A/N: To be honest, when I came up with the idea for what happens in this chapter, I hadn't yet finished reading the rest of In These Arms. As it is, I've only skimmed ITA so far so I could save it/read it later on my e-reader. I certainly hope this comes across differently.
Disclaimer: Obviously I down own Lucy, Ian, or anything of that sort. But I DO own Burn Up Brighter, the lyrics used later in the chapter. They're purposely modified in the beginning.
Chapter 9
The Left-Me-Wanting-More Feeling When
He Kissed Me
Lucy lifted her head up off the couch and yawned as the sun burned brightly into her eyes. She had to take a moment to recall her thoughts before she remembered why she wasn't in her own bedroom, let alone her own living room.
She rubbed her hand over her bump and let out a soft sigh as she sat up on the couch. She and Ian had arrived in Tennessee earlier that morning, and had quickly fallen asleep after dragging all their bags in from the cab. He had opted to take the floor next to her after finding that the chair next to the end of the couch wasn't all that comfortable.
She moved off the couch at the sound of chatter and headed for the kitchen, only to be deterred by her apparently shrinking bladder. It seemed that the more baby Hale-Harding grew, the more her ability to retain liquids lessened.
She stepped into the bathroom and quickly relieved her bladder before washing her hands and looking up at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a bit messy, but she looked alright otherwise. She snatched her mom's hairbrush from the counter and ran it through her hair before heading out of the room and down the hall. Her stomach grumbled, and she rubbed a hand over her swollen belly.
"Hey, sweetie!"
Her mother's cheerful tone was just a little too high for Lucy's still-waking brain, but she smiled nonetheless as she walked over to where Ian was seated at the kitchen table. He smiled at her and pulled out the seat next to his. She sat down next to him and yawned.
"You hungry?" Her mom asked.
Lucy shook her head. "Maybe in a little bit." She rubbed her eyes and then looked down at the cup of coffee that Ian had his free hand wrapped around. She scowled at it, like it was the coffee's fault for being caffeinated.
"What time is Maggie coming over?" Lucy asked.
Julie Hale looked up at the clock. "She called about half an hour ago. Said she'd be here around ten."
Lucy nodded. Her sister had gotten married earlier in the year, and she missed it because of other engagements.
"You could've slept in your old room," her mother said.
Lucy nodded. "I know. We just didn't want to wake anyone up, and it was nice and cool in the living room, so we just slept in there."
She stood and walked over to the fridge and pulled it open. She searched through it for a moment before pulling out an apple and biting into it.
"Did you bring the pictures?" Julie asked as Lucy walked back over to her chair.
Lucy nodded. "I figured we'd wait till Maggie got here."
Julie nodded. "So did you find out the gender?"
Lucy and Ian exchanged a look and Lucy nodded, smiling.
Lucy's mom looked up at the clock and sighed. Maggie couldn't show up fast enough.
When Maggie arrived half an hour later, pleasantries were exchanged, and Lucy introduced Ian to her sister and her husband. Afterward, she headed upstairs to her old room, where Ian had taken their bags when he'd woken up.
She opened up her carry-on and pulled out the folder that she'd gotten from the hospital the day before with the DVD of the sonogram and pictures they'd gotten. She brushed her fingers down the side of the glossy paper.
Her brow furrowed suddenly at an odd feeling. She placed her hand on the side of her stomach, and a moment later, she felt it again. Like something was popping inside of her. And then a few seconds later, she felt it on her hand and tears filled her eyes. Her baby was moving, and she could feel it.
Lucy leaned back on the examination bed, rubbing her hands over the top of her belly as doctor Conrad, her obstetrician, squeezed gel onto her stomach and then turned on the Doppler before turning on the monitor it was connected to.
"I am so uncomfortable," she murmured as he began to move the Doppler around on her belly. White noise emitted from the machine as he searched for the baby.
Dr. Conrad chuckled. "I suppose that's the sucky part of having an ultrasound. Having to drink al that water so your bladder is full."
Lucy feigned a glare at him. "You're a man. Consider yourself lucky," she joked.
He laughed, turning to look at the monitor as he moved the Doppler lower on her stomach. "What? No lecture for dad?"
Ian laughed. "She threw up the first four cups of water on me, and then yelled at me when I told her she had to drink more."
Dr. Conrad chuckled. A moment later, they fell quiet as a low, fast whoop-whoop sound began to fill the room. "And we have a heartbeat," he said. A few seconds later, a blurry picture filled the monitor. "And action!" He joked.
Lucy's grip on Ian's hand tightened as she stared at the screen. Tears filled her eyes as she watched the screen; watched as her baby squirmed around inside of her.
"Here, we've got a foot," Dr. Conrad said as he clicked on the screen and labelled it. He moved the mouse on the screen a moment later. "And a hand…And…" he paused, turning to look back at Lucy and Ian, who were both staring fixedly at the screen with tears in their eyes. "Do we want to know the sex?"
Lucy looked up at Ian and then they both nodded.
"Luce?"
She looked up at the doorway, reaching up to wipe a tear off her face as she looked at Maggie. "Hey. You okay?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. I just…"
Maggie walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. "Pregnant?"
Lucy giggled, nodding. "Yeah, I suppose so. We should go back down before mom starts wondering if I forgot the pictures."
Maggie laughed. They both stood and walked out of the room, down the hall and down the steps to the first floor. Lucy walked over to the table and sat back down next to Ian. He rubbed his hand up and down her back.
"You okay?" He asked. He could see that she'd been crying.
Lucy nodded. "I think I felt the baby move."
Ian's eyes widened. "Really?"
Lucy nodded again, laughing as more tears filled her eyes. "I wasn't sure at first, but then she kicked again."
"You're having a girl!?" Maggie and her mother both squealed at the same time.
Lucy and Ian both nodded. Lucy opened the folder she'd been holding and pulled out the pictures and handed them to Maggie, who was sitting next to her. Coos of mirth and excitement were shared among her mother and sister over the next few minutes before they both finally looked back up at Lucy and Ian.
"Have you picked any names yet?"
Lucy looked at Ian and they both chuckled. "There was light jokingabout Ezra."
Lucy's mom chuckled. "Ezra Harding?"
"Hey, it's a new little liar!" Lucy said, laughing.
Ian shook his head, chuckling as he rolled his eyes.
"I really like Cadence Claire," Lucy said honestly a few moments later. "Or Zaydah Ariel."
"Those are cute," her mother said approvingly.
Maggie nodded, still looking at the pictures that Lucy had given them. "I still can't believe you beat me to having a baby."
Lucy chuckled. "I'm sorry, Mags. I didn't meant to."
-
No I'm never gonna miss a beat, cause I got to be a soldier
And in heaven, maybe he is smiling down on me
-
"You ever think about getting married?"
Ian looked up at Lucy's mother, surprised by her question. Lucy had gone to lie down after Maggie had gone home, and he wasn't expecting her up for a while. She'd been so excited to be able to take a nap that he was pretty sure it was going to take a major safety concern for her to wake up before she was ready.
He had opted to stay awake and talk with her mother, even though he'd only met her once. Given that he was going to be having a baby with her baby in just a few months, he figured it best to get to know her parents better.
Julie chuckled. "It's alright Ian. It was just a question."
He exhaled a long breath, turning his coffee cup on the table. "To be honest, I do all the time."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Really?"
Ian nodded. "I just…My feeling were there a lot sooner than Lucy's were. I don't want her to feel like she has to marry me just because we have a baby. Don't get me wrong; if she wakes up from her nap and says 'let's get married' and it's clear that she's serious for the right reasons, I'd propose right then and there."
Julie chuckled. "My daughter's going to do just fine with you."
-
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye
-
Lucy woke late in the afternoon with a desperate need to pee. She was sticky with sweat from having huddled under the blankets when she had first decided to go to bed. However, it seemed that someone had turned off the air at some point, which had caused her to get a lot warmer.
She yawned as she picked up her phone from the bedside table. The screen lit up as she pushed the button at the top, and she unlocked her phone before opening the text message she had.
Ian Harding:
Your mom's at your sisters.
I got a call from a friend. Should
be back around six or seven.
Xoxo love you!
She chuckled before closing the message and moving off the bed. She stretched a bit before looking around the room. She briefly considered taking a shower, but felt too lazy to do something so active just yet. Instead, she moved to the end of the bed and grabbed a fresh t-shirt and a pair of shorts from the bag.
She changed into them before looking around the room. She didn't know what to do to entertain herself.
After a few moments, her eyes fell on her computer bag. She walked over to it and picked it up before walking out of the room.
She made her way down the hall, to the steps, and then down to the family room. She set up her laptop on the coffee table and then left it to load as she walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
She returned to the family room and adjusted the central air before sitting back down at her computer.
She checked her face book, which was covered in posts from her friends. She also had new messages. She clicked on the messages, and scrolled down to the one she had going back and forth with Cady.
Her initial message read at the top.
Sharing an idea?
I'm working on this for Ian, and I desperately need someone else's opinion.
You see how you see the world
In the middle of the night
And I wonder how
You burn so bright
Burn me up inside, baby
I want to touch the sky
I want to see everything you see
In these glowing nights
You smile like you mean it
And you make me see the world
In a way I never thought I could
It's absolutely terrible right now and needs a lot of work (obviously, because it's not even finished), but… thoughts?
They had conversed back and forth, slowly working away the little kinks in the lyrics, and Lucy had actually managed to come up with a melody in her head by the time they had finished it. She had yet to share it with Ian, though.
The message at the bottom of the page was new, and she smiled at it.
So you know how you asked for help a few weeks ago with that song. I'm kind of wondering if you could return the favor….Well, okay, not really.
I attached a link to my new single the label is releasing, and I'm quite nervous about it. It's different from what I would normally write about (obviously), but… share your thoughts, please?
Lucy clicked on the link, and smiled as the song started. The guitar kicked in quickly, soon followed by the drums with and the beat became very clear, but she was careful to listen to the lyrics.
"i'm patching up my heart again
everytime it explodes
don't tell me that i've gone insane; i know
cause every single day is like whoa
wondering if you'd ever come back to me
so what we did everything wrong
you know that it was really love actually"
She smiled, returning to the message that was still open, and clicked on the small reply box and began to type.
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that song! I love it!
After sending the message, she retuned to her wall. She had multiple posts from friends that she didn't get to see regularly asking about sonogram photos, but she was hesitant to post them. It wasn't that she didn't trust her friends, but she wasn't all that sure if she wanted to put pictures of her and Ian's baby all over the internet before they had discussed it.
Only a mere five minutes had passed by the time she was bored again, and she found herself on twitter. She clicked around the website, reading a few tweets and replying to some of her fans before staring at the screen, contemplating an idea.
She clicked on the box on the left side of her page and began to type.
lucyyhale
Impromptu ustream? Yes?No?
She clicked the tweet button and then returned to her mentions. In a matter of seconds, dozens of tweets flooded her page saying yes.
She opened a new tab and opened the ustream website. She was already logged in, so she opened a new stream, and waited a few seconds, making several weird faces at the camera until she was sure that it was live. She waited a few more seconds, and the social stream began to flood with messages.
"Is it on?" She asked as she clicked on the record option. The social stream quickly flooded with answers of the fans saying yes. She watched it, chuckling at the typical 'I love you's. It was only a few seconds before fans asked where she was and where Ian was.
"I'm at my mom's house for a few days, and I'm actually here alone right now. Ian is-" she cut off when her phone began to ring on her table.
"I melt every time you look at me that way
It never fails, any time, any place
This burn in me is the coolest thing I've ever felt
I melt…"
"And," she giggled, "That's Ian right now."
She tapped the green button on her phone and lifted it to her ear. "Hey."
"Hey," he replied. "Are you hungry? I'm on my way back."
"Yes. We can eat whatever," she replied.
"Alright. I'll be there in a bit then. Love you."
"Me too," she giggled before ending the call. He'd find out why she hadn't said it back when he got back as it was.
"Where's Ian?" She repeated the question. "Getting food."
The next few minutes passed in a typical fashion of her attention moving back and forth between her phone and the ustream, but when Ian arrived about five minutes later, she looked up at him.
"I got Chinese," he said, settling the bag on the table.
"Great," she said reaching for it as he headed towards the kitchen for plates and forks. "I'm doing a ustream. Come join me."
She grabbed a carton of rice and one of the plastic spoons from the bag before looking back at the screen.
"You guys should eat with us," she said to the computer.
Ian returned to the room a few moments later and sat down next to her, handing her a plate and a fork before she passed him the rice.
Lucy chuckled as he moved food onto the plate. "You're getting a lot of marriage proposals."
Ian smirked, shaking his head as he laughed quietly. He looked up at the small camera on the top of the computer frame. "I'm spoken for."
Lucy chuckled, pouring general tso's chicken onto her plate. She looked back up at the social stream. "The fans want to know what your favourite Taylor Swift song is."
Ian contemplated the question for a moment. "Either Mine or Ours." He looked up at her as he finished pouring food out onto his plate and set aside the carton he had been taking chow mein from. "What's yours?"
Lucy bit her bottom lip, thinking about it. "I really like her cover of Drops of Jupiter, but if I have to pick one of her songs… Sparks Fly."
Ian looked at the screen and chuckled. "The fans say you should say 'it'."
Lucy looked over at him. "You say it."
He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Lucian."
Lucy laughed.
"See, but why can't we be like, Inucy? Or Lian? Lucian makes me think of Underworld. It is Underworld right?"
Lucy giggled, shaking her head.
Ian looked over at the social stream and chuckled. "No, we're not naming the baby Lucian or Ezra."
"Although we did joke about it," Lucy said, mid-laugh.
"Lucy is an angel," Ian said, continuing to read the social stream. He laughed a moment later. "I still don't think it said that last time."
Lucy's jaw dropped and she punched him in the shoulder. "So supportive," she said sarcastically.
"Lucy, how do you feel about people touching your baby bump?" Ian read off the social stream as he scooped a spoonful of rice off his plate.
"Oh that's such a good question," she said. "You know, when it's family and friends, I really don't mind, but when it's random strangers, it is a little off-putting. I get that people are curious and they get excited about a baby, but at the moment, its still my body. Wrong? Right?"
She looked over at Ian. "Right. Call it being possessive, but I see people doing it, and all I can think is that it's kind of rude."
They continued to answer questions as they ate. After they were finished, Ian took the food into the kitchen and put the leftovers in the fridge and the dirty dishes in the sink before returning to the room.
"You know what I want?" She said with a light giggle as he sat down.
"Hmm?"
"Half Baked Ben and Jerry's."
Ian chuckled and Lucy batted her eyelashes at him pouting. "Will you go get me some?"
Ian laughed and shook his head at her. "Sure."
He moved off the couch and walked over to the door, slipping his feet into his shoes. As he did, the door opened, and Lucy's mom stepped inside.
"Heading out?" She asked.
"The missus wants ice cream." He said affirmatively.
She offered up her keys. "Don't scratch it," she teased.
Ian laughed, taking the keys from her. Once his shoes were properly on, he leaned down and kissed Lucy on the lips. "Love you. I'll be right back."
She smiled at him and repeated the sentiment before he walked out of the house. She turned back to her computer, and laughed as the social steam blew up with comments about their kiss. She shook her head.
"And I suppose that ends things on a good note," she said to her computer. "We'll do another one soon. Love you guys!"
She ended the stream and then closed her laptop before walking into the kitchen after her mother. "I miss Jack," she said, annoyed at her own hormones.
"So why didn't you bring him with?" Julie asked as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
Lucy sighed. "I didn't want him to get all frazzled with all the traveling. Am I entirely ridiculous for wanting to cry over missing my dog."
Julie chuckled. "No, baby. You're just pregnant."