This is the fifth volume of my award-winning Wattpad Featured Story, 'Posted As Missing', an intense adventure/romance set in the turmoil of World War One Europe.
I've grown tired of blood-and-guts war stories, so I've written this series to examin...
David stood on the platform as the twelve forty-two from Zürich hissed and squealed into the station in Schaffhausen. He caught sight of Maria leaning out a window and waving. Waving back, he walked along the platform as the train slowed, and a minute later, after he had assisted her down the carriage steps, they melted together in a hug.
"Twenty-nine days. It seemed longer than your four months at Oxford." She snuggled her face into the crook of his neck and hummed. "I've missed your wonderful aroma." She tilted her face up as she rose to her toes, and their mouths merged.
David chuckled when they finally broke from the kiss. "I hope none are here from the course. I told them I was meeting my sister at the train station, and this would appear rather incestuous." He picked up her bag from the platform and guided her though the station and out to the car.
As they drove out of the city, she shared details of her pregnancy. "Six weeks late now, and the nausea is still there." She squeezed his thigh. "It had stopped the first time by this point, and so had my needing to pee so often." She rubbed her belly. "But the symptoms are all still here."
"And your breasts? Are they still tender?"
"Not too tender for your mouth's attention." She giggled. "But they are, and they've grown." She trembled as she continued rubbing her belly. "We're now into the eleventh week, and Dr Bekker said that is beyond ninety-five percent of all miscarriages."
"And your mother?"
"This is now her seventeenth week. In her last letter, she wrote she had gained almost five kilos." Maria giggled and inflated her cheeks.
They continued their conversation as they drove westward from the city and through the countryside and small villages. At the crest of the hill, as Sonnenhang came into view, David pulled to the verge and stopped the car. "I never tire of this scene. It strikes a chord in me each time I see it." He leaned and kissed her, then they sat mesmerised by the vista.
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Maria shook her head. "I can't believe it's more than three months since I was last here." She pointed to the lane. "We should head in. They'll be waiting lunch for us."
Three minutes later, David manoeuvred the car into the courtyard and stopped beside the two Daimler vans, then he assisted Maria from the car and led her to the kitchen door of the schloss. "They'll be in here."
Bethia, Rachel and Georg stood from the table to greet them, and after hugs and kisses, they all sat around the table, lifted cloth covers from the platters and began eating. Maria held her hand up as Bethia poured the wine. "Dr Bekker said too much alcohol might not be good for the baby, so I've done nothing but small tastes."
Rachel nodded. "My stomach has never allowed me to have more than a sip or two of wine during any of my pregnancies."
While Maria and her mother discussed symptoms, Georg pointed to David's uniform. "The ones I've seen have all been dark blue. Is this what recruits now wear before they're issued proper ones?"
