11/30 Instance: Duet

[Svartfreja]

Timelined before the hospital blows up.


<Paige> The 'dance studio' that they had set up at the school wasn't near what it had been at the old school, but it served its purpose. Paige stretched on the floor, getting herself ready to practice the choreography for her and Bobby's first dance. They better start working on it now, if they wanted it to be perfect!

<Jessica> It had taken her some time to track Paige down, slowed down somewhat by her need to go pee frequently. She eventually found her, pausing in the doorway and chewing on her lip she shuffled the the container full of cupcakes she'd baked from under her arm to rest on the bump.

<Paige> Pushing herself up off the floor, Paige shifted her legs a bit to see how they felt. A glance up at the mirror registered that there was another person in the room. Paige let out a yelp, taking a step back as she realized who it was. "Hey Jess!"

<Jessica> "Hi," she smiled, "Cupcake?" she offered the container, shuffling into the room. "Someone needs to help me eat them so I don't feel guilty."

<Paige> "Why would you feel guilty? It's the one 9 month stretch of your life that you get to eat whatever you want and NOT feel guilty!" Paige was all over the cupcake idea though. She crossed the hall to meet Jess and those delicious cakes.

<Jessica> "Because I have about five other boxes in the kitchen? I can't sleep so I bake... a lot." she wrinkled her nose, handing the container over.

<Paige> "Well you came to the right place to drop them off. College kids devour food like they've never eaten before in their lives." Paige giggled and took the container, sitting down on the floor carefully so she could open it. "Thanks! Oh do you need a chair? Uhhh I think, yeah! There's one!" She hopped back up to get Jess the one chair in the studio."

<Jessica> "Thanks..." she gave Paige another smile, taking the seat and looking around the room for the first time. "I haven't been in a dance studio for nearly a year..."

<Paige> "I really haven't either." Paige distracted herself with cupcakes, picking the prettiest one to eat. Sprinkles! "If Bobby and I are going to have the best wedding dance ever, I need to get started on it now."

<Jessica> "Don't you need him to practice for that?" She raised an eyebrow, taking out a cupcake, "And congratulations, by the way... can I see?"

<Paige> "OH! Yes!" Paige handed over her left hand so Jess could admire her dazzling ring. "I'll need him once I get it planned out," she laughed a little. "I can choreograph better solo."

<Jessica> It was pink... of course it was pink. "Sparkly." She smiled, "And very you."

<Paige> "Bobby and Rogue picked it out. I just gave him a few suggestions." She admired it again with a smile, then carefully licked the frosting off of her cupcake.

<Jessica> "You got a good one there, you better look after him or you'll be sorry." She feigned a threatening look.

<Paige> Paige giggled and put some frosting on Jess's cheek. "Isn't he great!?"

<Jessica> "He's my best friend," Jess wiped the frosting off her cheek with a finger and deposited it on Paige's nose. "I asked him to give me away at my wedding... but we ended up eloping."

<Paige> Paige tried to lick the frosting off and failed. She used her finger to wipe it off, licking it from her finger instead. "Awwww. I tried to get him to elope. He said no. So wedding it is! With Sebastian as the very lovely Man of Honor." Paige dissolved into a fit of giggles. He would be so cute!

<Jessica> Jess laughed too, "We had to elope, planning things never seems to work out well for us. Safer that way." She nodded sagely, "We'll probably do it properly after the baby's born."

<Paige> "Ohhhh how cute would that be?! Have the baby in a cute little flower girl dress. Awwww!" Speaking of... she had one of those to make.

<Jessica> Jess giggled, "Mmhmm, it'll be adorable until she throws up on it."

<Paige> "Well, that happens," Paige laughed. "Ripley is going to be the most adorable flower girl ever!"

<Jessica> "Now that I can see," she smiled, taking a bite of her cupcake. After swallowing, she added; "You set a date yet?"

<Paige> "We have a month... I need to see when the church is available. I did set up a meeting with Father Thomas, so we should know really soon." Paige licked the rest of her frosting off of her cupcake.

<Jessica> "Well let me know so I know how much time I have to get back in shape because if I keep up this baking thing I'm going to be soooo fat."

<Paige> Giggling again, Paige shook her head. "Impossible. You will work it off chasing that baby as soon as she can crawl! Though that does take a few months. Oh! The wedding is in May." She didn't care to point out that Bobby and Lorna's had been in April and her and Eve's had been in June. Maybe May was the sweet spot.

<Jessica> "We got married in May too, it was nice," she smiled, "That gives me... three months, give or take. I can do that. Especially if I go back to training other people."

<Paige> "May is the month!" Paige giggled again and took a bite of the actual cupcake. "I need to do something for Bobby... something special."

<Jessica> "Marrying him isn't special enough?" Jess had forgotten how terrifyingly perky Paige was.

<Paige> "He proposed on a beach in Bermuda..." Paige pointed out.

<Jessica> "Sebastian proposed to me on his birthday... and I freaked out and ran and hid in the bathroom at the restaurant for a few minutes."

<Paige> "Why would you freak out about that? Didn't you want to marry him?" Paige was utterly baffled by this.

<Jessica> "I was confused... there was this whole thing with Sebastian's telepathy and a psychic link going on at the time and I wasn't sure which feelings were mine... plus there's the fact I never thought anyone would want to marry me..."

<Paige> Paige patted Jess' knee a bit. "Well, I didn't second guess the decision at all. I feel like I've been waiting for this for forever."

<Jessica> "You guys are good together... and you know you want to be married and everything... I had a different life, still have to pinch myself sometimes."

<Paige> With another pat, Paige smiled. "Well I would think the baby kicking would be enough of a wakeup call now."

<Jessica> She laughed, "Yeah... and she's got excellent aim for my kidneys... I still worry sometimes though... especially lately. Things have been stressful at home."

<Paige> "What's so stressful and how can you get rid of it?" Paige took another bite of cupcake.

<Jessica> "We have houseguests... one permanent and one semi permanent and there are things that can not be unseen..."

<Paige> "They do know we have a school right? And it isn't really haunted. Unless you catch Stark hungover."

<Jessica> "Only one of them is a student... and she's staying with us so I can help her, she's been through some stuff that I have kind of a unique perspective on..." She pushed a hand through her hair with a sigh, "The other is... a complicated issue."

<Paige> "Don't take on too much... And if you start feeling too stressed, you should come see me at the hospital. My team is AMAZING!"

<Jessica> "I have no idea what level of stress is normal... but my little passenger here is pretty good at kicking me when I start yelling so I suppose that's good?"

<Paige> "I would say if you are yelling, then you are probably overstressed, but that's just me," Paige laughed a little. You could get a blood pressure monitor though."

<Jessica> "I don't know... watching that might stress me out more than not having it..."

<Paige> "They have some that just beep when you get too high. No numbers or anything."

<Jessica> "Maybe I'll look into that... I should ask Sebastian about it first though because he might take it personally if I go to someone else..."

<Paige> "There you go! And he totally would. But just let me know if you need help finding one. They are really useful!" Paige smiled up at Jess.

<Jessica> "I will, thanks," she returned the smile, "I'm worrying a lot at the moment... this is sort of the stage my mum was at before..."

<Paige> "Hey, you know every pregnancy is different right? And I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I may not be a superstar surgeon yet, but my teachers are."

<Jessica> "I know... But I remember what it was like... so it's still kind of terrifying... and I already miscarried once..."

<Paige> "You are far enough along that if something did happen, there's a high chance we could save you both." Paige reached up to take Jess' hand. "I know it's scary... but this is my specialty. Literally. I may be good at sewing and hair and makeup and dancing... but this? This is my life. If I thought you were in any danger, I'd tell you."

<Jessica> "I know logically the same thing probably won't happen... even if it did, medicine has advanced a lot... but, with my powers, any problems are terrifying even with the security blanket of the inhibitor cuff we're borrowing and I have a lot of time to myself to think about this stuff. I tend to overthink and go in circles..."

<Paige> "If you want... you could put that mind to better use and help me choreograph!"

<Jessica> "I can do that! I'm good at that! I used to do it at the dance school before my lapse in common sense..."

<Paige> "You saved a child's life... But I would greatly appreciate the help!"

<Jessica> "At the expense of my own child's life," she mumbled, and she'd probably never forgive herself for that. "I will help you and try not to eat all the cupcakes."

<Paige> Paige quickly grabbed up another cupcake. "Not if I eat them all first!"

<Jessica> She laughed, "Gotta get those energy levels up before you start dancing around, right?"

<Paige> "Exactly!" Paige giggled and got to her feet, leaving the box of cupcakes on the ground. She licked off the icing happily. "Though I never seem to run low on that."

<Jessica> "Trade you... I'm so exhausted. I wish caffeine worked."

<Paige> Paige swallowed behind her smile. She'd trade with Jess in a heartbeat, but she and Bobby already had one kid. "You'll be a full time mommy soon. You'll never have energy again!" She laughed a little.

<Jessica> "Uuuugh, don't remind me... but at least then Sebastian will share my suffering."

<Paige> "And suffer he shall!" Paige laughed. "A frilly little girl is exactly what he needs."

<Jessica> "I don't think I can handle frilly..." her nose wrinkled.

<Paige> "You handle me just fine," Paige nudged her gently. "Plus, she can borrow a lot of Ripley's things. Not that Sebastian can't afford the best of everything, but they grow so fast. A lot of parents share clothes these days."

<Jessica> "You're a grownup, you can frilly by yourself... and we have things... from before. Mostly they have ducks on... and some frogs because they were cute too."

<Paige> "Well, just know that anything we have of Ripley's you can use. We don't have anything from... really early on... because... yeah."

<Jessica> "Well we have that part covered, I think... so works out well enough," she offered Paige another smile. "We'll get by."

<Paige> "Always do," Paige twirled a bit and finished her cupcake. "Now... onto this dance..."