Once Before

9 - A Word

"One thing I miss the most about the countryside whenever I'm in London..." Gertrude sighed dreamily, basking her face under the morning sun as her eyes remained shut and her eyelashes - with the same shade of copper as her hair - glowed. "Is the unfiltered sunlight. So pure and warm, don't you just love it?"

"I do," I nodded. The garden in which we sat in was beautiful - one made for a fairytale setting - with its hedge lined pathway, bushes of herbs and flowers in different colors and scents, and the majestic oak trees which grew tall above us, forming a natural canopy and creating beams of lights that danced with the wind and splashed specks of its glow upon the grass.

It was indeed a delightful scenery, one which Gertrude seemed to be enjoying more than I do.

"I know people would scold me for not wearing my bonnet, but I couldn't care less. I know my husband wouldn't mind a few new freckles across my cheek, and my dear great Grandmother had always said that sunlight heals the soul," She grinned.

"I quite agree with your great Grandmother, she sounds like a charming woman," I remarked.

"She was, but sadly she passed away not a year ago. Kind old woman, she was, but always frail, it was a surprise that she made it thus far - not that we would wish ill on her..." Gertrude trailed off, "I was actually thinking of naming the child after her."

"Oh, so its a girl then?" I asked almost immediately.

"Well, we wouldn't know until the birth," She chuckled, to which I realized how silly I must've sounded - to be so sure of her knowledge on the baby's gender when medical technologies wouldn't allow it for another two centuries. "Though I have this auspicious feeling that it's a boy, I don't know why."

"Maybe it is, there's a good 50/50 chance on that," I smiled.

"Yes, I would say that my chances are quite good, though I don't mind a girl as well... We did-" Her sentence was cut off by a sharp gasp, to which my heart plummeted in an instance.

"What is it? Are you going into labour?" I asked, inching closer to her in case she needed my assistance in getting back to the house.

"No, no," She chuckled, waving her hand. "Think nothing of it, the baby simply kicked me and it took me by surprise, though I don't know why since it's been doing it more frequently ever since we arrived here. I think it likes it here!"

"I could understand why, it's lovely here," I chuckled.

"Do you want to hold it?" Gertrude suddenly offered, "My stomach, I mean. You can feel it kick, and when I only have my chemise on, I can even see it kick - although Ed nearly fainted when he saw it with his own eyes."

"May I?" I asked.

"Of course! You need only ask," She grinned, taking my hand in hers and guiding it onto her protruding abdomen. At first, all I could feel on my palm was the warmth and firmness of her round belly, but then something I could only describe as magical happened - it kicked.

Gertrude must've seen the surprised look on my face, for she simply chuckled in amusement. "It's quite wonderful, isn't it. To know something is alive and moving inside me..."

"It's absolutely amazing," I agreed. "When is it due?"

"I reckon around six weeks from now, though we really couldn't be sure. The physician told me that the baby would be born not long before my very own birthday, isn't that lovely."

"It is indeed. A friend of mine was born on the same week as her cousin and I could tell you that they are inseparable, despite the two dozen years they have between them." I told her, suddenly thinking of Amelia and how she - like everyone I know - was simply not here, yet.