HWA Message Board: Waiting on a Call

Our scene opens out onto the lounge in the von Richtoven home.

It’s just shy of 9 in the morning.

Normally, you’d be at the Academy at this time of day but today is election day and you’d already told everyone not to expect you in.

Your arms are at present occupied by brushing your wife’s hair back gently, sitting as she is in front of you on the large sofa at a slight angle to allow you to easily reach and handle her hair without any unnecessary or awkward movements.

She’s sitting with a coffee in her own hands, quietly tapping one foot on the floor.

Vanessa von Richtoven, your wife and in a little over a month, the mother of your child, is agitated.

‘I mean, what if he wins? As if the last term he had wasn’t bad enough?’

You plant a kiss on the back of her head, slowing down your brushing to allow for it, before tilting your own head to the side to look over her shoulder.

Ah, there it was, her phone.

‘Stop doom scrolling mein schatz.’

An ‘urgh’ comes from her throat as she nevertheless at least places it down for a moment as her shoulders go tense.

‘I can’t help it.’

‘I know you can’t, but what will change in the next five minutes, ja?’

The shoulders relax a bit.

‘Well maybe if the doctor would get back to us soon as well, y’know…’

The phone is back in her hand.

‘That’d help too.’

She slumps back a moment later, causing you to lower the brush to one side, propping it against one of the cushions as you wrap your arms around her, clasping your hands gently between the swell of her stomach and her breasts, keeping her stable.

‘It’s a courtesy call mein schatz, nothing more.’

‘But what if it’s not?’

You breathe through your nostrils, tilting your head down, allowing you to see the corner of your wife’s eye as she herself glances to the side to look at you.

‘He is just checking on you, he told us he’d do so a fortnight ago… und he said it would happen sometime this morning…’

You give her a gentle squeeze.

‘He still has time to call…’

A glance up at the clock mounted on the wall.

‘Noch drei stunden…’

‘I know.’

It’s said with no real force behind it.

The next ones however are not.

‘But what if it’s not? What if I was visiting my parents and… well…’

She trails off. You both know what she’s thinking. Her pregnancy, given everything that had happened to her with Thane all those years ago, her age and what had been happening with Erica, the risk of her going out of state to somewhere that didn’t have abortion rights, like Louisiana where her parents lived in New Orleans…

It just didn’t bear thinking about.

Sure, there were ‘exceptions’, but with all the goings on of the last few years.

No. They’d stay here.

You gently squeeze her again.

‘That won’t happen.’

Gently reaching out, you take her coffee mug and place it off to one side, returning your hand to its previous position.

‘Listen meine göttin… nothing will happen. Your mutti und vater are coming out in zwei weeks… und I’m on the first plane back if anything happens…’

She smiles at hearing this.

You carry on, gently moving one hand down to rest upon her belly. Your child isn’t moving just now, though earlier Vanessa had been giggling in bed at how restless he… or she, had been.

‘Or if this little one decides to be early.’

‘I just, y’know…’

Another sigh.

‘Hurry up and wait.’

She waves one hand lazily as she gestures at her form.

‘It’s all I’m doing most days now.’

That same hand now moves towards the brush, picking it up and idly turning it, as she takes a slow sip of her coffee.

‘I can’t even brush my bloody hair for too long because my back starts to hurt.’

She starts to fake sob as the brush falls from her hand back to near where she’d picked it up.

A chuckle comes from you, causing her to rise up and down in sync with your chest.

‘So dramatic meine leibe.’

You plant another kiss on her, this time the side of her forehead.

‘If we have a daughter, I hope she doesn’t inherit that trait from you.’

‘Excuse me?’

Taking a slow sip of her coffee, the side eye is back in force.

You grin broadly, partly because you’ve distracted her and also down to the now regular back and forth you both had on this topic over the past few months.

Your stubbornness was apparently ’not on the cards’ if Vanessa had anything to say about it.

Meanwhile her ability to lose something the minute it got put down was ’unwanted’ as far as traits went.

She grunts somewhat in dismissal before she then elbows you in the ribs, causing you to burst out laughing.

A serene quiet descends on you both.

Motioning for her coffee, you make a dramatic sigh and extend it into a groan a zombie would be proud of as you reach back over for her mug, handing it to her.

‘I’m not that heavy mister!’

The pout she’s sporting breaks into a smile briefly before she obscures it with her mug.

‘Uh-huh.’

She can’t see the eyeroll you give her, but she knows it’s happened.

Another small dig into your ribs occurs.

Further silence as you just enjoy this moment.

‘I’m just nervous honey… no, scared even.’

‘I know’.

You say it in a whisper, planting another gentle kiss on her forehead.

‘It shouldn’t set me off, but it does!’

The phonecall again.

‘Argh… maybe I shouldn’t have done the postal vote, maybe I should be going out, at least I’m then doing something.’

She holds up a hand to stop you.

‘Don’t you dare talk sense right now mister, I just want support.’

In your defence, you weren’t immediately going to point out that she’d not enjoy going out to stand in line one bit given how far along she was. It would have been your next point though perhaps even third at a push.

‘Want me to call Wisdom over?’

‘Nooo.’

Another wave of the hand, this time towards the general direction of the kitchen.

‘I’d just eat whatever she doesn’t if we have snacks… and we’d need snacks, so…’

Your laughter soon has her smiling and then giggling.

‘Meine gottin… everything will be fine.’

Silence falls on you both, as you draw her in closer, thinking ahead to the fast approaching day where you’d meet your child.

Things were going to change.

But they would work out.

If you had to move heaven and earth to do it, then so be it.

No one, no one at all would come between you and your family.

The gentle buzz of Vanessa’s phone fills the air.

The doctor’s call.

You put on a brave face, not letting any sign of any doubt creep in should your wife see it.

You know it won’t be anything concerning. But until you hear it. Well…

The scene fades slowly to black.