A/N: Thanks so much for coming to check this fic out! I am so excited for it. I have loved Reddie for the longest time - they have such a hold on me - and this is just something that I wish always happened for them so this should be fun!
Holding the stick in hand as she stared at the little faint line, she tried and failed to keep herself from shaking. She could still hardly believe what she was seeing. She could always take another test, she supposed, but there would probably be little point given there were already six positive ones lined up in front of her on the bathroom side. All of those combined with her nausea and the tenderness in her breasts were practically solid proof. She was pregnant. After almost an entire year of actively trying for a baby, she and Eddie were going to be parents. It honestly felt as though this moment was never going to happen, but now it had she had no idea what to do.
She wanted to tell her boyfriend now, to share her excitement with him and to see his reaction, but he left for a meeting with the Maths department a while ago and she had a feeling he would be right in the middle of it. She was going to have to wait until this evening to tell him about the baby, but that was actually a good thing because it would give her some time to prepare. She wanted to make it special, not just blurt it out, and so she would head into town at lunchtime or something and grab some of the things she was certain she would need. How she was going to manage to keep her mouth shut about this all day, she hadn't a clue, but she needed to.
She decided to start getting dressed for work after standing there in the bathroom a short while longer, so she gathered up the pregnancy tests and put them in her monthlies drawer – somewhere she knew he would never go – before leaving the room. Making her way down the landing to the bedroom, she entered and walked over to her wardrobe for a blouse to wear before heading for the chest of drawers and taking out a pair of trousers. She smiled to herself as she laid the clothes, along with some underwear, down on the bed. It would only be a matter of months if not weeks until she needed to start getting some maternity things. It all just felt so surreal.
It took her little time to change out of her pajamas and into her clothes and just as she was fastening the last button on her blouse her phone began to ring on the nightstand. Pausing for a moment, she headed over there and smiled to herself at seeing it was Eddie calling. His meeting must have ended. "Hi." She said, answering it.
"Hey, you," He replied. "Just thought I'd give you a call, see how you're doing after this morning."
"I feel a lot better than I did when you left, thank goodness. Not sure what it was. Probably something I ate."
"Rach, this has been going on for almost a week. Maybe you should see someone."
"If it doesn't improve by Friday then I will," She assured him. "For now, I need to carry on getting ready."
"Yeah, okay," He agreed. "I'll see you soon then. Love you."
"Love you too," She told him before ending their phone call and tucking her phone into her trouser pocket, sighing under her breath as she fastened the top button on her blouse and carded a hand through her hair. If he was already this much of a fusspot now, how much more of one was he going to be when he found out she was pregnant? He was going to be intolerable, she could already tell, but she hoped that her love for him along with her excitement would be enough to help her cope with it. In all truthfulness, if she had to choose between him and somebody who couldn't care less about her or her health then she would truly choose him every time.
Bringing a hand to her stomach when she felt it churn slightly a couple minutes later, she swallowed and took a second to will the nausea away before smiling as she stroked her thumb against her blouse. It made it easier to deal with now, knowing there was a little one responsible for her nausea and discomfort. "I suppose you can be forgiven, but only because your daddy and I have waited ages for this," She tutted despite knowing full well that her baby would be unable to hear her for some time. "You chose the right family to be a part of though, little one, I can tell you that much. You haven't any idea how much your daddy and I are going to adore you."
She sat down on the bed to start putting on her socks and felt the love she had for this precious little life only deepen tenfold as she thought about just how much she meant those words. She was going to love it so much.
More than she had ever loved anyone.
"You made it in at last then."
Looking up from her computer at the sound of her boyfriend's voice while she signed into her school account, she watched him through the hatch as he approached her room and chuckled when he wandered inside. "Yeah, I'm running a bit behind this morning. I should be able to catch up before lunch though, I only have a couple emails to reply to. I'm meant to be having a word with Steph about something or other later on today too, has she mentioned anything about that? She didn't give me a time when we spoke, but then again she never does."
He laid a hand on her arm when he reached her desk and leaned down to kiss her gently, pleased by the smile she gave him when he pulled away. "No, she hasn't said anything to me, but as far as I know her afternoon is free. I would imagine it'll be around then, but I'm not sure. Do you think you'll need me to be around for it?"
She shook her head in response.
"Hey," He rubbed her arm, prompting her to look up at him. "You sure you're feeling okay?"
"Yeah, just a little more tired than usual. I might try and get to bed a little earlier tonight, I don't know."
"I think you should. How does Chinese for dinner sound? Saves you cooking for once."
"Mmm," She leaned back in her desk chair, reaching for his hand. "Reminding me again why I love you."
"Oh, so it's not for my good looks and charm then?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"Oh no, never that," She joked, tilting her head back to meet him when he leaned down to steal one more kiss from her. Almost as soon as he pulled away, the bell rang and she swore she heard him groan under his breath at the interruption. "Before you go, I was wondering if you would mind covering for me for a bit at lunchtime. I need to nip into town for something and that's the only time I can get away. I'll only be about half an hour."
He nodded. "Course I will. Anything I should be worried about?"
"No, just something I need that I forgot to pick up while I was there the other day." She shook her head.
He gave her somewhat of a sceptical look, the look he had been giving her quite a lot over these past couple of days, but refrained from pressing the matter further. "I'll make sure I'm up here for 12 then," He assured her, placing a kiss on her temple and running a hand over her hair before moving away from the desk. "Love you."
"Love you too," She replied before watching him make his way out of the room and over to the door that led out into the corridor. Sighing under her breath once she was alone, she laid a hand on her stomach under the desk. Only a couple more hours. She only needed to keep their little one a secret until they got home and then she would be able to tell him. She would be able to see the look on his face when he opened the gift that she was getting him and she would be able to celebrate with him. She wanted to keep it between them for the time being – just until she could be sure things were going to be okay – and she knew he would be okay with that.
All he was going to care about was the fact they were having a baby.
Before the year was out, they were going to be a proper family. A little family of three.
And she was just as elated about that as she knew he was going to be.
Knowing she had a short amount of time to accomplish what she had to before she had to get back to school and relieve Eddie, she made a beeline for the aisle she needed after entering the supermarket. She felt her heart race in her chest as she made her way there, thinking once again about giving her boyfriend the news later on, and when she got there she paused. All along the wall were numerous baby clothes – some tiny, some larger – and she could already tell she was going to have a time of it trying to decide which one to get for the surprise. It had to be unisex given she had no idea what they were having as of yet, so that narrowed things down a bit.
She made her way slowly down the aisle, taking the time to touch the soft items of clothing and really look at the little details on them, and it was a sleepsuit right near the end that ended up catching her attention. It was simple, white with little cream polka dots, but it was beautiful and she could already picture bringing her little one home in it when he or she was born. Deciding it was the one, she took it from the rack and put it in the basket hooked over her arm before turning to the little row of comforters. She loved the little white rabbit one, so she chose it and put that in the basket too before reaching for a pack of dummies to complete her purchase.
It wasn't much, she thought to herself as she looked at the items she picked out, but it would do for the time being. Once her boyfriend was aware and she was slightly further along in her pregnancy, then the time would come for her to start thinking seriously about both the wardrobe and necessities their baby was going to need. She already knew she was going to have a hard time controlling herself when it came to purchasing things. No doubt, Eddie was going to have to supervise her purely to see to it that she didn't go too overboard with it all. Either that or it was actually going to end up being him who went overboard and made them run out of space.
One thing she was sure of though was that their baby was never going to have to go without.
Running a hand through her hair, she made her way quickly to the tills and paid for her items before thanking the cashier when they handed her the carrier bag and making her way out of the supermarket again. She had the good sense to park near the entrance, luckily, so it took her little time to get back in her car and stick her seatbelt on. For a couple minutes after that, she simply sat there in silence and stared at the steering wheel. It was still hard for her to believe this was actually happening to her. She could remember wanting this since the age of sixteen, her own family. She always vowed to herself that her baby would have a better life than she did.
Her parents put a roof over her head and made sure to give her three meals a day, but that was really as far as things went. Neither of them ever showed her much attention and as for them ever telling her they loved her, she couldn't remember a time. She imagined it had a lot to do with the state she was in back then, but neither of them seemed to realise they were the ones behind it. Her reason for acting out, more often than not, was to get their attention because negative attention, in her mind at least, was better than no attention. Her reason for going with older men too – men who would take advantage of her at every opportunity – laid with them also.
She believed them when they told her they loved her.
Or, at least, she managed to lie to herself enough until she believed them.
She craved love back then, she craved the affection she lacked at home, so she found it in the worst places.
She never forgave either of them for throwing her out the day she turned eighteen, telling her they could no longer cope with her and she was no longer their problem. It took her the longest time to forgive Melissa too, even though she only really hated her because she got to live the life she wanted. She got all their parents' love and all their attention because she was their "golden girl" and could do no wrong in their eyes. Little did they know that she'd snuck out countless times to go and meet the boy that lived at the end of the road. She knew because she covered for her every time without fail. Her childhood memories were just so incredibly damaging.
She guessed those childhood memories were going to be the thing that helped her be the best mum she could be though. Her child was never going to go a day without being told it was loved beyond measure. She would make sure – and she had every faith her boyfriend would do the exact same – she gave her child the attention it was worthy of even on her busiest days. Of course, there were going to be times when she messed up given she was only human and that was perfectly all right. She would learn from those mistakes and become a better mum because of them and that was the only thing that truly mattered to her. Being the best mother she could.
One of the things that helped was knowing that Eddie was going to be by her side the whole time.
He would be there to support her and to comfort her when she needed it and she would do the same for him.
Again, they were going to make a brilliant team.
An absolutely brilliant one.
It was a hand running up and down her back that pulled her from her light slumber and she sighed, opening her eyes and tilting her head back on her boyfriend's chest to look at him. "I am the world's worst company," Her voice was rough with sleep as she reached up to brush her hair from her face, nestling a little deeper into his embrace under the blanket on the sofa and smiling when he gave her a soft kiss on the brow. "I hope you realise that I blame you though. You were the one who kept mithering me to eat the last of those spring rolls."
"Yeah, I have to admit I'm not seeing the connection, Rach, but I'll let you have that since you're half asleep," He chuckled as he let his arm slip more fully around her and gave her a squeeze. "I think it might be time for bed though. You had a rough week with whatever this thing is you have, so a bit of sleep might do you good."
His mention of that reminded her of the gift she had tucked away in the cabinet and she was suddenly awake, sitting up a little and pulling back the blanket. "You just reminded me, I have something I need to give you. I was going to give it to you after we ate dinner, but we know how well that went," She got up from the settee and walked over to the cabinet, opening the door and taking out the white box before making her way back to him and sitting down again. She placed the box in his lap and covered herself with the blanket again, allowing him to put his arm back around her as she settled down. "I have been waiting to do this all day, I really have."
"Don't get me wrong here, I'm grateful, but I really don't get it." He admitted.
"Really? It's nearly the second anniversary of the day I completely thrashed you at bowling." She laughed.
He shook his head at her, amused. "Rach, there can't be an anniversary for everything."
"Well, I consider it to be pretty memorable. For more reasons than one," She said. "Oh, will you just open it?"
"Okay, okay, okay…"
She held her breath as she watched him reach for the lid of the box with his one spare hand, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip when he lifted it and took a look inside. His breath hitched and she felt him stiffen slightly next to her, prompting her to look at him and see the tears in the corner of his eyes. It was quite clear he had managed to work out what she was trying to tell him with no guidance from her. "Are you being serious?" He asked when he eventually looked her way, his hand trembling upon her hip as he brought her a little closer to him. "I thought you were tracking it and the chances of us getting pregnant around this time were quite slim."
"I guess I got it wrong then," She replied tearfully, reaching into the box and taking out the pregnancy test she had laid over the little sleepsuit. "If you need more convincing then I have six more of these in the bathroom."
He failed to keep from laughing out loud at that. "You took seven of these?"
"I had to be sure," She almost whispered. "You want this as much as I do and I never would have been able to live with myself if I told you we were pregnant and then it turned out to be a false positive. Honestly, I've had a feeling for a couple weeks now. I missed my last period, but I've always been a little irregular which is why I didn't think too much into it. It was when I kept needing to go to the toilet and I could barely stay awake at my desk that I started questioning it though because that's not normal for me. I was pretty much certain when I started throwing up, but I wanted to have evidence before I told you which is why I went slightly overboard."
Burying his lips in her hair, he let out a trembling breath before turning back to the box and blinking back his tears. "Rach…" His voice trembled with emotion as he carefully took the test from her. "We're having a baby."
"Yeah…" She nodded, reaching up to rest a hand on his cheek when he looked her way again before accepting the four soft kisses he brushed against her lips. "So, does this mean I'm forgiven for the whole bowling thing?"
"I forgive you," He mumbled, touching his forehead to hers. "Honestly, right now, I forgive you everything…"
A/N: Thanks so much for taking the time to read this chapter! I am so excited about this whole fic. I have no idea how long it is going to be, but I have quite a bit I want to cover which means it should be pretty thorough. I would love to know what you thought if you have time to leave a little review. Thank you so much once again and I will see you all soon!