Ah, high noon. Occasionally the shop would be full around this time with people on lunch breaks and such, but today only one person is milling about the store and the middle-aged, balding mad doesn’t look like he is going to be buying anything. Amalia stretches, yawns and spins around on her stool so she can lean back and lie half on the counter. She’s tired, she didn’t get much sleep last night, but that’s another story… Amalia sits back up and looks down at the small cradle behind the counter. Yay for sleeping Collin! He’s much easier to deal with this way.

Eva Wexler comes sauntering down the stairs, wearing her corset, but looking rather lazy. “Ami, the girls are asleep upstairs, if you want to put Collin into their crib. They wouldn’t mind the company.” She pauses.” They all seem to sleep better with company, anyhow.” The young woman sighs and rubs her stomach. “I think I’m going to tell him today.” She plops onto a stool and ties up her boots lazily, her blue dress looking rather overly formal in comparison to her haphazardly done hair, and the slight bags under her eyes. “Slow day,” the woman comments, stifling a yawn. “Anyway, I think it’s best that he knows. Best for him, anyway. I could care less.” And she means this. Sort of.

But seriously. What was he going to do with all of it? Having just come from lunch with Thieras, Tommy Fallon is laden with boxes of untouched, packaged sandwiches. What was that man thinking when he’d ordered twenty of the things! ‘No, Tommy, I am starving,’ he’d said. Good Lord. He’d already given three sandwiches out to people in passing on the street when he’d gotten the idea to drop in on Eva. Upon walking through the door, he immediately notices Eva in that damned irresistible corset of hers. Putting his energy towards acting nonchalant, he announces, “Afternoon, ladies,” calmly. “Err, would either of you want a sandwich? They were just made an hour ago, I expect they’re still good.”

Amalia Amithest eyes Eva as she saunters down the stairs. “You’re still wearing that thing?” She says, referring to the corset. “Oh? Collin is fine where he is, I think. I’d hate to sake him. Just got him sleeping not too long ago.” Amalia turns so she can see the child, flips her hair over her shoulder and then leans on the countertop again. As the annoyingly tingly bell above then door rings, Amalia once again spins around in her chair. “‘Allo.” Amalia says with a grin and a nod. “A. . sandwich?”

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” Eva admits, running her hands over the boning, which she can still feel under the fabric of her dress. “Anyway, it makes me feel better. Less… fat.” The young woman sighs, casting a glance to the sleeping infant. So small… her thoughts are about to drift off again when she hears the tinkle of the bell and glances up. “Hullo, Tommy,” she greets the man, and pauses, raising an eyebrow at his question. “Why on earth have you so many boxes?” She isn’t even sure she wants to know, but curiosity gets the best of her.

With a sigh, Tommy resigns himself to explaining. “I’ve just come from lunch with Thieras. He said he was hungry enough to order all of these, but, long story short, he wasn’t. Darn git,” Tommy says, but with a grin. “It’s the last time I treat him to a meal, believe me,” the man nods, walking slowly closer to Eva with a smile. “So,” he iterates softly and with his crooked grin, “I’m left with all of these.” Setting the load down on the counter, he looks at Eva again but, really, tries his best not to stare. To say the least, his feelings for the woman do scare him a little. The last time he’d felt like this… all fluttery at times… things had ended badly for him. Very badly.

Amalia Amithest makes a slight humming noise. “Well, that can’t be too altogether good for too much longer.” Amalia says in a tone that sounds as though she’s been through this a thousand times before. Of course, she is really just stating the obvious and would be highly surprised if Eva didn’t know that, or at least couldn’t guess it from just plain common sense. Amalia grins as she examines the boxes. Interesting! It isn’t every day that someone brings something into Honeydukes, and Ami doesn’t get out too much. “Sandwiches are good.” Yes, indeed.

Eva Wexler grins at Tommy, her eyes twinkling. “That sounds so very like Thieras. He didn’t foot you with the bill, did he?” She winks and stands up, suppressing a slight groan as she glances over all the boxes. “Goodness, you must have enough to feed a small army!” Her eyes are wide as she stares at the array. She plucks out one of the smaller boxes and scoots her stool closer to the counter. “Come sit with me, Tommy,” she beckons him, transfiguring a statue into a stool for him. Ah, much better.

“Sandwiches are good,” he agrees with Amalia happily as he takes a seat on the stool, beside Eva. “The bill was indeed ‘footed’ to me. And, that foot hurt,” he says with a low, somehow empty laugh. “So,” he says, nudging Eva in the side with his index and middle fingers, more for the physical contact than anything, he asks, “how have things been going? Good business?” Tommy mildly reprimands himself internally. Is there nothing you can ask about besides the shoppe’s business? He knows the comfortable to do would be to keep his distance, but in the name of not kidding himself, he really is drawn to Eva.

Amalia Amithest picks a box at random and pulls out a sandwich. Mmm. Ami didn’t realize how hungry she was until someone mentioned food. And it is even real food. Not candy which gives you a wonderful buzz but doesn’t really fill you up at all. Amalia nods to Tommy, her mouth too full of sandwich to say anything.

“It’s going. I’ve been upstairs more often than I’d like. The twins have been fussy lately. I think Elsbethe would know best, really.” Feeling Tommy’s nudge, and glancing at him, Eva finds herself wanting to lean over and give him a kiss. Which she does. On the cheek. She grins at him. “Calm down, Ami won’t bite.” She winks at him and opens the box, trying not to look visibly ill at the sight of the sandwich. Was morning sickness supposed to last this far into the day? She isn’t certain of it. She looks at him curiously, trying to figure out a good time to break the news.

Tommy Fallon knows she’s been upstairs a lot. More than he’d like, too. He’d realized recently that he’d found himself missing her in a moment of solitude, which was a bit of a jolt for him. The same jolts he’d been getting all along, really. Bittersweet, the whole thing. For instance, the need to be near her: a hauntingly familiar feeling. And what her smile did to him? That tight sensation in his chest? Too well-known for his liking. Still, it felt right to him somehow, which is why he was here now. He smirks at the last comment and nods. “I know she won’t,” he assures.

Amalia doesn’t bite? I dunno, at the rate that she is currently inhaling her sandwich, one is left to wonder. Any fingers get in the say and they could disappear. Now that she is finished chewing for a short time, Amalia is able to answer Tommy’s question. “Business has been good.” Amalia nods and motions to the cradle with the sleeping child in it. “I do a lot of afternoon shifts. Elsbethe would know mornings best.”

Eva Wexler takes a labored bite and eats it, swallowing carefully while Amalia speaks. “Mmm,” she agrees, nodding. “I fill in when I can, but the twins have been so restless lately. They love to play with each other, but they’re so social, and since they can’t even scoot yet, there’s no mobility. I’ve got to get Elsbethe to bring Etaina over more often.” She pauses and puts the sandwich down. It’s a vain endeavor, anyway. “But, uh, Tommy, I do have something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” Been meaning? She’s only known for several days.

Having been nodding slightly in reply to what was being said, Tommy Fallon now tilts his head to the side and makes eye-contact with Eva. This sounded kind of serious, and she has his full attention to be sure. “Oh. Alright. Sure Eva, you can tell me anything,” he says, confident that he was able to mask the uncertainty in his voice.

“Well,” Eva starts, drawing the word out longer than is absolutely necessary. Inside, she’s freaking out, because she’s not had to tell someone yet of her pregnancy. How will he react? What will it mean? She doesn’t know, and almost tries to think of something else to say. “I’m expecting again.” There, it’s out. She reaches out with her handkercheif and dabs at a spot on his cheek, then looks at him again. Motherly habits are starting to set in, obviously. Her heart races as she watches his face intently.

Tommy Fallon looks at her blankly for a minute as he processes what he’s just heard. His mouth is a straight line for once; not raised into a crooked grin as she dabs it. Expecting. Pregnant? Tommy is not aware of much right now, but if he had been, he’d have known that his very first thought was, ‘but, we’re not married,’ although, without delay, he figures that they weren’t married when they… well… Still, this hadn’t been the original intention.(‘What would mother say? What would Avery say?’) A small flower of fear blossoms in the pit of Tommy‘s stomach, and he looks to Amalia for a fleeting moment as if something she could say could help the situation. Subtly biting his lip, he looks back to Eva. As the reality of it all begins to sink in, he just looks at her. (‘Do I love her?’) He somehow finds some solace in her genuine-seeming gaze, and suddenly gets a bit of a shiver. Of excitement. He could so do this. “Eva, I can so do this,” he stammers, but then shakes his head and revises the statement to, “I mean, it’s fine. We’ll be fine! We–” he stops mid sentence as he abruptly becomes cold as though thrown into a tub of ice water at the realization: “Ah–” he lowers his voice substantially, “it is… my… baby, isn’t it?” he asks, afraid he might have just made a very big fool of himself.

Amalia Amithest watches everything go on from the sidelines as though she is watching a tennis match. Her eyes go back and fourth, back and fourth, back and fourth as she occasionally nibbles on her sandwich. As Tommy looks to her, Amalia shrugs a bit and nibbles on her sandwich some more. “Hopefully, it is only one this time.”

Eva Wexler glances at Amalia, almost ready to die at the comment. Oh, come now, Amalia, a vote of confidence on this one! Eva sighs and looks back at Tommy. “Don’t mind her. I can’t help it if twins run in my family.” She pauses. “Yes, yes, it’s yours.” Well, it’s a small lie. There’s always the possibility that it’s Arnauld’s, but Eva thinks it much more plausible that it is his. She reaches out and takes his hand. “It’s alright. Calm down.” She almost wants to shake him, to make him settle down. He’s acting more nervous than she feels!

Taking a deep breath, Tommy does try and calm down, laughing at what Amalia’s said in the process. “Twins run in my family, too,” is all he can really think of to say, as his mind swims with relief after hearing that it is his baby. To think of it being someone else’s… well, he just wouldn’t think about that right now. And as Eva takes his hand presently, against his better high and masculine judgment, he hangs on for dear life.

Amalia finished up her sandwich and flips her hair over her shoulder. Amalia takes a moment to glance down at Collin and is forced to double-take. Oh, he’s awake! Amalia slides off of her stool, scoops the baby boy up and holds him close. Amalia bounces him a tad as she turns to Eva and motions to the stairs with her head. She’s going to go ahead and take him up before he even has a chance to get fussy. With a smile to Tommy and a wink to Eva Amalia climbs the stairs and disappears.

Even though she feels completely ill, Eva slides off her stool and rests her head on Tommy’s shoulder. Actually… this feels kind of nice. She snuggles up to him. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had one set of twins. I can handle it.” She believes this, too. It’s just… kind of nice, leaning there like that. Kind of cozy. Eva? Where have you gone to? When did you get romantic? Her brain seems to be screaming at her, but for once, her emotions are winning, and she’s giving into what feels right.

Tommy Fallon is again struck into blankness as she leans against him. His back goes a little rigid, but not to the point to which she would have likely noticed. Then, sitting there, he realizes his right hand is idly stroking Eva’s hair while his face stares dead-pan ahead of him at nothing in particular. He does love her. But these things needed to be taken one step at a time. They’d just taken one together, and now they’d have to deal with it properly. Blinking slowly, he looks down at her with a smile and hugs her closer with his arm. They should name the baby Eva. Or Evan. “You can handle it,” he repeats with a nod.