Chapter Text
Penelope Featherington was tired of waiting. Waiting on the right time. Waiting on the right moment. Waiting on the right man. She is 32 years old and already feels like her biological clock is ticking. Sure, there were men. Even one long term relationship that she thought would make it down the aisle. But when that ended a few years back, there was never another relationship that made very far before its inevitable end. Which is why about a year ago, she decided time was up. She’s known since she was a child that she wanted to be a mother, and she was going to make it happen for herself. She contacted a fertility clinic about the possibility of artificial insemination. And about 38 weeks ago, she was inseminated with the sperm of donor #Q3759, a cardiac surgeon with 3 siblings, no known family history of severe mental issues, heart disease, alzheimers or dementia. Not to mention he sounded incredibly handsome, with his profile stating he was about 6 feet tall, with brown hair and green eyes. On paper, he was the perfect man. Too bad she couldn’t have met him in real life.
When her pregnancy test came back positive a few weeks post-insemination, she was thrilled. She immediately called her doctor's office to set up a confirmation appointment, and she may have been scrolling through pinterest to get nursery inspiration when it hit her. She would still have to tell her mother. It’s not that Penelope is scared of her mother. Portia Featherington is a formidable woman. She survived a loveless marriage for the sake of societal standing, raised four daughters to achieve somewhat successful lives, and when her husband was suddenly found dead in the hotel room of a Monte Carlo Casino, she was able to save her family’s reputation.
Penelope just knew exactly what her mother was going to say when she learned that her daughter is choosing to be a single mother. “This is an outrage!” “Only sad, lonely women feel the need to start a family without a husband.” “This is not how our family does things!” “Why can’t you just settle down like your sisters? You know I have lots of friends with eligible sons I could set you up with…” It was not exactly a conversation that Penelope was thrilled to live through, especially when the comparison to her sisters comes into play.
Penelope has varying relationship levels with her sisters, but at least in her mother’s eyes, they are all much more successful than Penelope. Her eldest sister, Prudence, is happily married to Harry Dankworth III, who happens to come from a long line of real estate moguls and has been working at his father’s firm since he graduated from Cambridge with his business degree. He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but Penelope can’t deny his unending devotion for her sister. They have a son together, happily giving Harry the third his heir, Harry the fourth, but is lovingly referred to as “Little Harry” by all who know him. Harry’s crazy in love with Prudence, Prudence is in love with being a stay-at-home mom, and Penelope’s happy because the rude comments Prudence always makes towards her are now limited to every other family holiday.
Her second oldest sister, Phillipa, is also happily married and with two children: a 4 year old daughter named Phoebe, a 2 year old daughter named Paisley, and a third daughter on the way. While you may think her husband, a Mr. Albion Finch, is hoping for a son, this is not the case. Albion has frequently been heard saying when questioned on trying for a fourth, “If it is my destiny to be surrounded by beautiful women, then it is a destiny I will happily see play out.” While Penelope has a better relationship with Phillipa, they’re still not very close. Phillipa and Prudence were almost attached at the hip growing up, only being about 18 months apart, and leaving no room in their closeness for either Penelope or their youngest sister Felicity.
When Penelope found out her mother was pregnant again when she was 8 years old, she was NOT happy. Penelope had a hard enough time fighting for her parent’s attention, and did not want to worry about another addition getting in the way. In fact, for the first few months after Felicity’s birth, Penelope didn’t even want to be in the same room as her. To Penelope, all little Felicity did was cry and make a mess in her nappies. But then one day, Penelope’s mom asked her to keep an eye on her while she ran outside to give the gardeners instructions. Penelope continued to read her book, Matilda, when all of a sudden, Felicity began crying from her playmate on the floor. Penelope tried yelling for her mother, to no avail, and the crying continued. With a roll of her eyes, Penelope gets up and kneels down next to her baby sister. As Penelope tries to calm her, she places a hand on Felicity’s stomach. Suddenly Felicity stops crying, and looks directly at her. As the eye contact between the two continues, Felicity starts to do the unthinkable; she smiles. When Portia returns to the sitting room ten minutes later to feed Felicity, she walks in to Penelope laying on the ground next to her, reading her book aloud to a very content Felicity, cooing along as her sister reads. From that moment on, Penelope and Felicity were practically inseparable. Now, at the age of 24, Felicity is in her final year at Oxford finishing up her English degree. While Portia isn’t thrilled with Felicity’s career choice to become an English teacher, she is thrilled that she is currently engaged to Jeff Albansdale, a very successful, and handsome, barrister at one of the top firms in London. Penelope is excited for Felicity to move back into the city after her graduation, but at that point, Felicity will be married. And Penelope would be alone.
Well, she would have been alone. Set to give birth any day now, Penelope will decidedly not be alone anymore. No, she may still not have a man in her life, or a father to her child, but she will have this baby. The one thing she’s always wanted to have. And while she’s nervous about the delivery and living as a single mom, she knows that she will do whatever it takes to ensure her baby has the best life possible.Thankfully, money is not an issue. Yes, her family has money thanks to her father’s nobility status and their standing in England’s noble society, but Penelope is financially stable thanks to her own accord. Penelope is the anonymous writer behind the best-selling Lady Whistledown series. The only one who knows her secret is Felicity, and Penelope would prefer to keep it that way. The rest of her family knows that she works in the realm of books, but honestly hasn’t seemed to care enough to even ask in what way. Penelope isn’t necessarily trying to keep it a secret from her family, even if she would prefer it to be. Their questions just always seem to focus on her love life rather than her work life.
When Penelope alerted her editor of the major life change she was going to encounter, they worked out a plan to have her next book already submitted before her birth (officially accomplished as of three weeks ago), and a six month break to follow to allow her maternity leave. While Penelope knows she should, in theory, be doing something to prepare for her birth, she feels as though everything is already done. The nursery in her spacious, three-bedroom flat is decorated and organized, sticking to a sage green and white Winnie-the-Pooh motif to keep it gender neutral. She has all the highest rated baby items and gadgets, attended all of the pregnancy and birth classes, even finding ones specifically for single mothers, and has read all the baby books the blog moms have suggested. At this point, it was a waiting game.
The waiting game finally came to an end on what appeared to be a totally normal Wednesday. Penelope was working on her next book’s outline, laid out on her couch with her laptop comically propped on her oversized belly when she felt it. The muscles of her stomach tightened, and the cramp-like pain hit suddenly. It felt different from the sporadic Braxton-Hicks contractions she’s been having the past few weeks, and she just instantly knew. This is it.
From her classes, Penelope knows to wait until her contractions are 10 minutes apart before going to hospital. So she does what she can to distract her from the pain and to keep her from having an anxiety-induced breakdown in the process, all the while logging her contractions in her notes app, because at this point she is likely to forget the timings. At about 4pm, after taking a long, calming bath, her contractions finally hit the point where they were about 10 minutes apart. After her next contraction ends, she reaches for her phone to order an uber. Once she receives the confirmation her uber is 8 minutes away, she checks her pre-packed hospital bag one more time, adds her last minute items, puts on her shoes, and takes one last glance at her flat as she walks out the door. She makes her way to the curb to wait for her uber, when another contraction suddenly hits. She checks her phone, and it’s two minutes sooner than the last one was; her contractions are picking up. She hopes that the uber is sooner than expected, because it's clear her labor is beginning to progress. Quickly.