Flirting With the Wind

We lied there together in bed, Hugo having his arm around my waist and my hand draped across his bare chest. Hugo used his other hand to gently lift my chin up so that he could kiss me. I looked up at him with a soft smile and kissed his lips that I seemed to have grown addicted to.

“Sorry for acting so stubborn and mean,” I apologize looking into his beautiful eyes.
“I suppose I can forgive you,” Hugo replies with a mock sigh.
“Isn’t very smart to mock me,” I warn with a hint of humor.
“Oh is that so? What are you going to do about it?” he counters with amused expression.
“I think I just will leave,” I state as I started to get up. He caught me and forced me to lie back down next to him causing me to chuckle softly.
“I could get used to this,” Hugo states with a genuine smile as he stroked the side of my face with his hand.
“Holding me hostage in bed?” I reply with a raised eyebrow.
“More or less,” he smirks kissing me. I loved kissing him and didn’t ever want to let him go but I knew I would have to very soon.

As planned Hugo left the next day. I was miserable but I tried to be brave for him; promising to be there when he came back. Days turned to weeks and weeks turn to months; in that time I grew ill. Every morning I woke and vomited; yet retained a more than hearty appetite all the while this made me realize I missed my monthly visitor from Mother Nature. My stomach protruded slightly and my moods as wells as cravings were off the wall. I was pregnant. Tears cascaded down my face in my moment of realization. I was so hysterical that my Aunt Catherine knew something was wrong with me.

“Mira what’s wrong?” she asks incredibly concerned because I was never one to shed a tear in front of others in most respects.
“I don’t know what to do, how to tell him, I’m so damn scared,” I sob.
“Are you pregnant?” Aunt Catherine questions somehow knowing what this was all about.
“Yes,” I croak.
“I knew it! All that time you’d spend in the mornings in the bathroom and those bizarre cravings, wait why are you so upset aren’t you happy?” she says.
“I’m terrified, I’m not a fit mother, let alone Hugo is off fighting in this war and he may not ever come back,” I say as more tears poured down my face.
“Oh shhh, its okay he’ll be back, I just know it,” Aunt Catherine reassures rubbing my back.
“How is this going to look, I don’t want my child discriminated against because they are born out of wedlock,” I counter.
“I am sure Hugo would marry you in an instant once you tell him,” she states.
“I don’t want him to have to marry me because I am bearing his child,” I respond.
“You wouldn’t be forcing him to do anything he does not want Mira, Hugo loves you and was planning on marrying you anyways he just hasn’t found the right ring yet but he’s asked your uncle’s permission,” my aunt smiles.
“I hate this, I feel like a blubbering fool, I am never like this,” I sigh.
“Just take it easy and try not to stress, write Hugo and tell him he is going to be a father,” she says hugging me.
“I never thought I’d have to write something like this,” I reply honestly.
“Its going to be alright Mira, he’ll be ecstatic to hear the good news,” Aunt Catherine smiles.
“It seems you are more excited about this than I am,” I mutter.
“Babies make the world look a little brighter I cannot help it,” she replies still grinning.
“A louder more complicated one,” I add.
“I’ll leave you to write Hugo, call if you need anything,” my aunt says kissing my cheek. She left me to my thoughts and I forced myself off the bed to sit at the desk.

Two hours and several sheets of crumpled up stationary paper later I had written the letter. Hormones of a pregnant woman are incredibly nerving wrecking, and I felt more vulnerable than I ever felt before. After sending the letter I felt anxious, wanting to know Hugo’s reaction but another month passed and I received nothing, not a damn thing. Now four months pregnant my stomach protruded more and I often waited for Hugo or a letter at the very least but none of which came.

I had grown incredibly protective of the small being growing in my womb, often touching my stomach smiling at the thought of whether it could be a girl or boy. It made me feel less lonely that Hugo was not there with me, but I had faith that he would come, that God would give me the happiness I so dearly needed. One day came and I was in the gardens reading when I heard the cars coming. I grew overjoyed and was ready to be reunited with Hugo. But no such thing happened. Wilhelm came out running out of the house looking absolutely horrified.

“Hurry we have to run Mira they’ve come to kill us all,” Will says roughly grabbing my arm and pulled me with him as he ran. I stumbled a bit as I looked over my shoulder to see my Uncle Frederick being shot in the chest whilst he was fighting off some Gestapo soldiers but quickly got my composure and ran alongside with him.

I could hear the men cursing in German. It hurt to breathe, that was how hard we were running and I worried about the stress of the baby. I did my damn best to keep calm and breathe properly hoping none of this would harm my unborn child. Will kept hold of my hand as we ran through the woods and the sounds of the soldiers became more distant. After what seemed like hours we stopped running as the woods grew darker leading us to believe they would cease their search for the night.

“They killed them all, mother, father, Bridget, Darcy, Vater told me to get you out of there to run away as fast as we could,” Will says looking at me through tears. I wrapped my arms around him.
“We’ll think of something, they won’t get us too,” I try to reassure but the image of the ditch full of dead bodies encased my mind but instead of the bodies of strangers but those of my family.
“What are we going to do Mira? We’ll freeze out here,” he replies.
“We can do anything we are Shepherds and we can survive this, we have to survive this,” I state with feeling.
"They're all dead," Will sobs as I cradled him in my arms trying my best to soothe his nerves. I was at a loss, my family murdered for reasons unknown and here we were all alone to fend for ourselves in the desolate woods.

The next couple of days passed and both of us were cold, restless, and hungry. On top of it all the snow came in the night making us not only cold but wet as well. It was beyond hard but I kept telling myself to stay positive for Will and the baby’s sake.

We were ambushed on the fourth day, Will was ripped from my clutches and I yelled using every language I knew to tell the Gestapo soldiers to leave us be. I was held back by two soldiers whilst I witnessed one of the others press the gun to Will’s forehead and pull the trigger.

My dear little cousin Will fell to the ground with a loud thump, the thick crimson blood seeping onto the dirty snow. I screamed with tear filled eyes as the soldiers grabbed me roughly by the arms and began tugging me elsewhere. They were taking me to the squad car they said, claiming the Major wanting me alive.

My heart could not bare this stress; I tried to pull it together as they took me away. I tried to be good in hopes of keeping alive for my unborn child. And as the vehicle stopped and I was forced to look at the cruel ice blue eyes I never wanted to see, my heart skipped a beat and I hoped this was just a terrible nightmare.

“Hello my pet,” Major Hellstrom smirks evilly. My throat was dry from fear, not for me but my unborn child, and looking into those malevolent blue eyes I could almost feel the pain that was to come. Lord, please help me get through this endeavor.