h e n r y (fictitious) wrote in valesco,
@ 2011-10-04 23:40:00

Entry tags:

Heidi!
Henry was sure that his flat had never been this clean, and that was coming from someone who was borderline OCD. The floors had been swept and mopped, dishes were all put away, the curtains were pulled back at precisely the right curve and fell perfectly behind the furniture. Everything had to be immaculate if he wanted Heidi to agree to move in with him.

He felt like he'd been going over this plan for weeks. Which...he had been, but he'd been busy! With the new charity, dealing with new clients, dealing with annoyed clients, and even dealing with his brother in a not too frustrating of a way. Henry's relationship with Seth was better than it had ever been, but he was still wary of allowing himself to get too comfortable in case Seth randomly decided to turn back into a major pain in the ass.

Which, Henry knew, wasn't too hard to do.

Hopefully Heidi would appreciate his effort; he'd even cleared off half of nearly ever shareable surface, storage space in the flat for her to see that he was prepared for this big step, but he had also prepared himself for a negative answer. His relationship with Heidi had been a good one so far, great even, but she had been through a lot so this might be rushing things and----

The doorbell rang, and Henry jumped out of the bathroom, startled. Okay! This was it. Big night, big night. He rushed to the door, but before he opened it he stopped and relaxed himself. Didn't want to seem too nervous.

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 01:30 am UTC (link)

Today was a bigger day than Henry knew. Slugs and Jiggers was the biggest supplier in the wizarding world of contraceptive potions, so it wasn't so surprising that there were quite a few women who'd found themselves a little heavier than usual. She'd been sure that it had just been the extra stress at the office making her eat more and therefore making her gain weight, but she'd been so tired, and she'd gone into the healers and -- well.

She wasn't sure why Henry had seemed so nervous about inviting her over tonight, but some part of her was simply paranoid that he already knew she was pregnant. At least if he did know, he wasn't freaking out about it.

She took a deep breath and then stepped into the apartment, flashing Henry a big smile. "Hi."

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fictitious
2011-10-05 01:40 am UTC (link)

Henry grinned and leaned down to kiss her quickly, taking Heidi's hand to lead her into the flat.

"So," he started, hoping he didn't sound too shaky. Henry had never had a flatmate before, let alone a female one, one that he was in a relationship with. Part of him wanted to deal with this like he did with his contract negotiations, clear and concise and to the point. But, Henry knew, that wasn't a very romantic way to go about it. Heidi wouldn't possibly be swayed to move-in with him if he treated her like a client. "We're going on a tour."

Of course she'd been in his flat before, but she needed to humour him. He pointed toward a bookshelf that he had managed to move all of his books onto one side, splitting the available space down the middle, "That's the potential spot of your book collection."

Henry dared to look at Heidi for a split second before continuing, "And over there is a coat rack where your cloaks and jackets could potentially hang when you come home after work."

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 01:45 am UTC (link)

She couldn't help the way she raised her eyebrow when he said that they were going to take a tour of his flat. She'd been here dozens of times, after all -- and no, she wouldn't be swayed to move in with him if he'd just asked her to sign on a dotted line or something like that. As he continued to walk her around the apartment, though, she began to understand what he was getting at and -- she couldn't help it, she placed her hands to her mouth to stifle a laugh.

Oh, this was precious. And terribly convenient, if she were honest with herself. Here she was, nervous over telling him something big, and he was springing something almost as big on her.

"Did someone conveniently steal half of all your possessions?"

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fictitious
2011-10-05 01:54 am UTC (link)

His face grew hot and he smiled tightly down at Heidi as they stopped in front of his half-cleaned closet. She wasn't running away screaming at the more than obvious reason for this impromptu tour. Even seeing her laugh at him was invigorating, and Henry was wondering why it had taken him so long to build up the nerves to ask her.

"It's the strangest thing," he said with his own laugh, looking over the closet. Henry was quite proud of himself; how he managed to get all of his dress robes and cloaks into that one half would never be repeated again. "It's as if they wanted you to move in with me too."

Henry looked back at Heidi with a nervous smile, taking hold of both her hands. Merlin, this was the biggest commitment he'd ever tried to make with a woman, and while it looked like it was going to go well, she could actually just be laughing at him and how stupid he was for thinking she wanted to live with him.

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 02:28 am UTC (link)

"Well, I know how the opinion of your inanimate objects influences your decisions." She smiled back up at him and let him take her hands, feeling herself get nervous for a completely different reason. She didn't want to just interrupt him, though, so she bit her tongue for the moment and didn't mention how there might be even less room in this place in a few short months.

Having a child had never -- come up with her late husband. They'd loved each other, certainly, but at that point he'd been insistent they not rush into anything they'd regret later. What sort of bollocks had that been, really.

"So I understand your desire to have me move in here now. You just want to make sure the books are happy." She knew she was being silly, but that was the way she had to act to cover up her own jitters. They cared about each other, Henry had been lovely and patient with her...and now they were almost forcibly rushing into things.

"You didn't sneak into my apartment and pack my bags while I was at work, did you?" Some part of her thought that would be romantic, but if he'd actually done that she'd probably have gotten on his back about being too presumptuous.

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fictitious
2011-10-05 02:44 am UTC (link)

He grinned, "You are a Ravenclaw, are you not? It is very important that your books are happy."

Her reaction most certainly meant a yes, right? Henry couldn't see Heidi playing some trick on him, or being too nice just to let him down. This was good! She was joking, and smiling, and would he have to officially ask her? Maybe he did, in case they disagreed on something and she took the opportunity to state that she never actually agreed to moving in.

"So, is that a yes? You'll move in with me, books and all?" he asked, trying to make it seem like a tease, that he already knew the answer, but his heart was still racing furiously. He was sure this woman could make or break his heart in an instant.

"I didn't however already pack your things, if that's the deal breaker..."

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 02:53 am UTC (link)

Okay, so he was just asking her to move in with her - that explained why he'd been so nervous, and now she felt ridiculous for thinking that he somehow knew that she was pregnant even before she had known.

"It's a yes. As long as you're willing to help me move my things in here, at least -- I'm not supposed to be doing any strenuous activities for the next nine months or so." Aha, okay, that wasn't the best way to come out and say that, probably, but she couldn't help it -- it had just come out, and it had seemed so witty.

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fictitious
2011-10-05 03:03 am UTC (link)

"Of course I'll help you! I'll..."

Her words had sunk in, and were confusing. Henry continued to stare at her as he tried to figure out what she meant by that. It wasn't as if he particularly wanted his girlfriend to be doing anything strenuous unless it was...you know, with him, but that kind of activity shouldn't be strenuous on a person, and why was she mentioning the next nine months?

That was a strange time line. Nine months? That wasn't very long, relatively speaking, it was---it was the amount of time that----

Oh.

His head was about to explode, it felt. Henry blinked a few more times at Heidi, trying to keep his entire being steady as his words really sunk in. She could...not be saying what he thought she was saying. It could be some other ailment that kept her from doing strenuous activity for the next nine months, but would it be terribly rude to ask if it was?

Oh.

"...really?"

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 03:17 am UTC (link)

Well, he wasn't running away, but he didn't immediately seem to grasp what she was saying and -- Heidi bit her lip, hoping that he wasn't going to tell her that he was angry. She didn't cope well with stress, he knew that -- or she hoped he did, after what had happened when her husband had passed away.

She smiled nervously, wringing her wrists for a moment. "Well, Slugs and Jiggers really messed up with their potions, as I'm sure you know, and they were really the only supposedly reliable supplier..." She was already starting to panic; she looked over to him and hoped that he couldn't tell just how worried she was.

"Is -- is that okay?"

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fictitious
2011-10-05 03:32 am UTC (link)

She needed to not let go of his hands to mess with her own because Henry needed something to hold on to. Slugs and Jiggers, right, of course, he'd heard about that, he had some of his players having absolute fits and---was it okay? It was---it was startling, that was for sure, and it was scary to think about, and she'd sprung it on him in the strangest of ways but he supposed that it---this---news was sprung on her too.

Henry wasn't sure if he liked children. He liked his niece, he loved Leanne, but it was always quite the relief to give her back to Seth at the end of the day. Was that why he could tolerate having her around so much, because he knew he'd be able to give her back? A baby of their own was...Henry had been panicking about having Heidi simply move in...simply! Now it was simply, as if it wasn't a big deal at all when he had a baby to compare it to!

A baby! Heidi was pregnant because of some faulty potions. Henry supposed they couldn't feel too bad; they'd been taking the proper precautions and it wasn't their fault that a reputable apothecary had made errors. But it still meant that they were going to have a baby. They were, weren't they?

"We're going to need a bigger flat," he let out, grabbing onto Heidi's hands once more.

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 03:38 am UTC (link)

She was just relieved to have him holding onto her hands; grabbing for her meant that he wasn't repulsed by the idea. He was probably just as scared as she was -- okay, maybe he was almost as scared as she was, because it wasn't like he had to push a baby out of him in less than nine months.

Heidi squeezed his hands firmly, managing a soft laugh. "So you didn't have to get rid of some of your things anyway, because we're going to have to move to a larger place." She leaned in to kiss him suddenly, needing to be absolutely certain that he was going to be all right with this. "We'll figure it out, right? I've already read up on some things, and it says we're supposed to take some sort of preparatory class that St. Mungo's offers..."

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fictitious
2011-10-05 11:06 pm UTC (link)

Kissing was good, he could handle kissing. Henry needed to kiss her too, and was all too startled when she pulled away to start talking again. He listened, he was going to have to listen very closely for the next---rest of his life. She's read up on things, she's known, there were classes to take. Henry nodded along with Heidi, still completely dumbfounded by this news. He hadn't even allowed himself to react other than startled and surprised, he was so...surprised!

"Can we sit?" he nearly squeaked, his voice cracking on the words. Henry usually liked plans, he liked the idea of taking classes on things and learning how to be the best, but they needed to just...sit. Or maybe even lie down, because he'd worked himself up so badly just to ask Heidi to move in, and now she was having his baby.

She was having his baby. Henry's grip on her hands tightened at the thought, and he hoped he could silently portray that he was only shocked, and nothing else at the moment. Not mad or upset, just shocked. "Or...we can eat."

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iseeyoubaby
2011-10-05 11:23 pm UTC (link)

"Why don't we sit to eat?" Because she really couldn't blame him for being shocked, it wasn't as if this was something that they'd planned, and it wasn't something that was -- small. They were both going to have to change their lives for this baby, and she was acutely aware of this.

"And then we can just - pretend for tonight that we're just having me move in here, okay?" Because that seemed much easier than dealing with this just now. She started to tug him over toward the couch, hoping that they could sit down for at least a few moments before they had to dive right into dinner.

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