Winter Legacy -6-

Agnes busied herself cleaning the bathroom, it could never seem to remain clean, no matter how much she scrubbed. Erik would come in, he would bathe and somehow get water all over the place, his dirty sweaty feet would make mucky stains on the tiles, those she could easily mop up, but the mat she would have to wash and allow to sit in the fresh air for a while.  Agnes was seemingly even more miserable with this pregnancy than she was with Erika, everything annoyed her!

She would never snap at her daughter though, even when the toddler insisted on being held although she was able to walk, or when Erika wanted to babble 'baby' over and over again. To Agnes, having Erika around was a comfort, with her last pregnancy, Erik was hardly ever around, too focused on getting promotions.

Erik sat awkwardly beside his wife who didn't so much as look up from the book she was reading. "So...do you want me to schedule the ultrasound?" 

"Are you going to find a sitter for Erika? Are you going to find a maid to get the housework done?"

"Never mind then."

As Agnes' pregnancy progressed she seemed to become even more irritable so Erik decided that perhaps he could pull some more weight around the house. He made it his business to clean up after himself in the bathroom and bedroom, wash the dishes after Agnes cooked and to spend some more time with her and Erika.

"Hey big sister!" Agnes sang to Erika who reached for her mother's swollen belly. 

"Baby?" Erika questioned.

"Yes, that's the baby." 

Agnes played with Erika and settled her down to sleep, she was quite amused when she stepped out of the nursery and found Erik sitting at the table with two peanut butter sandwiches. "I thought you were going to work?"

"I actually have a conference later, but I want to spend time with my beautiful wife first." He smiled, she smiled and took her seat at the table. "I set up the ultrasound for tomorrow, you can bring Erika along, it won't take long, I promise."

"Thank you Mr. Darling."

Erik grinned, "It was no trouble at all Mrs. Darling."

Agnes looked out the window at the ocean in the background and couldn't help but sigh. Erik was so excited.

"It's a boy!" Erik shouted some days later, he had told Agnes not to tell him when she found out what they would be having, but he couldn't help but peek at the photo. "Junior."

Agnes grinned, "We're not calling him Junior. There's no way I'm having an Erika and two Eriks."

"Fair enough." Erik chuckled.

Near the end of her pregnancy Agnes spent more and more time out of the house, which was a relief for Erik who had concluded that his wife was spending too much time inside which was the reason for her irritability.

Erik had prepped Agnes on what to do when the contractions started, they were still some minutes apart when she drove herself to the hospital. At the hospital Erik was paged, it just so happened that he'd just finished a surgery when his beeper went off, and because of his relationship with his boss Morgana, he was able to have the rest of the night off.

A few days later Agnes was allowed to leave the hospital with her bouncing baby boy in tow.

To her surprise though, her husband did not come rushing home to spend the night with her and the new baby, this was completely out of character for Erik and Agnes couldn't help but worry.

While Agnes was at home being worried, a thoroughly drunk Erik was staring at the barmaid cross eyed. "Amma turrible person." He slurred.

The woman sighed, people always felt obligated to tell her their problems. 

"My wife had a baby."

The woman frowned, "Oh, I thought you would be excited."

"I am, I am." He hiccuped, "But I'm having an affair."