Learning to Love

The Baroness Strikes!

It was a rare day at Hell House when Cruella was alone , and it didn't make anything better that a special (unwelcome) guest was soon to arrive.

Cruella had been left alone; she had insisted that Jasper go out with Horace, John, and Artie. He had been waiting on her hand and foot, and Cruella needed a break from it and felt sure Jasper did too. She was currently getting a few final sewing things done before she'd need to start supper.

It had been too quiet for her restless mind, so she'd turned on a disk for music. Finishing her piece, she held it over her stomach. It was a small onesie, white with black spots to represent the Dalmatians, and Cruella even smiled at it. She walked upstairs to lay it in the crib, but then had to stop at the doorway.

She walked down the steps and glanced at the door, stopping when it was cracked open. She closed it, rubbing her arms from the could autumn air, and the turned to stand face to face with the Baroness.

"Get out of my house," Cruella says, staring coldly at the Baroness. She was suddenly very glad that she'd put the onesie back in the nursery, there was no way that she wanted the Baroness seeing her "soft" side.

"I've got to say, I don't really love what you've done with the place," The Baroness clicks her tongue, gesturing around the once cold and imposing halls, now comfortable and inviting.

"Leave," Cruella demanded.

"And miss the birth of my grandchild?" The Baroness asks, feigning innocence. "Now why would I do such a crazy thing?"

Cruella locked her hands under her stomach. The Baroness takes a step towards Cruella and Cruella backs up until she was flat backed against the railing of the steps. She inwardly scolded herself for not holding her ground. The Baroness grabbed Cruella's wrist and held it up like she had on Cruella's first day of work.

"Let go of me," Cruella growled.

The Baroness laughed. Laughed! "Dear, you have cheated death, upstaged me, but you can never win against me. This child, cursed as it might be, will be mine. I will show it in the ways of fashion, train the thing up, then your own child will one day overthrow you."

"No," Cruella barked. There was no way she was going to let the Baroness take her only child. No possible way.

The Baroness just smirked, dropped Cruella's arm, and spun out her razor blade. She nodded her head up the steps and pressed the blade to Cruella's stomach. Cruella moved, pressing her hand against the place where the blade had been. She hated this. Feeling like she had no choice but to obey the Baroness.

The Baroness forced Cruella up the steps and into a small closet that they'd been using to store cleaning supplies. Before Cruella could even try to break free, the Baroness had locked her inside. She pulled the line of thread and the small lightbulb ahead flickered on. Cruella quickly took in her surroundings, seeing if there was anything she might be able to use to defend herself. She saw a crowbar, but nothing else that would serve her purpose.

Cruella threw her shoulder against the wooden door, hoping she had enough strength to break through. The Baroness had guards stationed outside the door, for the moment, and they easily made sure the door didn't budge. Cruella kept trying until she had nearly popped her shoulder out of socket. Finally, she gave up and leaned against the back wall, scanning the shelves again.

A creeping pain shot through her body and settled in her belly. Cruella grimaced and feared the worst. She was in labor. There wasn't a way that she couldn't be! She banged on the door again, but now the Baroness answered.

"You're all alone, deary. No hope for you now," The Baroness said coldly.