Welcome, Hidden One. You have died, and been reborn. Embrace the fear, quiet it, find the stillness, and let go. The stage is yours, Basim. We will be watching.
The house was quiet, as the middle of the night approached. The staff of the house was peacefully sleeping in their beds, all resting and dreaming of the past festive days as the snow outside danced away, shimmering crystal swirling in a waltzing tempo, twirling with the wind that blew from the sea, not so far away.
It was a gentle snowfall, one that had enveloped the entire world in its protective cover.
Dorothea had been sitting by the windowsill of her childhood bedroom in Dover for the greatest part of the evening, lost as she was in that dance that always entranced her like nothing else in the world.
A book - Alice through the Looking Glass - was sitting just besides her elbow, still opened to the page where Dorothea had interrupted her reading.
She turned her eyes away from that spectacle of silent beauty, and glanced over her shoulder, finding the antique clock nestled on the mantlepiece.
Almost midnight.
Boxing day was almost over.
Had it not it been that late, she would had taken her violin and played a merry tune. She felt her fingers tingling with impatience, her mind running as fast as wild horses in a prairie, as she chased melody after melody.
She sighed in quiet resignation as she snuggled once more against the soft worn out hostelry of the old love seat that she had pushed against window, to better behold the spectacle that the wintery night was offering her.
She reached out toward the window and opened it, uncaring about the cold, just so she could hear the far away crushing of the waves against the shore, a sound that always brought her peace of mind and spirit.
Despite the difficulties in breathing that her swollen womb brought and the sharp pains in her legs each time she tried to rest in her bed, she was always careful in her movements, careful not to wake the little one she carried, the sweet love that was finally sleeping inside her belly.
An elated smile widened on her face, her nose wrinkling with absolute mirth as her thoughts about her son started to chased one after the other .
Somehow, she always saw a tiny dark haired baby, with joyous hazel eyes and beautiful freckles all over his tiny face, dimples on his chubby cheeks and a small mouth always smiling in mirth.
She was never one to care about flight of fancy, but the closer she approached the estimated day of her little one’s birth, the more she found herself awake and wonder which one of her thoughts would turn out to be the truth.
“You’ll catch a cold with that window opened, Goldilocks,”
Dorothea turned and her smile transformed in an even sweeter one at the sight of the man standing at the door, his voice husky from sleep.
“I needed a breath of fresh air, dearest. It can be so stuffy in here,” She said, opening her arms in a silent invitation to reach her and sit with her.
“What are you doing still awaken? You need to rest, love.”
“ I wish. I could not find a way to be comfortable in bed, I am afraid. I have the moon in my blood tonight. What about you?”
Jacob yawned, as he sat besides her and took her in his lap.
“Couldn’t find a way to be comfortable either. The bed felt too empty.” he grinned, winking at her and tickling under her chin.
“You were so tired after taking care of that situation in London, I did not have the heart to disturb you,” she murmured, giggling when she felt Jacob’s lips brushing against her collarbone, kissing her skin ever so gently.
“You should have though, Dottie,” he whispered back not unkindly, wrapping both of them with the soft bearskin that Dorothea had been using earlier. “Wake me up, if you aren’t feeling well. I might not be able to do much, but I can at least be of company,”
“Oh dearest, I was feeling perfectly fine. Just unable to enter Morpheus’ realm.”
She giggled when she saw his brow raising, a skeptical light lighting up on his face.
She cupped his cheeks with her hands, resting her forehead against his, allowing the warm fuzzy feeling of happiness blooming in her chest when she looked at those eyes that she loved more than anything in that world.
Yes, she caught herself thinking again, she truly hoped their child would have his eyes.
“I promise, I am completely fine, Jacob. Had something been wrong with me, I would have told you right away. Your son just decided that it would have been a tremendous idea trying to stretch his legs around,”
Jacob’s face lit up again, sweet fondness transforming his face entirely.
“Emmett’s being a little rascal?”
“No more nor less than his father usually is, I assure you,” She chuckled, as she pressed a long kiss against his temple. “He has been tumbling around all evening, poor sweetling. Not much space left in there,”
Jacob’s warm hand brushed her swollen womb, resting a little longer when he could feel the soft outline of his child’s head.
“It won’t be long now, little one,” he murmured, the tone of his voice sweeter than ever, despite the worried look in his eyes.
Dorothea furrowed her eyebrows, her gaze turning inquisitive.
“What’s wrong, Jacob?”
He stood quiet for a moment, lips thinning as thoughts after thoughts mulled all over his face.
“I just realized now…it really won’t be long now until Emmett’s here with us,” he started whispering, locking his gaze with his wife, trying to find some comfort in those sweet eyes that always looked at him as if he had put the Sun in the sky. “And…what if I end up being like Ethan? What if I end up making mistake after mistake, ruining our child's life because it will turn out I am not so different from…from him?“
She caressed his cheek, her knuckles following the outline of his face with delicate attention, trying as she might to give all the courage she carried in her heart through that small contact.
“I know you are terrified. I know. I share your sentiment. I am petrified that I will not be able to fill my role as I should, that I will not give our child what he deserves and needs, just like my own father did to me.” She sighed, turning sad for a moment. “I cannot lie and say that we will not make mistakes, Jacob, because… we are humans. To err is in our nature. It is inevitable,” she scooted closer, now enveloping the man in her arms, bringing his head against her chest, gently kissing his dark hair. “But I also know something else, something that always gives me strength and bring me comforts when I lie in bed, and worriment takes over my senses: we are in this together. We know what our sires’ mistakes were, what they had caused us with their actions, so we already know what path not to follow. So long you hold my hand and I hold yours, so long we walk together side by side, we will not stray away. You will see.”
Jacob’s lips thinned even more, his grip growing stronger around her body, as he felt his chest tightening as it always did when a particular thought squeezed his heart without mercy.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he murmured, allowing her perfume of orange blossom to envelope his whole being and tear him away from his biggest fear. “My father lost my mother, and it broke him. I can’t lose you, Dorothea. I can’t. I just can’t. Not after we found each other again. It-It will break me. Completely.”
Dorothea sighed, her eyes turning sad: she knew those thoughts were always there, keeping him their prisoner with their invisible chains.
She had seen it in the way he had been throughout her whole pregnancy, the way he would always pace around the house whenever she wasn’t feeling as energetic or as active, the way his own sleep had become so incredibly light he would wake up at sounds so faint, she could not hear at all.
With a gentle hand, she raised his chin, and as he had done earlier, now she locked her eyes with him, pure determination blazing within her chest.
“It will not happen, Jacob. I promise you, it will not happen. No force on this Earth or beyond this Life will pull me away from you. My time is not up yet, and I have every intention to grow old with you, so long you will have me by your side,” she caressed a wayward lock of dark hair away from his eyes, and smiled. She felt his shoulders relaxing a little, but the tension in grip was still palpable.
“How about we go back to bed together and try to sleep some more? You truly need to rest,” she suggested as she tenderly kissed his closed eyelids with all the sweetness she was capable off. “I have the feeling that tomorrow will be an eventful day,”
“Will you read me something first?” he asked, still feeling the tension in the way his jaw tightened. Her voice was one of the few things that always helped soothe his nerves.
“Of course, my love. Anything for you.”
Carefully leaning, she took the book still standing on the windowsill when suddenly, she felt a small nudge on the side of her belly and laughed.
”Apparently, your son is awake again,”
Jacob placed one hand over the spot Dorothea was pointing, and was rewarded with another nudge. A smile widened on his face once more. His worries were all still there, still swimming just beneath the surface of his composure: but he knew that Dorothea’s words were true, and they brought some peace in his soul.
She was right.
They would make it.
Together.
“ He decided that he wants to go back to Wonderland with us, eh? We have a Alice’s admirer at our hands,” he murmured, his smile growing wider.
Dorothea laughed, as she combed through the book to find the piece she was looking for.
“If he is anything like you, more like a Cheshire Cat in the making,”
Jacob chuckled at the thought. He felt her snuggling even more comfortably against his solid frame, as he wrapped the bearskin tighter around them. Then, with clear silvery voice, she started narrating that poem that, by now, they both knew by heart.
“'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
SOOOOO.
I AM SORRY FOR THE DELAY, BUT I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO FINISH THIS PIECE and OMG I AM SO HAPPY I WAS ABLE TO DO SO, AND TO ADD ALSO A SMALL DRABBLE TO IT AS WELL. (truth to be told, my husband nudged me to finish it, so, if you see this posted, it's thanks to him and his encouragement lol)
The festivities do bring miracles, don't they?😂😂
I don't have much to add to this, just that I loved working on it and that I was truly truly happy to write for Jacob and Dorothea again, especially in this particular setting! (I mean, if you remember the info I gave a long while ago, you know what's about to happen lolol).
I honestly love doing these kind of Festive Artworks with them, I wish the festivities actually last longer, so that I would be able to draw more of them lolol.
well, I hope you will like this just as much as I loved working on it!
Courtesy of my local gas station. I’ve seen the Biden “I Did That,” stickers everywhere, but this is my first time seeing this. I appreciate the creativity #bp #forrectaluseonly #whatfillingupfeelslike https://www.instagram.com/p/CfNJ7_1Oe4F/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
WifeyThrower gonna have a great birthday today 😊 #baking #chocolatecake #icecreamcake #birthdaygirl https://www.instagram.com/p/CbAhk_FuLVU/?utm_medium=tumblr
I like chocolate more than most, but what is the point of this? Am I just missing something? #lindt #lindtchocolate #maybeicanbakewithit #walmart #walmartfinds https://www.instagram.com/p/CZmbOKjuG8i/?utm_medium=tumblr
My Thanksgiving Plate. Food graciously provided by MamaThrower, WifeyThrower, and my sister. #thanksgiving #turkey #smoothcranberrysauce #fillthatplatewithcolor https://www.instagram.com/p/CWuXPgCM-ay/?utm_medium=tumblr
Not done yet, but I’ve been working hard! #workingman #moveinquickly #tech #stream #streaming #livestreaming #twitchstreamer https://www.instagram.com/p/CVJbupxsHWy/?utm_medium=tumblr