He was a foreigner in the land he inhabited. That was not how he saw it, but that was how he was seen by others… He knew the whispers that flowed between his peers, those labelling as a parasite and a threat to the same nation he served…Of course he knew, after all, at some point in time those insults and insinuations had stopped being delivered as just whispers, they were affirmations made in front of him… they were shouted to him, and his response?
Prove them all wrong…
He worked hard… hard enough to gain silence around him, but behind the curtains, things were getting worse. The more achievements he earned…the more achievements he had, the greater were the feelings of envy and resentment felt by his peers, however, despite this, he kept moving forward and pushing even harder.
He was a tenacious man who knew how to conduct himself splendidly during gatherings or discussions, always maintaining a decorum in accordance with his ideals, even during his "weakest" moments in his social life, when his focus lay elsewhere besides earning more achievements that would be coveted by others, when he stopped pushing and advancing, he still maintained his posture and position, defending what he had conquered so far. He never stepped back. He never walked in a direction that was not forward.
And yet…
In the city of Novelind, capital city of Belnoris, within a room located deep in a mansion positioned in the upper-class district of the city, this same man, always so sure of himself, was now nervously pacing through the room.
Inside this aforementioned room, besides this man, there were also present other eight people in total, four men and four women, forming four couples in total - two young couples with ages around the 20's and 30's years old mark and two old couples with their ages being located in between the range of 60-70 years old.
The room itself was a perfect reflection of the mansion's owner's high noble status, decorated lavishly with sculptures, paintings, different tapestries and intricately carved wooden furniture. One of its walls had a large fireplace integrated into it, while the remaining walls supported shelves where rows of books were staked, the tapestries present sought to depict marvelous landscapes and scenes of serenity, while in contrast most of the paintings sought to present its viewers with scenes of ancient battlefields, trying their hardest to capture the chaotic essence of battle through their vivid colors and complexity.
The center of the room was occupied by a coffee table, its tabletop composed of marble surrounded by polished wood, while its wooden legs were carved into a figure of a lion sitting down securing the weight of the marble stone with their heads. Surrounding this table there were two sofas and two armchairs where the majority of the people present in the room were resting.
The man pacing around the room, whose steps could be heard from the outside was circling the sofas and armchairs located next to table, with a nervous expression. His short black hair normally swept to the side was a mess, along with his moustache that he hadn't time to trim and stylize.
He would wander the room without a specific objective, sometimes he would stop and start paying attention to any sound that came from the outside of the room, more specifically from the 2nd floor of the mansion. At those moments his eyes would also lock onto the door anticipating the arrival of someone. He would stay like that for at least three minutes each time and when nothing happened, he would start wandering the room again.
Observing this scene unfolding in front of his eyes, one of the older gentlemen in the room that was sitting in an armchair while reading a book, decided to comment:
Michael (??): Can you stop moving around already?! This situation is stressful enough without you adding more uncertainty to it by moving around like that.
Michael (??): God! I can't even try to enjoy a book to relieve some tension!
After these sentences fell into the silence of the room, and as soon as Michael started closing his mouth, another voice, reprimanding, surged from beside him, coming from one of the older ladies in the room, sitting on a sofa in a spot close to the armchair that Michael was sitting on.
Beth (??): Shut it Michael, it's perfectly normal for a man to feel worried for his woman, it's actually endearing to see him pacing about, while you on another hand… are an utterly disgrace of a father!
Beth (??): Just look at you! Sitting comfortably enjoying a book with a daughter giving birth upstairs!
Michael, already expecting this response from his wife, immediately retorted.
Michael (??): Do not reprimand me! I was actually there, in the birthing chamber with her giving magnificent speeches about courage and endurance until I was kicked out by the maids!
Beth (??): What?! Why were you at the birthing chamber?!
Michael (??): Where else would I be?! My baby girl needed me… and it's in this times that a father ought to show his support!
Beth (??): Just… Just choose other forms of showing your support. You know perfectly that the birthing chamber it's a forbidden zone for man.
Michael (??): Well, I know now! The maids were very insistent in the topic.
Beth (??): You already knew it!
Beth (??): Now, how about you help your son-in-law in trying to relax… Show him some support.
Michael (??): "Sighs" Fine…
Michael (??)(adopting a gentle tone): Boy come here, you can hold my hand until you feel better and… I won't even make fun of you if you start crying.
Beth (??): MICHAEL!!!
Michael (??): WHAT?!
What followed next was a heated back and forth between Michael and his wife Beth.
Observing this argument the other people in the room reached a silent consent between each other to not intervene, after all, this was a common occurrence between the old couple, and some of them learned the hard way that if you got in the way of their discussions, you would probably leave the occurrence without some of your teeth.
Opposite to Michael, in another armchair sat the 2nd oldest gentleman in the room observing the argument with a bored expression, until his eyes drifted back to his son pacing around the room unperturbed by the very existence of the other people sharing the same space as him. After observing him for a few moments, he then turned to his wife sitting next to him on one of the sofas, and said:
Mike (??): Michael is right… Even I, as his father, am starting to get pissed at him.
Theresa (??): Oh please, you are talking as if you didn't behave like him when it was my time.
Mike (??): Me?! Oh please, I was nervous, of course, but never to this extent… I wasn't walking around the house looking like my soul had just left my body while at the same time ignoring every single try to get my attention.
Theresa (??): Of course, not… You were worse.
Mike (??): Uh?
Theresa (??): The servants told me Mike.
Mike (??): …
Theresa (??): And just so you know… I liked that dinner set.
Mike (??): …
Seeing her husband fall silent, Theresa shook her head and assumed the conversation was finished, so she decided to once again start following her son with her eyes, keeping a lookout for his wellbeing.
She remained like this until she heard her husband murmur under his breath, "I hope It's a girl…".
It was a sentence she had heard countless times; it was one of her husband's wishes after all. A wish she had tried to grant him without success. A wish she knew well… and therefore she found difficult to not comment on his words.
Theresa (??): "Sighs" That's right… You always wanted a daughter… That's the whole reason we decided to have a second child after all…
Mike (??): What?
The suddenness of his wife's comment caught Mike of guard, he felt confused for a moment until realization finally struck him.
Mike (??): Damn! You heard that?!
Looking at the visage of his discouraged wife, Mike felt the need to intervene immediately as to try and uplift her mood.
Mike (??): Oh honey… Don't beat yourself over it, it's not your fault. You know that no man or woman has control over that, but if you really want to assign blame to someone then… let's just blame Kris.
Caught off guard by the mention of his name, Kris, who was flanked by his wife on his right and by his mother on the left while on the couch, turned his head towards his father upon the accusation.
Kris (??): Sure… Blame the child why don't you! After all, the father's innocence in the matter has already been proven, right?
Mike (??): Shut it, you damn letdown! How could I and your mother be something other than victims of the crimes committed by fate with you as an accomplice.
Son and father soon stood in a deadlock with each other, eyeing one another, that is… until Kris erupted into a fit of laughter which in turn elicited Mike to furrow his brows, though only for a moment, since he couldn't contain a grin from spreading on his face.
Seeing this interaction between her husband and her son ended up leading Theresa to feel a sort of family comfort that washed way the previous melancholy. She shook her head at their antics and started reminiscing about past events.
It wasn't the first time that this duo of father and son butted heads over this matter. They always had been like this, at least, since the moment Kris discovered his dad had wanted a daughter as a second child…
In reality Mike never blamed Kris for the trick faith played on him, it was Kris that, after the discovery, started using this fact as a way to annoy his father. Initially, Kris would, only periodically, mention the wish of his father for a daughter in order to tease him, but with time he started making jokes with the situation and ultimately reached the pinnacle of where he is today by declaring himself has the most perfect daughter his father would ever get.
After his declaration, Kris would set out to, in his own words, "make justice to his word and make his father proud" by occasionally wearing dresses, jewelry and perfumes inside the mansion, before fully escalating the issue by starting to attend social events in gowns and wearing makeup.
This whole situation had, of course, ruined even more their image in noble society, a fact with which Kri's brother, Jeremy, wasn't particularly happy and thus decided to ask his father for help in stopping Kri's behavior.
His father, however, instead of reprimanding his son's actions, decided to join in his jokes, often making shopping trips to acquire new perfumes and jewelry for his son to wear.
Seeing his father succumb to the same madness that had somehow invaded and conquered Kris' mind, his brother decided to give up on them after some months and instead opted to impede them from attending any social events altogether. After her first son gave up, Theresa had actually tried to stop the pair when she thought the situation was starting to go out of control, but she too, quickly learned that they couldn't be stopped…
While still reminiscing about the past, Theresa ended up being pulled out of her own mind, when her husband and her son had finally stopped throwing jokes and insults at one another, and were discussing the present development their family was involved in.
Kris (??): Speaking seriously now, I bet my brother managed to f**k up and his going to get you a grandson.
Theresa (??): Language Kris.
Kris (??): Sorry.
Mike (??): You little… Fine you want to bet, let's bet. 50 gold coins, it's going to be a girl.
Kris (??): Deal done.
Two arms extended. Two hands shook. The deal was sealed under the sight of numerous pairs of eyes, one pair, however, was distinguishable from the others due to the tiredness identifiable in its gaze.
"This family has serious problems…", that was the thought that surged in Clarissa's mind, Anne's sister and sister-in-law to Jeremy, while she observed, tiredly, the deal struck between Mike and Kris followed by watching them descend into a discussion about what were the better perfume fragrances to use in each season, while in the background she could still hear her father and her mother ongoing argument, that was getting so heated, it was frankly a miracle it didn't turn into a physical altercation.
...
Suddenly, hurried footsteps started approaching from outside the room, making everyone cease what they were doing.
Everyone was drawn to the door, where they kept their sight, until a maid entered the room and announced the safe delivery of the child.
Jeremy was the first to leave the room, running down the hallway in the direction of the stairs to get to the second floor, all the while, somehow, colliding with every single servant that was on the path.
The rest of the family closely pursued Jeremy jumping over the downed servants and soon reached the birthing chamber to find the doors already opened.
Looking inside they could see Jeremy on his knees beside the bed where his wife lay with a baby boy.
Beth (??): It's a boy...
Mike (??): Wait, what?! A boy?!
Mike (??): F**K
Mike didn't have time to utter another word before a slap quickly landed on his face, courtesy of Theresa, while the others decided to ignore the commentary and the slap.
Michael (??): A boy, uh. I hope you two chose an appropriate name. A name that reflects masculinity, strength, that will feel his enemies with fear upon being pronounced, that will…
Anne (??): Joseph.
Michael (??): Come again?
Anne (??): His name will be Joseph.
Michael (??): What?! That doesn't sound threatening at all, It's Horrible!
And in much the same way Mike had been handled, an open palm quickly struck Michael's face, courtesy of Beth.
Beth (??): A good choice of name sweetheart.
Anne (??): Thanks mom.
This was the day Joseph Meiner was born.
After-chapteroccurrence:
After leaving the birthing chamber and allowing his wife to rest, Jeremy decided to reunite his family in the living room to thank everyone for their support, however during the walk to return to the living room, his father suddenly changed directions and started going to the main door of the mansion. Everyone stopped on their tracks.
Jeremy (Joseph's Father): Dad, where are you going?
Mike (Joseph's Paternal Grandfather): I didn't bring my coin purse with me, so I am going home to get it.
Jeremy (Joseph's Father): Why do you need it?
Mike (Joseph's Paternal Grandfather): Ask your brother!
And with that statement Mike left the mansion. Jeremy turned towards his brother and asked.
Jeremy (Joseph's Father): What happened?
Kris (Joseph's Uncle): I got 50 coins richer, that's what happened.