Chapter Seven: Blaze of Glory // Bon Jovi
The Monday after break brought Emma back to reality as she tied to decide between skirts. Choosing a form-fitting, dark green one, she easily stepped into it and pulled it up, but when it came to actually zipping it, the darn thing wouldn't budge more then three-fourths of the way up. Just as she was about to grow frustrated an exhilarating realization hit her. Quickly tearing it off, she brought herself to stand sideways in front of a full-length mirror.
There it was.
It wasn't much, but the baby bump was certainly on it's way. Hesitating for a reason she couldn't place, Emma sighed happily as her fingertips grazed the skin that was protecting her growing child.
After staring at herself for several minutes, she called Will into the bedroom, waving him close as he stood in the doorway, "Honey, look!" She turned and stood sideways again, taking his hand and setting it over the small bump, "Isn't it neat?" She couldn't stop smiling as he remained silent, simply staring and feeling her stomach, as if he was making sure it was real. And after the events of the year previously, she couldn't blame him, "Gosh, I never thought I'd be excited to see myself fat," She giggled as she covered his hands with hers, "But I am, Will. I'm excited." Will's eyes finally moved from her belly to meet hers, they sparkled with happy, unshed tears. He placed a sweet kiss just below her belly button and stood to place another on her lips, "My skirt doesn't fit right, though," Emma pouted jokingly, pulling out of Will's embrace to her second choice of a pleated black skirt that had an elastic waistband.
"That's okay, you look smokin' hot in black," He finally spoke, taking a white button-up shirt out of the closet and sliding it over his toned arms, flipping the collar up and buttoning it quickly. He looked through his tie drawer and pulled out a solid black one, wrapping it around Emma's waist and drawing her close, "Shall we match today?"
Giggling again, Emma took the tie out of his hands, placed it around his neck and began to do it up for him, "Oh, yes," She found a white tank top and short-sleeved black shrug while he slipped into a pair of the darkest blue jeans he owned.
Wearing the necklace he'd given her for Christmas, Emma followed Will into the kitchen for a hearty bowl of oatmeal, which turned out to be just about the only food she was keeping down for the past few days.
When they entered the faculty lounge after settling into school for the day, Sue took one look at their matching ensembles and promptly stated, "Disgusting."
"Something wrong, Sue?" Emma gave her a dissatisfied eye, feeling a sudden burst of argumentative behavior sweep over her like a dark cloud.
"I'm working really hard not to throw up all over your matching outfits. It's truly pathetic."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was going to wear my navy-blue track suit so we'd look cute standing next to each other. Full body workout clothes really are seductive. I'm surprised you're not married."
As Sue's own words bit her in the ass, she turned on her heal and left the room slightly bruised, but certainly not defeated.
Will placed a hand on Emma's hip, "Nice, Em," He pulled her into a kiss, neither of them noticing Sue in the doorway with her iPhone on camera mode.
"Regionals is exactly two months from today, guys. If we want to win, we need to kick up the energy a few notches and put one hundred percent into every rehearsal. You can't let yourselves fall into second semester slump, okay? Let's do this right." The glee kids settled into their seats as Will continued to encourage them to put their best foot forward in their first week back from their vacation, "Did anyone find a good country ballad we might be able to do?"
Puck stood with a satisfied smirk, "Well, I don't know how 'country' it is...I just can't rock Tim McGraw, Mr. Schue. But it's got a country theme and it sounds like a cowboy would sing it." He pulled sheet music out of his backpack and handed it to the teacher, "Well?"
After a moment of careful decision, Will's smirk matched Puck's, "I believe we've found our ballad for Regionals," He dispersed the copies Puck had made.
Rachel looked pleasantly pleased, "Blaze Of Glory? I'm surprised, Puck. This is actually a good song. We can really work with this. Lots of room for harmony."
"So, what do you say, you found it—want to be Jon Bon Jovi?"
They immediately got to work arranging the piece, saving the choreography for after they had mastered the vocals; their tactic for beating Vocal Adrenaline.
"Wake up in the morning and I raise my weary head; I've got an old coat for a pillow, and the earth was last night's bed. I don't know where I'm going — only God knows where I've been. I'm a devil on the run, a six gunned lover, a candle in the wind. Yeah!"
The entire group belted the chorus in a perfect four-part harmony, "I'm going down in ablaze of glory, take me now but I know the truth. 'Cause I'm going down in a blaze of Glory, Lord I never drew first, but I drew first blood. I'm the no one's son, call me young gun."
The band slowed after the first run through, Emma clapped from the door way, everyone's heads snapped to her direction. She waved, looking shy as she met Will's eyes, then motioned to the clock.
"Alright guys, great work today, but we've got to get going," He said quickly packing his things and taking Emma's hand. He kissed her as she sputtered an apology for interrupting, "No, I'm glad you did. Time to go to the doctor, right?"
"R-right," She stuttered, feeling more nervous with each step they took.
"Em? Settle down, okay? Getting yourself worked up isn't going to help."
She nodded, not feeling exceptionally brave as they reached the car, "So who came up with Bon Jovi?" She asked in attempt to change topics.
"Puck, actually. That's why I wanted him to take the lead, I felt like he earned it since he put the effort into finding a good song. It's not really what I had in mind for a country ballad, but it works. We can do a lot of great vocal work with it."
"Sounds fun," Emma sighed, leaning against the headrest, "Did Britney talk to you today?"
"Yeah," Will laughed, "I figured that was your doing. I guess I'm going to make some accommodations for the kids that just aren't understanding conjugating. I think I'll make writing optional on the tests, for extra credit. Attempting gets you one point, actually doing it gets you more or something like that. I don't want these kids to fail, but some people just don't have the brain that understands a foreign language."
"Like me, the only reason I passed French in college is because I bought my professor fine wine. It was one of my darker moments."
The pulled into the lot of the OBGYN several minutes later, Emma trying to remember to breathe as Will opened her door of the silver Pacifica they'd bought over the summer—it was the first new car either of them had ever owned. She clutched his hand tightly, wanting to be as close as possible.
"Oh God," Emma said the moment she entered.
Will squeezed her hand a bit tighter, "We just walked in, Em, it's okay—"
"No, it-it's not that...look who's behind the front desk."
"Oh God."
As only Will's luck would have it, his ex-wife sat on the phone behind the front counter, seemingly frustrated as she attempted to schedule a no-doubt cranky pregnant woman into the system. He had almost wondered what she was going to do when the Sheets 'n Things liquidated in the early fall—he and Emma had stocked up on the namesake at close-out prices, with their rabbit-like behavior, as Sue called it, they could always use a few spare sets. But an obstetrician's office was the last place he would have expected to find Terri working, especially after last year. Seeing pregnant women all the time was probably driving her up the wall. Not that he cared.
The couple hadn't seen Terri since August when she'd drop by to bring Will some of his old memento's she'd found in the process of moving in with her new man, Mark (who already had three children). She had e-mailed him earlier in the week to ask him if he wanted the things, including his yearbooks and several notebooks and binders from college. Actually, when Will thought of it, he hadn't even seen her. Emma had handled the situation. She was exceptionally nervous...
Will responded that, yes, he did want them, but told Terri he wouldn't be there when she stopped by—and to take her shoes off when she got in the door. Emma loved Will and wanted Terri to know that she'd do anything for him, even having an awkward conversation with his ex-wife.
Emma heard two soft knocks from the front door as she stirred the dinner she and Will would be eating later that night—yes, Emma planned the time of day for Terri to come by so that she could subtly show off the fact that she cook could and Terri couldn't, 'so ha'.
"Hey, Terri," Emma said with as much positivity as she could muster.
"Hi, Emma," Terri lugged a cardboard box in her scrawny arms as Emma moved to allow her entrance, "Thanks."
The blonde slipped off her Victoria's Secret PINK flip-flops as Will had suggested, seeing Emma's shoulders ease as she did so.
"I'll take that," Emma took the box from Terri's arms and set it in the hall near the garage entrance, pumped a squirt of sanitizer on her hand from the bottle on the entertainment stand then paused as the two women gave each other a quick once over.
Will's ex-wife hadn't expected a show as she was seen in a pair of lime green sweatpant-capri's, also the of the PINK brand. A long white tank-top did nothing to hide her cleavage, but her hair was it's usual bouncy and well-kept self.
Emma always looked nice, and today was no exception as Terri stared at the light-blue sundress the red-head was sporting, which fit in all the right places and was accented with a white set of chunky beaded necklace and bracelet, "Um...have a seat, Terri. Do you want anything to drink?"
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks," She said as she sat next to Emma on the couch.
"So...you've got a new man?" Terri smiled and nodded with a slight blush, "How'd that happen?"
"Well, I was running through the park in town and all of a sudden I see a little boy running towards me without an adult behind him. I stopped in front of him, then he stopped. He looked like he was about three and I started asking him his name and he wouldn't talk. I asked him where is mom was and he wouldn't talk. He wouldn't look at me and he pulled away screaming when I tried to touch him. I figured that he was just shy and scared..."
"Autistic?" Emma asked with a sad smile, having plenty of experience over the years to spot a child with the developmental disorder.
"Yes, yes. So I managed to get him to calm down a little and turned him around and walked back in the direction he came running from. About ten minutes later a tall, handsome guy came sprinting down the path and the little boy seemed to recognize him because he started flapping his arms. The man picked him up and held him tight and suddenly he was thanking me and crying and it was a little weird, but there was a bench near the path and we sat down and soon I found out that Mark's wife had died not even five months ago, leaving him with the three year old, Austin who was diagnosed with Autism a week before she died of cardiac arrest, at thirty-three!"
Emma gasped, "Oh, god, no."
"And a two year old girl, Angie, and a six month old Kristen. Oh, my heart was just breaking as he spilled his guts to me, a total stranger. I don't really know how it happened, but I somehow ended up walking to his house with him, it was only like fifteen minutes away, but still, Austin ran that far! Mark's mom was living with them for the time being to take care of the kids while he worked, he's a lawyer," Emma held her comment about the connivence of that factor, "And she was having a mental breakdown after he ran away. Somehow we got to talking and I mentioned that I was going to lose my job in the next few months and he asked me if I'd like to nanny for the kids...and within three weeks we were dating and now we're engaged!"
"Wow, that's really great Terri," Emma said honestly, "How do, um, how do you do with Austin?"
"You know, it was really tough at first, but we've figured out a way to communicate pretty well. Sure, he throws tantrums often and it's pretty frustrating but we deal with it. Mark's real great with forgiveness, so he's understanding when Austin breaks something or hurts one of the other kids...Mark even wanted to be with me after I told him all the terrible things I did last year," Emma gave a surprised look at this confession, "I just couldn't let myself be happy until I admitted to what I had done wrong. But enough about me, how are you and Will?"
"Great! Yeah, everything's going great. Um...we went to New York this summer and my parent's in Virginia and we're just really happy. And I love him, so much."
"I know," Terri smiled in understanding, "He's a great guy. And you were right, he deserved a lot better then me. You deserve him, Emma."
Signing in with his expecting wife, now that was going to be awkward. Emma took a deep breath before dragging him to the desk where Terri had just hung up the phone and caught sight of them, smiling with what looked to be a genuine grin, "Hey, you two. I saw your name written down and I couldn't believe you're already expecting a baby! Congratulations!"
Emma blushed and wiped off the sign-in pen with a tissue before writing her name in the blank, "I can't believe it either," She said quietly as Terri handed Will a stack of paperwork.
"How far along are you?"
Her blush increased, "N-not really sure." Wanting desperately to fall into a hole, or at least switch topics, Emma asked, "When did, ah, when did you start working here?"
"Oh, last month. Yeah, needed a little extra cash so we can take the kids to Disney World in the spring...I don't mind it here. Pay's good and it gets me out of the house for a little bit. Are you going to keep working once the baby comes?" Emma glanced at Will, they hadn't thought of that, "Not sure yet? I must say, I like being home with the kids, but it's exhausting. Who knew I'd need work as an outlet?" She smiled at Will, who wanted to fall in the same hole as Emma.
"We, uh...better get this filled out," He said, guiding Emma's shoulders to a chair as far away from Terri's sight line as possible, "Holy shit," He muttered as his hands found their way over his eyelids.
Emma elbowed him with a look, "At least she's doing something with her life. And she's not trying to ruin ours."
"I guess...okay, let's do this." He took a pen from his pocket and handed it to Emma along with the clipboard.
The first question after the personal information made Emma blush hotly. She knew that this was going to be a very difficult visit, she kind of knew what they were going to do from the book that Annie had gotten her.
"Honey, how would you describe our sex life?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.
He chuckled, "Amazing."
"I don't think that's what they're asking for..." She said as she scribbled 'four or more times weekly' in the blank. Damn—it was amazing, "And what sort of measures were we taking to get pregnant?"
"Pft, what measures were we taking not to get pregnant?"
"Apparently not enough," She said shaking her head and writing 'only measures to prevent; condoms and The Pill,' which always sounded so elusive. She wasn't very good about taking it though, so this really was pretty much her fault.
The next few questions Emma didn't feel like sharing with will out loud: Last menstrual period? God, she didn't even know. Being in love and happy really threw her precisely organized life off. When she stopped to think, it was over two months ago. Damn, how did she go two months without bleeding and not noticed? She scribbled, 'October ?' in the blank and moved on. Last pelvic exam? Oh, God, never. Well, she had one once, when she was sixteen and in the hospital for an ovarian cyst, but they'd had to drug her in order to finish, and she somehow doubted that counted for the context of this question.
"Will, I swear if Sue hadn't said something I would have ended up on I Didn't Know I was Pregnant, I was seriously ignoring some pretty prime factors."
He laughed again, peering over to see how she was answering the questions, surprised himself that he hadn't noticed half of these things.
"Do you know of any genetic disorders in your family?"
He cringed, "Not...really? I had a great aunt with Lupus and a second or third cousin with diabetes, but to my knowledge the Schuester's are a pretty clean family. Of alcoholics, but that's not really genetic."
She smiled sadly, "OCD can be, although a phobia is generally an environmental thing," Emma cleared her throat, "It'll be your job to make sure our baby doesn't end up crazy, okay?"
"Emma Schuester?" A nurse called suddenly, causing the couple to jump.
They walked to the door and Terri smiled from her place at the desk, "Good luck, Emma."
Emma smiled back as Will took her hand and followed the nurse to one of the further rooms, "Okay, Emma," The woman said kindly, "I first of all want to tell you that everything in this room that you'll need has been wiped down and disinfected before you came in at the request of one of our secretaries, she said it would make you much more comfortable." Emma shared a glance with Will as she muttered a thanks to the nurse, "The first thing we're going to do is take your weight."
Emma pulled out a pair of socks from her purse and slipped them on one at a time (so her feet wouldn't touch the surface of the scale). The nurse waited a moment and announced, "One-oh-seven."
Emma looked slightly horrified, "B-but that's less then before I got pregnant. By eight pounds!"
The nurse sucked in a breath, "Have you had a lot of mourning sickness?"
"Well, yes..."
"The doctor will talk to you more about it when she gets in, but it isn't unheard of for women to lose weight during the first trimester. Have a seat and I'm going to draw a little bit of blood for the lab to do some tests and then I'm going to need you to pee in a cup for me, okay?"
Emma knew this was coming, after a few deep breaths and hand on her shoulder from Will, she nodded and shimmied out of her sweater while the nurse slipped on a pair of rubber gloves and tied an elastic piece around her upper arm.
"Alright, I'm going to find a good vein..." Her dark fingers ran across Emma's inner elbow, "Here we go, sharp poke." Emma looked away, not at all a fan of the sight of blood. After several moments, the nurse pulled the needle out and pressed a clean cotton ball to Emma's skin and a band-aid a moment later then handed her a cup and pointed down the hall to the restroom. After peeing on a stick, the cup seemed slightly more reasonable as it was contained.
She returned moments later, handing the cup to the nurse who placed it along with two labeled containers of her blood on a silver tray and washed her hands. She gave Emma a blue gown to change into and told them the doctor would be in shortly.
Emma folded her clothes neatly on the chair next to Will then eased herself up to the examination table, which was covered in paper.
Will stood and kissed her hair, "You're doing great, sweetheart."
She nodded, assuring herself of the same, "I didn't even faint when she took my blood. If only mom could see me now...not that I'd want her here."
Agreeing that it would be a little awkward, Will held her hand tight trying to keep her mind off of being there.
The door opened a few minutes later, revealing a plump but kind-faced woman who greeted them both as Dr. Romano.
She looked over the paperwork and asked a few questions, joked a bit at the answer to their first one and then proceeded to Emma, "So, Emma. How comfortable are you becoming with the pregnancy? I know from twenty years experience that this is not something easy for a mysophobic individual to do."
Praying this would be the last time she had to answer the question, Emma sighed, "Well, I'm nervous. It's a messy thing, you know...but I know that the end result is something I want."
"You weren't planning on a baby, though, correct?" She said, eyeing question number two.
"No, no, no. But...it's happening and I've accepted it. I—we, want to have a baby."
"Well, great. I'm glad you've accepted it, you understand what's going to happen. This sounds good. If you're ready, we'll begin the physical part of the exam?" Emma nodded again, beginning to feel like a bobble head doll, "I'm going to check your lungs first, breathing is very important in the labor process." Several body parts later, the doctor rolled up Emma's gown, feeling around her bump, making the redhead more nervous every minute. Will took her hand, whispering 'it'll be okay' while stroking her hair.
Dr. Romano washed her hands and put on a pair of non-latex gloves, "Okay, time for the ever-uncomfortable pelvic exam. I need you to be relaxed as you can, alright? Just look at your husband and talk to him about anything beside what's going on down here, alright?"
Emma's knees were propped up and she took some of the deepest breaths she ever had before gulping and pulling Will very close to her face so she could focus on him rather then the doctor, wincing and wanting to catch fire as the doctor did whatever it was she was doing, "What's the lesson plan tomorrow?"
Feeling the most uncomfortable he had ever been, and this was after being married to Terri for five years, Will discussed his plan of doing one of the 'foreign language' games from Who's Line is it Anyway? with their new vocabulary unit.
Five or so of the most painful minutes of Emma's life later, the doctor threw the gloves away and washed her hands again, having Emma relax her legs and sit up, measuring her stomach.
"Alright, from what I can tell without testing and images yet, you're about eleven weeks along. Almost into the second trimester already, the baby will likely be born late July to early August, we'll get a closer date at the next appointment. I'm a little concerned with your morning sickness. You've lost eight pounds and you're not exactly the biggest girl on the block. Typically, morning sickness goes away after twelve weeks. I'm going to have you keep an eye on your weight and you find yourself not putting any on after that and you're still keeping nothing down, I'm going to have you come in for an over-night stay at the hospital for nutrients. You and the baby both need them, understand?"
Again, Emma's head bobbed, "Can...is it to early to see the baby?"
"No, of course not. There's not much to see and we typically like to wait until eighteen weeks to determine the gender, but if you want an image today, I'd be more then happy to get one for you."
"That'd be great," Will said quietly as the doctor wheeled an ultrasound machine up to the exam table, pressing a few buttons and pulling Emma's gown up again. She took the imaging gel out of a warmer and Emma squeaked as she was about to put it on her stomach.
"Uh...there...do you have to...Is there anything...else?"
The doctor rested a hand on her arm, "This is the best way to get a picture, sorry. We'll get it off a soon as we can."
The blue ooze squirted on Emma's slightly puffed stomach, causing her to wince and squeal as the doctor moved it around with the imaging device.
Several moments later, an alien/peanut looking creature appeared on the screen, Emma forgot all about the goo on her gut as she gasped, "Oh my gosh...Will."
He was smiling, hands still stroking her hair from the physical exam, "Emma, there's our baby," He whispered as they stared in awe of the small wonder before them.
"We'll get a printout for you at the front desk, it's still too early to get a good sign on male or female. But for now, keep trying to eat well, weigh yourself, take the vitamins in the pamphlet I'm giving you and take it easy, alright? Emma, you did fantastic. I'll see you in about seven weeks."
The doctor turned off the machine and wheeled it to the corner, saying a quick good-bye before heading down the hall.
Will moved so he was directly over his wife, "Emma, I'm proud of you."
Her smile hadn't left her face as she reached to bring his down to meet hers, "I'm proud of me too, Will. We're having a baby!" She squeaked the last line, throwing her arms around him and kissing him passionately.
Once Will helped her wipe down as much of the ultrasound gel a they could, "We'll be home and you can shower in twenty minutes," she'd redressed and took a stack of paperwork out front to Terri.
The office was getting ready to close, they'd been the last scheduled appointment for the day. Terri already had the pictures on the check-out counter when they walked up.
Will took it with a smile as Emma made the next appointment, glowing.
After a good-bye, Terri watched as the couple made their way to the door, Will's arm snaking around Emma's waist, him opening the door for her and pulling her close into a kiss once they were outside.
She sighed. It was hard to be happy for them.
Emma was babbling the entire ride home and insisted Will shower with her so she could talk some more. They prepared a quick meal, all the while she chatted and while they ate, she found something to say between bites.
When she pulled him into the living room to 'talk' before they settled into paperwork and planning various things, Will placed a finger on her lips, "Shh. Em. You haven't stopped speaking since we left the doctor's office. I'm glad you're happy, I'm really really thrilled, for both of us, but let's just take it down a notch."
She sputtered and stuttered an apology which he finally silenced by crashing his lips to hers and forcing his tongue into her mouth, which she accepted gladly, knees growing week.
Will pulled back and stroked her cheek gently before settling into the couch and typing lesson plans for the remainder of the week.
Emma's mind refused to focus on anything but the black and white image on the end table.
Maybe this pregnancy thing wasn't going to be so bad after all.
Over the course of the week the couple had visited three of the homes they'd decided to give a try. The first one, they both agreed, smelled so strongly of cat that all the disinfectant in the world couldn't remove the lingering odor. The second cozy home was just way to small, even for them. While it was three bedrooms, Will wasn't sure if they'd even be able to fit half the clothes they owned in the closet, and there was only one bathroom with a standing shower, which wasn't practical for raising a family.
They entered the third house on friday afternoon, meeting a real-estate agent they found to be tolerable, "Shall we get started?"
The house didn't smell and the carpets looked relatively clean (although Emma had every intention of having any floor throughly rug-scrubbed) and the house wasn't more then six years old, the agent told them, leaving them to wander while she filled out paper work in the kitchen.
Will stepped into the master bedroom, the walls were green and the carpet was beige. He supposed he could sleep in here...
"It's okay," Emma said quietly next to him, staring at the window intently. She really liked window-seats, but she could do without one, "But let's check out the others before we make a decision."
He agreed, "Sounds like a plan," They thanked the real-estate woman and walked slowly across the snow covered driveway, "So, what do you want to do, Em?"
She shrugged and wrapped her arm around his elbow, "Actually...I've been itching to do something all week, but it probably wouldn't be much fun for you."
"And what's that?" He asked, turning to meet her eyes.
"Well, I kind of wanted to look at baby stuff. You know, cribs and...stuff. I don't want to buy anything until we've got a place to put it...I just want to look but I know that's probably not the most interesting thing for a guy to do so I understand if you don't want to—"
"I'd love to go with you," Will said sincerely. While not much had been done before he found out, Terri had done all the shopping on her own, not asking his opinion even after she'd bought things. He wanted to be apart of all of this.
He took a moment to stare at her, she was glowing in the ray of the streetlight, snowflakes whirling around her red hair, her big, brown eyes meeting his as she smiled, "Emma," He whispered, placing both hands on her waist, "You are so pretty. I don't think I tell you that enough." Emma blushed while one of his hands moved from her hip to her stomach, sliding between the buttons on her coat, "Our baby is going to be beautiful." Emma's stomach rumbled beneath his hand, causing them both to laugh, "I think baby's hungry."
She shook her head, "I think that was me. I haven't eaten since breakfast. Well, I ate, but..."
Will sighed, "Shouldn't be much longer. Is there anywhere you might want to try eating out at or would you rather just go home?"
"Let's go out."
Love meant sacrifices. Emma would occasionally, rarely, hardly ever, go to a restaurant with her husband. No fast food joints and most certainly no buffets, the horror—although she knew that Will would sometimes accompany Finn or Puck to the local CiCi's if they were having a particularly horrible day—but on a day when they needed to be out of the house, they would go to a nice place where Will knew the cook, someone he'd been in Glee with back in the day, and the food seemed clean.
They entered the restaurant hand in hand, each smiling as their waiter, a senior from Will's spanish three class, directed them to their booth which was wiped down by a bus boy moments before they sat down, which made Emma feel better as she opened the menu. While she really detested other people doing anything with her food before she consumed it, it was nice not having to cook all the time.
Their food came quickly, Emma had only a side salad in hopes that the small meal would stick with her, Will ate some sort of bacon sandwich which she was feeling extremely envious of. She missed food.
She forced down her fourth bite of the leafy greens, feeling the need to promptly vomit but restraining herself, "Oh, gosh," She sighed, hand coming to her stomach.
"Already?" Will looked up from his plate, catching her miserable face.
"I'm so tired of this," She set her fork down and brought her hand to her face, "I just want to eat."
Will gave his wife the most sympathetic look he could muster, she had the 'I don't want to cry' tone of voice she so often spoke with as he pulled her hand from her face, stroking her fingers, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It should be over by next week."
She attempted another fork full of lettuce, "I hope so. I really don't want to be trapped in a hospital for hours with a needle in my arm."
From a booth an isle over and three rows back, former McKinley High football coach Ken Tanaka stared disdainfully at the couple's entertained fingers. He came here almost every friday night, dinner with the guys, and this was ruining the one good part of his week.
The way she looked at him, with almost a sad expression, their hands clasped together, it made him sick.
Because it should have been him sitting there, holding her hand, telling her that whatever stupid, and he was sure it was stupid, because it always was, insane mess she'd freaked out over would be okay.
Schuester ruined his life. While it was a year past due, revenge was coming. If he weren't so angry, he'd have thought of something by now, of course.
"See, I just don't see little girls in green and boys in yellow. I just don't think they're very gender-neutral." Will laughed a bit while Emma set down a set of green and yellow blankets with cartoonish elephant prints as they strolled through Babies 'R' us, "But everything else is either so pink or so blue that there isn't much of a compromise."
"So, if it's a boy...what's the theme?" He asked as they stared at a wall of various patterns.
"Not sports," Emma scoffed, "Not animals," she shivered. She hated animals.
"How about space? Stars, moons..."
She shrugged, eyeing a pale blue crib bumper and matching mattress with brighter stars in the corners, "I like it..."
"And if it's a girl?"
Emma ran a hand over a pink blanket with green trim, "Butterflies and flowers."
Will pulled her close, "Sounds perfect."
He kissed her sweetly as they turned to stroll through cribs of every time of finish, some that would later become full-sized beds and others that seemed a bit to wobbly for Emma to want to put a baby in. High chairs, car seats, changing tables, walkers and bouncy seats, swings, toy boxes, potty training chairs, toddler beds, clothes, breastfeeding supplies— "Wait, I'm going to have to put this on my...oh, goodness." —glass jars of food, teething toys, learning games, gates and stuffed animals overwhelmed them as they strolled out without purchasing anything.
"Will, babies are expensive," She said quietly, puffs of air leaving her mouth as they shuffled through the cold parking lot, "And I won't be working for the first couple months of next school year."
"Hey," He paused, eyes meeting her worried ones, "It'll be alright. We'll shop around before we get anything, we could probably find something we like and then look for something similar online for half the price. And you'll be back in November, right? So it's only three months of lost pay...we'll make it, Em. We'll just have to find a money tree somewhere."
"And we're going to buy a house?"
Will kissed her forehead, "We'll make it work. Find a good loan, I don't know, we'll do something to make it happen. Don't worry, okay? It's not good for the baby."
Her fingers brushed the small lump over her coat, 'but living in poverty isn't good for the baby either.' She suddenly was starting to understand why Terri had wanted Will to find a different job last year. Emma didn't want that at all; she firmly believed the only life worth living is one they were really passionate about, but she didn't want their child to grow up and have to worry about them loosing the house or not being able to afford to go anywhere.
"Okay," She swallowed hard, breathing a sigh of disbelief as her stomach rumbled beneath her hand.
"Let's go home, I'll make you some oatmeal, alright? Hopefully it'll stick okay."
Emma nodded while he opened her door for her, always putting her needs first. She knew he would do the same for the baby, but her mind wandered anyway.
Sorry, I was having a serious stumbling block with this chapter, but it is fluffy. Next chapter will be better, I promise.
So, Sue's up to something, Terri's jealous and Ken wants Emma in his pants and Will's face to meet the floor. Oh noes!
And I can't work it into the story, but you must listen to "Superman Tonight" from the new Bon Jovi CD, it's SUCH an adorable Wemma song!
Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it!