Okay you three followers, you've convinced me :P Thanks for all of you who took the time to tell me what you thought and also for following. You guys are great! :)
Tbugwilson: Since I can't send you a PM I just want to doubly thank you for your review. You were two times as convincing :D
Diclaimer: One day I was skipping down the street singing 'I own the Demon Trapper's series' when Jana Oliver rode up on her bicycle (it had a basket in the front) and gave me a death glare. "No you don't," she said, before pedalling away and leaving me in her dust.
9 years later
She clutched at the cold ceramic sides of the toilet bowl as she heaved and gagged and watched the last remnants of her stomach come up. She coughed and gagged some more, because really, there was nothing left. When the dry heaves finally subsided she blindly reached her hand up and fumbled around for the flush. She winced at how loud the toilet was, not wanting to wake her husband.
Spent, she leaned back against the wall and tried to regain her breath. She'd woken up and was wondering what woke her when her stomach roiled and she barely made it to the washroom.
The springs of the bed creaked slightly and slow, sleepy footsteps approached the bathroom. "Riley?" The door was pushed open a little more and Beck squinted in the dark washroom, the only source of illumination was the moonlight drifting through the sole window. When he saw her state and the way she was angled towards the toilet he put two and two together and crouched down in front of Riley.
"We sure know how to pick these restaurants, don't we?" He looked sympathetically at his wife. "Obviously the guy that said 'third time's the charm' never tried his hand at eatin' in our fine city."
He took a hand towel out of the cupboard and ran it under the tap. He walked back to Riley, the moist towel in one hand and a bottle of mouthwash in the other. Sitting in front of her, he gave her the mouth wash and she swished it around while Beck took her hair out of her face and gathered it back into a loose, low ponytail. She spat the mouthwash out into the toilet, turning the toilet water green and sat back. She looked over at Beck with gratitude.
"Go back to bed; you got in so late last night. You can get a couple more hours of sleep, honestly, I'm fine."
Beck snorted as he used the towel to dab away the perspiration on her face.
"I think the elephant matin' calls I heard comin' from in here and our poor abused toilet would beg te differ."
Riley rolled her eyes but her lips tugged at the corners nonetheless.
"What I'm trying to figure out is that you ate at the same places I did these last few days and you're completely fine."
He huffed out a laugh as he pressed the cold cloth to her forehead. "Ya sound almost upset at the fact that I'm not joinin' ya in yer early mornin' ritual."
"No, it's just weird."
"It's cuz of the street smarts I've got tickin' away up here." He said with false cockiness and tapped the side of his head. "I order the easiest things of the menu, not a whole lot they can do te poison pasta."
Riley's eyes widened and she pushed him away as she lunged for the toilet. Beck held her head back as she heaved.
"I told ya not te go for the fish."
She gagged in response.
On a pure 'eh-what-the-hell' whim she stopped by the pharmacy and made a purchase. Now, an hour later, she was sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
Staring at the little pink plus sign in her hand.
I'm like one of those naive women from the movies that I used to snigger at because there was just no way they didn't know that they were pregnant.
She stood up and set the test on the corner of the sink. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she couldn't find any traces that suggested that there was another life growing inside her. Her skin was definitely not glowing, more like perspiring. They had always wanted kids but she always figured they'd sit down and actually plan for them; when the time is right, when they're ready.
She brought both her hands to her flat stomach.
I can't believe I have a little bit of both of us swirling together and growing a baby in me.
An image of a little baby with Beck's playful smile and her large eyes formed in her mind and it made her laugh at the cuteness. Her laughter transformed and soon she was crying but these tears weren't mixed with salt, they were mixed with love and tenderness for a cluster of cells that was probably the size of a sesame seed.
She was just putting the dressing onto the salad when she heard the key scrape in the lock and she looked over to see Beck step into the hall and set his bag down while he slipped out of his shoes. He came into the kitchen and gave her a tired smile before he leaned in for a kiss. Ever since he'd made grand master he'd worked crazy hours dealing with even crazier demons.
"How was your day," she asked when they pulled apart.
Beck groaned. "Trust me, ya don't wanna know. One of the rookies was tryin' te capture a biblio-fiend that'd taken up residence in the city hall archives and let's just say I had some mayor damage control te do when all the city records were sucked into a massive, twirlin' tornado in the middle of the entrance." He snatched an olive out of the salad and evaded the wooden mixing spoon Riley tried to smack his hand away with.
He wiggled his fingers in front of her and his eyes twinkled while he chewed on the olive. "Cat-like reflexes." He wandered over to the fridge. "How 'bout ya, ya feelin' any better?"
Riley stopped mixing the salad. "Umm, yeah."
I'm going to tell him. She didn't know why she was so nervous. It was Beck. She already knew he adored kids.
Beck opened the fridge and peered inside. He pulled out a beer and twisted off the cap.
"Ya want one?" He took a swing of his.
Riley took a breath to steady herself.
"Ahh, no. I'm not going to be wanting one for a little while." She paused with her eyes trained on Beck. "Nine months, to be exact."
She watched his eyebrows scrunch together and hold a little meeting with each other to make sense of the information. She knew the exact moment they figured it out because they sprang apart and raised, as if moving to higher ground. His hand came down mechanically and set his beer on the counter, though he never actually let go.
"Yer pregnant," he realized while still wearing that look of complete surprise. He didn't move, he didn't blink. He barely breathed.
Riley's stomach sank. He's not talking. Say something. Why isn't he saying anything? He's not ready. Just talk! My God, he doesn't want this.
It felt like someone had clicked pause and the actors were frozen in their spots. What felt like minutes passed by but Riley knew it couldn't have been anymore than 10 seconds.
All of a sudden Beck's breath whooshed out and a wide grin spread across his face. It was so large that it made his eyes crinkle in the corners.
"Yer pregnant?!" And this time it came out sounding like a question, a question for something you can't believe is true; like, "We won the lottery?" or "You have super-human powers that let you move things with your mind?"
Riley looked at her husband's goofy grin and couldn't help but smile in return. "Yeah, I am."
She didn't think it was possible but Beck's grin grew and he started laughing, like he couldn't believe something this good was happening to him. He whooped from joy and grabbed her up in a tight hug and lifted her off the floor until they were spinning around in the middle of the kitchen.
When at last he set her down they were both out of breath and wearing matching dazed, happy expressions.
"We're havin' a baby," he said breathlessly and Riley could see that his eyes were a little watery. He placed a hand onto her stomach.
"We're having a baby," she said back and placed her hand on top of his.
They gazed at each other, the joy, love, excitement and protectiveness for each other and this little bean bouncing back and forth between them.
"I love ya," he whispered to her.
"I love you too."
He bent down until his face was level with her stomach. "I love ya too, little guy."
Riley laughed. "Or gal."
"Or gal," Beck agreed, grinning like a fool.
Well, there you go. I'm not too sure I like this one. It sounded so much better when I was writing it in my head, but then again, most things do tend to sound better in my head :P Thanks for reading, I'd absolutely adore it if you dropped me a review to tell me your thoughts.
I'll probably upload another one mid December. I need to really sit down and get through these killer final exams. :)
Hope to see you guys back here then! :D