May 31, 1895 — Greengrass Residence

Darling had not seen enough of her friend Jemima for her liking of late. She did not know if this was because Jemima was avoiding her, the pregnancy, a mix of these or simply a conflict of their schedules. After all, Jemima was a married woman now and thus likely had things she needed to do that Darling could not yet fully comprehend.

She had been in the neighbourhood, so to speak, so had swallowed her distaste at being an imposition by dropping by unannounced. She had been glad to hear that her friend was indeed home and she had been settled into a parlour seat to await her friend.

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Jemima Greengrass

  

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Set by Athena

She was feeling less well today than she had been – a little weak and tired and achey – but she would not use that as an excuse to deny people who were still coming to call on her, in spite of the worn-out scandal and her sustained avoidance of them this winter – any friend who was still interested in being her friend was worth any amount of suffering through the aches.

And the friend who was sitting presently in the parlour was one that saw Jemima break into a smile, no matter how she was feeling. “Darling!” She took her friend’s hands in hers and leaned over to press a soft kiss of greeting to Darling’s cheek, then sank down to sit directly beside her. “I’m so glad to see you. How have you been?”

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Darling returned the kiss to Jemimas cheek and smiled as her friend sat down. "I have been very well, thank you," Darling said. Well, things at home were tense as they tended to be but Darling had grown reluctantly used to it. Sweetie was courting now and the man in question seemed charming and kind enough to satisfy Darlings standards. "How have you been? How has your pregnancy been faring?" It was still a little odd to think of her friend as being married, let alone having a baby. Never mind it had been some time now since both had come to fruition.

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Set by Athena

“Truthfully? I feel all but trapped in my own body, as well as trapped in this house,” Jemima said, in a tone that she had supposed to be light and joking but which rang a little more plaintive than intended. Her expression wobbled slightly, even as her hand fell from Darling’s hand to rest on the large bump of her stomach. She felt as large as a whale, and her fears of the future had risen with the more time she spent stuck at home here, left alone to her thoughts.

“It’s a blessing, of course,” she added quickly, meeting Darling’s eyes, as if to assure her it was not all bad. Jemima was trying believe that, to see the bright side of this baby. But she still didn’t know if, after everything, if it would be enough.

And it was hard not to be honest with her closest friends.

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"I would offer to whisk you away but I imagine you are not permitted to go many places?" Darling asked. She had known other pregnant women and they tended to stay home during the later months. She would offer a post-birth whisking but she doubted the new mother would want to part with her baby. She didn't think she personally would want to be parted from her baby so soon after its birth.

"Are you at least still able to take a short stroll?" Maybe some fresh air away from the house might be the ticket to help improve her friends spirits.

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Set by Athena

She wasn’t quite under house arrest, but since her not-quite-above-board marriage Jemima had never been the top of anyone respectable’s invitation list, so it had felt like a longer, slower confinement than it had actually been. “I can’t get very far,” Jemima admitted ruefully, “without needing to sit down again.”

She cast a glance out the window, at the late spring sun. Half for that and the fresh air, and half to lessen the chance of anyone overhearing her conversations (Jemima was not sure she was going to say anything particularly incriminating or self-pitying yet, but it seemed wise to avoid doing so where any of the Greengrasses might walk in.) “But it’s nice out. We could take a turn around the garden? If you will help me a little with the whisking,” she joked. Darling’s arm to cling on (or shoulder to cry on, as it may be) would not go amiss, if they did stroll about outside.

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