(no subject)
She's putting together a quick pile of clean clothes to take with her back to Spain. The Castle is her 90% of the time home, but has no laundry facilities. She'll generally spend all her nights there...except Friday and Saturday. (The weekend is her busiest time at the pub, and naturally she's there. For a change.) (And she's now feeling no shame about instituting a smoking section. Outside.)
She and Ramon have a lovely routine, now, although he doesn't spend much time in London anymore. He'll pop in every so often, but after being trapped here last year, he's definitely not in love with the place anymore. So it's become sort of a given, that if she wants some 'me' time, she just takes the first express PINpoint to Mayfair.
Of course, her paranoia that he'd walk in on her taking pregnancy tests was high, but that's just Hips.
As his last white cravat is being pressed and folded, she places a loving hand on her belly, and smiles. She's going to go back to Spain tonight, and she's going to tell him. He might flip out like a ninja, but she feels a bit more confident about it now.
Next step after that is to go to Eiko, spill the good news, and start arranging for her to be the O.B. to end O.B.s.
As if somebody was reading her mind, there's a knock on the door.
"Coming!" she calls out, almost sings out. Already she's begun to glow.
When she opens the door, the glow is knocked down by about three or four notches, because there's somebody standing there whom she hasn't seen in months, had forgotten existed, and still got all growly bear at.
"Sharpe."
"Mrs. Salazar. Your wedding was delightful. May I come in?"
Without waiting for an answer, the man with the snake-charmer smile glides into the living room and gently guides her away from the door with a firm hand on her back. He pushes the door closed as he goes, and soon she's sitting on the sofa, next to a pile of clean clothes, while he perches next to her on the arm.
"I understand that you're pregnant."
Her jaw drops, and her cheeks flush with anger. "How the hell did you...you were watching."
Was it her imagination, or was that snake-charmer smile almost embarrassed?
"We saw the results of your various home tests, not the taking. We also saw your one-sided conversation with what we assume was the nanotechnology in your body." A pause. "We also traced your anonymous post."
She stares down at the floor for a long moment, biting her lip to keep from spitting on him. It wasn't fair, that Sharpe and S knew before Ramon. Damn it, she still hated this, even though she could forget the arrangement for weeks at a time. Intrusions like this brought reality crashing back.
"I do hope you're not going to tape the birth," she snipes at him, but with no real venom behind it.
"Actually, Mrs. Salazar, that's what I came here to talk to you about. On our staff, we have some of the best obstetric doctors of our world. And before you ask why, I'll simply remind you that what your husband does for us is only one branch of our organization. I would like to offer you their services."
Hips looks up again, confused and partially disgusted.
"Um, no. Eiko is going to be my O.B. But thank you for the offer."
"Dr. Takashima is also pregnant, is she not? Only two or three weeks further along than you. While this means your children are going to be playmates, it also means that she'll be in no condition to doctor you when you're in labor. She'll either be in labor herself, or recovering post-partum."
Hips had pondered just that, and it made her uncomfortable. She couldn't do that to Eiko, for sure. She was going to need another O.B., Sharpe was right. Before she could answer, he continued.
"Furthermore, Dr. Takashima is not as well versed in the biology of las plagas as we are. I am not bragging, just stating a fact. If your child turns out to have some sort of mutation involving the parasites, then we'll be best equipped to handle it."
NOW Hips looked absolutely shocked, as he'd just listed a complication that she'd not thought of. Ectopic pregnancy, gestational diabetes, diet, exercise, all of that. But...a half-plaga baby? That would...be...impossible, right?
Oh, gawd.
She rolls all this over in her head, and is silent. Sharpe just continues looking at her, in no rush whatsoever. And perhaps just a tiny bit concerned?
She finally looks up, her eyebrows furrowed, frowning. She's fiery pissed. He does that to her a lot.
"Okay. On one condition. If. If. My baby is...that." She's not saying 'a mutant,' she refuses. "If that happens, I want your promise that you'll never, EVER use him...or her...whatever. Never recruit him into your organization, no matter what his powers are. Never try to take him away from me and Ramon."
To her unending surprise, the sunglasses come off. She's never seen his eyes before. There are crow's feet in the corners, and the color is an intense blue-grey. And he looks her right in the eyes as he speaks.
"Hippolyta, I will personally see to it that he's never approached by anybody at S until he's at least eighteen years old, and capable of making his own decisions. If he chooses to join us, it will be of his own free will. Regardless if he's human, or something else entirely."
Her jaw drops again, and she blinks, all anger gone.
Then she smiles.
"Thank you."
Sharpe stands up, putting his sunglasses back on. He hands her an appointment card, like you get at a doctor's office. There's a time and a date on it. He's all business once again.
"There's the coordinates of our infirmary, and your appointment time. Be there about fifteen minutes early; the doctor's going to want to ask you some questions. Now go and tell your husband the happy news."
And with that, Sharpe PINs out, leaving Hips alone with her laundry again.
Feeling...weirdly better about this whole S thing.
She and Ramon have a lovely routine, now, although he doesn't spend much time in London anymore. He'll pop in every so often, but after being trapped here last year, he's definitely not in love with the place anymore. So it's become sort of a given, that if she wants some 'me' time, she just takes the first express PINpoint to Mayfair.
Of course, her paranoia that he'd walk in on her taking pregnancy tests was high, but that's just Hips.
As his last white cravat is being pressed and folded, she places a loving hand on her belly, and smiles. She's going to go back to Spain tonight, and she's going to tell him. He might flip out like a ninja, but she feels a bit more confident about it now.
Next step after that is to go to Eiko, spill the good news, and start arranging for her to be the O.B. to end O.B.s.
As if somebody was reading her mind, there's a knock on the door.
"Coming!" she calls out, almost sings out. Already she's begun to glow.
When she opens the door, the glow is knocked down by about three or four notches, because there's somebody standing there whom she hasn't seen in months, had forgotten existed, and still got all growly bear at.
"Sharpe."
"Mrs. Salazar. Your wedding was delightful. May I come in?"
Without waiting for an answer, the man with the snake-charmer smile glides into the living room and gently guides her away from the door with a firm hand on her back. He pushes the door closed as he goes, and soon she's sitting on the sofa, next to a pile of clean clothes, while he perches next to her on the arm.
"I understand that you're pregnant."
Her jaw drops, and her cheeks flush with anger. "How the hell did you...you were watching."
Was it her imagination, or was that snake-charmer smile almost embarrassed?
"We saw the results of your various home tests, not the taking. We also saw your one-sided conversation with what we assume was the nanotechnology in your body." A pause. "We also traced your anonymous post."
She stares down at the floor for a long moment, biting her lip to keep from spitting on him. It wasn't fair, that Sharpe and S knew before Ramon. Damn it, she still hated this, even though she could forget the arrangement for weeks at a time. Intrusions like this brought reality crashing back.
"I do hope you're not going to tape the birth," she snipes at him, but with no real venom behind it.
"Actually, Mrs. Salazar, that's what I came here to talk to you about. On our staff, we have some of the best obstetric doctors of our world. And before you ask why, I'll simply remind you that what your husband does for us is only one branch of our organization. I would like to offer you their services."
Hips looks up again, confused and partially disgusted.
"Um, no. Eiko is going to be my O.B. But thank you for the offer."
"Dr. Takashima is also pregnant, is she not? Only two or three weeks further along than you. While this means your children are going to be playmates, it also means that she'll be in no condition to doctor you when you're in labor. She'll either be in labor herself, or recovering post-partum."
Hips had pondered just that, and it made her uncomfortable. She couldn't do that to Eiko, for sure. She was going to need another O.B., Sharpe was right. Before she could answer, he continued.
"Furthermore, Dr. Takashima is not as well versed in the biology of las plagas as we are. I am not bragging, just stating a fact. If your child turns out to have some sort of mutation involving the parasites, then we'll be best equipped to handle it."
NOW Hips looked absolutely shocked, as he'd just listed a complication that she'd not thought of. Ectopic pregnancy, gestational diabetes, diet, exercise, all of that. But...a half-plaga baby? That would...be...impossible, right?
Oh, gawd.
She rolls all this over in her head, and is silent. Sharpe just continues looking at her, in no rush whatsoever. And perhaps just a tiny bit concerned?
She finally looks up, her eyebrows furrowed, frowning. She's fiery pissed. He does that to her a lot.
"Okay. On one condition. If. If. My baby is...that." She's not saying 'a mutant,' she refuses. "If that happens, I want your promise that you'll never, EVER use him...or her...whatever. Never recruit him into your organization, no matter what his powers are. Never try to take him away from me and Ramon."
To her unending surprise, the sunglasses come off. She's never seen his eyes before. There are crow's feet in the corners, and the color is an intense blue-grey. And he looks her right in the eyes as he speaks.
"Hippolyta, I will personally see to it that he's never approached by anybody at S until he's at least eighteen years old, and capable of making his own decisions. If he chooses to join us, it will be of his own free will. Regardless if he's human, or something else entirely."
Her jaw drops again, and she blinks, all anger gone.
Then she smiles.
"Thank you."
Sharpe stands up, putting his sunglasses back on. He hands her an appointment card, like you get at a doctor's office. There's a time and a date on it. He's all business once again.
"There's the coordinates of our infirmary, and your appointment time. Be there about fifteen minutes early; the doctor's going to want to ask you some questions. Now go and tell your husband the happy news."
And with that, Sharpe PINs out, leaving Hips alone with her laundry again.
Feeling...weirdly better about this whole S thing.