Part Twenty-Three
1954 waned on like the moon, seeming to take forever yet the days flashed by. It was just yesterday, Ailene and Marden stood in her dressing room in the early hours of the year, screaming at one another.
So much had happened in one year. Their turbulent relationship rekindled and set ablaze once more, and now the two were enthralled with one another, and vowed to each other that nothing could tear them apart.
But the year wasn't over. No. There was still much more to happen before it closed.
It began mid-November. Ailene sat in a warm bath, Marden had long gone home. Her hands dangled at the side of the tub, and her eyes were full of thought as she stared at her ceiling.
She was a very conscientious person who knew her body very well. And she knew that her monthly menstrual cycle should have been here by now. In fact, this is the fourth month in a row that she had missed her period. August. September. October. Now November. There weren't even any symptoms of her cycle; No cramps, no headaches, no irritability nor fatigue.
Ailene could feel her heart racing in her chest from all of these anxious thoughts. Ever since she was eleven, she never skipped a period. It came as a subtle reminder that she was not pregnant, and instead was there to cause the usual pain and suffering.
She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling out of the warm bath water.
'I might not be pregnant,' Her superego chimed in. 'You could just be having a hormone imbalance...' she thought, trying to talk herself off of the ledge. She did read in a women's magazine that hormone imbalances were a real thing, and that women should be much more aware of them.
But why now? Of all times? When Marden had come back into her life? She wasn't stupid. She could trace it back to August, the first time they had sex since seeing each other once again.
'Think of it this way...you haven't been having symptoms of a pregnancy, either.' Her consciousness reminded her, and this sort-of eased her worry. Ailene sat up in the tub, and looked down at her hands underneath the bath water.
What would Marden say? What would he do? She hoped that he would be excited, that he would be ecstatic, but she couldn't know for sure. There was the other part of her mind that thought about a possible, sour reaction that Marden could have. What if he didn't want the baby? What if he wanted her to get an abortion? How on earth she could do that was beyond her. She wouldn't even know where to go and get one. Not to mention that abortions were highly illegal at this time.
It was also incredibly frowned upon for a woman to have a chid out of wedlock.
Adoption? Possible. But how could she even bring herself to give up a child that was hers?
Her brown eyes flickered to her lower abdomen. She placed a hand to it, then poked it. Now that she looked at herself long and hard, she did notice her belly was bloated.
The only way to find out for sure if she was pregnant was to wait, there was no use speculating so early. Besides, her conscious was right, she wasn't experiencing any symptoms of pregnancy.
But it was only a matter of time.
December crept on, nearing closer and closer to the holidays. They continued to see each other as if there was nothing wrong. She kept her secret to herself, even as the bloodless days ticked by. Nonetheless, her lower belly began to protrude rather quickly. But she ignored it, wearing rather large sweaters to hide it, even from herself. Out of sight, out of mind.
Christmas came and went, and they celebrated together, just the two of them in his cozy cottage. The thought of this unborn child in her uterus plagued her mind as she smiled through it all, giving Marden presents and making love to him.
It was the day after Christmas. She wasn't sure what woke her up, but she slowly opened her eyes and looked around Marden's dark bedroom. She slowly sat up, and as the sleep wore off, her stomach began to churn, the glands in her throat began to swell and her feet quickly carried her to his bathroom. She wretched into the toilet like this for what seemed like an eternity though it was only a few minutes. Marden barely stirred, and as she sat back against the tub, catching her breath, she knew. This was it.
This was her first sign. She silently sobbed in her hands before finding her head back into the toilet, vomiting up everything they had eaten the night before.
She finally felt warm fingers gather her hair, and a warm hand rub her back. Once she was finished, she turned and looked at Marden; worry littering his face. He dampened a washcloth with cool water and pressed it to her forehead. Then Ailene felt his arms slowly lift her to her feet, and room spun around her as if the earth was rotating at a million miles an hour. Ailene's feet stumbled and she lapsed out of consciousness, coming to a few moments later, lying on the bed and staring up at Marden.
"Ailene?" He asked rather frantically. "What's wrong, darling. Talk to me."
Ailene shook her head, the room still spinning wildly. She tried to open her mouth and speak, but no words came out.
Maybe she wasn't pregnant...but dying?
Then everything went dark. She heard voices echoing around the blackness. Then her name. And she kept hearing it over and over, and she soon found that a woman was calling her name. The voice slowly came closer and closer as Ailene's eyes slowly opened.
"Hello, Ailene." A bright, young woman said softly. What stuck out to Ailene the most was the large, lime-green witch's hat that sat upon her head. Ailene must have been staring at her for far too long, because the witch asked her again.
"Ms. Ailene? How are you feeling?" Ailene now looked around, and it was clear she was in a hospital, before looking over at the young witch. She wore robes of bright lime that matched her hat.
"Wh-where am I?" Ailene asked.
"St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries." The witch said calmly, a small smile on her face. Ailene looked again, many other witches walking by the curtain that was drawn almost closed. Low voices echoed around the curtain that was drawn tight around her bed, all sounding female.
"Where?" Ailene asked, attempting to sit up. The witch smiled softly again.
"How are you feeing?" She repeated gently.
Ailene then assessed herself, her hand coming to rest on her forehead. "I...I think I'm okay...what happened?"
"I'm afraid you had a very nasty bout of morning sickness. It's not uncommon though. Some women never get morning sickness. Others get the worst cases of it." The witch explained gently, not nearly as worried as Ailene was.
Ailene looked back up at her, and the expression on her face must have been of complete and utter confusion, because the witch smiled.
"You're pregnant, Ms. Ailene." The words echoed out of her mouth and swirled around Ailene's head, and she felt it begin to spin like it did at Marden's home.
Then the witch took Ailene's hand gently, a warm smile on her face. "Congratulations." Ailene continued to stare at her as if the witch had several heads.
The witch withdrew her hand and grabbed a glass bottle with a black liquid inside of it. She poured Ailene a small amount in a glass and gave it to her.
"Here, love. Drink that up, it's a potion for morning sickness. When you are discharged today, we'll give you some of this, along with a list to get the ingredients from an apothecary. You'll be able to brew it at home."
The witch must have been speaking another language, because Ailene couldn't believe the words she was hearing. She knew she was pregnant, she suspected so a month ago, but to hear it from a medical professional, or so this witch seemed, was something else entirely.
"Where's Marden?" Ailene then asked the witch, who smiled pleasantly. "He's out in the waiting room. I'll go tell him you're awake, but first..." The witch said, handing her the glass. "I'm afraid you'll have to drink all of it."
Ailene sniffed the potion and it immediately made her sneeze uncontrollably. She then pinched her nose and drank the potion. It burned her throat, as if she inhaled a pile of black pepper.
The witch disappeared behind the curtain, and Ailene rested her head back on her pillow. She wondered if they told Marden about her condition. Obviously they had to, he was the one that brought her here.
Her own questions were answered when Ailene heard fast footsteps approach her curtain and swung it back wildly.
There he stood in complete disarray. His hair was an absolute mess, his pajamas peaked out from underneath his traveling cloak, his house slippers still on his feet.
His eyes were big, wide, and completely red. So was his nose, and his cheeks were stained with tears.
Ailene looked at him, never seeing him so disheveled in her entire life. They watched each other in total silence, her fearing the absolute worst.
He then moved slowly, almost gracefully, his eyes still glued to hers as he walked to her side and knelt down next to her. His eyes began to well with tears once more.
"You're pregnant..." Marden echoed, and Ailene, who found herself starting to cry too, nodded.
"I'm so sorry..." she whispered.
"Sorry?!" Marden practically yelled before grabbing her face and crashing his lips to hers. They lingered there for as long they could go without breathing.
"Sorry?" Marden asked again, in a whisper, but it was fruitless because he then let out such a gleeful laugh.
"I'm gonna be a bloody Dad!" He exclaimed, standing up and extending his arms up into the air. Marden was absolutely mad with joy. His entire face was lit like the Christmas tree in the corner of the large room, and he danced quickly from one foot to the other.
Ailene was so shocked by his reaction that she didn't know what to do or say. She simply sat there and watched him with a bewildered look. Suddenly, he pressed his ear to her belly, like a child listening for the ocean in a sea shell. His face turned and he kissed her belly numerous times.
Now a smile slowly crept onto Ailene's face, followed by a stream of tears. Marden quickly wiped them away, her lip trembling.
"I'm scared..." She confessed softly, her throat tightening with sadness.
"Don't be, darling. Don't be," Marden whispered back to her, pressing a strong kiss to her forehead. "I love you with all of my heart, and I wouldn't want anyone else to be the mother of my child." Marden would be a fool to say he wasn't scared either, but he had confidence in himself and Ailene.
Their tender moment was interrupted when the witch finally came back with the discharge papers. Ailene changed back into her nightgown, Marden draping his cloak around her shoulders, and soon they were able to Floo back home.
Whatever the potion was, it worked because she didn't feel queasy at all once they landed back in Marden's fireplace. He quickly stepped back and stood for a few moments, looking around his living room for a few seconds before looking back at Ailene.
Suddenly, he took off up the stairs to his bedroom. Ailene could hear him rustling though something as she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She was horribly thristy.
She heard him come back down and to the kitchen, and she slowly turned.
There was a black box in his hand, the same black box from six years ago.
Marden took a step closer to her and took her hands. "Please...for the love of all that is good and green on this earth...will you marry me?"
Ailene felt her heart hit the floor...no, wait that was the glass of water that was in her hand. Her face twisted into a sob before she nodded her head slowly.
"Yes! YES!"