Chicken Little
Hi guys! I bring with me a oneshot based upon the fact I stayed up until like three in the morning watching Chicken Little last night. Hey hum. Hope you enjoy!
He finds out he is going to be a father on a Tuesday.
Jess had made him his lunch as usual, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wrapped neatly in a shiny foil wrapper, with just the right ratio of jelly to peanut butter so that he didn't get a sticky mouth or strawberry pips between his teeth. Humming happily, he eats his sandwich whilst absent mindedly cashing up the previous nights takings at the bar on a scrap of paper when he sees it. Folded into a little square at the bottom of his lunch box, a piece of card, with his name written upon the blank white surface in her cursive script. The sweet and salted flavours of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich suddenly soured on his tongue, chewing becoming laborious, an impossibility, as he picked up the note with trembling fingers.
Notes were their 'thing'. After the date incident, Nick and Jess had quickly adopted the technique of writing each other notes on a regular basis. It started off sweet and innocent, when she had to be at work early Nick would wake to a goofy note telling him to have a good day and that she'd swing by the bar later, or he would hide them in her tea box, scrawled messages of how beautiful she looked that day, or how much he missed her when she wasn't around.
It all changed at their first fight. It was a bad argument, which started with Nick yelling at Jess because she'd interfered and invited his Mom over to the loft for Christmas without him knowing, and Jess getting increasingly frustrated at Nick's attitude toward his family.
"What's your problem, Jess?" Nick yelled, gripping at his hair in frustration and getting close to Jess' face. Jess let out a harsh laugh and threw her arms wide.
"My problem?" She mocked, eyes wide and disbelieving. "My problem, Nick? I'm not the one freaking out because my mother is coming to visit me for the holidays!"
"It was not your place to get involved!" Nick roared, clenching his fists. "I don't want her here, Jess!" Jess' eyes softened a little at that, but she still refused to back down.
"Why? Why, Nick? Are you embarrassed?" Nick refused to meet her eyes, and Jess stepped closer to him, blue eyes scanning his face. "You are, aren't you? What are you embarrassed of, Nick?" She averted her eyes from his eyes directed them to her hands that were locked in front of her. "Are you embarrassed of me?" She whispered.
When Nick didn't answer, Jess stood up from her perch on the edge of the couch and moved in front of his face, ensuring his eyes were focused solely on her. "I'm not here to be your cheerleader when you get in these self destructive funks. I'm done, Nick." She rested a hand on his cheek and ran a thumb down his face tenderly, before walking into her room and slamming the door behind her.
Hours passed in silence. Until suddenly, Jess heard footsteps outside of her door. Moving to open the door to whom she presumed was Nick, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed a little piece of white card slipped under her door, covered in his messy scrawl. Picking it up, Jess read the message over quickly, tears immediately blooming to her eyes as she digested his words.
'Jess,
You wear fake teeth to weddings, have absolutely no idea when it's appropriate to burst into song, and you cried so loudly when I took you to see Marley and Me we got thrown out of the cinema. And you know what? I'm still not embarrassed by you. I love you and every little weird thing you do. Now open your damn door before I break it down.'
Padding open to the door, Jess pulled it open to reveal a very nervous looking Nick Miller waiting for her. She shot him a watery smile and he shrugged his shoulders slightly, telling her he didn't have a clue what to do next.
"I'm trying so hard to be better for you, Jess," He mumbled, pulling her to him and burying his face in her hair. It moved against his face like ripples after a stone hits a lake. "I just... I feel like if they came-" Nick kind of grunted and made this choking noise and Jess realised too late he was crying. Stroking her hand up and down his spine she shushed him.
"I feel like if they came here..." Nick carried on, "Everything's so delicate, you know? New and rickety. And the Millers, well, they're something of a thunderstorm waiting to happen." Jess laughed a little at that, and Nick liked the way it felt against his neck.
And like that, notes to them became something more. When their equal stubbornness prevented them from saying what needed to be said, neat little pieces of paper would appear. Which is why, as Nick turned over the white piece of card in his hands, he raked his brain for what he could of done. Coming up with nothing, Nick felt an uneasy feeling of nausea wash through his stomach as he remembered Jess' behaviour that morning as they ate breakfast.
"What's eating at you, Day?" Nick asked across the kitchen counter, noticing the way Jess was pushing around her sodden cereal sadly, face scrunched up as if trying to do really difficult maths problems in her head. Starting from her reverie, she grinned up at him brightly, a smile that Nick noticed didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Nothing! I'm great, just swell thanks, Nick. Peachy keen. 100% a-okay. Spiffing. Couldn't be be-" She trailed off, noticing the disbelieving look on his face, and shrugged a little sadly. "Must be my menzies, I guess." Nick made a face and Jess laughed, genuinely smiling for the first time that day.
"I gotta get to work." Nick yawned, reaching over to kiss her on the cheek sweetly. "I'll see you tonight?" Jess bobbed her head up and down in response, and Nick felt an uncomfortable tug on his heartstrings as he noticed the unfamiliar, clandestine sadness shining in her eyes.
"Nick?" She called out to him, just as he turned to leave, and he paused to turn back to her. "I love you." Walking back over to her, Nick stooped to kiss her hard on the mouth, noting the way she clinged to him tightly, kissing him back with more desperation than usual.
"I love you, too." Nick breathed against her lips, shooting her one last smile as he headed out the door.
Two words.
That's all that's written on the card.
'I'm pregnant.'
And it's Tuesday.
And Nick's at the bar.
And Jess is pregnant.
Suddenly, Nick remembers back to when he was a kid. To the story of that little duck, or was it chicken? It doesn't matter. Some kind of fucking bird anyway, that thinks the sky was falling down when really, all it was was an acorn. He goes running around the town shouting and shouting about how the sky is falling down and manages to get everyone else super worked up, sure that the end of the word was near. Nick always hated that bird. It was an acorn, for god's sake! A tiny little thing, that hit him on the back of the head, yet that dumb fucking chicken-duck starts freaking out and says the sky's falling in on him. Grabbing his keys, tears blurring his eyes, Nick barges through the bar and into his car, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head:
'Run, Nick Miller, the sky is falling, the sky is falling!'
It's Winston that finds him. Nick guesses it must be late because when he tried to buy more liquor from the store after he'd nearly finished his (second) bottle, it had all been locked up, and the sky was that super liquidy black, oozing like spilt ink.
"Hey, man." Winston says, as he hops up on the car bonnet to sit next to Nick, and there's this tone underneath Winston's otherwise neutral voice that Nick recognises instantly, it's the same voice he used when Nick dropped out of law school and broke up with Caroline. Turning his head, Nick smiled at his oldest friend sloppily.
"Jess tell you, huh?" He asks, swigging the almost empty bottle of liquor, not even flinching as it burned a path down his throat.
"Yup," Winston replies, his gaze directed not at Nick, but out into the darkness. He's swinging his legs from his perch on the car bonnet, the back of his calves hitting the bumper with a rhythmic thunk.
"I'm going to be a father!" Nick scoffs, snorting into his bottle of liquor, laughing in a way that both made his gut ache and his head pound. Winston doesn't laugh. Or smile, or comment on Nick's uselessness. In the back of his mind Nick realises with a jolt that Schmidt would, he'd be trying to fix him, make him responsible, but Winston instead sits in silence, giving him the time he needs.
"Is she worried?" Nick asks, glancing over at his friend who just shrugs slightly.
"A little." Winston stretches out a little and stops swinging his legs. Nick finds he misses the dull thunk thunk. "She sort of expected it, though. I think she's with Cece now or something." Nick nods in recognition and feels a drop of shame trickle down his spine at the thought of leaving her to deal with this on her own.
"I'm Chicken Little, Winston." Nick sighs, and Winston abruptly snaps his gaze to him.
"What the hell, Nick?"
"Jess threw a sky at my head and now my acorn is falling." His words are jumbled and the alcohol in his blood makes his pounding head spin, but Winston seems to understand. Smiling at him tightly, he places a comforting hand on his shoulder, and like that, Nick's resolve crumbles. He's crying now, openly, great wracking sobs making his body shake, a tirade of images assaulting his brain. His father, Jess' disappointed face, a baby with big blue eyes, a little girl with dark brown hair tied in pink ribbons.
Tears slowed and Nick's sobs quietened, until it was just two guys and a bottle of liquor, sat on the top of a car at three in the morning.
"Remember when we were fifteen, and we got them dolls in sex-ed class?" Nick starts, Winston nods at the memory, swiping Nick's liquor from his hands and taking a swig.
"And they gave me a damn white baby? Yeah, I remember." Nick laughs slightly and took his bottle back off Winston, taking a sip before continuing.
"Well I got my baby, and I thought: you know what? I'm not going to screw this up." Nick laughs a little, shaking his head in disdain. "And it started good, you know? I fed it, I changed it's diaper, I even named the damn thing." Nick's hands clench around the bottle a little tighter. "And then... it starts to cry. And cry, and cry, and cry. And no matter what, I can't stop it. I tried everything. It still wouldn't stop."
"And?" Winston asks, sitting back on his hands.
"I gave up." Nick shrugs and lets out a heavy breath, gazing up at the sky. "I don't want to do that Winston. I don't want to give up on my kid. I don't want to give up on Jess." He digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, rubbing them tiredly. "I love her too much to fuck this up." Winston smiles at him like he understands, and Nick appreciates it, even if he's pretty sure he doesn't.
The ride back to the loft is long. To sober Nick up, Winston had brought bottles of water that he forced Nick to chug, as well as old rock anthems Nick loved played full blast to snap him back to his senses. Everything felt different, like times long ago, when his dad was alive and it was Winston's first car and they felt like they would never get old.
"Winston!" He shouts over the din, and Winston reaches to turn the car stereo down a little. "Thanks, man." It's all that's needed between a pair of friends so old, and both knew it.
The door to the loft bangs shut and Jess' gaze immediately sprung to it at the noise. Cece, sat beside her, shot a nervous glance at Schmidt, who in turn shrugged slightly, biting on his thumbnail from nerves.
As Nick appears round the corner, Jess' expression immediately softens, the worry lines of her forehead smoothing out. Catching her eye, Nick grins at her but before he could make any moves toward her, Schmidt had leapt off the couch and into Nick's arms.
"Never do that again, Nick!" Schmidt cries dramatically, burying his face in Nick's neck, to which Nick wriggled away from. "I was so nervous I began comfort eating, it was like the twinkie incident of '97 all over again!" Nick pats him on the back a little awkwardly.
Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Nick effectively shoves Schmidt off him and turns to see a watery eyed Jess, hands resting over her still flat stomach. A lump gathers in his throat he is unable to swallow past, seeing her brings back the reality of the situation. Stood in front of him, with her blue eyes and dark hair and nervous expression, red ribbon lip being worried between her teeth stood his future. Silently he twines their fingers together and rests their clasped hands over her stomach, leaning so his forehead rests against hers.
"We doing this, Miller?" Jess asks, and there's happiness in her voice, effervescing out of her like champagne bubbles. Well, maybe not champagne bubbles because pregnant ladies can't drink. And Jess was a pregnant lady. His pregnant lady.
"We're doing this, Day. Let's have a baby." Though the words were said in a light-hearted manner, there was an underlying tenderness that resonated between them, making Jess feel all fuzzy right down to the tips of her toes. Cheers erupt behind them and Nick and Jess snap out of their embrace, identical grins on their faces to see Schmidt, Cece and Winston all applauding and cheering. Cece's smile fixed on Jess, Winston's gaze focused on Nick, and Schmidt openly sobbing into Cece's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Jess," He whispers to her late that night, kissing the top of her head. She sniffles into his stomach and turns in his embrace to gaze up at him, all wide and forgiving.
"I'm sorry, too." Nick furrows his brow.
"Why are you sorry?" He whispers and she shrugs in a very small way that makes her look infinitely tiny.
"Getting impregnated." Nick lets out a bark of laughter and Jess follows suit, until they're both giggling so uncontrollably it hurts his stomach. Calming down, he wiped a stray tear of laughter from the corner of his eye and smiled at her tenderly.
"Takes two to tango, Jessica." He wiggles his eyebrows and she snorts.
"We're not going to mess this up, are we?" And suddenly reality crashes down on them with the force of a collapsing building, and he feels his throat tighten. Nick tightens his grip on her body.
"No, Jess. We won't mess this up."
He wishes he sounded more sure.
The next morning he decides he needs to tell his Ma. Jess stands next to him rubbing protectively over her still flat stomach whilst he makes the call, chewing anxiously on her thumbnail, and he leans over to rub tenderly on the small of her back.
"Me and Jess... we're having a baby, Ma."
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
"Oh, Nicky..." He feels Jess tense up next to him (there would always be the part of Jess so desperate to please his mother, and he knows it, so he tightens his grip on her). "Tell her congratulations! I'm going to be a Nanna!"
Jess lets out an audible gasp of relief and Nick feels his heart constrict almost painfully at the snuffling noise at the end of the phone, indicating his Ma was crying.
"Nicky dear, put Jessica on the phone. I have some homemade remedies that will help so much with the morning sickness and..." Nick passed the phone over to Jess and stood back for a moment to appreciate the sight before him, Jess grinning brightly talking to his beloved Ma, a hand on her stomach where a baby (their baby!) grew closer and closer to being real everyday.
It turns out after a few weeks being pregnant becomes kind of an issue.
Jess wakes up every morning with panic in her eyes as she makes a mad dash to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach. Nick follows her soon after, racing to the sounds of his distressed girlfriend, and holds back her thick hair as she heaves against the cold tile. They spend most mornings awoken by an angry Schmidt, demanding the use of the shower, after falling asleep against the cold white tile of the bathroom.
"Winston, man what have I told you about eggs?" Nick says one morning, intercepting Winston's plate piled high with his breakfast and dumping it's contents straight in the trash. "Eggs make Jess sick."
Winston mumbles angrily at Nick's words, and hastily whips out his phone to tap a dangerously frustrated message to Daisy. "First you take away my damn coffee because the smell makes her wretch, then all fried food is banned, now a man can't even enjoy eggs in his own apartment?"
"Did someone say eggs?" Jess appeared at the doorway in one of Nick's shirts, her little bump making it stand out against her body more than usual, and Nick noted with panic the dangerous shade of green she had turned. Working on autopilot, he scooped her into his arms and rushed her to the bathroom, arriving just in time.
"This is awful." Jess splutters, resting her head on Nick's shoulder. He presses kisses into the side of her face and rubbed her back soothingly.
"Not much longer now, sweetheart."
He wishes he could take the pain from her, but instead he whispers about how much he loves her into her hair.
"Ducks or bunnies, Nick?" Jess asks from her position in the new rocking chair, reading a magazine that was propped up open on her now round stomach. Nick furrows his brow, wiping a bead of sweat away from his head as he set down the paintbrush, turning to face her.
"Bunnies." Schmidt answers, focussed on the extremely accurate line of yellow paint he was making into the crevice of the wall. Winston huffs from his position on the opposite wall, high on a ladder to reach the corners.
"Something funny, Winston?" Schmidt asks, turning away from his wall threateningly and stepping closer to him. Winston shrugged.
"I don't know man, I guess I just can't see how bunnies are superior to ducks." Schmidt let out a dramatic gasp before drawing back his brush and flicking paint across Winston's smug face.
"Oh no you did-"
"Not in my baby's room!" Nick roars, launching himself between the pair as they made to attack each other. He catches Jess' eye and smiles softly, not missing the way her eyes crinkle at the corners when she laughs.
"I am not naming her after your Great Aunt Ruthie, Nick." Jess sighs, rubbing her now quite swollen stomach protectively. They were lying facing each other on their shared bed, Jess' belly meaning that they were both teetering dangerously on the edge. Nick sighed.
"Ruthie is a great..."
"...Old lady name. Pass."
"Ok, what do you have in mind Miss Know It All?" Jess smiles happily.
"Robin."
"For a boy or for a girl?"
"Either." Jess shrugs. "It's unisex."
"It makes me think of a fat bird." Nick blanches.
"Nicholas!"
"Jessica!"
They both stare at each other, locked in a silent challenge.
"Kasey." Nick suggests.
"Too white girl. Joshua?"
"Too white boy. What about April?"
"What will we call the next one, September?" Nick considers it for a moment and Jess swats his arm.
"If you two don't shut up right now the kid will be called Schmidt!" An angry voice echoed through the walls, causing Nick to roll his eyes and Jess to giggle. Pressing a kiss to her cheek he sunk lower and pressed a kiss to her bump.
"Goodnight, young Dorothy." He mumbles, plucking a name out of thin air. Jess gasps loudly and Nick sits up, panicked, eyes searching her face.
"Are you okay?" He questions, noticing the tears in her eyes. She nods silently.
"Dorothy. Oh, Nick that's her name." Jess sniffles happily, rubbing her bump. Nick grins crookedly.
"What, straight out of Oz?" Nick teases, and Jess swats him again but this time he's ready for it, catching her hand and pinning her arm above her head. "Dorothy Day. Has a nice ring to it, huh?"
"Miller." Jess whispers, and Nick feels his heart contract painfully. "Her name's Dorothy Miller."
He stoops and kisses her hard on the mouth, trying to pour everything he felt toward her in that one moment into a single action.
The next morning they get an hour long lecture from Schmidt, about how he hopes that their lustful actions of the previous night hadn't impregnated the baby. They both cringe at his down right stupidity, and Jess holds his hand under the table the entire time.
Lamaze classes were an... experience. He wasn't totally sure what he was expecting if he was being honest, perhaps weird pregnant lady dancing or tribal chants. As Nick and Jess stepped into the room, soft sponge mat clutched under his arm like a weapon for battle, Jess' hand clutched tightly in his other, the eyes of thirty pregnant women boring holes into him. Sensing his nerves, Jess squeezed his hand tightly and Nick turned to smile at her warmly, the worry lines in his forehead easing out.
"Hi!" The couple started as an overly enthusiastic (even by Jess' standard) blonde practically leapt in front them, her mega watt smile taking up half of her face. "You must be Mr and Mrs Miller, right?"
"Actually..." Jess starts, but Nick cuts across her.
"Yeah, that's us the Millers." Nick shoots Jess a smile and she feels tingles shoot up and down her spine in a way that made her whole body quake.
"Well, let's get you a mat!" Jess gripped on to Nick's hand a little tighter and the peppy woman guided them across the floor, and Nick grinned happily at her back.
"So like everyone in this class is pregnant?" Nick murmurs into Jess' ear as the sat on the floor, Jess nestled between his legs.
Jess, hand placed casually over her stomach like it always was, shot Nick a weird look over her shoulder, grinning a little as she felt his hands ghost over her bump, in a feather light caress.
"It was a joke." he says lightly.
"You're jokes are usually funnier, you're losing your touch, Miller." she teases, tongue poking out from between her teeth.
"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment towards my usual humour or an insult towards my current joke." Nick muses, causing her to smirk.
Jess let out a breath and suddenly froze, her hand pushed harder on her stomach. Nick's brow furrowed in concern, gently grabbing her arm, and looked at her worryingly. "What's wrong?" he asked, at bit frazzled.
"That was a big kick." she said to herself. After breathing slowly a few times, she assured Nick she was fine with a light squeeze of his knuckles.
"Ok, class! Everybody, please come to the middle!" a squeaky voice requested.
"Well, hello class! Wow! You're all so fat!" The blonde woman whom Jess murmured into his ear was in fact called Tina, shrilled loudly. "I joke, I joke!" she laughed as her bright blue eyes seemed to get brighter, if that was even possible.
Nick shot Jess a weird look as Jess held back a smile.
"Ok, so this class is supposed to be fun! So I want everyone to walk outta here having had the best time off their life! Unless of course you saw the Spice Girls in Reno last week, that's my only exception." she giggled.
"Now, before we begin, I wanna make sure you all know, childbirth…" she paused for dramatic effect. "Is painful. Not that I know from experience, but when my sister had her kid, well let me tell you, it was a pain in the arse for me to hear her complain." she laughed.
"But, I'm here to make sure you gals just get through it without screaming so loud that Guam has to call in their reinforcements." she chuckled at her joke.
"So, this week we're gunna take things slow." Tina dragged out the last word. "And start with a simple breathing exercise. Now I want every couple to face each other, sitting Indian style, and hold the other's hands."
Nick and Jess exchanged an awkward glance before doing what they were told. Their grip on each other was casual but Jess liked the comforting warmth of Nick's hands on hers.
Tina came around making sure everyone was doing it right. "Oh! Honey, I'm in love with your top!" she squealed to Jess, who smiled politely. "Where did you get it?" she asked enthusiastically. "You know what? Tell me after class." she whispered to her.
When she bounced over to the next couple, Jess gave Nick a smiling look, which he returned.
"Ok, now I want both of you to breathe slowly, in and out. Breathing is the most important thing during childbirth, right after pushing that sucker out." she chuckled.
A few minutes of slow breathing, followed by some floor exercises and some useless (according to Nick, to which he had earnt a sharp slap up the side of his head from Jess) ball bouncing later;
"Ok, now before we leave…"
"That's it!" Nick mocked whined in disappointment to Jess, who shot him a teasing glare mixed with a little bit of scolding.
"I want to do a little talking exercise right now." she explained, and Nick rolled his eyes a bit.
"Now, I want you to look into your partners eyes." she began, and Nick's focus immediately went to Jess' face, who shyly looked away momentarily.
"Now, guys, repeat after me. 'Thank you.'"
"Thank you." Nick said with a charming smile.
"'For giving me this baby'."
"For giving me this baby." Nick continued, Jess laughing a little at the weirded out look on his face, knowing full well that if they weren't in public he would be panic moonwalking pretty damn fast away from her.
"'I promise, that I will always be there for you'."
"I promise I will always be there for you." Nick repeated, more confidently this time. And Jess could feel him affectionately rub her knuckles with his thumb. There was a thump in her stomach as their little peanut aimed a pretty impressive kick at her bellybutton.
"Now, I want to say this part, from your heart. Don't make me make you say it. I want you to tell your partner that she's beautiful and how much you care for her."
Nick took in a deep breath and opened his mouth, a smirk coming over his face, as Jess blushed and averted her gaze, suddenly coming over shy.
But Nick shook his head, the smile still plastered to his face as he crooked a finger under her chin, bringing their gazes together.
"You, Jessica Day, are beautiful." he began as she smirked, shaking her head and blushing slightly.
Nick's at the bar when he gets a frantic phonecall from Schmidt that mainly consists of shrieking and high pitched screaming. There's static at the end of line, the sounds of a scuffling fight, followed by a harsh yelp of pain, before the cool voice of Cece comes on the line. Nick notes with some panic that the usual bored tone to her voice was absent, replaced by an undertone of panic.
"Nick, Jess has gone into labour, get here as soon as you can!"
Nick's heart leapt against his chest as Cece's words resonated around him, before settling painfully in his chest. He hung up the phone and took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. As he gathered up his things and ran out of the door, he paused for a minute in the doorway, turning around to look at the empty bar. It struck him that the next time he stepped foot through these doors, he wouldn't be Nick Miller, kind of suck-ish bartender, failed lawyer, general fuck up. He would be Nick Miller, father.
He didn't look around as he slammed the door shut behind him.
His hand was crushed.
His hand was crushed and he's sure he'll never have a hand again.
Has Jess always been that strong?
"I hate you Nick Miller! And I hate your penis and I hate your stupid face!"
Would he get into a lot of trouble if he just punched Schmidt in the face?
That bastard is still smirking.
Oh my god where is that guy going with that huge pair of pliers oh dear god he was going to faint this is bad and woah Jess can SCREAM.
Would it be totally bad if he sat down right now?
"Mr Miller, would you like to come and see your baby being born?" A guy asks at the end of the bed, and Nick swallows on a dry mouth.
"I'm good here, thanks." Nick murmurs, smoothing down Jess' sweaty hair away from her eyes, face contorting as another contraction took over her body.
"Be a man, Nick! Go and watch our baby being born!" Jess commands through gritted teeth, and Nick numbly makes his way down to the end of the bed and WOAH BLOOD AND WHAT THE HELL IS THAT HE'S GOING TO PASS OUT HE SWEARS HE WOULD BE COOL. Jess lets out this almighty scream and it's a mix between a scream and his name, flinging her hand out, searching for him, and Nick composes himself and gets back up to the top of the bed as he eyes snap open.
"Nick it HURTS." She cries, and his heart breaks as he presses a kiss to her temple.
"I know, sweetheart. But you're doing so good!" Jess grumbles something about him not knowing at all and Nick bites back a remark on the tip of his tongue, remembering the situation they were in.
"Okay, Miss Day, on your next contraction you need to push for me okay? Baby's on its way." Jess makes this little sobbing noise at the back of her throat and Nick presses a kiss to her knuckles and braces himself.
"You squeeze as hard as you need to okay, break my hand for all I care." Nick says, and braces himself. Jess laughs and inhales deeply.
"Nick, you need your hands for your job. Plus I kind of like them." Jess whispers, and Nick shakes his head slightly, as though he was trying to clear water from his ears. Suddenly, she stiffens.
"It's coming!" Jess cries, and Nick feels explosions behind his eyes as his hand is squeezed within an inch of its life.
It felt oddly like the end.
"Guys, it's Nick!" Schmidt shrieks , leaping up from his seat in the hospital waiting room. Winston and Cece and jolted awake from where they slept, Cece with her head on Schmidt's shoulder and Winston propped up against the back of a hospital chair.
Nick approaches his friends with deep set bags under his eyes, yet practically glowing with pride as he grinned down at the bundle of blankets in his arms, sleeping soundly. Winston gasps and Schmidt's breathing becomes laboured. Cece remains quiet, but Nick looks up to see silent tears falling from her eyes.
"Guys," Nick murmurs quietly, as they gather round. "This is Dorothy. Say hi."
For once, everyone was silent.
Hours later and Winston's headed back to the loft, needing sleep for work the next day, and Cece's visiting Jess in her hospital room. Nick stands at the window to the nursery, watching his little girl sleep peacefully in her crib.
"Hey, man," Nick starts slightly at the sound of a voice, before smiling slightly as he realises it's Schmidt. They both watch Dorothy in silence.
"Hey, Schmidt." It's strange seeing Schmidt so quiet and stuck for words, yet it seems oddly fitting.
"She's beautiful." Schmidt says, and it sounds so sincere it hurts a little.
"I know, she's all Jess." Nick laughs, and suddenly he's shocked that the little tiny thing in front of him is a little bit of him but mostly a little bit of her. It's them. And she's real. And he will not cry in front of Schmidt.
"I don't know, she's got your eyes." Nick grins a little.
"Are you ready for this, man?" Nick lets out a breath but nods silently, still not diverting his attention away from his slumbering little girl.
"I'm proud of you, Nick." Schmidt says and claps him on the back. As he hears the retreating steps of his friend back down the hard hospital tile, Nick allows himself a few well placed tears.
Jess wakes up in the night, noting the absence of Nick's body heat. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom, wondering sleepily if he had a late shift at the bar she'd forgotten about. Walking past the room that was now her daughter's, Jess' breath hitched as she noticed the light seeping out from under the crack of the door. Padding silently to the door, she peeked in and felt her heart melt into a puddle of goo at the sight in front of her.
Nick sat on the rocking chair, swaying backwards and forwards slowly, rhythmically, Dorothy locked securely in his arms. She bit her lip as she noted the way he gazed down at their little girl with wonder in his eyes, his voice low and husky and laced with sleep, murmuring something she couldn't quite hear.
"...and the little chicken ran around town saying 'the sky is falling' 'the sky is falling'! And you know what, baby? I don't know whether that chicken was right or not but sometimes it's good to have a good knock to the head. Things have got to end to get better." Jess shifted a bit in her position at the doorway, and upon noticing her presence Nick grinned at her softly.
Dorothy now sighed softly in sleep, and Nick lowered her gently into her crib, pressing a kiss against her wispy hair.
"Chicken little, huh?" Jess asks, twining her arms around his neck, grinning tiredly.
"That little bird knew what he was talking about." Nick grins, and bent his head to press his lips against hers.
Please let me know what you think!