Pregnancy complications beyond the norm...
((Huge thanks to Topmun for writing this with me via e-mail, I've slipped in Deacon Frost's post at the end, and I think it came at a pretty damned good spot, well read it and you'll see *grin*. Oops!))
Another heave as Vivian stared into the porcelain bowl, one hand gripping at the auburn curls at her crown. Acid tasting bile rose to the back of her throat, as her stomach painfully contracted once more, desperate to rid of itself of its contents when there was nothing left to be rid of.
She sunk back onto the floor, lying prostrate, one hand resting on the aching swell of her stomach. She'd spent every morning for a week now, lying on the ebony gloss of these marble tiles or desperately retching into the toilet til the muscles in her abdomen could contract no more.
"What the hell's wrong with me?" she whined at the reflection as she pulled herself up to sitting, clinging onto her knees and rocking in an attempt to comfort her exhausted stomach muscles. If the answer was one which was not eluding her, then Vivian was holding her suspicions firmly at bay, refusing to even consider it.
"Got a problem, Cinderella?" Damn the man, silent as he was. And although his tone was casual, his eyes were not. Raking over her, and over the room, he then bent down and wiped her hair back from her eyes. A kind gesture from Top Dollar? Put it on the calendar.
"Talk to me Cinderella. Come on." With another glance around, he fixed everything in the bathroom in his memory. No bottles, no wine glasses, no needles, no nothing. So what the hell was wrong with his wife?
"Come on, this isn't the place for you. Let's get you into bed." Bending low, he put his arms out to lift her up and carry her someplace more comfortable. And someplace where a Doctor could examine her better.
"I'm fine Wolfie." She perked up, denying that there was anything wrong as soon as she heard his voice. Her tone even a little argumentative. It wasn't like her to react like that, well not to her husband anyway.
She even shirked him as he bent down to pick her up, choosing to stand of her own volition. "Really, it's just a bug. Probably something I ate. You don't need to worry about me."
When Top was kind to her, she usually accepted his care. The occasions where he showed his affection so gently were few and far between, but today her fiery independence seemed to flare uncharacteristically, the old Vivian showing through in her denial.
An eyebrow went up and he slowly took a step back to reassess his wife at her unusual show of independence. Hmm, how interesting.
"Should I have the kitchen staff killed then, and another one brought in?" It was a light tone, bantering. Only the hint of an edge to it. Was he joking or not? "How long you felt like this, Vivian?" Ooh, there was a hint that he was more worried than he let on, the use of her full name.
"If it happens again" His fingers reached forward and gently tugged that errant lock of hair back behind her ear once more, pausing to caress that silk-skin lined shell as he pulled his hand away "You'll let me know, alright? Maybe it's a bug, maybe not. But if this keeps up, we'll make an appointment for you to get checked out."
There, that wasn't a demand, not like in the old days. It was more of a request, a suggestion even. Not that he was going soft, not at all. He was still the same Top Dollar, still the same brutal, arrogant, psychopathic and psychotic murdering bastard that he always was. But this, this was different. Just a little, but still, different..
His joke raised a slight smile from her otherwise drawn pallid complexion. "No Wolfie," she smiled weakly, "It's not anything I ate, it's been on and off for a couple of weeks." The answer was mostly the truth, only the regularity of her morning sickness covered by the tiny lie. Vivian's expression however, told of how this was getting her down, and despite her distaste for doctors and the underlying threat of her ailment she smiled warmly at the show of tenderness, nodding at her husband.
"I will, I promise." Now he was aware, she knew he'd be watching her, there was no point lying or keeping it secret anymore. As she spoke, the bile in the pit of her stomach threatened to rise again and she swallowed hard in attempt to quell the imminent retching. A hand stretched across her midriff, her arm pressing hard into her aching abdomen.
The eyebrow came back down, and if Viv thought she was being studied intently, well she was. Her expressions, her movements were all under the scope of his gaze. His face settled into that remote, cool mask that hid his thoughts from the world, but his eyes were sharpened on her, hunters eyes that stalked her every movement and breath. Even his voice changed, just a bit, just enough, as he went from being her husband to a predator in an instant. A predator stalking its wounded prey.
"Don't bother to fight it Cinderella. You'll feel better if you just get it all out of you. Then we'll get you something warm, and get you into bed." That was not a suggestion, not at all. Any thought of compromise had flown with her confession that she'd been sick on and off for weeks and he didn't notice!. "Then I'll call someone I know, someone who makes house calls. He'll have you up and on your feet in no time."
"Okay." The answer was short, the defiance in her jawline evident though, despite her well honed submissive tone as he scrutinized every flicker she made. She smiled sweetly at him through that stiffly held jaw, only the pull of the returning bile taking her gaze from him, the sudden urge to vomit overriding every rule she'd ever learned when her husband looked at her like that.
When her stomach had finished attempting to eject even its lining it seemed, she turned and rested her head uninvited against his chest, seeking comfort from the man whose baby she feared she was carrying.
The thought of a pregnancy was the furthest thing from Top's mind. Instead he was mentally compiling a list of suspects, who to interrogate, who to kill. Who would be able to get close enough to try and poison his wife? Who would be that devious and that ruthless that they would choose that manner to try and hurt him, to take her from him?
His arms reached around her, the look wiped away in an instant as he held her protectively, giving what comfort he could. Pushing her hair back once more he wiped her forehead with the palm of his hand, then gently kissed her there, his lips lingering on her skin. "Let me bring you back to bed, Cinderella. Just until you feel better, alright? I'll get you some crackers, some warm milk or something." His arms tightened slightly, and he rested his chin on the top of her head, still murmuring to her. This was indeed a different side of the psychopath.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered it, she had, but every time her mind had shut out the possibility. Making excuses for why it couldn't be, symptoms that didn't add up. If anything, she was sure that her past would have rendered her incapable of having a child. An abortion at seventeen, only months before she'd first arrived at the Nexus, not to mention the drug and alcohol abuse, or even the physical abuse that she'd suffered at the hands of her husband.
But more than anything, she was worried. Worried about how this would upset the balance that they had together. Something like this could go either way, he could just as easily turn and find it despicable that a streetwalker was carrying his baby, or blame her for this. Top was a difficult man to predict, life was on his terms, and any changes were meticulously planned by him. He was in charge, and Vivian was always precariously aware of this fact.
All these fears, all this denial and her own personal fears of having a child. All of it piling up so high, that all she could do as he pulled the bed covers over her was stare blankly into the abyss. even as she smiled in gratitude the emptiness in her eyes was apparent.
He'd held her there in bed for a while, holding her body close before excusing himself to call the Doctor personally. Then, Top waited, impatiently. Waited for the Doctor to arrive, waited for him to talk to Viv, waited for him to check her out physically, and even waited outside the door as the Doctor spoke with her privately for a few minutes. Too much fucking waiting, and Top was not in a good mood. So he was stunned by the words that came out of the Doctor's mouth. So stunned that he simply turned to look at his wife.
"She's what?"
"Pregnant." She said quietly, her mouth hung open in shock herself.
Vivian looked back at him, concerned eyes fixed on his, waiting for some indication of his feelings, she didn't know what else to say. If she apologized he might be pleased about it, if she looked pleased he might be furious.
"I'm pregnant Wolfie." Not 'I'm going to have a baby', just that she was pregnant.
Top was, in turns, astounded, amazed, pissed off, proud, and just plain confused. And although it didn't come through in his face, the fact that he stood there silent for far longer than he should have was a telling point. Finally, he looked around the room, committing the moment to memory. And although he hadn't had a snort of cocaine in days, he suddenly wished he had some of it in front of him now.
"Welll, Cinderella." He drew the first word out, breathing deeply before continuing. "Bet you thought that marrying the big bad wolf was bad enough, eh? Guess I didn't tell you about the 'having cubs clause, did I?"
He shook his head, starting to grin in spite of himself. "So, does that mean you're staying in bed? Or are we going to go shopping and celebrate?"
------------------------------
It was amazing what Frost managed to keep up with. Even the most seemingly useless things from plans gone by could come in useful, sometimes. And other times, like now, they were just amusing to fuck with on a slow day...especially when it was a person that thought she could possibly get rid of a fucking blood god.
Deep in the back of her head, swimming up from depths not entirely forgotten, a familiar voice arose. Was it just her imagination? Or was it something more, something she hadn't thought about in a long time? Something..someone...that came back to remind her of her place at the height of one of her more miserable moments?
I haven't forgotten you... Derisive laughter echoed back into the depths of her consciousness.
-------------------------------
She froze as Frost's voice echoed in the back of her head, terrified eyes met her husband's. There was no hesitation in placing their origin, she knew those chilling threatening tones all too well, so well that her stomach contracted painfully again, forcing her to double over and race to the bathroom, pushing her husband out of the way in her haste.
Hanging onto the rim of the toilet again, the liquid that spilled from her mouth tasted coppery. The distinct sickening flavour of blood that she'd reluctantly taken from Top all that time ago.
"Oh God! Leave me alone!" she screamed. Staring into the bowl, there was no blood though. Maybe she'd imagined it, maybe she'd imagined hearing his voice, maybe this whole ordeal was a bad dream, maybe she was going mad. But whatever it was, she was bringing a child into it, and it was that thought that scared Vivian more than anything.
"What. The. Fuck?" In a bound he was after her, overtaking her as she vomited into the toilet again. His legs on either side of the sick woman, and Top's hands were gathering up her locks of red-gold hair, pulling it out of the way for her. "Talk to me. What the fuck is wrong with you? Didn't I say it was time to celebrate?"
Top didn't, couldn't understand. In his mind he hadn't given her reason to fear him in months, no - a year or more. She wasn't like those other girls, she was his wife. There was no way she could know about his extra-curricular activities, no way she would ever know about the other women, the ones who did fear him, were terrified of him for a little while, just before he put them out of their misery that was.
She was his wife and - wait a minute. She was afraid because she didn't want his child, was that it? Top's eyes narrowed into slits as he looked down at the woman at his feet nearly hugging the toilet bowl. He had to admit, having a kid would put a cramp in their style, but it wasn't like they couldn't take care of the little brat. He had money, they had room, or they would make room. Besides, it was a little late to tell him to leave her alone now, she was already pregnant.
"The thought of having my cub that bad, Cinderella?"
She couldn't tell him about Frost's voice, what if it was her mind playing tricks on her? What if the events of the past couple of years had finally taken their toll on her sanity? He wouldn't want a mad woman for his wife, less so the mother of his child.
"I'm sorry Wolfie, of course it's not. I'm happy about it, really I am. I just feel shit at the moment." She managed a small smile for him, the placatory words rolling off her tongue with little forethought. Saying what Top wanted to hear was second nature, regardless of her inner turmoil and fear.
"Gimme an hour to get bathed and and I'll be blooming, I promise."
Another heave as Vivian stared into the porcelain bowl, one hand gripping at the auburn curls at her crown. Acid tasting bile rose to the back of her throat, as her stomach painfully contracted once more, desperate to rid of itself of its contents when there was nothing left to be rid of.
She sunk back onto the floor, lying prostrate, one hand resting on the aching swell of her stomach. She'd spent every morning for a week now, lying on the ebony gloss of these marble tiles or desperately retching into the toilet til the muscles in her abdomen could contract no more.
"What the hell's wrong with me?" she whined at the reflection as she pulled herself up to sitting, clinging onto her knees and rocking in an attempt to comfort her exhausted stomach muscles. If the answer was one which was not eluding her, then Vivian was holding her suspicions firmly at bay, refusing to even consider it.
"Got a problem, Cinderella?" Damn the man, silent as he was. And although his tone was casual, his eyes were not. Raking over her, and over the room, he then bent down and wiped her hair back from her eyes. A kind gesture from Top Dollar? Put it on the calendar.
"Talk to me Cinderella. Come on." With another glance around, he fixed everything in the bathroom in his memory. No bottles, no wine glasses, no needles, no nothing. So what the hell was wrong with his wife?
"Come on, this isn't the place for you. Let's get you into bed." Bending low, he put his arms out to lift her up and carry her someplace more comfortable. And someplace where a Doctor could examine her better.
"I'm fine Wolfie." She perked up, denying that there was anything wrong as soon as she heard his voice. Her tone even a little argumentative. It wasn't like her to react like that, well not to her husband anyway.
She even shirked him as he bent down to pick her up, choosing to stand of her own volition. "Really, it's just a bug. Probably something I ate. You don't need to worry about me."
When Top was kind to her, she usually accepted his care. The occasions where he showed his affection so gently were few and far between, but today her fiery independence seemed to flare uncharacteristically, the old Vivian showing through in her denial.
An eyebrow went up and he slowly took a step back to reassess his wife at her unusual show of independence. Hmm, how interesting.
"Should I have the kitchen staff killed then, and another one brought in?" It was a light tone, bantering. Only the hint of an edge to it. Was he joking or not? "How long you felt like this, Vivian?" Ooh, there was a hint that he was more worried than he let on, the use of her full name.
"If it happens again" His fingers reached forward and gently tugged that errant lock of hair back behind her ear once more, pausing to caress that silk-skin lined shell as he pulled his hand away "You'll let me know, alright? Maybe it's a bug, maybe not. But if this keeps up, we'll make an appointment for you to get checked out."
There, that wasn't a demand, not like in the old days. It was more of a request, a suggestion even. Not that he was going soft, not at all. He was still the same Top Dollar, still the same brutal, arrogant, psychopathic and psychotic murdering bastard that he always was. But this, this was different. Just a little, but still, different..
His joke raised a slight smile from her otherwise drawn pallid complexion. "No Wolfie," she smiled weakly, "It's not anything I ate, it's been on and off for a couple of weeks." The answer was mostly the truth, only the regularity of her morning sickness covered by the tiny lie. Vivian's expression however, told of how this was getting her down, and despite her distaste for doctors and the underlying threat of her ailment she smiled warmly at the show of tenderness, nodding at her husband.
"I will, I promise." Now he was aware, she knew he'd be watching her, there was no point lying or keeping it secret anymore. As she spoke, the bile in the pit of her stomach threatened to rise again and she swallowed hard in attempt to quell the imminent retching. A hand stretched across her midriff, her arm pressing hard into her aching abdomen.
The eyebrow came back down, and if Viv thought she was being studied intently, well she was. Her expressions, her movements were all under the scope of his gaze. His face settled into that remote, cool mask that hid his thoughts from the world, but his eyes were sharpened on her, hunters eyes that stalked her every movement and breath. Even his voice changed, just a bit, just enough, as he went from being her husband to a predator in an instant. A predator stalking its wounded prey.
"Don't bother to fight it Cinderella. You'll feel better if you just get it all out of you. Then we'll get you something warm, and get you into bed." That was not a suggestion, not at all. Any thought of compromise had flown with her confession that she'd been sick on and off for weeks and he didn't notice!. "Then I'll call someone I know, someone who makes house calls. He'll have you up and on your feet in no time."
"Okay." The answer was short, the defiance in her jawline evident though, despite her well honed submissive tone as he scrutinized every flicker she made. She smiled sweetly at him through that stiffly held jaw, only the pull of the returning bile taking her gaze from him, the sudden urge to vomit overriding every rule she'd ever learned when her husband looked at her like that.
When her stomach had finished attempting to eject even its lining it seemed, she turned and rested her head uninvited against his chest, seeking comfort from the man whose baby she feared she was carrying.
The thought of a pregnancy was the furthest thing from Top's mind. Instead he was mentally compiling a list of suspects, who to interrogate, who to kill. Who would be able to get close enough to try and poison his wife? Who would be that devious and that ruthless that they would choose that manner to try and hurt him, to take her from him?
His arms reached around her, the look wiped away in an instant as he held her protectively, giving what comfort he could. Pushing her hair back once more he wiped her forehead with the palm of his hand, then gently kissed her there, his lips lingering on her skin. "Let me bring you back to bed, Cinderella. Just until you feel better, alright? I'll get you some crackers, some warm milk or something." His arms tightened slightly, and he rested his chin on the top of her head, still murmuring to her. This was indeed a different side of the psychopath.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered it, she had, but every time her mind had shut out the possibility. Making excuses for why it couldn't be, symptoms that didn't add up. If anything, she was sure that her past would have rendered her incapable of having a child. An abortion at seventeen, only months before she'd first arrived at the Nexus, not to mention the drug and alcohol abuse, or even the physical abuse that she'd suffered at the hands of her husband.
But more than anything, she was worried. Worried about how this would upset the balance that they had together. Something like this could go either way, he could just as easily turn and find it despicable that a streetwalker was carrying his baby, or blame her for this. Top was a difficult man to predict, life was on his terms, and any changes were meticulously planned by him. He was in charge, and Vivian was always precariously aware of this fact.
All these fears, all this denial and her own personal fears of having a child. All of it piling up so high, that all she could do as he pulled the bed covers over her was stare blankly into the abyss. even as she smiled in gratitude the emptiness in her eyes was apparent.
He'd held her there in bed for a while, holding her body close before excusing himself to call the Doctor personally. Then, Top waited, impatiently. Waited for the Doctor to arrive, waited for him to talk to Viv, waited for him to check her out physically, and even waited outside the door as the Doctor spoke with her privately for a few minutes. Too much fucking waiting, and Top was not in a good mood. So he was stunned by the words that came out of the Doctor's mouth. So stunned that he simply turned to look at his wife.
"She's what?"
"Pregnant." She said quietly, her mouth hung open in shock herself.
Vivian looked back at him, concerned eyes fixed on his, waiting for some indication of his feelings, she didn't know what else to say. If she apologized he might be pleased about it, if she looked pleased he might be furious.
"I'm pregnant Wolfie." Not 'I'm going to have a baby', just that she was pregnant.
Top was, in turns, astounded, amazed, pissed off, proud, and just plain confused. And although it didn't come through in his face, the fact that he stood there silent for far longer than he should have was a telling point. Finally, he looked around the room, committing the moment to memory. And although he hadn't had a snort of cocaine in days, he suddenly wished he had some of it in front of him now.
"Welll, Cinderella." He drew the first word out, breathing deeply before continuing. "Bet you thought that marrying the big bad wolf was bad enough, eh? Guess I didn't tell you about the 'having cubs clause, did I?"
He shook his head, starting to grin in spite of himself. "So, does that mean you're staying in bed? Or are we going to go shopping and celebrate?"
------------------------------
It was amazing what Frost managed to keep up with. Even the most seemingly useless things from plans gone by could come in useful, sometimes. And other times, like now, they were just amusing to fuck with on a slow day...especially when it was a person that thought she could possibly get rid of a fucking blood god.
Deep in the back of her head, swimming up from depths not entirely forgotten, a familiar voice arose. Was it just her imagination? Or was it something more, something she hadn't thought about in a long time? Something..someone...that came back to remind her of her place at the height of one of her more miserable moments?
I haven't forgotten you... Derisive laughter echoed back into the depths of her consciousness.
-------------------------------
She froze as Frost's voice echoed in the back of her head, terrified eyes met her husband's. There was no hesitation in placing their origin, she knew those chilling threatening tones all too well, so well that her stomach contracted painfully again, forcing her to double over and race to the bathroom, pushing her husband out of the way in her haste.
Hanging onto the rim of the toilet again, the liquid that spilled from her mouth tasted coppery. The distinct sickening flavour of blood that she'd reluctantly taken from Top all that time ago.
"Oh God! Leave me alone!" she screamed. Staring into the bowl, there was no blood though. Maybe she'd imagined it, maybe she'd imagined hearing his voice, maybe this whole ordeal was a bad dream, maybe she was going mad. But whatever it was, she was bringing a child into it, and it was that thought that scared Vivian more than anything.
"What. The. Fuck?" In a bound he was after her, overtaking her as she vomited into the toilet again. His legs on either side of the sick woman, and Top's hands were gathering up her locks of red-gold hair, pulling it out of the way for her. "Talk to me. What the fuck is wrong with you? Didn't I say it was time to celebrate?"
Top didn't, couldn't understand. In his mind he hadn't given her reason to fear him in months, no - a year or more. She wasn't like those other girls, she was his wife. There was no way she could know about his extra-curricular activities, no way she would ever know about the other women, the ones who did fear him, were terrified of him for a little while, just before he put them out of their misery that was.
She was his wife and - wait a minute. She was afraid because she didn't want his child, was that it? Top's eyes narrowed into slits as he looked down at the woman at his feet nearly hugging the toilet bowl. He had to admit, having a kid would put a cramp in their style, but it wasn't like they couldn't take care of the little brat. He had money, they had room, or they would make room. Besides, it was a little late to tell him to leave her alone now, she was already pregnant.
"The thought of having my cub that bad, Cinderella?"
She couldn't tell him about Frost's voice, what if it was her mind playing tricks on her? What if the events of the past couple of years had finally taken their toll on her sanity? He wouldn't want a mad woman for his wife, less so the mother of his child.
"I'm sorry Wolfie, of course it's not. I'm happy about it, really I am. I just feel shit at the moment." She managed a small smile for him, the placatory words rolling off her tongue with little forethought. Saying what Top wanted to hear was second nature, regardless of her inner turmoil and fear.
"Gimme an hour to get bathed and and I'll be blooming, I promise."