What Happens In Vegas

(Chapter Eight: Luck Of The Draw)

Elliot reached across the bed and placed his hand against Olivia's swollen belly. He traced his fingertip in little circles pressing lightly against her skin until she giggled. Olivia placed her hand over the top of his and slid it across her belly to feel the baby kick inside. She stared at him with her big brown eyes and gave him a warm smile.

"Today's the big day," Elliot said softly.

"Big day? Elliot, I am just six months today. We have a little while before the big day."

"No, I mean you're appointment. You're six months now. They can tell the sex of the baby. They should have been able to tell the last time, but the baby wasn't in a good position."

Olivia smiled at him and sat up in the bed. She turned her feet to the side scrunching her toes against the carpet. She placed one hand on the bed for leverage and the other against her belly for support as she stood up.

"Have you decided on a theme for the nursery? I'd really like to get it painted and get the carpet in. The furniture we ordered should be in within the next week or so."

"Ooh, hold that thought El. Our little bundle of joy here is practicing kickboxing against my bladder."

Elliot laughed as she made her way across the room and into her bathroom. Normally it would have just been a master bathroom. But Olivia had pretty much laid claim to it right after they had moved in. They had decided to sell both of their apartments and purchased this loft together. It had plenty of space for their growing family, but Elliot hired contractors to put a few personal touches to the place before they moved in.

The one existing bedroom was being turned into the nursery and they added a wall to create the large space that was now the master bedroom. Along with the new bedroom came a second bathroom. Of which Elliot let Olivia design. She had chosen a full bath with a large step down garden tub and a separate beautifully frosted large glass shower stall. The vanity had two sinks and lighting all the way around the mirror. This was where she sat to do her hair and makeup each day. The counter tops were adorned with perfume bottles and hair brushes and her curling iron hung from the towel rack on the wall. And since she was the one who was carrying their unborn child around and had to pee every half hour, she used it more that he did anyway.

Elliot didn't mind though. This pretty much left him with the other bathroom all to him self. And it was a lot less work for him to walk the extra twelve feet down the hall to shower every morning than it was for her.

They had purchased the top two floors of the building in their contract. For the time being they were living off the lower level. But as soon as the construction was finished the upstairs would house three more bedrooms for the kids, another full bathroom, a guest room and a living area for entertainment. There was also an office that had yet to be built on the first level. They had already torn down the doors separating the two units and widened the stairwell to make it appear more welcoming. They were both pleased with their new home and that was a good thing seeing as they would be paying it off for at least the next fifteen years or so.

Olivia walked back into the bedroom and stepped into the closet. She tossed a pair of black running pants and a maternity shirt on the bed next to Elliot. Then stepped out to change.

"So?" He asked, waiting patiently for her to answer.

"So….what?"

"Have you decided on a theme for the nursery?"

She exhaled deeply, placing her hand against her belly. "I can't make up my mind."

"Well, we can wait until after we find out the baby's sex. That might help. Make it easier to choose if you knew if we needed to be looking for pink or blue."

"I don't know, El. I was kind of thinking, that maybe I would rather wait to find out. Be surprised. You know, do this the old fashioned way."

"The old fashioned way?"

"Yeah. And I have decided that I want to breast feed and that I want try to do this without any drugs."

"Baby, I fully support you in whatever you want to do. I mean it is your body and you are the one who has to go through delivery. But don't you think you should reconsider an epidural?"

"You don't think I can do it?"

"Honey, I know you can. I just don't understand why on earth you would want to."

"Kathy had Eli without drugs."

"Kathy didn't have a choice. I'm sure if you asked her and she had the chance to do it again she would choose the drugs."

Olivia stared up at him for a minute.

"Liv, I just want you to be a comfortable as you can. I hate seeing you in pain. But if you want to do it with out drugs, then I fully support your decision. And I will be right there holding your hand the entire time."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome," Elliot said leaning in to kiss her.

"I think maybe a jungle theme with greens and yellows. Bright and good for a boy or a girl. What do you think?"

"Sounds good. If you want we can go by the hardware store and get some paint samples after your appointment. What color carpet would you use with green and yellow paint?"

"Well, we could just keep the hard wood flooring. Just refinish it and maybe put a throw rug down to kind of tie together the room. We can look around until we find something we both like."

"So you really don't want to know if we are having a boy or a girl?"

"I think I would rather wait. It doesn't really matter to me if this baby is a boy or a girl. Either way I want it and I'm going to love it just as much. We can just pick out a boy's name and a girl's name."

"I don't know if I could wait. Kathy and I tried that before and it never works out. We always ended up giving in and finding out."

"You can find out if you want to. Just don't tell me," she said with a laugh.

That afternoon after her doctors appointment they left the clinic, neither of them knowing the sex of their child. They picked out the paint for the nursery and even ordered a throw rug that was perfect. Elliot unloaded the paint cans for his project and dropped Olivia off at home so she could be there while the men were there working on the loft. He had to go in to work half a day, but Olivia was off the rest of the afternoon.

A few hours later Elliot called her from work.

"Hey beautiful, what's going on?"

"Not much," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "The workers finished the office and are now working upstairs."

"How does it look?"

"It's nice. I can't believe how well this place is coming together. They are talking like they should have it complete in a few weeks."

"Wow. I was thinking about taking my beautiful wife out for dinner tonight."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Someplace nice. Elegant, where I can show you off."

Olivia laughed. "Show me off? Elliot I'm the size of a blimp!"

"You're amazing and I love you. And tonight, I'm taking you out. I will be home in about an hour."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Elliot hung up his cell phone and looked across the desk at the picture he kept there. He reached across and picked up the frame to get a closer look. Inside was one of the pictures from their wedding in Las Vegas. He traced his finger over it and smiled. Tucked into the frame on the outside of the glass was a sonogram picture of their baby. Elliot felt a large smile cross his face as he looked down at the beautiful woman he had made his wife and the baby they had created together.

"I am the luckiest man in the world," he mumbled softly.

He reached up and placed the frame back onto the desk. Then opened a file. A few more sheets of paper work and he could go home to his family.

Elliot entered their living room about an hour later and called to Olivia.

"I'll be ready in just a minute," she answered.

He walked down the hall toward their bedroom, stopping on the way to inspect the new office. He entered the bedroom and leaned around the door frame into the bathroom to talk to her.

"The office looks great."

"I really like the carpet you picked out. They did a really great job. They got a couple of the walls put up upstairs. The guy said they could probably get the plumbing moved up this weekend."

"They are working this weekend?"

"He said they could come by for a few hours on Saturday afternoon if we were going to be around. They are bringing the plumber. I didn't think we had any plans. I can call him back and cancel if you want. I just figured that would put them getting done a little faster. And it is the plumber we wanted. He has a busy schedule. We can wait, but we might end up having to hire someone else."

"No, Saturday is fine."

"Good," she said with a smile. "Can you…" she turned and motioned for him to zip her dress. It was black chiffon with spaghetti straps and showed off her baby bump. "There, what do you think?"

"You look amazing. But…"

"But what, El?" She asked nervously.

"It is missing something," he replied raiding his finger to his lips to think. "I have an idea." Elliot stood up and walked out of the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later with a small gift box in his hand.

"What is this?"

"This, is your anniversary gift." He looked into her eyes as she smiled unsure of what he was up to. "We have been married exactly six months today. And we have been parents for six months, well either today or tomorrow."

Olivia laughed. She opened the box and stared down at a three stone diamond pendant and matching diamond earrings.

"Oh, Elliot. They are beautiful."

"They're diamonds."

"I know baby, thank you."

"Liv, the baby is due in April. His or her birthstone is a diamond."

Olivia raised her eyes to look at him. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as he smiled back at her. He was the most amazing man she had ever known and he was her husband.

"El," she whispered through tears as she reached to hug him. "I am the luckiest woman in the world. I love you."

"I love you too, honey. Happy anniversary."

Olivia had secretly always been a sentimental person. But now with her pregnancy hormones in full force, there was no hiding it. Elliot had promised to make all of her dreams come true. And he was off to one hell of a start.