𝘏𝘈𝘙𝘉𝘖𝘙 ° 𝘙𝘖𝘔𝘈𝘕 𝘎𝘖𝘋𝘍𝘙𝘌𝘠 ✓

09 | big changes, tiny bump

"IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS," Rory sighed as she looked around the lavishly decorated living room of her aunt and uncle's home. The holiday was days away as the Reyes family gathered that cold December night. A large tree was obnoxiously decorated in one corner with countless presents underneath, four stockings hung over the fireplace-one for Giselle, Dante, Rory, and Baby Rory, nutcrackers and gingerbread houses lined the cabinets, and it was snowing outside, but something felt off.

Rory frowned deeply as she looked around.

"What's wrong?" Giselle asked, placing her hand on her niece's shoulder.

"It's a perfect white Christmas to me, my doves," Dante commented as he relaxed on the leather couch with a couple sugar cookies in hand.

"I don't know," she murmured, pressing her hand to her tiny little bump. Since discovering her pregnancy, she had become obsessed with her growing baby. Every time she felt her bump, she could sense the life inside of her.

"Well, maybe opening a present may fix that," Giselle sang as she ushered Rory to sit beside Dante on the couch. She met eyes with her husband and they exchanged a knowing smile.

"Isn't it bad luck to open a gift before Christmas?" Rory raised her brow.

The older woman rolled her eyes as she pulled out a thin, white and gold wrapped rectangular box, "Then consider it a late birthday present," Giselle handed the wrapped present to Rory and sat beside her.

Rory made quick work of tearing the paper apart. To her surprise, the gift was a thick book titled 'The Universe and the Celestial Objects Within'. "An astrology book?" It seemed random and a nice gesture, but it was definitely not something she thought to put on her Christmas list.

Dante grinned broadly. "Well, I don't know if the Godfrey's have any naming traditions, but even if the baby is the heir to a multi-billion dollar company, the baby is still a Reyes." Every Reyes had star-born names, it was the marking of their family. The book was obviously intended to possibly help Rory find a name for her unborn child.

It humbled Rory to think she would be expected to partake in the tradition herself in only a matter of months. She had never thought of it that way. "Thank you. Really. I know I've never said it before, but I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me. I know it hasn't been easy, but I think if I didn't have you two, I wouldn't have survived."

"Like your tio said, we are Reyes's. We look after each other, no matter what." Giselle covered Rory's hand affectionately.

The pregnant teenager smiled widely. "Why else do you think I go by Rory Reyes?"

➖

"You're just being dramatic," Roman rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, adjusting his position in the slightly uncomfortable plastic seat next to the bed Rory sat on.

Rory narrowed her eyes. "This place is creepy, Roman."

The first twenty minutes of the appointment went along like any other doctors visit, filled with diagnostic testing and answering very personal questions in the presence of her baby daddy. Roman was beyond surprised to learn that Rory had endured a miscarriage only a couple weeks before she arrived in Hemlock Grove, and everything about Rory Reyes suddenly made sense in that moment. He couldn't say anything given their company, but offered her his hand as a gesture. They were parents, no matter what, they would be in each other's life for the rest of their lives. Now, they were waiting for the results of several tests.