first_in_time | Copy Cat

The taxi pulled up outside a rather tall and grand looking hotel. Barbara stepped out to stare upwards. There were tall buildings in London but there was something about being in a different city which made the buildings unique and fascinating. Despite how tired she felt after such a long flight, she could almost go for a walk to see some more but there would be time for that later.

A finely dressed man dashed toward the from where he had been standing next tot he doors. "Shall I take your luggage?" he asked Ian and Barbara once the cabbie, or taxi driver, had hauled it out of the boot.

"Yes, thank you," Barbara replied. She reached out. For Ian's hand and offered him a smile before they walked into the hotel lobby together.

Once they had signed in at what appeared to be a marble desk, taken the lift up to near the very top, and stepped into their room, Barbara turned to thank the man for bringing their luggage. She gave him a small tip, since she didn't have a lot of money on her, and shut the door behind him.

"Would you look at this!" she said to Ian, gesturing to the entire room. "You must be valuable to have the board so generously pay for you to stay here!"

Barbara trotted over to the window to look out, passing a bottle of champagne and a note which wished them both a happy first anniversary.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

splendid_roman

"No," he said, hiding his own grin behind a forkful of food. "Only your opportunity to have me cook more often."

From:

first_in_time

"Bent you're so good at so many other things," Barbara purred and leaned her head back against his shoulder.

From:

splendid_roman

"There are a few." He reached a hand up to her hair. "They'll all have to wait until after dinner, though."

From:

first_in_time

"You're going to fix a cupboard while you're here?" she laughed and poked his side.

From:

splendid_roman

"What's your obsession with cupboards?" He poked her back.

From:

first_in_time

"I just like things being put away and tidy, and fixing them is one of. Your skills. Were you referring to another skill?" she asked in her most innocent manner.

From:

splendid_roman

"No. There's nothing else I can possibly do that you'll like." He grinned at her and returned to his meal, taking some chicken from her plate to mix in with the spaghetti on his.

From:

first_in_time

"Oh, I see. If that's the case then we're possibly going to have a very dull week. Maybe it's just. Well that you're spending each day at a conference. I can at least be entertained during the day by visiting museums and things."

Barbara ate another piece of chicken and sat back in her chair, pleasantly content with how full her stomach was. Sh reached out a hand to rub Ian's back while she did so.

From:

splendid_roman

He sighed. "I hope I get some time to look around. I don't want to visit America and only see a hotel and an airport." He was happy to finish off what remained of their meals, not wanting anything to go to waste.

From:

first_in_time

"I'm sure that you will, and if you don't we could always save up and try to come back in another year or two. We might not be able to stay at a this hotel or one that's similar, but we should be able to do it. If we're diligent with our savings." She half smiled at him, trying to understand the disappointment. "It would be a good excuse to not go out for dinner with my mother once a month."

From:

splendid_roman

He chuckled. He could definitely get behind any idea that meant seeing Barbara's mother less.

Having finished dinner he reached for the ice cream, assuming that no one could ever be too full up for ice cream.

"There's something I'd rather spend my money on in the next year or two, though. Aside from a house." This suite, being bigger than Ian's whole flat, showing him just how much living somewhere bigger would be better.

From:

first_in_time

"Oh?" Barbara asked and leaned forward to eat some of the ice cream from Ian's spoon, "what's that?"

From:

splendid_roman

He let her have that spoonful, then he had the next before she could take that too. "A baby. I know we said we both wanted children, but we've never really discussed when." Which was mostly because they hadn't been ready when they first got married.

From:

first_in_time

"We should enjoy a little more time to ourselves. Another year, perhaps?" Barbara fidgeted with the folds of the table cloth. "It's quite a big change. We should take time to prepare."

From:

splendid_roman

"If you think that's best." He gave no clue as to his thoughts in his face or voice, but just held out a spoonful of ice cream. "I don't want to wait too long. I don't want to run around after small children when we're too old to do it."

From:

first_in_time

"No," Barbara ate the ice cream and thought about it a little more.

"I want children," she told him after a quiet moment, "but it's rather daunting. Every other time we've discussed it, we were dating. Being in such a position, it was all hypothetical. It seems much more real now," not to mention scary. Anything could go wrong in pregnancy and birth, and then there wa raising it.

From:

splendid_roman

"I suppose it is." He had only really thought about the good times and the easy bits. "We should wait until we're ready."

He had the last spoonful of ice cream and sat back in his chair, holding his glass, so he could sip at his wine. "Maybe we'll know when we're ready when the prospect is less daunting and more exciting."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara wasn't so sure about that. She lifted her legs up to rest them on Ian's lap with a sigh. "I don't think that it will ever not be daunting. I think we should save and then, when we think we have enough, start trying. In all honesty, I think that if I fell pregnant tomorrow, we'd survive and so would the baby."

She had the last of her wine and topped up heir glasses. "Tell me what you're thinking on the subject."

From:

splendid_roman

"I'm wondering how much is enough. Babies are expensive." He had a sip of his wine and dropped his other hand to her legs to rub against them gently. "I think we should at least wait until we have a house. We don't want to move while you're pregnant or we have a baby needing attention."

From:

first_in_time

Again, Barbara paused to think, half-finishing her wine in the process. "Alright, let's make a deal: once we've found a house, I'll go off the pill. We won't be buying and moving until we gave a bit of money behind us, and it could take months for the contraceptive to completely leave my system and make it entirely possible to have a baby."

From:

splendid_roman

"All right. It's a deal." He held his hand out for Barbara to shake on it.

From:

first_in_time

She smiled and shook it, then pulled Ian's hand closer so that she might kiss his knuckles.

"As scary as it seems, I think you'll be a wonderful father."

From:

splendid_roman

He smiled back. "I think you'll be a wonderful mother." He leaned forward to kiss her. "Why don't we move over to the sofa, where it's more comfortable? And take advantage of having a sofa in a hotel room."

From:

first_in_time

"I'm sure that I'll take advantage of it rather a lot, seeming as I don't have to go to a conference each day," Barbara grinned but got up anyway and stood by Ian's chair. "I could always give you a back rub, if you'd prefer."