Fiona froze, then, after a minute, reached over to grab her purse from my lap. Digging through her bag earnestly, she came out with her birth control pack and her phone. Looking between the two, her face paled as she processed whatever she was seeing.
“I did miss it. I don’t know how I didn’t realize. How could I be so careless?” she whispered, and I grabbed her hand.
“Baby. Things have been crazy recently. All those late nights working on the books after working your regular job, Jackson showing up… You’ve had a lot going on. We’re going to be okay. Our baby is okay. It doesn’t matter how it happened. What matters is what we do from here. I for one am fucking over the moon and can’t wait to meet our baby.”
We listened to the doctor and made several follow-up appointments, spanning the next few weeks. The ride home was quiet but peaceful, Fiona was in the passenger seat, holding the sonogram picture with reverence.
Once we got home, Fee headed upstairs to change as I went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. A few minutes later, she came down and into the kitchen. I knew something was up by the way she was alternatively staring at her hand and biting her lip.
“What’s going through that head of yours?” I asked, studying her body language.
“Your mom knows. About the baby. She was in the room with me at the hospital when they told me,” she blurted out, concern evident on her face.
“Good. I’m glad you weren’t alone. Saves us the hassle of trying to keep it from her, too. Woman is worse than Charlie when she suspects something,” I told her, and watched as Fee’s shoulders dropped, physically reacting.
After that doctor’s appointment, I was even more grateful that Ma already knew because both Fiona and I were going to have several questions throughout the process.
“I was thinking, we could give them a call to let them know about our other news, though,” I said, grabbing her hand and rubbing my thumb over the ring sitting on her finger. Her cheeks bloomed pink at the gesture.
“Can we FaceTime? Both Charlie and your parents together? Or should we have them over for dinner?” Fee asked, offering several suggestions at once. I picked up my phone and started to FaceTime the group, knowing I wanted the day alone with Fiona, so a call would have to do.
“Is Fiona okay?”
“What did you do?”
The women in my family both asked as soon as they answered my call. I glared at them.
“Why do you just automatically assume I did something?” I asked, frowning at my family.
Neither woman looked impressed with my answer, and just stared at me blankly before Guard cut in.
“Is there a reason you called us all, then?” I smiled broadly before hitting the button to flip the camera so Fiona was in view.
“She said yes,” I told them, and they started screaming when Fiona awkwardly held her hand up, clearly embarrassed under the scrutiny. She walked over to me, and I turned the camera back so we were both on screen.
“I proposed last night, and Fiona said yes. I wanted to let you guys know. Now that you do, don’t bug us the rest of the day,” I said, ready to hang up when Fiona hit me on the chest.
Taking the phone from me, I could hear Fiona chatting with my mom and Charlie about the proposal and showing them the ring. With promises that they would get together the following day, they finally disconnected, and she came back over to me.
We spent the rest of the day in the bedroom, sharing plans for the future and talking over everything that was coming our way. We had pancakes for dinner, and I served it to Fiona in bed, reluctant to leave the little bubble we were in.
Charlie texted me at some point that the Old Ladies were already planning an engagement party for us, and that we had to show up at the clubhouse the next day by noon. That workedfor me, it gave me the rest of the night alone with my woman, and then I got to announce to the rest of our family that she was going to be mine forever.
The next morning, I woke up wrapped around Fiona, excited to start the new chapter of our lives. Memories of the night before had my body hardening, but before I could act on it, Fiona was lurching out of the bed and running to the bathroom.
Alarmed, I followed after her and quickly pulled her hair away from her face as she threw up into the toilet. Her small body shook violently as she heaved. When she was finished, I helped her move so she was leaning against the tub and got her a washcloth. Sighing as the cool water hit her neck, Fee’s eyes burst open as if just realizing someone else was in the room with her.
“Get out! This is gross. I’m okay, you can go!” she sputtered, trying to push me toward the door. I couldn’t help but laugh at her embarrassment.
“Babe, it’s gonna get a lot messier once the kid gets here. You’re not gonna scare me off with some puke. Now, let me help you back into bed and I’ll go get you something for your stomach. Think you can handle toast?” I asked. She just blinked up at me.
Rummaging through the kitchen, I found some peppermint tea, and set that in one of Fee’s favorite mugs. I waited for the toast to finish before slathering it in butter the way Fiona liked it. By the time I brought it back upstairs, Fee was sitting up in bed, glasses on and hair pushed back. Already looking much better, I was happy to watch as she eagerly ate her toast and downed her tea before hopping out of the bed to get ready for the day.
“Do you think you’re up for swinging by the clubhouse? I know the guys want to know how you’re doing,” I said.
“Yeah, I feel fine now. I can be ready in like thirty minutes. Can I have more toast maybe? With that apple jam we got from the farm?” she asked, her eyes lighting up. I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Anything for you, baby mama.” The endearment came out naturally, but we both froze as the reality of the statement hit us. I pulled her into my arms for a hug, and she snuggled into my chest.
