"You're having a what?" Otis asked again.

"I'm having a baby. I'm pregnant with Jakob's child." Jean said, feeling quite uncomfortable.

"Wow." Otis said.

"Congratulations, Jean!" Maeve said, not quite sure what else to say.

"Thank you darling. Otis?" Jean asked, nervously turning to her son.

"This means we're going to move in with Jakob and Ola. If you guys get married, Ola and I will be stepsiblings. That's kind of weird but it's a good thing Ola and I made up. There's going to be so many diapers. I've never changed a diaper in my life. I'll have to shut down the sex clinic so I can look after the baby while you're at work. Am I going to have to give the baby advice? I'm not very good at advice!" Otis began to ramble, the panic evident in his voice.

"Otis!" Jean tried to interrupt him.

"The baby is going to be seventeen years younger than me. I don't think it's going to think I'm the cool big brother, how am I supposed to be the cool big brother? I have no answers to any of the questions it'll ask me!" Otis continued his panicked ramble.

"Otis!" Maeve said raising her voice, snapping Otis out his rant.

Otis took a deep breath to steady himself. He had just realised what a rollercoaster of emotions he had gone through in less than a minute.

"Congratulations mom!" Otis said, still looking stunned.

"You're not really saying how you feel about this." Jean said.

"I'm just shocked. Are you planning on having the baby?" Otis asked.

"Yes." Jean said.

"Then I'll help you take care of him or her." Otis said, with a smile.

Maeve looked at Otis with the most proud smile on her face.

"You will?" Jean asked.

"Of course, it's going to be my little sibling." Otis said.

"That's so sweet Otis." Jean said.

"Does Jakob know?" Otis asked.

"No." jean said.

"Are you planning on telling him?" Otis asked.

"I don't know. I don't want him to feel like I'm trying to trap him into staying with me." Jean said.

Maeve was starting to feel quite awkward; she couldn't help but feel like she was intruding. She couldn't really leave in the middle of what was clearly a very serious and private conversation but it felt weird to stay and listen. Otis would've told her all of his anyway but it was different to watch it play out.

"I think you should tell him, he deserves to know. And I feel like he would want to be a part of the baby's life. Of course it's your decision but if you need help talking to him, I could talk to Ola for you." Otis said.

"You would do that?" Jean asked.

"Yeah of course." Otis said.

"Thank you, Otis. Is it okay if we talk about this tomorrow? I'm feeling quite tired." Jean said.

"Yeah sure. Do you need anything?" Otis asked, starting to clear the table.

"No, thanks. Maeve, I'm sorry for ruining dinner with my little revelation." Jean said.

"No, not at all. Congratulations once again." Maeve said with a smile.

"Thank you." Jean said with a smile as she went upstairs.

Once Jean had left, Otis and Maeve started cleaning up.

"Wow." Otis said.

"When you invited me to dinner with your mom, I tried to imagine and prep for each and every scenario except this one." Maeve said.

"I don't think it was possible to prep for this. I'm sorry you had to just sit there. It was super uncomfortable for me, so I can't even imagine how it was for you." Otis said.

"It's okay, at least I now know how you'd react if I was pregnant." Maeve said with a smile as she dried a plate Otis had just washed.

"Wait, are you?" Otis asked, almost dropping the plate he was washing.

Maeve rolled her eyes at Otis while smiling her special Otis smile. She loved how stupid he could be sometimes.

"Oh yeah, that's not possible. Because we haven't.." Otis said, the realization hitting him like a bolt of lightening.

Maeve directed her attention back to the plate in he rhand. She wanted to talk to Otis about this but she knew this might not be the best time.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that." Otis said, as if he had read Maeve's mind.

"You have?" Maeve asked.

"Yeah, I've noticed whenever we're about to take that step and I pull away, you seem really upset. And I wanted to talk to about where my head is. None of that is about you, I promise." Otis said.

"What's going on?" Maeve asked.

"I'm just nervous." Otis said, putting down the plate and turning to Maeve.

"Nervous about what?" Maeve asked.

"What if we aren't compatible like that? What if I don't meet the expectations you have?" Otis asked.

"I have no expectations, Otis. I love you and I want to be with you and to me that involves being intimate with you too." Maeve said.

"It does for me too. But I have no experience and I've heard I'm okay but what if that's not good enough?" Otis asked, the nervousness evident in his voice.

"Wait, what do you mean you've heard you're okay? Did you ask Ruby?" Maeve asked, not being able to contain her laughter.

"Maybe.." Otis said, which only made Maeve laugh louder. "Forget I said anything." He said, getting pissed off.

"No no, I'm sorry. Look, I think we're going to be fine. We love each other, so it's already going to be amazing and everything with you is better than I can even imagine. And if for whatever reason, we take some time to find our rhythm, that's fine too. I just want you to trust me enough to take that step." Maeve said.

"I do, I really do. I promise it's not about that. It's just that we've been waiting for this for so long, I just want it to actually meet all the expectations we have in our heads. And I know how important the physical aspect of a relationship can be." Otis said.

"Of course it's important but it's not everything and besides, I really don't think we're going to have a problem. If I'm being honest, you haven't been the only one pulling away. I've been scared of it too." Maeve said, looking down at her hands.

"Why?" Maeve asked.

"Well because I've never been this open in a relationship. All my walls are down and I guess sex is literally the only boundary left. And even though I trust you completely, I'm scared. My instincts are always telling me to never let anyone all the way in and I guess that voice in my head takes over sometimes." Maeve said.

"I can understand that. So why don't we just go with the flow? We don't have to put pressure on ourselves or set a date, we do it when it feels right, for the both of us." Otis said.

"Sounds good to me." Maeve said, pulling Otis in for a kiss.

Both of them felt lighter having spoken about what was on their mind. At the end of the day, Jean was right, being in love means going to war with your own insecurities just to make sure you can make your relationship work. And while that's always hard as fuck, it becomes easier when you did it with and for someone who understands.

Maeve and Otis pulled away a little breathless and smiling. They went back to doing the dishes, with Otis washing and Maeve drying the plates. Maeve put on some soft music in the background and they continued their little routine. It felt super domestic, the kind of life both of them wanted with each other. Maeve couldn't help but imagine that empty house of hers not feeling so empty anymore. She could imagine having dinner with Otis every night, discussing their day and then cleaning up together. It would be a quiet life, filled with the sound of their laughter. Maeve almost wanted to smack herself for being so cheesy but that was the effect Otis had on her. She didn't want that sad house anymore; she wanted Otis and a life with him. And every day, she felt like she was moving one step closer to that dream life with Otis.