happy may everybody :-) it's now my birthday month and i am too scared to turn 21. i'm too young for this

this was requested by CeceBabs

/ / /

Laurel was busy chopping vegetables for dinner when she saw Barley walk in through the kitchen door. She flashed a grin and felt a flood of happiness; she always felt more whole when both her kids were home. 

"Hey, sweetie," she said. "I didn't know you were coming over today!" 

"Yeah, ___ wanted to drop off this cake," he said, holding up a covered sheet pan. "She said you two were swapping cakes and recipes or something...?"

"Oh, yes!" she said. She placed the knife down and grabbed a towel to dry off her hands. She took the pan from her oldest boy and kissed him on the cheek. "When you leave, there's a cake in the fridge for her. Tell her that I hope she likes it. I used a tad too much brown sugar, but I thought that would be something she would like." 

"Oh, yeah," he laughed. 

"But I'm making soup, why don't you stay a while?" she asked.

"Aw no thanks, Mom," he said. "Soup sounds great, but I think we're headin' out for our anniversary. We'll probably eat somewhere somewhat fancy. Or maybe I can convince her to eat at that pizza buffet."

She laughed softly. "I thought you two were married in November." 

"Oh, we are," he said. "It's the anniversary of our first date."

"Ah yes. Of course." She smiled and picked up the knife. "You'd better take her someplace nice then, Barley. I think it is very sweet of you to still want to celebrate that with her even after you're married."

"Yeah," he said. He yanked a kitchen chair out and plopped down on it with a sigh. Laurel watched him as he folded his hands on his belly and leaned back, his eyes on the ceiling. 

Something was wrong and she could tell.

"Honey, is everything okay?" she asked. "Married life treating you okay and everything?" 

He nodded. "Yeah, it's great." 

"It's okay to fight, you know. Your dad and I had our fair share of arguments, but what is important is that you don't let them---"

"No, no, Mom, we aren't fighting. And we aren't having problems." 

"Is it not about ___?"

He looked at her nervously. "It's kind of about... all of us, actually." He cleared his throat and slid the beanie off of his head. He clutched it in both of his hands. "Mom, how did you and Dad know you were ready to have kids?"

"Oh, well, we didn't really know," she said, pushing the knife through the cucumber. "We were just young, and we knew we wanted to grow our family, and then we did. Why? Are you and ___ discussing growing your family?"

"Uh, sorta," he admitted. 

"Oh honey, that's wonderful," she said. She put both of her hands on her heart as the thoughts of future grandbabies filled her mind. 

He bit his bottom lip. "Did Dad ever think that maybe he wasn't cut out to be a good dad?" 

"I don't know," she said, shrugging. "I suppose he did. I always thought maybe I wasn't cut out to be a mom, but anyone can do it." 

"You think I can do it?" he asked. 

"Of course I do," she said confidently. "I think that you're a great leader, Barley. You're confident and fearless in a way that your father was. And I mean, just look at Ian. You know that he turned out the way that he did because of you. You really helped guide him through childhood and now he has become a confident young man just like you. It's really just... it's been amazing to see what you can do for other people. So yeah I think that you would be a great dad."

A grin slowly spread across Barley's face. He shot up from his seat and ran towards his mother. He hit her full force, making her drop her knife in shock. 

"Barley!" she exclaimed. 

"Thanks, Mom!" he said, his cheek pressed against her back. He squeezed her tight and lifted her off the ground. 

She laughed. "You're welcome."

"I gotta go," he said quickly. "I'll see you later." 

"Okay, drive safe," she called. She positioned the next vegetable on the cutting board. He ran towards the door. "Oh! Get the cake!" 

"Right." He ran to the fridge and threw it open. He grabbed the cake, kicked the fridge door shut, and backed up towards the door. "Oh! Mom. ___'s pregnant."

The knife cut deep against the cutting board. Laurel's eyes shot wide open and her mouth dropped. She turned so quickly that her head spun. "She's what!?" 

But Barley was already gone, running straight towards Guinevere full speed. 

/ /

You sat down on the floor of the bathroom while you waited for the other pregnancy tests. In four minutes, you would know for sure if you were pregnant. You'd only taken one test so far and while it did come back positive, you heard that it was better to take more than one to be absolutely sure. 

That's what the Internet told you, anyway.

You put your face in your hands. You were so overwhelmed, not with fear, but with emotion. It seemed absolutely unreal for you to be in this position, sitting on the bathroom floor. If it was positive, that meant that there was a baby inside of you. A baby that was half of you and half of Barley: living, breathing, and feeling.

"Babe, babe, babe!" 

You lifted your head slowly, your eyebrows furrowing. It sounded like---

"Barley?" you said. 

"Babe! Babe!" 

You realized that the sound came from outside. You sat up quickly and ran out of the bathroom. "Barley?" As you hurried down the hallway, he came in through the front door and ran right over to you. 

"Baby!" he shouted. His arms enveloped you and you gasped. "My wife is pregnant!"

"Don't lift me, don't lift me!" you warned, your hands flying up to grip his biceps. "And I don't know if I'm pregnant yet or not either, so don't get your hopes up, okay? But just in case, you shouldn't lift me." 

"Right, right," he said. He sat you down and smiled gleefully. "Oh, babe---"

"Is everything okay?" you asked. "You worried me!"

"I just can't wait to be a dad." He grabbed both of your hands. "I swear to you, babe, that I will be the best dad for you two."

"I know you will be, Barley," you said. 

"I'm not gonna be a screw-up." He held up a finger. "And that is a promise. I'll get up when you need to feed the baby, I'll make sure to change all of the poop diapers. I will teach him --- or her --- because I am one hundred percent as eager to have a daughter or son --- everything there is to know about Quests of Yore, you know... to pass down my knowledge. But the one thing I won't be is a screw-up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," you said. "You're no screw-up." You cupped his face in your hands. "Baby, listen to me. You're the best husband I could've ever asked for. Marrying you was the best decision I ever made. You take the most amazing care of me, and our baby... honey, I know you're only gonna be the best dad in the entire freakin' universe, because you already are the best husband in the entire freakin' universe."

"I love you," he said, shaking his head. "You're the best princess warrior that any ordinary elf warrior could've married."

"How about you kiss me and then we go see what those pregnancy tests say," you said. 

He swallowed. "You already took the other tests?" 

You nodded slowly. "They should be ready by now."

"Okay," he said. "We should make out first, you know, for luck. And then we'll go see. But whatever the result is... promise me that we'll keep trying. Because I really wanna have a baby with you, babe."

You intertwined your fingers with his. "No matter what, we will keep trying. I'm gonna have that baby with you, baby. Promise."

"Cool." He leaned in and kissed you slowly, already feeling like the luckiest man in the world. 

/ / /

there will be a part two to this :-)