„Well, Beth… I have news, but they're not good." Beth nodded her head and waited for her gynecologist to bring some changes into her life, there haven't been bad news for a long time. "The thing is, you're infertile. That time when you had problems with your period because you starved yourself, your ovaries took the damage, too. So, in order to…" Beth stopped listening from there on. The only thing she did was nodding her head here and there. She twitched when he put his hand on her shoulder and left.
Of course. Why would everything have to be perfect? Life would be boring like that.

Still shaken from the news, Beth slowly walked down the street as the strong wind blew in her back as if he was pushing her forward. Her long hair was flying everywhere until it pissed Beth off. She walked into the nearest hairdresser shop and told the man that worked there to shorten her hair however he wanted to. She should have done this sooner, long hair could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. While sitting there and waiting till the man was done, Beth was thinking if she should tell Sebastian about her infertility. Would he care, be mad, indifferent? His reaction? 'Fuck…'
"All done." She heard the man say and looked at herself in the mirror. Laughing was the first thing she did. "Are you not satisfied, miss?" he asked as if it offended him. "No, it's just that… nothing. I like it." Her hair that used to reach her hips was now just a little below her breasts and there was a huge difference in weight. It was definitely easier to move her head now. "How much?", "50."

"Beth? Where are you?" Sebastian asked when entered her apartment. "Bathroom." He opened the door and found her in front of a mirror, combing her hair. "And I was hoping you were naked." Sebastian sadly said and blinked a few times while Beth started laughing. "Better luck next time, pervert.", "Did not hear that. So, what the hell did you do with your hair?", "Oh, you noticed?", "How could I not, it's like a part of you is missing." He said confused while passing with his fingers through her hair and sniffing it. "It's better this way. Anyway, I got some news.", "Me too.", "Y-you go first." Beth said while walking out of the bathroom to the kitchen. "Since we're going tomorrow, is 10 am good?", "Shit, I should have said first." She frowned while drinking water. "The thing is that I have a job interview tomorrow in 3 and… yeah, sorry.", "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot you even applied. Computer programmer, right?" Beth nodded and drank another glass of water. "I found out half an hour ago, when I got home. I'd told you sooner if- why are you staring at me?" she asked when noticed him staring at her like a crazy man. "I just can't get used to your hair yet. You were saying?" Beth smiled and hugged him, leaning her head on his shoulder. She decided not to tell him about her stupid problem. Even though she had a good feeling about their relationship, she decided to wait a little longer.

"I'm so nervous right now, I think I'm gonna throw up.", "This is your first interview?", "No, I stopped counting after tenth." Beth smiled to the man around Sebastian's age that was sitting next to her in the waiting room and tapped his shoulder. "It's going to be alright, don't worry." The man nodded, nervously smiled and fixed his tie for the hundredth time he was there. There were a lot of people, mostly males, all waiting for the interview. Beth checked the time on her phone. '3:41.' Just as she was going to put the phone back in her bag, she got a message on Snapchat. It was from Sebastian and it was him, in the shower with his hair lifted up with shampoo, showing an empty space next to him. He also wrote: 'You could be here, but you're too busy for me. :D You can do it, champ ;) :* Love you 3'
Beth covered her mouth so she doesn't start laughing like a maniac and snapped a photo of herself smiling and wrote: 'Idiot :D Thanks for the support :3 Feelin' lucky already. Love you back :*'
"Elizabeth Brant." She heard her name and before she went in, that nervous man next to her wished her luck.
Beth felt she somehow didn't dress appropriately. You can't impress someone in Converse, jeans and a blouse. "Good afternoon." She greeted two men that were there. One was older, 50 or something and was sitting, while the other was younger and was probably an assistant. "Miss Brant.", "Mister Woodlig." Beth said back with a smile after reading his name on the plastic card on his table. Beth heard a small laugh coming from him as he was writing something on the paper.

"So, how did it go?" Thomas, that nervous man, asked Beth when she got out. "Fine.", "Mine went horrible.", "If you keep thinking like that, you won't get quite far in life. Be more confident." He nodded and Beth checked her phone again. '3:53.' It took her only 10 minutes. She also got another Snapchat from Sebastian, but in that was a plate with food and she was hungry. 'You jelly?' Beth shook her head and texted him back: 'Bitch. I hope you choke on that.'
5 seconds she sent him a message, she received another one with him holding a hand on his chest and making an offended face. "Is that your boyfriend?" she heard Thomas asking and nodded. "Yeah, my idiotic boyfriend."she said smiling like an idiot "He's cute." Beth raised her head to look at him with a questioning look and he just shrugged his shoulders. "Can't help it."
"Candidates." The assistant went out and started his little speech. "You were all great, but unfortunately, we had to chose 5 of you. Those who are read will stay here and wait for the next instructions while the others can go. Maverick Davis, Thomas Smith, Michelle Clark, Jonah Moore and Elizabeth Brant.", "Did not see that coming." Thomas and Beth said in unison and smiled at each other.

"Hey, hon. How was it?" Sebastian asked and kissed Beth when came to pick her and her package up. "I don't think I'll make it.", "Why not?", "Intuition.", "No offense, but your intuitions are mostly wrong.", "Shut your mouth.", "Okay…" he said and kissed Beth to 'shut his mouth'.

At first, driving from New York to DC seemed like a long way, but if you have someone you can talk, joke and laugh with, time passes by quickly. Sebastian talked about his parents, what they like, hate, support and approve. Once again, Beth had the feeling they wouldn't like her. At least one of them.
It was 9:05 pm when they parked in front of a big, Victorian era house which looked more like a manor than a house. Beth was surprised she could even tell the style of the house; she still clearly remembered when Ms Rodriguez, her history teacher in high school, described the way they looked like and how could they be recognized. This one was made from local stone, had two stories, white sash windows and a porch. And that was only the front side, observed in a slight daylight.
Sebastian opened Beth's door before she managed to loosen her seat belt and offered his hand to help her get out. By the time they took their baggage out of the car, Sebastian's parents came out of the house.
"Sebastian, son, finally." Vincent said first happily, hugging Sebastian and tapping his back. "It's alright, dad, you saw me couple of weeks ago.", "It seemed longer." When Vincent let go of Sebastian, he turned to Beth and smiled. "So, you're Elizabeth? I am Vincent Michaelis, the proud father of that boy there." He said and nonchalantly showed with his head to Sebastian who was hugging Rachel. Beth put her travel bag down and stretched her hand to shake his hand. "Yes, nice to meet you." Vincent accepted her hand and the same second hugged her as if they were old friends. "Welcome to the family." Beth stood there in his arms and slightly tapped his back. "Thank you." Before he let go of her, she caught some of his scent. He smelled nice, one of those commercial men perfume and… Beth was sure she sensed Sebastian's scent, too. Maybe it's something in the Michaelis blood-line.
Rachel, who already greeted her son, patiently waited for her turn. "Hello, I'm Elizabeth. It is nice to meet you." Beth said with a smile and did the same as she did with Vincent, but Rachel only shook hands with her and gently touched Beth's upper arm. "I am Rachel. Welcome to our home.", "Thank you.", 'Disapproving parent alert.' Beth said to herself while smiling to Rachel. "Well, come on in, a dinner is waiting for us." Vincent said and gestured with his hand to the house. "Oh, allow me." He said to Beth and helped her with the luggage. As they were walking towards the door, barking and running were becoming louder and louder. "Marcus, no!" Vincent shouted, but the big black borzoi wasn't listening. He was running really fast and his one and only aim was Beth. In a blink of an eye Beth was lying on the ground with the dog on top of her, standing proud as if he just caught the most wanted criminal. But when Beth inhaled and tried to stand up, the dog barked and licked her face, then repeated it for a couple of times until Beth got enough of it. "Down boy!" she yelled and the dog immediately got off from her and sheepishly went behind Vincent. "I'm impressed, Elizabeth." Vincent enthusiastically said. "But you have to forgive Marcus, though. You could say he's in his 'teenage' age, he still needs a lot of training.", "It's alright." Beth said when Sebastian helped her stand up. "I have a lot of experience with dogs.", "How so?", "They either love me or hate me. So I got bitten, jumped on, tackled, chased and drooled many times. I got used to it, really.", "Impressive." Beth softly smiled and followed the Michaelis family in their house.
While she was observing the hall, Vincent got her attention and then she realized how young he looked, considering he's 46 years old. And he was pretty, so no wonder why Sebastian is gorgeous. Rachel also looked younger than she actually was. Ciel inherited her eyes and Vincent's hair color, while Sebastian inherited… well, Vincent's face, Beth guessed. Neither of them had black hair or red eyes.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth, but I noticed you have a lot of luggage. Do you like fashion?" Rachel asked when Sebastian, she and Beth came to Sebastian's old room to leave their stuff. "Actually… only this one is mine." Beth awkwardly said and showed the small suitcase she was holding. The other three were Sebastian's. "Sorry, mom, I had to bring my old clothes here, they're too small for me. Maybe Ciel will be able to wear it.", "Well, then, I am going to heat up the dinner. You can come down for five minutes.", "Okay, mom." Sebastian said and smiled to his mother before she closed the door. Beth opened her suitcase and pulled out the fresh shirt to change into since Marcus drooled the one she was wearing. The thing that surprised her the most was that every room in the house had its own bathroom. And from what she heard, they had 5 of them. "Don't tell me the sinks and toilets are from marbles, please." She told to Sebastian who was putting the clothes from suitcases into his old closet. "Only the ones downstairs and in guest rooms." Beth's eyebrows raised and her mouth almost opened. "Seriously?", "No." he answered and laughed. "But dad was thinking of changing them.", "Holy Jesus…" Beth grumbled while opening the door of the bathroom. It contained a bathtub with a shower, sink with a mirror above it and a toilet. Beth wasn't sure why she sighed, but she quickly washed her face with soap that smelled like roses and removed that awful smell of dog's drool.
Sebastian's room was quite large; probably the others were, too. The bed was as large as the one in New York. Windows, which were spread from the floor to the ceiling, were covered with dark blue curtains and perfectly matched with the color of sheets. On one wall, closer to the window, was a work desk, and on other big shelf filled with books and all kinds of toys and stuff. The one that caught Beth's attention was a Pokeball. "No shit!", "What?" Sebastian turned to see what Beth was talking about. "You have a Pokeball! And it's not just some copy, it's a master ball they were selling in 1999, only in -", "Mentioned stores." He finished her sentence and hugged her waist from behind. "You lucky bastard, I only managed to buy a monster ball and when I played with it, it broke.", "You weren't very tender with toys.", "I was 5 years old, what do you expect?", "I don't know, but I was careful with mine. I still have Lego sets." A smirk appeared on his face when Beth looked at him with a surprised face. "Yes, we will play whenever you want.", "Really?" Beth asked in a way a 5-year-old would. "Yes." Sebastian answered and kissed her head. "But let's eat first, you're probably starving.", "Kind of."
While she was walking in front of him, he kept watching the back of her head. Well, actually the part where her hair used to be. "If you try harder, maybe you'll make a hole in my head." Beth teased him when noticed he was staring. "I can't get use to your hair yet. I miss the way it was.", "Grow yourself one, then. Know the struggle.", "Well, maybe I will."

In the dining room, when food was on the table ready to be eaten, Vincent and Rachel walked in from the kitchen at the same time as Beth and Sebastian. Everyone almost synchronized sat down, with the males pulling out chairs for their women. Manners at its finest.
"So, Elizabeth, how did you and Sebastian meet?" Vincent asked while grabbing mashed potatoes in his plate and passing them to his wife. "The first time was in school and later we realized we were neighbors." Her mouth spread in a wide smile as she was quickly remembering how it was last year. "You were a teacher?" Rachel's voice made her come back to reality. "Uh, no, I was a student. We became a couple when I graduated and confessed to him.", "You confessed? Shame yourself, Sebastian." Sebastian confused turned to his father with 'what-did-I-do' expression. "It's not my fault she confessed first." He muttered and Beth smiled once again. She most certainly didn't know that.

While walking to her and Sebastian's room after dinner and small chatting with his family, Beth stopped in front of family pictures that took over almost whole wall in the hall on the second story. In the middle, on the biggest picture there was, were Vincent, Rachel, Sebastian and Ciel together, proudly representing the Michaelis family. Around it were smaller pictures of everyone. "Who is this?" Beth asked Sebastian about the boy in the picture. He looked young, maybe 17, with short hair that was up, but the edges were starting to fall down. Red eyes and pale skin, Beth though it was some cousin of his. "Uh, me." He answered as if it was obvious. Staring at the picture from up close didn't make any difference to Beth; she still couldn't hide the surprise from her face. "W-wait, really? You? This? Holy shit…", "I was young too, you know.", "You look adorable, my God. Oh, especially here!" she commented at the picture of him as a 1-year-old baby in a little suit under which wrote 'Sebastian'. "I can show you an album if you want to.", "Gladly.", "Tomorrow. Now let's go to bed." Beth obediently followed him to their room, realizing she was tired.

After Beth showered first, she found that Lego set Sebastian was talking about and actually played with it while he was showering. Wandering through his shelf and drawers, Beth found a stash of Pokemon cards, a discman, Nintendo 64 and even a furby. "You have a freaking furby?" she asked as soon as the bathroom door opened and Sebastian walked out wearing boxers. "So you found Frizzle." He said while sitting next to Beth, looking from Lego board she played with to the other stuff she dig out of his drawers. "Frizzle? You called him Frizzle?", "Well, yeah. Because of his hair right here." He showed the strand of hair on the blue furby with blue eyes. "I called mine Gizmo.", "And she calls me crazy." He whispered to 'Frizzle' while smiling. "Although he was black and white with red eyes, the more I stared at him, the more he looked like Gizmo from Gremlins and there you go." After a laugh and sigh, Sebastian stood up. "Come, my Gizmo." He said to Beth and reached his hand to her to help her stand up. "No?" he asked when Beth shook her head. Beth almost screamed when he grabbed her and threw on the bed like she didn't weigh more than a feather. When she landed on the bed and bounced two more time almost falling down, Sebastian stopped her by grabbing her waist. "You need to control your strength, maniac." Beth told him with her heart beating fast and laughing between her breaths. "And you need to put on some weight. It's like I'm carrying a child.", "I cannot believe you're telling me to get fat…" Beth murmured to herself while getting under covers. Sebastian turned off the lights and hugged Beth. "I love you." He said and kissed her head.
While lying pressed against Sebastian, Beth absorbed the warmth of his body and the covers and slowly relaxed her muscles. She twitched when Sebastian's hand gently touched her stomach and began warming it. Unconsciously, she put her hand over his and thought about her disability to bear a child. With that on her mind, she fell asleep.

"No sugar? Are you sure?" Beth laughed when Vincent was surprised she drank black coffee. What was so strange about it? "Completely."
As usual, Sebastian and Beth woke up early. Getting up early was Beth's habit she got over two years of living alone, but Sebastian had it since childhood; it was a part of his upbringing. While watching Vincent, Rachel and Sebastian cheerfully talking and laughing in the early morning, looking all fresh and neat, Beth was amazed. She looked like crap in the morning while they looked like they've come out of some magazine. Not fair.
"When is Ciel coming?" she heard Sebastian asking and then shut off everything except him in her sight. He was casually leaned with his elbows on the table and drank coffee from his cup. The white shirt on him stretched every time he spread out his hand to take a cookie from a bowl that was between the four of them on the table. But Beth's favorite place to look at on Sebastian was his eyes. His crimson red eyes that looked into your very soul if they wanted to. And as if they felt like being watched, they turned to Beth. Without realizing, Beth was smiling like an idiot while watching Sebastian and he smiled at her before turning his head back to his parents.

Three hours later, when Ciel came and greeted with Sebastian and Beth, he, Sebastian and Vincent went to the meeting, while Rachel and Beth stayed together and started making lunch.
"Uhm, Rachel? Can I tell you something?", "Of course, Beth." Beth made Rachel call her 'Beth' and not 'Elizabeth' since it's shorter and more practical. "I know you don't like me and all, but I need someone to… say…", "Oh, Beth. Was that how you thought of me?" Rachel put down the bowl with flour in it and sat on one of the bar stools and showed to Beth to do the same. When Beth sat down, Rachel continued. "Sebastian, no matter how capable of a man he seems, always had problems with finding girls. How should I put it… they always used him and were with him because of his money, but he, of course, being a sweetheart didn't see that. That's when I had to butt in, but it was too late. Since the last one, he was on the so -called 'pause' and was single until now. I may seem harsh, but I definitely am not." Beth felt red in face and didn't know where to look. "I feel stupid now." Beth awkwardly said and scratched the back of her head when Rachel gently caressed her shoulder and made her calm down. "Ignore me for now. What did you want to say?" Beth truly did calm down and took a deep breath before talking. She was never the kind of person who would share her problems, but this one really bothered her. "The other day, I was on a check up and my doctor told me I'm infertile. I still didn't tell Sebastian and I don't know if I even will. But every time I look at him, I feel bad because I know I won't be the one who will carry on those beautiful genes of his. I feel sad because I know some other wom-" Rachel suddenly stopped Beth from talking by hugging her and crying on her shoulder. "Please stop." Beth stiffed and didn't know what to do so she just tapped Rachel's shoulders. "Rachel, why are you crying?" she asked while her heart raced fast. It was not her plan to make Rachel cry. "Sorry! I'm sorry… I only-" when she started crying even harder, Beth slightly panicked and ripped off a piece of paper towel and gave it to Rachel. Then, to calm her down, she hugged her and told her everything is going to be fine.
After a minute or two, maybe even five, Rachel calmed down and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but I'm a horrible crybaby. I remember when Sebastian was born, I was so happy that we finally started a family. It was the same with Ciel. And now, when you told me… what you told me, I… yeah. Also,", she paused for a second to blow her nose and then continued, "don't even think about Sebastian leaving you. We did not raise our boys to act like that. He would never leave you for something like that. I noticed your looks this morning; Vincent and I sometimes look at each other like that. But, you need to decide when to tell him by yourself. He still has to know."
Beth felt respect from the bottom of her heart for the woman in front of her and thought of her as a second mother.

Hey, people.
Merry Christmas (yeah, I'm late) and a happy New year (yeah, I'm early, but it's 2015 here in Europe)
I hope you have a good holidays and I hope you get a lot of rest. I'm sure as hell I won't get it.

Enjoy :)