Who: Archie and Izzie!
What: SKHDKGSHG YOU HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT
Where: Izzie's flat
When: DECEMBER 26TH, 1979; 8 AM


Upon leaving Isobel's flat, Archie was faced with about a thousand things on which to deliberate, but only a few of them were actively fighting for his attention.

Fact One: Isobel was pregnant.

Fact Two: They did not know the sex or how far along Isobel actually was.

Fact Two, part two: Which also meant they did not know when Izzie was due.

Fact Three: They were not married. !!!!!!

Now that all parties involved were aware of recent developments, Fact One seemed mostly (sort of, in a very odd way--well, not at all, but--) under control. Fact Two was easily dealt with, which left them with...

Fact Three. It was a sticky situation, but Archie had to admit that half the reason he'd had an aneurysm yesterday was not because Izzie was pregnant, more because it overstepped all boundaries of propriety which he could think of. Archie may not have believed in, or accepted, all the views his parents attempted to beat into his head, but there were certainly some things that stuck. Mostly, Archie was kicking himself because he'd been waiting for enough time to pass (or rather, enough time to be certain Izzie wouldn't throw a drink in his face and storm off) to propose. If he'd simply asked earlier, none of this would have happened!

Well, all right, it would have, but it would have been much, much easier to deal with.

But after a few restless hours of thinking, Archie suddenly realized there was nothing better than a blessing in disguise. Granted, it may have been wrapped in layers and layers of heavy, difficult to remove, twisted, knotted, and tied disguisement, but it was there. Which was why on December 26th, 1979 at 8 o'clock in the morning, he found himself pounding once again at Isobel Egg's door, clutching a bag of goods (in this instance, as many breakfast foods that he believed a pregnant woman could keep down as possible), and yelling her name once more.

"Isobel!" he hollered, knocking in rapt succession. "Isobel, open the door!"

It was eight in the morning.

Izzie pulled her face out of her pillow and stared at her door, imagining she had see-through vision as she listened to Archie holler. He was probably standing there with some like a work cloak on, face scrunched in that particular way when he was being serious and---no, she was not going to open the door. She should be allowed to sleep in, a pregnant woman should be allowed to sleep in for as long as she wanted as many times as she wanted!

It just made sense, and Isobel was pretty sure her list of 'what she's allowed to do while pregnant' will grow to ten feet long, and she was perfectly okay with that.

When the knocking didn't stop, she finally let out a frustrated sound and threw the covers off of herself, slamming the door open and hurrying down the hallway to get to the door as quickly as possible; the banging was becoming far too annoying to deal with any longer. She caught a glance of her reflection in the mirror by the door and paused; her chest was bloody huge! That was definitely not normal, she was usually as flat as a pancake and---

--well maybe that was why Archie was so eager to get in here.

Finding herself amused at this thought, Izzie opened the door slowly, peering out at Archie and wondering if---"Ooh, you brought food!"

"I did," he said briskly, walking past her once again. Archie hadn't even noticed the time, really, but he on a mission. And people like him on missions like these could not bother with things like time. Depositing the bag on the table, he took a deep breath, turning to ask her how she was feeling. That was a nice, easy way to ease into something life-altering, wasn't it? Asking how someone was?

Yes. And part of the reason he decided that may have had to do with the fact that he couldn't think of anything else to say that wouldn't make him look like a raving loon.

"I trust you, er, had a good night?"

"Mmhm," she hummed, pulling open the bag to peek inside. "I was sleeping like a rock until you attempted to bust in." Izzie's eyes widened in delight at the sight of strawberry danish and she didn't hesitate in sticking her hand into the bag and grabbing it. The food had to be for her, right? There was no one else in this flat, and Archie couldn't eat it by himself---oh, whatever, she was pregnant, she was allowed to eat all the food in the vicinity.

See, her list was already growing.

Izzie daintily ripped bits of the danish off, chewing thoughtfully as she wondered if she was actually craving this, or if it was the baby. She didn't particularly like strawberries, but she'd never minded them, and this wasn't exactly a must-have feeling she had in the pit of her stomach, so. Maybe it was just the beginning of all the ridiculous pregnancy stories she's heard over the year.

Merlin, telling Archie about the baby had certainly made thinking about being pregnant easier. "Why are you knocking down my door?" she asked, gulping down another bite.

His appetite having left him about the time he'd woken up this morning with a firm plan of action in his mind, Archie contented himself with a minor bit of nervous pacing, casting a glance or two towards Isobel.

"That's good to hear," he replied absently, rubbing his hands together while he paced.

"Isobel," he planted his feet and looked up suddenly. "We've been together now for quite some time, have we not? And despite a somewhat--rocky beginning, we've done rather well for ourselves, wouldn't you say?"

She rocked back and forth on her heels, quite immersed in her danish. Izzie nodded along with Archie's words--she was listening, it was just that the glazed bit was so good and maybe the baby was telling her that this was the best possible thing she could give him or her right now. She had never felt it to be so necessary to finish every last bite of something, that she couldn't dare leave any crumbs or miss any jelly.

This kid had some good taste already, she could tell. Isobel was normally very good at listening to Archie when he got into lecture mode (which he sounded to be in right now), but at the moment the danish had her attention, and it was making her mind a bit empty---well, no, she had a song in her head, and it was causing her to sway a bit in rhythm, but she was still positive she could hear everything and anything he said.

"Yes, rather well," she agreed, pulling apart another piece.

"The important thing to consider here, Isobel, is that we've not only ourselves to think of now, but a child! These things have to be taken seriously," he resumed his pacing, arms folded behind his back where they were less liable to flail about uselessly. Archie just had to remain focused, determined, with his eyes on the prize. Goal. Ulterior motive--whatever this was that made him sound less like a chauvinistic jerk and/or one-track-minded individual.

"Now, we both know that we're both committed to this child--and we were already committed to one another. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about these things, and I don't want to go the wrong way, Isobel. I hate the wrong way, as a matter of fact, it's not something that I would even like to consider," this was a rather large amount of words to get out in such a short period of time. "I've given this an immeasurable amount of thought, Isobel Egg. And I strongly believe in championing propriety. The last thing I would ever let happen to you is, for some reason, leave you in doubt of the level of commitment I have to you. Which is why..."

Archie reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the box that felt like it was burning a hole before crossing over to where Izzie was standing and bending down on the traditional one knee.

"Isobel Minerva Egg, will you marry me?"

A big glop of jelly fell to the floor as her eyes followed Archie to the ground. Izzie's hands dropped to her side, the danish falling to the tiles of her kitchen as well as she stared in shock at her boyfriend--on the floor, bent down on one knee with a box that looked remarkably like a ring box and then he said----he---he just---proposed.

"Are you out of your mind!"

It was all that came to her, and Izzie's hands flew to her mouth, her already wide eyes morphing to the size of saucers as her mind truly began to take in this situation and his words. He'd been going on about commitment, about how they'd done a good job together and how they were working and---that he'd always be committed to her and---

He had definitely not proposed the day before yesterday. Why was he proposing today? Izzie felt her face heat up, but tears stung her eyes and she looked away. This wasn't right, it didn't make sense and it didn't feel--

"You're proposing because of the baby," she croaked, sniffling and pushing some hair out of her face. She didn't move away from her standing position in front of him, her shoulders didn't straighten and remained in their scrunched, shocked position, but---but he was only proposing because of the baby. She should be storming off and ranting, but his words were repeating themselves over and over in her head and--half of it was following stupid rules, and the other--the other made her heart swell with a ridiculous amount of adoration and...and...she couldn't move.

"I don't want to get married because of the baby," Isobel whispered, looking down at Archie and biting her lip.

"Izzie!" Archie said, happy exasperation all over his face. Well, she hadn't said she didn't want to marry him period, now did she? In fact, she even sounded a bit sad that she believed he was only proposing because of the baby. This was excellent, for lack of proper words! This was very good news, he'd not suffered even one injury yet, and he had been anticipating at least one or two punches or a slap to the face. Simply because he had heard that pregnant woman were incredibly hormonal and thus irrational, of course, and goodness knew that his sister was a bit of a raving loon from what he could remember.

"That's not it at all!" he proclaimed, beaming up at her. "You see, you and I are in a very special sort of circumstance. Whatever our views on blood purity and equal rights may be, the point is that we do hail from higher society. Speaking as the children of generations-old Purebloods, we were raised with the expectation to find suitable spouses, start our own families, carry on the same traditions. I never gave much thought to it, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have some desire to carry on the line. I have thought about this, Isobel, and very seriously. The baby is just a wonderful reason for me to do things properly."

He flipped open the box gently, ring sparkling away happily, and grasped one of her hands softly. "What do you say?"

"I---" There were so many things wrong with this, she believed. Izzie couldn't find the words, but she was sure there was something wrong with the way Archie was talking, with his words, and with the whole situation. Of course she knew that it was expected of her to carry on the bloodline, that's all that had been drilled into her head since she was born, she knew--

What did she need to hear? She needed something else, Izzie wasn't even sure why she was actually considering accepting to proposal, but she needed something else to officially decide and...and...holy hell. She was contemplating accepting a marriage proposal from Arcturus MacMillan. See--see she was currently not thinking about the baby at all, she was not thinking about blood lines and lineage and values and what was expected. She was thinking about a house, and a backyard, and first days of schools and silver wedding anniversaries.

She did not care if her parents approved or not, or agreed that this was the way to go, she just wanted--she wanted to know that Archie was seeing this as more than a right of passage for a proper, sophisticated, pureblood man.

Though she had to give him, he was really good at picking out jewelry.

"Archie--" she let out, feeling breathless, "I--I don't want to be--suitable, I want---I want you to..." Oh, there go the tears again, and did he really have to propose when she was an insane hormonal wreck? Izzie's hands balled into shaking fists and she put them to her mouth, trying to get everything out, "I want you to--to want to grow old with me and---and I want to----want to make your lunch for--for work and---and I don't--want--it to be--expected and---"

She wiped her tears away, feeling incredibly foolish for ruining what could be the only proposal she received in her life. Merlin knew her parents had doubted she'd ever get one. "This has to be--this can't have anything to do with---traditions and rules. You---I want you to---want me."

Archie stood up slowly, bewildered by the tears that were sliding down Izzie's cheeks. Oh, no, this was no good at all. He might have been less apt to panic if they appeared to be tears of happiness, but there was nothing that even appeared to be joyous about these tears. Archie tried to avoid both wringing his hands nervously and allowing his eyes to widen immensely, because he didn't believe either of those would appease the woman in front of him who was not his fiancee yet.

"Izzie," he said, sounding shocked and slowly rising up off his knee. "Forgive me for jumbling this, but I don't think I can quite convey to you how much I've waited for this day with you. I know it appears rushed, but honestly, why wait around to do this just to be sure we aren't rushing into things head on." Archie lifted her chin slightly his hand, leaning in with his own. "I don't want anyone but you, you silly, lovely girl."

Crying, all she could do was cry, but now her tears were accompanied by a tremendous fluttering in her stomach (and no, she knew it wasn't the baby). Izzie nodded, once, again, over and over as she gripped onto the sides of Archie's shirt and pushed up to kiss him. The flurry of emotions she'd been spun around in during the past five minutes would exhaust her for a week, but all she wanted to do was kiss her--fiance!

Wait, was he her fiance, if he hadn't put the ring on her finger?

Izzie pulled back and sniffled, knowing she looked a bit like a raccoon with the red circles around her eyes. Tucking in close to Archie's chest, her eyes drifted down to search for the ring box, because--well, now that all of that was settled, she wanted to make it official.

Ah--huh. Officially make her the future Mrs. MacMillan. If you'd told her that five months ago, she would have torn the lips straight off your mouth.

"Yes--yes, I'll marry you," she said, looking back up and answering his question, proposal, from before. Izzie grinned and kissed him again.

Archie leaned back to grab the ring box he'd put on the table, taking the ring out of the box.

"Just to set things officially," he said, unable to even think about wiping the huge smile plastered on his face, sliding the ring gently onto her finger. He raised the now bejeweled-hand to kiss it and looked up at Izzie with a wink.

Well. He could have thought of about five thousand different ways for this particular scene to go wrong. But, luckily for him, there was only one way for it to go right, and he was fairly confident that this was the way it went.