#herschberger this time lol

[thevillagequeer]

I Hope You Grow Old Enough to Be Imperfect

Prologue/? AO3

On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth.

This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

He had just found his fourth child.

"No!" Rachel Herschberger had just given birth. She certainly had not been pregnant when the day first began, thank you.

Rachel Herschberger had just given birth and her parents were selling her son to a billionaire for three thousand dollars.

"No! He's not for sale." She clutched the child close, shielding him from the prying eyes of Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

Her mother and father turned to look at her, aghast, both at the explosiveness of her reaction and her disobedience.

"Rachel," Her mother hissed, putting a firm hand on her shoulder, pushing both Rachel and her baby forward from the bed.

"This is what must be done." Her mouth closed in a hard line, matching the hard lines on her face. The only place of pity Rachel could find was in her eyes, ringed red and wet with tears yet to fall.

Her child had been born just as a baby should, despite the abrupt and fantastical nature of his birth.  Ten fingers, ten toes, fists scrunched up beneath his chin, just as God intended.

But then there were the wails. Rachel had never heard an infant make such horrid sounds before. She didn't know such a little body was capable. The boy had cried and cried and cried, right through Sir Hargreeves entrance, right through the attempted negotiations.

"Now, if you just sign here, Mr. Herschberger, I will be able to give you some peace and quiet, eh?" Hargreeves quipped, patience running thin. The patriarch of the Herschberger clan lowered the pen to paper.

"No!" Rachel yelled again fiercely. Hargreeves' cold stare turned onto her and she felt herself freeze beneath it. 

"No." She said again. "My child is not for sale." They would need the mother's signature to make the adoption legal, Hargreeves had said so himself. It didn't matter if the child was out of wedlock, or that the mother was still under the control and protection of her parents.

"Excuse me?" Hargreeves stepped between Rachel's parents towards the bed, smile ice cold. This man was so cold.

"Trust me, my dear, this will benefit you just as much as I." He peered down at the baby, who had cried himself into a fitful sleep.

Hargreeves looked at Rachel's child the way a wolf eyes its prey. Hungry, but excited just as equally by the chase as the reward. Rachel held her son closer. She was trembling.

"You can't have him. You can't have my son."

"Four thousand for the boy."

Rachel stayed firm. Silent, watching.

"Five!"

"Rachel, stop this nonsense--" Her father commanded.

"I don't have all day, ten, ten thousand for the child!"

The commotion stirred the child from his shallow slumber. Green eyes that hadn't quite settled on a shade opened. He looked up at his mother, he stared at Reginald Hargreeves. His gaze settled between the two at a figure no one else could see.

The boy howled.

Reginald was just barely missed by a falling wardrobe. Solid wood, weighing hundreds of pounds. It tipping over would have taken at least two men pushing it. Should have. 

Rachel felt faint, her heart pressing rough in her chest and she could feel consciousness slipping away.

"No...no," She clutched her son, struggling to keep her hold and her wakedness. If she slipped, he'd be gone.

"I've got him." Sarah placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder, beckoning for the child. "I've got him, Rachel," She smiled sadly, pressing her palm to her sister's flushed cheek. "He's not going anywhere."

God bless her sister.

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When Rachel woke, the room was silent. And empty. Her heart clenched and her breath caught and a prayer fell to her lips.

"He's right here, he's right here, Rachel." Sarah was right at her side, bundle in her arms.

"Kept up with his tears all night, poor dear. The extra swaddling seems to have helped though." Her sister gently eased the baby back into Rachel's arms. Now, he seemed to have finally fallen into a rest, wrapped thickly in swaddling clothes despite the fall chill having not set in yet.

"But about--" Rachel started, eyes going from her son to the door to Sarah. Sarah reached out again, hand on her shoulder, humming an affirmation.

"Ma and Father changed their mind. When the wardrobe tipped over, your bible fell out." Sarah smiled, clearly grateful, but also uneasy, keeping the details of the story from her sister. Rachel could tell, but let it lie for now. Best not press good fortune.

"What? What did they tell Sir Hargreeeves?" Rachel tried to imagine what had changed her parents' hearts so fast.

Sarah hesitated, and looked down at her hands, tensely held in her skirt. She took a breath, looked over the child, and then met Rachel's eyes.

"They think he's been sent by God."

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Chapter 1

Well...I hope you enjoyed! Chapter One will be done shortly I hope, I just got excited and wanted to post something with this fic. I will try to keep AO3 updated as well, I just am a mess when it comes to using that website lol

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