A/N: I don't own it. This is old hat to everyone, right? We're getting so close to the end here! I'm so excited, yet so sad!
Friday morning rolled around in a flash. The previous week had been so busy with Van and Billie getting situated into their new home that the days just seemed to fly by. When Wednesday night came around, Van still hadn't asked for Friday off, on the pretense that he didn't want to leave Deaq hanging, so Billie picked up the phone and called her boss. He'd said Van could have that day off seeing as how it was getting so close to time for the baby to arrive. "You know, it seems like you'd rather spend your time playing cops and robbers than preparing for your first child and spending a few last alone moments with just me." Billie guilt tripped, once she'd gotten off the phone with Bob. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you just married me because you got me pregnant and Bob threatened to have you castrated with a butter knife if you didn't. Not because you actually love me and want to be with me for all eternity." She continued, her voice cracking at the end as she fingered a blue dish cloth.
Van stared at her for a few moments, as if he was trying to figure out if she was serious or just messing with his head. As soon as he saw the tears begin to conveniently well up in her eyes, he quickly became preoccupied with the marble counter of the kitchen. "Damn husband guilt." He thought before he looked up at her. "Sweetheart, I know I've been preoccupied. I'm sorry if I seem to have been neglecting you. It's just that my life has changed a whole lot in a short period of time and when the baby gets here, it will change even more." Van explained as he took her chin in his hand and tilted her face to look in his eyes. "What? You don't think my life has changed a lot too? When the baby gets here, things will never be the same again. Sure, life will get back to normal, but it will be a different kind of normal." She said as a tear slid down her cheek. "The baby is going to be born and I'll become the human lunch cart. Our conversations will revolve around what kind of diapers to buy and when we can get a sitter. When we have alone time, the baby will cry to be fed or changed. Our lives are never going to be the same and you want to spend all your time with Deaq instead of me!" she said, wailing at the end as she fully burst into tears. Van just stared at her in shock for a moment. "Damn, she's good at this. She's really good at this, especially for someone who's mom died when she was only seven!" Van thought, he also quickly surmised that her mom was probably good at it too and thanked his lucky stars that he didn't have to deal with a mother in law that was this good at guilt as well as her pregnant daughter. Van pulled her into a hug and gently kissed her head as he shushed her and promised to spend more time with her instead of Deaq.
When Van saw the tears in her eyes and quickly turned towards the counter, Billie thought "Man. This actually DOES work!" And she decided to amp it up a notch. Before she could do it though, Van chimed in with his apology. And that apology is what fed Billie her next line. That is when she just decided to wing it and go all hysterical on him to see what his reaction would be. Just as she'd hoped, Van tripped all over himself making promises he didn't intend to keep, in order to stop her crying. "Pigeon." She thought with a smile, as she snuggled into his chest and sighed contentedly. "Great. I guess the next month of my life is going to be a roller coaster ride with Sybil at the switch." Van thought when he picked up on the immediate change in her mood and saw the smile to confirm his suspicion.
The next morning, Van awoke at about 7:30. He stretched his arm out over the bed and noticed that the spot next to him was empty. He opened his eyes and saw that Billie was indeed not in the bed. "Billie!" he called as he sat up to go look for her. "What?" came the reply from the adjoining bathroom. Van hadn't even noticed that the light was on in there. "You okay?" he asked. "Yeah, just couldn't get comfortable so I got up and took a shower." She said as she walked out of the bathroom. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss, before straightening and looking him square in the eye and asking, "Van, do you think I'm pretty?" Van stared at her, not sure if he'd actually heard her right or not. "It's entirely too early for this." He thought before he proceeded with his answer. "Be honest." She chimed in before he could even get the first syllable out of his mouth. "Of course I do. Look at you, you are positively glowing these days." He said, deciding that was a safe way to respond. "So I wasn't glowing before I got pregnant? I was dull and lifeless?" She read into his response. "No, you weren't dull before. You glowed even then, it's just that you seem…happier some how now." Van said trying to give the best answer he could to keep her from going into nuclear hissy fit mode. "So you think I'm happier now? What in the world would make you think that! I've turned into humpty dumpty on bed rest
Van! How the hell is that supposed to make me happy!" She yelled, launching into a hissy fit, right on cue. As awful as it was to be on the receiving end of her hormones right now, Van couldn't help but find it slightly amusing how easy she went from loving wife to raving lunatic in less than six seconds flat. Van just had to look at the edge of the periwinkle and rose stripped comforter as he laughed quietly. He thought he had been able to laugh without her noticing until her hand connected firmly with the back of his head in a loud whack. "Owe! Are you out of your fucking mind? What the hell was that for!" Van yelled as he put his hand up to the part of his head where he was certain she'd cracked his skull. "Its not funny! This is how I feel!" She yelled as tears streamed down her face. "But it's not rational! And that makes it sort of funny!" Van defended as he put his serious face back on again. "I'm pregnant and hormonal! I'm not supposed to be rational! And you're my husband! You're supposed to make me feel better, not laugh at me!" She yelled as she got up and knocked a book off the bedside table to emphasize her anger. "Whoa. Okay, this is a personality I've never met before." Van said as he got out of bed. "What?" She snapped as she wheeled around to face him. "Nothing." He quickly said as he put his hands up in surrender. "A personality you haven't met before! Is that what you said!" She hollered getting in his face. "I…I…just meant that this kind of emotional outburst isn't at all like you. It's almost like you've been possessed." He finished and prayed she'd back off a bit. "Possessed? You think I'm a possessed lunatic! I am NOT possessed! And I am most certainly not a multiple personality!" She hollered as she collapsed on the bed and began to sob for no particular reason.
Sitting next to her, Van decided to do the only thing he hadn't tried yet: shut the hell up and let her tantrum, like any good dog. Over the next hour, she slowly started to calm down, eventually to the point she'd let Van put his hand over hers. Ninety minutes after her nuclear melt down had begun, she finally stopped sobbing and spoke for the first time. "I'm hungry. Why don't you get dressed and we can go get some waffles before we hit the stores." She said with a sniffle and a smile. "If I had a tantrum like that, I'd be hungry too!" Van thought. Instead of voicing his snarky opinion, he lightly kissed her on the forehead as he got up and went to change into a well worn pair of 501's and a white tee shirt with the green Margaritaville logo on the chest. Billie had chosen a white pair of yoga pants and a yellow maternity halter top with the words "I love my cabana boy" on the front and a pink heart with a white martini glass in the middle right at the top of her stomach. She'd put her hair up in a half pony tail and had curled the part that was left down. "Classy shirt." Van said as he walked into the kitchen where she was making two cups of coffee for the both of them. "Well, yours doesn't exactly scream "I have a wife and am about to be a father." She teased as she brought his coffee over to the breakfast bar. "Wait a minute." He said when she sat the cup down and started to walk away. "What's wrong?" she asked, walking back over to him. "You're hair. Something is missing." Van said as he took her face in his hands and studied her intently for a moment. "Ah." He said as she took a finger and slowly pulled a couple strands out from the ponytail to frame her face softly. "Better?" she asked with a giggle. Van certainly wasn't an expert on doing a woman's hair, but he did know what he liked to look at, and she trusted him to make sure that whatever he did with her hair or clothes, he liked to look at it. "Not quite. Something is still missing, but I can't quiet put my finger on it." He said thoughtfully as he studied her face and stroked one soft cheek with his thumb. "Ah. Now I know what it is." Van said after a moment of contemplation. Billie looked at him in expectation of his conclusion when his lips descended on hers for a tender kiss full of the respect and love he felt for his wife. When Van finally pulled away ten seconds later, Billie blushed. "Ten second rule, remember?" he said smiling down at her. Billie smiled at her handsome husband as she looked deep into his eyes. When she looked into the bright green orbs she saw all the love she'd always thought she never deserved being given to her, freely and completely. "And a thirty second hug." She said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled her head under his chin.
A full minute later, the pair pulled apart. "Wow, that estrogen must be powerful stuff." Van joked as he took her hand in his and began to play with her fingers. "Why do you say that?" Billie asked with a slight scowl on her face. "Because an hour and a half ago, you were ready to be put in a padded room and now you are standing here, smiling and genuinely happy; not putting on some fake smile for appearances. I like seeing you happy. It makes me feel like I'm being a good husband." Van said as he leaned back against the counter. Billie looked down at the floor for a minute, in contemplation, then looked up at Van through her eye lashes. "You are a good husband. The best really. I couldn't ask for a more kind, loving, genuine, gentle, respectful person to spend my life and raise my children with." She said with a shy smile. "I'm glad you feel that way, because I can't imagine anyone but you mothering what is hopefully the first of several children for us. And I don't even want to fathom the possibility of a life without you in it. Just the idea of not having you cuddled safely in my arms when I go to sleep, and not seeing your beautiful face when I wake up is more than I think I could handle." Van said sincerely, bringing her hands to his lips and kissing each one tenderly before placing another soft kiss on her lips. "Shall we go get breakfast now?" he asked, showing her to the door leading into the garage. "Lead the way honey." She said and Van took her hand as he headed to the garage and the black 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LS they had that weekend.
The two started off the day by going to Denny's and waffles and eggs for breakfast, and, of course more coffee. By eleven they had made their way to Babies R' Us to shop for the nursery necessities. The first item on their list of things to buy was the crib bedding set. "Hey, this is nice." Van said picking up a Thomas the Train bedding set in dark blue. "It's awful boyish, don't ya think?" Billie said as she looked around for something a bit more neutral. "What's wrong with boyish?" Van asked with a grin. "Nothing, so long as we don't have a girl!" Billie replied with a snicker. She knew very well that Van had no clue what the hell to do with a girl. He was an only child and the thought of having a daughter freaked him out, more than he'd ever admit. "We could raise her to be a tom boy." Van remarked at he put the set back on the shelf. Billie just glared at him and rolled her eyes as she kept walking. "What? I have no problem with a girl. A daughter would be nice to have." Van said jogging up to Billie's side. "Sure, Van. You keep telling yourself that and I'll keep knowing you want a son so bad it makes you sick." Billie giggled. "Hey, how about this one?" she said with a wide smile as she held up a pastel yellow Precious Moments crib set. "Hell no! Absolutely not! Put it back!" Van argued when he saw how girlie it was. "You said neutral so we're gonna do neutral, smart ass." He commented dryly as he walked past her. Billie snickered as she put the item back and walked on. A couple minutes later the two stopped in front of a vintage Winnie the Pooh Flutter Bee crib set. "It's perfect." Billie said when she saw it. "Yeah, I like it." Van said not too convincingly. "Oh come on. Its not to gender specific and the colors aren't 'babyish'. See, we have red, sage and ecru. Very classic." She did her best to sell him on it. Van just stared at her. "Aw, come on! I want it! Please?" She said in a mix between begging and whining. "You should really sell cars for a living instead of being a cop, you know that?" Van asked as he picked up the set and put it in the cart. "Oh goodie!" Billie squealed happily as she bounced up and down and wrapped her arms around his neck for an enthusiastic hug. "Let's go, Pippi." Van said. He had a multitude of names for her and Pippi was one he used when she was overly excited about getting something she wanted.
Over the next hour the two got a few other small things they needed for the baby, including, some sleepers, a couple night gowns, and side snap tee shirts. They also had a few pairs of pants in a 3-6 month size since they didn't intend to use separates until the baby was bigger and actually only dirtied one item of clothing at a time. And seven pairs of white socks finished off the immediate clothes shopping. They had decided that once the baby was born, they could get more gender appropriate clothing, so they decided to focus on the nursery furniture. The crib was next on their list. As they inspected the first crib of the day, a very traditional, no frills dark stain crib. "Logan is a nice name, don't you think?" Billie asked as she looked at the hardware to raise and lower the railing. "What?" Van said, positive he hadn't heard her mention a name for the baby. Because of her past miscarriages, she was apprehensive about doing too much planning too far ahead of time. Van had actually come to accept that they'd be talking names when the baby was only minutes old. "Yeah, I like that. Logan Ray. Has a nice ring too it." Van said as he smiled over the crib at his wife. "What do you think of Charlotte? It was your mother's name. Might be a nice tribute to her grandmother, if it's a girl." Van said as he looked at the next crib in line. "Yeah, it was her name, but my grandmother was also very old fashioned. She believed in old fashioned names, possessions, music, movies, gender roles and names. If she knew I didn't go by my birth name and was a cop, she'd drop dead." Billie said with a smile. "What was her name?" Van asked, realizing he'd never learned what it was or much about the woman. "Felicity." Billie said as she walked over to the white sleigh style crib Van was next to. "This is pretty nice." She commented as she looked over it to see if the baby could get easy access to the latch that raised and lowered the railing. "Yeah, sturdy too. And the drawers under it to store extra sheets and stuff." Van said as he shook the side to see if it would rattle or anything. "I like it!" she finally proclaimed after another moment of looking. With that, they made arrangements to have that crib delivered the next week.
By now it was after noon and Billie was getting hungry….again. After a few minutes of discussion, Billie finally bullied, er, convinced Van to take her down the street to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. They walked in and the wait staff, after getting a look at how pregnant Billie was, fussed over her and got them a seat at a window table almost immediately. The waiter, a tall, lanky kid in his early twenties brought their menus and took their drink orders. Within moments he had brought back one Raspberry Lemonade for Billie and a Tropical Iced Tea for Van. He left them alone to consider their order. "I'm glad we decided to come here. It's such a lovely atmosphere and the staff is so friendly." Billie said with a smile as she looked out the window at the busy street. "Yeah. Glad you made up my mind for me so quickly." Van said as he smiled at her, cockily. "Hey!" He yelled when Billie reached over the table and playfully pinched his arm. "If I never made up your mind for you, you would never take me anywhere nice." Billie said mock pouting. "I take you nice places!" Van argued knowing damn well that wasn't really true. With one exception, every nice place they went was Billie's idea. "Oh really? Name two!" she slyly bribed. "Our first date. And in Santa Barbara for dinner that one night." Van answered with a smug smile. "Okay, first our first date was my idea, remember? When you found out you had to wear a tie, you almost had a heart attack. And on our wedding weekend, that was pretty much mandatory. You can't take your pregnant wife to Hooters the day after your wedding." She shot back. "Damn. How does she know all this? " Van thought. "Why not? Is it a law?" he shot back instead as a response to her last statement. "Yeah, its called the 'oh shit. I really don't like sleeping alone after all clause." Billie answered with a smile and opened her menu to signal the end of the conversation.
As the conversation was over for the moment, the couple decided to go ahead and order before they moved on to other topics, like baby names and how Billie was going to have the baby. They started off the meal with a shared order of Crispy Taquitos. For lunch Billie ordered a Club Sandwich with fries and Van had a Meatloaf sandwich with Cole Slaw and fries. And for dessert, the pair shared a Black-Out Cheesecake. All it was, was a layer of chocolate, covered by a layer of chocolate, covered by a layer of dark chocolate and that was covered with nuts. "Oh, come on! That's too rich for any normal person!" Van protested when Billie suggested it for dessert. Oh quit your bitching." She shot back as he whined. "Your child is in need of a chocolate fix, now if you want to explain to her that she was deprived in the womb because her daddy is a big baby, that's fine with me, but don't make it look like I made the choice to neglect my kid." Billie said with an evil grin, knowing she'd just guilted him into doing what she wanted by playing the 'bad parent' card.
The waiter took the dessert order and left. Once the man was turned away from the table, Van surreptitiously gave Billie the finger. "Donovan Ray! How rude!" Billie said with a chuckle. "What in the world was that for anyway?" she said as she regained her composure. Van just stuck his tongue out at her, this time as the waiter returned with the dessert causing Billie to laugh. The young man, who Van and Billie learned was named Riley, sat the cheesecake down and smiled sympathetically at Van. "My girlfriend is pregnant too." He said to Van. "Really? Is she mean too?" Van said, laughing when Billie gave him a death glare. "I would never say that in front of her, even about another pregnant woman, but she does have her mood swings." Riley responded with a laugh when he saw the look on Billie's face. "So you know how I feel?" Van asked hopefully. "Yeah, I can understand but I'm sure Carla can understand how she feels." He replied looking over at Billie. "I'm so sorry, I don't believe I caught either of your names" he said to her apologetically. "Oh, I'm Billie and this is my husband, Van." She politely told him with a smile. "How long have you all been married?" he asked as he took in that "head over heels in love" look on Van's face when he looked at Billie, and decides they mustn't have gotten married too long ago. "We got married on Valentine's Day." Van said with a smile. "Well, congratulations! When is the baby due?" He asked as his boss waved for him to come talk to her. "Thank you, she's due, May 10th." Van answered. Riley told Van and Billie he'd love to get to know them better since he and Carla had only been in Los Angeles a couple months and didn't really know anyone. Billie said she'd really like that and wrote down their phone number along with her email address on a slip of paper for him, and he ran off to talk to his boss.
"Well, he seems like a nice guy." Van said as he and Billie watched their new friend walk away. "Yeah. You finally have someone on your side here." Billie said jokingly as she played with his fingers. "Everyone needs someone on their side." Van joked back. "Uhuh." Billie said with a smile. "Speaking of taking sides, what side are we on with the birth?" Van asked her getting serious. "What do you mean?" She said not really understanding what he meant. "I mean like when you have the baby? What do you want me to do during the labor? How should I support you? What kind of pain management do you want to use? Should I hold your hand when you get an epidural?" He shot his questions in rapid fire succession at her and took a large bite of his cheesecake once he was done. "Oh, yeah. About that. I, uh, was actually thinking; I don't want to use drugs for pain." She said hesitantly and then waited for him to ask her if she'd lost her mind. The question didn't happen right away however. When she said she wanted to labor without drugs, Van was in mid bite. When she finished was she was saying, he choked on his cheesecake in shock. Van coughed and gagged, trying to dislodge the food. When he finally did, his face was a deep shade of red and he had tears in his eyes. "Are you okay?" Billie asked alarmed. Van stared at her in shock as he continued to cough slightly and he tried to find his voice again. When he did, he blurted out, "What! Are you nuts!" he gasped in shock. "I'm not nuts. I just did my research and know that whatever drugs I take go to the baby through the placenta and I don't want that." She answered rationally. "What about with an epidural?" Van asked. It wasn't that he didn't think that Billie could handle the pain of labor, rather, he wasn't sure if he could handle how she chose to handle the pain. Van didn't want to find himself in the midst of her drug free labor, contemplating jumping out of the 4th story window of St. Vincent's hospitals maternity ward. "Have you ever seen an epidural needle Van?" She replied as she drank the rest of her lemonade. "No. Have you?" he said back a bit sheepishly since she apparently had or she never would have asked him that. "Yes, I have. I can't work so I watch the baby programs on Discovery Health Channel now." Those things are HUGE and they go in your spine!" She said, as she showed with her fingers how long the needle was for added emphasis to what she was telling him.
"What a minute. Are you telling me you're afraid of a needle?" Van chuckled. "So what if I am?" she shot back. "You're a heroine addict." Van said in a hushed tone, so the people behind him didn't hear the comment. "I know. Do you have a point to that?" she responded coldly. "Yeah. Let me see if I have this right. You have no problem injecting yourself with an illegal substance to get high. However, the thought of getting injected with a legitimate drug for pain freaks you out?" he said thoughtfully. That's exactly what I'm saying. What's your point?" She shot back seeing that he was taking this somewhere she didn't want to go. "My point is that, you're being a big baby! Its one needle Billie! Don't be such a whiner!" Van said laughing. "I'm not being a baby. There is a huge difference between the two!" she said, getting irritated that he found so much joy in this. "Oh really? Well, I'd love to hear what the difference is." Van challenged as he sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for her answer. "The difference, you baboon, is that with heroine, I am injecting myself and looking at it. With an epidural, I have a total stranger at my back, putting a large needle near my spine and I can't watch!" She shot back, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for his answer. Van stared at her for a moment in silence. "Well?" she said getting annoyed that he hadn't said anything yet. Van continued to look at her as a smile slowly crept on his lips. He began to tremble slightly as the smile grew into a full blown grin. Soon after a slight chuckle escaped his lips. The chuckle turned into a soft laugh. The soft laugh turned into a full blown guffaw, complete with tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Oh my god! You're a needle phobic!" He gasped in between fits of laughter. "Don't be such a jackass." Billie muttered as she stared at her husband, venom present in her voice. "I'm sorry, baby. It's just that…it's well… it's funny!" he said, bursting again as he saw her eyes narrow and glare at him. "Can we leave now? I want to finish this shopping and go home to get the hell away from you." She spat back at him. Van paid the bill and the pair got up and went to the car to go back to the store.
Ten minutes later, Van and Billie were walking from the car across the parking lot to the store. Billie walked just an arms length away from Van, her arms crossed and head down. Van could very clearly see the scowl on her face. The fact that she was being so childish about such a thing, gave Van the urge to laugh even more. Despite this urge, he knew better than to keep laughing at her. As they walked, Van reached over and brushed his fingertips over her elbow. Billie jerked her arm away as if she'd been burned by something. "Oh come on Sassy. Don't be like that. Let's kiss and make up, okay?" Van cooed as he slowly got close to her until his arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her firmly against his side. "Why do you call me that?" Billie asked, leaning against him, her arms still folded. "Call you what?" Van asked, glad she was talking to him again. "Sassy." She replied looking at him for the first time since they'd left the restaurant. "Simple, really. I call you that because if you were a dog, you'd be a poodle since you're so sassy. So, sassy seems appropriate." Van explained looking down on her with a flirtatious smile. Billie looked at him as she let his words sink in. She couldn't help it. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist as she snickered quietly. "I'll pretend you mean that in the most loving way possible, and that you actually like poodles." She said as she rested her head against his chest as they reached the entrance of the expansive store. "Awesome." Came Van's reply as he kissed the top of her head.
Over the next hour, the pair bought a white sleigh style changing table with two shelves and a drawer for storage, a white Round-Back Glider with Ottoman, Hammock Bed and, a white, four drawer dresser. Next the pair headed over to look at car seats. Van wanted to get an infant seat since he'd read they were cheaper. Billie wanted to get a convertible seat since they could use it for longer than an infant seat. "What, isn't our child's safety more important to you than how long an item will get used?" Van guilted when she pointed out the Britax Marathon seat she'd researched. "Safety is very important but so is how much money we'll spend on car seats! That seat only holds the baby up to 25lbs. You should keep the baby facing the back until they weigh 20lbs at least, more if the seat accommodates it. This one, holds up to 65lbs and the baby can ride rear facing until she's 30lbs. That would be safer don't you think? Or does the prospect of her breaking her neck so you get what you want not matter to you?" Billie argued back. "Of course I care! It's my baby too! How the hell did you decide I don't care about the baby anyway? That's a huge leap from I want the safest seat to I don't care, don't you think? Dammit, Billie. Even Evil Kneivil couldn't make that leap!" Van snapped throwing his hands in the air in exasperassion. Billie just stared at him in surprise as she tried to figure out what to say next. It wasn't often that Van stunned her into silence, but when he did, it was a time for him to be proud. Seeing that she had no comeback, Van started to grin at her slightly, knowing he'd stumped her good. "You have balls Van." Billie finally said calmly. She turned around and started to walk off, pouting. "I just hope they don't get cut off in your sleep." She threw over her shoulder as she walked away. Van grumbled and picked up the box with the seat she wanted and put it in the cart as he hurried to catch up to his seething wife.
He caught back up to her in the next aisle looking at strollers. "Okay, we'll get it." Van said as he wheeled the cart next to her. Billie just looked at the box and kept walking. "What's next?" Van asked, ignoring her still pissy mood. "The stroller." She answered simply as she looked at the display. "Okay, well, we need one with a safety harness." Van started looking at the strollers. "And something that reclines all the way for an infant." Billie added. "Well, that rules out half of these." Van commented as he read tags. "Yeah. A five point harness would be best, too. I think." She filled in narrowing their choices down even farther. "Ooh. This one is cool!" Van exclaimed as he pointed to a red stroller. "Its nice. Kinda light though." Billie said as she shook it a bit to see if it could be easily moved. "That's because its aluminum. The thing only weighs 12lbs." Van told her. "And it's an umbrella fold. I'm not too sure." Billie said. "Oh come on. It's nice! The foot rest is adjustable. It has all wheel suspension too!" Van explained, getting excited over it. Billie looked at him quizzically when he mentioned suspension. "You won't wake the baby up when you push it off the pavement." Van filled in, when he saw that questioning look on her face. "Oh, and look at this. It has a tray for your phone, keys and your coffee." Van said, knowing he'd sold her when he pointed out the drink tray. "A drink tray? Really?" Billie said immediately taking a renewed interest in the red stroller Van was pitching. "Yeah. Nice huh? So, can we have it?" He asked, getting antsy for her to say something either way. "Well," Billie started, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Oh come on!" Van said again. "Well…" she said, still thinking. "Please?" Van practically begged. "Okay." Billie agreed getting a kick out of making him beg in public. Van excitedly wrapped his arms around her in an enthusiastic hug. "Oh great! Thanks, honey! You'll love it! It's gonna handle like a dream, you'll see." Van babbled excitedly. "Okay, okay. Calm down Sparky. I said we could get the stroller, not a Ferrari." Billie said and laughed when she saw Van's face at the name 'Sparky'. "Cute." He said as he glared at her. Billie smiled a patronizing smile at her overly hyper husband and kept walking.
In the next hour, they finished up the shopping by getting a swing, baby seat, pack and play and the diaper bag. The first three items were easy to buy. They seemed to agree on what they wanted, no problem, but when it came to the last one on their list, they didn't exactly see eye to eye. "I want this one!" Billie exclaimed as she happily trotted over to a bright fuchsia with orange and fluorescent pink striped messenger bag and held it up for Van to see. The look on his face about made her bust right there. He stopped in his tracks as the color drained from his face and his jaw dropped to the floor. "You don't like this? Okay, What about this one then?" she said with a wide smile as she picked up a pink cloth, Precious Moments diaper bag. She didn't think it was possible, but Van's complexion went even whiter at this. She could tell the bile was rising in his throat as he wiped the sweat off his palms onto his jeans. "You know, I really don't like this one. Let's keep looking." She said with an obvious chuckle as she put it back and walked a few more steps down. "Ooh, this is nice." She said picking up a brown vinyl coated backpack style bag with a basketball theme and the number '23' on it. "Oh, uh, yeah. Not bad." Van said, as he let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding for the last couple of minutes. When Billie saw this, she finally burst into a fit of laughter. "Shut up, Billie!" Van snapped as he glared down at her. After a couple minutes Billie regained her composure and was ready to seriously suggest a decent bag even she wouldn't mind carrying. She settled on a black nylon clam bag. "I like that!" Van exclaimed when she showed it to him. "Good, because this is the bag." She told him as she took the bag and they made their way to check out.
An hour and a half later, the pair was home. Van had called Deaq to inform him that all the shopping was done and that this baby would be an only child, while Billie laughed. Van sneered at her and went to change into a comfortable pair of sweat pants and an old gray shirt before settling down to watch a little television before dinner. When he reemerged into the bedroom ten minutes later, Billie was curled up on the bed, fast asleep. Van smiled down on his sleeping wife as he softly called her name to rouse her. "Billie." Van said quietly. She just curled around her pillow a bit tighter and was back to being out cold again. Deciding she needed the rest, Van settled down on the bed next to her. He grabbed the remote off the table and turned on the television. For the next hour they stayed there, Van watching television with his arm around Billie, playing with her hair as she took a much needed nap.
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DKM: Yeah, I liked writing that chapter too! No real drama whatsoever! And yes, its mandatory to embarrass Deaq with that whenever possible!
Simbagirl: So glad you've come aboard! I hope you like this chapter!
Everyone: You all rock! Enjoy!