Hey :) Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! It means a lot and thankfully, I've managed to make this chapter a bit longer for you all! I hope you like it!
On a side note, I just thought I'd say that I've set up a poll on my account page, just for curiousity about your favourite H&A couples and the more votes, the better! Anyway, enjoy the chapter :)
Chapter Three:
The next morning, life went on as usual, no different to any other morning, especially considering the effort Romeo & Indi were putting in to make sure their secret stayed between them... and Sasha until it was officially confirmed at Indi's appointment, or even more ideally until after she'd past the first trimester.
However, a morning experienced in the Walker household was one that equaled utter chaos. Dex was arguing with Sasha over who's turn it was to make breakfast that morning (the two alternated days so that every second day was like a day off where they didn't have to bother making themselves breakfast), Sid was tossing Romeo a piece of toast that he'd forgotten to collect from the toaster and Indi rushed back into the living room from her bedroom after having just changed her shoes for the third time this morning, to check that she had the right textbook in her bag once more before she left.
Sasha and Dex had the most time up their sleeves, Sasha needing to be at school in an hour and half and Dex needing to be signed it at work in an hour. Sid had to be check in at the Yabbie Creek Police Station by eleven to show he hadn't skipped town because of his A.V.O, which he could do after dropping his youngest two children off in town first. Romeo and Indi, needing to be at work and Uni sooner than the other family members and were just about ready to leave, planning to dropp Indi off at Uni for her first class of the morning before Romeo drove back down to the Bay for work.
There was a lot of juggling with transport in the Walker family and nearly every day the arrangement was different, depending on who was working, who had plans, who had classes and who had days off. It even varied from morning to afternoon and like with today for example, Sid, Dex & Sasha had gone into town together and then separately Romeo & Indi had gone in together this morning too, but this afternoon, Romeo finished work early and at around the same time Sasha finished school so they'd go back to the Farm together with Sid collecting his eldest two children from Uni and the hospital later that day.
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By three o'clock that afternoon, Romeo was parked outside of the school in the car park, occupying his time waiting for Sasha by playing his move in a game of with Words With Friends against Xavier on his iPhone. Ten minutes later, Sasha halted by crashing into the door of the car, leaving Romeo worried about whether she'd dented the outside before she opened the car and threw her school bag into the backseat that narrowly scrapped past and missed Romeo's head on the way.
"Hey Sash" he greeted as she jumped in, following after her bag, but too pre-occupied with texting on her phone to answer Romeo.
The texting continued and Romeo just decided to cave in and drive off, considering attempting to have another conversation with her later down the road.
"So how was your day?" he asked conversationally, this time getting a shrug and murmured "Yeah alright I guess" in reply. Romeo nodded, noticing she was still texting and deeply engrossed in her other conversation with someone else.
Another kilometer or so down the road, Romeo asked another question, expecting to get another one word response but figuring that that feeble conversation was better than silence. "Who are you texting?"
"Felix. He has to go to soccer practice now though" informed Sasha as she put her phone in her pocket, prompting silence again, before it was almost like a light bulb lit up, reminding her.
"So, Romeo, that's enough questions from you... my turn now" she smirked from the passenger's seat as Romeo looked over at her weirdly, having no idea what she was talking about ... and reminding him a lot of Dex.
"Have you ever seen a baby being born before?" she questioned, leaving Romeo with no idea of how to take her question. If she really was having a 'Dex moment' then her random question would have no rhyme or reason, but considering the news his wife had dealt him yesterday he wondered what the chances were of Sasha asking a question like that coincidently or whether the more likely chance was that Indi had told her without telling him he'd told her.
In the end, he decided to play along and see where Sasha would lead the conversation, hopefully in turn helping him discover the reasoning behind her question. "Um, not really no."
"Have you ever held a baby before?" Sasha asked, firing the second question off her mental list at him.
"Yeah. I've held my friend Nicole's baby son a couple of times before."
She nodded, taking the data her brother-in-law had fed her so far into consideration but continuing with her list. "Are you going to teach the baby to surf?"
Romeo looked over at her again, realizing Indi must've told her, but nonetheless he still asked the question. "How do you know Indi's pregnant? When did she tell you?"
She shrugged smugly, "I accidently found out yesterday afternoon. She left the test in the bathroom."
Accepting her reason and understanding why Indi didn't tell him, Romeo nodded with Sasha repeating her question. "You didn't answer me by the way. Are you going to teach the baby to surf when it's old enough?"
"I don't know. Hopefully... maybe... I don't know" he said, replying truthfully considering Sasha's question hadn't even crossed his mind at the slightest.
"What about Mink? Is she gonna come back to see the baby after it's born? I liked your sister..."
He shrugged, laughing lightly at how carried away the fifteen year old was getting. "I don't know Sash. At the moment, she doesn't even know there is a baby."
Forgetting and not bothering to answer Romeo, Sasha continued with the next question, more or less as soon as Romeo had closed his mouth. "So are you going to cut the umbilical cord when it's born? What do you want to name the baby?"
Getting fed up by this stage and slightly panicked, realizing all of the important things that hadn't even crossed his mind over the last 18 hours or so of knowing, Romeo snapped at Sasha, hoping like hell that her uncomfortable interrogation of him would stop. "I honestly don't know Sasha! I haven't had the chance to think about it and I've gotta talk to Indi about some of that stuff. Can we please change the subject, okay?"
Nodding, Sasha shut up, but attempted to think of a way to weave more questions into the conversation without getting her brother-in-law so angry that he might get distracted and irate enough to wrap the car around a tree on the way home. She didn't have any more ideas currently so she decided to wait until they got home and when she was doing her homework later, she'd try to come up with some others.
However, for the remainder of the silent drive home, Sasha hadn't realized how much she had panicked Romeo who was stewing over what she'd said and all of the questions she'd raised as he drove and continued to worry after they got home, parting ways to do their own thing.
But later that day, when Indi got home from work, she got a bit of a surprise seeing her normally as 'cool-as-a-cucumber' husband pacing around the room in the shape of a square.
"What's wrong?" she asked, dropping her handbag in the corner and walking over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to try and keep him stationary.
With big eyes, he looked to his wife with concern. "Sasha just said some stuff that got me thinking."
"And? What sort of stuff did she say?"
Converting Indi's question and not answering it directly, he just blurted out what was on his mind. "I think she was playing a game of 'how quickly can you make your brother-in-law feel uncomfortable?' And I mean, I haven't seen a baby actually being born before Indi... What if I can't take it and faint or something? That happens to guys!"
Indi thought about it momentarily. "We can go to birthing classes or something. They might give you an idea of what to expect."
"And we gotta find a way to tell Mink... And my mum... And your mum" Romeo stated nervously.
"Then there's the other stuff like if we should or can afford to move out now and the work situation and how on earth do you figure out how to choose a baby name?" Romeo said all at once, at a very fast pace.
Rubbing his arm, Indi couldn't help but laugh at the role-reversal. Normally she'd be doing the freaking out and he'd be doing the comforting, but for once, the tables were turned. "Calm down Romeo! Don't let Sasha get to you. There's no rush and we've got months left to sort everything out."
Romeo nodded, feeling better almost instantly just from the relief of venting. "Sorry. She just got me thinking and I realized how little I know. I don't want to be a bad parent... especially considering the poor father role models that my Dad and step-Dad were."
"Hey, you won't be anything like that. You're the nicest, most caring guy I know. You know the difference between right and wrong and if you're worrying about being a bad dad, then that just shows me how much you want the best for the baby and it proves how much of a good, caring and protective father you'll be to it. You won't be anything like them."
He smiled, pulling Indi into a hug where the couple stayed for a while until she pulled out of the hug to look back up at her husband. "Ooh, by the way, I booked a doctor's appointment today. I've got go in to the hospital on Friday at 12:30, which I think is luckily when Dex is on lunch break if I remember right."
"Okay, but uh... correction Indi. I believe that we'll be going to the hospital tomorrow at 12:30."
She looked up at him puzzled. I've got the afternoon off then, but you're meant to be working."
"I'll give Dennis a call and ask him if I can leave early, at 12 or something."
She tried resisted smiling, but couldn't help it. "You don't have to come with me Romeo... You should probably work."
He simply shook his head. "Nope. It's non-negotiable. I'm coming with you. Besides, I don't think I'd be able to work knowing what I was missing out on."
"It probably won't be anything that interesting. We might not even be able to see the baby."
"I don't mind" he shrugged. "I'm still gonna come with you."
Indi smiled, giving in to Romeo. "Alright. Just make sure you check with Dennis."
He nodded at his wife, saluting her with a: "Yes Maam!" making her giggle.
"Come here" she laughed as he obediently moved closer to her as she seized the moment raising and wrapping her arms around his shoulders while she kissed him deeply. Smiling in the kiss, Romeo too wrapped his arms around her waist as the couple continued kissing, getting deeper and deeper before Romeo suddenly pulled away, but kept her close.
"What's wrong?" Indi whispered, puzzled about his unusual separation.
Leaning down slightly and resting his head on her shoulder, Romeo mumbled into her hair, which he was inhaling. "What if the baby doesn't wanna surf?"
He sounded genuinely sad or concerned about it which prompted Indi to laugh out aloud. "Hey, if you can get me on a board, Romeo, you can get anyone out there." She assured him, kissing his cheek, before he smiled and cheered up again, raising his head from the crook of her neck, moving in closer and continuing where they'd left of with the kissing.
So there's another chapter done... I hope you liked it! Would love to know what you thought and any ideas you guys have too :)
Don't forget to review & check out my poll if you can too! :D
Next chapter:
x Dex becomes suspicious of Romeo & Indi.
x Romeo & Indi go to Indi's doctors appointment and see the baby for the first time.
