redrumdelicacy​:

Anastasia was genuinely excited for today. In her hands she carried a semi-precious package filled with all the goodies that she had baked especially for Prue, including a couple that she had used blood in; one of the few requests that Ana still hadn’t perfected but had warned the kind blonde when the order was placed. As she approached the Ackerman estate, her eyes lifted to survey her surroundings. Taking it in in a small circle, the brunette was amazed. With caution, she approached the door and knocked on it. When the door was pulled open, she offered a gentle smile, “Hi there! I’ve got a delivery for Prudence? I work at Honey Hive.” Anastasia hadn’t even realized how nervous that she was until she spoke and the first couple words out of her mouth were shaky at best. It wasn’t like she hadn’t made deliveries at a Noble’s estate before. Maybe because she had chosen to make this one personally, to make sure that Prue enjoyed them before she left. She really didn’t want to have to face an upset, pregnant vampire.

@pruexackerman​

With the cold outside, Prue spent most of her free time now in her greenhouse when alone, and she was just getting a pair of shoes on when a maid came to her door, announcing a visitor with a delivery from the bakery. A grin immediately pulled onto her face and she nodded, heading down a moment later (albeit slowly, given that was her default nowadays). “Ana, hi! I wasn’t expecting this to be done so soon. Come in.” she beckoned from her spot on the stairs as she made her way down them, nodding for the guards up front to allow the girl inside, one offering to take the package from her and another offering to help her with her jacket. “Had I known you were coming today I could’ve sent a car to pick you up so you didn’t have to be out in the cold.”

@julianstefanos

the-raccoon-ackerman​:

“Hey, e all have crazy family members we don’t always wanna be around. I have an aunt on my moms side and she set fire to one of my moms old trailers….” she snickered “I’ll try my best with this kid though, maybe I can be the cool aunt who gives her gum when shes older and show up with gifts?” he chuckled. “Yeah, just his sisters baby…” she said with a playful widening of her eyes, even if it was all just rumors, she was more making the point that Verity and Xavier were weirdly close “Cruel joke, I know. But you hear things in bars and then they just become dirty gossip.” she reassured, since she had no actual hard evidence of what some people joked on. The blonde furrowed her eyebrows when she noted the other having to compose herself. “Okay okay, I’ll make sure that I take them…Don’t sweat it, Prue” she said quickly, holding up her hands, just wanting the other to calm down and not get stressed- not wanting to make anything happen with the baby. “I mean, you were my mom when I was here as a kid at the estate and my mom isn’t like actually mom material, so you always were?” she offered. “I know you care, I always knew that…I just often wonder if you’re wasting your time on it? I mean, Felicity has realized I’m a loser, maybe you just wanna keep seeing the good in me that isn’t quite there?” she suggested. “Oh yeah, Andie was telling me about Kate- they haven’t been so hot together lately because of stuff said between then, but she said the baby stuff was rough. I imagine you got a whole nursery set up by now?”

“Let’s agree to disagree with that statement.” Prue didn’t dislike any of her family, nor did she ever want to not be with them. “I want you to be in her life for more than just gum, Seren. You’ll be her aunt as much as Fliss after all.” Prue wrinkled her nose a bit at the comments about the Ravensbacks but chose not to continue to speak on it. A new baby was a wonder, a gift, she wasn’t going to talk even vaguely negatively and send bad vibes into the universe.

She frowned as she let out a breath, shaking her head, “I’m fine.” she assured, giving her a little smile- one that stayed there as the other continued speaking, “Yeah?” she asked, a warmth settling in her that the other did in fact see her a motherly figure as well. The smiling unfortunately again didn’t last long and she found herself sighing again, hesitating just a moment before reaching over and taking her hand. “There is good in you. And it’s something we all see. You’re not a waste. And you never will be as far as I’m concerned. I hope one day you’ll accept that.” She squeezed her hand before letting go and she nodded, “I do. Two actually. Fliss is working on remodeling our new place with some of the Codonas, but Julian and I are staying home for the first couple months of the baby’s life, so I’ve been working on a nursery there for her. Next time you come over you should check it out. I themed it with the sky and planes and all for Julian’s job.”

the-princess-andie​:

“It’s a saxophone. I play a whole load of instruments” Andie shrugged as she adjusted the case on her back “It needed a new reed, so yeah- just got it fixed up” she waved off, reaching her arm behind to pat it “Let’s just say when you live for over a century and like music, you get pretty into trying the quirky instruments and then you can get kinda obsessed with trying to master them” she grinned “So, how’s tricks?”

@xadlibitumhqstarters​

“I don’t think I’d consider a sax quirky? It’s not all that rare to see I mean, not like...I don’t know, a xylophone or a lyre or something.” Prue teased, laughing at the other as she gave her a grin. She moved to lean against a nearby wall, hand resting on her ever-growing belly as she hummed softly, “Things are alright. This one is starting to kick and it’s about as fun as you can imagine.”

stainedheartss​:

“Oh that’s no time at all. I’m sure that after those few months are up you’ll be happy to have gone through some of what you’ve gone through with the pregnancy.” Lilith said with a smile.

“My lady, if you don’t mind me inquiring what are you going to name it? Have you decided on a name yet?” She asked as she gazed at her.

Lilith was by no means an expert on naming babies but she loved helping out with the naming process.

“Well, luckily for us, our pregnancies don’t last as long as a human’s. I couldn’t imagine doing this for almost an entire year.” Prue joked, smiling at the woman still. At the question Prue looked down at her stomach and shook her head, “No, we haven’t decided yet on a first name. We’ve been floating a few options though. Her middle name will be the same as my sister Felicity’s though, Aurelia. Which was also my grandmother’s name.” 

closed

It was getting more difficult for Prue to do most of her daily tasks like tending to her garden (or in this case, the plants in her greenhouse). It took all her energy to do most things, so more and more she was giving in to Julian’s whims of letting others do things for her, to just relax. But when she received word that the Duchess wanted to see her, she knew she needed to go. Juliet had been a lot nicer to her lately, but Prue was still more than a little apprehensive around the woman. She was intimidating and Prue still kind of felt like she was walking on eggshells whenever they were together--but for the sake of her daughter, Prue was willing to try her best. 

She headed to the Stefanos estate, greeting the servants there and waddling walking her way to the woman’s quarters and she knocked on the door, a little smile on her face as she poked her head in, “Your grace?”

@juliet-stefanos​

the-raccoon-ackerman​:

“Okay, well at least Fliss would probably show her how to do it properly. I am way too bad as an influence, I mean I made a bong out of what was left of a lightbulb. Sure you want me around my niece?” she joked with a grin. “I mean he is, but I have seen some of those knights since enough of them have arrested me- some of them are crazy. Have you seen the sheriff due, he definitely looks like he hangs out at the gates of Hell…” she snickered. “I mean I thought you would have returned all that stuff, I mean I felt weird taking them all from you. Then It reminded me I was a loser that my sister had to be like my mom and buy me clothes as I sucked at like taking care of myself, so I got scared- It’s only now I realize that you were doing it just to bring me home and have me closer. I got some soul searching done lately, you were just showing you cared” she offered. “Oh man, so you haven’t gotten the donkey kicks. When Mama was pregnant she let me feel when she had big kicks and it felt like something from an alien movie, was freaking wild and I wan’t even high. When do you reckon you’ll feel the harder kicks?”

“You just said it yourself: your niece. Your. So yes, I want you around...I want her to know you..” Joking or not, family was serious to Prue, always. And even with Seren was flighty with her on the best of times....she wanted more for her daughter. “Crazy or not, they’re just doing their job. And yes, of course. Lord Ravensback is a loyal friend to father. I hear his sister’s own baby is due soon which is just...wonderful. It’s wonderful that so many new lives are being brought into the world.”

Prue’s wistful smile didn’t last long though as Seren spoke again and she let out a slow breath, trying to keep composure, to not let her upsets or stress get to her (or the baby). “It’s not taking when it’s given to you, Seren. They’re there and yours whenever you’d like.” She even still had her sister’s baby clothes, all safely tucked away in a storage bin along with her own and Felicity’s and Sebastian’s. She didn’t mention it though, wasn’t sure if there was a point to. “I was a mom to Felicity....and I could’ve been one to you too. It’s not a bad thing. And I’m not trying to speak for your sister but...it’s not done out of obligation, but love. And I care. Present tense. I will always care about. You’re my sister and there is literally nothing you could do to make me stop caring about you. Hopefully one day your soul searching will show you that too.” She forced herself to take another slow breath, calming herself, letting her hand rub over her stomach, “Probably in the next couple weeks. The princess and I are around the same timeline, but since she’s a pureblood she’s technically further along than I am, and she’s been getting them bad so...I assume my time is right around the corner.”

stainedheartss​:

In all her years of living, Lilith had had plenty of sex with a multitude of partners but she had never given birth to any children. She wasn’t the motherly type. She had briefly looked after Marie Antoinette’s children before the French Revolution happened, though she hated it because they were spoiled brats who loved their mother and father and hated everyone else. Lilith had gone this far without having any little rascals of her own and she intended to never have any.

She had heard that Lady Prue Ackerman was indeed pregnant and she ended up seeing it for herself when the lady emptied the contents of her stomach into a nearby garbage can.

“No need to apologize, my dear. It is natural to become ill when one is expecting. Here.” Lilith held out a handkerchief to her.

“You can keep it. How far along are you?” She asked.

Prue absolutely wasn’t expecting the hand on her shoulder to belong to that of the councilwoman, and even with how pale she’d gotten from throwing up, there was still a bit of pink flush to her face. Gosh, how embarrassing... 

“Th-Thank you, your grace.” Prue murmured, ducking her head down in greeting as she wiped discretely at the edges of her mouth and smoothed her free hand through her hair and over her clothes, trying to make herself as presentable as possible. “Oh um...about three and a half months or so? So almost there.” she replied with a little smile, glad that at least vampire pregnancies weren’t as long as that of a human’s. “We’re very excited.”

@julianstefanos

the-raccoon-ackerman​:

“I’d like that, maybe I can find a good place to put them as well.” she hummed, tilting her head at the thought of covering Alaric’s apartment in flowers and seeing how he handled it. “Ah, that’s so awesome. You got really lucky, I’ll bet she’s gonna be way spoiled. My gift to your daughter is that I will never teach her how to smoke?” she offered, giving a playful smile. “Yeah, he’s a real nice guy like that. Almost too nice. Makes me suspicious of him.” She hummed “But I’ll tell him, he seems like the kinda guy who’d be psyched to know.” “Oh yeah? That’s cute, it’s cool to carry on the name” she smiled, sure she wasn’t sure who she was even named after or if her middle name had any relevance to the family, she suspected that it didn’t at all. “It’s always the nie ones in the movies, charming psychopaths and all that” she giggled. “Oh you did? You really didn’t have to Prue- But uh…Sure I can pick up stuff if you need me to?” she offered, only then looking at her a little sadder when she saw the change in the others smile. “Oh I dunno, you can always tell me what’s like, has the baby kicked or are they too little?” she wondered.

“Tables are usually a good place to start.” Prue teased lightly before her smile softened at her sister’s words. You got really lucky. She knew she did. Never in a million years did Prue actually think she’d get everything she’d ever dreamt of. To fall madly in love with someone who cared about her, doted on her. To get married, have a child (or children), their own home...she was getting it all. Prue smiled at her comment even as she rolled her eyes, “Let’s be honest here, even if not you, Fliss will. She’d probably chalk it up to life experiences or something.” she joked, shaking her head fondly. “He’s one of father’s knights, so he’s got to be someone he at least trusts. And from our brief interactions he seems like a good man.”

Prue nodded again, glad to have another on board with her middle name idea for her daughter. Now they just had to come up with a first name but they still had some time. When Seren spoke again Prue bit her lip, tilting her head, “I didn’t have to...what? Seren, I showed you the room and the clothes months ago. They’re yours- whether you wear them here or..anywhere else. I bought them for you. So if you want them, I can arrange to have some of the maids take them to....wherever you’re staying now?” She let out a breath, rubbing her hand over her belly, “No not yet. I’m starting to feel like....bubbles almost? Like there’s fluttering inside. But it’s still just...crazy, wonderfully crazy, to try and wrap my head around the fact that there’s a person growing inside me.”

sebastian-ackerman​:

“I know you do Prue.” Sebastian said, but there were other ways to be happy, a family would make him happy, have kids running around the estate and bringing life to that huge house again would be good. As they remembered about their mother, his eyes filled with tears, but he didn’t let any of them leave his eyes. “She is.” He said agreeing with her, but still, it wasn’t the same thing.

“Of course, I want you and Felicity to meet her.” He said, when Felicity got engaged to Sean he didn’t like the man at first, but we time he knew Sean wouldn’t hurt Felicity, and they seemed to work together, and that was all he wanted, something that worked. “You will have all the focus on you at the wedding, you might get used to it.” he said teasing her.

“Open it.” he wasn’t going to ruin the surprise after all, Sebastian smiled as he watched Prue open the box and see what it was inside. “Mother would never miss your special date, I hope you can feel like she’s even closer to you that way.” He said. “And you will look beautiful in it.” After all Prue had the same taste that their mother did, something classic that would never go out of style. 

“We’ll have to plan something then, a dinner maybe. We can have Sebastian and Julian there as well?” After all, the woman had apparently already not only met Seren but her fiance as well. Miranda might as well meet everyone else if they were to be family. “I’ll talk to Fliss, see when we’re all available?” She offered before rolling her eyes, “That’s just one night. And even still I’d much prefer the focus to be on Julian as well. And...your niece.” She told him softly, revealing to him that she was having a girl. 

Her attention had completely moved though to the dress in the box, the delicate lace and intricate embroidery. It was something she’d only ever seen in pictures... Tears well up in Prue’s eyes as she carefully ran her fingers over the dress before she put it down and moved, leaning over to wrap her arms around her brother’s shoulders, hugging him close as she pressed her forehead to his cheek. “Thank you..”

redrumdelicacy​:

Offering Prue a gentle smile, Anastasia nodded in acknowledgement to her answer about how much longer she had left. Thumbing to a clear page in her small note pad, Ana began to scribble down what had been told to her, pausing for a moment, resting the bottom of the pen against her bottom lip, “I’ve got a chocolate cupcake with strawberry filling that might fit your tastes?” She offered, raising a brow at the last item spoken to her, a gentle peal of laughter escaping her. “Raspberry you say? I’ve been meaning to try out a raspberry swirl in brownies. I’ve done white chocolate and cherry, but raspberry sounds like it could be good.” More than anything, Ana was appreciative to Prue for helping put new ideas into her head. “It sounds like you’ve got some rich tastes, would fudge interest you?” Putting the pen back to the paper, she wrote a few more things before turning to the beautiful blonde vampire in front of her. 

Prue perked up at the thought, smiling at her, “That definitely sounds like something I’d like to try.” She knew that desserts catered towards vampires was still a relatively new idea, blood mixed into everything and needing to find the right balance, so she was glad this place existed at all. “Well if you wan to try, I’d be happy to be your guinea pig.” She joked, grinning at her. “Oh--maybe? And if not, I’m sure I could share with my fiancee, or one of my siblings. Nothing will go to waste, I assure you.”

redrumdelicacy​:

Ana didn’t know what to expect when she came out from the back, but what she didn’t expect was a beautiful pregnant woman to be waiting for her, before she opened her mouth to say something, she stopped and listened to what she had said, processing it before responding, “Hi, Prudence! I’m Anastasia. We can absolutely work on getting you special orders! If you don’t mind me asking, how much longer? I apologize for asking, that was just my mouth’s way of figuring out if we should also work out a possible delivery schedule for your goodies.” It wasn’t the most subtle, but she was often more curious than she should have been. “Cupcakes and brownies, now we’re talking! Those are both my favorite things to bake. Are there any special flavors that you are craving or that you would like them to be?” Holding out her arm, motioning for Prue to please take a seat at one of the tables, Ana pulled out a pen and notepad from the back of her pants and took the seat across from the blonde.

Prue shook her head and waved off the apology, “No need to apologize, and um...I’m not too sure actually. Pregnancies vary for my kind, but..I’m guessing two months or so? Maybe three?” She shrugged a bit as she said it, her hand resting over her belly again, a smile pulling onto her lips at the girl seemingly in agreement with her request. So she let herself be moved over to sit down and she laughed, thinking for a moment, “Oh gosh, um...well, chocolate, obviously. Strawberry too is quite lovely. Really I don’t think there’s much I won’t try- last week I had raspberry danishes for three days straight. So really...you make it, I’ll probably eat it.”

the-raccoon-ackerman​:

Seren put the flower back into her pocket and adjusted her coat, pushing her hands into her pockets, pulling off her wedding ring so that it stayed in her pocket “They were real nice, plus It’s also good that like they weren’t ones I had to actively keep alive. I can just about keep myself alive” she joked, especially with how often she got into trouble it was amazing she’d lasted so long.  “Oh yeah, you’re like using up all your energy and stuff, I haven’t read many books on the subject. But I have seen a lot of movies on it. It’s going well though, like all good health wise?” she then felt her smile drop a little at the mention of her husband, feeling the stupid pit of dread form at the fact everyone still thought he was her fiance. “Oh yeah, he did pass on the message. A girl is super cool though, you thought of any names for her?” she wondered, only then trying not to give a little whine when the subject came back to Alaric. “Oh I dunno, this is all on dad and I guess I can like make it work, or drive him outta town…I’m pretty sure he’s a robot though as he always tends to appear when I’m about to do something stupid. But for now I’m crashing at his place and he’s not tried to steal any of my organs or locks of my hair- so it’s definitely a step up from the last time” she admitted. “Your baby totally matters more though, you gotta tell me everything” she waved off, gesturing for them to sit.

“I’m always happy to send you more, you should know that.” Prue responded lightly, always more than happy to send flowers to anyone, let alone her sister. At the questions about herself and her pregnancy Prue hummed a bit, nodding, “Yes, it’s all going well. She’s very healthy. Julian’s making sure of that.” he was the one that ensured she got the best doctors, had her practically on a feeding schedule, made sure she had guards with her... everything was going perfectly. “You can let him know it’s a girl too, if you’d like. I didn’t know yet what I was having when we last spoke. He actually helped me. I’d gotten sick in the middle of the sidewalk and he made sure I was okay. It was very sweet of him.”

Prue’s smile softened then and she looked down at herself, shaking her head as she smoothed her hand over her stomach. “Not a first name yet, no. For a middle name we’re going with Aurelia. It’s Fliss’ middle name too, and was our grandmother’s name.” she explained as she let Seren move them to sit down. “He seems like a nice guy, so I don’t think he’ll be harvesting your organs.” she joked lightly. “And well...if you’re staying there, we could deliver you some of your things from here? The clothes I bought for you and all...” she offered, her smile tinging a bit sadly since she didn’t want to force herself on her either. “Oh um..sure! Yeah, of course..what do you wanna know?”

redrumdelicacy​:

Anastasia had been in the back, working on her latest rack of cookies when she heard the cashier calling for her. She wasn’t sure why, but nevertheless, she had to go check and make sure it wasn’t someone throwing a tantrum and throwing a tray of her cupcakes on the floor like last time. When she walked out onto the floor, a smile immediately curled the corner of her lips, “How can I help you?” She asked in her best customer service voice. No one was making her to be here, but she had a passion for baking so she continued to show up. 

With every day that passed, Prue felt like her pregnant stomach was just getting bigger, and with how tired she always was now, she felt like soon enough she wouldn’t be able to do these trips into the city as much. But with how consistent her cravings were for sweets, she felt like she needed to figure something out. So when she went to the bakery that morning, she thought it might be best to speak with the baker themself. Prue smiled brightly at the girl who came out, resting her hand on her belly for a moment before taking a step closer, “Hi! I’m Prudence. I was wondering if maybe I could speak with you about working something out to maybe have specialty orders made or..something? Because the only craving my little one here has consistently had is like..cupcakes and brownies.”

julianstefanos​:

Julian chuckled and wrapped his arms around her as she kissed him. Prudence definitely didn’t shy away from being traditional and he liked that about her—she was the kind of person that could make any home feel warmer. This wasn’t even his home yet he rarely felt more comfortable than when he was lying with her in her room.

“Work was work,” he answered. “It’s hard to have a good time at work when all I think about is coming home to you and our daughter.” His eyes immediately went down to the bump under her shirt. Finding out that they were having a daughter made the reality sink in so much deeper and she already seemed like a live person to him. “How was your day, my lady?”

Prue leaned into him more as his arms went around her, but her smile dimmed a bit as Julian spoke of work. Prue knew how much he loved his planes, and she knew he took great pride in his job, but she had to admit she worried about the future and the inevitably of times where he’d have to leave. But there was no use in worrying in the what-if’s of the future. “Well, you’re home now. With me and our daughter.” As she spoke she moved his hand to rest over her belly, feeling little flutters inside herself that she was almost positive was the baby moving- which just made everything even more real and overwhelming and wonderful.

His question made her perk up, a grin starting to tug on her face, “It was good. Really good. I um....I actually have a surprise for you.” she told him, moving her hand to his and lacing their fingers together as she gave a little tug. “Close your eyes?” She asked, waiting for him to do as asked before tugging him along. While they’d been speaking the servants in the nursery had helped clean up a bit more. It wasn’t all 100% done yet, but for the most part it was. She led Julian to the door, biting her lip. “So it’s not done or anything.. but while Fliss is working on our baby’s room in our future home...I figured she deserved a space here too, so...” she squeezed his hand, giving him the okay to open his eyes.

the-raccoon-ackerman​:

“I uh…I got your flowers, they were real nice…Thank you for them. Tried to keep them alive but you know it’s hard to” Seren began when she saw Prue- having actually for once braved the Ackerman estate after some soul searching and friendly advice from both Nia and Azalea. “I uh…Look, even got Leonie to press one of them for me, my favorite one-” She said as she rooted in her inner jacket pocket and pulled out a little plastic wallet with a pink pressed rose in it to show the other. “You’re coming along…” she said as she then awkwardly gestured to Prue’s belly “You got any of them weird cravings yet? I heard you can get real wild ones” she offered, almost internally panicking as she tried to find something relevant to say to the other. She knew it shouldn’t have been this hard, but she knew she was a loser compared to them. Especially with how well put together their lives were. 

@pruexackerman​

Prue was tired more and more lately, but with the baby due in a couple short months, she was very much in her nesting mode, wanting to make sure the nursery was ready and her baby had everything she’d need. When one of the servants came to say her sister had arrived, Prue was more than a little surprised and she dropped what she was doing, beelining from her room down to the foyer. She smiled softly as Seren told her she got her flowers, nodding, and when Seren showed her she’d even kept one and pressed it, Prue’s smile grew. “I’m glad you liked them.”

Prue looked down at her stomach at the comment, rubbing her hand over the swell of it as she hummed, “Just sweets really. Lots of donuts and brownies. And I’m thirsty all the time now. And tired, but I guess growing a person does that.” She laughed lightly as she said it, still smiling at her. “It’s a girl, by the way. We found out last week. I....I really wanted to tell you in person. I even told your fiancée that..” her smiled dimmed then, her hand dropping from her stomach as she glanced away for a moment, “I wanted to..tell you congratulations again too, in person. I’m happy for you. I want you to be happy, and..well....are you? Could you be? With all this? Him?”