Author note:

I hope you like this bit of fluff. Please drop me a note if you are still enjoying this story. THanks!

CH 9- 1+1=3

Carrying a few too many bags of groceries, Emma struggled to unlock the door their apartment. She could have made a second trip, but she just wanted to be home. It had been a long week, and she wasn't feeling herself. With just a couple weeks left until school started, she was working night and day on student assessments and individual lesson plans. She was only in her second year at the local school district. Emma loved her job, using music to help Special Needs students, but it was taxing. She was hoping to get a little rest before starting on dinner. Her stomach had been bothering her the past couple days and she needed to lay down.

Koda was wiggling in excitement at her appearance. Swiping his tongue at her hand.

"Hey, boy. We'll go for a walk as soon as I get this stuff put up."

She was reaching up to put away the coffee when a strong pair of arms wrapped around her.

"Hi honey." Clay kissed her neck and proceeded to slip his hands under her shirt and cupped her breasts, squeezing gently.

Emma, who always enjoyed her husband's attentions, winced slightly, and shrunk away from his touch.

"Em, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

She turned in his arms to offer an explanation. "It's okay. I'm a little tender and not feeling too great." She leaned up against him. "My PMS is just worse this month for some reason."

Clay's embrace went from passionate to comforting in a heartbeat. "I'm so sorry honey. Why don't you let me finish putting this stuff up and you can go lay down?"

"You don't mind? "

"No, of course not. I'll take care of Koda too."

"Why are you home now anyway?"

"Our briefing finished sooner than expected. So, I thought maybe I could get home and surprise you."

Now she really felt bad that all she wanted to do was sleep. Her eyes teared up before she could stop them. Clay was instantly concerned.

"Em," he questioned.

"I'm fine. It's just the hormones. I'm so sor…"

He didn't let her finish. "Don't apologize babe. You can't help it." He kissed her forehead tenderly and turned her around to face the bedroom. "Go get some rest. You'll feel better after a nap."

Emma woke to the sound of a cupboard slamming in the kitchen. She noticed that it had gotten dark outside and wondered how long she'd been asleep. However long it was, it was longer than she intended. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed to stand, she felt dizzy and nauseous. She breathed in slowly, through her nose trying to settle her stomach and still her spinning head. Koda sensed her movement and was at her side immediately, pushing his nose at her hand.

"It's okay boy, I'm okay," she told him, scratching behind his ears.

Clay heard her speaking to the dog and joined her in the bedroom. He leaned against the door jamb and turned on the light.

"How are you feeling Em?"

"Okay, I guess. My stomach's still a little upset."

"Do you want anything to eat? Some soup maybe?"

"Honestly…I just want to sleep. I'm sorry."

Clay came and sat next to her, pulling her to lean against him. "It's fine. I just hate that you feel like this."

"Thanks honey. I'll feel better soon. I always do."

He kissed her head and gave her a warm hug before leaving her to go back to sleep. "Love you Em."

Koda laid down on the floor next to her and kept watch.

After two more days of feeling the same way, Clay was getting worried about her and she was getting frustrated. She didn't usually have such a bad time with her cycle, but every once and a while it hit her hard. But, even then, her symptoms disappeared as soon as she started her period. This was going on way too long. Emma pulled out her phone to take a look at her calendar. Surely, this would be over soon. She looked at the date and felt like someone had knocked the breath out of her. According to her tracking, her period was 6 days late! No, she had to be wrong. She must have counted wrong. But, even after calculating the days from her last period three more times, the count didn't change. Was it possible?

Everything started to click into place. All the indicators were there. Emma sat down hard on the couch, her head spinning with the realization of what was causing her symptoms. Thankful that Clay had taken Koda for a run, she spoke aloud to herself, "I…. I'm pregnant."

Emma didn't want to say anything to Clay until she had taken a test and was absolutely sure. And until she had some time to come to terms with it herself. It was such a shock. She had been on birth control for years, but she knew nothing was 100%.

The next morning, she made a trip to the drug store and picked up a pregnancy test. Smuggling it into the bathroom under her shirt, she followed the instructions and waited the longest three minutes of her life. When she picked up the stick, there it was, an unmistakable plus sign.

Her emotions were all in a jumble. She was excited, scared, nervous, and happy all at once. They had talked about their desire to have a family, but those conversations were always, "someday" and "in the future." They had only been married for a little over a year. What would Clay think? Where would they live? They had been saving up for a house but hadn't even started looking. It was overwhelming. She had no idea how to tell him.

That night, after forcing herself to eat dinner they settled on the couch, just watching some TV. Clay could feel her tension. He switched off the TV and turned to look at her.

"Em, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

She started to tear up, and he pulled her into his lap. "Honey, you're scaring me. Is something wrong? Are you sick?"

She shook her head and sniffed loudly. "I'm…I'm not sick." She paused and he searched her face earnestly, holding his breath. "Clay…I'm, I'm pregnant."

His mouth fell open and he couldn't speak.

"Say something, please."

"Em, oh my God. Are you serious?" She could already see the smile starting to pull at the corners of his mouth.

She giggled through her tears. "Yes. I took a test this morning. We're going to have a baby."

He hugged her so tightly she almost couldn't breathe. "Em, I was so worried. I didn't know what to think. And you're…we're…" he was stammering. He cradled her face in both hands. "Tell me again." He had a full-blown grin on his face now. His eyes were wide and twinkling with joy.

"You're going to be a father."

He laughed in pure joy that was infectious. "A baby…" he was incredulous.

"I know it's sooner than we planned, we don't have a house, and you're still putting the team together…" She was babbling and he silenced her with a kiss.

"Shhh. None of that matters." After thinking for a second, he asked. "How did this happen?"

She raised an eyebrow and laughed at him. He chuckled too.

"I mean, you're on birth control. How…"

She thought back to his return from his extended spin up last month. After he got home, hardly a day had gone by that they didn't make love, sometimes more than once. All she had to do was remind him of his ravenous appetite for her and he grinned smugly.

"Well, I am a sniper, you know. I don't miss." They shared a laugh.

"Are you sure you're happy," she asked.

"Emmie," he was choked up again, eyes shining with unshed tears. "You're having our baby. Nothing could make me happier."

Her fears disappeared as his lips touched hers. Now a part of her and the man she loved would be together forever. He slipped his hand under her shirt to rest low on her abdomen and covered her still-flat stomach and she laid her hand over his.

"I love you so much Emma." He kissed her again, softly. "I love both of you."