AN: They never specified how many weeks Lea was supposed to be until "Old Friends", so I'm just going to assume Dr. Glassman had been living with them for weeks. I'm just going to assume that "Old Friends" is set a week after "Hard Heart", and that Lea was 27 weeks during that episode.
Summary: While lying awake at night and feeling the baby move around, Shaun and Lea decide to read a bedtime story to Peanut. Set sometime between the ending of "39 Differences" and "Hard Heart". Actually, a week or a couple of days or a week before "Hard Heart".
It was 1:00 am when Shaun was sleeping like a log while Lea was awake because she needed to get up to pee. In addition, Peanut was already demonstrating that he was a night owl with his kicks.
It had only been a few weeks, but living with Dr. Glassman already felt like he had been living with them for six years for Shaun and Lea. So far, it was alright until Glassy would get protective over Lea as much as Shaun or her parents would.
The other day, Dr. Glassman asked them with concern when they would start babyproofing their apartment and if any stores sold baby gates that extended to stretch across the whole room because of that one step between the kitchen and the living room/dining area and how the baby could take a tumble onto his soft spot when he starts crawling. It was almost the equivalent of Lea's parents over video chat asking if that cup of coffee she was drinking was decaf.
However, Shaun and Lea liked the classic children's books Dr. Glassman gifted them. He said he used to read them to Maddie when she was little...and that Shaun and Lea should probably start reading them to Peanut right now.
At six months pregnant, Lea's belly button was sticking out, her uterus was the size of a soccer ball, and Peanut was the size of a zucchini, increasing the pressure on her bladder and her need to pee a lot, sometimes waking Shaun up.
She was already dreading the third trimester when the aches and pains would only get worse.
As soon as she settled comfortably back into bed to lie down, she felt a sharp pain in her belly, wincing in response and waking up Shaun. The pain stopped as soon as she changed her position.
"What's wrong?" Shaun muttered, half awake and asleep on his right side, facing away from her. He immediately shifted himself so he was facing her.
"Braxton Hicks have just started," groaned Lea, resting her hands on her belly. "Also, my bladder is a pillow and my stomach is a punching bag."
"You're 26 weeks pregnant," he reminded her. "Braxton Hicks will become more frequent and intense as your pregnancy progresses further."
"Joy," sang Lea sarcastically, rolling her eyes and sighing. "Should we name him Braxton?"
"No," replied Shaun. "I'd only think about contractions whenever I hold our son if we name him that."
"I know," moaned Lea. "I was joking."
"Oh," yawned Shaun, who positioned himself on his back.
The couple was silent for a bit before Shaun suggested something.
"Since we're both up, maybe we can talk to Peanut," he proposed, sitting himself up in bed.
"What should we talk to him about?" Lea, who sat herself back up, asked before chuckling. "Are you going to tell him about your patient? Should I tell him about how his grandparents are driving me crazy?"
"No, I think we should read to Peanut," suggested Shaun, who was looking over at the board books Dr. Glassman had gifted them - Goodnight Moon , The Very Hungry Caterpillar , Harold and the Purple Crayon , Corduroy , Where the Wild Things Are , The Giving Tree , and Madeline - which were sitting on their dresser. "He won't understand the plot, but reading to an unborn fetus can promote early literacy skills and language development."
"I already can't wait to read to him," cooed Lea, turning the lamp on. "I would like that. Do you want to read to him?"
"Yes," Shaun breathed excitedly, getting up from the bed to grab one of the books. "I would very much like to do that."
He picked Corduroy and sat on the bed next to Lea, who was smiling and lying down.
" Corduroy , by Don Freeman," began Shaun before he opened the book and started reading word for word. " Corduroy is a bear who once lived in the toy department of a big store ..."
By the time Shaun was almost finished reading the book, Lea was already in tears.
"What's wrong?" Shaun asked, pausing the story, which was almost over. Her pregnancy hormones were definitely affecting her right now. "You're crying."
"I know. I'm sorry," sniffed Lea, crying happy tears. "Corduroy just wanted a friend, and so did Lisa. She didn't care that her mom said Corduroy wasn't worth it. She just wanted a friend. She didn't care he was missing a button from his overalls."
This wasn't the first time Shaun saw this happen to her with both of her pregnancies. It also wasn't the first time she cried at something so small and silly, whether for a happy or sad reason. Last week, she broke down crying in front of Dr. Glassman because she couldn't find her shoes.
"Okay," nodded Shaun, finishing the story by reading the last words. " And gave him a big hug. "
"That was nice, Shaun," gushed Lea.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed. Please review :)
Next Chapter Prompt:
Lea starts to get more than too big for her regular clothes.
