Having My Baby Part I
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Nothing Much to Do/Much Ado About Nothing.
A/N: This story is set in a universe where everything happens except Balthazar and Pedro getting together. The chapters will not take place in chronological order, so don't think you've missed anything if chapters don't match up with the ones before. Also, there'll be mention of a major character death, so yeah, there's that warning. Hope everyone enjoys this - I'll try to update as often as possible!
It's official. She's pregnant. Walking out of the doctor's office, people smile at her, and she can't help but think they all know, that the smiles are all congratulatory. Hero knew she was pregnant before coming here, but she wanted the affirmation of a trained professional. And now she has it. After all, seven different at-home pregnancy tests spread out over a few days can still return a false positive. But now it's a very real, very official positive.
John won't be home for a few more hours, so Hero takes her time driving. She's been avoiding telling him about her seven-test hunch, but now she can't wait to let him know. She can't really imagine his reaction, but hopefully it'll be good.
Hero turns off the radio after a few minutes of channels surfing - no one's playing anything that fits her mood. Are there even any songs that say, "I'm having a baby, and I'm so excited I could burst, and I'm so terrified I could burst? Probably not. People don't seem to write about stuff like that.
Hero finds herself watching children run around from a hard, uncomfortable park bench. She can't help but think that someday soon, she'll be watching her own kid run around, and the benches will probably be just as hard and uncomfortable.
"Which one is yours? Mine's the one in the green shirt trying to topple the dinosaur statue." A woman sits next to Hero, sighing as she takes the weight off her feet. Her hands are resting on a sizable baby bump, and she looks at Hero expectantly.
"Oh, I don't have one. Yet." Is it weird to be here without a kid? Yeah, definitely. She clarifies, "I just found out I'm pregnant. Well, I took an at-home test a few days ago, but now I know for sure."
"And by 'an at-home test' you mean a million. I was the same way. My name's Janice, by the way." Janice holds out her hand, and Hero shakes it with a smile. Her first mom friend!
"Hero. What's your son's name?" She looks over to where the boy is playing with a couple of other kids.
Janice smiles at her son for a moment before responding. "Jonathan. His father named him. He just turned five, and his first birthday declaration was that everyone call him by his full name, not Jon, under threat of merciless tickling. I'd like to say I don't know where he gets his attitude from, but I'd be lying." Her smirk makes it clear she's not sorry. The honesty makes Hero like her even more… a lot like Bea.
The two women watch the children run around for a while. Hero can faintly make out what they're saying to each other. At one point, Jonathan pulls out his fingers in a gun shape and makes loud 'pew pew' noises. "I got you with my phaser, Sam! You're incapacitated." Sam, a girl in a red checkered shirt, puts up a fuss - why does she have to be the first one out. "Sam, the red shirt always get killed or stunned first. It's the rules." Jon's logic is sound, so the game continues.
An hour passes like that, with Hero and Janice talking over the yelling and laughter of the kids. When she checks her phone and sees how much time has gone, Hero trades contact info with her new friend and heads home.
The drive to her house gives Hero time to think of how to tell John about the baby. Perhaps a banner? No, John isn't the banner type. Maybe she could just tell he outright, no frills. She wants it to be special, though.
Hero waited by the door, expecting John to come home any minute. She wasn't sure how she would tell him she was pregnant. They had only been dating a year, and while that year brought them closer than they thought possible, it was still pretty early on to be having a baby together.
The turning of the doorknob brought Hero back to attention. John was home!
He came through the door, the look on his face alerting Hero to his mood. "Bad day?"
She just got a grunt in reply.
"I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"
John walked to the couch and threw himself down in a rare dramatic fit. "David screwed me over. Turns out the investor he was talking to about funding our film is now funding his film. Apparently David's been working on a secret project behind my back, and he's been getting all our potential investors in on his film. I basically have no funding, no partner, and everything's fucked."
"Oh." Here didn't know what else to say. She sat next to her boyfriend and put a hand on his shoulder. There wasn't much else she could do. This was obviously not a good time to tell him about the baby. "Well, I made dinner if you want some. It's actually you're favorite - lasagna."
With a semi-interested grunt, John stood up and made his way to the dining room. It was actually more of an extension of their tiny kitchen, but Hero tried to make it as dining room-esque as possible. The table was set with their best dishes, and the lasagna was sitting in the middle, probably lukewarm by then.
"It looks good, Hero. Thanks. After everything today, this is really nice." John and Hero sat, serving each other portions of lasagna and salad. They ate in relative silence, John occasionally making noises to let Hero know he appreciated the food. After they had finished, he took the plates to the sink to wash them. "So, any particular reason for the dinner, or just wanted to cook something nice?"
"Um, I actually have something to tell you." Hero watched her boyfriend pick up one of the knives and run it under the water. "Maybe you should come sit down." No point in him accidentally cutting himself.
John put the knife down carefully and said, "Alright. Anything I should be worried about?"
Now that she had his full attention, Hero wasn't exactly sure how she should break the news. All her perfectly planned words flew out the window, leaving her to grasp at straws. "I, well, you know that you mean a lot to me, and this relationship means a lot to me. And, I guess what I'm trying to say is-" Hero searched for words that actually fit the gravity of the situation. "Well, I'm pregnant." So much for saying it nicely.
The silence that hung between the two seemed to last for ages before John walked quickly past her and out the front door.
Sorry to leave off there. I just wanted to post something - I had to rewrite the beginning not once, but twice, because my computer is a piece of crap, so I didn't get to update as soon as I'd like.
Let me know if you have anything you want me to work into the story. I love challenges!