Three Weeks Later — Friday, December 8th 2017
Nora was halfway sitting up, halfway laying down on their king bed, watching the livestream of the Dunkirk premiere—the one she currently was not at—with a bowl of olive oil and sea salt popcorn sitting atop her protruding belly. She heard the footsteps coming up the stairs and as he walked in the room, she patted the bed beside her. "Well, isn't this a sight to see." Nora laughs as her brother lays down on the bed.
"I've missed you, Nicholas."
"I know, I'm sorry. Work has been keeping dad and me busy." He reaches into the bowl and takes a handful for himself.
"I called him a few days ago...I've barely seen him and he just sounded so..."
"Off?"
"Yeah. I could tell he was trying really hard to be...positive. But I could hear it—the sadness."
"He's burying himself in work, and I think it is good for him, you know? It's keeping his mind distracted."
"I'm pregnant with twins...I haven't even seen him since we found out." Nick moves to the empty side of the bed and mirrors Nora's position.
"Can I...?" She quickly puts the bowl down and her brother places his hand on her bump. He smiles as his palm flattens, comfortably. "There's really two of 'em in there?"
"Two little fetus-things, yep."
"Jesus, Nory." He scoots over and puts his ear close to her stomach. "I'm so happy for you, and I'm happy for me, because I'm a cool-ass uncle."
"They're going to love you."
"Are you excited?" Nora traces her fingertips along the stretched skin and she bites her lip.
"I want them right now, I just...I can't wait to meet them." They both sit there for a little while, just staring at their current living quarters.
"Hey, I didn't ask you, why aren't you at the premiere with Harry?"
"I had really bad morning sickness that lasted through late this afternoon...plus, I've been really moody and kind of grumpy this week. I didn't want to put a damper on Harry's big night."
"That's fair." He says, "But I'm sure he wishes you were there."
"I dunno...I know it was kind of selfish of me, but since I quit modeling...the media's been totally fucking obnoxious, and going to a premiere for a movie he's not even starring in, while girls stand around screaming—even though they're not actually watching it for it's historic value, nor for the other incredibly established actors—and photographers snap picture after picture of us...I just wasn't feeling it. I'm carrying twins, I can't walk in heels currently...it's just not the best time."
"What's the deal with the media?"
"They're just...the media. They're drama hungry vultures who don't know the meaning of personal space...one of them fucking followed me into one of my classes."
"Dicks." He shakes his head, "How are your classes going, by the way?" She shrugs.
"Fine, I guess. I'm trying to keep focused whilst attempting to not quit."
"Why would you quit?"
"Because, I'm so in the mom mindset right now! I don't want to be a student, I want to be a mom. I have the house, I have the babies growing inside me...I have the amazing and supportive fiancé...I want to be doing mom things, not college things."
"But, you want this. You want to be a teacher, Nor."
"I do—I did...but now, I dunno, Nick. This just seems more important."
"So, what are you thinking?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'll just cut down on my classes. I have a few weeks left of this semester, so I might just take online classes or something."
"Don't quit, Nora." She eyes him, knowing he's right, and knowing Harry would certainly side with him.
"I won't, I won't."
"But I do agree with the cutting down part. You don't need to be unnecessarily stressing about anything."
"What do you wanna teach again?"
"Probably younger elementary...maybe third or fourth grade?"
"You'd be good at that."
"But I also want to be a stay-at-home mom. I don't want to miss out on their lives because I work."
"But it wouldn't be like that—if you were still a model, yeah, maybe—but you're not."
"Why can I never stick with something? I feel like I have commitment issues." Nick laughs at this.
"Well, you're working through 'em just fine, you know, being engaged and pregnant and all..."
"You know what I mean."
"Do what makes you happy, Nora. Don't make your decisions based on what you think other people want you to do. If you wanna be a teacher, be a teacher. If you wanna be a stay-at-home mom and focus on your family, then do that. But don't let anyone else impact your choice." She tickles her tummy with her fingertips.
"Mom wanted me to go back to school."
"And mom would've told you exactly what I just told you." He nudges her. "Nora, she was so proud of everything you did. No matter what you did, she was happy because you were happy. So, like I fucking said, do what makes you happy. Whatever that may be." She smiles at her older brother, and nods.
"I'm glad you're here."
"Me too." He points to the laptop, "But this is boring. Let's watch something else." She closes it and agrees, it's almost over anyway, he'll be going into the movie soon.
===
Harry untied his tie as he trudged up the stairs. It was late—very late—and he was tired. It had been a long night. The lights were on in their bedroom and Harry hoped she was sleeping. Of course, she wasn't. He walked further in and heard the faint pattering of the shower in the master bathroom, so he pulled his tie away, unbuttoned his shirt and kicked his shoes off. He slipped inside and pulled the shower door open. Nora turned around and smiled at him. "What are you doing up?" He asks quietly, his voice soft. "It's almost three in the morning, Nora."
"I know." She sighs. Harry takes the rest of his clothes off and he steps inside, his hands going immediately to the top of her hips and his lips on her shoulder. "I'm just...thinking about things."
"What things?" She shakes her head. "Baby, tell me what's going on in that head of yours."
"I'm just...confused about things."
"Nora, what things?" He was growing concerned now.
"It's nothing big, I swear, just..."
"Nora, I'm exhausted, okay? I'm really bloody tired and you're worrying me. Please, just tell me what's on your mind."
"I don't know if school is what I wanna do." His brow becomes less furrowed and he loosens up a bit.
"Then what do you wanna do?"
"That's the thing...I don't know. Obviously, being a mom is what I want, but I feel like...I guess I don't want you to be disappointed in me if that's all I do."
"No, are you joking? Nora, I want you to do what makes you happy." It's as though he took the words right out of her brother's mouth. "I could never be disappointed in you. I'm always proud of you, baby, and I'm proud of who you are. I want to be different than other celebrity couples. I want to spend time with our children and I don't want some bloody nanny looking after them. We have the means—more than the means—for you to be a mom, and just a mom."
"It's not anti-feminist if it's what I want to do, right?"
"Exactly. If being a stay-at-home mom makes you happy, and if it's what you want, then I want you to do that. I'm going to try to be around as much as possible so we can really be a family...a healthy family that spends time together."
"I'm sorry I scared you, and I'm sorry you're tired and that I've kept you up."
"I've missed you so much this week...it's been...it's been crazy and I'm entirely premiered out and on top of it all, I'm jet-lagged."
"But this was the last one?"
"It was, yes."
"I'm really sorry I haven't been there with you, especially tonight."
"No, no...I'm kind of glad you weren't. It was cold, the media was going crazy—which bothered me. This film was so much bigger than me but so many people, girls showed up screaming my name. I felt like quite an arse."
"You're not an arse, baby. It's not your fault that it happened like that."
"I know, but it still was shit...dunno. I'm just really looking forward to this week and doing absolutely nothing with you. I'm in dire need of it." She reaches up and kisses him warmly, as the water trickles down and around their faces.
"I need it too. I hate sleeping in that huge ass bed without you."
"You don't have to, my love. At least not for a while." They finish up and dry off before falling asleep almost immediately upon hitting the mattress.