TWENTY-SEVEN
Curry Take Out and Catty Conversation
Tessa - 30 Weeks
"Good morning, I'm VeronicaPlatt from the ABNC news desk. On This Week in Avonia, our top story is a controversial new initiative by Princess Tessa and her former employer, independent news outlet The Weekly Observer, that some critics are saying celebrates mediocrity but has others cheering. The princess has launched a campaign called the Good Enough Mums that many are suggesting is in response to lady Dr. Brooke Beddingfield Cunningham's Avonian Healthy Pregnancy Foundation, which we featured a few weeks ago.
The princess, who has herself faced a great deal of criticism about her recent weight gain, has put her photography skills to use, bringing in twenty pregnant women from around the country in various trimesters, ethnic backgrounds, and body shapes in an effort to celebrate the beauty and diversity of Avonia and women everywhere. Giles Bigly joins us live for some person-on-the-street interviews to get the average person's reaction."
"Good morning, Veronica. I'm joined by passerby Donald Miller, who I managed to catch on his way to work. And I have shown him the photographs that were posted yesterday on The Weekly Observer website and will be included in a special edition of the newspaper this weekend. Donald, what do you think of these photographs? "
"I don't really see what the big deal is. It's a bunch of pregnant women. Seen that before." Donald shrugs and walks away, leaving Giles standing, staring into the camera with a slightly panicked look on his face.
"Giles, is there anyone else nearby you can ask?" Veronica says with a tight smile.
Giles glances around for a moment before shaking his head. “It seems like the lunch hour foot traffic rush is already over, Veronica. Back to you."
Veronica shuffles some paper on her desk and then says, "That was Giles Bigly, reporting live.
“We here at ABNC news have done an online survey to find out what our viewers think of the Good Enough Mums Campaign, and overwhelmingly, the majority of Avonians are excited to see this type of initiative. Some of our more frequent comments were from people who suggested it was nice to see normal women as a subject of a photo shoot for a change and see a celebration of the beauty that exists in the ordinary world. Let’s check out the twitter feed, #GoodEnoughMums, for more of your thoughts. Racheal576 tweeted, ‘Hoorah for #GoodEnoughMums and for Princess Tessa! You go girl!’ Here we have PeterforPresident who says, ‘I’d do any of them. #HotEnoughForMeMums.’ How charming. Apparently, the producer who’s supposed to be vetting these is asleep at his desk.
“Carrying on, MumSquad1 tweeted, ‘Finally, a true celebration of real women. #Grateful #TessaIsBest #BrookeCanSuckIt.’ Okay, people, who’s choosing these?”
The twitter scroll at the bottom of the screen suddenly disappears as though Veronica’s glare dissolved it.
“So a lot of support overall for Good Enough Mums. Speaking of mums, Lady Dr. Brooke Beddingfield Cunningham will be joining us tomorrow to update us on her own healthy pregnancy, and on the latest ideas for how to provide your own baby with optimal nutrition. We’ll also ask the question everyone’s dying to know the answer to—will Blake be back from Kenya, where he’s shooting his latest film, in time for the birth of their child?”
***
EMAIL FROM DYLAN SINCLAIRto Me
RE: Wild Success
Dear Princess Tessa,
Congratulations on the beautiful piece for your Good Enough Mums Campaign. I’m thrilled to see you’ve applied what I’ve taught you. According to my graphs (attached), you’ll see that you are indeed making great inroads to becoming the People’s Princess.
All the best,
Dylan
***
TWO DAYS LATER
"Did I miss anything?" Nikki says, rushing into Arabella's apartment with her arms loaded with curry take out.
"Not much. So far, all Brooke and Blake have been doing is making a lot of very smug predictions about how easily this whole thing is going to go." Arabella rolls her eyes as she walks toward the kitchen to get plates and cutlery.
It’s Wednesday evening, prime time, of course, to have the maximum number of viewers for Brooke’s perfectly perfect, ‘I’m a yogi with in-depth medical knowledge’ labour and delivery. Arthur is in New York, so this is a nice diversion for me.
"Hhhhoooooo." Brooke is standing, bent slightly at the waist, her smile tightening as she starts to breeze in short, quick pops.
"So what you're seeing now is Brooke having a contraction." Blake looks directly at the camera.
"No shit, Sherlock," Nikki says, scooping some butter chicken onto her saffron rice.
"You'll notice that Brooke is able to easily handle these contractions even though they’re increasing in intensity according to the monitor. This is a direct result of the many hours of meditation, visualization, and—"
