Chapter 44: Baby, It's Time
Song: "Unborn Heart" by Dan Hill (spoiler!)
* * * * *
"What?" Harry asked in a hoarse voice and literally fell back onto his bum, his legs splayed out in front of him, as if I physically pushed him.
"I'm sorry," I said, now fighting real tears. I had no idea if he was going to be upset or pissed or just as shocked as I was. "I'm usually very careful to follow my body's signs. It's just...that night we were both kind of swept up in our apologies. I shouldn't have been so careless."
"So you are saying what I think you're saying," he gasped, shaking his head slowly.
"I'm sorry," I repeated and a tear slipped down my cheek. "It was all my fault."
He suddenly looked at me and his expression changed. "Don't cry, sweetie. Don't cry." He got on his knees and hugged me.
"So you're not mad?"
"Mad? How could I possibly be mad about a baby? That's what you mean, isn't it?" He looked at me now with clear excitement written across his face.
I nodded while still trying not to cry. "With everything else going on, I didn't even think about it until just now. I think I'm pregnant."
His hug almost crushed me as he buried his face into my neck. "Oh my god, Regan. Holy shit." I chuckled at his little swear word. Then he grabbed my cheeks and kissed my lips soundly. "I could never be mad about something like this. First of all, it's just as much my responsibility as it is yours, so it wasn't your mistake. And it wasn't even a mistake at all, just unexpected."
"I don't know for sure." No matter what I did, I couldn't get my voice to stop trembling. "I guess we'll have to stop by a drug store on the way home."
He nodded with a smile as wide as this massive house. "Let's go then." He held out his hand to me and I stood and followed him to the master bedroom. He put out the fire while I shakily gathered up our mess.
We arrived back at the loft, pregnancy test in hand, both of us smiling and jittery and nervous, yet unabashedly excited at the same time.
Harry stood there wearing a goofy smile while I went into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I decided to brush my teeth first to wash away the lingering taste of vomit. Then I made sure I was doing exactly everything just right before I took the test.
I went rushing out of the bathroom and buried my face in Harry's chest. "I can't look. I'm too nervous," I told him.
"Let's look together."
"It needs three minutes. Set the timer on your watch."
Harry did as I asked and we waited for what seemed like an eternity until the high-pitched beep signaled that it was time.
"What are we looking for?" He asked as we stepped in.
I picked up the test and saw a plus sign. "This," I said, choking on a sob. "Plus means I'm pregnant."
Harry had never held me as tightly as he did in that moment, sobbing along with me and for the first time since I'd known him, they were completely happy tears. Somehow we wandered into the living where Harry sat us both down on the couch. The look on his face was indescribably peaceful, which was exactly what I needed because I was freaking out just a little. He kept stroking my hair and kissing all over my face. Finally, he asked, "Are you okay?"
I hesitantly nodded and then leaned into his embrace. "Yeah, I think so. I just...wow. It's going to take some getting used to." I took a deep breath and let it slip slowly out of my mouth. "What do we do now?" I asked.
Without even a moment to think, Harry answered, "Let's get married."
I burst into tears and couldn't decide now if I was happy or upset or pissed. "What?" I said, laughing nervously through the flood of tears.
"I want to marry you," he said. "So what if I wasn't going to propose until summer? We don't have to wait."
I sat up straight and regarded him carefully. "You were going to propose?"
He nodded happily. Then he jumped up off the bed and retrieved the lotus box. When he sat down and opened it, he pulled out a little black box. As if I hadn't already cried enough. "I bought it around Christmas time," he told me. "I only put it into the box after I showed you everything else that was in there."
I cried even harder with the absolute shock of everything coming at me all at once, and even harder when Harry dropped to one knee beside the bed. I must have looked an absolute mess, crying and laughing and who knows what else.
"Regan, my sweet, I love you so much," he said, taking my left hand in his. "It would be a privilege to call you my wife. Will you marry me?"
I couldn't even respond. I just nodded wildly while he slipped the ring on my finger. Then he squeezed me tightly once again and stood up, pulling me with him. Finally he kissed me, deeply, passionately, meaningfully. After an eternity of kissing, we still held each other close, giggling and not really knowing what else to do.
"This is...scary," I eventually admitted. "But I'm so happy you're not upset. I just don't want you to feel pressured or anything."
"Hey, listen," he said, taking my face in his hands. "I'm not one of those men who ditches my responsibility. And besides that, I love you and I wanted to marry you after I'd only known you for a month. I didn't want you to think I was just desperate for someone to love and I waited as long as I could before I started talking to you about long-term plans for us. I didn't want to scare you away."
"Okay," I whispered.
"Did I scare you?"
"No. Not at all," I said with a little giggle rising in my throat. "I felt a pretty strong connection to you early on as well. I just didn't want to push you, you know?"
"I love you, Regan, and I'm not going anywhere. So whether you want to get married in a year or in a day, I'll be happy with it. But I want you to know, without a doubt, that I don't feel pressured to marry you because of the baby. If anything, I'm excited as hell and I want to make it official as soon as possible, but I don't want you to feel pressured."
"Okay," I whispered again. "No pressure. Let's think about it while it all settles in, all right?"
"Sure thing. Now you rest while I get to work on cleaning this place up before my parents arrive." He looked around the loft. "It might take me half an hour," he joked.
"I can help," I said, but no matter how much I insisted that I was feeling fine, Harry made me rest on the couch with my feet up while he puttered around, dusting and mopping the apartment which really wasn't that dirty after all.
* * * * *
As planned, Harry's parents arrived just a few days later, on January 27. He had gone to Detroit Metro to pick them up and I stayed back to put the finishing touches on dinner. Harry had actually cooked and the lasagna was staying warm in the oven. I was just setting the table and making a salad. All the while, I felt a little shaky and nauseous but I wasn't sure if it was nerves over meeting Harry's parents or the little baby in my belly who seemed to have made such a big impact on my life already.
We decided we would tell Harry's parents about everything tonight at dinner. We were all planning on getting together with my parents for Harry's birthday dinner, so we could break the news to them in a few days. We had debated about telling our parents at the same time, but I didn't think I could hide my regular dashes to the bathroom and my overwhelming fatigue too well since his folks were going to be staying under the same roof.
That made me nervous, too. What if they thought it was a terrible mistake? Or that Harry should have waited longer before thinking about another marriage and a baby?
I heard the keys jingling before Harry unlocked the door to the apartment. I rushed into the bathroom to give myself a once-over before meeting his parents face to face. When I walked casually back to the entryway, I caught sight of Anne's smile first and I was instantly calmed. She had such a loving aura about her. She didn't even wait for Harry to make the introductions, which weren't necessary, I supposed. She came straight to me, hugged me warmly and said, "Regan, it's wonderful to finally meet you in person."
"Likewise," I said while she still clung to me.
Eventually letting go, she stood back and said, "I'm so happy that Harry found such a lovely girl."
"Thank you," I said, surely blushing. Robin gave me a hug and a "Nice to meet you" as well. Harry took their coats and their luggage and brought them into our room. We had decided that we'd let his parents have the bedroom so they could have a bit more privacy, and we would crash on the sleeper sofa which was plenty comfortable.
"Dinner smells fantastic," Anne smiled as I led them to the kitchen and offered them each a glass of wine.
"It's all Harry's doing. He made the lasagna. I just made the salad. I'm not much of a cook," I said. I handed them both their wine glasses and took a giant chug from my glass of water.
Anne and Robin sat down at the table. "You're not having any wine, dear?" Anne asked just as Harry walked in and thankfully Harry answered for me.
"She's not much of a wine drinker," he fibbed. "She's more of a Kool-Aid girl."
"I am not," I said, waving at him in mock annoyance. "Water suits me fine for the time being."
Harry and I got dinner situated while chatting with his parents and it felt so comfortable, so normal. I was exceedingly grateful since I didn't need another reason to feel sickly these days. Once we sat down to eat, talk turned to how everyone was doing back in England and how the flight was.
When we were almost finished eating, Harry spoke up for both of us. "Regan and I actually have some news we'd like to share." Anne and Robin simultaneously set down their forks and stared at Harry expectantly. "I've asked Regan to marry me and she said yes."
Anne burst into a squeal of delight, jumping up to hug her son and then me. Robin followed behind her with a handshake for Harry and another hug for me. "Congratulations, you two," Anne gushed.
"Now," Harry continued, "I suspect that another round of hugs will follow when you hear the next bit, so don't sit down just yet. Mum, are you ready for this?" He asked coyly.
"Ready for what, darling?" She asked, bright-eyed.
"You're going to have a grandchild." His delivery was simple but the reception was cacophonous with Anne screaming for joy and Robin laughing heartily. More hugs and congratulations followed and just like that, I was a member of Harry's family. No questions, no cautions about taking things slowly - it was a bit late for that anyway. They just rejoiced and accepted me as their soon-to-be daughter-in-law and the mother of their grandbaby.
It was all a bit surreal, but I couldn't have been happier. We had plenty to fill the rest of the evening with wedding and baby talk. Harry and I were still digesting the news ourselves, but talking with his parents seemed that much more real. Cribs and showers and morning sickness dominated the conversation for a good while. It was when Anne finally asked, "When is the baby due?" that Harry and I looked at each other in complete silence. We hadn't even thought to calculate the due date yet. I had only made my first appointment with an obstetrician this morning.
Harry quickly pulled up a website and did the calculations on his phone. "Wow!" He said with wide eyes. "Mid-September." He didn't say it but I knew he was making the comparison in his head to the other life-changing event that had happened in mid-September.
I shook my head in awe. "I still can't believe it. I suppose it will become more real when I feel the baby move."
"Oh, there's nothing like that feeling in the whole world," Anne agreed. "Well, I hate to cut this short but we're pretty tired," she said, standing up and motioning to Robin. "It's already one in the morning back home, so we'd better start adjusting to the time difference." Harry and I stood up and hugged them good-night.
Once we were tucked into our own temporary bed, I proposed something to Harry. "Why don't we get married while your parents are here?"
He was silent for a while and finally said, "Really? They're only here for three weeks. Don't you want to have time to plan a big wedding?"
"I never wanted a huge wedding where half the guests are strangers and everyone is staring at me. A simple wedding is fine with just our family and friends. I mean, if you want to do it that way."
"That sounds perfect. But what about a dress?"
"I'll figure something out."
"Okay then," he breathed. "Let's get married."
* * * * *
Things are moving fast for them! Truth be told, no matter how long you wait and how much you try to prepare, you're never truly ready for a baby - they change your life in amazing and challenging ways!
All of you who guessed way early, kudos! I tried to throw you off but y'all knew what was going down!
As always, thanks for the reads, comments & love. We're trending in the 300s! :D
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