"Erik Destler!" Roxana cried, storming into their sitting room where Christine and Raoul sat the night before Meg and Andrew's wedding. He looked up at her confused, seeing the rage in her dark eyes. She roughly grabbed his jacket and pulled him to his feet.
"You and I have some business to discuss…now…" She said as Christine looked at Raoul, raising her eyebrows. Erik looked like a child who was being punished as she dragged him into the hallway. Christine and Raoul tried to ignore the conversation they could overhear but their voices were echoing.
"What is this about Roxana?" He asked and she growled.
"Erik I am four days late for my monthly cycle." She spat at him and he shrugged.
"So?" He asked, not really wanting to be having this conversation. She sighed.
"Erik, don't you realize what that could mean?" She asked and he bit his lip.
"No…not really…I don't usually have a monthly cycle, so I don't have much experience with that." He said, making her feel like banging her head against the wall.
"I could be pregnant, you ass." She said and suddenly it felt like someone had pushed all of the air from Erik's lungs.
"As in, with child?" He asked and she nodded. "As in, nine months later a child comes out of your body?"
"Yes! Erik…yes! As in, this very moment, a human life could be growing inside me. Yes! For the love of God, men are so stupid!" She cried, sinking to sit on the bottom stair. He sat beside her.
"I'm sorry." He said and she shrugged listlessly.
"What do we do?" she asked, her head in her hands.
He thought a moment, trying not to imagine the pain of seeing a child with his facial afflictions.
"I never expected to be faced with an issue like this, Roxana, I don't know. We are married. I mean, we're raising James and all…another wouldn't really make much of a difference." He was trying to think with his head, but memories and nightmares kept coming back to him. He tried to imagine his mother's reaction to seeing him.
"God, what a mess." Roxana said and Erik nodded.
"Let's not think about it for now…" He said quickly. "If you don't start by next weekend, you should see a doctor." He patted her back. "Until then…no more sex. Just to be safe…" She scowled at him.
"Fine…" She said and he pulled her in for an affectionate hug. "And not a word of this…not even to your little imp, Raoul…don't even deny it. You two have become pretty damn chummy." He glared at her.
"We are not." He said and in the other room, Raoul smirked.
As they re-entered the room, Christine and Raoul quickly turned back to one another and trying to pretend they were in a conversation.
"So I told to go and find it herself and she forgot what she was looking for!" She said as Roxana looked at her with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Right…" She said as Erik tried to usher her into an armchair. She looked at him moodily.
"Erik, what the hell are you doing?" She asked and he shrugged.
"Hell if I know." He muttered, sitting himself on the other side of Christine so that she was seated between he and Raoul. Suddenly, only a moment after he'd sat, Erik stood again.
"I need a drink." He said, trying to comprehend what had happened to him. Roxana stood and pointed an accusing finger at him.
"I don't think so Monsieur. If I have to suffer, then so do you."
"Roxana, are you ready yet?" Erik called into her room as he tied his tie for the wedding that day.
"Almost!" She called back. He was exhausted. He hadn't sleep in over a day. All that kept running through his mind was the thought that he could be someone's father soon. Not that he wasn't exactly a father now. James was, in all fairness, as close to a son as they came, but to see it all from the beginning scared the life out of him. He'd never seen a child born. The only pregnant woman he had ever been around was Annie and that was only when she brought him food and supplies. Once Meg had been born, she'd come around with the baby once or twice and he'd even held Meg once, but it had never been enough to ready him for parenthood.
Roxana sighed in relief as she saw the small stream of blood in the toilet.
"Oh thank the Lord." She said, on the verge of relieved tears. So why did she have a horrid empty feeling in the pit of her stomach? She winced as she felt her usual cramps take over. She padded herself up and pulled all of her stockings and undergarments back on under her skirt. A long shadow washed over the bright room as she looked up to see Erik standing there.
"What's wrong?" He asked, kneeling in front of her as she leaned against the sink.
"I…I am not pregnant…" She said and he nearly fainted from the weight that lifted off of his chest.
"Oh thank…" He trailed off seeing the tears still streaming down her face. "Wait. You're not pregnant and that's bad?" He asked and she shook her head.
"No, I was just so relieved and everything when I saw the blood…" She began.
"Well, that isn't something you hear every day." He said dryly as she glared at him.
"But then I got to thinking. Here I am, having frivolous sex with you on pretty much a nightly basis, so it would be my own fault…and I am actually happy that I am not pregnant…it made me feel like a horrible person." She said and he stood up patting her hand.
"Ro, you are not horrible…I feel the same way, you know? Neither of us are ready for that." He said and she nodded. "Maybe we never will be." He added.
"You're right of course…but I still feel awful." She said and as he ushered her out of the bathroom, he stopped in the doorway and realized he did too.
"Well, we will just have to be more careful from now on." He said cautiously and she nodded, grabbing her gloves.
"Yes, you're right."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The priest said as Andrew leaned in and brushed a quick kiss across Meg's lips. She noticed Brett Reynolds was looking at her and glared at him. He grinned and winked at her. She turned to her mother, who smiled a bit sadly at her and kissed her cheek.
"Are you proud of me Mother?" She asked, almost desperately as Antoinette nodded.
"I'm always proud of you Meg…just you never forget who you are. I wish your father could be here to see this." She said and Meg nodded.
"Me too." She said softly and hugged her mother tightly. The night before, Antoinette had delicately explained some of the details of what would happen on Meg's wedding night. Annie had to bite back a smile when Meg innocently asked, stunned,
"It will bleed?" In a tiny voice. Yes, Meg was a married woman now…her little Meg. She could only hope her husband would be as good to her as he promised to be.
"Well dear…" Meg said as she sat beside Andrew in the carriage on the way to their reception, "We are married now." She said and laid her head on his shoulder. His reply was to make some sort of noise of acknowledgement. She frowned. He'd seemed a bit distant all day, but she attributed it to nerves. He blankly kissed her hair and helped her out of the carriage as they arrived to the scores of people who had beat them there. Everyone cheered them on and even though it should have been the happiest day of her life, Meg felt like they pitied her.
"Darling, I'll be right back, I have to speak with my father." Andrew said, pecking her cheek and striding toward his parents.
"Hello Meg!" A friendly voice called from behind her. She turned to see Raoul's sister Alana and her fiancé Garrett standing there. She smiled, glad to see familiar faces.
"Congratulations!" Garrett said, bending to give the ballerina a quick hug.
"Thank you." Meg said, noting the resemblance between he and Brett.
"After Roxana married Erik, we were sure Andrew was going to fly off the deep end, but it's nice to know you came into his life and made him happy." Alana said, squeezing her hand and leading her fiancé away leaving Meg confused and unhappy. She cheered up a bit however, when Christine made her way through to crowd to her, pulling her into a fierce hug.
"Oh Meg…I hope you are so happy." She said, hoping Meg couldn't see the tears in her eyes along with the fear she felt for her sister.
"I am…" Meg said, but even she was not convinced.
Meg feverishly finished brushing her hair for the tenth time as she sat before the mirror in she and Andrew's bedroom. He was out of the room leaving her to her thoughts. She checked her reflection over and over again, wearing the white silk nightdress that Christine and her mother had given her. She sighed, looking at the clock again. It was past midnight, nearing one in the morning and she'd been waiting for him to come back for two hours now. Giving up, she took off the delicate robe and crawled into the comfortable queen sized bed. She had fallen asleep and wasn't sure exactly how long after, but she faintly heard the door open and Andrew come in. She figured he would probably just crawl in and go to sleep himself, but was surprised when he was shaking her awake. He smelled a bit like he'd been drinking as she opened her eyes, exhausted.
"Andrew? What is it?" She asked and his face remained serious, his eyes lit with something she'd never seen before. Some sort of fierce determination.
"I want a son." He said, pulling off his shirt.