Some Strange Type of Peculiar Love

Dirty Hands

Fiona's POV

Pregnancy. The gift of giving life,
I hate it.
Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I'm going to have a baby soon and start a family with Hugh, but ever since I started 'showing' as Noor called it, I've been miserable. I'm constantly bloated, uncomfortable, nauseous, and my feet hurt. Cuio, Mio, and Babbi were helping me with all my gardening duties until they left last week, they said they probably weren't going to be back until after I had the baby.

I started to sweep the floors after breakfast, I like to keep a clean house lately. Hugh was going to be gone all day with Millard, apparently him and Lily got into it last night about something or other. I heard a knock on the door. I set my broom leaning on the wall and waddled over to the front door. Before I even made it over there, Enoch and Horace stepped inside.
"Hullo." Enoch waved. I frowned and tilted my head.
"Bee boy wanted us to come around, I told him you could hold your own but you know him."
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my arms over my 6 month pregnancy belly.
"What he means to say is, we came to visit!" Horace shot Enoch a nasty glare.
"He means gossip."
My eyes must have brightened because Enoch started to laugh.
"Bird, you guys are the worst." Enoch laughed. I rolled my eyes and sat on the couch and patted the seat next to me. I noded towards the sink for Enoch to wash his hand in a half hopeful attempt that he'd willingly wash his hands right now for the first time in 2 years, and even then it was only because Miss Peregrine strapped him down age hosed him off for our wedding. Enoch rolled his eyes and shook his head, I decided then to give up for the day.
"You will not believe this!" Horace started.
Enoch had now made his was to our icebox to  find  something to eat.
"Emma and Jake broke up again!"
I tilted my head, I thought this was something I wasn't going to believe?
"Ok it's not that unbelievable, but he's not even with Noor!"
Now that shocked me.
"I think it's a girl from outside the loop." Enoch called while heating the last of our leftover spaghetti from 2 night ago over the stoves.
"Who do you think?" Horace asked me. I shrugged, there's no way Jake could actually find another girl to date his sorry arse.
"He's probably out looking for a new piece of tail." Enoch called. I laughed.
"Oh! And Claire lately has been a little trouble maker." I tilted my head again, little Claire? Are you sure?
"We have no idea when or why it started but now she's challenging everything Miss Peregrine says!"
"It's really entertaining." Enoch was now eating with his dirty corpse hands. I frowned at him.
"I'm not wasting my time with bloody utensils!" He placed the leftover noodles back in the icebox, I made a mental note to feed it to my worms later.
"Anyways, Miss Peregrine needs us to go to town today, so I'm thinking baby shopping?" I nodded enthusiastically.

We bought a white crib, changing table, and dresser. We ended up meeting Bronwyn in town. She carried the crib and the drawers for the dresser back home while Horace and Enoch carried the changing table. I offered to carry the rest of the dresser but none of them would hear of it.
"I'm home." Hugh called.
"Look what we stole!" Enoch yelled followed by an "ow!"
I was in the nursery with everyone handing out cups of tea.
"Looks great!" Hugh beamed. He kissed my cheek. Horace whispered something to Enoch, "Wait, we paid for all this? Why!" Hugh started to laugh.
"This isn't 'raid the village,' we can steal a bag of crisps or a meat pie but not furniture!"
"You can if you're not an idiot." Enoch mumbled, Horace smacked his shoulder.
"It looks amazing." Hugh beamed.
"Miss Peregrine says to be by 9 and it's 8:55..." Horace said timidly. Everyone ran out in a flash knocking over tea and any other items in their way. I bent over to pick up their tea glasses as the door slammed and I winced.
"Carful darling!" Held my hand and helped me up. He turned me around to face him and framed my face with his hands. I looked down embarrassed of my round frame.
"You look more beautiful than ever." Hugh seemed to notice my self conscious feelings.
"Everyday I wake up and when I see you next to me, I want to tell the past me that leaving my home and only coming back once more with you, wasn't a mistake."
"Really?"
Hugh lifted my chin and kissed me.
"I just feel so.... deficient." Hugh laughed.
"You're very sufficient, I had to bribe Horace and Enoch to come over so you wouldn't rearrange our whole cottage just because you wanted to show me you could." I laughed along with Hugh lightly.
"Now, are you hungry?" He smiled. I nodded and stood up, Hugh held my waist so u didn't fall. Hugh sat me on the living room couch as he dug into the fridge. I looked at a framed picture of Melina and him somewhere in Africa  and made a mental note. I heard Hugh humming to himself, his go to tune whenever he tastes something good. I smiled but as soon as I saw him eating the leftover spaghetti after Enoch dead riser hands rifled throw them, I gasped and attempted to run to the sink. Hugh asked me—with a full mouth— of food if I was ok and I immediately threw up. He handed me some water and held my hair back as I heaved. I eventually slid my back on the cupboard  down onto the floor. Hugh sat next to me. As soon as I saw his sympathetic expression I lost it and started to laugh.
"You're full emotions aren't you tonight, darling?"
"Hugh, you know how Enoch  never washes his hands and he said he'd only ever do it for the Queen Victoria?" I said between laughs.
Hugh grimaced, "oh don't I ever, it was disgusting! Did you just happen to think about it? Horace said he wiped off all the surfaces."
I winced at the thought of Enoch's dark black dusty hands.
"He ate with his hands."
"And my eating made you think of it?"
"He ate that spaghetti!"
Hugh laughed and then turned gray. Suddenly he realized how many dead hearts he's held over the years and practically climbed to the sink and threw up. Once he washed he vomit down the drain he sat next to me again.
"I cannot believe you do this every morning."
I smiled tiredly at him, whenever he was tired his strong English accent. He reached over and held my hand, I held my head on his shoulder.
"I love you, so, so much."
"I love you too."
"Since I basically know afar it's like to be pregnant I—"
"Don't even start." I said seriously yet playfully at the same time.
Hugh kissed my forehead.
"Let's go to bed."

4/8/21