A Magical Addition

Chapter 8

Hey guys. Once again thanks for the reviews, very encouraging. Keep them coming and remember, I do not own 'Howl's Moving Castle' or anything to do with it. Hope you enjoy this.

'Howl?' Sophie did her best to clear to small patch on the bedside table, setting a cup of coffee down carefully. She wiped her hands quickly on her cleaning apron before leaning across the mound of bed sheets to try and find her husband. 'Howl?' She repeated a little louder, raising an eyebrow and placing a hand on the mound.

She could have predicted it, and Howl loved to milk a hangover. Usually he just used it as an excuse not to have to do any work instead forcing Markl to deal with the customers in one of his whacky disguises. She also worried he wouldn't remember a thing about what was supposed to have been the best day of their lives however one look into those big blue eyes and she was had.

A loud groan caused her to wince and swiftly withdraw her hand.

'Am I dead?' She originally heard as an incomprehensible mumble, but as she thought about it she was able to piece the words together.

'N-no Howl,' Sophie chuckled 'I brought you some-'

'Then can you please kill me?' She rolled her eyes muttering something about drunkards before turning and heading for the door.

'You brought it on yourself.' She said looking back at the mound that still hadn't moved.

'…'

Once back downstairs Sophie began preparing breakfast for Markl, who before Sophie came had to find his own breakfast on a morning when his master was hung over.

'Not good then?' Calcifer asked with a stifle of laughter. Sophie just sighed in response turning to Markl and setting a plate of toast in front of him. He hastily shoved his pile of books aside and began devouring it in his atrocious manner. What sort of influences would her child be receiving? She laughed it off turning back to the work top and continuing. It was then Markl piped up a certain question that Sophie really wished Howl had been there for,

'So…now that you and Howl are married…' He began with his mouth full, the occasional piece of food flying out onto the table. 'When are you gonna have kids?'

Sophie paused for a moment glancing over her shoulder at the child who continued to fill his face with toast, occasionally looking up to meet her gaze. She gulped glancing at Calcifer who just smiled and simmered down into a mere glow.

'W-well, would you like us to have children Markl?' She replied pulling a chair out at the table and sitting down carefully, placing her hands on the smooth wood. The young apprentice stopped chewing for a moment and swallowed, perusing this thought in his mind.

'I guess so, I do get kinda lonely…hey if you guys had a kid, it would sorta be like my little brother or sister, right? Cause I mean Howl's practically my dad and you're practically my mum…' He happily took another mouthful of toast swinging his legs in contentment. Sophie's heart swelled with love, so Markl wasn't her actual son but she was flattered that he considered her as a mother figure.

'Well then,' She said as she began tracing patterns in the wood with her finger, her other hand slipping off to settle on her stomach which immediately caught Markl's attention. She knew she'd have to tell him eventually before he started coming up with ideas of his own about her progressive weight gain. 'It's a good job I'm pregnant, huh?' The child's eyes were alight, a grin spreading rapidly across his face. He dropped the piece of bread from his hand and sprung off his chair.

'Really?' He almost yelled with excitement. Sophie just giggled and nodded accepting him into her arms as he threw himself at her. 'That's so cool! How much longer?' She shooshed him first telling him that "daddy" wouldn't be too happy about the noise levels before answering his question.

And here marks the beginning of Markl's long impatient wait…

'Well I think I'm only about seven weeks…'

'And how long does it take?' He asked urgently squirming out of her lap to give her a look of complete seriousness that didn't fit properly on his babyish face.

'Nine months.' She watched his expression sadden further as he slumped over and returned to his breakfast.

'But that's aaaaages!' Sophie stood up slowly, a waver of morning sickness washing over her body causing her nose to wrinkle and her head to spin.

'Good things come to those who wait.'

After making a cup of tea she retreated to the sofa, Calcifer sending out a burst of heat to warm her weary muscles. Being pregnant was physically and mentally draining for Sophie being an addition to the metaphorical weight she already carried with all her chores and caring for the family. She began brooding thoughts of herself as a mother, something she just couldn't quite picture. Sophie had grown really quite mature much earlier in her life as she helped her mother a lot with looking after her sisters, she also agreed that her experiences with Markl had made her considerably more adult at just nineteen.

…Nineteen, married and pregnant. She couldn't help but wonder what her father would think. She was sure he wouldn't be impressed, plus the fact she married a wizard who was renowned for being a heartbreaker. Although the fact that he was a wizard would probably have rattled him enough…of course she would never have mentioned the seven year age gap.

She knew she loved Howl, and in a way she'd never felt before, it was true passion and even though sometimes he was a little insensitive and egotistical she couldn't help but forgive him…every single time. She just hoped it would last. They were both still so young, Sophie especially, and she occasionally would fret that being the ladies man he was, he might grow bored of her. It had always worried her, the constant reminders Calcifer gave her of how he treated women and how short his relationships always were.

'Howl got pleasure out of torturing the poor girls into loving him, then courting for no more than a week enjoying watching them bask in his aura,' The flame had told her 'Then he ditched them and hid, leaving Markl and I to deal with them as they came to the door sobbing, one even threatened suicide!'

But she figured marriage proved his commitment to her and on top of that the fact she was carrying his child which inevitably glued him to her…she hoped.

His child…

With a sigh she placed her hand on that small bulge, caressing it gently. The smooth material of her primrose smock sat out slightly and she realised people where going to start noticing soon. She often wondered who the child would look like, she hoped Howl seeing as she thought of herself to be very plain and mousy despite all of Howl's flattery.

A knock at the door alerted Sophie, her whole body jumping and a few droplets of tea splashing out onto her skirt. She cursed under her breath setting the cup down and scampering over to the portal.

'Market Haven.' Calcifer yawned.

The young woman clunked the door open and came face to face with her sister.

'L-Lettie…w-what are you doing here?' Sophie stuttered. He sister never visited…ever and then all of a sudden there she was, all dressed for work and holding a small parcel.

'I realised I never got a chance to give you your wedding present…and then upon hearing your news I decided my gift was…well useless, so I got you something else…here.' She shoved the small box onto Sophie and grinned her toothy grin, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

'Lettie you shouldn't have…' Sophie muttered inviting her in and sitting down at the table across from Markl. Lettie sat down as well ruffling Markl's hair and winking at him receiving a grunt of disapproval from the boy as he flicked over another page.

Biting her lip, the former hatter carefully lifted the lid off the parcel and rummaged through tissue paper until she came across a small piece of silver. As she lifted it, it jingled, tiny little bells all tinkling off each other.

'You like it?' Lettie asked with uncertainty placing a hand on her own rosy cheek. Sophie glanced up, her eyes alight, a small smile gracing her lips.

'I love it, Lettie, its beautiful… thank you so much.' She held the rattle up to the light and watched as it shot a beam of light onto the table top. 'I think Howl might pass out when I show it to him though.' She giggled placing it back in the box and sighing.

'He isn't…happy about it?' Lettie guessed almost disappointedly.

Sophie shook her head, her slightly deflated sliver curls bouncing on her shoulders.

'No, no he is…well, he doesn't really talk about it.' She pushed the box away and cupped her chin with her hand, propping her elbow on the table. Lettie glanced at Markl who was clearly pretending not to listen.

'Markl why don't you go and feed Heen, I'm sure he's starving.' Sophie suggested. With an obedient nod the child jumped up and disappeared.

'You'll be a great mother Sophie, look how he listens to you.' Lettie smiled.

'Any excuse to get out of studying…' She sighed. In Sophie's opinion Markl was still too young to be taking his work so seriously, but she wouldn't go against Howl's word.

'Maybe Howl's just scared, you know his reputation for short term relationships…he has commitment issues!'

Sophie rolled her eyes.

'I love-'

'Sophie!' A voice groaned from upstairs.

The sisters exchanged a look of utter surprise to hear Sophie's new husband on his way downstairs on such a morning when Sophie wasn't expecting to see him until she returned to bed that night. But sure enough, there he was. Not quite as spritely and cocky as usual but still Howl.

'Sophie!' He repeated, his voice broken. He appeared at the top of the stairs, his hair tousled, skin pale and smooth as milk. 'Were you just going to leave me up there all day to die when you know I should be serving pri-' He paused as he hung over the banister, his gaze locking with Lettie's for a moment before her eyes started to wander down his bare chest. Her eyes widened as she bit her lip slowly. Howl glanced at his shirt which was slung over his shoulder and hastily began pulling it on.

He cleared his throat and then finished descending the stairs half skipping half stumbling across the room to his cabinet and pulling out several packets of herbs and a few potion bottles.

Both women watched him intently as he threw the ingredients into a small mixing bowl and muttered a few words. With a puff of blue smoke he poured the contents of the bowl into a glass and took a mouthful.

'Where's Markl?' He asked Sophie as he leaned against the counter top swilling the contents of his glass and taking another sip.

Lettie continued to gape, she had never really been so close to Howl with so few people around and the effects were making her a little dizzy. She was soon completely oblivious to their conversation, instead watching his every movement as if he was in slow motion.

'And how are you this morning Lettie?' He asked breaking her trance. He raised a questionable brow and continued to drink his concoction.

'I-I-I'm good…good, thank you.' Her face began to get rapidly darker.

'Wonderful.' Howl chuckled, seeming much better already. He set his glass into the sink and then leaned across the table layering his lips onto his wife's for a few seconds.

'I-I'm going to leave, so yea I sh-should probably just…um I'll see you soon…' Lettie stuttered practically falling off her chair and making her way swiftly towards the door.

'Thanks again for the present Lettie.' Sophie called sympathetically after just witnessing the situation she had put herself in and understanding perfectly as she had most certainly been there.

'Good seeing you, and um…c-congratulations Sophie…H-Howl.'

Howl nodded winking at her as she scampered out the door. Once she was gone he chuckled, running his fingers loosely through his hair and sauntering across the room to the fire grate.

'Howl…' Sophie frowned shaking her head and making her way to the sink to wash his glass.

'It's not my fault the effect I have on women, you know that!' He said, settling down on the sofa and crossing his legs. Sophie huffed muttering something about them being married now and how upset he must be to have settled down.

'Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes…fancy seeing you so early on a rough morning without so much as a bath?' Calcifer crowed flaring up in Howl's face and then returning into his logs. The wizard however seemed to ignore him glancing over his shoulder at his wife and smiling to himself.

'What did Lettie buy you?' He asked curiously, raising a finger and curling it in on itself twice, the small box levitating off the table and floating towards him landing gently in the palm of his hand.

Sophie turned sharply opening her mouth to speak but then closing it again as he lifted off the lid. He lifted out the rattle, inspecting it for a moment and then simply nodding in approval placing it carefully back in the box.

'You knew she knew anyway.' Sophie said quietly setting the glass on the drying rack.

'I know…' He got up again grabbing a jacket off the coat rack with not nearly as much "hm-ing and ha-ing" as usual. He then swung it around his shoulders, glancing at her with a simple smile and then vanishing out the portal just as Lettie had done.

Sophie groaned loudly, throwing her back and covering her eyes with her hands.

'Just give him time Sophie, he'll come round eventually.' Calcifer reassured her, muttering unfavourable words towards Howl under his breath.

'Will he? He seemed so happy at first but now…' Her gaze wandered out the window across the clouds, had everything she'd thought about Howl changing for her, been wrong? 'He doesn't even want to talk about it…'

'Don't worry about him, in the mean time you have plenty of support from the rest of us. When you were gone he was in such an awful panic because he thought he was missing things so he obviously cares. Ignore him, he'll come to his senses.'

Sophie smiled at the fire demon lovingly, after all nobody knew Howl better than he did.

'Thanks Calcifer.'

Okay, another chapter complete. This was a bit of a filler chapter, a big "non-event" if you ask me but I guess it's kinda necessary. Please continue reviewing, favouriting, alerting, it means a lot. Thanks guys, more to come soon.

~*Sarah*~