(Untitled)

[so_near_an_end]

Though initially Cecilia had not been enamoured with the idea of moving closer to the compound, for she so loved to hear the ocean from the hut they had shared near Green Arrow Estates, she found that her appreciate for Robbie's suggestion grew as each day passed. She tired much more easily now. Had they still resided in their old hut, Cecilia

Comments

[iwillresume]

"There you are," Robbie said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her protectively--or almost around her, as it were, for her belly had grown to such a size that Robbie was surprised she did not topple over at times. "I hope you're taking it easy."

[so_near_an_end]

"Here I am," Cecilia said, eyes sliding momentarily shut as she leaned back into Robbie's arms. Of course, she couldn't go any great distances, so even though she hadn't given Robbie an itinerary of her day it likely hadn't been too difficult for him to discover her whereabouts. "Of course I'm taking it easy. I say, they kick in protest any more if I'm doing more than I ought to be." She laughed a little, then gestured to the scads of books on the cushions beside her. "Do you think we've room for these at home?"

[iwillresume]

Robbie eyed the stacks of books with a skeptical look. "I think I'll have to build you another shelf," he said. "I don't think we have any more room for them, except maybe on the floor... and the floor's getting a bit full."

[so_near_an_end]

"A bit full!" Cecilia exclaimed. "Really, Robbie, I do believe you're exaggerating. It isn't so bad by half as it used to be."

Perhaps, though, Cecilia's perception of such things were skewed these days. After all, it had been some time since she had been able to see her feet properly, let alone the floor. "Look at them all. I promise they're useful."

Among the stacks were such titles as Emotionally Healthy Twins, Twinspiration: Real-Life Advice From Pregnancy Through the First Year, Raising Multiple Birth Children : A Parents' Survival Guide, Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding & Caring for Twins or More!, and such. Only one book in the entire collection Cecilia had amassed, Lord of the Rings, had nothing to do with twins or pregnancy or parenting at all.

[acarelesslife]

When Leon saw Cecilia already in the rec room, he froze in the doorway. As small as the island was, they could not avoid each other forever, of course. Cecilia's state brought any excuses that they might miss each other in the hall or the kitchen - and easy reason to brush off happenstance run-ins in the past - to the point of absurdity. He had only two options now. He could sneak away before she spotted him, or he could retrieve the book as he had planned and hope the ensuing conversation wasn't too awful

[so_near_an_end]

So consumed in her pile of books, Cecilia hadn't realised Leon was even there until he spoke. She looked up, startled, though it took but a moment to regain her composure. Were Cecilia not in her current delicate position, perhaps she would have simply left the room without saying a word to him. However, she was in no state to move about as quickly as such an exit would require. Cecilia was many things, but rude was not one of them.

She nodded, gaze settling firmly on the jukebox. "Neither did I, though it appears it certainly must be." Leon and Briony's names must be rare, for Cecilia was certain the jukebox would have seen fit to serenade her with songs bearing her siblings' names. After all, the island did tend to have a cruel sense of humour.

[acarelesslife]

Leon hurried to the bookshelf, glad he had the excuse to turn his back to Cecilia so that she could not see his face fall at the stiffness in her tone, as it inevitably did. He had come looking for books on rowing to match his twin gift of boats. As familiar as he was with the sport, he could do to brush up on the rules before organizing a team. But now the shelf saw fit to mock him, providing row after row of absurd looking book with titles about feuding, or grudges, or overcoming the past.

"Quite." He bit his lip. "How are you feeling?"

[so_near_an_end]

By the time Leon had thought to address her again, Cecilia had opened a rather large book and set it upon her lap. She paged through it briefly, much too taken with the intricate maps and wondrous language in the flyleafs to delve into the story, something entitled Lord of the Rings, just yet. She looked up, a slender finger marking the spot on the map she had been studying.

"Like if I become any larger I'll simply burst," she said, free hand moving to her stomach.

[number_unlucky]

I heard the music first--I hadn't gotten e-books along with the iPod, so I was still at the mercy of the bookshelf, and had come to try and get something besides biographies of Woody Guthrie and the Journal of Neuromuscular Disorders. The song's catchy, so I started to whistle along before I realized that the nurse I had met since I first had arrived was in the room too. I'd done an OB/GYN rotation, of course, and at Brigham and Women's it was hard to avoid pregnancies, but...wow. She was pretty damned large.

"Cecilia," I said, and smiled at her, blushing slightly at having been caught whistling along like I was ten. "Can I help you with those?"

She'd been very kind to me, it was the least I could do.

[so_near_an_end]

"Dr Hadley!" Cecilia exclaimed, a bright smile curving her lips. "I rather envy your whistling skills; I never learned." Likely it was because she hadn't the patience. Either Cecilia caught onto something quickly and took to it rather nicely or she tended to give up. It wasn't that Cecilia was lazy; far from it. Rather, she felt it was worthless to spend time on things that did not come naturally.

"I'm all right for now, though I may need assistance getting these back to my hut later if my husband doesn't find his way here."

[number_unlucky]

"Just something I picked up as a kid," I admitted, blushing a little at her smile. "And I'd definitely be willing to help; by now you probably shouldn't be lifting too much. That's...a lot of books." It was, too, probably equivalent to how big she'd become. "You must read quickly."

[so_near_an_end]

"Oh, believe me," Cecilia said with a laugh, "I am well aware of that. My husband finds it his duty to remind me of such things several times a day." Though she rolled her eyes, it was evident that Cecilia was quite fond of Robbie, no matter if she felt he was being overly protective as of late. "I read quickly if the subject fascinates me. I must confess that I once spent a whole summer trying to get through Richardson's Clarissa. I still haven't finished it."