Learning to Love

Finding Out

Cruella de Ville never thought of herself as a family woman, or even remotely having a relationship with anyone. Estella, maybe, but not Cruella. And still she couldn't quite believe how one moment she'd been a strong, independent young woman, paving the way in fashion and making a name for herself, to depending on Jasper and pledging in a ceremony that they were never till death to part.

Needless to say, she remained the dominate one in their relationship. Jasper got flustered when Cruella asked him to decide on something short notice. But Cruella thought he was cute when his ears turned red, so she never stopped teasing him.

They lived in the Hell House mansion Cruella had inherited together, alongside Horace, Artie, and John. With Cruella's wild black and white hair, and always stunning red lips, she didn't go out much for fear of being noticed. She only opened the house and herself up for balls, extravagant shows of fashion to show off her latest designs. Only the best were allowed inside, and that was for safety reasons. Sure, any one of them could corner Cruella, but Jasper didn't worry about her. She had a way of defending herself that even he was afraid of.

Finally, when it came to a family, Cruella had never imagined it. Maybe a thought here and there had crossed her mind, but nothing ever stuck. Horace, Artie, and John had become her family, the closest she ever had to one. Jasper was really her only real family member, and that was only from the tiny wedding ceremony. Kids just weren't in her ballpark.

Cruella was especially quiet one day as she and Jasper rode in the Devil car. They were quickly going into town for a few things. Cruella had been dying to get out of the house and away from work for just a bit, and Jasper had needed to go out anyways, so off they went.

"Are you alright, dear? You've been awfully quiet," Jasper glanced at his love. He placed his hand over Cruella's, but she pulled away, fixating her gaze out the window. That immediately told Jasper that something was off. However, he knew how Cruella functioned. He gave her space, and time to answer on her turf.

To Jasper, it had seemed like an eternity of silence and heavy anticipation, but when he had pulled into the lot, Cruella finally spoke. She turned to face her beloved, opening her mouth and then shutting it before finally spitting it out.

"I'm pregnant."

Jasper was excited, of course he was, he had always wanted a kid or two though he'd never admit it. At his exclamation of excitement, Cruella immediately fell silent. It was unnerving and out of her comfort zone for something like this to happen, and for Jasper to be so positive about it.

"What's the matter, darling? Aren't you excited to have a new addition?" Jasper turned to her, trying to read her. He'd never been able to, and didn't know why he was trying to now, but at least it showed that he did really care.

"I- I don't know..." Cruella finally said. "With work at the mansion, the balls and galas, I'm just not sure where a child will fit in."

"Everything will work out," Jasper assured her. Testing his wife's temperament, he reached across the center console and gently laid his hand on Cruella's stomach. Her dark green, glassy eyes met his brown ones. She said nothing, but her lip quivered with such vulnerability that Jasper knew she was in a fragile state. "We've done a lot together in our past, but this baby... our baby... that is the future."

Cruella remained at a loss for words, but simply pressed her hand against Jaspers and nodded. Emotions were definitely not her strong suite; it had taken her three weeks to work up the nerve to tell Jasper that she was pregnant. Still, she tended to bury the emotions, but she couldn't bury them with something as big as this, no matter how hard she tried. She had to accept it, that her body was going to shift and morph with this new child, and that her life was changed.

Cruella stayed quiet for the remainder of the time she was in town, even when Jasper led her into one of her favorite fashion stores. The walls were lined with a unique display of different fabrics, models scattered the main floor, displaying the newest outfits and trends. Cruella could easily spends hours inside, but she scanned over the new things and then promptly left.

Jasper babbled on about the baby on the drive back, which room would be most suitable for a nursery, how would they tell Horace, John, and Artie, and how long ago she'd found out.

"A month," Cruella whispered. She shifted her gaze to the floorboard. Her hand had this strange itching to lay atop her stomach, but she swallowed the urge down. She didn't want to appear any more vulnerable than she already felt.

Jasper nodded. "Why didn't you tell me when you found out?" he prompted softly.

"I didn't know how," Cruella softly admitted. She had slowly learned to talk about her emotions with her husband, but they had been married for two years, and yet talking about how she felt was one of the biggest challenges. Jasper gently squeezed Cruella's hand, silently assuring her that there was no pressure between the two of them.

Cruella had been working on keeping control over herself, and had made a lot of progress, but she still felt so out of control in this situation. Still, Jasper was her anchor. She'd rarely admit it, but it was at a time like this, when she knew that she was going to need him, when she felt so out of control, when she may have allowed herself to break down.

"Don't worry, darling, we'll be in this together," Jasper assured her as he pulled through the big gates of Hell House.

"We take it slow, okay? Not tell everyone yet, but we give it time," Cruella said, finally starting to get a handle on her emotions.

"Of course," Jasper responded quickly. "Nothing you're not comfortable with."

Cruella nodded slowly, beginning to believe that things really would be okay, even with a child on the way.