Baby's Moving! (Circe & James)

Being pregnant was the hardest thing Circe was forced to deal with. Well, not forced, and well, not the hardest either. But she was a woman, her hormones were going completely crazy and James Balan was not helping her at all! Yes, of course he cared. This was his baby too, but she still didn't feel like James truly wanted this. Was she scared? Yes. But she had a feeling that James was not going to leave them. Even if he was scared, he would never just leave her with a baby. He wanted this little thing just as much as she did, but he was still not ready to express that. And that frustrated Circe the most.

After everything they had been through, someone would think that James would have been a bit less difficult to deal with. But no. He was the same stubborn little shit that she had fallen in love with.

And after all, this had its positives. James was obviously too scared to ask anything involving the baby or her and the pregnancy. Whether the baby had kicked, or if she was in pain. And so Circe didn't tell him anything. And their days just went on in silence. Her belly was growing and James kept being James.

Now six months pregnant, her belly was big. Not gigantic, but big enough to make her life miserable and hard. It wasn't easy for her to sleep, and since the little devil was kicking all the time, falling asleep in peace was almost impossible. But a life was growing inside her, and the happiness was obviously there.
Last night had been one of the hardest nights for her, since the baby would just not stop kicking, and that caused her to stay up pretty late, drinking some tea and waiting for the kicks to settle down before she could head to bed.

It had been pretty late when she had finally managed to fall asleep, and that was why she did not hear James waking up next to her. She was too tired, and she was trying to get as much sleep as possible before the baby was born. Cause she was sure, there was not going to be any sleeping after that.

"It's time to get up, baby. Breakfast is waiting for you."

Circe stirred, trying to understand whether she was dreaming about James or if that was reality happening. Her eyes slowly opened as his lips touched hers, and Circe involuntary smiled. James wasn't perfect, but he had a heart. A beautiful soul even if he didn't want to accept that. And whenever a part of it decided to shine through his darkness, Circe made sure to appreciate it, however small it might be.

"Good morning.."
Leaning up, she kissed him once more before slowly and carefully pushing herself up in a sitting position to look at him.
"You're up early.. and you even made breakfast?"
A giggle left her lips as she turned to look at the tray. He had done a very good job. "Well, I guess someone's in a good mood?"

"Can't I make you breakfast and be up early every once in a while?"

Circe couldn't hide the smirk that touched her lips at the sound of these words. James was obviously trying to be somewhat of a good boyfriend and soon to be dad, but to Circe it was just not enough. Yes, it was James and he was not the man who would be extremely romantic and caring but Circe was still a woman. A pregnant woman. And it hurt her too much that he was not in the least interested whether she or the baby were okay. He hadn't even asked her about it.

"I wouldn't push it that far."

It was expected. James had already done enough for the next year to show his 'love' for her. So even talking about it was making him uncomfortable. And Circe had accepted that, believing that it would get better with time. That slowly, he would open up to her even just a little bit. But lately it had been quite rough for her. She needed to feel him close. Feel that he actually cared and he didn't even talk to her. As if he was avoiding the life growing inside her.

"Ma said..."

He was fumbling with his words. Again. His mother had been very supportive. Always calling to check up on them, and that was why Circe believed that his mother would urge him to help her more. Would push him to the point where he would open his mouth and for once in his life to talk to her. Ask her. Express the feelings that he never really did. They were not teenagers anymore.

Ma said... asked if the baby has kicked yet. But... I couldn't answer."

Circe frowned. He couldn't even be straightforward about it. He was asking on behalf of his mother. As if he didn't care about it. As if it was no big deal. Circe fought back the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes. Pregnancy was not helping her handle her emotions at all.
"Well, tell your mom that she can come talk to me about it. If she'd like."

Taking a deep breath, the witch turned to look at him and shook her head, sudden anger taking over her.
"And to be able to answer her questions, about our child, you need to care enough to ask."
Pushing the covers away, Circe took her time to get up, completely ignoring the breakfast he had made her. She was not hungry anymore.

As James came to a halt in front of her, Circe sighed and took a good look at his face. He was concerned even a bit hurt, and even if it wasn't showing much, Circe was able to read the slight hints he was giving. Maybe she had overreacted just a tiny bit, but she was a pregnant woman for Merlin's sake! Her hormones where jumping around causing all sorts of drama without even asking her about it.

"Can't you see that's what I'm trying to do, Circe?"

Of course she could see. But she didn't want to. For once, she wanted him to be straightforward and stop avoiding everything. For once she wanted him to express his feelings and concerns. She wanted, no, needed him, to man up for once.
"I can see. I'm just tired of it. Tired of you not expressing a single thing to me. I need you to talk, James! I feel alone!"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to talk about these things. Ma said that she was forever telling Da about how I was when she was pregnant, but you haven't mentioned anything. Has he even kicked?"

Circe rolled her eyes and huffed. Pushing him back she moved towards the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Circe wanted to cry. She looked so old and beaten. How old was she now? 32? Old. After washing her face, Circe leaned over the sink, steadying herself before speaking up.

"It's a girl, James. And yes, she has been kicking quite a lot."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Why? Circe turned to look at him as if he had grown a second head, all of a sudden. She knew that he was trying, she was not stupid. But she was a woman, and even if she had accepted and loved him with all his flaws, she was growing tired of waiting around and guessing whether James wanted to know or not about things. If he wanted something, he should grow a pair and ask himself. It saddened her to watch other men being over the moon, knowing they would become fathers, whilst James just... nothing.

"Or... you know, let me feel? Isn't that what you're supposed to do when he kicks? Let me know so I can feel it, too?"

He was being hard with her. He was hurt, she could see that, but so was she. They were going to be parents and he was still acting like a five year old. Hell, their daughter could be smarter than him!
"James, I don't have to do anything. If you wanted to feel, you could have asked me to. I won't run around the house every time, throwing information at you. If you need something, ask the damn question."

Pushing him aside once again, Circe moved out of the bathroom, and towards the kitchen, completely ignoring the breakfast he had made for her. She didn't want to fight with him. She just wanted him to openly care.