"Are you ready for this?" Ty asked in a low voice, standing beside Amy at the kitchen sink as they washed up for dinner. They hadn't had much time to prepare how they were going to make their big announcement, both being too busy at their respective jobs to communicate even through text all day. But they agreed that one way or another, they were going to do it tonight at dinner before it was put off to the point where it just festered and leaked on its own in a bad way.
Passing the dish towel she used to dry her hands, Amy raised her brow to her husband. "Are you?" She knew he was worried more about Tim's reaction than anyone else's, seeing as his father-in-law still seemed to have a bone to pick with Ty even though he'd been married to Amy for almost a year. It was true they were still stuck in Caleb's old trailer, with Caleb still living out on the couch, but they were still trying to find their own place, a bigger place, preferably a small farm to start. Right now anywhere bigger than that tiny trailer would do, though. They wanted, and now needed, space to start their family and begin their truly adult lives.
Ty shrugged, leaning back against the counter as everyone started taking their usual places at the dinner table. "Gotta get it over with some time, right? Might as well be now." After nearly ten years of dealing with Tim Fleming, Ty knew he could hold his own, but this was a little bit of a different situation and it wasn't just Amy he was expected to provide for and take care of now.
"Come on, you guys!" Georgie called, forcing Ty and Amy to exchange a last look before joining the rest of their family at the dinner table.
Serving bowls made their rounds as everyone filled their plates with salad and Lou's shepherd's pie, which had come a very long way since she first made it after coming home from New York. It was actually edible now and even enjoyable when she moderated the salt. However, when it came to Amy, she hesitated with scooping it onto her plate. Her stomach started to turn sour from the strong odor that attacked her senses.
"Amy?" Ty asked quietly, noticing the way his wife was taking in slow breaths, swallowing hard and looking as if she were about to throw up.
"Something wrong?" Jack asked, drawing attention from the rest of the table to Amy as she still held the bowl in her hands and tried to force herself to scoop some of the food out and pass it along, but she was stuck just trying to hold her stomach down.
"Come on, Amy, it's not that bad. Just eat around the crunchy part," Georgie joked, receiving a narrow-eyed look from her mom.
"Excuse me," Amy finally managed, handing the bowl off to Ty and sliding out of her chair to get to the bathroom, shutting the door fast and hard behind her before she retched into the toilet.
Ty looked down at the bowl in his hands when the eyes of the table that had been on Amy turned immediately to him, looking for some kind of explanation for Amy's strange behavior.
"What's wrong with her?" Tim asked, almost accusingly, leaving Ty to decide if he should just get it out or wait for Amy to come back, if she even would.
"I think that's something Amy should tell you," he answered slowly, though knew that wouldn't be the right thing to say to Tim.
"What's that supposed to mean, 'Amy should tell me'? What's going on?" Tim turned his body toward Ty, his chest expanding as he sat up straighter like an animal preparing his defenses.
"I'm just saying-" Ty began when Lou cut him off. She'd been staring at him hard, with acute interest since Amy left the table, an inkling of a thought taking over her mind.
"Oh, would you just stop, Dad. I'm going to check on her." Pulling her napkin from her lap, Lou left the table and stopped in front of the bathroom door to knock gently. "Amy? Can I come in?"
With one hand holding her hair out of her face and the other serving as a pillow for her face against the cold porcelain of the toilet, Amy took deep breaths after having lost the ability as she got sick. She closed her eyes when she heard Lou at the door, but allowed her to come in anyway. She reached out to flush the toilet quick and try to regain some of her dignity by pushing herself up from hanging over the toilet, sitting back against the tub as Lou stepped into the small bathroom and closed the door.
"Are you okay?" Her eyes went from the toilet to her sister, full of concern but there was also a bit of hidden excitement in them.
Amy nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak right away. She ran her hand through her hair, pushing her bangs out of her face as Lou came lean on the vanity in front of her.
"You've been acting weird lately. We've all noticed it, except maybe dad but, he's usually clueless to social cues, so…" Lou offered a little smile, seeing one find Amy's lips as well as she looked up at her sister. There was a pause as Lou became serious again and studied Amy carefully. "Come on, Amy: the fatigue, nausea, sensitivity to smell… you're pregnant," Lou deduced, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and to someone who went through it, it probably was because they already knew what to look for.
Since Lou came to the correct conclusion on her own, all Amy was left to respond with was just a small shrug, a smile still pressing at her lips when she saw Lou's eyes widen, as if expecting a debate and Amy to deny it. "Oh my God, you are?!" When Amy nodded, Lou squealed with delight, causing everyone out in the dining room to turn their heads toward the bathroom, then once again look at Ty.
Lou dropped to her knees beside of Amy and wrapped her arms around her sister in utter excitement. "I knew it! I mean I suspected it for a while, but… ugh, I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt. This is so great. I knew you guys would come around eventually. I was waiting for this day since you got married."
Amy was just left to grin at her sister as she rambled a mile a minute, not even pausing for a breath until she just had to stop and take in the moment again. "You're going to tell everyone tonight? Please tell me you are because I don't think this is a secret I can keep." Lou kept a lot of secrets, the biggest being Ty's intentions of proposing to Amy and then the fact that Amy found the ring and knew about it all along. That had been the most tormenting few months of her life. Any time Amy or Ty would come through the door, she'd be on the alert, expecting the big announcement and would just deflate in her disappointment when it didn't come.
"If I can get back out there and Ty hasn't already. It's not exactly how we planned for things to go, but… really none of this was." They hadn't really had a plan set in stone aside from finding their own place, which proved to be quite the challenge. But now it seemed that lack of a plan was going to need to turn into something different soon before they had a baby in their arms and no idea what to do with it.
"You guys are going to be fine. I know it. Maybe you don't have a plan now, but look at Peter and I. We had plans, all of which fell apart and now we're still here trying to find a new one. It's not easy, but we all know nothing in life is. You'll figure it out, together. That's all that matters." Lou told her quietly, reaching up to place her hand on Amy's head.
"Thanks, Lou." Grateful for the vote of confidence from her sister, Amy pulled her into a hug and held it for a few long moments.
"Hey, that's what sisters are for. And for giving you all kinds of pregnancy advice and tips: like buying antacids in bulk cause, believe me, you're going to need them." They both laughed quietly at that, but Amy knew she was going to be running to Lou for all of those bits of advice.
"I guess we should get back out there," Amy suggested after another moment, reaching up for the edge of the tub so she could get to her feet.