Learning to Love

Chapter 3

In the nursery, Cruella paced back and forth, mind racing, before lowering herself into the rocking chair and wrapping her arms around her stomach. She rocked back and fourth for a moment, eyes rapidly jumping from thing to thing in the room. She got up to straighten a blanket that was hanging over the crib. The crib had laced curtains hanging from the ceiling, making a canopy of the crib. On the wall there was a small, white dresser, tiny clothes tucked away in the drawers and a small carousel on top. Then there was a rocker in front of the window, and a organizer on the same wall of the dresser for books and toys. By the crib there was a white changing station, storage racks and shelves lined the bottom portion.

"I promise I will be there for you," Cruella whispered to her belly. "That I will never be the mother I had, that I will be better for you. The Baroness will not hurt you, never, not ever with me. You will be safe with your father and I. And you will be loved, so loved."

Cruella had never thought of herself as a mother, no, but maybe she could learn alongside Jasper and her child.

When Cruella hit 39 weeks, it was on a day the doctor had been scheduled to come for the weekly check. Cruella despised them, but she wanted to keep her many promises to her baby, and that meant making sure the child was healthy inside of her. This very visit, however, she would soon learn what it meant to have a soulmate by your side.

"Good afternoon, Cruella, how are you feeling?" the doctor began with his usual questions. Cruella answered them pointlessly, itching to hear her baby's heartbeat again. That very sound was one of the few that made her smile.

Cruella propped herself up after the regular checking, the doctor pressing on her stomach to determine the baby's position, the checking of the heartbeat, and her own blood pressure. She smirked again at the good report, it had been perfect since day one.

"I think we ought to do a membrane sweep, see if we can help get this baby moving," the doctor looked at Cruella and her smile dropped.

"What?" she asked.

"A membrane sweep, give baby a bit of headway," the doctor explained. Cruella opened her mouth to object, but the doctor interrupted. "Think about the baby, Cruella."

Cruella just nodded, trying to mentally prepare and remember what exactly it was. The doctor explained, leaving Cruella just a bit more horrified for the future procedure. The doctor said he'd leave Cruella for a moment to get Jasper, feeling like she'd want him by her side since it was her first time.

Jasper, at first, was horrified when the doctor asked him to come to his and Cruella's room, frightened that something may have been wrong with the baby. He was relieved, when the doctor told him that he was just doing a quite uncomfortable procedure and felt that Cruella may end up wanting him. Jasper almost laughed at his remark. Almost. He remembered when he had carried Cruella back to their bed when he'd caught her asleep in the nursery, and how she'd murmured that she loved him before drifting into slumber again.

He could see the fear behind her eyes that she was all too well at masking. After years of knowing her, however, he could see right through her. He pulled up a chair beside the bed, not forcing her to do anything but just for her to know that he was there. The doctor walked inside after closing the door, sitting down on the bed and instructing Cruella on the preferred positioning.

"Relax, Cruella," the doctor told her. Cruella fought back the strong urge to glare at him. Or kick him. That was a good option too. She smiled internally a bit at the thought.

As soon as he started, however, any part of relaxing flew straight out the window. Her back straightened, her face morphed into a grimace and she gripped for Jasper's hand. She shut her eyes tight; her body already showed her pain and discomfort, she didn't need her eyes that her husband could read so well showing anything more.

In the timespan of a minute, Cruella was in what she classified (thus far) as the worst pain of her life. It felt like an eternity to her, and Jasper had to agree. He could barely bear to see her in pain, especially when he was used to the strong and independent woman she'd become. As soon as the doctor looked at Jasper and nodded, signaling that he was finished, Cruella's body showed it.

She relaxed against the bed, her grip on Jasper's hand loosening and her mouth slightly open as she breathed deep and long. Cruella tried her best to mask the sudden relief and show as little as possible. The doctor told her that she had done a good job and that he was finished.

"Thank you, Doctor," Cruella said. She forced her eyes to open and look at the doctor, nodding her thanks. It was something she'd, again, been working on. Her old self, old Cruella, would've kicked him in the guts by now and sent him flying backwards off the bed for even merely touching her, but Cruella had been working hard on her self control.

The Doctor nodded and Jasper hurried to see him out and offer up his thanks as well. When he turned back around, he was met with Horace, Artie, and John all staring at him. Jasper raised an eyebrow, definitely confused as to why he was surrounded.

"Well, mate? What's the word on the baby?" Horace started. Jasper opened his mouth to respond, but Artie had something he wanted to add first.

"You went upstairs with the Doc. Are Cruella and the baby alright?" Artie asked.

"Yes, yes, they're fine," Jasper assured them. "I'm sure Cruella will be down shortly. She wanted me to hear the heartbeat of the child. She's redressing, now. I will inform her of your concerns, I'm sure that she'll be down soon, though. Don't worry about her or the baby. They're both in capitol health!"

With his scattered remark, which he slightly made up along the way, would have to justify them for now. Cruella would be furious with him if he ever gave the slightest hint of what had been done, she hated anyone seeing her when she was uncomfortable or not at her best. Sure, the people at Hell House had seen her at some pretty ugly times, but nothing like this. And Jasper knew that, and didn't feel like unleashing his wife's wrath on anyone today.

When he walked back inside their room, quietly closing the door, Cruella was not redressing but still laying on the bed. She turned to Jasper, allowing her, once again, itching hand to rest on her stomach. Her green eyes followed him as he went back to sit in the chair, his brown eyes scanning her over to check for any more discomfort that he might ease.

"I'm fine now, darling," Cruella told him. She smiled, "just pregnant."

"That I can see," Jasper smiled as well.

"Did you tell them what was done?" Cruella asked at once, regaining her composure. She propped herself up on her elbows, staring at her husband.

"No, I told them that you wanted me to hear the baby's heartbeat and you were getting dressed," Jasper explained. There really had been no need for Cruella to undress in the first place, her dress could simply be pulled up and over her stomach.

Cruella nodded approvingly, then pushed herself upright. She swung her legs off the bed and just like that was back to herself. Like nothing had ever happened. It amazed Jasper, really, it was like a switch in Cruella's head, that only she could turn on and off. He followed her out after straightening the bed from where her other hand had gripped the sheets so hard.