For LightLeadingMe, because she got me to thinking about baby fic.
"Tea, doll," said Holtzmann, handing Abby the cup.
"Thank you," said Abby, relieved when she took a sip. Her throat was dry and scratchy. She took another little one while Holtzmann sat down on the couch beside her. She gestured for Abby to put her feet up on her. She draped her legs across Jillian's lap, stretching her toes and calves, which were slightly cramping. Jillian was rubbing her knees while Abby went tried to juggle her tea and her tablet.
"You should be resting instead of trying to work," the blonde chided. Abby rolled her eyes.
"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I have to stay in bed."
"It does when you're miserable being upright, Abs." Abby grimaced at that. The baby was pressing against her organs and she just felt exhausted and uncomfortable. She couldn't concentrate on anything and every time she ate, nausea and indigestion would hit her hard. That didn't even count the Braxton-Hicks, which were a constant annoyance in of themselves.
"Then tell your child to please come as soon as possible."
Holtz gave her an amused look. "My child? You're the one who got pregnant."
Abby glared at her over the tablet. "In hindsight, that was the stupidest decision we've ever made." She and Jillian had decided to try to have a child together and had used a sperm bank. They could never decide to who was going to carry the baby, so they decided to go for broke and tried at the same time. While Abby had been quite sure Jillian would end up pregnant, it turned out she was as fertile as hell and it only took one time for her to be knocked up.
It had been fun at first, being pregnant. Jillian as usual was loving and doting. Patty gave the best back rubs after investigations and stakeouts. "Aunt" Erin had been delighted with the news and kept finding things for the baby. It had been a whirlwind of emotions for the both of them as they bought furniture and clothing and bottles, things they had never thought they'd need.
"Mmhmm," said Jillian, humoring Abby. This was the same thing she had been hearing for the past few days. The baby was about 38 weeks now, and it was the home stretch before they were to be born. Abby was definitely feeling it, and was positively grumpy morning, noon, and night. Holtz pushed down Abby's grey sweatpants slightly and rubbed a hand across her extended baby bump.
"Someone's moving," she said, feeling a little kick under her fingers. Abby slid down further against the pillows that were surrounding her back and sides. It gave Holtz more access to the baby, which she delighted in. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and they had nowhere to be. Holtzmann looked up at Abby with a smile.
"You grew them well Abs. I have no doubt they'll be playing soccer by three."
"I was thinking they were going to be building their own rocket ships," Abby said, adjusting her glasses and looking at her lover. Holtzmann chuckled and kept rubbing Abby's round belly.
"We'll have a kid who can do both." Holtz yawned and stretched, but squeaked when she looked down.
"Hey baby," she cooed, tracing a finger across a little foot that appeared on the side. "You want to be active today huh?" She could almost tickle a little leg that was extending itself outward. It was hard to believe they were only separated by layers of skin, a uterus, and the amniotic sac. It felt like the baby wanted to be on the outside too and playing with her.
"It won't be long," she said as the foot kicked again. Holtz noticed Abby grimacing out of the corner of her eye.
"Ignore me," she said, laying her tablet down. "The stretching feeling is a little disconcerting sometimes."
"It is almost like Alien," said Holtz, smirking. Abby snorted, shaking her head.
"Don't give me bad mental images Jills." The engineer grinned.
"But that's my job," she teased. "As your dutiful and loyal spouse, it's my place to make sure by the time you get to the hospital to have this baby, you're thoroughly ready to accept the normal reality that you're going to be pushing this kid out into the world using the same methods used since the dawn of man."
"You mean they didn't have pod babies?" said Abby with a smirk, falling into science fiction as well. She looked a little dreamy eyed for a moment. "God, that sounds delightful right about now."
"One of these days we'll have artificial wombs," Jillian proposed. "But I'm thinking at least not until the next century. People are still trying to take the high moral ground that children are only meant for people in mixed gender committed relationships."
"I want to hold them," said Abby, running a hand down the side of her abdomen. "Two weeks is too long." Holtzmann smiled sadly at Abby. She put a hand on the back of the couch and leaned up to kiss her. Their lips met softly, just enjoying the touch for a moment before Jillian deepened it. She rubbed Abby's cheek, eliciting a soft sigh from the paranormal investigator.
"You will soon enough."
"You mean if Patty doesn't shove you and Erin out of the way to hold them first."
"I think you get first priority," said Holtzmann, pushing back up the band on Abby's sweatpants. "Okay, up." When Abby gave her a confused look, Holtz gestured for her to sit up on the couch. She took Abby's hand and helped her bend in the middle, which was getting a little harder lately. Jillian sat down behind her and started putting pillows in her lap. She helped Abby lay down with her head resting on the pillows.
"Nap," directed Jillian. Abby gave a long suffering sigh. They both knew that naps like this weren't very fruitful, but the brunette hadn't been sleeping well at night either. The little quiet moments together like this were rare and far between, and would be even less so once the baby was born. Holtzmann rubbed Abby's forearm until her breathing evened out. Watching Abby's chest rise and fall calmed Jillian in ways she couldn't explain to the others. When they first starting asking about the nature of her and Abby's relationship, she just told them that Abby was her sway bar on the road of life.
But knowing the baby's heart was racing inside her body made Holtzmann excited. They were going to be parents. Great parents who would give their kids the most awesome Legos, the best books on science, and let them eat all the junk food they wanted.
Their poor kid was going to be so nerdy, she almost felt bad that they would have to go to school. But maybe they could start college by age 8 and avoid the awkward middle and high school experience. Holtzmann also considered she was going to have to build a mini proton pack for their child because they'd probably want to run after them and chase ghosts too. She took out the notepad from her back pocket and started sketching out a miniature version, minus any radioactive and electrical parts. She briefly wondered for a moment if she could build a mini Ecto-1 pedal car before going back to her sketching. She still had two weeks.