***
Copyright: I don't own the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I do
not intend to infridge upon any copyright. But the idea for the story was mine…
:-)
***
Marguerite had got used to write diary, because she wanted to remember
every aspect of her pregnancy.
She had spent the morning in clearing up the bedroom. Roxton was somewhere out
there, in the jungle, hunting something for dinner. He had not been willing to
help her when she'd asked him that morning – just as she had expected. He was
not the kind of guy who liked to concern with household.
Now she laid down on the bed and tried to relax a bit. Every single bone of her
body seemed to ache; more than all others her back. But she was used to that –
a side-effect of her pregnancy.
She put her hands on her belly and could feel the baby move which made her
smile proudly. She and John were looking forward to having a baby, but as much
as she was happily awaiting her child, she was also afraid. What about birth?
What if anything went wrong? Who could help her? None of them had any previous
experience. Challenger was the only one who had children, but that didn't mean
he had been there when the had been born.
Marguerite tried to put these thoughts aside.
So she appreciated, that Veronica just came in. Marguerite sat up and put a
hand on her aching back, when she said: "Are you all right?"
Veronica nodded, then shook her head and replied: "Well… yes and no."
'Oh my god, she's pregnant',
Marguerite thought, but asked: "You wanna tell me? Sit down!"
Veronica took place next to her and hesitated a moment until she said: "Well,
it's not about Ned and me. Not really, I mean. We're very happy together, but…"
She held in.
"Are you...?", Marguerite asked with a raised eyebrow, but Veronica shook her
head.
"No, no, I'm not… But I see you and…" She broke off again, unable to say what
she felt. Marguerite gently put a hand on her shoulder and said: "You would
like to have a baby with Ned?"
As Veronica slowly nodded, Marguerite went on: "But you don't know Ned's
opinion about that?"
Veronica nodded once again. "I dare not ask him…I don't want to ruin
anything.", she mumbled.
"But you should talk with him!", Marguerite insisted. "You two have such a
great relationship! Don't you think you should let him know what you want?
Besides – perhaps he has got the same opinion as you. Who knows?"
Veronica still wasn't convinced, yet. "I don't know, Marguerite. – I'm not sure
if I can manage."
"You can!", Marguerite said resolute and forced Veronica to look straight into
her eyes. "You are strong. You're certainly the strongest one of us all,
because you managed to survive all those years in this cursed jungle. Alone."
She paused. "Ned loves you – he'd do anything for you! Even if he didn't want a
baby right now, he would respect your opinion. Please, talk to him!"
Large leaves hit his face as he tried to make his way through the jungle. 'Damn!', Challenger thought but kept up
walking.
He was obsessed with finding a way off the plateau; he knew there was one. They
had so often been so close it… And now he used all his energy to detect it,
searching systematically.
Challenger wasn't really afraid of dinosaurs, natives of something like that –
he was careful and armed with his riffle and two knives. Nevertheless, his
friends had tried to convince him not to go alone, but he had declined Roxton's
offer to accompany him. They all had enough to do – John and Marguerite were
expecting their first child and were totally concerned with the advanced
pregnancy. It wouldn't take a long time until they had to face birth.
Challenger tried to recall his sons' childhood. But that was long ago… Too
long.
The thought of the two made him walk a bit faster. He had to find the loophole
out of this disastrous jungle!
***
to be continued…
***