A weekend getaway

Dedicated to @Samael

Place and surroundings: Samaels cabin in Ireland. Placed in between trees and lakes without any neighbours in sight.
Time and date: Friday at 15:00 in the afternoon
Weather: Sunny with a slight breeze

A taxi drove into the driveway in front of a small cabin surrounded by bushes and trees. One was unable to see it from the road and wouldn’t stumble upon it without knowing where to look. The hidden cabin was placed near a lake and without any neighbours to share it with. The door in the passenger seat opened and one of Alena’s preferred pairs of sneakers hit the ground before the rest of her got out of the car. The taxi driver was kind enough to manoeuvre her bags out of the trunk and as he placed them on the grounds beside her she realised that she had probably brought too much. In her defence the invitation had been quite unclear and she therefore had no idea what activities she would need clothes for, why she basically had brought it all. She also brought something else that wasn't related to clothing or its like. It was the result of an impulsive decision at a gas station on the way there. She still hadn’t decided if this was the time and place to use it, but she probably wouldn't be able to enjoy the weekend if she didn’t disprove her concern. You’re overreacting as always, she thought to herself while politely denying the taxa drivers offer to help her carry her bags inside.

Alena was wearing a white summer dress with a plunging neckline and long sleeves. The skirt of the dress was off a fabric that was easily moved by the wind. Her brown curls were framing her face, but she was wearing a hair elastic on her wrist ready to put them up in the usual bun whenever she got tired of them. She already was. The dress wasn’t her clothing of choice either, but she thought that he would like it more than what she usually wore. It was easily an upgrade from the running tights she had been wearing pretty much every time they'd met so far.

She grabbed a bag in each hand instantly regretting not letting the taxi driver do the lifting as he backed the car out of the driveway. However, she forgot all about the bother when she reached the front door. She knocked a few times, clearly excited for Samael to open it.

Alena raised her eyebrows in surprise as Samael opened the door while only wearing a towel that hung very low around his waist. His blonde hair was wet so she assumed that he had been in the middle of a shower when she knocked on the door. Every time she saw him it surprised her just how beautiful he was. Being half-naked definitely didn’t make it worse. A red colour started to emerge on her cheeks as she realised that she had been staring at him for a few seconds too long for it to be unnoticeable.    

Luckily, he broke the silence as she for a brief moment had forgotten that it would be polite to greet someone just after knocking on their door. “You are quite the sight”. She answered his compliment with another, her cheeks now fully blushing. Compared to his beauty, her looks were ordinary at best, why his compliment made her extremely happy. Her lips touched his briefly as the greeting she still needed to give, right before he confirmed to her that she had indeed interrupted a shower.  

She followed him to the bedroom grateful for the fact that he had grabbed one of the bags making it manageable to bring the luggage inside. “What have you planned for us this weekend?” she asked with curiosity while placing the bag in her hand against a wall near the bed.

Alena noticed his eyes on her thinking that he was probably surprised by the white summer dress or the fact that her hair was not in a bun placed on top of her head done with minimal skill and effort. She had spent a considerable amount of time choosing what to wear and what to bring. She wanted to look good for him. Way better than she’d done at their coincidental meetings - at least, that was what she thought they were. Her lips formed a smile as he revealed to her that they could do pretty much anything she wanted. With him wearing as little as a towel one particular activity came to her mind before anything else. However, before she could even start to recall how their first night had developed she felt his lips against hers. This time it was a proper kiss with just the perfect amount of intensity and heat. The small greeting in the doorway faded compared to this. Everything did. She closed her eyes and moved her lips against him mirroring the movement of his lips.

When the kiss ended she opened her eyes and looked into his beautiful blue gaze, her face blushing from what she assumed was him admiring her looks. When he asked her if she had changed anything about herself she assumed that he was talking about how she had made an effort to impress him with her clothes and hair. “I don’t usually wear dresses as much,” she explained. “And especially not as revealing as this” she smiled while she unconsciously touched the neckline with the low cut. When she realised that her hand had moved  without consulting her mind she stopped the movement and placed her hand on the towel covering his body. The placement was intentionally where the towel was folded around itself, to keep it up. “Speaking of revealing… I think I prefer this outfit”. She looked down at her hand while speaking, and when she looked back into his eyes her smile had became more teasing. “Maybe I should shower too”.

A smile of true happiness spread on her lips when he complimented her. How she loved it when he told her that he admired her looks even though she couldn’t quite comprehend how a man of his beauty saw anything special in the ordinariness that she held. Caught up in the moment she forgot that she had not yet answered his question. When he revealed to her how he desired her she forgot about the question altogether. Since their first meeting she had spent quite an amount of time wishing and hoping that her deep feelings for him and her untamable attraction towards him was reciprocated. She felt that he had just confirmed that in a few well spoken sentences. Alena loved how his careful use of words reminded her of her favourite monologues from the great novels she enjoyed so much. It sounded just like how she imagined the perfect and mysterious Mr. Darcy would compliment the ordinary Elizabet Bennet.

Alenas smile developed into a moan of sweet desire when he pulled her closer by her hip reminding her how she had sounded when he had kissed the spot behind her ear. Her body seemed to remember it just as well as the images of his hands and lips on her naked body emerged in her mind. Even so, she decided to use the last willpower she possessed to tease him a bit more. “In that case” she referred to how he had declared that he was at her mercy the whole weekend “I would like you to wait for me here” she smiled teasingly “Without the towel. We won’t be needing it”. He would have to only imagine how the water rinsed the soap off of her naked body which made her think that she wouldn’t have to ask him to take her when she returned.

Still with the teasing smile on her lips she opened one of the bags and grabbed a smaller one that contained the toiletries she needed. As she leaned forward to open the bag her dress revealed a bit more of her thighs. She knew it would happen, why she stayed in the forward leaning position a bit longer than she needed to. Thereafter, she walked towards the bathroom leaving him with his imagination.

Very satisfied with her little performance she closed the door to the bathroom and placed the bag with her toiletries on the zink that had a mirror above it. Her heart skipped when she unzipped the bag as she realized what she had put in it. Since entering the cabin she had forgotten all about her concern. The concern that had led her to convince the taxi driver to stop by a gas station to buy something she hadn’t brought. And now it was laying there on top of her hairbrush and shampoo, confronting her. A pregnancy test. Several, actually. She met her own gaze in the mirror hoping she would find some form of guidance in the reflection. The well-known green eyes stared back at her. Scared. Get it together, she thought to herself. Angry at how she had let herself act so foolishly. Of course she wasn’t pregnant. It was actually quite hard to get that, she reminded herself. They’ve had sex once. The odds were hysterically low.

A resolute decision made her reach for one of the tests. She ripped it out of the package as if her tearing it apart would mute her fear. It didn’t particularly do so, but it felt better to do something. She had nothing to be concerned about. Her period had only been a week late. Happened all the time for a lot of women. When she was done she would laugh at how afraid she’d been. How it had all been for no reason. No reason at all. And then she would proceed to enjoy her weekend in this lovely cabin with the most amazing man she had ever had the pleasure to meet.

With the test in hand she turned to the toilet next to the sink and took it just as the instructions explained. Not that she had read it. It was a pretty simple task after all. She placed the test on the sink when she was done, waiting for it to process. The first line became clear as it should. Meant that the test was working. That was expected. She started to walk around the bathroom making everything ready for her shower in order to kill time. When she reached out to grab her shampoo from the unzipped bag on the sink she saw it. The second line. The one that wasn't supposed to be there. She let herself panic before she remembered that she had bought more tests. She knew that they sometimes didn’t work. One test alone couldn’t say anything for sure. She ripped a second test out of its package even more violently than before. She felt her heart beat faster and the raising of her pulse as she took another one. She placed the second test next to the first. This time she didn’t dare to look away. One line. Meant that the test was working. That was expected. For a minute nothing happened and she felt the relief in her entire body. Until the second line appeared. Bright and clear. Undoubtedly positive. She wanted to scream but covered her mouth just in time to prevent it but the sudden movement made her accidentally knock over a soap dispenser of glass which broke immediately when it hit the bathroom floor.

Her heart skipped a beat when the bathroom door opened. For a moment she had been so caught up with her discovery that she had forgotten that Samael was expecting her to return. She had no idea for how long she had left him waiting on the bed. She looked at him as he entered the bathroom with eyes revealing the fright she felt. Acting solely by instinct she stepped in front of the sink to cover the evidence of what had occupied her time when it obviously hadn’t been water and soap. However, she didn’t do it fast enough as he had already sighted the tests and instructions that came with them. Even though he didn’t recognize the purpose of the tests immediately, it seemed like it only took him a few seconds to puzzle it all together. Two lines. The second one wasn’t faint in the slightest. Not on any of the tests. There was no doubt about it. A part of her didn’t want him to know. On the other hand, a secret like that would’ve been progressively harder to keep. And in nine months.. She looked at him. They barely knew each other and now they could potentially be intertwined in each other's life until one of them died. Alena was blissfully unaware of the fact that something like that could potentially happen sooner than later.

Unaware of Samaels infertility, she answered his question in a more practical manner. She had yet to say something, and it seemed like that answering that question would be a place to start. At least she knew the answer to that one. “We had sex. Unprotected. A month ago” she looked at the test in his hand while talking, afraid to meet his eyes. Afraid that she would see something there, that she didn’t wish to see - even though she had no idea what outcome she preferred. It felt like the surprise had temporarily paralyzed her body and mind making it impossible for her to even grasp how that one piece of plastic had suddenly changed everything. She felt a tear running from one eye down her cheek. She bit her lip as she felt that more of them were to come hoping to postpone her reaction a bit. “I haven’t been with anyone else,'' she continuously didn’t dare to meet his gaze as she concluded “It’s undoubtedly.. yours” she felt her voice crack before she finished the sentence.

When she felt his hand removing the tears from her cheeks she finally looked directly at him. His softness and kindness resulted in more tears. Not because it made her sad, but because she couldn’t quite understand how he managed to be so caring and attentive in a situation like that. He had to be in some state of shock as she was herself. How did he stay calm like that? She herself was unable to postbone a reaction any longer. She cried. Let the tears do whatever they wanted.

Alena had not had much time to consider Samaels reaction as he walked into the bathroom almost immediately after she became aware of her situation. However, his words surprised her quite a bit. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that there was even a choice to be made. In what world would a man that had only known her for a month be comfortable with her having his child? It was her body and her choice - she knew that. If she wanted to keep it he couldn’t do much about it. But he didn’t seem as frightened as she felt about the possibility of completing the pregnancy. At least that was her own interpretation of his words. “Keeping it?” she looked at him, her eyes revealing the surprise she felt. “Is that even an option? Do you want me to?”

His tenderness and offer to help did calm her a bit even though she didn’t manage to answer his last question. There were plenty of things he could do. The problem was that she didn’t know if she was in a position to ask him to do them. Regardless, she wasn’t sure about how she wanted to proceed and therefore she hadn’t quite figured out what to ask for.

“You have?” She looked at him while removing a tear from her cheek, surprised by the fact that children were something he actually wanted to have. For how long had he wanted that? It dawned on her that she didn't know his age as she had just assumed that he was a few years older than her. Alena hadn’t even considered children before today. Being 21 she figured she’d have plenty of time to think about that sort of development in her life at a much later stage. Regardless, things had definitely played out a different way than she had imagined, and now she had a decision to make. Samael was the perfect man and she was undoubtedly madly in love with him. Aren’t one supposed to have children with someone they feel so deeply about? Besides, he apparently wasn’t able to have conceive but still he had made her pregnant. Like a miracle. Like it was meant to be. The latter was what made her decision final. His kiss on her forehead and soft voice definitely played a part as well. “I want to keep it,” she declared while still fearing Samaels reaction. Even though he wanted children didn’t necessarily equal that he wanted them with her. “You’re not forcing me,” she added. If anything, she felt like she was forcing her romantic idea of raising a child on him.

Alena was naively unaware of how little information she had about Samuel, his needs and wants and his background. When he was near her she felt like they had known each other for years, so why would she need to know any more? If something was in fact important information he would have shared that already, wouldn’t he? Especially now when they were about to raise a child together. His soft voice, gentle touch and deep blue eyes made her forget all the things that could’ve been subjects of her concerns. The mere scent of his was enough to make her calm and it did. Everything was perfect. Everything was exactly how it was supposed to be.  

Her lips met his in another kiss as they had done so many times before, but this time was slightly different. The kiss wasn’t heated, but still compassionate. It was gentle, almost loving, mirroring the difference she felt in herself. The thought of her holding their future child in her arms had changed something inside her, but she wasn’t sure how. Not yet, at least.

“A bath?” she raised an eyebrow as she realised that her initial purpose by going to the bathroom was to take a shower. The pregnancy tests were merely an impulsive decision that suddenly had generated a few more consequences than she had imagined it would. She tilted her head slightly as she wondered how he was able to proceed this shortly after being presented with such life-altering information. “Is that it?” She looked at him still unsure of how his change of subject made her feel. “Aren’t you… worried? Don’t you have questions?” Her left hand unconsciously touched the lower part of her stomach as she verbally formulated the questions in almost the same pace as they came to her mind. “Are you happy? Do you feel anything else?” she continued, sounding more desperate than she liked.

The twenty-something men that had entered Alenas relatively short life seemed to have in common that they weren’t exactly looking to reproduce and if it were to happen accidentally, they would probably need more than a few minutes to accept the reality of things. She figured it didn’t make much sense to compare Samael to said men as he had demonstrated more than once that he had very little in common with them and way more in common with the male characters from her beloved books. Why would it be any different in a situation like this? What if his acceptable behaviour was based on the fact that he loved her so deeply that raising a child with her didn’t seem like such a bad idea no matter the element of surprise? After all, wasn’t that how she felt about him? Wasn’t that the reason why her decision to continue the pregnancy had been so easily made?

Another tear slowly ran down her cheek as she felt his hand on her stomach that would soon grow much bigger. His touch was gentle, his voice soft. The combination was incredibly comforting and she immediately felt safer as she listened to his kind words and felt his caressing lips against her own. It was everything she needed him to do and say. She felt stupid for even questioning the reason behind his lack of worry. Was it the hormones that had made her jump to conclusions like that? Could one be affected by those at such an early stage? It dawned upon her that she didn’t actually know very much about pregnancies so she made a mental note to further educate herself when she returned home. “I’m sorry”, she looked at him. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just…” she paused as she considered how to convert her feelings into words without getting anything lost in translation. “I just can’t understand how lucky I am”. She looked directly at him, her green eyes filled with expectation. “You love me, don’t you? That’s why you’re so calm”.

Samaels use of words - or lack of - didn’t affect her assumptions about his feelings towards her as his voice nor actions didn’t reveal what was truly on his mind. Even if just a small part of it were to be discovered from those, Alena wouldn’t have noticed as she was convinced that her dreams had finally come true. Too convinced to reconsider the rightness of her interpretations. Or too in love. Or both.

As she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug he responded by placing his arms around her waist. A little late compared to her expectations. She felt something in his motion that she interpreted as hesitation that reminded her of the awkwardness that had accompanied their first hug. It felt like it surprised him. Like he didn’t feel  it was a natural development in the scenario that unfolded. For her it felt inevitable to finish a conversation that contained a decision to raise a child as well as a declaration of true love with some sort of physical touch. She smiled as he let go of her in order to fill the tub. It felt like he distracted her by quickly changing the subject similar to his behaviour the night she asked about his childhood. Was he not comfortable talking about these things? If not, could she then trust that he was indeed calm about the situation? If he was worried she would understand. He was human after all. Armed with the attendance of only one psychology class she quickly concluded that he probably was worried about whether he could provide a better childhood for their future child than the one he had been so unfortunate to experience himself.  

Alena walked towards the tub convinced that she could mend whatever was broken inside of him by using nothing else than words. While waiting for the water to fill the tub completely, she therefore looked into his deep blue eyes before kissing his cheek ever so gently. “You’ll be an amazing father” she whispered into his ear, her voice soft and filled with assurance and comfort.