Serendipity: A New Generation of Knights

Part 1: Ch 4. What is That?

A few weeks had passed since Marjorie and Autumn shared their news with each other. Overall, they were doing a good job at keeping each other's secret under wraps. Only they and their husbands knew.

Navigating life in the office with two pregnant women was a whole new ball game, however. Even for just the two of them, they were learning new things about themselves and each other every day. Overall, Autumn seemed to be calmer, as she had been in her previous pregnancies. For Marjorie, however, it was like someone had taken her drama dial and turned it all the way up.

-

"God, can you smell that?" Marjorie huffed as she quickly covered her nose with her shirt.

Autumn looked up from her work, sniffing the air for any new or particularly unpleasant smells. Upon noticing nothing out of the ordinary, she turned to Marjorie and shook her head.

"No, I can't smell anything. What is it?"

Marjorie pushed back in her seat and began frantically moving things around herself in an effort to locate the smell. She even paused briefly to smell herself and her clothing, just in case it was coming from her.

"I smell something," she pressed. "It's like... I dunno. It's foul."

Autumn rolled her eyes as she turned back to her computer, trying to ignore the commotion Marjorie was now causing on her own side of the office.

Marjorie dug through the trash bin, opened drawers, and sniffed around all corners of the room finding nothing. Her antics continued for several minutes, up until Reece walked into the office.

"Hey, you," he beamed at her.

"Hang on, I have got to go figure this out," Marjorie huffed as she pressed by him, barely acknowledging his presence.

Reece's face turned into an expression of dumbfounded confusion as he watched her go by before turning to his sister.

"What's going on with her?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Autumn pushed her keyboard back on her desk and leaned back in her chair, looking up at Reece. She rested her hand on her very small bump that showed through her shirt pulled slightly taut around her midsection.

"She smells something bad and can't find the source," she sighed as she let her head fall back and closed her eyes, continuing her explanation through gritted teeth. "She's been going beserk around the office for the last twenty minutes. It's driving me insane."

"Huh," Reece mumbled as we watched Marjorie march down the hallway. "I don't smell anything."

"Oh, neither do I. I'm sure it's the baby," Autumn stated plainly. She opened her eyes again and leaned forward, stretching out her spine and shoulders as she did so, before pulling her keyboard back towards herself and continuing with the forms she was working on.

"Anyway," Reece continued, pushing up on his toes as he switched his attention back to Autumn. "I was just gonna take her out for some lunch. Want me to bring you anything back?"

Autumn smirked, side-eyeing her brother.

"Fruit bowl?" Reece suggested. He already knew her answer. He didn't even have to ask.

"Right, I've found it," Marjorie announced as she bursted back in through the office door. "It's a dirty nappy, and it's frustrating me to no end."

She stomped her way over to her desk and stood behind her chair, running her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"It makes no sense!" She yelled suddenly.

"Woah, okay," Reece stepped in, holding his hands up in a gesture to get her to bring the volume of her voice down. "We work in a nursery... what do you mean 'it makes no sense'?"

"But why is it so bad? I never have issues with having to smell the pooey nappies all the way down here!" Marjorie spat, waving her hands wildly as she spoke as she was nearly in tears from her frustration and overstimulation.

Reece approached her carefully and wrapped an arm around her back, gently pulling her into him. She took to the gesture and leaned against his chest, just as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"It's called hyperosmia, Marjorie," Autumn replied softly, not bothering to  look up from her screen. "I had it some with Benny. It's not so bad with this one."

"What the hell does that even mean!" Marjorie cried, causing Reece to wince as his wife became so suddenly animated in his arms.

Autumn turned toward the other woman, her brow raised in response to the tears, which had recently become a more regular occurrence. She looked up at her brother, who simply shrugged in response.

"Your sense of smell is heightened when you're pregnant," she explained, pursing her lips in a matter-of-fact manner. "It's why, after nearly 20 years of being nose-blind, working in a nursery, you can suddenly smell the nappies from all the way down the hall."

Marjorie continued to dramatically sob into her husband's chest, a sense of doom rushing over her as she pondered how her fate was to smell poo for the next eight months.

Reece rubbed gently against the small of her back. "Right, gorgeous," he spoke. "Why don't we go grab some lunch. Seems like you and Spawn could use some fries."

"Really?" Marjorie pleaded through a cracking voice. She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes soft but riddled with tears.

"Mhm," Reece replied before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

Marjorie nodded in response, quickly drying her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Okay," she smiled.

Autumn raised her eyebrow and looked up at her brother as Marjorie walked out of the office towards the car park, then she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Good to know all it takes is some fries to get her to stop all her Marjorie-ness."