Prompt: Andy/Nick, the one where she's pregnant (requested by petragem)
Nick knows how to be certain things. He knows how to be a soldier. He knows how to be a cop. A friend. A lover. An Edmonton Oilers fan.
These are things he knows how to be because they've been a part of his makeup for so long. They are roles he consciously chose for himself and for the life he wanted, and for the most part they've made him happy. (Although to be honest, being an Oilers fan hasn't exactly been doing much of that lately.)
When Andy drags him to the old gym at the station in the middle of the workday, all he expects is maybe a little afternoon delight. What he didn't expect was to suddenly have a new role thrust upon him. So when she showed him the crumpled up blood test, because of course she'd never trust a tiny piece of plastic to change the course of her life, he completely freaks out. Three tours in Afghanistan and two years as a police officer in a major metropolitan city have never scared him the way impending fatherhood has.
Nick doesn't know the first thing about being a father. Sure, he's great with kids and can be a great uncle figure in a pinch. But being a father? Being one hundred percent responsible for the life of a defenseless little human? No fucking clue.
(Andy argued that being a soldier and a cop, having the instinct to defend his country and the lives of innocent people, is proof that he'd be a great dad. But then he argued that at the end of the day, he could go home and shed those roles like a second skin…if only for a little while. Being a father was an all around the clock kind of gig.)
But what actually scares him the most is that it just makes him think of the only other role he's ever been cast in without his approval. The night his parents died and left him all alone in the world.
An orphan.
As Andy's pregnancy progresses, Nick hates how his fear makes him distant, makes him feel like he's letting down the one person he loves most in this life. Sure, he takes her to her doctor's appointments and helps pick out items for the nursery, but for the most part it feels like he's merely going through the motions. Andy, bless her heart, doesn't kick him to the curb like he knows he deserves. She continues to shower him with love and hope, proving once again that her lion heart can beat strong enough for more than just herself. Nick could live for a hundred years and still never understand what it is that she sees in him that makes her stay.
And then faster than a gunshot, Andy's water breaks and she's in labor.
The nurse forces a pair of scrubs on him and thrusts him towards Andy's side. He automatically takes her hand and feels so guilty for the pain she's experiencing. (He doesn't think he'll ever forget her screams.)
But then it happens.
It's been hours, and Andy is exhausted, and the doctor tells her she just needs to push one more time, and that's when they hear it.
"It's a girl!" The doctor proclaims, and Andy, who wanted to be surprised by the sex of the baby, is immediately transformed. She looks happier and more beautiful than he's ever seen her.
"Would you like to cut the cord, Daddy?" The nurse looks to him, brandishing a pair of scissors. With one snip, suddenly the room is filled with a baby's cry, but before he could get a good look at the source of the cry, the nurse whisks her away to clean her and to take the necessary measurements.
Looking down at Andy, he sees that he eyes are glued to the back of the nurse handling her child, biting her bottom lip. After what seems like an eternity, the nurse finally returns with a small pink bundle. And when the nurse lays the baby against Andy's chest, she becomes radiant.
Andy gazes up at him, and with the largest smile he's ever seen, she holds their daughter out to him.
Nick has held a baby before; has felt the tiny fragility of a newborn in his arms. But this — she — felt different. After months of sleepwalking, Nick feels like he's finally awake. Nothing in his life would ever compare to what he felt watching as her tiny eyes opened.
"What's her name?" The nurse asks Andy, holding the birth certificate already adorned with tiny footprints.
"Annabelle Claire Collins." The unexpected sound of his mother's name causes his heart to thud painfully in his chest, and looking down at Andy, he feels like his heart will burst with love for her. Carefully sitting beside her on the bed, he gently kisses her forehead, still not able to believe that this amazing woman loves him. Annabelle wriggles forcefully in his arms and it makes them both laugh, still unable to fully comprehend how their lives have just changed.
So Nick might not have chosen to be a father, but as he holds this tiny wriggling bundle in his arms, he can't ever imagine not choosing to have his daughter.
His Annabelle.
This one was super angsty and then super fluffy (but I hope not super OOC.)