October 22, 1175
Isidro placed the cup on the table and took a stepped back, not bothering to give any explanation. Riona could only stare at the thing. He sometimes brought small trinkets when he returned to their rented rooms after a day of odd jobs, but never without some sort of purpose in mind, or some intended sentiment. This was just a cup.
"What is it?"
Isidro placed his hand behind his neck and massaged it. He worked too damn hard. "I got it from the local herbalist."
So it wasn't just a cup. There was something inside of it--but what? It was odorless, which would have been the last word Riona would have used to describe her grandmother's shop. Then again... she supposed something without a scent couldn't have helped an already foul-smelling room? "Is it a tonic of some sort?"
"No." He let his arm fall to his side and glanced at the table. He looked neither excited nor fearful. He just... looked. "I wouldn't advise drinking that."
That was odd. What else did one do with something from the herbalist? Unless... "Is it a salve? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"It's not a salve." Still neutral but a little grim, he leaned toward the railing behind him, his left hand grasping it neither gently nor firmly. "It's an indicator. You piss in it."
What? She cast one last suspicious glance toward the cup, then gaped at him. "Excuse me?"
"You heard." He took his hand off the rail and reached for hers, pulling her toward him. "You've been hurling more than you've eaten and you haven't had a course in over two months. I'm not stupid, Riona--and in spite of your best efforts to prove otherwise, neither are you. I'll get you some water, or maybe milk if you prefer. Then, when you have to piss, do it in that cup. If the mixture turns red--"
"Then what do we do about it if it does?" Her fingers snapped around his palm and squeezed. She was ill. She was ill, and nothing more--or at least, she could tell herself that as long as she had no concrete proof to the contrary.
"Then you can think about what you want to do about it." He placed his free hand on her shoulder and kissed her. He must have been working at the bakery today; she could taste something sweet on his lips. "The earlier you know for sure, the more time you have to decide. I can't imagine it's a decision to be made lightly."
Maybe he was right. Meeker than she could recall feeling, she glanced to the toes of Isidro's boots. She knew he was being stoic for her sake, but she couldn't help but wonder how he felt about this. If there was a problem, wasn't it his problem too? "What do you think?"
"I think it's up to you." He took a lock of her hair between his fingers and twirled it about. Upon release bounced right back to its bland, stick-straight default; if there was a baby, she hoped it had his hair. "But might as well make sure there's something to think about before actually thinking about it, right?"
Behind Riona, Alya clapped two of the borrowed toys together. Isidro peered over her shoulder and chuckled. She found she had to smile. "All right."
NEXT CHAPTER:
5 comments:
Yes, I know today is Ashelia day, but A) I missed yesterday and B) I have an announcement, so I should probably post to the blog with the most traffic.
Anyway. I'm declaring a state of pseudo-hiatus for the rest of the month. Meaning? I'll probably post over the course of that time, but don't be surprised if I don't, and it probably won't be as frequent as usual. I head back to the coast on the 31st, and before then I have a few things to wrap up. Need to find out if I'm working any more, need to say some goodbyes, make sure I have everything I need, etc.
That, and--after I sort out this Microsoft Office shenanigans--I need to get Sims up and running on the new computer. Need to update my hacks, make sure there are no conflicts with GunMod or CEP or anything, download SimPE, all that jazz... then make sure it all RUNS. I don't want to say for sure just yet, but I'm hoping that the set including the preview pic here is the last batch I take with just the base game. At the same time, I will have this computer as a backup if worse comes to worse.
Thanks for understanding :)
NEW COMPUTER!!! Oh, believe me, I completely understand!
Best of luck getting that sorted out. :) And I hope you enjoy your new EPs.
As for Riona and Izzy ... so it's getting to close to official, eh? I like Izzy's style. Force her to confront the fact that there may be a problem and determine whether there is a problem or not. (Though if she's really just sick ... that's also a problem, but one that will be mentally easier to solve.) Then give her time to process the problem and come up with a solution.
I'm still holding out hope for wedding bells, though. ;)
Wow, that was quick :)
Thanks! Here's hoping everything runs smoothly. Who knows? If it goes up without any complications and it turns out I don't have to work much, I may even lift the hiatus :)
Yeah, I think Izzy's handling this pretty well. He did what he could--bring home Ye Olde Pregnancy Test (which probably didn't exist but at the same time didn't strike me as too farfetched) and see how things go from there.
I think Riona's thought about the baby having Isidro's hair might be a good indicator of future events, though ;)
Actually, pregnancy tests have existed for quite some time. There is one in particular that I know of that has been used since ancient times.
They used to put wheat seeds in water and the woman would wee in it. The next day, if the seeds had germinated they indicated pregnancy.
Really? That's interesting. I never would have figured that hCG had an effect on seeds. Thanks for the tidbit, Epi :)
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