April 5th, 1890

Hannah was happy with her life, for the moment. She did not know what happiness was until Alois showed it to her. The way he treated her, the way he talked to her, the way he smiled at her, made jokes or simply comforted her. Hannah couldn't ask for anything more, she was humble.

With a soft smile on her face, Hannah knitted her child's first blanket. Of course, she used blue cloth. She wanted a son, a mix of her and a mix of Alois. She wanted to have his heir, a strong heir to uphold the Trancy name and carry on the legacy.

Hannah dreamed of holding her child, pushing him out of her and cradling him like the precious little gem he was. On sleepless nights Hannah found herself reading books on mother hood, pregnancy and birth. She wanted to better herself for him, for Royale.

But of course, Hannah couldn't help feeling scared. She felt him growing inside of her and it made her scared. She didn't know why, but her breath became short and fear overtook her being if she dwelled on the feeling too much.

Alois watched Hannah knit the blanket with the utmost curiosity. The way her nimble fingers worked swiftly, bringing the blue cloth together. Alois wondered why she chose to make a blanket. Why not a hat? Or maybe a pillow?

"I'm four months old now…" Hannah said, her tone soft spoken. She didn't look up at Alois when she said that, she kept her eyes glued on the blanket.

"When did you find out you were pregnant?" Alois asked as he crossed his legs and leaned forward, watching her.

Hannah looked up at him. "How does that answer my proposal?" She asked.

Alosi shrugged. "Just tell me." He said.

"the 10th of January." Hannah answered. She put the blanket aside and leaned back in her chair. She placed her hands on her stomach and let out a soft sigh. She felt a nap coming on.

"Technically, you're still three months old. It's not the 10th yet." Alois said in a matter-of-fact manner.

Hannah arched her eyebrow at Alois. "Technically, technically does not cash out." Hannah said.

"Oh?" Alois inquired.

"Our… affair started in December," Hannah began. "And I could have gotten pregnant anywhere between December 20th and January 10th."

"Technically, we are going to use technically since you don't know exactly when you got pregnant. You only know when you found out." A soft laugh left Alois lips. He sighed and shook his head.

"But what if I don't want to use technically?" Hannah challenged, arching her eyebrow. Hannah had grown, slowly but surely. Alois was just tasting a little bit of her attitude and sass, unbeknownst of how sassy and well-spoken Hannah could be.

"Then I guess you're going to have to get used to technically." Alois said flatly.

Hannah stayed quiet, contemplating her reply. She did not want to be rude, part of her still thought Alois would strike her if she was. But at the same time Hannah wanted to be heard, to be equal, to be respected by him.

Thus, Hannah chose to piss him off. It was stupid, but the only way she could be heard and regarded by him is if she did something stupid. "But what if I don't want to use technically?" Hannah said once more.

"Then you're going to have to get used to technically." Alois repeated.

"But what if I don't want to use technically?" Hannah asked again.

Alois set Hannah with a look. Hannah looked at him with an innocent look on her face. Alois let out a sigh and looked down at his boots, his blonde locks falling forward. Then he looked back up at her with his lips pressed together, somehow smiling. He stared at her with his baby blue orbs.

"You do realize you are pissing me off, right?" Alois asked.

"You do realize I don't want to use technically?" Hannah asked in turn.

"You do realize you are pissing me off, right?"

"You do realize I don't want to use technically?"

Alois got up and walked over to Hannah. Hannah flinched when he reached for her hands. Alois paused.

Did she just flinch? He asked himself. Did she think I was going to hit her?

Alois looked Hannah up and down, surveying her appearance. Even if he did hit her it was well within her power to hit him back- maybe snap his neck. Alois wondered why she never did hit him back when he'd hit her.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Alois asked as he offered her his hand.