"Here you go" Iain smiled as he passed over a mug of tea later that night. They'd eaten pizza and played games with Jack who'd been overjoyed when he'd been allowed to stay up until 8.30 when he'd been taken up to bed, reading his school book with Rita before snuggling under the duvet as, both Rita and Iain read him a bedtime story.
"Thanks" Rita smiled, lifting her legs from where she sprawled on the sofa, letting Iain sit down before placing her feet in his lap, smiling as he began to rub them like he always did when they sat like this.
"So" he said softly a while later, "do you want to have this conversation or would you rather leave it for a while?"
"I erm, I'd like to talk about it if we can? I never really wanted Jack to be an only child" Rita said quietly, not looking up from her mug.
"And how would you feel about us having a baby?"
"You're brilliant with Jack, and I've got no doubt that you'd be an amazing Daddy it we had a baby."
"But…?"
"But I struggled on my own with Jack, I'd need to be 100% certain that this is what you want and you're not going to leave when the sleepless nights and the dirty nappies get too much, having a baby, it's a lot different to coming into a family with a toddler who's potty trained and sleeps through the night."
"I know it is" Iain said softly, he understood Rita's worries, that she didn't want to be a single mother with two children, "and I know there's nothing I can do to show you the future but, as far as I'm concerned, this is it for me Reet, You, Me, Jack, baby or no baby, I won't be going anywhere. I'm happy to get up when Jack has a nightmare, I don't mind getting up with him and letting you sleep when he wakes up at 5am and wants pancakes for breakfast. That won't change if we have a baby, night time feeds, dirty nappies, a baby that cries all night, I don't mind at all, I'll roll my sleeves up and do whatever I need to do." He put his mug on the coffee table, lifting Rita's feet so he could stand up, sitting on the edge of the coffee table and taking her hands, "look at me" he said softly, waiting for her gaze to meet his before speaking again, "I love you" he told her, "I love you and I love Jack. I will still love you if we have another baby, another 15 babies, I will still love you if you decide that's not wa you want and we just have Jack. I won't run for the hills if you tell me you think you're pregnant, the only thing that will make me leave is you telling me to go okay. We don't have to decide anything right now, if you need time to think about it then I'll explain that to Jack, there's no rush. I'm not going anywhere."
Rita shook her head, "I erm, I don't need time. I want to have a baby with you."
"Really" Iain beamed, leaning over to kiss her lips when she nodded, a smile forming on her own face.
Iain moved back onto the sofa, Rita curling into him, "I love you" she whispered as his hand moved to her flat stomach, gently stroking circles on her soft skin under her tshirt, he couldn't wait for the day he'd be able to feel their son or daughter moving beneath his palm.
"I love you too" Iain smiled, the pair settling down to watch tv together like they did for an hour or so most nights after Jack was in bed, happy to just enjoy each other's company, "did you and Mark plan Jack?" Iain asked a while later, "you don't have to answer that" he added quickly.
Rita nodded, "we erm, , we'd always talked about 'when we've got kids' and we'd been married for about 2 years when he came into the bathroom one morning, I was getting ready for work and I went to take my pill but Mark suggested that, if I was ready, I stopped taking it and we could 'see what happened' it took about 6 months for me to get pregnant but we weren't really trying, we just carried on as usual, there was never a set time of the month where we tried more often or anything."
Iain nodded, "you're not on the pill now though are you?" he asked, he'd never seen her take it if she was.
"No, I had the implant put in, it seemed easier, one less thing to remember to do and less chance of any little 'surprises'.
"Okay" Iain kissed her cheek, "when do you want to start trying?"
"I'm working a late shift on Thursday, I swapped with Jacob, so I could go to the doctors before work, see about having it taken out, unless you think that's too soon and you'd rather wait a few months?"
Iain shook his head, "it's fine, if we decide to wait a couple of months we can always go back to using condoms, there's no rush."
"Okay" Rita relaxed back into him, "I'll ring them on Monday and make an appointment."
Iain smiled and began to play with Rita's hair as she laid back against him, "what do you want to tell Jack?"
"That we've talked about it, we'll talk to him about the changes we'd have to make to have a baby, make sure he understands that a baby won't sleep all night, that it will need a lot of our attention for a while, then, if he's still open to the idea then we'll tell him that we'd like to have a baby but it won't happen instantly, that it might take a while. Then we ask if he's got any questions."
Iain nodded, "that sounds like a plan to me, are we going to do it in the morning?"
"Yeah" Rita smiled, "when he gets in with us."
It was something Jack had only started doing since Iain had moved in, but it was something Rita and Iain both loved too much to stop. Jack would wake on the weekends and crawl straight into bed with Rita and Iain, falling asleep between his parents if it was still early, carrying in a stack of his favourite books if the adults were awake. Rita was certain that her favourite sight to wake up to was Jack laying against Iain, Iain's arms wrapped protectively around their son. It surprised her, just how quickly she'd come around to the idea of Jack being 'theirs', of Iain being Jack's Daddy.
"What are you thinking?" Iain asked as he continued to play with Rita's hair.
"I want you to be Jack's Daddy."
"I thought I already was?" Iain frowned, "I know he still calls me Iain sometimes but more often than not now I'm Daddy."
"No" Rita sat up to look Iain in the eye so he knew she was serious. "I don't want him to feel any different to any other children we have. I want you to be his real Daddy, his father… I know it's a big step but would you think about adopting him?"
Iain smiled at her, "I don't want to think about it, as far as I'm concerned Jack's my son. I'd love to make that official." he frowned slightly, "what about Mark?"
Rita shook her head, "it was one of the conditions of the divorce, he signed over all parental rights to me, there'll be a restraining order when he gets out of prison. In the eyes of the law I'm Jack's only parent."
Iain smiled, "in that case, when do I sign the adoption papers?"
Rita laughed, "I'll speak to any solicitor on Monday, ask about getting the ball rolling." She smiled happily as she once again settled back against Iain, finally feeling like she'd soon have the happy family she always dreamed of.