RP -- HELLSING -- INACTIVE -- Order 14: [HL][OA]

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

"The results of your tests are in, Sir. You seem to be in normal health. However, I will need your attention when you get a moment over the results of a few of them."
Trevellian told her

((Blood, sure, no problem... it's just the notion of dealing with and asking for and explaining pee tests... amuses and disturbs me xd ))  

[Sir_Catherine]

Her brow furrowed. "Thank you. I'll be down after five.", she responded automatically. Hanging up the phone, the memory of the previous night with Edmund flickered through her mind. The very real possibility she could already be pregnant pressed upon her. She took a slow breath, telling herself not to jump to the conclusion but rather to finish her work and find out after five. Dutifully, she turned back to the paperwork.

Some minutes before the hour, Integra finished signing off on the coming week's leaves of absence and glanced at the time. A bit early yet, but close enough. The latest report from Northern Ireland could wait until after. She stood to leave and as a last thought, flipped back through the desk calendar. Her biological clock was late by over a week and she hadn't taken note.

Yet unsure how she hoped the evidence would play out, Integra left her office and went to meet with Dr. Trevellian. Along the way she turned off her phone and radio.  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

Dr. Trevellian was waiting in his office when Sir Integra arrived
"Ah Sir. Sit, please."
Me motioned to a chair and leaned against his own desk slightly
"As I mentioned before, your tests came back in good order and you are in impeccable health as always. However, there will have to be some changes in your daily regimen. Because as per a few other tests,"
He paused for a moment,
"You're pregnant, Integra."  

[Sir_Catherine]

She sat, legs crossed and hands folded in her lap. Her nausea earlier this week and again this morning, the misstep of her biological clock, the efforts of herself and Edmund, her mind turned itself in circles. The notion of being pregnant was both expected and terrifying.

The doctor's words stopped her breath. Pregnant. A jolt shot through her and twisted in her stomach. She forced herself to remain impassive, to not show the shock she was feeling. It was no surprise, she told herself, nothing to be amazed at. Get control, keep it.

She inhaled slowly, nodded. Something had to be said but she couldn't find words she wanted to say.  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

Dr. Trevellian paused a moment to gauge Integra's response - it was about what he expected, honestly... but he could see the worry in those cold-steeled eyes
"... That being said, Sir, I'm going to put you on a natal-care vitamin regimen for your and your child's health. And, of course, there will be different restrictions placed upon you as your pregnancy progresses,"
He turned back to his desk to write up a prescription, then turns back and hands it to Integra,
"Take this to our pharmacist and begin the regimen immediately - for both your sakes. Any questions, Integra?"  

[Sir_Catherine]

"There will be." She was more certain of that than of just where she was going as she took the prescription paper and left. She had to leave, to find a place to be alone, to absorb this before telling anyone else, even Edmund. Her first impulse was to seek fresh air, but she knew exactly how many people were stationed at the House and how many of them were on the day shift. To many for peace, for room to think. She turned instead to the sub levels, to go deeper into the fortress that was her home. Past the basement, down a second set of old stone steps and through a musty hall, she turned into an open area back lit by the chapel at the end. Only once there did she realize there was no easy place to sit, so instead she sat at the edge of the alter on a low rise. She sank down and for a few minutes tried not to think.  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

Dr. Trevellian nodded in response to Integra's answer and sat back down at his desk as she left.  

[Sir_Catherine]

Her life had just been changed. The fact sounded overly dramatic even to her own thoughts, but every moment something else came to mind that would have to change. She had already given up her cigars. Alcohol wasn't something she indulged in often and she ate well enough.

Her thoughts turned aspects of her life in circles, trying to make peace with a range of changes she didn't yet understand the extent of. Logic, facts, common sense, these she had, but first hand knowledge of pregnancy, or even a mother with such knowledge, were noticeably absent.

Insistent logic carried on, pressing to plan, to analyze, to form a set of actions and move forward. Activity; this would have to be curtailed at some point. She was in good shape, but for how long would her exercise regiment be healthy for a fetus?

She was smart enough to figure this out. This shouldn't seem a confusing mess. It wasn't right that she was down here alone instead of up working in her office, she berated herself. Anything she didn't know for certain, or wanted to be sure of, Dr. Trevellian would help her with.

Yet she stayed where she was. She looked at the glow of orange light on the walls around the alter, at the worn stone on the floor. She thought of prayers for Queen and Country she had offered over the years from this spot. It had been here Walter had delivered the news of Iron's betrayal. This chapel was the spiritual center of her work. Her job which she was neglecting by sitting down here. She focused on what needed to be done, papers to be signed, orders to be given, duties to be carried out.

She wanted to get up and go on about the day, but into each image she brought to mind, something intruded. A child's artwork, a small voice, a child crying in the night not from fear but for need of her mother. The carefully laid image of who she was was starting to crumble. Being a mother wasn't fitting in with how things had been for over ten years. She knew the two could coexist, work and motherhood, but sitting there, the only one to know the news, she had to admit a feeling of being overwhelmed. Duty and motherhood; the two together daunted her, made her feel more alone than she had since the night of the Tower, and she hated the feeling.

She wanted a hug. The realization came with a choked gasp. Instinct said to bury the desire, to busy herself elsewhere until it went away. This time though all she could picture was a baby crying to be picked up and the undeniable knowledge that she was its mother. She couldn't wall off a child, not her own. She wouldn't ignore its cries.

First though, before she could welcome a child, she had to allow her own desire for comfort and contact. The clarity this realization brought was a sharpness that drove away much of the confusing fog of her worries. She would find Edmund, tell him the news, take the comfort she knew he would offer and use his desire to be a father, his very stability of mind that had made him a good business choice, to form a plan for them as parents.  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

Alucard was awake. He wasn't sure why, as it was still rather early for him... not quite sundown. Odd. He did a mental oversweep of Integra's office and the surrounding area to check for differences- nothing other than a slightly tired Walter, which was not exactly strange. The man took great pride in his work and would never rest until it was done and done correctly. But Integra was not there - which was strange. She was usually still awake and well working at this time. Upon this oddity, he mentally searched for her mental signature alone, first in the aboveground floors. Not there either. The sublevels, then. And there she was... but something was wrong. Alucard woke and shadowmelded silently into the walls. Slipping silently and unnoticed through the sublevels, he followed her signature to the chapel and examined it closer - no intrusions, just a closer sense. Then, without form, he spoke - his voice a calm echoed baritone,
"Greetings, My Master. What is it that troubles you so?"  

[Sir_Catherine]

Integra had been about to stand. She did does so, slowly. "Is a matter troubling if one has a plan with which to attend to it?  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

Alucard shadowshifted out of the ceiling and gracefully landed a few paces in front of Integra, facing her - His red coat billowed artfully as he landed; his hair playing about his face in an almost boyish manner, his blood-red eyes bright and clear, staring at her intently but with no malice.
"It can be."  

[Sir_Catherine]

She simply looked at him for a long moment. She knew he would listen, but she had made up her mind to seek out Edmund. Beyond her other reasons, it was the right thing to do with respect to his feelings and role in matters.
The silence stretches out for a long moment. "You're up early tonight."  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

In that long moment of silence, only an eyebrow was raised, but nothing said.

"Perhaps I am. What of it, My Master?"

He fell back into a pace beside, yet slightly behind her as he spoke and she walked forward  

[Sir_Catherine]

"What would trouble a vampire so to disturb his sleep?" Her tone was light, bantering. She had a fair notion of what had woken him, but with Dr. Travelian's news and Edmund on her mind, she didn't want to think to much on it.  

[Angel_Of_Hellfire]

"Troubled?"
He snorted amusedly and dismissively
"Is it so wrong for me to be awake during the day? I have that ability; you of all people should know that - it's not as if the day or even the sun itself hurts me."
His tone was also light, hardly offended or worried - but something was underlying... something as of yet unidentified