Breaking the News to General Washington

-Plagued by what ifs-

Every inch of her figure trembled with uncertainty as her mind tried to process the changes taking place. Her back presses up against the wall and she slips slowly to the floor.

How was she to break the news to him after all they had been through? Yet she could not conceal her state from him much longer. Her clothes were already becoming snug, her stomach already beginning the faintest display, and she was long overdue. There was no other explanation for her symptoms. The brunette had to face the facts.

"George...." she called, her voice hedging on panic stricken. She allows for a few moments of silence before crying out again, this time in a low and hoarse tone. "G...George?" Her fingers shakily push through her dark coils of hair as she fought back the urge to sob heavily.

What if she were get her beloved's hopes up only to lose this child before it is even born? What if she was destined to be a failure at motherhood at second time? What if this child was struck down by the same fever that had shattered their family before? Four years without so much as a skipped monthly had drained any and all hopes of her ever carrying another child. Why now? Why now was there suddenly proof that they had been wrong in abandoning hope? So many questions plagued her mind. Yet, because she had vowed never to keep things from him, she would speak on a subject that she knew would be difficult and agonizing for both of them. It was a conversation that had been shoved into the shadows the very night their young daughter had drawn her last breath and to be forced to enter into it now felt quite overwhelming.

Anxiety pulsed through her veins with every thundering thump of her heart. Maple-Syrup and honey colored hues gazed down with intense concern at her slightly pudgy stomach. Fingers brushed over the the very slight swell curiously. The last pregnancy was planned and they had both been more than elated but this time.... this time was unexpected. They had resigned themselves to the fact that they would never hold another child in their arms, for their first child had not been easy to conceive. This one would be even more of a miracle.

Her gaze flickers upwards when George enters the room. She makes no effort to stand but she pats a place on the ground beside her. "S...sit... p...please," Anna shakily entreats.

One hand moves to rest up against her heavily quivering lips and she tries not to alarm him with an outburst of sobs and a torrent of tears. The other hand is offered to George. Anna's gaze lifts heavenwards, trying to summon the strength that would be required in order to share the news, before allowing it to fix upon him. "H.....how....how wo....would you....you feel....ab....about another .....c....child?" The word child slipping off her tongue in a mousey and slightly frightened manner.

What if he did not want the child that she was no doubt carrying now? What would she do to ease the suffering of her beloved? Would she have to face this change alone? Or would he, like always remain by her side- even if the words did fail both of them?