Summary: Shaun and Lea think of a placeholder name for their baby and Lea starts to feel movement. Set on the night when Dr. Glassman cooks them the salmon in "365 Degrees".
Lea was 22 weeks pregnant (and a few days from 23), meaning that Avocado (their new placeholder name for their son, since he was the size of an avocado) was over a pound. Her feet were swollen, her legs were cramping, she felt dizzy sometimes, and she swore she could feel some movement, which mostly felt like a family of butterflies flapping around.
Most of all, 22 weeks was a huge milestone because that was when they lost their last baby. This time, Shaun and Lea did have more confidence they would at least make it to 24 weeks, as did Dr. Winkler, who said the anatomy scan was normal with nothing to be concerned about.
Besides the pregnancy, Dr. Glassman was currently crashing at their apartment in their guest room while his house was getting fumigated. At first, Lea was skeptical of Dr. Glassman staying with them, but now, she was enjoying it.
His cooking and brewing coffee gave her and Shaun more time to have more pre-baby couple quality times they lost on their babymoon due to helping Buddy/Cooper.
Tonight, Glassman's fried salmon with rice and broccoli was mouthwatering and satisfying. They almost didn't want him to leave at this point...but at least Glassy would still cook for them and bring them meals after the baby is born when they'd be too exhausted and sleep-deprived.
"Do you think 13-year-olds should be having sex?" Shaun asked his wife, which he had been pondering given the context of his patient and Jordan's insistence that Kelli's situation had moral and legal issues. Shaun did, however, talk to Dr. Lim about the situation since California's law on statutory rape was that it was illegal for individuals under 18 to be having sex, even when close in age and if its consensual. However, enforcing those laws was kind of difficult because they're going to have sex anyway. That was a complicated gray area for Shaun.
Both he and Lea agreed with Kelli's mother on one thing, though - no matter what, teens were going to have sex anyway, so teaching them how to be safe (not saying "Don't do it") was crucial, and Kelli's age was not too early to talk about safe sex. It has been proven repeatedly that abstinence-only education didn't work.
Sure, middle school was obviously a little too young to be having sexual intercourse (neither of them really liked the idea of their son having sex in middle school either), in both of their opinions. Morally, it wasn't any of their business, and her mother did right by teaching her about safe sex.
While Shaun was a late bloomer in his sexual debut and knew how to practice safely, Lea was naive and 14-years-old (a year older than Kelli, and it was often done behind her parents' backs) when she lost her virginity to a boy who would later become her ex-husband. She never got pregnant or an STI, but she did have a pregnancy scare when she was 15.
"Honestly," sighed Lea, resting her hands on her bulging belly. "It really isn't my business, and I can't stop a 13-year-old from having sex, but I don't think..."
Lea was interrupted by the feeling of a sudden jolt in her abdomen, like something popped in there. She gasped in response, which sent Shaun into a slight panic.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," breathed Lea, smiling. "I think I felt him move. I've felt it before."
"Oh," chuckled Shaun with a sigh of relief, remembering when Lea gasped and collapsed in the parking lot last time. He put his hand to her belly, hoping to feel something, only to feel nothing, feeling slightly disappointed but expecting this. "He stopped."
"Avocado," scolded Lea playfully, looking down at her belly. "Why do you always stop moving whenever Daddy tries to feel?"
Lea began feeling some movement last week. However, Shaun had yet to feel anything given that it takes longer for others to feel. Every time Lea felt movement or even a small kick, he would be away in surgery or with a patient...or he would miss it whenever he tried to feel it.
"That doesn't surprise me," reassured Shaun. "But he can hear me. But...I don't like changing his name every week. I don't like calling him different kinds of produce."
Lea sighed, agreeing with Shaun. "I agree. We need to come up with a placeholder nickname. Avocado just doesn't sit with me. It sounds...weird."
"Do you think Peanut is better?" Shaun suggested. He was the size of a peanut in the beginning, but they didn't have a placeholder name for him at that moment due to a fear of getting attached and then getting their hearts broken.
"Peanut?" Lea wondered, loving the sound of it. "Peanut is cute and simple. I like it."
Shaun and Lea continued their conversation about their patient until they decided it was time to settle down for the night.
"Goodnight, Peanut," bid Shaun as he placed his hand over Lea's belly and kissed it before kissing Lea.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed. Please review :)
Next Chapter Prompt:
Shaun and Lea discuss the 39 differences they could possibly have in raising their son.
