Serendipity: A New Generation of Knights

Part 1: Ch 1. Sweet Serendipity

Reece knocked softly at the door to the on-suite bathroom. She'd been in there nearly thirty minutes, and he was becoming concerned.

When he didn't get an answer, Reece slowly turned the door knob and attempted to peek in to check on her.

"Marj?" He spoke gently into the space between the wall and door, just loud enough to be heard but hopefully not enough to startle her.

"No, no don't come in!" Marjorie shouted, turning on her toes as quickly as she could when she heard Reece coming in. It was too late.

Over the last week or so, Marjorie hadn't felt entirely herself. She was always feeling somewhat sick, a bit dizzy and nauseated and her body was aching. In the beginning she had chocked it up to allergies and stress, but when she realized she had missed her period, an entirely new thought clouded her mind.

"What is that?" Reece asked, his eyes wide. He knew exactly what it was.

Marjorie swiped the little white cassette off the counter and shoved it into her back pocket, hoping so hard that he hadn't seen.

"Nothing, darling!" she coughed. "Nothing at all. Was just... about to wash my hands." She tried to be nonchalant, beaming at him in her usual way. But the panic in her voice was too obvious.

Reece furrowed his brow. If what she'd tried to hide was what he thought it was, he was confused why she was wanting to hide it.

The two had recently spoken about having children, especially after their nephew's first birthday party back in August. Marjorie had even stopped taking her birth control pills over the last few months. They weren't explicitly trying for a baby yet, but they weren't not trying.

"Marjorie..."

Her feigned smile fell from her face as he stared into her eyes. She couldn't lie to him.

"Reece, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to hide it from you, I've just been so sick and didn't want to worry you about it, and I just... I'm really nervous."

She was nervous. In fact, she'd spent the last thirty minutes just looking in the mirror, pacing the bathroom floor, gripping the little white cassette in her hand and doing nothing with it. It was only right before he knocked on the door that she'd actually started the test and the timer.

Her body fell against his as he fully stepped into the bathroom, and held her in his arms. Reece pushed his hand into her hair and rubbed her head gently as they swayed, comforting her in a way he'd found worked well for her. But while he stood with her in silence, his mind was racing with thoughts all centered around one idea: What did the test say?

Suddenly, their moment was interrupted by the shrill sound of the test timer coming from Marjorie's phone on the counter.

"Is that it?" Reece asked, pulling away from his wife as she stepped back to grab her phone.

"Yeah..." she replied softly as she silenced the timer. "I didn't even see the result before you came in, honestly."

"So you don't know yet," Reece spoke, a suspicious tone to his voice.

Marjorie shook her head.

"I did miss my period, though," she grimaced. "And I've been feeling so sick and just not myself."

Reece agreed. He did notice she'd been much more on edge and irritable for the last couple of weeks. It hadn't occurred to him that this could be why, but he didn't dare tell her he'd noticed her acting differently until he knew for sure that the test was positive.

With a long sigh, Marjorie reached for the test in her back pocket before looking up at her husband.

"Together?" She asked.

"Together."

They both shut their eyes as she pulled the test from her pocket and held it up in front of both of them.

"One," she began to count.

"Two," he continued.

"Three."

-

That night, after copious amounts of tears, kisses, and tender moments,  both of them came to the conclusion that there would be much to discuss in the coming months. And one thing they already agreed on was that they each needed some time to rest and think. Reece had a section of their back garden dedicated to stargazing, and though he used it almost daily, Marjorie also frequently joined him. Tonight would be one of those nights.

The sky was clear. It was a beautiful night. The moon was bright, a waxing gibbous. Marjorie remembered that. Moon phases were one of the few space things she'd retained from the vast wealth of knowledge her husband had tried to bestow upon her.

They took their spots on a soft blanket Reece had put out for them and laid back, quietly gazing into the deep night.

"You know," Reece began to speak, breaking the calm silence between them. "There hasn't been a day that's passed that Carly hasn't asked if we're having kids, when we're having a baby, if we'll call a baby girl Carly..."

Marjorie nodded. She'd been interrogated by the young staff member in the same way many times, especially since they'd gotten married.

"Right, I don't think we'll hear the end of it if we don't," she agreed.

They returned to their sweet silence, both in their thoughts about the young staff member they'd taken under their wings.

When Carly first started, Marjorie quickly became very protective of her. She saw so much of herself, so much potential in the young apprentice. And between herself and Charlotte, the role of the Carly's protector was well-filled. That was until Reece came along.

When Reece started as the manager of the sister nursery, it seemed like Carly was the only person who saw anything good about him. It's not that there wasn't anything good about him. There was just so much misunderstanding and hidden truths within the nursery family circle. But from the day the results came back from young apprentice's observation at Reece's nursery, she was attached to him like a little girl following her father.

Now she was a full-fledged member of staff, and a fantastic one at that. Both Reece and Marjorie, as well as the rest of the nursery staff, were extremely proud of how far Carly had come through so many circumstances a girl so young should never have to endure. She was one of the strongest people they both knew, and now she was one of their strongest staff members.

Amidst the quiet of the night, Marjorie had a fleeting thought that took hold of her mind and ran with it. She smirked to herself, her expression covered by the darkness surrounding them, but when she chuffed a bit to herself, Reece started to take notice.

"I quite like Caroline," she spoke into the dark.

Reece smiled and slowly turned his head to look over at her.

"Call her Carly?" he asked.

Marjorie's eyes met his. With a shared smile, both of them realized their baby girl name was secured.

Reece shifted onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, but not before sharing a sweet kiss with his wife. He moved a hand onto her belly, and she placed her own atop his, cuddling her head into his chest.

"Now, let's just hope it's a baby girl because the only decent boy's name is yours, and your sister's already swiped that one up."