"The year 30th in the calendar of Sir Lion, during the 4ºmonth of the year"
The echoing of hurried steps could be heard from within a room located deep in a mansion positioned in the upper-class district of the capital city "Novelind" of the war-God nation belonging to the human empire.
Inside this room were present 9 people in total, 4 men and 4 women, forming 4 couples in total and 1 lone man, 2 of the couples were aged around 20-30 years old, while the 2 other couples had their ages located in the range of 60-70 years old.
The room they found themselves in was a living room, given the choice of furniture present and how it was arranged. One of the walls had a large fireplace integrated into it, while the remaining walls supported shelves where certain objects that made one reminiscence about a medieval battlefield where displayed, as for examples of this objects, you had damaged helmets closely resembling the Kettle hats and the bascinets, besides those you could also find fragmented pieces of different weapons in this shelves – The head of a spear, the handle of a long sword, between others.
In addition to the shelves, the walls of this room were also adorned with various paintings depicting scenes representative of medieval battlefields and of the hunt of wild animals in forests, all painted with luscious colors.
The center of the room was occupied by a coffee-table, whose top was made with marble surrounded by polished wood, and whose legs were carved into a figure of a lion sitting down securing the top of the table with their heads.
Surrounding this table there were 2 sofas and 2 armchairs where the big majority of the people present in the room were resting, being the 1 lone man the only exception.
This man whose steps, could be heard even outside the room 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 3 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, said:
Michael (??): Can you STOP moving so frantically around the room, I'm trying to read a book here, just trying to enjoy the experience and I can't do that while you are using your FEET and THE FLOORBOARDS as a substitute for DRUMSTICKS and a WAR DRUM.
After this sentence fell into the silence of the room, and as soon as Michael started closing his mouth, another voice sounding 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 the lad to feel worried for his lass, it's actually endearing to see him pacing about, while you on another hand…
Beth (??): WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! CALMY ENJOYING A BOOK WHILE YOUR DAUGHTER IS GIVING BIRTH UPSTAIRS?
Michael, already expecting this response from his wife, immediately retorted.
Michael (??): WHAT DOU YOU WANT ME TO DO?! THE MAIDS FORBADE ME FROM ENTERING THE BIRTHING CHAMBER!!!
Beth (??): WHY WERE YOU EVEN TRYING TO ENTER IT?!?!?
Michael (??): I WAS TRYING TO BE A SUPPORTIVE FATHER!!!
Beth (??): THEN CHOOSE OTHER WAYS OF SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT, LIKE REASSURING THE LAD!!
Michael (??): 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 on one of the sofas, in the spot closest to him and said:
Mike (??): You know, despite his comment, I think Michael has a point. Jeremy should really sit down and relax a little
Theresa (??): Oh please, you are talking as if you didn't behaved like him when it was my time.
Mike (??): I didn't! … And how would you even know? We weren't in the same room.
Theresa (??): The servants told me.
Mike (??): Cleary spreading lies without purpose then. You should know that I was steady as a rock, waiting for the whole process to finish.
Theresa (??): Interesting. So, you weren't worried about me or the baby?
Mike (??): Of course I was! But my UNWAVERING confidence in you gave birth to an UNSHACKABLE belief that everything was gonna be fine in the end, which in turn allowed me to maintain my calm.
Hearing this sentence, Theresa shook her head and started following her son, silently, with her eyes again, finishing the previous conversation in this manner.
She remained like this until she heard her husband murmur under his breath.
Mike (??) (murmuring to himself): I hope I get a granddaughter…
Theresa (??) (Sighing): That's right… You always wanted a daughter… That's the whole reason we decided to have a second child after all…
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 IT'S KRIS's FAULT.
Kris, 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 (??): Thanks Dad, I can see the love you have for me irradiating from you, in fact, it's so dense I can even feel it.
Mike (??): Shut it dream-crusher!
Upon hearing the nickname his dad had used to describe him for a few years now, Kris started laughing 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, got Theresa to shake her head again. They always had been like this, at least, since the moment Kris discovered his dad had wanted a daughter as a second child…
After the discovery Kris started using this fact as a way to annoy his father, often stating that he would become the most well-mannered and gentle woman in the nation just to appease the broken heart of his father. At one point, Kris even borrowed some clothes from his mother to wear in front of his father, ending up celebrating his own birthday in an evening gown.
His father, instead of reprimanding the actions of his son, decided to join in his son's jokes. He started my nicknaming him the "dream-crusher" to show his grief for his unborn daughter. And when Kris started declaring himself as a woman to "appease" his father? He just started buying him perfumes and jewelry.
Theresa actually tried to stop the pair when she thought the situation was starting to go out of control, but she quickly learned that they couldn't be stopped…
Kris (??): But speaking seriously now, I bet Big Bro managed to f**k up and his gonna get you a grandson
Theresa (??): Language Kris.
Kris (??): Sorry.
Mike (??): You little… Fine you wanna bet, let's bet. 50 gold coins it's gonna be a girl.
Kris (??): Deal done.
The occurrences inside this room were becoming ever more ridiculous, on one side you had an ongoing argument between an old couple, that was getting so heated, it was frankly a miracle it didn't turn into a physical altercation. While on the other side a son and his father were busy making debts and discussing what were the better perfume fragrances to use in each season. And of course, in the middle of all of this was a man circling the room looking melancholic.
…
This family has serious problems, at least, that was the thought that surged in Clarissa's mind, the second daughter of Michael and Beth, and the younger sister of Anne, Jeremy's wife.
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 sights, until a maid entered the room and announced the safe delivery of the child, ensuring the safety of the mother and 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.
Wait… Boy?!
Mike (??): F**K!!!
Mike quickly received a slap to the face delivered by Theresa, while the others decided to ignore the commentary and the slap.
Beth (??): Ohhhhh. Ain't he the cutest thing I ever laid my eyes on?!
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!!
Michael quickly received a slap to the face delivered by Beth.
Beth (??): A good choice of name sweetheart.
Anne (??): Thanks mom.
This was the day Joseph Meiner was born.
After-chapter occurrence:
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 gold coins richer, that's what happened.