Closed Winds of Change

[Asaiah Murphy]

For the last few months, Asaiah had worked tirelessly around the clock to improve his team's chances of winning more games than they had done the previous season. They weren't playing bad at all but he reckoned that it wouldn't harm the team to start to get familiar with different strategies and plays if they wanted to come out on top at the end of the season. Repeating the same moves could become predictable after all. Being this heavily involved in the team was fun but definitely required a lot more out of him than he originally expected when taking on the job of coaching the Moutohora Macaws. Not only did he have to coach the team during every match and every training practice, but he also needed to attend most business meetings and press conferences. And even though he didn't really understand much of the business side of the club, he tried to take it all very seriously. Thankfully, with the new season off to a great start and the newest member of the team all caught up with the latest strategies and plays, Asaiah could spend more time with Freya whenever she did not have to go to Honeydukes. Today was such a day. Asaiah was standing in the kitchen of their apartment, preparing breakfast for Freya and himself by pouring two cups of coffee while he waited for the bread to toast.

 

[Freya Odegard]

Things had been going well for Freya lately. She had gotten used to running a shop, was getting along with her employees and business was running smoothly. More importantly: she was feeling a lot better in general than she had been while working the ministry job. Running the shop, albeit hard work, left her feeling a lot dress drained and far more happy. Although she was sure Asaiah had somethhing to do with that as well. On top of that being her own boss had allowed and not having to worry about timezones had allowed her to create a much better work-life balance. It felt like she had finally found a rhythm in life that worked for her. Something that apparently hadn't been meant to last very long. Freya had been feeling slightly off for a little while but had decided to brush it off untill she couldn't anymore. She had known things were about to change for a few days now, wrecking her brain in an attempt to figure out how she was going to break the news to her boyfriend. It wasn't something they had planned for or even given much discussion and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. Excited? Scared? Massively unprepared. As she shuffled into the kitchen Freya couldn't help but to smile at the sight of Asaiah making breakfast. "Hi." She said softly as she walked up to him. "I have some news.."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah turned over the slices of bread to keep them from getting burned when he heard movement behind him, and could not stop himself from smiling. She'd gotten out of bed after all. The fact that they were dating still amused him at times. They had never been the best of friends at school and only ever saw each other during classes or in the Great Hall during breakfast, lunch and dinner. So when she moved into the apartment with him six years ago, he could have never imagined that they would eventually end up as more than friends. A part of him wasn't entirely surprised that the two of them were dating now though because he had always really liked the times did they spent together. He was more surprised by the fact that she actually felt the same way about him, as he was perfectly aware that he could be quite annoying and stubborn at times. ''Oh, no, you've finally decided that you're going to cut off my free sherbet lemon supply, aren't you?'' Asaiah said teasingly as he moved towards Freya to give her a kiss. ''Good morning,'' he added softly, giving her another kiss. ''What's up?''

 

[Freya Odegard]

It had been a while since Freya had felt like she didn't know how to act around Asaiah. The last time had probably been when she had figured out she was in love with him but didn't even knew he felt the same. And now here she was, knowing something he didn't yet again and trying to find the courage to tell him about it. "Well you could cut back on those a bit before they run dry." She joked, looking up at him with a small grin. It almost made her want to take back her words. To just enjoy the morning and leave the conversation for another time. But she was certain she couldn't keep it from him much longer. If anything, she was curious to see how he would react. He always seemed so much more confident whenever she doubted something. "I, uh-" Freya started, smile slowly faltering now that her anxiousness made a fast return. She intertwined her fingers to keep her hands from shaking and took a step back so she could properly look at him. After a second she took a deep breath and forced the words out perhaps a little quicker than she had meant to. "I'm pregnant."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

''The audacity to suggest something like that is quite frankly beyond me,'' Asaiah said, acting as appalled as he could. Ever the observer, he could tell that there was something gnawing on Freya's mind. It almost looked as if there was something she wanted to say but did not know how to. Which struck him as odd because they could never not tell each other something. It was actually one of the things he liked most about their relationship. Communicating never really was his strongest quality but that had never been a problem whenever he was with Freya - except for that one time when he told her that he liked her as more than just a friend. He gave her a questioning look when she stepped back from him, not failing to notice that her smile had faltered slightly and that she had started fidgeting with her fingers. He couldn't help but get a slightly nervous feeling in his stomach. Was something wrong? Had something bad happened? If this was about his secondhand bed, and the absolute disaster of a state that it was in at the moment, he'd just have to push that higher up the list of things that needed fixing in their apartment. But then she told him what was on her mind and all Asaiah could do was stare at his girlfriend for a second, his eyes widened in surprise while he let the fact that she told him that she was pregnant sink in on him. ''Really?'' It was his turn to be at a loss for words apparently. ''You're - are you sure? Holy f... Freya, that's huge!'' A smile spread across his face when he stepped forward to hug her tightly. Laughing, he immediately let go of his girlfriend again, scared that he would hurt something.

 

[Freya Odegard]

Freya chuckled at Asaiah's response. He was a terrible actor, that much was true, but that didn't really matter because somehow he never failed to make her laugh. Even at times like this when she could almost physically feel something pushing down on her. She wasn't even certain what caused her to be feeling that way either. Surely the hormones couldn't already be messing with her mind this early on. It wasn't like she was scared as to how he would respond either. Knowing Asaiah there was a very slim chance he wouldn't immediately be supportive, perhaps even excited. If there was anyone in the world she was going to share something as unexpected as this with she was glad it was him. Maybe that was it. The unexpectedness. The certainty that everything was about to change just when she felt like she had found rhythm in life. Or perhaps it was the idea of being a mom that scared her. It wasn't like she had a great example to follow. Freya looked at Asaiah when he stayed silent for a beat, waiting for the words to get through to him. Her thoughts were about to wander when he suddenly spoke up and she couldn't help but to smile at his response. Of course he would be excited. "I am, yeah." She nodded, tears pricking her eyes as she felt part of her worries melt away. A tiny part, sure, but a part nonetheless. "It's been a couple of weeks now. I went to this Muggle doctor, just to be sure. Not enough to show it on the outside but it's- it's there." She explained while still trying to, unsuccesfully, keep herself from shaking. "And I- I love you and I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else but I'm scared too. I mean I don't think I've ever felt this unprepared in my life." Freya blurted out all in one breath. "What if I don't know what to do?"

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

It didn't often happen that Asaiah was at a loss for words but the unexpected news of his girlfriend being pregnant left him speechless. A part of him was as excited as could be, the thought of a baby had been going through his mind as he was nearing his thirties, but he always expected them to talk about it first to find out whether both were on the same page about it. Another part of him instantly began to worry about anything and everything one could worry about when hearing news such as this. This apartment, for example, was way too small to fit three people in it comfortably. Was it even a good idea to have a baby at this point? Both of them had new jobs and were finally adjusting to everything, could they handle a baby at the same time or was that going to be too much for them? Coaching Quidditch and running Honeydukes were equally as important so who was going to raise the baby with such demanding jobs? Asaiah was brought out of his own worries, however, when he noticed that Freya had started shaking. He took her hands and smiled reassuringly before he spoke again. ''I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else either, honey. And I'm sure that we'll figure everything out together even if we have no idea what we're doing. I'm not going to let you deal with this on your own, I promise.'' He caressed her hands with his thumbs in a soothing gesture as he talked. ''If we decide to go through with this, I'll be there every step, every way for you.''