A/n: So this particular section of the story will be a two-shot. As you have probably noticed the one-shots are all related and in chronological order. This chapter and the next chapter will also be related and in chronological order but they will be more closer together than the rest of the chapters that follow.
So please tell me what you think of this chapter. I thrive on reviews!
Will was anxious to get home. All throughout the day he kept checking the clock. His students even realized that he was very distracted and he usually tried to keep his emotions hidden away and remain in teacher mode. But that day he just couldn't help it. He was worried.
At around four o'clock in the morning he woke up to the sound of sobbing. Still half asleep he felt around his wife's side of the bed and found it empty but still warm. He found Emma in the bathroom, leaning up against the wall opposite the toilet bowl, her knees curled up to her chest and sobbing quietly.
After a few minutes of sitting with her while she cried against him, he finally got a reason why she was so upset. She had woken up just minutes before he did and felt sick to her stomach, ran quickly into the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. In the few years he had known her he had never seen or heard her mention anything about vomiting, only that she disliked it with a horrible passion. He got the stomach virus once while they were dating and it was the only time Emma had ever avoided him like the plague. And now Will knew exactly why she did. For twenty more minutes Will held his shaking wife in his arms on the bathroom floor until Emma finally felt good enough to go back to bed. But before she did so she brushed her teeth about five times.
About two hours later when they woke up, Emma claimed she was feeling fine and went through her morning routine to get ready for work. However when she walked in the kitchen and found Will pouring himself a bowl of cereal, her stomach churned uncomfortably and she ran out of the room and towards the bathroom again. Will followed her to the bathroom and found her crying once again.
"Em," Will said lovingly taking her into his arms once again, "I think you should stay home."
She shook her head in protest, muffled sobs escaping her lips every so often. "Or at least go to the doctor honey...you want me to call your doctor?"
Emma shook her head but then paused and nodded. He kissed the top of her head and led her out of the bathroom and gently sat her down onto the bed. Emma collapsed onto her side her arms wrapping around her stomach, her small body shaking.
Will watched in concern as he picked up the phone and called her doctor. After a few minutes he hung up and walked over to sit down next to her.
"Emma..." He called gently. She opened her tired eyes to look at him. "Honey, you're appointment is at ten o'clock. I'm going to call the school and tell them we won't be in today."
"No Will." She responded, her voice shaky. "You go. I can get there myself."
"Emma you're in no position to drive..."
Emma shook her head in protest. "Figgins will kill us if we both miss. Will I'll be fine."
After a few more minutes of arguing, Will reluctantly agreed to go to work and let Emma go by herself. But he asked Emma to call him if she did need a ride and if she had any news afterwards.
But he had not heard anything from his ill wife all day and it was driving him insane. During his lunch hour he tried calling her cell phone and the house phone but he didn't get any answer. He tried again in between classes and still did not reach her. He even cancelled glee rehearsal so he could get home to her.
He practically sped down the streets, going just above the posted speed limit. He spun into the driveway, screeched to a stop and left the car parked outside instead of in the garage where it usually is. He ran through the front door and looked around the house.
"Emma?" He found her seated at the kitchen table, a few sheets of paper in front of her. When Will walked in some and could see her face more clearly he noticed she was staring horrified at the papers.
He felt a horrible feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. What was wrong? What was so bad that she was so horrified she couldn't even call him to tell him what it was? He took a seat across from her and she didn't even seem to notice him there.
"Emma?" He questioned again and reached for the papers. "What is it? What did the doctor say?"
When she didn't answer him, he slid the papers over to him and scanned over them carefully reading every detail.
Suddenly he froze and looked up, his eyes growing just as wide as hers. "Emma..."
Finally she seemed to acknowledge his presence and glanced up at him silently.
The corners of his lips perked up slightly as he held the papers in one hand. "Is this...? Are you...?"
She swallowed hard and nodded once. "I-I'm pregnant." She whispered, her voice laced with disbelief and shock.
A smile spread across his face but it quickly faded when he got a look at his wife. Emma's doe brown eyes were quickly filling with tears until they spilled over and rolled down her cheeks and her bottom lip started quivering.
"Hey." Will quickly reacted and moved his chair over to beside hers and pulled her into his embrace. "It's okay."
Emma closed her eyes tightly, gripping onto Will's shirt and let the tears fall. Her shoulders started shaking with sobs as Will rocked her back and forth.
She cried for several minutes without saying a word and Will whispered soothing words into her ear to help calm her down.
Her sobbing soon subsided and she just laid her head on his shoulder, breathing in and out evenly. Her eyes were focused on the wall ahead of her and where she didn't look as horrified as earlier she still looked very panicked.
Will constantly pressed kisses to the top of her head, ran his fingers through her hair and gently slid his fingers up and down her back.
"Em?" He dared to ask after a few minutes of silence.
A small whimper emitted from her and she gripped his shirt tighter. "I can't do it Will." She whispered.
"What can't you do?"
"This..I...I can't do this Will." She took a shuddering breath and pressed her face further into his shoulder. "I can't...I can't..."
He gently moved her away from him and brought her face up to look at him. Her wide eyes were rimmed red and still glistening with unshed tears. "Of course you can."
Her jaw clenched and she shook her head. "No." She whimpered. "I..I can't..I..."
"Emma," He cradled her face in his hands gently, wiping away the tears that had fallen with his thumbs, "Honey, look at me. What makes you think you can't?"
She stared up at him, her body shaking slightly under his touch. "It's all so messy...so messy." She whispered. "The pregnancy and the birth and babies...so messy." She closed her eyes and suppressed a sob. "I can't be around babies Will...you know, you've seen..." She whimpered again, her voice shooting up an octave. "I don't want to be afraid of my own child." Another round of sobs burst from her lips and her head dropped forward onto Will's chest.
Will's arms found his way around her again and held her tightly against him. He went through many different phrases in his head to try and say to her but nothing seemed right. So instead of speaking he just held her.
Finally after she calmed down again he found the words to speak, "You won't be afraid."
"But-"
"No Em, listen to me." He cut her off gently. "When you were younger or even before you met me did you ever think you'd be able to touch somebody so willingly as you do me?"
Emma was quiet for a couple of moments and then she mumbled a "No." She lifted her head to look at him. "I still can't touch anybody besides you."
"That's not true." He protested. "You hug the glee kids."
She shrugged her shoulders lightly and bowed her head. "The glee kids are tolerable but Will it took me a couple years to be even slightly comfortable around them."
"That's beside the point," He shook his head, "My point is that it didn't matter with me. You fell in love with me right? And that's why you're not afraid to touch me."
She looked up into his eyes and tried to recall the first time she realized that she didn't mind touching or being touched by Will Schuester. When she thought about it, it was almost instantaneously...
Emma was walking down the empty halls of McKinley High School, ready but also nervous to start her first day as the guidance counsellor. She had her box of things she needed for her room in her hands as she tried to find the room number of her new office.
She remembered when Principal Figgins invited her to the school to tell her she got the job and he showed her briefly where her office was. But she still had trouble finding it and wondered aimlessly around the halls. She thought about going to Principal Figgins' office and asking for help but rethought it and decided not to.
Eventually she found the room. The lights were off and the door was locked much to her dismay. She tried holding the box with one hand while digging through her purse to try and find the key that Figgins gave her.
"Here let me help you with that." A warm male voice broke the silence and she almost jumped, startled. Then not seconds later she felt a pair of hands covers hers that were around the box. Her eyes widened and expected the first signs of one of her panic attacks. Her heart racing, feeling like the world was closing in on her and all she could see and feel were the germs. But at the same moment she looked up from her purse and over the box and her eyes landed on a young man with short, curly light brown hair and a smile that took her breath away.
The moment her eyes landed on him all thoughts of germs and dirt disappeared and she got lost in his eyes. She could barely feel him taking the box out of her hands. Only when his warm, welcoming smile turned into a look of confusion did she realize that she was staring at him. She blinked and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and blushed furiously, continuing to look for her key.
She shakily put the key into the lock and opened the door pushing it open. She flicked on the lights and looked around, thankfully the janitors had cleaned it up before she got there. She walked into her new office and could hear the man walking in after her.
She walked over to her desk and stood behind it and cast a glance over to the handsome stranger. He set down the box on one of the chairs near her desk and was smiling at her again.
"Thank you." She said shyly. His smile widened and her heart skipped a beat.
"No problem." He said shruggishly and then extended his hand out towards her. "I'm Will Schuester."
Her eyes widened at the implications of his actions and she stared at his outstretched hand. But instead of recoiling back as usual from a handshake, something was telling her to shake his hand. So she slowly reached out her hand and slipped her hand into his. "I'm...E-Emma. Emma Pillsbury."
He gripped her hand for a moment in a friendly handshake and then let it fall. Emma brought her hand back to her side and was amazed to find that she didn't want to go to the nearest bathroom and scrub her hand until it was clean. In fact she wanted to touch him again. Her hand tingled from his touch but in a way that made her feel good.
"It's nice to meet you." He grinned again and her heart took off like a rocket.
"You too." She whispered breathlessly and then her eyes landed on the box and the sterilizing wipes in them. In her distraction she had forgotten what she wanted to do once she got in the room and that was to wipe down every inch of her desk. "Could you uh...hand me that please?" She glanced up at him quickly and then motioning to the box.
Will followed her gaze to the box. "Oh sure!" He lifted the box and then handed it over the desk to her. She muttered a thank you, placed the box down and took out the sanitizing wipes. Forgetting Will's presence for a moment she started to scrub down the top of her desk.
She lifted her eyes and saw Will was still standing there. Her eyes slowly travelled up to his face and noticed he was still smiling at her. She almost gasped and hastily gathered all the dirty wipes and tossed them into the garbage can near her desk. "I...uh...have a problem with um...you know...di-dirty...um...I like things to be clean." She offered in a lame explanation of her frantic cleaning of the desk.
But Will didn't look at her weird, he only shrugged and said, "That's perfectly reasonable. You're in a new school you don't know what touched that desk last."
A small smile spread across her face as she beamed up at him. Everyone that met her stared at her like she was some kind of freak and only when they got to know her better did they start to understand her mysophobia. But not this man, Will understood her right away and didn't judge her and even if he was thinking that she was a little strange nothing on his face or his voice showed he was.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" He asked nicely motioning to the chairs. Her eyes widened. He was asking her permission? Usually people would just not care what she thought or if they did ask it would be in a mocking tone. But from his tone she could tell Will really wanted to see if she was okay with it.
"Um..yeah! Go ahead." She motioned to the chairs and Will took a seat and she sat down in her seat as well. She shifted in the seat trying to get comfortable and used to the new chair and looked around at all the drawers in her desk. Later on she would have to clean the whole office. But right now her concentration was squarely on the man in front of her.
"So are you excited about working here?" Will asked, leaning forward in his seat.
She shrugged and then smiled, nodding slightly. "I suppose so...I'm a little nervous..."
Will nodded in understanding. "You'll love it here though. McKinley is a great school..." He rolled his eyes with a small smirk. "..for the most part." She had yet to understand what he meant by that but would soon come to know it came down to two words: Sue Sylvester.
"So what do you teach?" She asked placing her folded hands on her now clean desk.
"I teach Spanish." He replied.
She smiled, impressed. "Spanish teacher. That's...that's really good. Spanish is a nice language."
He flashed her that grin again and chuckled. "¡Sí!"
A grin that matched his spread across her face and she giggled. Then she immediately scolded herself. What on earth was wrong with her? She never giggled! The last time she giggled was in college and some cute guy was hitting on her. Oh God...did that mean...? She felt the butterflies in her stomach and knew at once she started to crush on Will Schuester.
"Well," He let out a sigh and placed his hands on his knees, causing Emma to look at him expectantly. He rose to his feet and gave her another warm smile. "It was nice meeting you Emma. I should be heading over to my classroom."
She tried to hide the disappointment on her face. No! She didn't want him to go! "Oh..yes. Yes, of course."
Will walked towards the open door and paused in the doorway. "I hope to see you around Emma."
A bright smile crossed her lips at his words and nodded. "You too Will."
He lifted his hand in a wave before disappearing out of the door. As he left she could she a flash of gold on his left ring finger and her heart plummeted deep into her stomach.
Emma slowly came out of the memory and blinked to bring herself back to reality. "I never felt uncomfortable around you. Never. From the moment I first met you...it shocked me but you never made me uncomfortable. Which I think is part of the reason I fell in love with you. You were the one person who I wasn't afraid to and wanted to touch."
"Because you love me." Will repeated.
"I don't really know why...but I suppose so..."
"You knew from the moment you laid eyes on me that you weren't going to be afraid to touch me is that right?" Will questioned and she nodded.
"Other people you are afraid to touch but you're not afraid to touch me. That could be the case for our baby." He said and she looked up at him in question and wonder.
"Well," he continued, "You're afraid to touch other babies because they're messy. Our baby will be just as messy as the others but you might not see the mess or not be afraid of it because of that. Because it is ours. Just like me. I'm just as dirty or germy as every other human being but you're not afraid of me because you love me. And you're going to love our baby too and therefore you won't be afraid of its messes."
Emma's tears and sobbing had completely stopped at this point. She remained in Will's arms and just stared into his eyes as he talked and listened to his words. She often heard that parental love is the strongest love their is. She loved Will enough to see past his germs. Would she love their baby enough to see past its messes?
"Do you really think that Will?" She asked in a whispered tone.
He gave her a small smile and touched the side of her face lightly. "Of course I do Emma. Once you lay eyes on him or her, I promise you won't even have the slightest worry about how messy he or she is."
She bit her lip and rested her head back against Will's chest, hoping to God that he was right.
Not long after their talk in the kitchen, Will moved Emma into the living room so they could be more comfortable. Will laid across the couch and Emma nestled herself in between his legs resting back against his chest. Will wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. Neither of them said much. Will knew Emma needed time to think over what he said and about the pregnancy in general. Emma was lost deep in her thoughts as she absently played with Will's wedding band.
"Will?" She prompted after a few more minutes of silence.
"Hm?"
She let out a heavy sigh, her eyes focused on the golden ring around his finger. "Why do you love me?" She tried to make it sound like a casual question but the morbid curiosity was lying right on the surface.
"What?" Will asked incredulously. "Emma, why would you ask that?"
"Because..." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Because, Will, normally when people get news like this they celebrate and I know how much you wanted a baby and I'm just ruining it for you with my stupid fears! Why do you love me?"
"Emma." He linked his fingers with hers and brought her hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her wedding ring. "You're my best friend. You are the most caring person I know and the most honest. You're not selfish, you're always thinking of what you can do for somebody else despite your fears. And most of the time I find your mysophobia quite endearing."
"Most of the time." She repeated. "Would now be one of those times that its an exception?"
"Em," He furrowed his brow, "You're scared. You're not the first mother who is scared of pregnancy."
"That didn't answer my question."
"Of course not Emma." He replied, kissing her wedding band again. "I don't blame you for being scared and If I were in your position I'd be scared too."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"Maybe." He agreed and she scoffed, closing her eyes. He placed a light kiss to the top of her head. "But I do understand why you're so scared Emma. And you know that I'll be here for you every step of the way. If you need a crying shoulder, I'm here. I love you for every inch of you Emma. Every flaw is precious to me." He brought their entwined hands to rest over her stomach and played with her wedding band. "This is what that represents." He lowered his mouth down to her ear and repeated the vows into her ear, "I Will, take thee Emma, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."
By the time he was finished Emma was in tears again. She tried to hold back her sobs for as long as she could but eventually they escaped in small whimpers.
"Emma?" Will asked, concern lacing his voice. "Honey, what's the matter?"
She shook her head and took a shuddering breath, turning to face him. For the first time all day Will saw a hint of a smile on her face. "I just love you so much." She cried and before she could get another sound out Will leaned down and kissed her deeply.
Emma slept peacefully through the night. Emma was too upset and still too nervous about being pregnant that she wasn't hungry come dinner time. Will made himself a little dinner, cleaned up after himself not wanting to have Emma worry about cleaning dishes when she was so upset, and then returned to cuddle with his wife. She calmed down for the most part after that last breakdown. Occasionally Will could hear her sniffling but then it would stop after a minute or so.
Because she was crying all day and stressed herself out she fell asleep much earlier than usual still cuddled up to Will's chest. Will carefully moved to try and get the blanket hanging over the back of the couch and draped it over her. Emma sighed contentedly in her sleep and Will was certain he saw the trace of a smile on her lips.
Will carefully slipped his hands under the blanket and rested his hands over her stomach. It was still as flat as usual, Emma only being a few weeks along at the most. But just knowing that their growing child was safely rested in there brought a joy to his heart that he couldn't describe. His main concern earlier that day was to comfort Emma, he'd never seen her so upset and his first priority was to calm her down and he couldn't let himself think about the baby at all because seeing him happy might have made her upset. But now that she was asleep he could finally relish in the joy of her pregnancy. It would take some time but he knew Emma would come around and adjust to her pregnancy and learn to love the microscopic being growing inside her.
He was finally going to be a father. He couldn't believe it. He knew it was true this time too, he saw the results on the lab results. Not that Emma would lie to him, he knew without a doubt that Emma would never lie to him. But there was just something indescribable about seeing the words on paper AND hearing it out of her mouth. Will knew he couldn't wait to see the first sonogram. Emma would need to first start to be adjusting to the fact that she was pregnant and not burst into tears every time she thought about it. Because getting her to a sonogram would not be easy on top of her fears of the pregnancy.
He kissed the top of her head, rubbing his hand over her stomach gently. "I love you." He whispered into her hair, his words meant for both his wife and the baby inside her.
After a couple of hours of just laying there watching Emma sleep and getting lost in his dream land of the not too distant future where he will be having his son or daughter, Will felt himself starting to drift off. He knew Emma wouldn't appreciate sleeping on the couch all night so he decided to get her to bed. Instead of waking her up, he gently moved out from under her. She moaned in protest but didn't awaken. He carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her bridal style to their bedroom. He debated whether to wake her up to get her changed and ready for bed because he knew if she realized she didn't brush her teeth or take a shower before going to bed she would go into a panic. But on the other hand, she was sleeping so soundly and in about nine months she wouldn't be getting any sleep at all so he decided to just let her sleep in her clothes. He quickly went through his nighttime routine and then joined her in bed, once again cuddling close to her.
At around a quarter to six in the morning he woke up to the sound of the toilet flushing. The bed was empty next to him and he sat up slowly, anxiously staring at the door to see if she was just going to bathroom or if she had another attack of morning sickness.
The door squeaked open and Emma jumped at seeing Will awake. "Will!" She squeaked and he raised his eyebrows. "Gosh," She placed her hand over her heart, "You scared me."
"Sorry." He apologized and held out his arms for her. She anxiously glanced at the closet where they kept the towels but then shrugged her shoulders in defeat and walked over to the bed and climbed into his arms.
Now that she was closer to him he could see the redness to her eyes and heard the sniffling.
"Morning sickness again?" He inquired and she nodded against his chest.
"It sucks." She muttered sharply and he stared laughing at her bluntness. Emma lifted her head to give him an incredulous look and he started to cover his laugh with a cough and cleared his throat, looking away sheepishly.
"Sorry." He apologized again. "I'm just not used to you speaking like that."
The corners of her lips perked up slightly and she let out a half laugh herself. Then she sighed and pulled away from him. "I really need to shower."
He nodded and let her out of his arms. "Are you going to work?" He asked as she walked over to the closet to get her towels and clothes out.
"Of course." She replied looking over her shoulder at him. "Morning sickness its...horrible but its nothing I can control and I just have to deal with it. It's going to be happening for weeks Will and I can't miss work because of it."
"True."
She gave him a sad smile and then headed for the bathroom. He crawled to the edge of the bed towards her. "Would you like some company?"
She paused in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at him. He was poised at the edge of the bed with a seductive smirk on his face. "Will..." She gave him a look.
"You'll enjoy it." He waggled his eyebrows up and down. She scoffed and shook her head. She took a few more steps into the bathroom and then paused again. Rolling her eyes she looked over her shoulder to see him patiently waiting her response.
"Well...what are you waiting for?" She asked, raising one eyebrow.
A pleasant surprise lit up Will's face. Then he grinned and leapt off the bed, chasing a squealing Emma into the bathroom.
A/N: What'd ya think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!