Cooper wakes up early on Saturday morning with Charlotte wrapped in his arms. He softly kisses her on the temple then softly untangles his arms from her body while being absolutely careful that he won't wake her. As he sits up and looks at her sleeping form beside him, he can't help but smile at how rested and peaceful she looks. The morning sickness was starting to subside and he was grateful for that. It was starting to become difficult to see her feeling so miserable on a daily basis.

He swings his feet to the side of the bed and slowly gets up. He makes his way towards the divider while being sure not to disrupt Mason who's asleep on an inflatable mattress. When he gets to the kitchen, he starts to make breakfast. It's a Saturday that seems to be perfect for blueberry pancakes and bacon. As he mixes the pancake batter, he hears footsteps that are making their way towards the kitchen.

"Morning, dad," Mason says while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, Mason. Take a seat and I'll have your pancakes ready in just a minute."

He does as he's told while letting out another yawn.

"Charlotte's still fast asleep," he mentions.

"Oh yeah, I know. We'll let her sleep in today, Mase. She worked kind of late last night."

"That's why she wasn't able to make it to dinner last night, right?"

"Yup. There was a car accident that happened at around six so she had to stay until everything with those traumas were settled."

"She did seem tired when she got home last night. She just said hi then crawled into bed."

"Exactly why she gets to sleep in. She has the day off so I'll just make her a batch of pancakes for when she wakes up but we can go on with the rest of the day even if she's sleeping."

"Alright," he says while chewing on his breakfast. "It's weird that she's still in bed though. She's usually the first one up."

Cooper chuckles softly at that. Apparently, Mason had already observed Charlotte's early morning regimen. "Yeah, she's a stickler when it comes to being on time so she never wakes up a minute after she has to. But since she has nothing to be late for today, I turned off her alarm."

"You sure she wouldn't mind that?" he questions.

"Nope. She'll probably be irked about it but she'll be glad she got a few extra hours of sleep. Trust me," he says with a wink.

"Okay, dad. Whatever you say."

"So listen, after breakfast, you wanna watch a show or two while waiting for Charlotte to wake up then we could head out somewhere? The mall maybe?"

"Yeah, sure. That sounds good," he pauses before looking up at his dad again. "Can I get a new pack of Pokemon cards?"

"Hmm," Cooper teases. "We'll see. Maybe if you finish your pancakes and drink every drop of milk in your glass, I'd consider it."

Mason starts to chug down almost half of the glass then gives his dad a cheeky smile. Cooper can't help but laugh at that.

"Okay, buddy, keep it up and you'll have a new pack by the end of the day."


They're in the middle of watching another Pokemon rerun when they hear the bathroom door quickly open then get shut close. They both look into that direction and then hear a gag after. Cooper gets up before patting Mason's shoulder then says, "I'll just go and check on Charlotte. I'll be right back, bud."

When he gets to the bathroom, he gets down on the floor behind her and grabs hold of the strands of hair that have made her way towards her face. She finishes getting sick then leans back on him.

"What time is it?" she asks softly.

"Around 10:30."

"10:30?" she asks as she quirks an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I turned off your alarm. I knew you were tired and didn't have to go in today so it didn't make sense for you to have to get up early."

"Thank you."

"No problem, Char," he says before kissing her temple. "How's the morning sickness today?"

"It's better. I think that might actually be it but I want to wait a little while longer just to be sure."

"Okay, let's wait it out together."


After they're sure she's done getting sick for the day, she gurgles some mouthwash to get rid of the taste of vomit then her and Cooper make their way towards the living room. They find Mason there still sitting with his eyes glued to the screen. Cooper takes a seat beside him while Charlotte heads to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk. She makes her way from the kitchen to the living room then sits beside Cooper.

"Morning, Charlotte," Mason greets.

"Morning, mister."

It's a little quiet after that and then Mason switches his view from the screen to Charlotte. "Charlotte?" he says.

"Yeah, Mason?"

"Are you," he hesitates a little and then continues. "Are you sick and dying too?"

Charlotte nearly chokes on the milk she's drinking so she coughs a little, wipes the sides of her mouth, and then puts the glass down before responding. "What? Mason, no, I'm not. What would make you ask that?"

"Well, I know you've been throwing up a lot lately. Like this morning and on some mornings when I wake up before dad wakes me up."

"You wake up before I make you?" Cooper asks.

"Yeah, sometimes. Cause I hear shuffling to the bathroom and then I hear Charlotte throwing up."

"Mason," Charlotte says. "I am not sick or dying. I promise you that."

"Then why are you throwing up so much? The last time I saw someone throw up it was my mom and it was blood. I don't know what you're throwing up but I know a person only does than when she's sick."

Cooper and Charlotte look at each and sigh. He catches it.

"What are you two keeping from me again? Please, just tell me," he pleads.

Cooper abruptly switches seats with Mason so that he's seated in between them. And then Charlotte lets it out. "I'm not sick, Mason," she says while taking his hand. "But, there is something that your dad and I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well, Mason," she pauses, looks at Cooper for assurance and sees it in his eyes, and then continues. "The reason I've been throwing up almost every morning is because I'm pregnant and it's normal for that to happen."

"You're pregnant?"

"Y-y-yes", she answers.

He looks down at his hands and both Charlotte and Cooper look at one another again. They had discussed telling him a few weeks from now so they weren't really prepared for this conversation just yet.

"Buddy," Cooper says. "What are you thinking?"

He doesn't respond but then Cooper softly lifts his chin up and looks at him to ask again. "Mase, what's on your mind?"

"I don't know, dad", he says as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Well buddy, that's okay. It's okay if you don't know how you feel right now but you know that you can talk to Charlotte or me once you figure it out right?"

He softly nods his head.

Charlotte places a hand on top of one of his then looks at him, hoping to make an impression. "Mister, I know you didn't expect this and you've already had to adjust to a lot of different things. It's okay if you're unsure of how you're feeling right now but you need to know, your dad and I love you and having a baby isn't going to change that."

"That's right, Mase," Cooper adds. "Charlotte and I will always love you and we'll only learn to love you more, never less, okay?"

He doesn't say anything for a while and then looks up to the anxious faces of his dad and Charlotte. He takes a deep breath then says, "Okay. I love you guys too."

They both breathe a sigh of relief and then take turns to kiss him softly on the forehead. After that, the three sit in relative silence for a few minutes. Only the sound of the TV is heard but no one's really paying attention to it. They just sit and realize that once again, life had somehow changed for them.