A/N: Hi everyone! I just wanted to stop in and mention my new Adagio Tea Shop That can be found here: pages/customer_ ?userId=417488TO I'm not sure if it will be of any interest, but I thought it would just be fun to make some character-based teas! After all, who wouldn't want to drink a little cup of Marjorie or Erik? Either way, feel free to browse the shop, if you'd like!
I pushed the door shut behind me and returned to Marjorie's bedside. She had rolled over, her back turned to the door. I couldn't bother thinking of the boy any longer. I needed to give all of my attention to her now. I sat on the side of the bed and smoothed her matted curls. She had already fallen asleep.
Her pale cheeks were pink and puffy from crying, and her nose looked red and sore. I felt so guilty. I had already put her through so much. I should have never said any of those things to her. How could I have been so insensitive? What type of person ever wished miscarriage upon someone?
I ran my fingers through her hair. I felt miserable. What had I driven her to? The bottle of arsenic still sat in a shattered pile on the bathroom floor. Had she tried to kill the baby? Or worse, herself? What had I done?
She began to stir under my hand and I pulled away. She rolled back over to face me. She gave me a tired smile and curled up to my side. "You aren't angry with me, right?"
I looked down at her. "Why would I be angry with you?"
"Because of the arsenic. And because I called you a monster."
"If I should be angry with anyone, it should be myself."
"But what about Julien? You're angry at him, aren't you?"
"I really shouldn't be." My head fell in defeat. I knew I shouldn't be. If anything, he was being a better man than I was. "He was there for you when I wasn't."
"But he wasn't you," She sat up and took my hands. "and I don't even think he wanted to help me for the right reasons. You would."
"I still should have been there."
I looked at our hands as she held them. My black leather gloves seemed to engulf her tiny porcelain hands. It was as if she was a doll. I looked to her face, still damp from tears. She was a doll I had broken. I slipped off my gloves and held her face in my hands, ignoring my stinging cuts. A gentle smile spread across her face. I leaned in and kissed her forehead. I had to remember what Antoinette had told me before I had come here. I had to be as strong as I could for her. I had to be her rock. After all, we were all each other had. On some levels, we were still the little orphan children we had once been, looking for a real home.
I moved my hands down to her stomach. A shiver ran through both of us at the same time. It was as if we had both been shocked at the same moment. I would not let this baby go through the same pain I had been put through. This child would grow up loved, even if he somehow managed to have my face. We would spoil this child to pieces. I looked up at Marjorie. She gave me a beaming smile, her eyes filling up with tears. But this time they were happy. Maybe I had done something right.
She already had the smallest of bumps beginning to form. My blood pulsed in my ears. It was all suddenly real. This girl who sat in front of me loved me. She was my fiancée. And she was going to have my child. I was going to become a father. I had honestly never thought any of this could ever happen to me. It was all so new and exciting and scary.
She placed her hands over mine and closed her eyes, living in the moment. She let out a soft breath. My eyes had begun to well up with tears, a habit that I wasn't afraid to hide at the moment. I had lost my hard shell, but maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. "I promise you, Marjorie. I will be the best father I can be for our baby."
She let out a laugh and wiped the tears from her eyes. She sat up and wrapped her arms around my neck and I pulled her close. "I love you Erik."
"I love you, too, and our baby."
She smiled and laid back down, making room for me. I slipped off my jacket and shoes and laid next to her, letting her rest her head against my chest. I looked back to when I had first met her. The girl who fell into my lake and broke a candelabra. I was still broken and a twisted mess, not that I still wasn't, but she met me at almost rock bottom. I didn't know what compelled me to pull that drowning girl from the water. If it was anyone else, I knew I would've let them drown. But something was different about this girl. I was right.
Even after I had invited her down into my lair, this girl was so adamant about getting to know me, for weeks she would write to me and bring me things from the bakery. She was so innocent and childlike. I never would have even guessed what I was getting myself into. Especially when I first heard her play. There was so much more to the girl than I ever would have known. She nearly shoved me off of the organ, lost to herself. Her song was so full of pain and anger that frightened even her when she learned she had played the song.
And then she kissed me. The little girl with the bruised face and broken nose. The little girl who had nearly been raped just a few days before. The little girl with the freckles hidden by scrapes. And all because I gave her the locket she had lost. She didn't care about my mask or my face or even my temper. I knew I could never give her up then. Even when I pushed away, she would still hold on tight. Even now, with her already asleep in my arms, I knew. If I had to spend just a day without her, I would die.
