Nathan

Alyssa's pregnancy was mostly an easy one except for the times it was not.

Like every other pregnant woman, she had the weirdest cravings, pain in strange places and incredible mood swings as the weeks went by and I went through them all with her knowing I was the one who ‘put her in that situation’ as she says.

To me it was all worth it.

Pregnancy Week: 6

I was just finishing up with work when I received a text from Alyssa.

Can you please get some fried chicken on your way back?

I, of course, agreed to because if I didn't, there would be dire consequences. She was glad to hear that I was able and I finished up my work.

After my last meeting, I received some news that got me overjoyed. Excited to tell Alyssa the news, I rushed home.

She opened the door for me and welcomed me fondly with a nice hug and a kiss. I returned the gesture with the same enthusiasm, but that was shortlived.

“Where's the fried chicken?” She asked, having only seen my work bag in my hands.

I cursed at myself silently for forgetting as her smile turned into a deep frown. Alyssa was a quick-tempered woman before but with her pregnancy it got worse, much worse.

“Did you forget?” She demanded.

How do I say this? If I tell her ‘yes’, she will get angry and if I lie and say ‘no’, she will get even more angry because I lied.

She let out a high-pitched growl, already knowing the answer. “I cant believe this! The one thing I ask you get me because the baby's been wanting it all day and you went ahead and forgot. Well, I guess the baby and I are going to starve because you forgot our dinner!”

The rest of what she said was mumbled as she stormed away. I felt terrible even though it wasn't my fault. Oliver came down just as she went up, knowing what just happened.

“You didn't get the fried chicken, did you?” He asked, staring up at me innocently.

“Yep.” I sighed. “How did you know about it anyway?”

“Mommy told me she was gonna tell you to get some and she said you better not forget.” He explained. “And she said it with that ‘I mean business’ voice so I think your in a lot of trouble now.”

I permitted myself to laugh a bit. “I am. Can you stay and do some damage control while I go get it?”

He nodded while I grabbed my keys. “I'll give her a hug and you get the chicken and yum yum sauce.”

“She never mentioned yum yum sauce.” I pointed out.

“Well, she wants it.”

“But…”

“She want yum yum sauce.” The way he widened his eyes and nodded his head told me to not argue about it. We still had some at home.

“Okay.”

“She wants the one from the restaurant not the one we have, she thinks it's icky.”

I simply shook my head and walked out of the house to my car. I took me roughly half an hour to get what she wanted and I guessed by that time she was calm.

She was, but she was also completely unwilling to even look at the chicken.

“I don't want it anymore.” She grumbled, pulling the covers over her head.

“Why not?” I saw her shrug under the blanket and groaned. “Okay, I'm sorry I forgot, I didn't mean to. Now will you please eat some? I don't want you and the baby to starve, I love you two too much for that.”

I knew that hearing that I loved her was bliss to her and I didn't mind saying it often. Her hand slid out of the blanket with an open palm. I stifles my laugh as I took a piece of chicken and placed it in her hand.

She gripped onto it and her arm slid back under the covers. I heard her bite into it and moan loudly. The sound was quite arousing to me but I kept myself in check because I knew that there would be no way she'd let me touch her after forgetting her chicken.

After about an hour, the three of us had eaten and I was forgiven.

********

Is it normal for pregnant woman to burst into tears randomly? Alyssa did that numerously and the reasons only got stranger.

Pregnancy Week: 10

I had gone out to pick get some snacks from my mum's bakery because that's what Alyssa's cravings had veered into. I had no reason to suspect anything was wrong when Oliver and I walked into the house but when I got to our bedroom, I found her sitting on our bed watching her favorite show with a bowl of popcorn in front of her which on its own was not weird.

The thing that worried me was that she was crying so hard you would think someone died.

“What's wrong, Love? Why are you crying?” I enquired, running to her side.

She sobbed and hiccupped a few more times before she could answer. “Iroh's son died.”

It took me a couple minutes of hard thinking to understand what she was talking about. She was watching ‘The tales of Ba Sing Se’ specifically ‘The tale of Iroh’ from Avatar: the last Airbender.

It was a particularly sad part of the show but also a part that she had seen multiple times and never cried over. She even cried harder when the song ‘Leaves from the vine’ started while shoving a some popcorn into her mouth.

My reaction to that was getting the remote and putting the TV off.

Alyssa did not like that.

“No!” She screamed. “Put it back on!”

I did as she said, fearing for my life because the look she gave me told me if I didn't, I'd probably be murdered.

She watched till the end, still crying while I stood by her just watching. When I thought it was safe, I decide to ask her more questions.

“Is that the only reason you were crying?” A tearful ‘no’ was her reply. “Can you tell me why you're crying?”

She sniffled a few times and proceeded to blow her nose before answering. “I was looking for my avatar hoodie and I didn't find it.”

“But you're wearing it.”

“Not this one. I was looking for the Zuko one and I wore this one to make me feel better then I wanted to get some chips to eat while I watched but I didn't find any so I had to make some popcorn.”

By the end of her explanation, she was crying again and I was trying to think of the most horrific things to prevent me from laughing like a maniac.

After successfully doing so, I bundled her up in my arms and stroked her hair till she was calm. Oliver came in shortly after and didn't ask why his mom had tear marks on her face, already use to her crying randomly.

He just joined the cuddle and munched on popcorn with us till everything was okay.

*******

Alyssa and I always argued when it came to the baby's gender so it was only natural that we were very excited to visit the OB-GYN a little after the pregnancy hit three months.

Pregnancy Week: 14

I drove the three of us, being Alyssa, Oliver and I, to the hospital after picking Oliver up from school. We thought it was a good idea to involve him in certain stages of the pregnancy and this was one of those stages it was convenient for him to witness.

Dr. Grace Keller was the gynecologist I found after Alyssa revealed her pregnancy. The woman had been in the practice for ten years and knew what she was doing. She's been a great help with Alyssa's mood swings and gave great advice on how Alyssa could stay fit to make birth easier.

She greeted us professionally and  Alyssa a hospital dress to put on in another room while she set the ultrasound machine up. Oliver, ever the curious child, was looking around and questioning everything and Dr. Keller was happy to answer him.

“What's that?” He pointed to the ultrasound probe.

“This is a probe, I'm gonna use it to look at the baby in your mommy's tummy.” Dr. Keller replied.

“Wow! Can you also see what she had for breakfast? I think she ate my muffin but I'm not sure.”

The doctor laughed lightly. “No, I can't see what she's eaten but I'm sure if she ate your muffin, she'll get you another one.”

I snickered to myself, knowing that I was the one who ate the muffin.

“Will it hurt Mommy or the baby?”

“No, it shouldn't hurt them.”

“Okay. How do you know if the baby is a boy or a girl?”

“I'll show you.” She proceeded to rub a gel on Alyssa's stomach and place the probe on it.

We all watched the screen in anticipation as the doctor pointed out the parts of the baby's body and explained what she was doing to Oliver who was fascinated by the fact we were seeing inside Alyssa's stomach.

“Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Graham, you're having a baby boy!” She announced.

Oliver and I, the ones who expected this, turned to each other with mischievous grins then to Alyssa. She, on the other hand, had covered her face with her hand, grinning under it.

“I assume there were predictions?” Dr. Keller caught on.

“Yeah, I said the baby was a girl.” Alyssa admitted, laughing slightly.

“And it's not.” Oliver completely teasingly.

“I can imagine why you want a girl, Mrs Graham. These two must give you a lot of problems.”

“What else are they good for?” She and the doctor laughed while I rolled my eyes.

We had pictures printed out for us and soon after, we were on our way home. I could just feel Oliver fighting the urge to gloat just like I was so we wouldn't make Alyssa upset.

The woman didn't even look disappointed and was smiling all the way home. I guess she was just happy to be having the baby no matter what it was.

“Can we rub it in now?” Oliver whispered when we got into the house.

I glanced at Alyssa through the kitchen door, watching as she placed her hand on the baby bump and rubbed slightly with a genuine smile. “I don't think we should, it might upset her. Besides, look at how happy she is, I don't think she'll care.”

I drew his attention to his mother as she continued what I saw her doing. His lips stretched into a smile as well before admitting I was right.

Neither of us mentioned it for the rest of the day until she pointed out how mature we were being to which we just smiled and soaked up the praise.

********

There was no doubt that Alyssa das many notable times in her pregnancy but the most had to be the birth.

Pregnancy Week: 39

Alyssa's squirming woke me up close to the middle of the night. I thought she was having a nightmare although she hadn't had one in a while. I was when I heard her groan and she tensed up that I knew it wasn't the usual bad dream.

She was awake.

“Alyssa?” I called groggily.

“Yeah?” Her voice was strained like she was struggling to speak.

“What's wrong?”

She released a ragged breath. “I-I don't know.”

I turned and put on the lights. As I expected, she had curled up as much as she could've with her eyes clenched tightly and a hand over her protruding belly.

Putting two and two together wasn't different. Telling her that I'd be back soon, I rushed to our wardrobe to get the already prepared hospital bag and to Oliver's room.

He was asleep no doubt but I had to wake him. Since a few days ago, my mother has been staying with us just in case we have the baby at an odd time. She was happy to stay with Oliver for how ever long she needed to.

I nudged Oliver on his back, causing him to stir and eventually wake up.

“What's going on?” As usual, he was grumpy and didn't like getting woken up.

“Mommy and I have to go to the hospital, she's going to have the baby and I need you to stay with your gran okay?” He nodded, placing his head back on his pillow.

I went to my mum's room and explained the situation to her. She hugged me, saying that everything was going to be okay and that she'd come to the hospital by morning.

I hurried back to our room to help Alyssa to the car. She managed to sit up before I got there but wasn't able to stand on her own. At a point, I had to carry her because it seemed walking hurt her more and she was too slow.

The advantage of having a baby close to midnight is the lack of traffic so in half the usual time we arrived. We got service much faster than usually too. By the time we got a room and I was changed into the provided scrubs, the pain she must've been feeling had Alyssa crying.

“It's going to be okay, I'm right here.” I consoled, letting her grip my hand.

“It hurts!” She sobbed.

I kissed her forehead and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I know, I'm sorry, just hang on a little while longer.”

Half an hour later, she was ready to start pushing. I knew she was in immense pain and it killed me everytime she screamed or cried. The few breaks in between pushes gave her time to breathe but the pain that followed took all the air out of her lungs.

All I could do was stand beside her as moral support and let her hold my hand, squeezing as hard as she wanted. I encouraged her when she looked to me as if saying she was giving up.

She was scared and so was I. Hearing countless stories of how men lost their wives to childbirth had put a sense of dread in me. I didn't want to lose my wife, she'd become such a huge part of my life. If she were to die, not only would I lose my life partner, Oliver and the baby would lose their mother.

It was scary to think of.

All my my preparation flew out the window whenever her eyes drooped or her grip loosened but they'd always regain their life at the next push.

We were well past dawn when I heard the doctors mention that they the baby's head had come out. Alyssa just needed to bear down a few more times.

She was clearly exhausted and covered in sweat. I kept sending her words of encouragement and love, telling her how proud I was. She soaked it all in and gave one more push with a shout.

Her head dropped on the pillow so hard I thought it would blow up. Seconds later, a cry sounded in the room, taking our attention to the doctor.

They cleaned him up gently before placing our baby in his mother's arms. I could only watch in awe as Alyssa held him with tears in her eyes.

“Nathan, look at him.” She rasped.

I did. His skin was pale which was normal for babies who had just been born. His eyes we clenched shut as well as his hands. His hair was surely going to be dark considering the darkness I could see on his head.

“Do you want to hold him?” I nodded at Alyssa's question, my hands moving at their own accord to support him as she slid him into my arms.

Holding him reminded me of when Oliver was born. I didn't get to hold him till a few days after but it was still satisfying.

My heart felt like it was going to pop when he stirred and let out a little noise. I brought my finger to his face and caressed his cheek. I didn't expect him to take hold of it or that his grip would be so strong.

I couldn't help the tear that fell from my eye when I saw Alyssa with hers already running down her cheek.

“I love you both so much.” I stated while my aerm slid around her shoulders.

“We love you too.”

As if wanting more attention, the boy cried sharply. A nurse came by with a notepad and asked for his name.

We didn't need to think and chorused. “Alhan.”

The nurse smiled and remarked. “What a unique name.”

Alyssa and I simply smiled privately, knowing the meaning behind it. She left, mentioning that Alyssa would be moved soon and they'd have to take him for a check up.

We used the few minutes we had to gush about him a while trying to not disturb his peace. I already knew we'd both be spoiling him and be really protective till he grew up.

That's life.

Welcome to the world, Alhan.

Author's Note:

Hi guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter, I especially enjoyed writing it.

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I'll be updating 'Playing The Billionaire' tomorrow so don't be one to miss out.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment ❤️❤️❤️❤️.

-E