It was early on Friday morning. Jeff was sitting with his knees right up against the hard plastic of the seat in front of him. Airplanes were not meant for anyone over six feet. He hated flying. He'd never been on a plane until a year and a half ago when Annie had graduated from the academy. Ever since then he'd tried his hardest to avoid this particular mode of transport. Airplanes were just too small and cramped and packed with way too many people.

The plane began its descent and Jeff closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat. And okay, maybe he had issues with flying that weren't entirely dependent on the size of the plane. The plane shuttered slightly and he clenched his teeth. People who enjoyed air travel were nuts.

Before long the pilot was announcing that they had landed at the Reagan National Airport. "Welcome to Washington, DC," he announced over the intercom. A small smattering of applause broke out and Jeff rolled his eyes.

He got off the plane as quickly as the other passengers would allow, checking his watch impatiently every time someone in front of him stopped to get their luggage out of overhead storage or let another slow-moving person out in front of them. Finally, he was free and he could take what felt like his first real breath in over an hour. He shifted his carry-on so that it rested more comfortably on his shoulder and headed for the exit, skipping past baggage claim altogether. He was only staying one night.

It was raining outside as Jeff flagged down a cab. The weather seemed fitting. Annie had wanted to pick him up, but she was already taking a half day for this doctor's appointment. She had started to say something about having to be more selective with her leave now that she needed to save up her sick time but Jeff had come down with a case of brain fuzz again and had tuned it out. He couldn't think about that right now. One day at a time.

When he got to Annie's apartment he let himself in with the key he rarely ever used. She'd had it made for him when she'd first moved here, but he didn't visit her nearly as often as she visited him. The single dad thing made it hard to get away. And there was also the flying issue.

Her apartment was small, but nice. It was two bedrooms technically, but Jeff always said they were more like closets. One bathroom, an open area where her couch, TV, and dining table were set up, and the tiniest kitchen one could have and it still remain mostly functional. When the two of them tried to cook together they were practically shoulder to shoulder. The resulting arguments were fit for cable TV.

Jeff dropped his bag in Annie's bedroom and flopped onto the couch. If he had his head on the arm and stretched out to full height, his feet hung off the other end. Annie's appointment wasn't until 2:00, so he had a couple hours until she would be back. She was going to swing by here to pick him up on the way to the doctor's office. He closed his eyes and let the sound of the rain gently drumming against the roof relax him in the hopes of getting some sleep. All week sleep had continued to evade him, and attempting to rest on the plane had been laughable at best. He was exhausted.

Two hours later he woke up to Annie leaning over him. "Jeez!" he gasped, sitting up with a start.

"Sorry," she laughed as he placed his hand over his heart to make sure it was still beating.

He sat on the couch and watched Annie as she flitted around the apartment, putting away her work things. "Let me change clothes and then we can go," she said excitedly. She already had her blazer off as she dashed into the bedroom.

He wished that her enthusiasm was contagious. She was handling all of this so much better than he was. He briefly wondered if this was an age thing, but as soon as he'd thought it he dismissed it. That was just Annie being Annie. She was a different breed.

"Ready!" she announced, stepping out of her room now wearing jeans and Jeff's button down that she had borrowed from him on Monday. "What about you?"

He pushed a smile onto his face and stood up. "Ready," he lied.

The waiting room was half full and he was the only man present, making it fairly obvious to everyone in attendance why Annie was at the doctor today. The women around him all seemed to be flipping through the magazines that had been left out on the tables for patients to read. Jeff kept his eyes on his phone. All the magazines were about parenting and kids and he was already nervous enough as it was.

A nurse in a set of magenta scrubs stepped into the room. "Edison?" she called.

Annie and Jeff both jumped. Maybe Annie was more nervous than she was letting on. This was all new to her too, after all. The thought calmed him down considerably.

They both got up and made their way back to the patient rooms. The nurse asked Annie a couple of questions and then handed her a cup.

"We just need a urine sample," the woman explained and pointed Annie in the direction of the bathroom. "We do our own pregnancy test, just to be sure."

Jeff stood awkwardly in the hallway, holding on to Annie's purse and jacket for her while she disappeared into the bathroom.

When she reappeared, she handed the cup over to the nurse. "I'll just be a minute," the nurse said. "You guys can go have a seat if you'd like. We'll call you back again soon."

Annie nodded and headed for the waiting room with Jeff trailing after. Nothing had even happened yet and today was already feeling surreal.

Neither he nor Annie spoke when they sat back down. He was still holding her purse and jacket. She didn't ask for them back and he didn't offer. Carrying her stuff was comforting for some reason. It was mundane and that's what he needed right now.

A couple minutes later they were called back and lead into Dr. Williams office. It was a tiny room, just big enough for a desk and three chairs. The walls were plastered with posters of women holding babies and illustrations of fetuses at different stages of development. Jeff felt his heartbeat quicken.

As he and Annie sat down in the two chairs in front of the desk, the doctor walked in. She was short and blonde and smiling. "Well, congratulations," she said. "You're pregnant!"

Beside him Annie was grinning. Jeff smiled, too, but he was sure it was just a little delayed. He still felt like he was processing. He'd known for a week now but this still felt like he was hearing it for the first time. Pregnant.

"I just need to ask you about your medical history and all of that. Routine stuff. But first let's calculate your due date."

Due date…

"Okay," Annie agreed. She reached out and took Jeff's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Is your cycle fairly regular?" Dr. Williams asked.

Annie nodded. "Twenty-eight days."

"And what was the date of the first day of your last period?"

"March eleventh." Annie had come prepared. Of course she had.

The doctor typed the information into her computer and then turned to them with a smile. "December sixteenth," she announced.

Holy shit.

"Which puts you at almost six weeks along on the dot."

Holy shit.

Jeff's brain cut to static again. He was actually getting used to the feeling. The doctor was asking them questions about their family medical history and even though he was answering her, he was retaining none of it. In one ear and out the other.

Several minutes later the meeting was wrapping up and Dr. Williams was telling Annie about setting up future appointments. "For the first two trimesters you typically have one appointment a month," she said.

One a month? He wanted to be with Annie for all of her visits. Flying to DC once a month was going to get expensive.

"And around the start of the third trimester we move to every two weeks, and then starting at week thirty-six we go to weekly visits until the baby is born."

That was a lot of appointments. Only six weeks in and this whole thing was turning out to be a lot more complicated than he thought it would be.

Jeff spent the car ride back to Annie's place deep in thought. The rain had cleared enough that he could see the city properly now, but he was paying very little attention to it. He had other things on his mind.

Annie unlocked her front door and started to ask Jeff about something. Dinner maybe? He wasn't listening. He was wandering around the apartment, studying the layout like it was the first time he'd ever seen it.

Annie watched him for a moment before asking, "Something wrong?"

"No, just thinking," Jeff answered. He stood in the doorway of the spare closet-bedroom and said, "How would you feel about Tyler and me coming to stay here over the summer?"

"What?"

He turned to find her standing behind him, watching him with raised eyebrows. "Tyler will be out of school, and I don't have to sign up to teach summer courses. We could stay here until school starts back. That way I'm here, you know, for doctor's appointments and stuff."

"You want to move here?"

Jeff shook his head. "I don't know what we're going to do. I don't want to move, but I want to be here for you. I'm half responsible, after all."

"I would actually love that," Annie said with a relieved smile. "It would be really nice to have you and Tyler here." She paused. "You know you're going to have to tell him before you move him out here, though, right?"

Jeff sighed. That was not a conversation he was prepared for just yet. "I know," he answered. "Just… Not yet."

"I can help you," Annie offered.

Jeff nodded silently. It made sense that Annie should be there, but her presence would not make that conversation any easier. He knew his son. Tyler was not going to take the news well.

That evening, as Jeff was getting ready for bed, he walked into the bathroom to find Annie standing in front of the mirror with her shirt hiked up to just below her bust. She was studying her figure in the mirror, staring intently at her stomach.

Jeff met her eyes in the mirror and raised his eyebrows. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"According to this, at six weeks the baby is the size of a sweet pea," Annie said, gesturing to a mass of baby books that were stacked in front of her on the counter. The one on top was lying open to what appeared to be a growth chart.

"How do you already have books?" Jeff asked, reaching for the one on top. "It's only been a week."

"I like to be prepared," Annie answered, readjusting her top so that it covered her midriff again.

Jeff flipped through the book and felt his lips curl into his first real smile all week. Annie had already gone through the book with a hi-lighter and there were sticky notes poking out from between the pages where she'd made notes. "You know you won't have to pass an exam to give birth, right?" he teased. "You don't have to study."

She snatched the book back from him. "I like to be prepared," she repeated before turning and marching out of the bathroom causing Jeff to laugh.

By the time he made it back to the bedroom Annie was already asleep. He got into bed next to her, intending to try to get some sleep too, but the book on her bedside table caught his eye. It was the one she had been reading in the bathroom. He hesitated for a moment before reaching over her and grabbing the book. He paused, but Annie didn't stir. She slept like a log these days. After he was certain she wasn't going to wake up, he settled back and opened the book.