Christmas Day:

For the third time, Leah rolled over and tapped her phone screen to check the time.

A beam of white light made her face glow, and she groaned a silent sigh when barely five minutes had passed since the last time she had checked.

It was officially Christmas day being seventeen minutes past one in the morning, and the bedroom was pitch black, completely silent, but Leah had been wide awake since she and Steven had gone to bed around midnight from present wrapping duties.

Steven himself was sound asleep next to her, curled up towards the middle with a palm on her pillow because he had been the big spoon, but she had shuffled out of his arms and let her legs and feet breathe out the side of the thick duvet.

Even now Leah was too hot lying in bed, uncomfortably nauseous which was the reason for her inability to fall asleep even in her boyfriend's protective arms, and when she felt another flush of heat, and a strange taste in her mouth, she knew she was going to be sick.

In a rush, Leah stumbled towards the master bathroom in the dark, jammed the light on, which was so bright it made her ears fuzz, made a racket lifting the toilet seats up and chucked up what had been last night's dinner.

Holding her hair on top of her head in a clump worked until her grip slipped, and a lock caught the edge of her mouth just as she spat the rest of the foul taste that had been left in her mouth.

At least Steven appeared before she started crying his name, and fairly un-zombie like when she took a peek underneath her arm. He had sourced the gift of a scrunchie, and kneeled down behind her.

"Don't touch that bit," Leah warned, holding the gross strand nearer the top, out of the way. "I need to wash it."

Hair secured, she flushed the contents with a lazy hand, and sat back against the wall.

"I'll be back in a sec." Steven's voice opened her eyes, and she caught a glimpse of the festive snowman pyjama bottoms and the blush sleep marks on his skin as he walked out.

Leah didn't want him to go, body shaking, but she didn't have much choice but to be on her own for a bit when her voice refused to work. Tears appeared because of it, and she had to wash the bit of hair that was still pinched between her fingers before the prospect of it made her sick again.

Everything was slow, from grabbing the shampoo bottle from the shower cubicle, to having to bend over a bit to use warm water to separate the strands over the basin.

It tempted the second round Leah really didn't have the energy for, but she managed to breathe past it and massaged some shampoo into her hair.

"Should've kept one up here." Steven returned with a glass in hand from his trip downstairs.

He set it down on the surface, not having to ask, or think twice about grabbing a towel to squeeze her wet strands of hair so they didn't drip.

Leah refused to look into the mirror ahead of her, because her fragile state would probably make her bawl, and grabbed the glass to rinse out her mouth.

"I already hate this," she confessed, filling it up. "I thought it was supposed to be morning sickness, not night sickness."

The humour was forced, glass clacking her teeth to make her weak smile fade, and she drew in a sip of water.

"I think it's just a general term." Steven was re-tying her hair again, properly.

It saved her a task, it was him being naturally caring, but it didn't stop her shaking as she washed her hands, or calm her unsteady breathing.

"I'll get you a hoodie."

Queasy, Leah touched the top of her head in desperation, waiting for her shivering to have a cure with an extra layer, except her stomach denied her wishful thinking and she fell to her knees in front of the toilet.

She didn't know if Steven's rushed return and rubbing her back was making the whole process a bit less horrific, or just giving her a reason to spew some abusive language at him for doing this to her.

A hoodie was guided over her head once she was finished; Steven's superdry one by the smell and feel, and she opted to stare downwards whilst her arms were lifted in turn to avoid looking at a face that would make her cry.

But her eyes had already blurred with too many tears from being delicately handled, and she couldn't hide them any longer.

"Oh, Leah." Steven hugged her shaking frame in a way only he could. "Hey, shh- it's okay. You're okay."

"I'm barely pregnant and I already feel like shit," Leah cried, clutching his back. Her lip trembled, and she buried her face into the collar of his dressing gown. "I can't do this e-every day for the next nine months."

Tears cascaded down her cheeks with the fear of constant sickness, imagining what the birth would entail, and Steven had nothing to assure her with. All he gave her was a hug, and that broke apart when he decided to retrieve some tissues, possibly so he could be of some use in his unusual silence.

"You're supposed to make me feel better," Leah mumbled, drying her tears. "Pity me."

Steven made a quiet, impatient noise in his throat, as if he was torn to say something, but with a gentle hold of her wrist, guided her to sit down on the bathroom floor.

It wasn't a bad idea when her knees had the incentive to shake every so often.

"I just...don't really think I can say anything that will help," Steven said, staring at a point ahead of him. "I don't want to pity you, and I don't think you would want me to either.".

Leah sniffed, fingernails catching the seams of the inside sleeves cuffs, because he was right; she wouldn't want to be pitied.

A nudge of fluffy pink and white socks on her arm was partnered with a tiny smile and a pair of sleepy brown eyes when she looked up. Assurance, in the most simplest of gestures.

"I promise it will be worth it." Steven guessed her worries whilst she covered her cold feet. "Just think of all the sleepless nights you get to experience with a baby. Mm, yeah, what joys of parenting. Totally and utterly worth it."

It wasn't quite a laugh, but Leah appreciated the sarcastic truth. The cloud of upset had passed, her body was warming up comfortably, and Steven had reminded her of his experience, though she had gained a bit of her own that had given her half the desire in the first place.

"That's what you're for." Leah was smiling, as she nudged his knee with her own.

"Oh really."

With strong arms around her middle, Steven pulled her into his lap, spreading his legs wider so she could sit comfortably, and the opportunity was naturally taken to rest his hands on her stomach.

Relaxed, Leah could trace the veins of his hands, fiddle with his thumb and fingers, but when she looked down at the tapping feet against her socks, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed the strange flexibility of Steven's toes, moving in time with whatever he was humming behind her.

"You have really weird toes," she commented, voicing her source of amusement.

"Excuse me?"

"Your feet," Leah rephrased, trying not to laugh at the audacious tone.

Steven hesitated, but then started curling his toes on top of each other, a lot more than before.

Leah jerked her own feet away, twisting her body in horror.

"That's disgusting!?" A warm laugh appeared after her reaction. "That's not normal!"

Steven's expression began to tremble with a pout, and he made his cheek twitch trying to sniff away fake tears.

"D-d-do you not love my feet?"

When Leah looked, his ankle was raising towards her. She braced his thighs.

"Get those things away from me."

Ignoring her request, Steven hugged her tight, and tangled their feet together. She was completely trapped when he leaned forward to rub his nose in the crook of her neck that he located past the bunched hood of his hoodie, and Leah soon cracked a smile.

She even let up with laughs of displeasure when he started licking her neck.

Perturbed by the image at the end of their legs, and by the tongue trying to paint a trail up to the lobe of her ear, this was the man whose genes were contributing to the baby growing inside her.

"What if our baby inherits my feet?" Steven asked, bringing the subject up just as it was fading out.

"Oh god, don't." Leah closed her eyes in exasperation, slumping against his chest.

Naughty snickers encompassed her in an embrace, and sitting on the bathroom floor at an ungodly hour of the morning suddenly didn't seem so bad.

<>

"Daddy! Daddy! Santa's been!"

"Ohufff! Liv mind your-"

"It's Christmas!"

When a light was flicked on, Leah squinted, uncovering her hand to rub over her face. She might have been rudely awakened, but she couldn't be too mad when she wasn't the chosen victim to be climbed all over, and kneed in all the wrong places.

"Wakey wakey!"

"Shh, shh there's no need to be so loud." Holding Liv's knee in one hand to keep her still, Steven had reached for his phone with the other. He soon groaned and flopped on his back. "Blue, it's so early. Can you go back to bed for a bit longer? Please?"

"Bu'you said wait until the number says six. Neck said six, so I can get up."

Steven didn't have a counter argument looking down at his daughter sitting on his torso. With the excitement of Christmas Eve, he had pointed to the giraffe clock on Liv's bedside, animals that she called necks, that when the big hand was on twelve, and the little hand was on six, she was allowed to go into their room.

"Stop being such a Scrooge," Leah mumbled, nudging her grumpy boyfriend's leg. She shuffled closer on her side, taking his closest arm to cuddle.

Steven looked at her.

"I'm not being a Scrooge. It's six in the morning!"

"And it's Christmas." Leah pressed a kiss to his tattoo, and addressed the excited little girl. "I think we should open stockings in bed, what do you think, Liv?"

"Yes, yes!" Liv had been given her energy back, clawing the duvet that Steven had tried to pull up himself. "Please daddy? Please can we?"

Steven was making a deep noise of displeasure, lazily rubbing his brow, but he would never deny Christmas Day enthusiasm.

"I suppose we could open presents in bed..."

As soon as he spoke, Steven was being dragged out of bed by Liv, and he just about persuaded her to wait whilst he put on slippers and his dressing gown.

Thinking she was alone in an empty bed, Leah stretched out and pulled Steven's pillow towards her to bury her face in, only for the bed to dip behind her and a quiet gasp to escape her lips.

"Bah Humbug my arse," Steven growled behind her ear, sneaking his hand underneath the warmth for a firm squeeze to her bum.

He was gone after that, footsteps and trailing voices down the stairs, and Leah relaxed the arch of her back that had stiffened with the surprising contact.

She supposed it was payback for enticing him out of bed so she didn't have to.

Apart from wanting to go back to sleep, Leah had no sense of nausea, which she hoped would stay away whilst they hosted lunch with Steven's family a bit later on. She was going to call her parents, maybe Tina if she wasn't piss drunk, but being five hours ahead, her home away from home would already be preparing their Christmas lunches and she would have to wait until later to speak to them. And she would not, under any circumstances, tell anyone else about the pregnancy until there was an ultrasound scan of confirmation.

"The funniest face looked out at me from a silver ball on the Christmas tree..." Steven was coming up the stairs, his rhyming tone delicately slipping his accent into one of his many voices.

Leah rolled over, half sitting up and expecting to be clambered on by a three-year-old. She was right, Liv scrambled up on the bed before her father made his appearance, and giggled her way underneath the duvet that she went in head first.

"What're you doing, trouble?" Leah poked the belly button that had been presented to her. "Hmm?"

"At first I thought it was Santa's elf..." Three stockings were cradled in Steven's arms when he walked in. "But I looked again, and it was just myself!"

"You're just an endless stream of...weird." Leah sat up, the full stockings with their names etched to the fluffy white band at the top, placed next to her covered feet.

The adults were challenging each other with a private staring contest, a secret code for something else, whilst Liv had her interest solely on dragging her personalised stocking up the bed and tearing open Christmas wrapping paper of the first present that fell out.

"Hang on, I haven't sat down yet." Steven realised the impatience, and made the most inconvenient route on top of the bed, and on all fours.

Leah saw his smirk appear, and felt it disappear into her neck when his palms were planted either side of her hips.

"Sit down," she chuckled, lifting up her chin to disrupt the lazy kiss he was pushing against her neck.

Steven did as he was told, after reaching behind him to grab their stockings, and muscled his way underneath the warmth of the duvet. Leah didn't mind though, not with the arm that went around her allowing her to be nestled close to his side.

"Merry Christmas, my love." He kissed the side of her head.

"Merry Christmas, Stevie," Leah returned, smiling at Liv's reaction when she squeezed a squishy alien so its eyes popped out.

"Why do its eyes pop out?" she asked, showing the green blob with yellow antenna, and pressing its mouth with her thumb again.

"Don't you think it's funny?" Steven replied, smile lines appearing around his mouth.

"Eyes are s'posed to be here." Liv pointed to her face that she had screwed up for exaggeration.

Steven leaned forward to flick off some wrapping paper next to his leg.

"Yeah, but that's an alien."

He passed Liv another present, but she was looking intently at her alien toy next to her knee.

"Hmm, I'm going to call him..."

"Steven," Leah suggested, taking a present from her own stocking. "Call him Steven."

"No!" Liv was shaking her head, but she was giggling at the name choice. "That's daddy's name."

"Hey, I'm not an alien."

To sympathise, Leah stuck out her bottom lip as she slipped her finger between the gap of tape to tear a flap of wrapping paper. She already knew the contents was a new pack of socks from the shape, and she was happy to replace her odd pairings from chucking the ones with holes in away.

"It's Jessie!"

"It sure is!" Steven matched the enthusiasm. "And you never know there might be the whole family in there. Santa does like to treat little girls who have been good."

On a similar theme to The Jungle Book, Toy Story had become a bit of a favourite, which was entirely Steven's fault for being such a nerd and singing all the classics around the house, or learning and playing them on the piano too.

Leah was used to him starring in his own musical, as music was his job, but it all changed in the car one day when she had the guts to sing Joe's part of Mama Kin, because it was one of Liv's favourite songs, despite the questionable lyrics of 'sleeping late and smoking tea' that a three-year-old probably shouldn't be learning about.

"Open yours," Leah urged, nudging the untouched stocking with her knee.

Steven looked at her with a tangled halo of hair, ringlets sitting on, or past the collar of his dressing gown, and with the dots of stubble over his top lip, it completed the scruffy look she was so used to waking up next to.

"I like seeing your reactions." There was a fondness in Steven's smile in response to another round of tearing of paper. "Makes me happy."

Leah was more reserved opening hers.

"Aw, Scrooge has found his redemption."

It was one of those silly card games, one that would probably make an evening of fun if they had friends over and alcohol was involved, or maybe not, for her. When she and Steven had bought stocking fillers for each other, both the joke presents and the useful things, a baby was not taken into account.

It was still hard to believe it was real too.

"And so as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us every one." Steven quoted the end of Dickens' A Christmas Carol that he had finished reading to Liv last night. "You like?"

"I do, but would you please open yours. Liv will be done soon."

At the mention of her name, Liv bounced onto her knees to tip the rest of the presents out onto the bed.

"I have...one, two...three, four, five left!"

"Five!?" Steven acted like it was the most shocking piece of information in the world. "You have been spoiled rotten. Look at all these new toys!"

"And there's more un'de tree."

"Really? Who says they're for you? They might be all for me."

"That's not true! I saw my name."

Both adults queried this bit of knowledge, assessing a smiley Liv who buried her face onto Steven's knee. Her chin soon rested on her hands, and the little peek she gave was like she knew she had said something she shouldn't have.

"Did you, by any chance, go downstairs before coming in here?" Leah asked.

Liv sat up to shake her head, but had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop herself smiling.

"You cheeky monkey, you did!" Steven leaned forward, and scooped her up into his lap. "Was someone a little bit excited?"

Liv did well not to crack any further under pressure, muffling her giggles into a dressing gown considering her father was a renowned tickle monster, and wasn't afraid to hold her by the ankles until he got an answer.

It was standard parenting by his books.

"Well you did it very quietly, and it would be nice if that could be your volume all day, every day."

"Says Mr Scream himself," Leah retorted, revealing a box of Lindt chocolates. She scrunched the ball of wrapping paper, chucking it down to her feet.

"It's actually the Demon of Screamin', thank you a-very much."

Leah humbly accepted the correction that was thanks to an article, not an original title like he proclaimed, and occupied herself with opening another present. Steven finally started on his own after helping grab Liv's final five because she wanted to stay in his lap.

Their stockings were emptied, a sea of red Santa wrapping paper with a hint of greens and snowflake patterns littering their bed in various shapes and sizes, and puzzles, toys, magic colouring pens, books and chocolate were gathered at the end of the bed.

"Jesus, what is this?" Steven unwrapped his last gift, which was what appeared to be a comical mouth attached to a megaphone.

Seeing as Leah knew this particular joke present was near the bottom, she had been waiting for his reaction. It was so stupid, but the mouth made it an instant buy.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

Leah shrugged, sitting back.

"What is that?" Liv took an interest too, carefully holding Steven's wrist when he snapped the restraining ties.

"I think it's a silly voice changer," he explained to his daughter, handling the navy grip to raise up to his face. "Has it got batteries in? Ooh woah it has." The pitch of his voice went higher when he trialled a button with his thumb.

"Hello hello, Merry Christmas." Steven then started laughing like SpongeBob, his other hand tapping his voice box to get the effect, because he must've realised the similarity in tone.

"Oh no, what have I done?" Leah was laughing with Liv because the shrill of the poor quality sound was being forced into her face every time Steven turned his head left and right.

"Can I be excused for the rest of my life? Ba-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Shit, what else does SpongeBob say?"

"He definitely doesn't swear."

"Daddy said a bad word."

"He did," Leah reprimanded. "That's another dollar in the swear jar."

Sheepishly, Steven brought the voice changing megaphone back up to his mouth and started humming as best he could, the Hawaiian cocktail theme tune from SpongeBob.

A sad, and fitting end to the fun.

Liv sighed dramatically.

"I'm hungry."

"You're hungry?"

"Actually-" Leah managed to catch the yawn, but she was in full agreement since her stomach was pretty empty. "-I'm starving too."

Steven puffed out his cheeks.

"Well, I guess we should go down for breakfast if everyone's hungry."

"And for more presents," Liv added.

Leah found the cheeky comment funny, managing to swing her legs out of bed without knocking over her gifts, but Steven, not so much.

"There's more to Christmas than presents, blue."

"But Greg wants to open presents."

"Greg? Who's Greg?"

"My alien." Liv grabbed the squishy blob from underneath some wrapping paper, making its eyes pop. "Green for Greg. Greg for green."

Witnessing an astonished Steven was always a treat. Leah had put on her socks and his hoodie in the meantime, and just shrugged when she received the look of 'did I hear some logic in her thinking?'

"Are you coming?" Leah asked, a hand occupied with a small one trying to lead her out of the bedroom.

Steven had stood, but gestured to the mess of their bed.

"What about all this?"

"Greg wants presents," she recalled, over her shoulder.

"Greg likes you," Liv proclaimed, holding up her alien. "Not so sure on daddy."

Leah was careful walking down the stairs with her.

"I'm sure he'll soften up to him." She was looking at the reindeer pyjamas and bare feet. "Are you not cold?"

"Umm, a lickle bit."

Steven sighed behind them, retracing the first step down he had taken.

"I'll get your dressing gown."

"And socks!"

"Oh yeah? What do you say?"

"Pleeaaaseee!"

Leah was tugging a smile, glancing up at Steven's dangling hair over the bannister.

Since it was still dark outside, the Christmas tree lights could go on, and it made a festive welcoming statement in the living room. A beautiful setting to open the collection of presents surrounding the tree's base, some spilling in front of the fireplace.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Leah asked, flicking open kitchen cupboards.

"Umm, toast and yam please."

Liv didn't really mean yams, it was just her way of requesting strawberry jam. A list of Liv-isms, just like Steven and his Steven-isms.

Leah popped two slices of bread into the toaster, turning the setting down so there was no chance of burnt toast that wouldn't be eaten.

"I hope you haven't started yet." Steven's voice was steady as if to scold, but he wasn't really telling his daughter off.

"Just looking," Liv said, having her dressing gown held out at her level and a pair of socks dropped in her lap.

"Have you asked for breakfast?"

"Yes, I asked for..."

With a bowl of cereal in her hands, something she actually fancied, Leah had got side-tracked looking at the calendar, specifically the ultrasound date that hadn't actually been written on.

Making an appointment had been decided on the day they returned from New York, and after a call to the hospital, it was scheduled for the twenty-seventh.

"What's up?"

Steven had a Santa hat on when Leah drifted her eyes away from the numbered squares. The toast popped just before she spoke, but her intentions were taken care of, and her boyfriend dealt with the buttering and jamming.

"I'm just thinking how so many people know, and we haven't had the scan yet," Leah admitted, taking another mouthful of cereal.

"I trust the guys, they won't say anything," Steven assured, performing his weird skill of being able to spread cold butter without tearing the toast to a surprisingly good standard. "And the scan is the day after tomorrow. It's not long now."

"I know, I know." Leah sighed, setting down her bowl. "It's just...wouldn't it be- I don't know...what if I'm not pregnant? And we've said all of this too soon."

"What? Hey." Steven abandoned the jam jar. "You've taken like six tests? And they've all been positive. What makes you say that?"

He was right. She'd taken four more, used a different brand, and the result was the same. Still, Leah found the doubt consuming her.

"It's just hard to believe it's real before, you know...before we've seen the evidence."

Steven clicked his tongue sadly, face scrunched up like he didn't want to hear it, and pulled her in for a hug. Just breathing out against his neck was calming, where the hickey mark was slowly fading away, and a simple touch up his back to hold him closer was the embrace she needed.

"I can feel it," he said, subduing his voice with confidence. "I can't explain it, but I just know it's meant to be."

Leah hugged him tighter, absorbing his words, and then pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"I love you," she mumbled there, eyes drifting close.

"I love you to- oi! Ah-ah." Steven jarred his head back, whistling for attention when paper rustled. "Just wait. Thirty seconds."

Liv pulled a huffing frown in protest, rolling on the floor away from the mountain of presents.

Steven muttered something about her impatience, pushing up his Santa hat, and went back to finishing making toast.

"I really don't want to tell either of our parents yet." Leah expressed another concern, grabbing her bowl from the side. "At least until after Tuesday."

"Yeah." Steven nodded in agreement. "Nothing at lunch."

On her way past, Leah rubbed his back, because there wasn't a day that went by where she didn't appreciate his beautiful presence, and went to join Liv before she threw a tantrum.

"Don't worry about the scan, or lunch, that's my job."

She looked over her shoulder, a smile breaking through her munching.

"I'm not."

"Good." Steven carried a plate of toast and a cup of orange juice with him. "Just checking."

"Right, presents," Leah announced, sitting on the sofa. "Let's go."

Liv ignored her breakfast that was set down for her, and jumped on her knees to an enticingly large, rectangular oblong.

"This one first!"

It was as if she was in her own festive world dragging the present back. As an adult, there was a lot more enjoyment watching other people's reactions rather than hoping to check off everything on a list. But Liv was three, and understandably wanted to tear open presents as quickly as possible.

"Is this my child?" Steven whispered, as he sat on the sofa, taking the cup of orange juice in his hands to avoid unwanted spillages.

"How about yes," Leah said, because it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Don't tell me you wouldn't pick the biggest present first."

"As if," he scoffed, but he turned accusingly, flicking his eyes up and down her body. "You on the other hand...you know how much size matters."

Leah jogged his knee with her foot. It was not true, and he was only being a dick because he liked to flaunt what he was packing.

"Wait wait, Liv. There's an order for some of the presents."

Conveniently, Steven found his escape by kneeling down next to his daughter and checking a few labels. But, the cheeky wink and poke of his tongue over his shoulder went on to sum up the rest of the organised present mayhem.

It meant Leah was thrown into thinking if she could handle a mini version of Steven because one of him was already plenty for a whole city, let alone a single household. She didn't mind boy or girl, but her hopes were slowly, and secretly, being set on a baby girl.

Tuesday couldn't come soon enough, even if it would be too early to determine the sex, but once Leah saw her and Steven's baby, then it was as real as real could get.

And the craziest part was, by next Christmas- by her birthday- their baby would be here, celebrating with them.

<>