When night met morning, it was hard to distinguish where the shift occurred, despite the lockdown of logic. PM becomes AM, and then it's morning, even when it doesn't quite feel like it yet. The sun's still down, and the moon is still claiming reign over the sky. Toris burrowed under what was available of the blankets, what hadn't already been scooped up and rolled around away from him. Sunlight wasn't burning his eyes, wasn't waking him up.
"Toris," Was the whine that he was greeted with, "Get up! I need to talk with you." And then his wife was all snuggled up against his back and the blankets were kicked off the bed and on the floor.
"Ami..." He whined, too tired to say her whole name, just eager to sleep as three AM should not be classified as the morning yet, when five AM barely counted.
"Tori..." She whined back stubbornly slipping cold arms around his waist, curling up to press against his bare chest and make him shiver. She was as stubborn as a child on Christmas morning. He had to get up now! He rolled over to face his wife, delicately framed by the moonlight peeking in through the window. Blond hair turned faintly silver, night clothes covered mostly in shadow, and blue eyes that in the dim lighting shone so brightly that he could get lost in their pretty depths.
"Okay, what is it?" He hoped it wasn't that she was scared of being abducted (again), or that she'd had another nightmare or that she was sure that Santa had shown up in July with presents. It could be anything that woke her up so early, since she loved to sleep in far more than Toris did. Her sleeping cycle was somehow irregular in a way that Toris had doubted that anyone's could be. He'd sort of known this before marrying her, when she'd show up at his door at four AM, telling him that she'd had a dream, and that they ought to go chase down where the moonlight ended and watch the sunrise there, or when he'd get a call at five thirty in the morning, because she couldn't sleep and didn't want to go to work at eight. Or even the times when she'd text him at two AM, and wonder what he was thinking about. She never failed to disrupt his sleep every now and again.
"Well," She sighed, puffing out her cheeks before she collapsed back into bed beside him, "I just woke up from a dream where we lay in a field and make flower crowns and somehow we both thought that I was pregnant...and..." She paused, let out another sigh, "Do you think it's early enough to start the day off yet?"
"No, Amelia, go back to sleep." Toris sighed, tired, and hating the idea of somehow needing to be at work before seven in the morning. He already felt exhausted.
"But, I want to go to the store and buy a pregnancy test." She curled up against his back, "Before you have to go to work." She had a day off tomorrow or rather today, and somehow it made him wonder if that was really why she woke up so early.
"What if you're not pregnant, and it was just a dream?" Toris didn't want to have to get dressed and go to the store and deal with the four in the morning crowds that while small were probably strange.
"What if it's a premonition?" She shot back.
"Okay," Toris sighed, "But aren't you tired?"
"Not really, anymore. Not since I woke up and realized that I might be pregnant. Don't you want to be a dad one day?" Amelia whined, "Now could be that day. We shouldn't just lie in bed, when I could be pregnant! We have to plan a baby shower and get an ultrasound and find out if we're having a boy or a girl or twins or, or triplets!"
"Pregnancy test first." Toris stifled a yawn, realizing by this point that he wasn't going to be able to get out of a late night store visit or rather early morning visit to the store, "Then we can figure the rest out in the morning."
"It is morning!" Amelia whined, peeking up at the clock above their bed, "Three thirty in the morning!"
"Okay, it's morning." Toris agreed, reluctantly, "Very early, and we'd both normally be sleeping at this time." He got out of bed, digging through his clothes to pull out something acceptable for work, already doubting that he'd have a chance to come back home and sleep after visiting the store. "Do you want to shower before we go?"
"What if hot water's bad for the baby?" Amelia asked, already worried for the baby that she just knew that she was pregnant with.
"I don't think it is." Toris replied, "But, I guess you're better off safe than sorry." The bed seemed far warmer than the three thirty AM room that he was currently standing in.
"Yeah," Amelia murmured, "Should I wear that loose dress of mine? Have I gained any weight?"
"Not yet." Toris answered, agreeing belatedly with his wife that she might be pregnant. She'd probably know before him anyway.
"Okay, I'm wearing it though." Amelia slipped into it, smiling as the fabric seemed to float around her, "When should we buy maternity clothes?"
"If it says that you're pregnant, in a few months or so." Toris answered, glancing over at his wife as she left the room in search of something to run through her hair and try to take out the tangles that formed in it during the small amount of hours that she'd slept.
"Okay!" She called back, "Should I brush my teeth?"
"That will be fine." Toris muttered; he was vaguely sure that pregnant women still brushed their teeth, but he wasn't going to go up and ask them any time soon.
The store was deathly quiet as they entered the store during the times when he'd guess most people weren't up yet. Amelia's fingers tightened over his, and he hoped that she wasn't scared. The few workers around looked tired and did not say anything to them as they walked by. He wasn't entirely sure if they'd say 'goodnight' or 'goodmorning' if they did speak anyway.
It wasn't hard to find the right aisle for it, in the pharmacy section, and then as Amelia oohed and ahed over the baby clothes and toys and bottles and everything else, Toris guided her back to the front of the store to check out, and to buy the five different pregnancy tests that they'd picked out on a whim. They'd looked like they'd be good, or so he hoped. If one was wrong, there was a possibility that four would be right.
"Oh, are you pregnant?" The cashier murmured with tired eyes, and Toris immediately hoped that the staff would get some sleep at some point. He couldn't imagine working these kinds of hours especially without developing a new pattern of sleep.
"That's what we're trying to find out!" Amelia twirped. "I had a dream about it!" Her brilliant beam made Toris hope that the dream was a premonition of some sorts or just a sign that his wife was in fact pregnant.
"Good luck." The woman smiled at them as Toris paid for the pregnancy tests.
"Thank you!" Amelia responded with another radiant smile, "See you later!" Toris hoped that that didn't mean more four in the morning shopping trips. He was not ready for those.
"What's that one say?" Toris asked as he watched Amelia pause to stare down at the fifth pregnancy test.
"It says I'm pregnant too!" Amelia rejoiced; four out of five gave the joyous answer to them both. "When can we set up a doctor's appointment for an Ultrasound?"
"When the doctor's office is opened." Toris responded, pausing to look at the time: five twenty three. He had to get ready for work now, and could not go back to sleep. Toris couldn't really be mad at Amelia for her excitement despite how much he felt like dropping.
"Okay." Amelia smiled, "Do you have to go to work soon?"
"Yeah, we'll set up an Ultrasound appointment when I get home from work." Toris reaffirmed; he wanted to set it up with her, and though worn out, tired, and wishing that he could still be asleep, he was excited too. He knew that the excitement and nerves would both come back in when he had more sleep, because now he was too tired to even have the energy to sort through those emotions that were hidden in the back of his tired mind.
"Okay, sounds good. I love you." Amelia stepped closer to wrap her arms around her husband in a gentle hug.
"I love you too, Amelia." He fought off a yawn as he hugged her back; it would be okay, and any nearly sleepless nights were okay with her by his side.
