Closed Out of the Blue

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose enjoyed these quiet nights in. She and Iris had been living together for a bit now, and it was nice. They were in the living room now; Rose was strumming on her guitar and Iris was sitting at the coffee table, playing around with a tarot deck. It had been quiet for a bit, aside from Rose's music, and she'd been thinking as she played. After a while, her fingers stilled, and she looked up to her girlfriend. "Rissy, let's have a baby." She spoke, completely sincere.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris loved living with Rose. She was someone who liked and valued her alone time, but she knew Rose understood and respected that. There was nothing like sitting together in the living room, just each doing their own things. Iris was attempting to do a few tarot readings, though her conclusions were annoyingly unclear as usual. She wished she had more of a talent for it, especially after being interested in divination for so many years. "Hm?" She asked as Rose spoke to her. Only for the words to actually register a few moments later. Iris froze, then slowly looked up at where Rose was sitting with her guitar. "Excuse me?" She asked, baffled.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose chuckled, and set her guitar aside before turning more towards Iris. "You heard me right. Let's have a baby." She offered up again. "We have a spare room, I could do a lot of work from home, or make Ren babysit." She smiled easily. "I could carry the pregnancy if you don't want to, I can handle it."

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris stared at her girlfriend in disbelief. She wondered if Rose was trying to joke around, but her next suggestions were very earnest and seemed to be genuine. Iris put the card down. She was pretty sure none of these cards could have predicted this conversation. Iris blinked at her a few times. "Sorry, I need you to go back several steps in this conversation, I think I missed the first half." She said. "Rose, we've never even discussed having kids yet, and now you suddenly want to just do it?" She frowned. "We're twenty-one."

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose laughed lightly. "Sorry," She offered half heartedly, smiling impishly. "I know we're 21. I just feel like we'd have the energy for it." She told Rose, moving over to sit at the table with Iris, propping her chin in her hand. "I haven't thought about kids before now." She offered easily. "I don't know... I think we could do it."

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris felt his cheeks heat up. This was such an intimate, deep conversation to be having like this. And he didn't get why Rose didn't seem to understand that. "I- we're very young." She said quickly. She stared at her girlfriend incredulously. "You haven't thought about it before now and you immediately want to do it?" She asked her, frowning. "I knew Gryffindors were impulsive but that's a lot, Rose."

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose's smile faded as she took in Iris' reaction. She hesitated a moment, before offering out her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." She spoke gently. "I know we're young. And I know this is a bit out of the blue. But I have faith in us, in you." She tried to reassure her love.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris stared at her girlfriend, still not entirely sure this conversation was actually happening. "I- I'm not upset." She said, alhough she felt a bit upset and knew she sounded upset. "I just think this is kind of- kind of weird to just drop on me like that." She said, not taking Rose's hand. She took a deep breath. "Rose, I don't want a baby yet. I don't think so, anyway. I don't feel ready for something like that."

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose nodded, listening as Iris spoke. "Well... that's alright." She reassured gently. "If you don't feel ready, then we don't have to do anything," She ran a hand through her hair, shifting to tuck her legs under her. "Maybe it's something we could visit again later in the future?" She offered. "It's not really a now or never kind of thing... I think we could come back around to it when we're older?" She offered, thinking that it would be alright to wait a while. She let out a soft breath and smiled warmly. "I just want a family with you someday, that's all."

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris tried to let herself relax when Rose said it was alright if she didn’t feel ready. But she was sure her girlfriend was disappointed. Iris bit her lip, wondering if she was justified in feeling a little upset. “I’d like to talk about it again in a few years, but maybe with a bit more warning.” She said, knowing she sounded rather stiff, even if she tried to sound casual. Iris sighed. “I’m not saying I don’t want that, but I don’t really want kids now.”

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose nodded, giving Iris a gentle smile. "I suppose I can live with that," She offered easily. "What kind of warning would you like?" She questioned, curious. She wanted to revisit the subject, but she didn't want to upset Iris when she did. She offered out her hand again, now just looking for a little reassurance that Iris wasn't mad at her.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris wondered if her feelings were a bit irrational, Rose didn't seem to have expected her to feel weird. Her asking about the warning only made Iris feel weirder, was it really so strange she didn't want it dropped on her like this? "I don't know." She said honestly. "I suppose this kind of was a warning. But I'd really prefer not to have it dropped on me like that again." Iris sighed. "I think I'm going for a walk, if that's okay." She said, needing to clear her head.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose hesitated, her heart twisting a little bit. She didn't want to start a fight over this, though she just now felt incredibly, unbearably stupid. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and nodded. "Of course," She gave Rose a tender smile. "I'll go get started on dinner." She offered, pulling herself up and stretching. "I love you," She offered gently, just wanting to remind Iris of it.