Bailey stopped dead in her tracks in the hallway to relax for a second, desperately needing a break for a few minutes. "Are you okay?" questioned a concerned Nyla.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little off since the proposal that's all. John's going to great lengths to make me feel more comfortable," she explained.
"Off how?" chimed in a confused Angela.
Bailey shrugged. "I don't know - it's weird. I was fine for a few weeks but now I feel like everything's shifted and can't figure out why. I proposed to John - I want to marry him! This doesn't make any sense!" It confused the hell out of her.
"Explain," a curious Nyla urged.
She blew out a breath. "Not sure why but I'm a little nauseated. Grabbed some saltines at work and that seemed to ease the nausea for a little while but now it's back with a vengeance. But weirdly enough, I'm craving the hell out of cake right now too? I don't understand." When Nyla and Angela exchanged a glance, Bailey knew they had figured something out and needed them to clue her in. "What? What is it? Tell me!"
"Are you on birth control?" Angela smiled expectantly at her.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? Should I see my doctor and tell him I need to switch or something?"
"Or something. Take a pregnancy test, Nune. I think that'll give you all the answers you're looking for." Nyla flashed her a smile before she and Angela headed out to chase down their suspect.
Bailey froze. She couldn't be pregnant! She and John always took precautions but of course they weren't one hundred percent effective and pregnancy would explain why she felt so off-kilter recently. "Fuck." She bolted to find John, thankful he had just returned from patrol. He lit up when he saw her.
"Hey! Anything I can do for you?"
She could wait to tell him until she was sure or play it off as a joke later if the test turned out to be negative but Bailey didn't want to do that - she wanted to be honest with the man she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She waved a confused Celina off so she could talk to a now worried John alone. "I might be pregnant." She cringed, knowing he didn't want any kids, that he had said repeatedly that Henry was enough for him.
His jaw dropped open and he blinked at her for a few minutes as he struggled to process the news. "Wait, might?" John finally asked once he got his bearings back.
"Angela and Nyla think so, and it makes sense now that I think about it. Still need to take a test, though."
"Why don't you run to a pharmacy and pick some up, and then we'll deal with whatever it says together?" he suggested. He leaned in for a quick kiss.
She wrinkled her nose up in disgust. "Why do you smell like that?"
He sniffed his uniform and then looked up at her with a tight smile. "I think I might agree with Nyla and Angela."
She laughed nervously, gave him another quick kiss, and then bolted to the nearest pharmacy. When she returned, she and John ducked into the nearest bathroom and locked the door so they could attempt to have some form of privacy. "I feel like I'm in high school," Bailey joked. She bit her lip as she waited for the timer on her phone to ring.
John hugged her. "Whatever that test says, it's okay."
"Would you really be okay with having another baby after saying you didn't want more kids?" she pressed, terrified to find out his answer.
"Bailey, I love you. If you're pregnant, it's a shock but this kid will be half of both of us, and how could I not love them too? It'll be a big adjustment for us but that's fine. Babies are always big adjustments. This kid is going to be amazing."
The timer on her phone rang and startled them both. "Moment of truth." Bailey picked up the test, unsurprised to see "Pregnant" flashing at her. "We're having a baby."
John beamed at her and pulled her in for a hug, his hand splaying across her stomach. "Nice to meet you, kiddo," he murmured, leaning down.
She teared up. "Fuck morning sickness - I need saltines." Bailey groaned and grabbed the emergency packet in her pocket. John couldn't help but laugh, quickly turning serious when she glared at him.
The pregnancy had been a huge surprise to both of them but John and Bailey were excited despite how nervous they were. They pulled together a quick wedding with the help of their friends and married just weeks later. Their daughter, conceived just after Bailey's third near death experience, came into the world six months later.