She had been so incredibly pissed off with the boys for leaving her with Rainer. It had been embarrassing, coming back into the estate and not being able to find them. At first she had been horrified, thinking they had gone off somewhere in the house, but then she realized they weren't there at all. Their coats were missing. Then she had to make up some sort of excuse to her poor brother who really had no idea what the hell was going on with the whole thing. Not really. He was confused, and although she explained to him that she was happy and OK out in the yard, she didn't get into the technicalities of their complicated love triangle. She knew he wouldn't understand.
... Especially since she barely understood what was going on herself.

And then when she finally got home she found they weren't there either. Pasquale returned later and she didn't speak to him for a while, and then when Shay arrived a while later (apparently he had had to go to work) she really tore into him, but he merely seemed to find the whole thing amusing.
She was more bothered than usual, and it took her a while to realize it was jealousy. When they didn't include her, she felt... jealous.

Being around men too much was driving her insane. If it wasn't Shay and Pasquale, it was Cyprus with working on the renovations for the house he bought in Exeter, and then she was continually dodging Kathleen's questions on the matter, which was becoming more and more difficult.
She needed a break. Someone close to her who was still slightly on the outside. Ginette wasn't really speaking to her since she found out about what was going on with Pasquale and Shay... but she knew it wasn't anything malicious behind her reasoning. Rainer had told her (but she already figured it out) that Ginette was just being distant so that she didn't say anything that might upset Lynn.
She wanted for Lynn to make her own decisions without interfering... but she would have a thing or two to say on the matter, and since it was Rainer that told her, and not herself, it probably was stressing her best friend out.

But there was another woman she hadn't seen in far too long, and the thought occurred to her nearly every day to call her up. Although she was sure Elsie wouldn't be able to take the news well either, she really needed someone to talk to that was outside the drama.

So she made a lunch date with Elsie, asking her to come to the studio at noon so they could have some tea, and possibly some take out she had picked up from Cy's restaurant they could snack on at her restaurant, and possibly do some retail therapy.
Plus Lynn decided she wanted to make Elsie a dress. It had been a while since she'd just done one for the fun of it, and she had more time on her hands now that her latest collection was done.

She had her style book out on the large table in the middle of the room, laid with fabrics she liked and had left over from her collection. Some she hadn't used at all because they hadn't worked as well, but she wanted to use them in some way, so a dress for Elsie would be perfect.
She was smoothing the fabric down absentmindedly having plugged in the electric kettle she kept in her studio (she bought the loose tea from downstairs of course), when the bell above the door rang and she turned to smile at her friend.

"Elsie." She walked forward to envelope her friend in a tight hug. "We shouldn't stay away from each other for so long." It really hadn't been that long. Elsie, Ginette and her had gone out a few weeks prior for a shopping trip, but they hadn't talked as much as she would have liked.

Pleasantly surprised when Lynn called for a lunch date, Elsie automatically agreed to meet her best friend at her studio. It had been such a long time since they'd gotten together, it was unreal. Life had gotten in the way, obviously. They were all so separately busy, Rainer and Gin raising little Claire, Lynn and her shows, Elsie and Duncan, well, they were getting ready to be parents themselves. Els just passed the two month mark, officially safe to tell those outside of her immediate family. Bri knew before Elsie even had a chance to tell her and Elsie and Duncan had told their families just last week.

It was time to tell the girls. Gin wouldn't be joining them today, but that was okay. Elsie didn't mind telling them one at time. She liked to share the news, the more often the better. With her favorite flats and a pair of wide-leg jeans on, Elsie had dressed casually for a girls' day in and out. Hanging out with Lynn made her feel the need to be more stylish. Lynn embodied style and Elsie didn't want to look incompetent. She wore a simple pink sweater, cashmere in a deep v-neck and short cap sleeves. Whatever Lynn had planned was fine with her. It was just going to be nice to spend time together. They so rarely got to spend time together, it really was horrible. "Lynn!" Elsie squeaked as she entered Lynn's studio and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

There had been a lot of speculation going on about Lynn. Elsie wasn't really sure what the girl was doing with her life. Professionally her friend was doing very well, her personal life however, remained quite the mysterious mess. Of course Elsie was far from being able to say anything. Matters of the heart were never easy. Even though emotions were Elsie's thing, the ones emanating from Lynn were scattered and confused. Elsie was never one to pry in her friends emotions. If they wanted to tell her something, they would. The three of them had been close for years now and they were more like sisters. "I'm so happy to see you! And you're right, this once a month thing is just not working for me." Really it wasn't. Of course it was a lot easier to hide certain news, especially when she was bursting to tell everybody.

Walking into the studio, Elsie noticed the work in progress on the table. "Got something going? What do we want to do today?" Elsie was up for anything really. She really just wanted to up and come out the her news, but felt the need to wait. It wasn't something you just burst out with.

Elsie looked happy, and positively glowing. For a moment she worried her vibes (emotions really) would ruin her best friend's mood, but then she pushed it aside. Thinking such negative thoughts wouldn't help at all. Well... it seemed as if Elsie was happy in her life right now. Ginette and her had been talking about it the other day, and she was glad to see it was physically showing on her friend.

Leaving her friend's embrace she walked over to her design table, feeling a bit giddy. They really did need to get together more often. It was silly that they didn't. Lynn was really the most busiest out of them all though, and she knew Ginette saw Elsie far more often than she got to herself. Although Gin helped out with her father's family business as well as Rainer's, being with baby Claire gave her plenty of down time that Lynn was a bit envious of. She got over there as much as possible to see her niece, but she always felt like she was slipping away from them, what with all her personal drama, as well as work.

She picked up her design book, turning back to Elsie with a grin. "Well I was thinking some shopping? If you're up for it." Yes, some retail shopping, either on her street, Oxford, or up Regents for the more expensive goodies. "I need a new clutch, and possibly some shoes." As if she needed more shoes...

"Also," she made her way over to Elsie with the design book, "I wanted to make something for you. It's been too long." She held out the book to Elsie. It was full of various designs she'd been working on for the summer collection, as well as a possible winter collection (though of course, it could change before then). "I've got some time on my hands." Not really, but that hardly mattered.

"Shopping sounds great!" There was a really cute maternity store on Regents Street that Elsie wanted to check out. That would be good way to bring up her news. Of course, she hadn't started showing yet, but soon enough. Her oldest sister, Annie, had ballooned around four months, even though most really start growing around six. Whenever it happened, Elsie really didn't care, but she wanted to be ready when it did. There was also a nursery to decorate. Plans were already in motion, the room picked out. It scared Duncan witless. It would probably scare Elsie just as much if she wasn't looking forward to it so much. Not that Duncan wasn't excited, but he was more nervous than anything else. They'd been married for over a year, it was time to get going on a family. Plus, Duncan was always traveling, Elsie hoped having a baby would not only keep him home more often, but it would definitely give Elsie some company.

"Oh Lynn, you don't have to!" Elsie loved wearing her friend's designs, but she also knew that Lynn was awfully busy. "I could use some new shoes too." She idly flipped through her friend's beautiful designs, loving the collection. Elsie had never really been one for fashion, of course she shopped with Lynn, so she had a little knowledge, but she always found what Lynn created absolutely gorgeous. "I'll think on this.

"Let's grab some lunch first, yeah?" She was hungry. Lately she'd been hungry a lot. Maybe she was psyching herself up over it, making her body think it was going to be hungry, and she hadn't started getting strange cravings yet, which was good. Poor Duncan. Not only was he freaked out, but when she started demanding strange foods, he'd be under some serious stress. The only part of being pregnant that worried Elsie was the emotional aspects. Emotions were hard for her all around, heightening them with hormones was going to be an interesting adventure. Poor, poor Duncan. He was pretty easy going though, and they were desperately in love, so having a baby would just be another wonderful milestone in their lives.

"I'm starving." Elsie admitted, putting a hand over her stomach unnecessarily. It was a strange habit so early in her pregnancy, but she figured she'd be doing it a lot over the next seven months. "I think I'd like some tea too." Decaf now of course. "Shall we? You pick."

She knew she didn't have to but she wanted to. Ginette and Elsie, she always felt, put up with far too much drama from her, and she always felt like she owed them something for it; always felt she should make it up to them somehow. It didn't bother her, this feeling, in fact it made her realize just how much they were there for her when she needed them most. She wasn't sure if she was able to provide the same comfort and closeness that they did for her, and it worried her a bit. She loved her girls and didn't know what she would do without them. Elsie was always the more passive one in the situations, but was always good moral support, and Ginette usually acted as the voice of reason among them, as head strong as she was. Lynn was sure she was the most flakey, but it all seemed to work out ok.

"I want to make something for you." She answered easily, smiling as she took the book back. "I love making things for my friends. I actually get to see them enjoy it more." It seemed much more personal and fun. It was the reason she had started doing it in the first place. Now it was just easier to produce more as she now hired people for the sewing. There were some bright teens she hired for internships the summer past and had rehired to work on her winter and spring collections the past seasons. She would be hiring them all over again for the summer. She would also be working on a few wedding dresses with Kathleen's mother. She was looking forward to that.

Setting her design book down, open on the table, she moved around to where she kept the tea. As well as where she'd put the take out food. "I have tea here, and takeout from The Monkey Paw that Cy recommended," it was his restaurant after all, "but we don't have to eat it. I can always take it home later." Pasquale and Shaymon could eat it if they were both there. Tonight was one of the nights Pasquale had a late class, but she'd come to see he ate just as much as Shay did. Pasquale had been pitching in for food, and Shaymon often brought over stakes and wine and fresh fruit and veggies he would pick up from various places. He was still living partially in his flat (mainly for appearances) and was not around all the time. She knew it was his work as well, though that still remained a mystery to her, much to her growing concern.

"There's a little place just opened down the street that sounds nice as well. Casual. I hear they make a great panini." She opened the heating box Cy had lent her, looking into the first take out box. "Cavatelli pasta," she shifted through some of the others. Cy had written in marker on each one. His handwriting was tricky to read but she'd gotten used to it over the years. "Chicken grand mere. Baked halibut... some appetizers and green salad. Oh, he added a side of wild mushrooms." Setting this down she put on the tea kettle. "Where did you want to shop? I think maybe hit Oxford first and then Regents? The bistro I was talking about is on Noel."

She looked up with a bit of a shrug. "I want to stop by Hamleys and get Claire a little something. That girl is so spoiled." Mainly by her, but she wanted to be Claire's favourite auntie.

"Well if you're sure." Elsie smiled when Lynn insisted on making something for her. She'd flipped by a gorgeous flowing dress a few pages ago. It would be comfortable and forgiving when she did start to show. "Oh excellent, that sounds fantastic, I'm starving, I'll eat whatever you've got." Takeout was perfectly fine with her. Elsie was pretty easy going when it came to when and were. Flexibility was key for a person whose husband traveled frequently. Sometimes she got to go, but didn't know until the last minute, so she'd learned to simply go with the flow. She rarely had to put her foot down on anything anyway. Duncan was a grown man, who was she to tell him what to do? Not that that was ever really necessary anyway.

"Mint tea if you have it?" She smiled. "Or anything decaf." Elsie hoped that didn't strike Lynn as odd. Mint tea was what she typically drank anyway, but she never requested decaf. Herbal teas were naturally decaffeinated to begin with and that was what she normally drank, but now she as definitely starting to watch her caffeine intake. Taking a seat at Lynn's work table, Elsie continued to flip through the designs. Nothing else had caught her eye like that first dress, so she flipped back to it."

"What about something like this? In maybe a deep green or blue?" She really should start expanding her color palette. "Or a great print would work too." Blue and green were her comfort zone. "You know, something a little out of the ordinary for me." Lynn would figure out what she wanted, even though she couldn't express it. That was the beauty of best friends. "As for shopping, I wanted to stop into Mamas and Papas..." She trailed off, wondering if Lynn would assume it was for one of her many nieces of nephews. "Hamleys would be good too." Elsie wasn't sure of the baby's gender yet, but figured it wouldn't be long and she could always start stocking up on the neutral stuff.

Her mother had warned her not to do any serious shopping; that's what baby showers were for. The crazed look in her mother's eye told her not to try that wisdom. For a long time it was the general consensus that Elsie would never be able to get married and have children, but here she was, doing just that. Poor Vic and Bri, they were on the chopping block for letting Elsie beat them into these things. Elsie understood though. Bri had a fantastic job and was enjoying being single. Vic wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet and that was fine. He still had plenty of time to figure it out. Their parents didn't see it that way, but Elsie was very influential when she wanted to be, especially with her mother, so therefore she'd turned the attention away from the twins and back onto her. Elsie was used to having all of the attention, she didn't mind sharing at all, but when a sibling needed a distraction, she was usually the decoy. It worked out well all around, for all involved.

She rummaged through the metal tea box she kept the bags in. It had been her mothers, and Riu had given it to her when they moved her into the mental health ward for treatment. She had a ton of tea boughten from downstairs. She loved going down and buying samples, purchasing more of the ones she liked. "I have mint." She held it up triumphantly, taking some of the blend and places it in the teapot before pouring the boiled water in. She always kept mint tea, it helped when she was getting a nervous stomach, or strain from stress.
Taking over the heat bag with the take-out, she set it down on her work station near Elsie and began to unload as she craned her neck to look at the design Elsie was pointing out. The dress would suite Elsie. She could do something nice with the capped sleeves, or maybe do some fabric twisting. It would look good in a pattern, or with some hand painting. Julie, one of her interns had a good hand for that. She'd done some hand painted birds on the hem of a dress for her last client and they had turned out beautifully.

"Mama's and Papas," She nodded thoughtfully, still looking at the drawing and absentmindedly opening the take out containers. The food smelt wonderful. She searched in the bag for the forks, turning her eyes on her friend now. "Are you picking something up for your kids?" 'Your kids' being her many nieces and nephews. Lynn and Ginette were always amused with the number of kids involved there, but she supposed Ginette was getting up there in numbers as well.

"How's Duncan been? Home more?" She moved to take a seat, pulling up one of the stools setting out the plates between them that Cy had so generous included.

"Duncan's good. Home more yeah..." Elsie was going to have to come out with her news soon. Holding it in was getting too hard. "He's hiring a new manager to do more of the travelling. It'll be nice to have him home more." Luckily, when one was the CEO of a major advertising company you could do things like that. Duncan ruled the roost. Now that he was going to be a father, he wanted to be at home a little bit more. Not that he didn't want to spend time with Elsie either. It was one of their constant struggles. Elsie felt lonely a lot of the time, but it was also beyond Duncan's control sometimes. That was the other downfall of running a company, all of the responsibilities.

Grateful that Lynn placed the food between them, as it was a welcome distraction. Elsie wrapped her fingers around her tea, letting the warmth seep into her fingers. She laughed when Lynn mentioned 'her kids.' There were quite a few kids in her family. But then again, being the youngest of seven, the fifth to get married, the fifth to have a child, it wasn't any wonder to her. Duncan was the youngest of four and each of his siblings was married with children. Then they were such close friend with of one his cousins that they considered her daughter one of their nieces. The total was up to seventeen after Clark and his wife, Madeline, had their second baby just a couple of months ago. It was hysterical to Elsie. Their family just kept getting bigger and bigger.

"Did I tell you we're up to seventeen now?" Elsie laughed after taking a bite out of the delicious spread before her. She paused mid bite. Now was as good a time as ever. "And actually the stop at Mamas and Papas is for me." She took a sip of her tea and then smiled at her friend over the top. "I'm having a baby." It felt so good to finally let it out. Holding in such important news for so long was hard! Ready for Lynn's exclamation, she couldn't stop smiling.

She was glad to hear that Duncan would be around the house more. She couldn't imagine being in that big manor of theirs without many people to talk to. Lynn and Ginette tried to make it over there to visit her as much as possible, but it was with regret that Lynn couldn't as much as she would have liked to. What with all the business she had to tend to on a day to day basis, and now helping Cyprus get that new house ready for Kathleen, she had very little time to make house visits besides the once a week dinners she had over with her brother and Ginette. But even then she'd been unable to attend those every week.
Sometimes Elsie and Duncan came over for the dinners. Ginette made it out to visit Elsie, with little Claire in tow, more than she managed to.

"Seventeen!" She exclaimed, surprised, shaking her head with a small chuckle. "So many little ones to spoil, I bet." She smiled as she picked at the pasta and then pulled over a bit of halibut from another box. It smelt delicious. She loved the cook at Cy's restaurant. Christopher Hodge. He was a miracle worker.

But her smile turned to an expression of shock, and then pure delight at Elsie's news and she let out a surprised squeal, dropping the fork into the container and leaning over to give her friend a tight squeeze around the shoulders.

"Elsie! Oh my gosh!" She kissed her friend on the cheek and leaned away, keeping her hands at her shoulders. "That is amazing!! I'm so happy for you! Oh wow. When did you find out? How far along are you?"

It was just her now, wasn't it? The thought of having a baby now seemed... impossible somehow.

Elsie was absolutely beaming she was so excited to finally share that news. "I'm about 8 weeks along now, just went to the doctor the other day. She gave me the go-ahead to tell people outside of the family." It felt so good to finally get that off her chest. "Do you know what it's like to have to hold that in!?" Of course she'd only found out like three weeks ago, after missing her period. It had taken some convincing and a lot of talking to finally get Ducan to agree to try. Naturally he enjoyed the trying part, he was just nervous about the results. Els feared he would actually faint when she told him. He did go a little pale, but seemed very excited in general.

Taking a moment to tuck into the food again as she was starving, Elsie was shining with happiness. "So this will bring the total up to eighteen in the family." That thought was so laughable. Their family just kept getting bigger and bigger, it seemed by the day. Well every nine months or so. Both Annie and Jordan were done having kids, Sean and Clark were probably not. Then Vic and Bri would eventually get married and have kids of their own. All of Duncan's siblings were done, so the total would slow down, but they weren't done yet. Elsie almost felt bad for both her parents and her in-laws, but if they hadn't wanted to have big families, they would't have had so many kids. Of course twins also happened to run in Elsie's family. Her mother was a twin and then Bri and Vic. For Duncan's sake she hoped they had one at a time.

"So Duncan and I were thinking about having a big party to celebrate, since this is such a blessing for us. Maybe that dress you desperately want to make can be for that? It probably won't be for another month or so. We're trying to give my parents a break from all of the announcements and children popping out." Her dad just loved it, but she could tell her mum was starting to get a little overwhelmed with the amount of kids she had to keep track of. Fortunately all of the babysitting was taken care of among the silbings, so that wasn't a problem. Just thinking about all of the years of babysitting she got to pay back to her brothers and sisters brought a smile to her face. Turn about was fair play.

"I know it's gonna be hard, but don't tell Gin and Rainer, Duncan and I want to tell them ourselves." Elsie knew it was hard to keep secrets among themselves, but Lynn would do it for her. She wouldn't have to keep it long, they had dinner plans coming up next week, everything would be announced then.

"I can only imagine!" She squealed, so happy for her friend. She wouldn't have been able to hold back the news. Or well... maybe she would have, for if she got pregnant it would be a completely different situation than Elsie. But Els was happily married, it was only natural that they start having babies.

"So Duncan and I were thinking about having a big party to celebrate, since this is such a blessing for us. Maybe that dress you desperately want to make can be for that? It probably won't be for another month or so. We're trying to give my parents a break from all of the announcements and children popping out."

"Oh of course! I'll give you some extra room in the front for the baby." It would be easy enough with a flowing dress like the one Elsie liked.

"I know it's gonna be hard, but don't tell Gin and Rainer, Duncan and I want to tell them ourselves."

"Oh absolutely." He held up her right hand playfully, though she was perfectly serious. She didn't want to spoil anything for anyone. She knew Gin would be estatic when she found out. "I won't tell a soul. It's your special news."

He dropped her hand and hugged her friend again, forgetting about her food. "You are going to make such an excellent mother, Elsie. Is Duncan excited? Probably a little bit high strung hey?"

"Oh Lynn, he fainted when I told him!" Elsie laughed, taking in another fork full of food afterward. "I had gone to the doctors on my own, just in case I was wrong and when I wasn't I zipped right home to tell him. As soon as he walked in the door, I ushered him into his study, sat him down and told him." This was now one of her favorite stories to tell, though it embarrassed Duncan a bit. She only told it to her close friends. "He actually swooned in his chair! I was so glad I made him sit down!" If she hadn't she would have had to call the doctor again so he could have his head checked out. "But yes, generally he's excited, though a little more nervous right now, probably.

Give him the next seven months and he'll be fine." Elsie was sure he'd come around, at this point he really didn't have a choice. For his sake, she hoped she wasn't having twins, though they did run in the family. Her mother was a twin and then Bri and Vic. "I've been looking forward to it since the wedding." It was true. "But I honestly thought I wouldn't get the go-ahead for it." Elsie had braced herself for both her empathy tutor and her doctor to tell her having children would be dangerous. But neither had large concerns. Her doctor was only concerned that too much stress could be a problem. However, her empathy tutor had told her that her gift would give her a leg up in raising children. Elsie had been so ecstatic.

"Even when we started talking about it I knew he would be like this." Elsie smiled. "It's endearing, how much he worries. I can understand why, he's a big guy, but he'll be fine." Elsie was positive that he would adjust. These things took time, especially after a long sprint as a bachelor and then an arranged marriage. "I think he's worried about me too. I'm already crazy, just throw in pregnancy hormones and I'll be a downright lunatic." She was never one to shy away from her gift. If she didn't poke fun at herself she'd never get to laugh about it. Everybody always walked on eggshells around her. Well her family mostly, but they remembered what it was like before she could control it. They had gotten used to having control over themselves, it was understandable that they had to get used to not having to do that any more. Duncan and their friends had never really been around her when she was like that, so they were real with her. She had never bothered to tell them how bad it had once been, though Elsie suspected that her father had informed Duncan, he tended to keep his emotions well in check. Unless they were making love, then it was like twice the ecstasy.

"This is excellent." Elsie motioned to the food. "This is Cy's restaurant, right?" She hated to admit it, but food kept creeping up in her priority scale. She was only two months along, it was a little early to have cravings, Elsie was starting to want different foods. The long list of do's and don'ts from her doctor was actually amusing to Elsie, but with her heightened risk, Elsie wasn't taking any chances.