Zelda12343 - Allegra is truly quite cool. You can thank the lovely Cornodopia for her!
Cornodopia - Someone had to tell Regina! But anyway, the Capulets will thank her in the long-term!
After dinner, the Capulets go for a walk, and things start to get a little bit dramatic for Hermia.
*My little treasure
After the disastrous dinner, the family then decided to go for a little walk together, as it was still quite light and Celestine made a fuss about looking in at all the Christmas shops. Mercutio and Allegra lagged behind the group, talking and laughing, which wound up Tybalt even more with every burst of sniggering. Hermia waddled beside Juliet, Tybalt stomped on ahead, Rosaline clacked along in her heels between Theobald and Ricardo, Regina banged on about Tybalt's success at university to Celestine, and Lord Capulet and Tancredo discussed family matters.
After an hour of traipsing around, they ended up at Verona's shopping centre. The family scattered off to their respective favourite shops, leaving a tired Hermia sitting in a cafe with Celestine, Allegra, Juliet and Mercutio (now changed into his actual clothes rather than his sleeping suit) slurping at a giant hot chocolate.
"Hermia, your stomach is moving!" gasped Allegra.
"It does. It is way cool" beamed Mercutio "Especially if you talk to it"
"Pregnancy eez a bee-oo-tee-ful time!" cried Celestine.
"Let her talk to it" encouraged Juliet.
"Ok. Here you go Aunty Celestine" said Hermia, ripping open her coat "Put your hand here"
She placed her aunt's hand over her stomach, and Celestine leant over to speak.
" 'ello my leetle 'un. It eez nice to meet you for ze first time. Weel you keeck for your Great Aunty Celestine? Sweet angel, mon petit tresor*, keeck for me"
The baby did not kick back.
"That's funny. He normally kicks if you talk that much"
"Here, let me try" said Allegra. She leant right over to Hermia's stomach, and put her hand next to her mother's "Wassup"
Mercutio snorted, and blew the frothy cream off of his hot chocolate across the table at Juliet. Hermia's stomach wiggled eagerly, and both Allegra and Celestine looked delighted.
"I'm going to be godfather" said Mercutio just as delightedly.
"Zat must be an honour for speshal fam-ee-lee friend"
"I am special!" protested Mercutio.
"Special needs, more like" grunted Tybalt, leaning over with a cup of tea.
"No, Tybalt, that's you. What did Allegra tell you about deluding yourself? Are you all done?" asked Mercutio.
"Yeah. I'm done. Mum is getting some more food, but no sausages" he tossed an angry glare at Allegra "We hadn't anticipated an extra" he shot an angry glare at Mercutio, who just grinned back at him freakily. Allegra covered her mouth to stop herself laughing too hard. Hermia also smiled, sensing that there was something new in the air.
"So, Hermy-wa" said Tybalt sarcastically "It's your due date tomorrow. Excited?"
"Very" replied Hermia.
"Who's your birth partner?" asked Tybalt.
"Dad, you retard. You can't remember anything, can you?"
"Funny. I thought it would have been the father of your baby, not your father"
"Well, Lysander will be there, but I wanted someone a bit more mature to help me through it"
"Lysander? So not Demetrius?"
"He's not the father" growled Hermia. Celestine made a few gasps, and looked at them both.
Tybalt rolled his eyes "Whatever. I bumped into Gabriel at the supermarket. He was buying some really weird stuff. He had all these candles, and food, and incense. What would he want all that for?"
"Well, it is Christmas you dumbass" said Hermia.
"He is a really weird boy" Tybalt went on "And I bumped into someone who wanted to see you"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Demetrius. He said he knew it was your due date tomorrow, and he said he wanted to be there. He might pop over and say hello. So, just as a heads up. He's stopping by"
"Oh, shit" muttered Hermia "Let's get out of here!"
But they couldn't, as Lord Capulet and the rest of the family turned up. They all sat down and started ordering food. It seemed like they wouldn't be leaving for another hour. Mercutio just sat into the middle of them, winding them up, making crass comments and hacking everybody off, whilst Allegra laughed at him and joined in.
When they finally left, it had got dark outside. Lord Capulet called his chauffeur to come and pick them up, and told them to park nearest to the doors of the shopping centre so Hermia could stay in the warm, and didn't have to walk for very long. It was when she was waiting by the large doors, that two boys she didn't want to see rushed past her arguing and yelling.
"You stop stalking her!" shouted Lysander.
"Just butt out! You have nothing to do with my baby, so stop pretending it's yours!"
Hermia turned "Just go away! Just pack it in! I'm sick of you both!"
"Hermia!" cried Demetrius. He really looked desperate. Hermia shivered, although she wasn't sure if it was the cold as the door blasted open from another group of shoppers or his presence.
"Leave me alone!" screamed Hermia, drawing the attention of several onlookers "I hate you!"
"You heard her! Go!"
Demetrius glared at her "I will have you, you know! I will make sure that everyone knows the truth, that Lord Capulet is on my side, and that I will have you!"
Hermia hurried out the door, just as the car pulled up at that moment and just as Demetrius shouted out the maths involving Hermia's conception date and due date. Tancredo stuck his head out the window and watched horrified. Lord Capulet scowled.
"What is this, Egues? What on earth has happened whilst we've been away?" asked Tancredo, his voice filled with venom.
"Nothing. Leave it" Lord Capulet climbed out the car "What is going on?"
"He's bothering us again" Lysander shouted.
"I want some involvement with my own kid!" snapped Demetrius.
"Well, I don't want you to have anything to do with it!" Hermia snapped right back.
"That's enough, Hermia!" commanded Lord Capulet.
"What?" asked Hermia, looking from Demetrius to Lord Capulet.
"I heard you, the other night" explained Lord Capulet.
"Heard me what?"
"Heard you talking about the paternity of your baby!" Lord Capulet went on "You've been lying to us all, haven't you, you little minx?"
"No" lied Hermia "Honestly. He's got nothing to do with me. And anyway, like Benvolio said, it doesn't matter whether a kid has a father or not, as long as it is loved and taken care of"
"Fathers do need to be a part of their kid's lives!" argued both Lord Capulet and Demetrius.
"I raised you, didn't I?" Lord Capulet added.
"Oh, and now look at me. Great job, daddy, you'd have done my mother proud!"
"I. Beg. Your. Pardon?" hissed Lord Capulet. Back in the car, Tancredo looked absolutely disgusted at the situation. Mercutio seemed just about ready to grab a baseball bat and whack Demetrius around the head with it a couple of times.
"Oh, forget it. Go away, all of you! I'll walk home. Demetrius, I don't want anything to do with you, don't want you near me now, when I'm giving birth, and I don't want you to be a part of my boy's life. End of!" Hermia stormed away, back into the shopping centre. She wept, holding her hands over her eyes. Lysander followed in hot pursuit, and gently handed her a tissue as they stood outside a shop. A tall blonde girl walked past.
"What am I going to do? He can't come near the baby! He can't! He simply can't!"
Lysander looked at loss at what to do. They had been distant lately, although he was sure it was just pregnancy hormones. He didn't like Demetrius, nor how much he seemed to be after Lysander's girl. He held her close.
"We'll run away Hermia..."
