Uh Oh Spaghettio (Ed)

[Cassie Vimes]

It had seemed impossible, but normalcy had started to creep slowly back into Cassie’s life. Yes, it still hurt and she was still frightened, yelping when Rowdy bounded up behind her, flinching if somebody tapped her on the shoulder, but she was getting there. Most of that was probably down to Ed, he’d been so kind to her over the past few weeks, patiently giving her space, somehow knowing when she needed comfort and when she wanted to be left alone. Staying up with her until all hours of the morning when she’d had a nightmare, but never burdening her during his own sleepless nights even though she could always tell from the dark circles under his eyes that he was far from over their hellish experience in the Shrieking Shack.

Almost without her noticing she sank into a comfortable routine, sleeping in late, taking Rowdy for long walks, hanging out with Viv while Ed was busy working and sticking to the safe topics like shopping and boys, occasionally straying into the kitchen to steal a morsel of whatever Ed was cooking up with the excuse that the drunks in the pub just didn’t appreciate his culinary skills. She hadn’t gone back to work yet, unable to face the bustle, loud noises and lecherous men (you’d think they’d get their fill with the strippers, but apparently not), not to mention it was the place where she’d been kidnapped. Still, she did miss some of the girls and Rickie the funny bartender and the independence. Perhaps she would go back next week, she couldn’t live off of Ed’s charity forever.

Cassie lay awake, ignoring the way Ed’s soft shallow breathing was tickling into her neck. For once she hadn’t woken him, knowing he would have to be up soon anyway and she didn’t feel like she had to disturb him. Not this time, when it hadn’t been a nightmare that had woken her up. Instead she was feeling slightly nauseas, nothing terrible , but it was persistent and even pondering the virtues of going back to work was starting to fail at distracting her. It was hard to ignore when this wasn't the first time she'd felt queasy in the past few days. In fact she was starting to feel quite sick.

She rolled out of bed, slipping away from Ed’s soft warmth, her hand going to her mouth as she padded to the bathroom. The cool air did enough to quell the queasy need to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet for a moment and Cassie frowned. She better not be getting the flu, this country was too damn cold for its own good. Not that bitching about the temperature of Scotland was making her feel better in the slightest. She leant forwards over the toilet bowl, narrowly avoiding retching and quickly gathering up her hair to try and rescue the blonde strands from getting covered in puke.

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[Edward Johns]

Somehow, unbelievably, things were starting to feel like normal again. There were no longer any bouts of excitement, for which Edward was grateful for. There were no longer any murderous vampires around the place and the ones that were around were quite agreeable. The nightmares were slowly ceasing, although he doubted they would ever be gone in their entirety, and Cassie seemed to be calming down. It had been hard to be as patient as Ed had been over the last few weeks considering his usual, slightly insensitive, nature but somehow he’d been there for her when she needed him and gave her space when he wasn’t needed. If only Rowdy had done the same.

Unlike the man, the Labrador puppy hadn’t really been all that helpful with Cassie at first. Bouncing over to Cassie to play had often gotten him yelled at so he had quickly learnt that around the girl he had to be much quieter and a lot calmer. Luckily that approach had gotten him more walks and pats then he would have got before, so score and a half for him.

Snoozing at the foot of the bed, Rowdy was the first to wake when Cassie crept to the bathroom. Nose quivering the puppy lifted himself up and watched the girl, his head tilted to one side. There was something different about her; he could sense it, but what he couldn’t quite put his paws on. Without thinking the dog jumped onto the bed and began to lick his master’s face to get him to wake up.

With a groan Ed pushed out at the dog and found that Cassie was gone. Instantly he was up and straight in the bathroom behind the girl. Seeing her bent over the toilet as though she was going to be sick made the man frown in concern. This was new. ”Hey, you alright? How long have you been in here?” Ed asked softly, moving to help her hold her blonde hair out of the way. Like Cassie, Ed hoped that she wasn’t getting the flu, which was the last thing she needed.

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie heard Ed stir, heard the familiar disgruntled yip of a puppy being shoved away and even though she couldn’t see what was going on she just knew Ed had gone from groggy to wide awake in a matter of seconds when he realised she wasn’t still beside him. She wanted more than anything to go to him and reassure him that she was fine; he’d worried about her enough in the past few weeks without an added burden. But that was impossible as her stomach chose that moment to remind her that she wasn’t fine by making her retch again, not actually throwing up, but coming damn close.

She looked up as Ed joined her in the enclosed space, smiling despite the nausea, feeling better just by having him close. Whatever was wrong, he’d stick by her and that kind of caring loyalty made it lot harder to worry. Ed’s hand went to her hair, gathering up the last stray locks of hair and holding it back far more efficiently that her own messy hold. She didn’t drop her arm though, leaving her fingers tangled in the blonde strands and comforted by the warmth of his hand over hers. Well sort of, it wasn’t enough to stop another wave of sickness and Cassie clenched her other hand into a fist at her side to try and fight it off.

The last time Cassie had vomited in front of Ed had been when they were fifteen. She’d eaten one too many slices of pizza and only just made it to bathroom in time when the meat feast with extra olives had started to reintroduce itself to the world. Ed had followed her, but only to laugh at her plight and be generally unsupportive. Things had changed a lot since then, but that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t want to throw up in front of him again. She retched again, pursing her lips when she was finished coughing, she wasn’t going to. No way.

”Not long,” She answered him softly once she was fairly sure opening her mouth wasn’t going to trigger more nausea. ”I think I’m sick,” Cassie whined, sounding incredibly pathetic. She hated being ill, having to sit around and feel terrible, especially when it was something like the flu when there was nothing she could do, but dose up on pepper up potion and ride it out. ”I’m hot and headachy and I keep feeling like I’m going to throw up.” Straightening a little she turned so she could wrap her arms around him and pull him into a hug.

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[Edward Johns]

Underneath his touch Edward felt Cassie’s body wretch and shudder in its want to empty the contents of her stomach. All he could do was hold her hair back, and practically holding her hand by doing so, while the nausea passed. The man wondered what it could be that was making her so sick. One option was the flu yes, but maybe she’d eaten something off over the last few days? He scoffed at the very idea of it, there was no way he, Edward Johns, would cook something that would make another person ill.

Absentmindedly Ed patted Cassie’s back with his free hand, silently willing her to be sick so she’d feel better, or she could feel worse, either one really. But still, better out than in was what someone or rather had said once upon a time, or maybe he’d seen that on TV. Hell he couldn’t remember anymore. ”Has this happened before?” the man asked while stifling a yawn. When Cassie wretched again, Ed gave her a soft, reassuring pat on the back while holding her hair and hand a bit firmer than he had been doing before. ”Hey if you need to get it out, get it out,” he sighed quietly.

”Sounds like the flu alright,” he remarked at the symptoms Cassie listed off. Ouch, having the flu sucked. He’d only ever gotten it once and from what he could remember of it, it had been horrible. The cold sweat, the aches, the nausea; not the most pleasant of illnesses. Ed avoided the advancing hug, he loved Cassie but not the prospect of throwing up. ”Hah nothing personal, if you’re going to be sick I’d prefer it if it wasn’t on me,” Ed chuckled, giving Cassie a light kiss before leaving the room. ”Hang on a sec, I’ll go find the thermometer I’ve got here something. Nifty little thing, it tells you what’s wrong with you although it might not be that accurate. We might have to get you to a doctor at some point too,” he chattered away happily as he raided bedroom cupboards and drawers.

Eventually he found it and returned to the bathroom with a look of triumph across his face. ”Here, try this,” Ed gave the thermometer to Cassie and waited patiently for her to use it.

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie shrugged slightly reluctant to admit just how often she’d felt sick in the last week and dismissed it. ”A couple of times.” She said with a sigh, feeling some of the tension ebb out of her shoulders as he gently patted her on the back. ”I thought I was just feeling crappy before my period or something.” Come to think of it she still hadn’t come on yet, which was pretty unusual considering how bad she’d been feeling... She pushed the thought to the back of her mind in favour of scowling at Ed. She didn’t want to ‘get it out’, she hated being sick. Ed could be really stupid sometimes, or maybe she was just being grumpy because it felt like her stomach was set to spin dry, either way she felt totally entitled to give him the blame anyway.

That scowl turned into a full on pout as he confirmed her suspicions that it might be the flu. Sure he sounded sympathetic, but he was probably laughing on the inside. Then he went and denied her a hug, a good boyfriend would let her throw up on him and he wouldn’t complain about it. Just for that she was totally using his toothbrush and hoping he got sick too. Before Cassie could protest he leant in and gave her a kiss on the cheek and she felt her annoyance evaporate, perhaps she was being a little unreasonable; Ed had just spent the last month proving time and again that he was a good boyfriend.

She turned back to the toilet, glaring into the bowl, the white porcelain taking the brunt of her foul mood now that Ed wasn’t around to irrationally take the blame. Cassie hoped he’d hurry back, not because she wanted to be in a bad mood with him, but because without him there to distract her it was a lot harder to ignore the queasy feeling churning in her stomach. She closed her eyes, pressing cool fingers to her forehead and wondering absently if it was because she was running a temperature or because she was cold from standing around the bathroom in nothing but her nightclothes.

Cassie would get her answer when Ed returned with the thermometer, however since neither of them were particularly tidy people it did surprise her that it took him a couple of minutes to find it. However when he did finally return to the bathroom and hand the thermometer to her she was suddenly a little less keen to find out, if she did have the flu she was condemned to a week or two of feeling this crappy. Putting it in her mouth she tried to read the result by looking down past the tip of her nose, even though she knew there couldn’t possibly be one yet. Six seconds felt like an awfully long time to wait.

When she did finally get the result Cassie decided she wouldn’t have minded waiting a little longer. Like maybe forever. She shook her head, pulling the thermometer from her mouth with a trembling hand. ”No,” Cassie denied, taking a step back like maybe she could retreat from the situation. ”I can’t be, I’d have known.” Her face turned ashen and she felt a little light headed. Another symptom or just shock? It didn’t really matter anymore. ”Ed,” She reached out, hand going to his arm to try and steady herself even as she felt tears well in her eyes. ”I’m pregnant.”

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[Edward Johns]

Patiently Ed stood waiting and watching for thermometer results. He couldn’t help but chuckle as Cassie’s eyes went crossed when she tried to check for results. For some reason he was feeling an odd anticipation, like something big was going to happen soon. It couldn’t be about the thermometer results, it was pretty obvious it was nothing more than the flu and there was nothing remotely big about having that. Beginning to get cold and annoyed at the odd anticipation, Edward left for a moment to find a jacket to put on over his night shirt. While he was gone he found one for Cassie under the bed and timed his arrival back at the bathroom door perfectly. Cassie was reading the results.

”What is it? What does it say?” the man asked suspiciously as he watched her reaction. Surely the flu wasn’t that bad, was it? Or maybe it wasn’t the flu, what if it was something worse but what was worse than that? The answer was not at all what he had been expecting. As soon as Cassie said it Ed could feel the blood drain from his face. He didn’t know whether he should be happy or terrified, instead he chose to keep his face expressionless but his eyes betrayed his shock. Cassie pregnant, that meant he was most likely going to be a father. A father at twenty, now that thought terrified him.

”H-H-How?” Edward stuttered in disbelief, barely registering Cassie’s grip on arm. They’d always been careful whenever they’d slept together hadn’t they? There were so many questions whirling around the man’s brain that soon he too began to feel dizzy. He needed to sit down and soon before he passed out. Actually, no, he needed a drink, a nice stiff drink but it was a bit early in the morning for that.

”I said before that thing wasn’t that accurate, until it’s confirmed I don’t think we should worry just yet. Come on, we can talk more in the kitchen,” he said weakly before turning and leading the way into the apartment’s meagre excuse for a kitchen. Even in the dim light it was still obvious Edward’s face was extremely pale. ”I’m hungry, how about you?” the man asked, reaching for a tin of apparently magical alphabet spaghetti.

[Cassie Vimes]

((OOC: Rar, sorry about the lameness. 1am does not a good post make XD.))

Ed looked about as shocked as Cassie felt, which was understandable really as she had just dropped a bombshell of epic proportions on him. It wasn’t like she’d had time to prepare though, to think up a way to break it to him gently or at least have the chance to make sure he was sitting down first because she was beginning to think there was a good chance he’d faint, if the pallor to his face was anything to go by. But really she was having a hard time mustering up much sympathy, he wasn’t the one that had nine months of being pregnant ahead of him and if they first week was any indication of things to come it was going to really suck. This wasn’t the flu. It was so much worse than that.

”Well it was hardly immaculate conception.” She snapped at his stammered question, drawing her hand away from his arm once she was sure the light-headed spell had passed so she could cross her arms defensively across her torso. In truth Cassie was just as confused as Ed was, just as terrified of what it would mean, with the added flutterings of panic that her pregnancy might turn out the same way her mother’s had. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t get pregnant young, wouldn’t make the same mistake as her parents and yet here she was only twenty and up the duff.

And Ed’s assurances were pretty unconvincing. How was she supposed to just forget all about it, dismiss it as a faulty spell? She’d done too much of that in the past week by brushing off symptoms, so she gave the thermometer a shake and stuck it back into her mouth as she followed Ed into the kitchen. A second test wouldn’t hurt, but this time Cassie didn’t try to look down and catch a glimpse of the result, wanting to stay in denial for just a few more seconds.

The words ‘still pregnant’ materialised across the thermometer and her shoulders sagged in defeat. ”Yeah, I guess.” Cassie answered, not entirely sure how wise it was to try eating when she’d been retching over the toilet minutes before, her mind too preoccupied to really consider what consequences a meal might have. They were good at ignoring the consequences it seemed. ”How can you think about food now?” She accused suddenly, slipping easily into the usual routine of somehow managing to take everything out on Ed. ”What are we going to do?”

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[Edward Johns]

Ed hardly looked back at Cassie as he busied himself with setting up a saucepan on the small stove. He wasn’t thinking straight, this became evident when he turned on the wrong hotplate and almost leant on it. The man pulled his hand back quickly which turned out to be a mistake. The sharp, sudden movement only reminded himself of how faint he was feeling. There was no way the news had really sunk in yet; he was acting far too calm for that. Edward even laughed at Cassie’s quip about conception, good call. ”You’re right, it was a stupid question,” he sighed, tipping the can of alphabet spaghetti into the saucepan.

After he made sure the tin had been emptied and bread had been readied for toast, Ed sat himself in the chair opposite Cassie. ”I think we should go to a doctor to get it, the pregnancy I mean, confirmed,” the man said slowly. Now that he had sat down it was really starting to sink in. The thought of a baby made him nervous; there was no way he’d make a good father, he hardly made a good anything these days.

The smell of the spaghetti slowly warming through made Ed’s stomach growl and served as a distraction. With a flick of his wand the bread on the counter floated into the toaster and cooked in mere seconds. Once that was done, the saucepan automatically levitated and tipped the letters of pasta and sauce evenly on to two plates and the toast. Without saying a word Ed got up, scooped up the two plates, some cutlery and placed one in front of Cassie. ”I’m hungry,” the man retorted, looking reproachfully at Cassie. He didn’t notice that on his plate the spaghetti had starts to spell something out.

”I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Edward lamented, prodding at his food with a fork. Really he had absolutely no idea; it wasn’t like he’d been through this before. For a moment he thought on the question some more. ”Well, you could always, you know, terminate it,” he suggested quietly, clearly uncomfortable at the idea. Really that was the last thing he wanted but ultimately it was Cassie’s decision. ”Or we keep it and become parents. I can’t really decide for you but whatever you chose to do I’ll be there for you.”

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie narrowed her eyes, she hadn’t exactly meant the comment as a joke, more a scathing accusation. It was pretty difficult to stay mad at him though, not when she was on the verge of freaking out, exhausted, ready to throw up and, probably most importantly, he was admitting she was right. Instead of trying to pick a fight about it, even though juvenile bickering would be preferable to the serious topic looming over them, she settled for a glare and slipped into a chair at the table, propping her head on her hand while she watched him empty the tin of spaghetti into a pan.

”If you want us to.” She conceded reluctantly with a small shrug. Cassie herself was totally willing to place her trust in the magical thermometer, as though it had confirmed something that she’d known all along, even though minutes ago she’d been fairly convinced she had the flu. It was quite irritating really that Ed had even suggested it, almost like he didn’t want to be the father of her child and checking with a doctor might allow him escape. Cassie ignored the fact that she was quite reluctant to be pushed into parenthood herself and settled for being annoyed with him. It was no wonder that he was treading on eggshells around her.

The smell of cooking spaghetti had the opposite effect on Cassie, only serving to remind her exactly why she’d woken up in the first place. The scent of the tomato sauce bubbling away seem to turn sour, cloying at her throat and she leaned away from the table as Ed set her plate in front of her, her face turning an interesting shade of pale to match the feeling of nausea that was building once more. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to block the sight of the food out and focused on what Ed was saying. His suggestion served as a fine distraction.

Part of Cassie wanted nothing more than to have the abortion. Her relationship with Ed was already strained enough without the added responsibility, she couldn’t help but be terrified things might turn out the same way they had with her mother and she selfishly didn’t want a child. She wasn’t ready, might never be and it wasn’t fair that this was happening to her now on top of everything else. Then the guilt piled on. No matter how many times Ed had told her otherwise she still felt responsible for Dacian’s death. Could she really knowingly put herself through that again?

Her lip trembled. The only small comfort in the whole sorry situation was Ed’s promise to stick by her. ”I don’t think I can,” Cassie said quietly, the same discomfort echoed in her voice. ”Terminate it I mean.” She looked over at Ed, trying discern any small clue that she was making the right choice. Perhaps she was foolish for trying to decide so soon, but Cassie never had been very good at waiting, at thinking things through and using logic rather than impulse. ”But that means…” She trailed off with a shrug, they both knew what the other option was and she was barely ready to consider it, let alone say it out loud.

[Edward Johns]

All of a sudden Edward felt a twisting in his stomach which caused him to stop shovelling ‘alphabetti spaghetti’ and toast into his mouth between talking and listening to Cassie. This whole pregnancy was making him more and more nervous about the future. There were all sorts of repercussions having a child could bring; they were expensive, loud, demanding and when they grew older they were expensive, loud, demanding and rude. Still he’d always liked kids; he’d liked having a younger brother and sister to look out for as well as Vivian and most of the Hogwarts kids that came through were easy to deal with. Kids weren’t all bad he supposed.

”We don’t have to go to a doctor if you don’t want to. I’m not very trusting of that thermometer is all. It once told me I had a fatal form of dragon pox when all I had was the chicken pox,” the man shrugged, smiling weakly at the girl. It wasn’t hard to notice how pale she had gotten and he couldn’t help but be concerned. Perhaps he should get a bucket before it was too late for his kitchen floor. Before Ed could get one however he was distracted by what Cassie said about termination and the thought of a bucket was pushed out of his mind.

”That means you go through with it,” he finished off quietly. Although only a few words they were huge with the blow that they dealt. It was both their and someone that hardly existed’s futures at stake. For a moment Edward went as pale as Cassie, not from nausea but from the realisation that this could be it. His life could be changed forever nine short months. There was also a worry that the pregnancy could hurt Cassie; he knew full well about her mother and what had happened to her. The last thing Ed wanted was to lose her.

”Are you sure? Maybe we should talk more about this in the morning?” he suggested meekly though from the looks of the sky he could see through the curtains it was morning already. Damn, well there went that suggestion. He opened his mouth to say something else but closed it almost immediately. What he had been about to put forward was the thought of adoption but the selfish side of him told him to keep it to himself. He’d fathered it and he was going to raise it if Cassie kept it come Hell or high water.