When Killian came home from work and found Emma asleep on the couch for the third day in less than two weeks, he knew something had to be wrong. She usually arrived home after he did because she liked to stay and get all her paperwork in order, and preparations made for the patients she would have the next day. If she did get home before him, he would find her in the kitchen starting dinner. That's the way it had been for almost three years of marriage.
"Swan," he crooned, still using her maiden name as his pet name for her. He brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. "Emma, love. Wake up."
"Hmm?" she murmured, beginning to rouse from her nap. Her green eyes blinked open and she smiled sleepily, as she looked into the concerned face of her husband.
"Sweetheart, are you feeling alright?" he asked, nudging her to move slightly so he could slip down onto the sofa beside her. He encouraged her to lay her head in his lap, and stroked her silky hair, while his eyes searched her face for any sign of pain or discomfort.
"I'm fine, Babe. I've just been kind of tired the last few days. No need to worry."
"I do worry, though. Perhaps you should cut back a patient or two. You've been working too hard."
Emma sat up and turned to look at him. "I'm not working any harder than I ever have."
"Well, maybe you've always overworked and it's beginning to catch up with you."
A flash of anger shot through her, and she pushed herself to her feet to look down at him. "Don't tell me how to do my job, Killian! I've been doing it long enough to know what my work load should be!"
Overcoming his shock at her outburst, Killian stood too, and looked her in the eyes while his jaw ticked. "I'm just trying to look out for your well-being. There's no reason for you to get defensive."
"Then back off, okay? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" She stalked off toward the bedroom and Killian watched her go, confused at what had just happened. She'd never spoken to him like that in all the years he'd known her, and he'd always been a bit overprotective when it came to her health.
He moved into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, and soon he heard the front door open and close again. When he looked around the corner, he noticed Evie's leash was gone, and assumed Emma had taken their little dog for a walk. That surprised him too, since she always let him know before she went out, even if it was just to the nearby park.
Dinner was a silent affair, and soon afterwards, Emma headed off to the bedroom, telling Killian that she wanted to do some reading. He stayed in the living room, restlessly flipping through channels on the television. When he finally gave up, brushed his teeth, and went off to bed a couple of hours later, he found his wife asleep, with her reading glasses still perched on her nose, and a book laying open on her chest. He carefully removed both, then rearranged the pillows behind her head so she was in a better sleeping position.
"I love you, Emma," he whispered, leaving a lingering kiss to her hairline.
She stirred and her eyes opened a crack. "I'm sorry, Killian," she rasped. "I don't know why I got so angry." A tear trickled down her cheek and he brushed it away with his fingertips.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm just concerned about you." He sat down beside her on the bed and took her hand in his, stroking his thumb over her knuckles.
"I know. To be honest, I'm a little concerned, too. I haven't been feeling quite myself the last few weeks. Besides being so tired, I've been more emotional than usual. It seems like every little thing gets to me, and either makes me cry or makes me unreasonably angry. I really am sorry that I went off on you like that."
"All is forgiven, Love. Having a disagreement now and then is part of being married. Just don't make a habit of it, yeah?" he said with a grin.
"I definitely won't. I hated the way it made me feel afterwards. You were just trying to help. You didn't deserve to be treated like that."
He brought her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss to the back of it. "Perhaps you should make a doctor's appointment to put our minds at ease. You haven't been in for your physical yet this year, have you?"
"No, not yet. I should have gone in last month, but I haven't gotten around to scheduling it. I'll call tomorrow."
"Good." He stood up and kissed the crown of her head, then went to his dresser to get a pair of pajama pants. After changing quickly, he slid between the sheets and scooted over towards his wife. "Good night, Love," he said, caressing her cheek before pressing his lips to hers.
"Good night, Killian. I love you. Thanks for putting up with me."
He chuckled. "Oh, Sweetheart. It's the easiest thing in the world to do, even on your worst days!" He kissed her again, then let her turn over and get comfortable before he wrapped his arm around her and settled himself against her back.
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Emma was able to get a mid-afternoon doctor's appointment at the end of the following week. Killian wanted to go along, but his wife assured him that he didn't need to take off work to go to a routine physical with her.
When he got a text from her an hour before his workday ended, he checked it immediately, expecting it to say that everything was fine. Instead, his heart started racing when he saw the words, "Can you please come home right now?"
He shut his computer down in record time, stopped in his boss's office to tell him he was leaving, and took off running to his truck. As soon as it was parked in their driveway, he jumped out and sped into the house, not even taking the time to close the door of the vehicle.
He found Emma sitting in the recliner with a dazed look on her face. She had barely registered that her husband was home before he was kneeling on the floor in front of her.
"What is it, Love? What did the doctor say?"
She sat forward in the chair and raised trembling hands to frame his face. Killian swallowed heavily, not sure he wanted to hear what she had to say. The fact that she'd called him home early and appeared to be in a slight state of shock, had him thinking the appointment had been anything but routine.
"He said...that I'm pregnant."
The words hung between them for several moments as Killian processed what his wife had just told him. Then at last, he realized that what she'd disclosed wasn't bad news, as he had feared, but the best news he'd ever heard in his life. A smile slowly stretched across his face and he stood and pulled her to her feet, gathering her into his arms.
"Truly, Emma?" he laughed. "We're going to be parents?"
Emma took a step back and pulled his hand down to place it on her abdomen. "We already are. There's a baby in here, Killian! Our baby!"
"How far along are you?"
"The doctor can't be sure until I get some more bloodwork done, but based on what I told him, probably about six to eight weeks. I think that would put my due date around March."
He pulled her toward him again, and captured her lips in a kiss that had their tears mixing together on their lips. She giggled happily as he began peppering kisses all over her face, in between his repeated declarations of "I love you!"
Then he dropped to his knees, unzipped her khakis, and nuzzled his nose into her belly. "I love you, too, little one, and I promise to be the best daddy I can be for you."
Emma ran her hands through his dark hair as tears continued to stream down her face. She couldn't imagine ever being happier than she was at that very moment.
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Later, they lay on the sofa, wrapped around each other as they talked. The news probably shouldn't have taken them by surprise. They'd decided several months earlier that Emma would go off the pill to try natural birth control, although they agreed they would be fine with it if she did become pregnant. The only problem with abstaining during a certain time of the month had been that, even after over four years together, they still couldn't keep their hands, or any other part of their bodies, off of each other.
"I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner," Emma said. "I mean, the signs were all there - fatigue, crazy emotions, sore boobs, no appetite. I just didn't put it all together. I'm sure if I told Mary Margaret how I've been feeling, she would have figured it out right away, especially since she's been through it twice now."
"Have you had any morning sickness?" he asked, as he rubbed his fingers in small circles over her belly. "If you have, you've hidden it pretty well."
"No, I haven't had any, but the doctor said that's not unusual. He said not everybody has it, or sometimes it doesn't show up until later in the pregnancy. It's not always limited to the morning, either. It can be anytime during the day...or night."
"When do you go back to the doctor?"
"I made another appointment for two weeks from today. We should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat and get some sonogram pictures at that one."
"Can I come with you?"
"Absolutely! I want you at all of them, if you want to come."
"Oh, I definitely want to!"
She twisted her head around to look at him. "In another ten weeks or so, we'll be able to find out the gender. Do you think you want to know?"
Killian looked thoughtful as he moved his hand to twist a strand of her hair around his finger. "I'm not sure I do. How about you?"
"I've been thinking about it, and I think I'd like to be surprised. I know some people like to find out so they can decorate the nursery and buy clothes, but I'm not big on doing 'boy' colors or 'girl' colors. I'd like to keep things neutral, you know what I mean?"
"I do, and I agree. So, no gender reveal party, then?"
"No, but I was thinking we could have a 'pregnancy reveal' party. Our third anniversary is coming up. Maybe we could have a party for that, and announce it to everyone then. What do you think?"
"I think I married a bloody brilliant woman, who is going to be an absolutely amazing mother." His grin matched hers, before he dipped his head to start another round of loving kisses.
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The party took place a little over three weeks later in Emma and Killian's backyard. Mary Margaret and David were enjoying a child-free evening, as Grandma and Grandpa Blanchard were keeping Joshua and sixteen-month-old Paul overnight. Graham Humbert was helping Killian grill hamburgers, while his live-in girlfriend Ruby carried bags of chips out of the house to set on the long serving table.
Will Scarlett was busy getting everything that his wife Belle requested, since she was in the seventh month of her pregnancy, and had finally gotten comfortable on a padded patio chair. They'd had their gender reveal party a couple of months earlier, at which the guests had gotten a double surprise when they announced they were having twin boys. Killian had been impressed with how calm his friend was when the announcement was made, but later found out that he'd fainted when the doctor gave them the news.
Ashley and Thomas chatted with August and Claire, while Marco insisted on helping Emma in the kitchen. Once the potato salad, baked beans and pans of brownies had been added to the food table, along with the hamburgers, buns and all the condiments, everyone piled their plates high and found a seat around the patio table or in one of the lawn chairs.
After they had all eaten their fill and were sitting around rubbing their full bellies, Killian and Emma stood up to address their guests.
"We wanted to invite all of you to help us celebrate our anniversary tonight, because each one of you had such a special part in our wedding," Emma explained. "We also wanted to give you a gift in celebration of that day, and all the days that Killian and I have shared together since then."
Her husband reached under the table and pulled out a basket with several small, square gift boxes in it. "We've gotten all of you the same gift, so please wait to open them until we tell you, so no one misses out on the surprise."
He and Emma moved among their friends and family, handing out the gifts. Then they grasped each other's hand, shared a significant look, and announced, "Open them!"
Gasps were heard once the lids were removed. The couple had made copies of the sonogram picture that was taken at their appointment the previous week. In it, the baby looked like it was waving. Emma and Killian had added caption stickers that said, "Hi Grandpa!" "Hi Uncle August and Aunt Claire!" "Hi Aunt Mary Margaret and Uncle David!" and so on for all of his or her other honorary aunts and uncles.
As soon as everyone realized what they were holding, the yard erupted with cheers to the point that Killian worried the police would be called for violation of the noise ordinance.
Mary Margaret was the first to get to Emma and she hugged her so tightly, Emma began to turn red. "Mind the babe, M's," Killian reminded her, at which their friend turned to him and hugged him just as tightly.
Emma scanned the yard to find her father, who was still sitting in a chair, gazing at the grainy black and white photo. She walked over and knelt down beside him.
"Do you know what you're looking at, Dad?"
"From what I gather, you're expecting a baby! Is this a picture of it?"
"It is! It's called a sonogram. We'll have more of them as my pregnancy progresses, and it'll be easier to tell what the baby looks like in those. This one is a little difficult to see because he or she is still very tiny. Let me help you."
Scooting over beside him, she traced her finger over the photo. "This is the head, here is its spine, and these are his or her little arms and legs. Look - the baby is waving at you!" She wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "What do you think, Grandpa?"
Marco peeled his tear-filled eyes away from the picture to look at his daughter. "Oh, my dear girl, I am thrilled for you and Killian, and for this sweet child!"
After shaking everyone's hand, Killian looked over to see his wife and her father embracing. His eyes got a little misty as he watched the two of them, and listened to everyone around him chattering excitedly. He couldn't help thinking about how lucky and blessed his child was to have so many people who loved him or her so much already.
And when Penny Liann was born six months later, Emma proved herself wrong. She actually could be even happier than she was on the day they found out she was pregnant.
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