Return of the Unicorns, Chapter 26
Note: Right! Well, the last chapter was a bit all over the place now, wasn't it? And now that I've left you all (well, anyone who's bothered to read this far – thanks so much if you have!) on a truly dastardly cliffhanger… I'm going to go write about something that's totally and completely different! XD
Another Note: I've noticed that the chapters have been getting pretty long lately, so here is a short one! So here you are, from the perspective of David and Cristina Marshall, who will, in fact, have a further role to play in this story!
David and Cristina Marshall had always longed for a child, ever since they both could remember. But after they'd gotten married, Cristina discovered the reason behind her horrible and painful periods: a condition called endometriosis, to which there was no cure.
And so, after years of hoping she might get pregnant, she got a hysterectomy – a procedure that removed her uterus from her body and relieved her pain, but which also destroyed her fertility.
Cristina had repeatedly told her husband David that he, being an attractive young man, could find another woman to marry, someone who would give him the children he wanted. But David insisted that he loved his wife so much that he would rather be childless with her than have children with someone else.
Besides, David got plenty of time mentoring and teaching children as a math teacher and school principal at a small local school in Burlington, Vermont. And on career days at the local high school, Cristina would come in and tell kids what it was like being a lawyer. Plus, they were very hands-on with their nieces and nephews, of which they had many.
So it seemed that although David and Cristina Marshall hadn't had all their dreams come true, they had attained a pretty satisfying life.
One night, though, Cristina woke up from a strange dream, practically hyperventilating.
Her husband David heard her gasping and woke with a start, too.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I had this weird dream, where we had a daughter. I got pregnant and when she was born, we called her Hope. And we brought her up to be an amazing young lady… and then she was taken away from us…"
"That's crazy, babe. I've had that dream, too!" exclaimed David.
"But what does it mean?" Cristina sighed, lowering her head to her pillow in order to wipe up any tears that might be coming on. IN spite of the satisfying life that she led with her husband, the fact that she couldn't have children – even all these years after her hysterectomy – still had the power to hurt her every time it was brought up.
David looked about the room, desperate for some cue from the heavens to tell him if he was doing the right thing. Finally, absent any cue from above, he tenderly stroked his wife's shoulder and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
"I think that dream means, Babydoll, that we are going to be parents."
"David, don't tease!" Cristina cried, swatting his arm.
"Well, I was going to save this for Valentine's Day to give you these, but…" David reached into the top drawer of his bedside table and pulled out a sheaf of papers. He reached his other hand out to turn on the light so his wife could read them.
"Oh, David! You're kidding!"
"I'm not kidding! I finally found an adoption agency that'll let us adopt a child, and we can raise it as our own! I'm not sure how long it'll be until we take our kid home, but… Babydoll, we're going to be parents!"
"Thank you so much for this!" sobbed Cristina as she pulled her husband into a tight embrace. "It's perfect! I can't believe we're finally going to be parents!"
XXX
Now, of course, David and Cristina Marshall already HAD been parents, even though they couldn't remember it. But since, being Muggles, they were powerless to do anything about the dreams of the daughter they'd been magically forced to forget, they could only move forward into the future. And they were overjoyed to do so, because – for the first time that either of them could remember, at least – they were going to be parents!