A man of Whitechapel

Pint of Beer: Send a pint of beer for my muse to get pregnant to yours after a night of blackout drinking– or vice versa. Feel free to specify.

“It’s been a while Miss Hart.”

Susan nearly jumped out of her seat in the waiting area of H Division as Artherton spoke.  She managed a small smile, “I suppose it has.”

Noticing her glancing at Reid’s door for the umpteenth time since she’s arrived, Artherton nodded, “They should only be a few more minutes.  After such a grueling week, I’m sure the Inspector will be most grateful for an opportunity to escape for lunch with you.”

Straightening in the rather uncomfortable plastic chair, Susan’s hand unconsciously drifted to rest on her stomach, even without her coat not noticeably different than it had been 7 weeks ago, at the end of another grueling week at H Division.  She and Reid had forgone their usual Friday night excursion to the cinema in favor of take out and a DVD at her flat.  She couldn’t quite recall which one of them had joked about making a drinking game out of the incredibly cheesy movie they were watching, but she could personally claim responsibility for grabbing the bottle from kitchen.  

At the time she had figured on a hangover the next day, but didn’t quite fathom a much larger consequence that had caused her to keep Reid at arm’s length for the past two weeks.  

“I would enjoy the look but not the extra bathroom time” he said with a small laugh as he fixed his tie. “Do I look good enough to be your date tonight?” he asked her, taking a step back to appreciate how beautiful she looked.

He wrapped his arms around her, feeling she was distressed about the whole situation. “It will be fine, Susie… I am here for you… and the little one too, no matter what happens” he reassured her. 

He offered her his arm. “Yes… I think you will have fun tonight with my family, even though they can be a bit too much sometimes…”

“That was….an experience,” Susan said once both of their car doors were closed.  She turned in her seat to face Reid, hoping he noticed that she was grinning and carefully evaluation his own expression.

He hadn’t been wrong in saying that his family was a lot to handle, and having grown up with only a father that was absentee at best, it took Susan a few slightly overwhelmed minutes to settle in.  But all in all she had enjoyed herself and found Mrs. Reid’s slightly embarrassing questions a bit endearing.  

Also endearing – the way Edmund and his family interacted.  It was a side of him she had never seen and it secretly made her even happier that they were about to embark on the adventure of parenthood together.  

Susan seemed to fit in with his loud and big family more than he ever thought she could. She laughed at the silly jokes, chatted with his sisters and heard his mother’s somewhat over the top advice on caring for children like it was the most important piece of information in the world. Still, he could not shake the feeling she was reconsidering their arrangement until her last sentence made him release a breath he did not knew he was holding. 

“Well, I am glad you did. I am sure my family will want to be around, especially once the baby is born... it’s a good thing that you can like them” he said as they made their way upstaris back to the flat. 

“Hi, hungry. I’m dad.”

“Don’t buy velcro. It’s a total rip-off.”

“The rotation of earth really makes my day.”

“What do you call a fake noodle? An Impasta.”

“The shovel was a ground-breaking invention.”

“What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fshhh.”

“Make you a sandwich? Poof! You’re a sandwich!”

“5/4 of people admit that they’re bad with fractions.”

“How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it.”

“What time did the man go to the dentist? —- Tooth hurt-y.”

“Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired.”

“What do you call an elephant that doesn’t matter? An irrelephant.”

“I had a dream that I was a muffler last night. I woke up exhausted!”

“Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, no atmosphere.”

“Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.”

“Why did the Clydesdale give the pony a glass of water? 
Because he was a little horse!” 

“I used to have a job at a calendar factory, but I got the sack because I took a couple of days off.”

Pint of Beer: Send a pint of beer for my muse to get pregnant to yours after a night of blackout drinking– or vice versa. Feel free to specify.

“It’s been a while Miss Hart.”

Susan nearly jumped out of her seat in the waiting area of H Division as Artherton spoke.  She managed a small smile, “I suppose it has.”

Noticing her glancing at Reid’s door for the umpteenth time since she’s arrived, Artherton nodded, “They should only be a few more minutes.  After such a grueling week, I’m sure the Inspector will be most grateful for an opportunity to escape for lunch with you.”

Straightening in the rather uncomfortable plastic chair, Susan’s hand unconsciously drifted to rest on her stomach, even without her coat not noticeably different than it had been 7 weeks ago, at the end of another grueling week at H Division.  She and Reid had forgone their usual Friday night excursion to the cinema in favor of take out and a DVD at her flat.  She couldn’t quite recall which one of them had joked about making a drinking game out of the incredibly cheesy movie they were watching, but she could personally claim responsibility for grabbing the bottle from kitchen.  

At the time she had figured on a hangover the next day, but didn’t quite fathom a much larger consequence that had caused her to keep Reid at arm’s length for the past two weeks.  

Reid blushed and rubbed his neck, rather uncomfortable. “Well, I have a deep appreciation for beautiful women in fine dresses” he said, wondering if it was too obvious he was already noticing her even before that ill fated night.

Reid waited for Susan to finish getting ready. Thankfully they would be in time for dinner. He was nervous about introducing her to his mother and sisters, somewhat worried about what Susan would think about his loud and nosy family but thought that no matter how hard it was, it was definitely easy than dealing with Susan’s dad. 

“Well, I was thinking about ommiting the ‘we were both drunk on tequilla’ part and just tell them we had a happy accident one night and are going steady now” he waited for her reaction, wondering if she would would be fine with his idea of how to explain their situation to his family.

Susan was unable to resist grinning at Reid’s comment.  That party had been months ago, back when she had firmly convinced herself that Reid was nothing more than a dear dear friend and that any thoughts beyond that were simply foolish..and yet here they were.  

“When you put it like that, I’m inclined to wear this dress every day,” she said with a wink before going to change.

A few minutes later she glanced in the mirror at Reid, standing behind her and smiled sadly, “Yes, I think that’s best.”

He wrapped his arms around her, feeling she was distressed about the whole situation. “It will be fine, Susie... I am here for you... and the little one too, no matter what happens” he reassured her. 

Pint of Beer: Send a pint of beer for my muse to get pregnant to yours after a night of blackout drinking– or vice versa. Feel free to specify.

“It’s been a while Miss Hart.”

Susan nearly jumped out of her seat in the waiting area of H Division as Artherton spoke.  She managed a small smile, “I suppose it has.”

Noticing her glancing at Reid’s door for the umpteenth time since she’s arrived, Artherton nodded, “They should only be a few more minutes.  After such a grueling week, I’m sure the Inspector will be most grateful for an opportunity to escape for lunch with you.”

Straightening in the rather uncomfortable plastic chair, Susan’s hand unconsciously drifted to rest on her stomach, even without her coat not noticeably different than it had been 7 weeks ago, at the end of another grueling week at H Division.  She and Reid had forgone their usual Friday night excursion to the cinema in favor of take out and a DVD at her flat.  She couldn’t quite recall which one of them had joked about making a drinking game out of the incredibly cheesy movie they were watching, but she could personally claim responsibility for grabbing the bottle from kitchen.  

At the time she had figured on a hangover the next day, but didn’t quite fathom a much larger consequence that had caused her to keep Reid at arm’s length for the past two weeks.  

“This one looks fine… Mother is not as conservative as you picture her to be…” he said as he ducked quickly to avoid the dress and approached her, gently resting his hands on her shoulders. “You look gorgeous and I am sure they will like you not just because you are kind, smart and funny but also because you make me happy” he said as he kissed her forehead. “Now, what about that blue wrap dress you wore at Drake and Bella’s dinner party a few months ago?” he asked with a small smile. “It really brings out your eyes and it won’t make the baby very visible”

Reid was rather anxious for Susan to just pick something to wear so they could be done with telling his mother and sisters about the new addition to the family. He knew they would be rather shocked but were most likely to welcome Susan into the family if she could get past a few tasteless jokes. Also, having their support would be very reassuring for both of them when time came to face Theodore Swift. 

“Caroline is expecting us at 9… so you probably should hurry up a bit”

“And you are incredibly sweet…and patient,” Susan said with a smile. “With an incredibly good memory. We weren’t even…I mean that was before…” 

She motioned to her stomach, eyebrows raised before heading back to their bedroom closet and fishing out the blue dress. “I’m just surprised you noticed.”

After changing into the dress, Susan stood in front of the mirror, freshening up her makeup. She was more nervous than she cared to admit. Theodore was difficult for sure, but at least Susan knew how to handle her father. Having grown up without a mother (or what most people would consider a normal parent save for Mary), she could only assume that, like Theodore, a mother would have high, if not unreasonable, expectations for her son. 

Reid waited for Susan to finish getting ready. Thankfully they would be in time for dinner. He was nervous about introducing her to his mother and sisters, somewhat worried about what Susan would think about his loud and nosy family but thought that no matter how hard it was, it was definitely easy than dealing with Susan’s dad. 

“ did you need some help with that? it looks like you’re having a bit of trouble. ”

“ I’ve seen you around, but I’ve never caught your name! ”

“ hello? can you hear me? ”

“ excuse me? can you tell me where I am? ”

“ you look so lonely all by yourself. mind if I join you? ” 

“ I love your backpack! where’d ya get it? ”

“ I don’t like pistachio, either. ” 

“ so…what do you like to do for fun? ”

“ waffles or pancakes? ” 

“ do you like it around here? it seems pretty boring to me…I don’t know the area too well. ”

“ I’ve never seen it! would you mind showing it to me? ” 

❣ - hands

❤ - voice

۵ - feet

❦ - lips

ø - eyes

ღ - nose

♮ - body type

♫ - singing voice

✮ - sleeping habits

✉ - texting habits

✿ - laugh

✍ - writing style

⌨ - time-wasting habits

❅ - keeping warm/keeping cool techniques

✎ - taste in music/literature

☤ - self care/first aid habits

✪ - favourite food/eating habits

☁ - ideal holiday

✄ - nervous habits

☂ - sadness

Pint of Beer: Send a pint of beer for my muse to get pregnant to yours after a night of blackout drinking– or vice versa. Feel free to specify.

“It’s been a while Miss Hart.”

Susan nearly jumped out of her seat in the waiting area of H Division as Artherton spoke.  She managed a small smile, “I suppose it has.”

Noticing her glancing at Reid’s door for the umpteenth time since she’s arrived, Artherton nodded, “They should only be a few more minutes.  After such a grueling week, I’m sure the Inspector will be most grateful for an opportunity to escape for lunch with you.”

Straightening in the rather uncomfortable plastic chair, Susan’s hand unconsciously drifted to rest on her stomach, even without her coat not noticeably different than it had been 7 weeks ago, at the end of another grueling week at H Division.  She and Reid had forgone their usual Friday night excursion to the cinema in favor of take out and a DVD at her flat.  She couldn’t quite recall which one of them had joked about making a drinking game out of the incredibly cheesy movie they were watching, but she could personally claim responsibility for grabbing the bottle from kitchen.  

At the time she had figured on a hangover the next day, but didn’t quite fathom a much larger consequence that had caused her to keep Reid at arm’s length for the past two weeks.  

Reid smiled at how she rested her head on his shoulder. He truly enjoyed this closeness with Susan as he reached for her hand and interwined their fingers. 

“Oh yes… but I think that if any of us tried to interrupt we would still be here tomorrow morning” he said with a small smile. “You know Jackson cannot stop once he has started talking… specially about Mimi” he added with a small giggle before he planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Oh, am I disrupting the lovebirds?” Jackson asked sarcastically as he returned. 

Reid gave him an ugly look.

“Sorry, it’s a bit hard to accept other people can be happy while I am miserable… Now, let’s talk about you and Susie procreating” he said with a smirk. 

Baby Jackson doing okay? Susan rolled her eyes at the text, and nevertheless tapped out a quick, Yes, they’ve been behaving this week. I’ve hardly been sick, in response to Jackson’s text message.  

It was three weeks after she and Reid had told Jackson about their pregnancy, swearing him to secrecy for the time-being with the promise that they’d consider naming the baby after him. It wasn’t that they were trying to keep it from their friends - it was more the matter of their families.  Susan still hadn’t figured out exactly how to broach the subject with her father, but luckily, Theodore had been traveling and out of touch for a few weeks, buying her some time.

But as for Reid’s family….

“How much is your mother going to judge me if I wear this one?” Susan asked holding up a grey, scoop-neck dress.  Not waiting for Reid’s answer, she continued, mumbling to herself, “I suppose a scarf would work…and shoes…oh god, which shoes?”

Reid was rather anxious for Susan to just pick something to wear so they could be done with telling his mother and sisters about the new addition to the family. He knew they would be rather shocked but were most likely to welcome Susan into the family if she could get past a few tasteless jokes. Also, having their support would be very reassuring for both of them when time came to face Theodore Swift.