Hey babes! Thanks for all the love on the first chapter of this story. Means a lot to me to see that you're all enjoying it so far.

So here's the next chapter for you!

Enjoy!

Waking up the next morning, she makes an immediate beeline for the bathroom. She falls to her knees against the linoleum and dry heaves into the toilet. Tears sting at her eyes while she waits for the heaving to subside.

She leans against the wall beside the toilet, breathing heavily with her mouth open as she waits for her stomach to settle back down. She honestly wishes she'd actually eaten something the night before instead of just going to sleep, probably would have made this early bout of morning sickness slightly more bearable, but she couldn't. She turned her nose up at each thing she desperately wished she could eat.

"I thought I told you not to cause me too much trouble," she mutters, glancing down at her stomach. "This is exactly the kind of stuff I meant."

Struggling for a moment to get up off the floor, she flushes the toilet, despite nothing having escaped her stomach, and moves over to the sink to brush her teeth.

She runs her fingers through her hair a bit to get out some of the tangles but doesn't bother running an actual brush through it. She's too tired for that. And it's not like she's going out into town anytime soon.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she leaves the comfort of her room and braves a trip into the rest of the base.

Trudging down the hallway and into the lounge, she makes her way over to the kitchenette, brushing her hair out of her face as she opens the refrigerator and takes some time to inspect the contents inside. Unfortunately, none of it seems too appealing.

"Looking for something in particular?"

Jumping slightly, she looks over her shoulder to find Trip sauntering into the room, a book held in his hand. "Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm uh, not too hungry for breakfast, so I'm just looking for something to settle my stomach for now."

He nods. "Simmons mentioned you were feeling under the weather the last few days."

"Yeah, hopefully, I'll be over it soon. Do you know if we have any nuts or things?"

"We might. But what's with the healthy eating all of a sudden?" he asks her. "Your idea of a midday snack is potato chips, bowls of candy, or ice cream."

She shrugs. "Simmons is always on me about making healthier food choices, and since I've been feeling gross lately I figured it was a good idea to try it."

"And how's that working out for you so far?"

She tilts her head. "Mmm...I'm not sure yet. But I'll let you know."

He chuckles. "Good plan." He takes a deep breath. "So, any chance you'd be up to hanging out for a bit? I've got a break from mission stuff for a while."

She sighs. "I would. But I'm really tired. Being sick has always drained me since I was a kid, so I'm gonna take a nap after I finish eating."

"Alright, no problem, girl. I hope you feel better."

She gives him a small smile. "Thanks. So do I. Though I have a feeling it might take longer than I want for it to run its course."

"I'm sure you'll be fine."

She laughs quietly. "That's the hope at least. I'll see you later, yeah? I just really need that nap now."

He nods. "Yeah, no problem."

Giving Trip one last smile, she makes her way out of the lounge and down the hallway back to her room.

Closing and locking the door so no one can barge in, even though she knows no one will, she grabs her tablet as she sits down on the edge of her bed before scooting back against the headboard. She unlocks the device and opens up the blogs that she had bookmarked the day before, eager to learn as much as she can before her own baby arrives.

She continues reading through different posts on various subjects of pregnancy and motherhood, some being rather vague in the details, and some being excruciatingly detailed. But they all have her thinking. A lot of the posts talk about how the mothers, and some fathers who write the blogs, notice little similarities between their child and their partner. It makes her heart clench.

Locking the device, she sets it aside and moves into her bathroom, standing in front of the sink, her hands braced on either side as she stares down into the bowl. She's not sure if she's going to be sick, or if it's all just in her head.

Her stomach churns and she instinctively rests a hand there, rubbing her thumb back and forth, hoping her stomach will calm down for a little while.

As she stands there her mind starts to wander to all the posts she read about semi-happy families, where the parents are together and happy, with their third or fourth child and how they work together like a well-oiled machine to take care of their kids.

"I don't get that," she mutters to herself. "I don't get to have any of that. Why did I ever think I could have the picture perfect happy life with the white picket fence and the handsome husband and a couple of kids? That's never been my luck. I don't even have my damn parents to help me through any of this." She sighs. "It's times like this when I could really use a mom of my own."

Looking up from the sink, she watches her reflection in the mirror in front of her. Her eyes are tired, something that's not unfamiliar to her from all the sleepless nights she'd spend hacking in her van. There's more there that she doesn't quite recognize, but knows it has everything to do with recent events. She sighs and lets her shoulders sag. She hangs her head before leaning back and focusing on her stomach.

"What are we gonna do, kiddo?" she asks. "What are people going to think when I tell them about you?" She looks back up at her reflection. "I guess it doesn't really matter what anyone else says, right? It just matters what I think. Because I'm your mom." She huffs out a laugh. "Wow. I'm going to be a mom." She looks back down, resting one hand on the flat area. "I promise you right now that you can always count on me for whatever you need, okay? We've always got to have each other's back. I don't want anyone here to hate me because of who your father is, so we'll do our best, alright?"

She sighs, pushing off the counter and moving back to sit on the toilet lid. "But they probably will hate you. Or at least the idea of you. Your father did a lot of awful things, kid, and other people are probably going to try and hold that against you because they're all still upset about it. Even I'm upset by what he did."

She takes a deep breath and sits up straighter, looking down at her stomach and resting a hand there. "But you're not your father. And I'm going to raise you right. I'm going to make sure that you know right from wrong and to always make the best choices that you can as you grow up."

She leans against the back of the toilet as she absentmindedly rubs her thumb over her belly. "We've got this, kiddo, we've got this."

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!