the story to fit them into, and I'm happy with how the character development ended up. They will also, for sure, be re-appearing in Chapter 24 of LILA! Hope you guys enjoy the new characters, and give both Lunaroxi and myself some feedback please and thank you. It would be much appreciated by both of us, as these are her beloved characters, and my second shot at using OC's that aren't of my own creation.
*Note: If anyone is confused by what appears to be a typo on my part, it is not misspaced, that was deliberate. Hopefully everyone saw the information and artwork I posted regarding Alison last week, and it explained a certain...quirk of hers. So if anyone asks me regarding a piece of her dialogue, I'll redirect you to a specific deviation of mine and hopefully that would clear up any confusion.
**Smut's here, blah blah, the usual lol.
***Fit another movie quote that I LOVE into this chapter. It's from a relatively unknown movie, so if anyone guesses it correctly, I will be thoroughly surprised.
Klavier froze, staring at the sink. He was as shell-shocked as the woman sitting on the floor below him. Klavier shook his head and brought himself out of his thoughts to look back down at Ema, who was still crying silently.
He crouched down and scooped Ema up in his arms. He carried her out to the living room, and sat down on the sofa with her on his lap. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and just held onto him. He stroked her back to comfort her, hoping the tears would subside soon.
After another five minutes, Ema's breathing slowed and she was composed. She swiped at her eyes with her palm. "I'm sorry." Klavier frowned. "For what, Fraulein?" Ema looked at him. "For being a basket case. I...I don't usually cry like that. I'm just..." Ema trailed off. "I know, Fraulein. I'm surprised too." Another sob got stuck in Ema's throat. "It's not just surprise that's running through my mind now. It's fear, worry, uncertainty...and a million other things. Scientifically you couldn't fit more into my brain if you tried."
Klavier was silent as he tried to think of a way to pacify his girlfriend. But he himself was rather appalled at the news himself. He couldn't believe Ema was pregnant. Out of all the women he'd been with before her, this had never cropped up. So he had no way of knowing how to deal with this. Just one thing came to mind.
"Fraulein, I am a man of honor. I know that something a lot of men do when a pregnancy occurs is to run in the other direction and never look back. But I will not do that. This is our responsibility, and I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own. I love you, and this is not going to change anything." Klavier wound his fingers through Ema's and gave her hand a squeeze.
More tears flowed from Ema's eyes and she smiled. She wiped her eyes and leaned down to kiss him. She drew back. "Thank you. I was so afraid that when you came back and saw...the news...you would..." Klavier shook his head. "Nein, Ema. If this changes anything, it changes my world. In a good way, because we've created something. I was raised to stick by my word, and my word is that we will handle this together."
Another sob choked Ema up. "But what about in the future? What about my job? Granted I hate being a detective sometimes, but I haven't even started my forensics career yet, and with a baby I'll never have the time to do it, even if I started as soon as we got back. And I'm not ready to be a mother, I never planned on having a child so young. This is not how I had scientifically planned out the next few years, and-"
Klavier silenced Ema with another kiss. "Ema, it will be fine. But how can you 'plan life'? If there was a plan for us to have a child, then we have no power over that higher up decision."
Ema bit her lip. "How are we going to tell everyone? Lana is going to be shocked, to say the least. And we were supposed to do something for her birthday tomorrow. I can't ruin her birthday with the news." Klavier chuckled. "Ema, I highly doubt the news would spoil anyone's day. If anything, it would make her happier to know she will be an aunt. Tante Lana. I think she will like the sound of that."
Ema gave a tiny smile. She was still scared shitless at the prospect of being a mother, but she was imagining the happy reactions on everyone's faces when they found out. At the same time, Ema wanted to be completely reassured of her position before she started telling her friends. "Would it be alright if we waited a little bit before we came out and told people? Like made an official announcement? I want to wrap my brain around all this before we add everyone's reactions to the mix."
Klavier nodded. "That is fine, Fraulein. Whatever you want to do." Ema inhaled a deep breath and thought the sentence that had been running through her head a thousand times now.
She was pregnant with Klavier's child.
Ema's hand came to rest on her stomach. She just couldn't believe there was something growing inside her now. That depended on her for life. That needed her to be responsible for its healthy development and safe delivery. It was just unbelievable to her. She wondered idly if it was a boy or a girl.
Ema stood up. "Do you mind if I lay down for awhile? This has just made me exhausted." Klavier nodded. "Go rest. The baby won't like it if Mom is stressed from a lack of sleep." Klavier chuckled, but Ema frowned. "Please don't call me Mom quite yet. I'm still not used to the idea." Klavier nodded and leaned down to kiss her. When he pulled back, he cupped her cheek in his hand. "I love you Ema. This child of ours only makes me love you more."
Ema blushed and smiled. Klavier smiled widely. "There is that blush I love. I haven't seen that in quite some time. How I missed it..." Ema blushed deeper and yawned. "How long did you want to rest for, Fraulein?" Ema shrugged. "I don't know. An hour or two?" Klavier nodded. "That will work. The guys have been bugging me to go out and hang with them. They complain they haven't seen enough of me, as I've been preoccupied with a certain someone. I'll be out for a couple hours if that's okay with you."
Ema smiled. "It's fine. But tell them too bad. They had you for the past seven years, now it's my turn." She stood on her tiptoes to peck him on the lips, then turned to enter the bedroom and shut the door behind her.
Klavier turned around and walked into the living room to retrieve his cell phone. He dialed Deston's number and waited for the drummer to pick up. "Hey stranger, who's this calling?" Klavier laughed. "Your bandmate, you Schwachkopf." Deston laughed. "Well I got the other two Gavinner's with me, the third seems to be missing in action." Klavier rolled his eyes. "The third member is on his way over. What are we doing?"
"Just heading out to lunch somewhere. We're hungry and Raoul ate the last of the food." Klavier heard Raoul protest in the background. "Ah, shut up Cavatin!"
Klavier laughed. "I'll be over in a minute, Deston. We can go feed the hungry Brit and the selfish Italian." Klavier heard Raoul yell again. "Screw you Gavin! We all don't have a girlfriend who can cook for us!" Deston and Seren laughed. Seren piped up "Well, Adagio did have a girlfriend. Then he got his arse dumped! Viola probably got bored with his profane mouth." Deston and Klavier burst out laughing and Klavier heard a growl, a thump, and a crash on the other line. "Achtung! What just happened over there?"
Klavier closed the hotel door behind him and walked down the hallway towards where the Gavinner's were staying.
Deston managed to stop laughing enough to relay what occurred. "Raoul just thumped Seren and knocked him into the couch, then he stormed off to his room. He knocked over a lamp too. Guess he's still sore about that."
Klavier nodded in agreement. Raoul was always the one who did the dumping. He honestly thought it was the first time the Italian had been on the receiving end of a breakup speech. Certainly seemed to have bruised his ego. "I'll be over in a few seconds, D."
At the moment he pressed the 'end call' button he knocked on the door. Deston opened the door and let Klavier in. "There's our missing band member! I was starting to think he'd forgotten about us." Klavier shook his head. "Nein. Should we leave now or is another fight going to break out?"
Seren laughed. "As long as Ray doesn't eat my food, I think we'll be fine." Raoul came back out to join them. "Hey if you don't want me touching your food, then put your name on it. Otherwise it's fair game. Gotta keep myself fed if I wanna be strong enough to go out and see the ladies..." Raoul trailed off and his friends collectively rolled their eyes and pushed him out the door.
The guys walked over to a sports bar. They never noticed a duo of German paparazzi's following the former rock stars all the way to the restaurant and into it. Sitting in the booth next to them, listening for a potential story.
Klavier drummed his fingers on the table and looked out the window, thinking about Ema. Seren nudged Klavier out of his waking slumber and snapped his fingers. "Wake up Gavin! Dreaming about Ema over there?" The guys chuckled at Klavier's distractedness.
Klavier nodded. "Laugh all you guys want, but I am. Something happened today."
Deston raised his eyebrows and ran his hands through his jet black hair. "You and Ema get in a fight or something?"
Klavier shook his head. "Nothing like that. The exact opposite, I suppose. I don't even know if I should tell you guys this or not. She wants to keep it a secret until she's ready to tell everyone." Raoul cut in. "C'mon K, you can tell us. Something's obviously troubling you, dude."
Klavier clasped his palms together and debated internally. He supposed it would be alright to tell the guys. They were going to find out soon enough anyway.
"Well, Ema found out this morning that she's pregnant." Klavier said quietly, or at least it was quiet to him.
Raoul, Deston, and Seren's eyebrows all went up in unison. Their faces were mirror images of each other. "No shit dude. So are you gonna..." Klavier nodded. "Ja." Deston blew out a breath. "Wow, K. Never thought that would be coming out of your mouth."
Klavier nodded. "Believe me, I never expected this either. We're both still trying to wrap our heads around the situation." "Is she going keep the kid?" Klavier nodded. "Ja, I believe so. I want us to. I wouldn't let her give it away anyway."
Seren looked at Klavier. He clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Well congratulations then, mate. Just think, we'll start calling him 'Dad' soon."
The paparazzi sitting next to them looked at each other, nodded, then got up and left. They found the scoop they were looking for. Magazines around the world have been dying for news regarding the rock band. They'd all been under the radar since the split, and magazines were frothing at the mouth to find anything newsworthy on any of the guys.
Well, they just hit the jackpot. Klavier Gavin's girlfriend was pregnant. This was going to explode when it hit the newsstands. It was a big enough scoop when the lid was blown off of the relationship they had been keeping on the D.L for almost a month. This was even bigger.
The guys ate their lunches and chatted about what they've done while they're over the past week. The guys would actually be flying back to the States in a couple days. Deston and Raoul had to get back to work, but Seren said he 'had stuff at home to attend to.'"
As they were walking out of the restaurant, a pretty girl with auburn hair walked past, talking on her cell phone. Raoul's eyes followed her down the street. "I'll see you guys back at the hotel. She looks like she needs some company other than that cell phone..." Raoul sauntered off after the mystery girl and the guys didn't even bother stopping him.
Klavier warned his friends to keep what he told them quiet until him and Ema made the official announcement to everyone, even though he didn't know when that would be. Deston and Seren both nodded and agreed. They'd pass the message along to Raoul.
Deston and Seren stopped off at a grocery store to get food for their room, and Klavier continued back to the hotel room on his own. He checked his phone. He'd been gone a little over an hour. It would take him another 15 minutes or so to get back to the Hilton, and by then Ema would probably want to wake up.
As Klavier was walking down the street, he passed a mother pushing a baby in a stroller. He glanced down at the baby and realized that Ema was having on of those because of him.
His eyes widened and he took in a deep breath.
He just couldn't comprehend the fact that he was going to be a father. Not at this stage in his life anyway. He imagined he'd be into his thirties before he'd consider marriage and children.
But some higher power had other plans for him and Ema, apparently. All either of them could do was take it as a bigger sign that they should be together. He smiled at the thought of spending his life with her, but to think that in less than a year, their lives would change so drastically, was unbelievable to say the least.
He did, like her, wonder what that would mean for her job. She had dreamt of being a forensic scientist almost her entire life, and now she would have only a few months to live her dream, if that. Scientists were very busy with their line of work, from what Klavier gathered seeing the forensics department at the Los Angeles precinct.
He couldn't leave Ema at home with the child for such long periods of time. And that made him wonder how much he'd be able to do as a prosecutor. He'd sometimes be away from his house for a day at a time if he had a big case to work on. He'd sometimes stay at the office into the wee hours of the morning getting paperwork done. One of the few people that sometimes stayed there as late as he did was Ema herself.
He knew that would change the instant she left work for maternity leave. Maternity leave. Never thought those words would be associated with Ema.
The thoughts of everything and how it was going to change was enough to make him wish for a drink of some sort. But whiskey wasn't going to solve anything. As much as he wished it would. Plus Ema would kill him if he came home tipsy or smelling of alcohol.
Plus he had...a child...to think about now. A child. A child. He just couldn't picture himself holding an infant in his arms yet.
Klavier sat down on a bench outside the hotel to collect his thoughts. He sat down for no more than two minutes before a couple of teenage girls came up to him stammering something about wanting an autograph. Ever the fan pleaser, Klavier obliged and gave them what they wanted. The girls ran off squealing and pointing at their respective signatures from the rock star.
Klavier sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. Was that how he wanted his child to be brought up? In the spotlight because of who his or her father was? He knew that eventually the press would back away, but it had been less than half a year since the breakup of the Gavinners and they were still a hot band, despite them no longer being together.
He also wondered how Ema being pregnant with his child would affect her status in the public eye. God only knows the paparazzi hounds will be all over her the second this becomes public knowledge. This would be as big news-wise as when Daryan got arrested and sentenced.
The first of the world-famous Gavinner's to get married and have a child. Klavier laughed as he imagined the collective wail from all the female fans as they discovered one of the most swooned after rock stars was off the market for good. He'd seen the reaction from female fans when it became known that he was simply dating Ema. Girls would walk past them and throw glares Ema's way. She learned to ignore them, but that wasn't the point. It would only get worse as their relationship deepened further.
Deston and the other guys had the occasional relationship, but none of them had been incredibly serious. Christi seemed to have potential in Klavier's eyes. She seemed to really care for the drummer, and he seemed to return the affection. But who knew how long it would last, and if it even would. They didn't have a child binding them together. Not that Klavier was objecting to having a child with Ema, quite the opposite. It's just that he never imagined it would happen so quickly and unexpectedly.
Klavier clicked to the home screen of his phone and realized he'd been gone for almost two hours now.
Klavier pulled himself up and walked up to the top floor in silence. When he got back into the room, all was quiet, so he assumed Ema was still sleeping. He left his motorcycle boots in the foyer and walked to the bedroom. The door was still shut and he saw no light coming from underneath. He slowly pushed the door open and saw Ema fast asleep, on her side, facing the door. She didn't stir when the light from the hallway flooded a few inches of the room.
Klavier walked over and gently shook her awake. "Fraulein, wake up. It's been a couple hours." Ema stirred and blinked her eyes a couple times. "Ugh, do I have to? I feel like shit right now..." Klavier nodded. "Ja, Ema. Remember we promised your sister we'd stop over for a couple hours tonight. She'd be disappointed if we backed out."
Ema sat up and stretched her arms out. Klavier's eyes instinctively went down to eye Ema's still flat stomach. He didn't know why he was already picturing Ema with a baby bump and a pregnancy glow.
Ema pulled herself out of bed slowly and walked into the hallway toward the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and pulled out the large bag of Snackoos. Klavier laughed as he watched Ema shovel down the chocolate snacks as usual. "I must wonder if Snackoos will be a common pregnancy craving for you, or if it will be something else." Ema shrugged. "Dunno. Scientifically it could be anything edible."
Klavier wrapped his arm around Ema's waist and gave it a squeeze. He glanced at the clock. Three in the afternoon. They would have to think about leaving to meet Lana soon. Most likely they would be stopping by to pick up Apollo, Aria, Trucy, and Phoenix as well. He shot the guys a text to see if they wanted to come. Deston and Seren said they were just going to stay in tonight and play some video games. Raoul apparently wasn't back yet from talking to that girl he saw on the street, or whatever is was he ended up doing.
Ema downed the rest of the water and concentrated on keeping her churning stomach calm. She hoped this nausea wouldn't last during the entire pregnancy. She actually got up once while Klavier was gone to throw up what little was in her stomach, but she hadn't felt better afterward. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt a little better.
Klavier was right. She couldn't bail on her sister and the group. If she complained of not feeling well, then everyone would become concerned and start prying. She wanted to keep things as normal for as long as she felt comfortable. She just found out she was pregnant less than 4 hours ago.
The sickness that she had previously believed to be a simple virus wasn't a virus anymore. It was blatantly obvious that she had shown all the beginning signs of pregnancy. Cravings, mood swings, nausea, and exhaustion. Some scientist she was. She couldn't even detect what was really going on in her body.
Ema sighed and rested her head into his chest. If it was up to her, she'd spend the rest of the week just moping around the room and sleeping. That was all she felt like doing.
Klavier kissed her temple. "Come on, let's get ready to leave. Did you want to give Fraulein Alison a call to see if she wanted to join us? I believe you said she lives near the Soho House, ja?" Ema nodded. "Yea she does. She told me it's only a couple blocks from where her apartment is. I'll go call her now."
Ema walked over to her messenger bag in the living room and retrieved it from the side pocket. She scrolled through her contacts list and came to Alison right at the top. The other line rang once, twice, three times, before Alison picked up.
"Hi Ema! What's up?" "Hey Alison, I was calling to see if you wanted to join the group at my sister's hotel room to hang out. We can pick you up on the way if you want." Alison groaned. "I'm sorry Ema, I wish I could. I'm out right now. On a date actually. I met him while I was out running errands today and he asked me out. Well, hold on one second." Alison pressed the phone to her shoulder and the sounds on the other line were muffled. She heard Alison ask this guy if they wanted to hang with Ema's group. Ema couldn't understand what this mystery guy was saying, but it sounded like he said yes. "Sure, we'll be by as soon as we're finished here. What room is your sister in?" Ema answered excitedly. "She's in room 32. On the third floor. Can't wait to see you and meet this mystery guy! How is he?" Alison gave a 'hmm' sound. "I can actually tell you really fast, he went off to take care of the bill. He's really charming, really funny, and he's really hot. Puts my last boyfriend to shame twice over. Although for some reason, he looks really familiar. Can't put my finger on where I've seen him around before. Some private investigator I am, huh?" Alison laughed and Ema joined in. Klavier looked inquiringly at Ema. She waved her hand to tell him she'd let him in when she got off. "Well anyway, he sounds really nice. We'll meet you two over there soon!" Ema hung up and smiled.
"Alison is going to meet us over at the Soho House after she's finished with her date. Apparently she met someone while she was out today. She seems to think she's seen him before, but has no clue where. I'm sure it'll come to her." Ema shrugged. She hoped this guy was nice, after what Alison told her of her previous boyfriends, she needed a good one for a change.
Ema threw on a clean shirt and pants and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She yawned as she and Klavier walked out the door and down to the lobby. Klaver got the driver to come around and pick them up. As they rode through the streets of Berlin, Ema rested her head on Klavier's shoulder and dozed off. It was about a 20 minute drive to where Lana was at. They did stop off and pick up the other four members of the group at the B&B.
Ema acted surprisingly normal with everyone as they talked during the remainder of the car ride. Trucy told them about going to see a musical and spending time with her mother. Lamirior would be returning to the States in a few weeks to begin her tour in America, but it had been several months since they had seen each other face to face. Lamirior told Trucy that she was going to have the eye correction surgery in a month. There was an appreciative murmur throughout the group.
They pulled up to the hotel and the driver dropped them off at the entrance. Klavier told the driver to come back in about three hours. The driver nodded and pulled away.
They all strode in and made their way up to Lana's room. She opened the door for them with an ecstatic grin on her face. "Welcome to my humble German abode for the next week and a half!" Everyone came in and looked around Lana's suite. The layout was actually similar to Ema and Klavier's room, but very different as far as the decoration style went. It was very abstract, but it worked.
Lana pulled a bottle of red wine out of a bucket of ice. "Anyone want a glass? The hotel gave it to me when I checked it, but I'm not drinking alone." Aria and Phoenix both accepted a glass, but everyone else, especially Ema declined. Everyone dismissed her rejection of the alcohol, as Ema wasn't a big drinker anyway. Trucy made a passing comment about how he should just drink his favorite grape juice instead. "It's better than icky smelling wine, Daddy." Everyone tittered with laughter at Trucy's naivety. If only she knew what her father's 'grape juice' actually was.
As everyone got settled into the living room, there was another knock at the door. Ema assumed it had to be Alison and turned around in her seat to face the door. She smiled as she saw her friend walk through the door and hug Lana, but that smile turned to a frown and a look of shock when she saw who came in behind the brunette.
Raoul Adagio. The very man she swore to not let Alison meet in person.
Ema slapped her palm to her forehead and groaned. Klavier looked at her face questioningly. Ema, sensing his eyes on her, simply shook her head and offered no further explanation.
Ema grumbled to herself. "This is this funny, charming, and sexy guy she met? He's cocky, full of himself, and stupid!" Ema rolled her eyes and forced a smile.
Alison laid eyes on Ema, and ran over for a hug. "Ema! Good to see you!"
Klavier took a long look at Alison and wondered why he didn't recognize her when she passed the guys on the street earlier that day. Alison was the one Raoul went chasing after on the way out of the sports bar. That sure was a coincidence. Alison put her hand on Raoul's arm. "Everyone, this is Ray. I met him earlier today."
The other members of the group waved nonchalantly, not knowing Alison didn't know who Raoul was.
Ema's mouth was open, shocked that Alison wasn't recognizing the bassist. She claimed she was a fan of the Gavinner's, but apparently hadn't looked at one of their posters in awhile, because she had no trace of recognition when she looked up at Raoul's tanned face. Raoul looked over to where Klavier and Ema were sitting. "Hey Gavin! Where's Aded and Cavatin? They bumming it back at the room? The little shits, they should have come out, we're leaving in two days!"
Klavier nodded. "Ja. They were wondering when you'd get back to the room, but you were still gone when we left. Now we can see why." Alison had a look of confusion on her face. She looked back and forth between Klavier and Raoul. "Wait a second. Cavatin? Aded? As in Deston and Seren?" Her jaw dropped open in surprise and glee. "Wait a minute. I know where I've seen you before. You're Raoul Adagio!" Alison slapped her palm to her cheek in embarrassment. "Some Gavinner's fan I say I am. Didn't even recognize the bassist. Why did you tell me who you were?"
Raoul shrugged. "You didn't ask. Ray is a nickname, so it wasn't a complete lie." Alison rolled her eyes. "You still could have told me. I spent the entire date wondering where the hell I had seen you before. I -" Alison started rambling and stopped herself mid-sentence. "Sorry, I do that sometimes." Raoul laughed and slung an arm over Alison's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, babe. Ya know now." Alison shrugged. "YeahIsupposeit'sfine."
The group all sat down and talked for awhile. Edgeworth came up in the conversation eventually. Ema perked up at the mention of Miles' name. It never occurred to her that they were in the same city as him and would have been able to meet up. "Why didn't I think of that? I'll give him a call when we get back to the room. Him and Valerie would probably love to have company over."
Lana and Phoenix both perked up. It had been years since they had seen Edgeworth's wife and children. Milly and Gregory would be nine and seven years old by now. Ema clapped a palm to her cheek as she realized how long it had been since she had seem then. They probably wouldn't even recognize her. Ema saw Valerie a couple months ago when she was working on some cases in Los Angeles, but Lana hadn't seen her old friend since she moved over to Berlin with her husband almost ten years ago.
Phoenix spoke first. "That's an excellent idea. Valerie's been telling me to come visit her and the children for awhile. They've been emailing me saying they want to see 'Uncle Feenie'."
Everyone laughed at Phoenix's childish nickname given to him by the kids. Apollo, Aria, and Trucy had yet to meet to Edgeworth children or his wife, but had heard about them from Phoenix. Ema addressed everyone.
"Well, I'll call over there and we'll all get together before we leave. Isn't it crazy we only have a week and a half left here?" Ema couldn't believe how quickly their time in Germany had gone by. Everyone nodded in agreement.
But now time was going to fly by in general for her, with the thoughts of the pregnancy and everything coming with that. Ema wasn't ready to tell everyone the news, even though now scientifically would have been a good situation to do so.
Ema curled into Klavier and snuggled into his shoulder. She was getting tired again. "Do you mind if we go soon?" She whispered in his ear. Klavier shook his head. Trucy actually yawned as well. "Daddy, can we go back to the room soon?" Phoenix nodded. Ema stood up and pulled Klavier with her. "We were going to leave soon too. Raoul, did you want a ride back to the Hilton?"
Raoul looked at Alison. She nodded. "Go with them. My apartment is only a few blocks away. I'll be fine." Raoul shrugged. "You sure?" Alison nodded again. "-" She stopped herself in mid-ramble again and blushed. Everyone said goodbye to Lana and promised to be at her birthday party. Klavier and Ema would be hosting a little party for the group tomorrow afternoon.
The drive back to the Hilton after they dropped off Phoenix and the others at the B&B was a blur for Ema. She sent Alison a text telling her to respond when she made it in safely and that they needed to have a serious talk very soon. Then she fell asleep on Klavier's shoulder and heard random snippets of a conversation between him and Raoul while she dozed off. Klavier gently shook her awake when they returned to the hotel and she groggily walked upstairs with Klavier. The last thing she remembered that night was flopping into bed and falling straight to sleep.
The following morning, she awoke feeling rather rested and well for the first time in almost a week. The entire morning, her stomach didn't feel queasy and she wasn't as tired as she thought she'd be. Ema shrugged and chalked it up to getting a decent amount of rest.
She spent the morning getting everything ready for Lana's party, and while she took a break from the preparations, she dialed Miles' Germany home phone number. It had been awhile since she punched those digits in.
The phone rang once, twice, and a bubbly female voice answered the call. "Edgeworth residence. Valerie speaking." Ema smiled. "Hi Valerie! It's Ema Skye!" On the other end, Valerie squealed in excitement and she heard two children's voices in the background. "Mommy, who's that on the phone?" Valerie held her phone over the speaker. "It's a friend of Daddy's. You remember Ms. Skye right? The one who I worked with the forensics on a few cases a couple months ago?" A little female voice piped up. "Oh yeah, the one you said eats the chocolate snack thingies and yells at her boss." Ema blushed at the way Milly remembered her.
"Anyway, how are you doing? What spurred on a call?" Ema took a deep breath. "I'm actually in Germany at the moment. Berlin to be exact. I'm with Lana, Phoenix, Klavier, and other friends of mine. We were hoping to swing by for a visit sometime, if that was alright." Valerie squealed again. "Yes, that would be wonderful! When are you all free to come over? Miles has me staying at home again. Said with the few cases I did with you a couple months back, I needed to come back home and stay here for awhile. So whenever you guys want to come over should be fine with me."
Ema thought about the coming days for a moment.
Tomorrow afternoon was no good for Apollo, Aria, and Alison. Apollo and Aria would once again be doing whatever they had been doing on their own, and Alison had a quickie investigation to complete for a client. The Gavinner's would be flying home tomorrow morning. Lana's birthday party today was the last group outing they'd be present for in Germany. Tomorrow evening was Lamiroir's concert, but the following day they were all free, to the best of Ema's knowledge. She would love for them all to get together at least one time before they returned. They had only ten days left before the return flight to the States was upon them.
"How about in three days we all come over? Scientifically speaking, everyone should be available to spend an afternoon with you and the family. The Gavinner's will be back home by then, but everyone else is staying for the remainder of the trip." Valerie tittered with excitement. It reminded Ema of Trucy's bubbly personality. "That sounds awesome! Give me a call when you guys want to come over. Do you need the address?"
"Yes, that would be wonderful. Phoenix is the only one of us who's been over to your house in Berlin before, but even that's been several years. Just text me it and we'll give it to the driver on Thursday. I'll talk to you soon Valerie!" "Bye Ema! You too!" Valerie hung up and Ema smiled. It would be good to see Valerie again. She worked with the freelance detective on three different cases since Ema became a detective herself. Lana actually knew Valerie better than Ema did.
Lana and Valerie had been friends for years, since Lana was released from her incarceration when Ema was 17. Lana began working at the same firm as Valerie, and they've been friends ever since. Lana kept in touch with Valerie through lots of emailing and international phone calls. It was difficult for them to synch up schedules for a phone call, given the nine hour time difference between Berlin and Los Angeles.
It had been years since Ema had seen the Edgeworth children. Milly and Gregory were their names. Ema remembered Milly as a little girl who was smart, intellectually, for her age, and wanted to be a defense attorney (much to her father's chagrin). Gregory was a confident little boy who had a love for music that paralleled Klavier's.
Ema's phone beeped again and it was a text message from Valerie with an address and simple directions should they need them. Ema also noticed she had an unread message from Alison last night telling Ema that she made it back to her apartment fine, and that they should have another shopping day before she left to return home. Ema typed out a quick response, agreeing, asking if the day after Lamiroir's concert worked for her. Alison immediately answered, saying yes it was, and that she'd pick Ema up in her car. Apparently there was a nice strip mall on the other side of town she wanted to show Ema.
Ema glanced at the clock, and realized the group would be arriving soon. Klavier was in the living room watching television. He tried to help out with preparations for the party, but she shooed him away, saying she needed to keep active. She was hoping the state of feeling well would continue. Nothing like feeling shitty to ruin a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.
She got the cake out and set in on the counter next to the refrigerator. She pulled out a couple wine coolers if anyone wanted them, and set the sodas next to the glasses she had pulled out. Nothing left to do at that point.
She looked down at her outfit of jean capris and a white button down shirt. Ema, being the paranoid secret-keeper that she was at the moment, wore a looser fitting shirt. Even though her stomach was still perfectly flat, and wouldn't start changing for another month or two, she was still determined to minimize any kind of change happening in her body. She still had no idea when she would tell everyone. Maybe once they got back home.
It was still very early in the pregnancy. She would be at the two month mark the day they returned home. Ema's hand settled on her stomach for the hundredth time.
A knock at the door broke Ema from her daydream and she heard men's voices in the hallway. She walked over and opened the door to reveal Deston, Seren, and Raoul. She pointed to the drummer and the guitarist. "You two can come in." She pointed to the bassist. "You, not so much." Deston and Seren laughed while Raoul pushed past them and Ema. "Aw come on, Ema don't be so cold. What'd I do this time?"
Ema shut the door behind the other two rockers and pouted. "I swore I'd never let you meet Alison. She's had enough idiot boyfriends in her life without adding you to the laundry list of them. Besides, you're leaving tomorrow morning, why'd you even go on a date with her?" Raoul shrugged. "Cause she's hot. Not about to let a pretty girl like her walk past me without even an introduction. Besides, she seemed nice once we started talking. Does suck that she lives over here though."
Ema omitted a detail she knew about Alison to him. He didn't need to know she was considering moving back to the States soon. Ema figured she was doing her friend a favor. She shrugged and said nothing further on the subject.
The party was similar to New Years, in that it was low-key. The group simply came over, and sat around and talked. Alison came over for a short spell, but couldn't stay long, as she had a case she was finishing up for a client. Raoul followed her downstairs, and came back ten minutes later. Ema rolled her eyes, hoping Alison didn't develop any feelings for the Italian fop.
They sang Happy Birthday to Lana, and everyone had a piece of cake. Ema declined eating anything else that night.
Ema managed to keep her cool and not show the worry that was plaguing her mind. She did throw up once during the party, but lied and said she had some bad eggs the other day for breakfast. No one looked suspicious and no one questioned her.
Ema did the minimum cleaning before she went to bed. For some reason, she was inexplicably hot, so she went to bed in just her underwear. Klavier followed her into bed a few minutes later and cuddled Ema.
She sighed in contentment and fell asleep quickly in the arms of the man she loved.
A gentle stream of sunlight filtered through the curtains into the hotel room. Klavier awoke from his slumber and stirred slightly. He opened his eyes and saw a beautiful vision. Ema, curled up naked against him, still fast asleep. He loved the innocent look on her face while she slept. His eyes graze downward and appreciate Ema's physical beauty as well. To him, she is everything a man could ask for and more.
And now she was the woman carrying his child. He smiled as he pictured Ema cradling a tiny baby in her arms.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear "Fraulein, wake up." Ema squinted her face, stirred, and buried her head further into the pillow. Klavier stroked his hand up and down her arm in an attempt to wake her up. "Fraulein, wake up" Klavier whispered once more. Ema stirred again, turned over to face him and smiled when their eyes met. He propped himself up on his elbow and leaned down to kiss her. She immediately buried her fingers in his long hair. He could feel her smiling and pulled her in closer to deepen the kiss. He opened her mouth with a probe of his tongue and she moaned quietly in pleasure. She wrapped her arms around his back and ran her hands up and down his lean muscles, and in the front to admire his toned chest. Klavier is moving his hand around her stomach and her waist, and then moved his hand from her waist down a little lower.
His fingers teased at the edge of her panties and began to pull them down Ema's slender hips. Ema rolled from her side onto her back to give him better access. Klavier made quick work of her underwear and tossed them aside. He teasingly danced his middle finger around the edge of her vagina, making her whimper with desire. He dipped his finger inside and Ema moaned loudly as he did so. He continued the movements with his hand and leaned his head down to kiss her neck. As Ema's desire built and grew, she felt herself grow more desperate for release. Klavier saw the emotions on her face changing as she gripped the sheets tight in her fist and he knew she was close to the edge. He put a second finger inside her and used his thumb to work her clitoris and Ema gasped as the climax came upon her with a crash.
Ema's breathing returned to normal as she stared at Klavier. "This is what got us into this predicament. You had to go and seduce me, now look where we are."
Ema's memory suddenly came back to her, rewinding two months. This is the exact scenario that came to her in her dreams several times. Now that she realized the connection, the hotel room did look incredibly familiar. She couldn't believe she made the connection before. As she surveyed the room, it was the same exact hotel room she saw in her dream.
Lana was going to positively laugh when she heard about this.
Ema leaned over to kiss Klavier, then pushed herself out of bed. Klavier followed suit and pulled on a pair of boxers and pajama pants. "I am so excited for Lamiroir's concert tonight. I know it's going to be amazing. I missed the last one because a certain fop had me watching from backstage..."
Klavier laughed and walked over to where Ema was getting dressed. "You do enjoy holding that over my head. You love me though." Ema rolled her eyes and smirked. "You're lucky I do. Otherwise..." Ema trailed off
Klavier waited for Ema to finish her sentence, but when he realized she wasn't going to, they both laughed.
The morning was uneventful. Ema wasn't feeling good again that morning, and she was mad she couldn't take any medication. She knew the cause of why she was feeling icky, and she had mixed feelings about it. Ema couldn't believe that this time yesterday, she was just getting back from the pharmacy and waiting for the test results. It feels like so much has happened within that short span of time, but scientifically, a lot hadn't.
It was just some life-altering news that made the day seem more weighted. The usual questions ran through Ema's mind. How was she going to tell everyone the secret, how was this going to change her career, was she alright with it changing her career path...She didn't have the answers to those questions yet, but she had a feeling they would come in due time. She knew that someone or something would give her the answers she needed to figure out.
For now, she was going to enjoy the remainder of her vacation, starting with a concert starring a singing genius, spending time with her newfound friend, reconnecting with old friends, and being with her loved ones. Especially the man by her side, who looked like he was going to be with her for a long, long time.
She smiled.
Author's Notes: I am both happy and exhausted at this moment. This is another monster chapter that ended up being 16 full pages on my word processing software. But somehow, this chapter managed to come into being in less than 3 days. Can someone please remind me how I managed that?
I am soo excited to see Lunaroxi's characters make their literary debut in LILA. The Edgeworth family looks like a fun bunch, and I look very much forward to bringing them back in Chapter 24, as well as 25! I hope she is pleased with their introduction in this chapter, and will be pleased with everything else I do with Valerie, Milly, and Gregory. Thanks to Stormy for doing the bit of proofreading she did for our friend Seren, I got a bit more insight into the Brit's mind as a result.
Chapter 3 of The Sibling Bond is up next. Also excited to get back to that, as we are right at the time of Turnabout Serenade, and we all know what that means unfortunately...
But Chapter 24 will be here before we know it, and trust me when I say, it's not going to be short on the drama and epicness that you guys have come to expect from me. Of course 24 will pale in the light of 25...teehee that's all I'll say for now. ^_^ Farewell my good friends, review please and thank you!
German Translations:
-Tante: Aunt
-Schwachkopf: Moron