Hope [Edmund Pevensie] (UNDER HEAVY RECONSTRUCTION)

Chapter 7

November 20, 1926

Elizabeth Connolly was over the moon. Her face hadn't stop smiling the entire ride home. Her ears were still ringing with the joyful bells of the news. The trip home took longer than usual, her anxiety to return to her husband weighing down the hands of the clock. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped rhythmically against her stockings. It didn't seem real. None of it. Elizabeth had experienced many dreams just as vivid as reality and it took many moments of convincing herself that she was indeed awake. This was not an elaborate fabrication of her psyche. Her dream was truly a reality. She was pregnant.

Any normal person would race to their significant other to share the news of the newest addition. But Elizabeth Connolly wasn't a normal person. When she arrived before her quaint home, she elected to enter the door on her right, the one that did not belong to her. The small plaque adjacent to the ornate windows read Pevensie. She was going to tell her best friend.

It was Mr. Pevensie who opened the door.

"Beth! What a pleasant surprise." The joyful man greeted his wife's companion. "Please, come in. Helen is just in the kitchen."

Beth nodded her head in thanks and entered her second home. She needed no direction to find the brunette woman she was searching for.

"Lizzie!" Helen was just as chipper as her husband. "How are you my dear?"

A three year old Peter Pevensie sat on the counter next to his mother. Between his chubby cheeks lay a wooden spoon dipped in an unknown batter. His baby teeth gnawed on the fragile wood and his eyes stared wide at the second woman. He knew her to be his mother's friend who insisted on being referred to as Aunt Beth, so that was how he greeted her.

"Auntie Beth!" Unable to pronounce his hard consonances, the phrase sounded closer to Aunnie Bed.

Beth immediately scooped up the young boy and spun him in her arms. Peter let out a few happy giggles and his snack fell to the floor. Helen looked on with admiration. Beth was adored by every Pevensie.

"How is my favorite godson?" Beth asked, setting Peter back on his perch.

"Mommy's making cookies!" A fat finger pointed at his mother.

Beth turned back to Helen, noting her friend's disheveled state. "What's the occasion?"

Helen shrugged as she turned back to her task. "I'm not sure. Something just told me I should bake cookies today."

Beth smiled, realizing the universe had already known of the good news. She had a feeling Helen would be more excited than her.

"I might be able to explain why." Helen tilted her head in confusion. "I'm pregnant."