CHAPTER SEVEN

It had been several long months since the wedding. Jane and Larkin lived in their big house on Chapel Lane West, and all was thought to be well. Jane had acclimated to the house - but only a bit. It did still seem just a bit too big when she was there alone, though. The fairytale exterior was not quite as dreamy on the inside, but sweet enough to still be sugar coated - painted in a thin gloss of pleasantries and half-real smiles.

Larkin had introduced her to their housekeeper – the sister of one of her male classmates from her first few years at university. This was a bit awkward for Jane, in all honesty, but she knew that their family only had so much money to invest into education, and too many children to be able to provide them all with post secondary educations and most of them worked more menial jobs. Her classmate, Jakub, seemed nice enough to her - the son of a Polish sea captain, studying politics, quite a reserved young man. His sister, Antonina, seemed equally as nice - although Jane did not know much about her. She was quiet, and Jane helped her with her work once she returned back to the house after university each day. They didn't speak much, but maintained the house in comfortable partial silence, occasionally discussing things like the weather, or their families.

Jane had visited with her father nearly every day since moving into her new house with her husband - either to discuss their scientific research, or just to be around him, and her old home. Sometimes, she would sit quietly in her old bedroom and revel in the comfort it brought her. Her father would leave it just as she had so that she could return home whenever she wanted, and be able to have a bit of her old life back in her hands. He could see that she was distinctly uncomfortable with all of the new things, generally relegated to families richer than the Porters had ever been. She was much like himself - and her mother - wanting nothing more than the simplicity and pleasure of life, far less concerned with extravagant possessions and spending.

It was a sunny day - one warm enough to where you could open your windows to let in the breeze and still be comfortable. This was Jane's favorite kind of weather, in fact. It reminded her of her childhood - days spent outside until dark, or until a good book called her name and she retreated to her room to read, still with the window open as to let the fresh air in. However, this was no longer childhood - and she had far heavier things on her mind than gallivanting outside and reading books.

Jane set her hat down on a hook by the door, and let her hair down from the up-do she had kept it in all the time that she had been out. She ran her hands through her hair, letting out a sigh. She was tired, and confused. Jane walked silently through the kitchen and into the dining room. She seemed to be in a bit of a daze. Letting her body slump into one of the dining room chairs, she allowed her head to tilt backwards, her tired eyes staring at the ceiling. Not a moment or two later, she heard a shuffling sound, and tore her gaze away from the ceiling of the dining room. "Oh, Nina, hello," she said, barely above a whisper. Her young, blonde housekeeper stood in front of her - perhaps she had been there all along and Jane had simply not noticed. She couldn't be sure.

Nina could immediately sense that something was amiss. Jane had not attended her university classes today, which was an immediate indicator that something was not right - Jane Porter never missed a class, not even when she probably should. Her demeanor seemed off too - just a bit too melancholy and removed, even if she had just been tired from daily errands around London. "What's wrong?" the young Polish woman asked, pulling out the chair next to Jane's at the table and sitting next to her. Her brow was furrowed in concern.

"I went to the doctor today," Jane began, brushing her hand through her hair again. She buried her face in her hands, shaking her head softly. "You remember the bouts of illness I've been having, yes?" Antonina nodded. "The doctor said it's morning sickness."

"You're going to have a baby, Jane?" Nina asked, placing a hand on Jane's shoulder. She knew the answer, but couldn't help asking anyways. She knew how Jane felt about having babies. She was a woman bound for education and a career in science - not a life of raising children and performing motherly duties.

"Quite," Jane sighed, shaking her head again. "A baby." Looking into her eyes, Nina could practically see the turmoil inside of Jane.

Jane knew that she should be happy - she was supposed to be happy. A young woman with a husband such as hers should be happy to be having a baby. Motherhood was her duty - at least that's what she was told by the wider world. As a woman, she was on a set track to motherhood. Jane was acutely aware of what this pregnancy meant, too - the retirement of her post secondary education. She would be bound to her life at home, in this sugar coated, half-happy home. The idea of Jane Porter sitting at home - a home maintained by a housekeeper, no less - holding babies, really didn't sit well with her.

"Have you told your father?" Nina asked, jolting Jane out of her train of thought.

She shook her head, still a bit dazed by all of the new information and new realities thrust upon her all at once. "No…Daddy doesn't know. I should tell him."

Before she could get a response from Antonina, Jane walked swiftly to the door again, grabbing her hat from the hook. She swung the door open and left quickly, beginning the short walk to her father's home. She made quick work of the journey, arriving on her father's front stoop minutes later.

She knocked hastily on the door, forgetting that she could just take the key from under the cushion of the rocking chair and unlock the door herself. Her father opened the door, looking at her, slightly confused. "Janey? Dear? Are you alright?"

"I've got some news," she replied, fidgeting with her hands nervously.

Growing ever more concerned, her father beckoned her inside, and into the sitting room to the couch. He sat beside her, one hand on her knee. "What ever is going on?" he asked. He could see that something was dreadfully wrong, but he hadn't the slightest clue what it was.

Jane hung her head, not in shame, but in frustration and defeat. "I'm going to have a baby." She couldn't say much more. The words didn't seem like they would come out.

Her father's eyes widened in shock. "This wasn't…planned, was it, Jane?" She grimaced and shook her head. He already knew that it wasn't intended.

"Daddy," Jane said, her voice trailing off, "What am I going to do?"

"Well, there's only so much you can do," he replied, "But, we'll continue our research, even if we can't do as much every day as we normally might."

"Really?" Jane asked.

He nodded, knowing his daughter would not easily give up academia. "We'll have to figure things out as we go, won't we?" he said comfortingly.

Jane looked down at her stomach, which she was acutely aware that held a small, forming baby. "I suppose so," her voice trailed off. She knew she could not maintain that forever, and at some point, would have to stay home. But for now, she had her relative freedom.