Fate: (noun) The development of events beyond a person's control; regarded as determined by a supernatural power.
Part One
Back in the present modern-day and as fantastic as ever, time went by in a frantic whirlwind. But it all came to a shocking and sudden stop once the first pregnancy test (and the five subsequent ones) showed a glaring POSITIVE result. True to her word, the hard-edged cop, Ava Pezzullo, stayed by Reva's side as they overlooked each and every twin blue line that appeared on the plastic sticks. After the last one, Ava slid a pink-encased cell phone to the actress and gave her some privacy to make an important call.
Reva stared at the flat panel of her phone and studied the lettering that made up the contact list: Jake Snookumbear Ives. Her heart flipped, then flopped, then stopped, and then hurried a pulse that rivaled a drummer's beat. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed when it went to voicemail, but her tone cracked in the first few syllables. "He-hi, Jake, it's me... Reva." Clearing her throat and steadying her nerve, she pressed the phone close to her cheek and turned her back to array of tests. "Listen, I need you to stop by the loft when you can. It's ... it's really important. And urgent. I'll be here all day." Doing more pregnancy tests.
Ending the one-sided call, she emerged from the bedroom and found Ava lounging against a black leather couch. "I called, hopefully he'll be here soon," Reva sighed, unable to release her hold on the cell phone just yet. The cop eased out of the lean and scooped up her keys.
"I'm gonna head out 'case he comes sooner rather than later. Try not to stress, Kid. And call me if you need company later. As for now, though, I'm gonna see what I can find about this diamond of yours." Reva reached out for a one-armed hug, keeping it brief since the cop was not one for any lengthy shows of affection, even if it was more out of gratitude than anything else. "I'll call you later," Reva promised, "but right now all I want to do is sleep. I'm exhausted." Ava nodded and left the actress alone. In the solitude, she curled up on the couch and stared blankly at the exposed brick that made up a long stretch of a wall. All she could do now was wait.
For days now, Jake was spending a great deal of his time where the rift was located. Some days would be spent staring into the alleyway of its location, the black suit seated at the coffee shop across the street all day. Other days he would actually stand at the entrance to the alley, dark eyes keeping a watchful look over the ripple one could barely see in the air. In truth, that's exactly where he was when he'd realized he had missed Reva's call. Sending her a texted reply of 'I'm on my way' before pulling himself from the alley wall and turning back onto the street to walk to the loft. Deciding that Reva must have found out something about the diamond in the Pell history and research she had been doing, he didn't race to her front door. But within the hour of receiving the phone call, a familiar knock would come at her door as the currently non-smoking black suit loomed on her welcome mat to the door of the loft.
Lost in tendrils of sleep, Reva missed the buzzing vibration of the incoming text message. Using her arm as a makeshift pillow, her cheek bore a slash of pinkish-red where a line creased her skin but it faded once she lifted her head after hearing a knock at the door. Blinking much of the sleep from her eyes, she barely saw the time glowing green from the cable box by her television, and crawled off the couch to meander to the door. Barefoot, little sound was heard on the way. An oversized sweater was worn over a pair of leggings, both pieces of clothes earth-bound colors of burnt orange and sable brown. Easing the door open by inches to check who was on the other side, once she realized it was Jake, she closed the short distance between them by wrapping her arms around his shoulders. No words just yet, just an overly long embrace and an equally long exhaled sigh.
Mildly surprised, but only because Reva looked like she had just woken up, Jake kept her close in the hug while his head dipped to press a kiss to her hair. "Wh---Hi there sleepy head." He was keeping a watchful eye on her, as the embrace continued. After a moment he decided to lift her off her feet a touch and carry her inside the loft, with his arms wrapped around her waist so they could continue this inside. Easing the front door closed with a twist of his shoulder and pressing it closed with his foot, but he'd put her down when she loosened her own hold. "How're you?"
Not expecting to be lifted off her feet, she tightened her hold on his shoulders until they were both inside the loft. An airy and modern expanse of real estate, it was the polar opposite of the Victorian. Sharp lines, dark furnishings and pale walls, it lacked the tradition and antiquity of the house; a spiraled staircase was tucked to the far back of the living space and the room on the second level was turned into a guest space and office. Though, as of late, a sleek table by the kitchen was now harboring papers, files, brown boxes with duct taped flaps and wide labels reading 'Pell Estate' on each. Easing back by a couple of steps, she raked red strands of hair away from her temples and let it fall in tousled disarray.
"That's a very difficult question to answer right now." Quite a different response than her usual reply! Brow furrowed, she closed her mouth with a faint bite into the inside of her bottom lip. Not entirely sure how to answer or where to begin, she reached out and took Jake's hand. "I need to show you something." Without further word, she led him across the narrow planks of walnut floor toward the bedroom and the master suite connected to it. On the sink's vanity was a runic pattern of plastic sticks -- six in all.
Her response caused a blink and furrowed brows before she took his hand and started leading him to the bedroom. He could have started a tease about her showing him something in the bedroom, but the earlier response was still weighing in his mind. "....Okay...." Hesitant only in his tone, his steps took him easily with her along the wooden floors and into the suite. "What are you showing me?" Looking at the plastic sticks and then back to her, obviously confused and unaware. "Oh, do you need me to fix up some shelving in here?" Making the assumption and looking around to consider a few things.
It was oddly reassuring that he wasn't aware of the pregnancy tests on the sink --though it made sense since they are a relatively new invention of the 'modern' age. She felt the smile form seconds before it grew along her mouth, and a nervous sort of chuckle escaped her throat. "... eh... the shelves are fine. Do you know what these are?" She motioned to the tests and selected one. If she thought about it, it was the same shade as the mat set in front of the glass door of the shower. Not waiting for his reply, she explained while looking to him, not the test. "One line means it's negative. Two are positive."
When she said the shelves were fine, he looked back down to her and the sticks she was referring to. About to reply with some quip about what they were before she was holding it up and explaining, but only part way. "All right...Positive for.....?" The confusion was still clear, he had no idea where she was going with this.
Reva couldn't help it, she started to laugh. It was a soft sound, still wrapped in a hint of nervousness and a trickle of amusement. She set the stick down and started to gather them into a small pile, giving up on the visual aids in favor of a simple explanation. What she was about to share had always been an elusive dream, and in those fantasies she had imaged different ways of revealing the grand news. And yet, she had convinced herself that this scenario would never, ever play out considering how she felt about tradition and, well, she couldn't imagine anyone else but Jake being the father of her child.
"Remember when you said we'll know what we did if a baby comes out nine months later?" She refreshed his memory, bringing up a snippet of their conversation from the 1930s. "Well, according to these tests, there will be a baby." Reva hadn't allowed herself to feel anything other than shock, but now that she admitted the truth, a flicker of happiness ignited within the blue-green depths of her eyes, visible despite the current of panic residing there as well.
In retrospect, this was a conversation Jake had never had before, nor expected to have. When he realized there was a stack of these positive sticks his brow furrowed further, but then quirked up when she recalled his tease. "Yeah ----" His head tipped as if he hadn't heard her right and everything started moving in slow motion. He started off several sentences, only to cut himself off and start a new one in its place.
"But I can't....They're posit.....You're....We....There's a...."
He started pointing first to the tests, then to her, then back and forth to the both of them. Was the room spinning? Let him know after he wakes up because the tall black suit suddenly teetered, stepping backwards and away from Reva a moment before he came crashing down to the ground in a solid and abrupt faint.
(Taken from live RP; October 2013)
Part One
Back in the present modern-day and as fantastic as ever, time went by in a frantic whirlwind. But it all came to a shocking and sudden stop once the first pregnancy test (and the five subsequent ones) showed a glaring POSITIVE result. True to her word, the hard-edged cop, Ava Pezzullo, stayed by Reva's side as they overlooked each and every twin blue line that appeared on the plastic sticks. After the last one, Ava slid a pink-encased cell phone to the actress and gave her some privacy to make an important call.
Reva stared at the flat panel of her phone and studied the lettering that made up the contact list: Jake Snookumbear Ives. Her heart flipped, then flopped, then stopped, and then hurried a pulse that rivaled a drummer's beat. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed when it went to voicemail, but her tone cracked in the first few syllables. "He-hi, Jake, it's me... Reva." Clearing her throat and steadying her nerve, she pressed the phone close to her cheek and turned her back to array of tests. "Listen, I need you to stop by the loft when you can. It's ... it's really important. And urgent. I'll be here all day." Doing more pregnancy tests.
Ending the one-sided call, she emerged from the bedroom and found Ava lounging against a black leather couch. "I called, hopefully he'll be here soon," Reva sighed, unable to release her hold on the cell phone just yet. The cop eased out of the lean and scooped up her keys.
"I'm gonna head out 'case he comes sooner rather than later. Try not to stress, Kid. And call me if you need company later. As for now, though, I'm gonna see what I can find about this diamond of yours." Reva reached out for a one-armed hug, keeping it brief since the cop was not one for any lengthy shows of affection, even if it was more out of gratitude than anything else. "I'll call you later," Reva promised, "but right now all I want to do is sleep. I'm exhausted." Ava nodded and left the actress alone. In the solitude, she curled up on the couch and stared blankly at the exposed brick that made up a long stretch of a wall. All she could do now was wait.
For days now, Jake was spending a great deal of his time where the rift was located. Some days would be spent staring into the alleyway of its location, the black suit seated at the coffee shop across the street all day. Other days he would actually stand at the entrance to the alley, dark eyes keeping a watchful look over the ripple one could barely see in the air. In truth, that's exactly where he was when he'd realized he had missed Reva's call. Sending her a texted reply of 'I'm on my way' before pulling himself from the alley wall and turning back onto the street to walk to the loft. Deciding that Reva must have found out something about the diamond in the Pell history and research she had been doing, he didn't race to her front door. But within the hour of receiving the phone call, a familiar knock would come at her door as the currently non-smoking black suit loomed on her welcome mat to the door of the loft.
Lost in tendrils of sleep, Reva missed the buzzing vibration of the incoming text message. Using her arm as a makeshift pillow, her cheek bore a slash of pinkish-red where a line creased her skin but it faded once she lifted her head after hearing a knock at the door. Blinking much of the sleep from her eyes, she barely saw the time glowing green from the cable box by her television, and crawled off the couch to meander to the door. Barefoot, little sound was heard on the way. An oversized sweater was worn over a pair of leggings, both pieces of clothes earth-bound colors of burnt orange and sable brown. Easing the door open by inches to check who was on the other side, once she realized it was Jake, she closed the short distance between them by wrapping her arms around his shoulders. No words just yet, just an overly long embrace and an equally long exhaled sigh.
Mildly surprised, but only because Reva looked like she had just woken up, Jake kept her close in the hug while his head dipped to press a kiss to her hair. "Wh---Hi there sleepy head." He was keeping a watchful eye on her, as the embrace continued. After a moment he decided to lift her off her feet a touch and carry her inside the loft, with his arms wrapped around her waist so they could continue this inside. Easing the front door closed with a twist of his shoulder and pressing it closed with his foot, but he'd put her down when she loosened her own hold. "How're you?"
Not expecting to be lifted off her feet, she tightened her hold on his shoulders until they were both inside the loft. An airy and modern expanse of real estate, it was the polar opposite of the Victorian. Sharp lines, dark furnishings and pale walls, it lacked the tradition and antiquity of the house; a spiraled staircase was tucked to the far back of the living space and the room on the second level was turned into a guest space and office. Though, as of late, a sleek table by the kitchen was now harboring papers, files, brown boxes with duct taped flaps and wide labels reading 'Pell Estate' on each. Easing back by a couple of steps, she raked red strands of hair away from her temples and let it fall in tousled disarray.
"That's a very difficult question to answer right now." Quite a different response than her usual reply! Brow furrowed, she closed her mouth with a faint bite into the inside of her bottom lip. Not entirely sure how to answer or where to begin, she reached out and took Jake's hand. "I need to show you something." Without further word, she led him across the narrow planks of walnut floor toward the bedroom and the master suite connected to it. On the sink's vanity was a runic pattern of plastic sticks -- six in all.
Her response caused a blink and furrowed brows before she took his hand and started leading him to the bedroom. He could have started a tease about her showing him something in the bedroom, but the earlier response was still weighing in his mind. "....Okay...." Hesitant only in his tone, his steps took him easily with her along the wooden floors and into the suite. "What are you showing me?" Looking at the plastic sticks and then back to her, obviously confused and unaware. "Oh, do you need me to fix up some shelving in here?" Making the assumption and looking around to consider a few things.
It was oddly reassuring that he wasn't aware of the pregnancy tests on the sink --though it made sense since they are a relatively new invention of the 'modern' age. She felt the smile form seconds before it grew along her mouth, and a nervous sort of chuckle escaped her throat. "... eh... the shelves are fine. Do you know what these are?" She motioned to the tests and selected one. If she thought about it, it was the same shade as the mat set in front of the glass door of the shower. Not waiting for his reply, she explained while looking to him, not the test. "One line means it's negative. Two are positive."
When she said the shelves were fine, he looked back down to her and the sticks she was referring to. About to reply with some quip about what they were before she was holding it up and explaining, but only part way. "All right...Positive for.....?" The confusion was still clear, he had no idea where she was going with this.
Reva couldn't help it, she started to laugh. It was a soft sound, still wrapped in a hint of nervousness and a trickle of amusement. She set the stick down and started to gather them into a small pile, giving up on the visual aids in favor of a simple explanation. What she was about to share had always been an elusive dream, and in those fantasies she had imaged different ways of revealing the grand news. And yet, she had convinced herself that this scenario would never, ever play out considering how she felt about tradition and, well, she couldn't imagine anyone else but Jake being the father of her child.
"Remember when you said we'll know what we did if a baby comes out nine months later?" She refreshed his memory, bringing up a snippet of their conversation from the 1930s. "Well, according to these tests, there will be a baby." Reva hadn't allowed herself to feel anything other than shock, but now that she admitted the truth, a flicker of happiness ignited within the blue-green depths of her eyes, visible despite the current of panic residing there as well.
In retrospect, this was a conversation Jake had never had before, nor expected to have. When he realized there was a stack of these positive sticks his brow furrowed further, but then quirked up when she recalled his tease. "Yeah ----" His head tipped as if he hadn't heard her right and everything started moving in slow motion. He started off several sentences, only to cut himself off and start a new one in its place.
"But I can't....They're posit.....You're....We....There's a...."
He started pointing first to the tests, then to her, then back and forth to the both of them. Was the room spinning? Let him know after he wakes up because the tall black suit suddenly teetered, stepping backwards and away from Reva a moment before he came crashing down to the ground in a solid and abrupt faint.
(Taken from live RP; October 2013)