Author's Note: So glad you all are loving this fic! Please review!
"Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them." -Rabindranath Tagore
Pegasus opened every window in the nursery and let it air out over the next two days. Cecelia pestered him again and again about seeing it, but he insisted she wait until he was sure it was safe for her to go in. But every few hours, he peeked inside to make sure things were going okay, and every time they were fine. His peeking drove his wife crazy
Cecelia spent much of her time that next month starting to design a nursery for their baby. She had finally bypassed the worst of her morning sickness and was able to be slightly more active. She had made most of the big furniture choices early on. She ran it all by Max, of course, and he gave her the green light to spend however much she liked on it. She ran every idea past him for his opinion, but he was mostly a passive participant in the act.
The time spent away from him was spent shopping for material things for the baby- monitors, burping cloths, a car seat, and everything needed to child-proof the house.
Finally, her two days of purgatory were up. Max had Croquet open the door and put his hands over her eyes to make sure she didn't peek as he led her inside.
"Ready?" He asked.
She nodded and he took his hands away. "Open your eyes!"
She did, and gasped.
It was breathtaking. Three of the walls were a light pink- the kind of color you'd associate with any little girl's nursery. they were normal as could be. But the east wall was what really caught her eye. It was painted to be a giant sunset. The ceiling, accordingly, faded until it was black as night. Pegasus had already planned to stick glow in the dark stars on it. He looked at the shocked look on his wife's face and felt a sense of pride in the fact that he could still surprise her.
"Oh, Max..." She whispered, pulling him to her. "It's incredible..." She leaned her head on his chest and felt him kiss the crown of her head.
"I'm so glad you like it. I hope the baby will, too."
"I'm sure she'll love it!" She reassured him. He wrapped his arms around her and rested both hands on her stomach, where he felt the baby kicking.
He couldn't have been more excited.
When the furniture came, she and Croquet spent hours on end trying to piece it together. When Max wasn't working he helped and had a far easier time with it. His wife assumed that it was just easier for men. It was simply in their genes. Toward the end of the month, they finally got everything assembled and started trying to decide how it would be arranged. She decided to put the crib near the window, along with the changing table. She put a toy chest across the room from there, along with a small bookshelf. Adjacent to that was a closet and hamper. A rocking chair sat in the back corner and a dresser lined the back wall. When she showed her husband the final product, they were both pleased. It looked absolutely perfect.
Cecelia spent the next few days shopping for clothes for her baby. She had also taken the liberty of finding a qualified nanny for those evenings when she and Max wanted to be alone. She spent days interviewing potential candidates, before deciding on a young professional named Louise. While she was in the area, she invited the new nanny to come with her. She and Louise went out together for the day, and bonded well. By the end of the day, Cecelia felt that they had become close friends. They spent the day shopping and went out for lunch. They had already discussed a plan for who would care for the baby. Cecelia of course wanted to take care of her herself, but Louise offered to night nurse her when she was needed. And they agreed. With everything set, the only things left to do before her child was born were go to prenatal check ups. To her, it was smooth sailing from here on out.
Everything seemed to be falling into place. The nursery was finally done, All the clothes were put away, they had a nanny picked out, and the baby was on track with development, despite Cecelia's hemorrhaging earlier in her pregnancy. Maximillion could finally relax when he finished work for the day, Instead of having to worry over when he was going to finish the nursery. There was finally peace in their home.
That night, Pegasus lay awake long after his wife had gone to sleep. His mind mulled over all the changes he and his wife had gone through in the past few months. He had always wanted a life with his wife- that he had never had any doubt about. But he had never pictured himself as a father. That wasn't to say he wasn't up to the challenge- because he was- he was just afraid of letting the tiny baby inside of his wife down. This new baby would be looking to him for an example. She would be depending on him for everything. That made him feel more than a little anxious. But he found slight comfort in the idea that Cecelia most likely felt the same way- probably even more so for her because she was the same sex parent. He read that the same sex parent always had more influence on the child than the parent of the opposite gender. Unconsciously, he wrapped his arms around his wife. This was going to be the toughest challenge he had ever faced, but whatever life threw at him, he knew he wouldn't be facing it alone. He and his wife would stand up and face it together as a team. Finding peace of mind in that simple truth, Pegasus shut his eyes and was finally able to get some sleep.