It's a Tuesday morning when she tells Freddie. It took her such a long time to think of the right way to do it. She could wait until Freddie came home and sat in her lap and tell her. She could make a joke with the Prego sauce. She could straight up tell her over dinner one night. She wasn't good at these things yet.
She is leaning against the counter in the kitchen, sipping hot tea from a white mug and using it to hide her smile when Freddie comes in.
Freddie takes off her gloves and sets them down on the island with her keys and phone on top. She sees Margot and smiles and walks over to give her a kiss filled with love, wrapping an arm around Margot's waist.
"Hi." She says, happy to see Margot.
"Hello." Margot covers her smile with the mug again.
Freddie asks her what she's so happy about, and Margot only looks over to the small box that's sitting on the island. Freddie raises an eyebrow when sees a small nametag with her name written in bold, cursive letters hanging off of the box.
Margot's stomach flips and her heart beats faster. It's a good feeling, for once. She tries to keep her calm as Freddie walks over to the small box and picks it up.
Freddie reads the tag again, flipping it over to see if there's anything on the back. When she sees that there isn't, she opens the lid of the box and pokes around the white mesh fabric pieces. She pulls out a baby pacifier.
She doesn't understand what it means at first. She looks at it, twirls it around her fingers, wondering why Margot would be smiling over a pacifier.
But then it clicks, and a smile breaks across Freddie's face. She looks over to Margot, who is nodding and smiling. She runs over to her and they wrap their arms around each other, and Freddie kisses her hard.
When they break apart, there are tears in their eyes and laughter on their lips. Freddie glances down to Margot's stomach, almost not believing what's happening. She looks back up into Margot's eyes and Margot takes her hand and brings it to rest on her stomach.
Freddie doesn't know what to think or how to react. She had never experienced something like this before.
She stood there with her hand pressed against a small area of firmness on Margot's abdomen, feeling the warmth. The warmth of not one life, but two. And her hand there made three.
Freddie dropped to her knees, her eyes never leaving the spot where their hands are.
She lifts up Margot's shirt and hesitates before pressing her fingers onto her bare skin. It's so small, and yet so large.
There are tears flowing from her eyes, and she can barely see. She's happy. She's ecstatic. She's overjoyed.
"Hi." She says to Margot's stomach.
"Hello." Margot says in a high-pitched voice, mimicking a child.
Freddie laughs through her tears and gently runs the back of her hand over Margot's smooth skin. Over their baby. She wonders if it can feel Freddie's hand there.
She presses her lips to the place just above where their world is slowly growing. Margot giggles because it tickles, but Freddie only does it more, planting small kisses all over Margot's stomach before she stands up and gives Margot a passionate kiss. She wraps one arm around Margot's waist and her hand comes to rest at her lower back, and one hand finds itself resting on the back of Margot's head. Margot wraps her arms around Freddie's neck, and at that moment only the three of them exist in the world.
xXx
Freddie holds Margot's hand as Margot lies on the reclining, paper-covered chair as they wait for the nurse to begin the ultrasound. She hisses quietly when the probe first comes in contact with her bare stomach, the gel cold. Freddie gives her hand a reassuring squeeze.
The two rest there, staring at the screen, not knowing what is what.
They squeeze each other's hands when they see an image that is clearly a baby come up on the screen. Their eyes tear up.
The nurse asks them if they want to know the sex of their child. They nod in unison, having already had that conversation.
Tears fall from their eyes when they're told that it's a girl.
xXx
They have trouble acquiring the correct baby materials. Neither of them have had much experience with children, especially newborn babies. But they're going to learn.
They decide on a dark wood crib and pastel colored sheets and crib padding.
Margot loves the tiny little shoes, and Freddie loves the outfits. They buy onesies with baby animals on them and bibs that read "Mommy Loves Me". Freddie buys five different baby hats, all of varying shapes and sizes.
Margot buys a stuffed pig and names it Pavlov.
xXx
They paint the walls of the nursery a pale yellow color and put wall stickers of birds all over the room.
xXx
They have countless conversations about names. They don't want to use either of their own names, and they don't want to use anything too common. But they also don't want it to be anything too exotic.
It takes them a long time to settle on one.
xXx
Pregnancy has its ups and downs, and the two learn about this three months in.
Freddie holds back Margot's hair as she vomits into the toilet each morning for months.
She goes out to whatever store is open at three in the morning to buy whatever weird craving Margot was having.
She doesn't get angry when Margot yells at her for simple things because she knows that it's just the pregnancy making her feel that way. Margot knows that, too, and always apologizes profusely after she has calmed down.
Whenever Margot is feeling depressed, Freddie assures her that she will never leave her, not matter how "fat" she gets. She will love her no matter what.
When Margot kicks and screams and cries that she hates being pregnant, that she wishes it never happened, that she wishes Freddie was the one to be carrying their child, Freddie tells her that it won't last forever and reminds her of all of the good things about being pregnant.
xXx
They lie in bed for hours some days, giggling and talking to their growing baby. They play soft music and sway around the room, dancing together.
Freddie is mesmerized by their baby when she kicks. She pokes at her feet and hands and head when they press against the inside of Margot, and they make a game out of it.
The baby kicks whenever she hears her mothers' voices.
Freddie spreads the baby clothes out over Margot's bump, telling her daughter how pretty she's going to look in her clothes and hats. And she always makes sure to add that she'll love her just as much if she decides she doesn't want to be a girl. Which is why not every one of the baby clothes are dresses.
She rubs Margot's swollen feet when she complains that they're hurting her.
When Freddie is at work, Margot lays in bed, tracing shapes over her stomach. The baby kicks at the spot where it's being tickled.
Margot sleeps with Pavlov pressed up against her stomach every night. She heard that expecting parents should sleep with their baby's blankets and stuffed animals before they're born so when the baby is born, their belongings smell like their parents and they feel safe.
Freddie and Margot can't stop laughing when the baby gets hiccups.
xXx
When the end of the ninth month rolls around, they're prepared when Margot's water breaks. As strange as it sounds, they've practiced this. They're only frantic because it's real this time.
They're eating breakfast when it happens. Margot stands up to put her plate in the sink, and her water breaks as soon as she reaches it.
She yells for Freddie, who comes running in. They look at each other for a moment, coming to the joyful realization that it's time.
Freddie runs and gets Margot's shoes and coat and helps her put them on. They walk to the door and Freddie quickly pulls on her own coat and shoes and picks up the duffel bag filled with the necessary belongings, grabs her keys and phone, and the two drive to the hospital.
Margot is calm and collected and patient. Freddie is patient, but not calm or collected.
Freddie paces the hospital room as they wait for Margot to become dilated enough.
Margot screams in pain and Freddie cries her eyes out when Margot's contractions become worse. She wipes the sweat that collects on Margot's forehead and neck.
Freddie desperately wishes she could do more for Margot.
She doesn't take it personally when Margot is screaming at her, accusing her of things that are out of Freddie's control, telling her that she wishes she was the pregnant one instead of herself. Freddie can only agree with her and apologize.
When it's time for their baby to come into the world, Freddie forgets everything. She feels inadequate. She feels like she'll be a horrible mother. She thinks she'll let Margot and their baby down.
She can only let Margot scream and squeeze her hand when she pushes. Freddie knows that she'll have bruises, but she doesn't care. Their lives are about to become better.
Freddie cries for a different reason when she hears the first cry of their daughter. She smiles and laughs and tells Margot that she did it, she was so brave and so strong and she did it. She brought a new life into this world all on her own.
Later, Margot tells her that she didn't do it alone. She had her lovely, red headed wife with her the whole time.
The doctors clean up their daughter and wrap her in a blanket. They put Margot's bed back together and make her comfortable again.
A nurse hands their baby to Margot, whose eyes tear up when she sees their beautiful baby girl. She forgets about all of the pain she just experienced when their daughter opens her eyes and looks up at her.
Margot scoots over when Freddie climbs up onto the bed and lies next to her. She rests the baby between them.
Freddie caresses their baby's small, warm cheek with her finger.
"Hi, Alice." She says to their daughter.
"Hello, Alice." Margot smiles through her tears.
And it was only the three of them in the world again.
A/N: Leave a review and tell me what you think!