Work Text:
9 pm has already past and Iris still hasn't gotten home yet. Barry tries to stay calm but since she told him last week that she's pregnant, he has been really protective of her. He won't let her lift heavy things or climb on a stool to reach the cabinets.
Iris couldn't help but laugh sometimes at his sillyness.
He calls her again but his call goes straight to voicemail. The dinner he made was starting to get cold.
After calling her again. He decides to go out and look for her at her office. As he's about to take off, he hears the front door opening and closing. He feels relief course trough him and he races to greet her with a kiss.
"Heyy babe where have u been I was just about to come look for you at your office" he says after letting her go. She smells off which was weird, but he doesn't say anything, because he knows how sensitive she is these days.
"Sorry about that, my phone was dead.
You will not believe the day that I've had.. take a seat, let me tell you."
She has a huge grin on her face, which can only mean one thing. Barry starts to feel anxious but he tries to keep his cool. He takes a seat and gives her a sign to continue.
"So you remember the case I told you about, right? The human trafficking one?" He nods. "Well today I got a message from a source that the president of the central city hospital was meeting with the leader of the trafficking group, they were gonna meet at the old warehouse. When he told me I immediatly took my keys and drove there. And guess what I found out? The president of the hospital is working together with the human traffickers. They give him organs in exhange for money, can you imagine how cruel these people are?" But Barry isn't listening at this point. Iris was in the same building as those murderers and she doesn't seem to mind at all. "Anyway I was recording it all when my phone started vibrating all of a sudden causing me to let go of the recorder in shock. The recorder fell in a puddle of water and it made a splash sound. I ran away before they realised I was right there, but now I dont have any evidence to prove anything. I contacted my source and he said he would tell me as soon as they are planning a new meeting. And thats what I'm wait-"
"Do you even hear yourself right now?" Barry says cutting her off. Iris looks at him a little suprised and confused.
"What do you mean?" she mutters
"You're pregnant Iris and you still put yourself in danger like that?" He asks, raising his voice a little bit.
"Barry I think you're overreacting, I left before they saw me."
"But what if they caught you before you left? And you didnt even contact me before you went. What were you thinking"
"Barry I'm one month pregnant not immobile I can still do everything without a complication. And I didnt call you because I knew you were gonna try to talk me out of it, and I would have lost a chance to catch them."
"No, you didn't call me because you know you are being selfish and nonchalant. You are carrying another human being in you and I can't believe you would jeopardize his or her life like that". He yelled, and then there was silence.
That stung...alot. Iris is shocked, he never yelled at her like that before, even when she jumped out of a building when men were shooting at her. He just saved her, hugged her and raced away. She can feel the tears forming at the back of her eyes, but she can't blink them away. When Barry notices the hurt in her eyes his words finally register in him. He just called her a bad mom and she's not even an actual mother yet. The worst part is, he's the one who comforted her when she told him about being afraid to turn out like her mother.
"I- Iris I didn't-"
"No you're right" she says cutting him off "What type of mother am I, My baby is not even born yet and I'm already the worst mom ever. Thank you for making that clear Barry," and with that said, she walks to their bedroom and slams the door shut. Which delivers the don't-you-dare-step- foot-into-this-bedroom message pretty clearly. Barry doesn't go after her, she clearly wants to be left alone. He feels like shit. He messed up real bad. He feels his own tears pricking at the back of his eyes and he doesn't stop them from flowing.
He decides to go running to blow off some steam, so puts on his shoes and leaves.
Iris can't sleep, the events of the day keep playing in her head over and over again. Her eyes are swollen from all the tears she's cried.
After she entered the room she immediatly stripped naked and went to the bathroom to take a long hot bath. She stayed in the shower for more than an hour, crying and thinking about what Barry said. She knows that there's truth in what he said and that's why his words hurt her more. When she found out that she was pregnant she freaked out, she knew they would start a family soon but she didnt really think it would be this soon. She didn't feel ready for a baby yet, she thought of Francine, how she failed her as a mother, and she immediatly started to doubt her own ability to be a good mother.
Barry's reaction was the total opposite of hers. When she told him, he was soo happy he almost fainted. His excitement rubbed off on her and she started to get exited as well.
She told him about her fear of parenting their child, but he brushed it off saying that she is one of the strongest persons he knows and she has nothing to worry about. His opinion has clearly changed since then or he just lied to her, just to make her feel better.
Its not like she was trying to hurt herself or the baby, but lately she's been feeling soo disconnected from her job. Things have not been the best for her. She hasn't written an exciting story in forever. So when she got the chance she immediatly took it without thinking about the consequences. But she was carefull though, she left before those men even realised that she was there.
Now she's in bed tossing and turning. She knows her body is craving Barry's touch and his warm body, but her pride won't let her leave the bed. And she's pretty sure she heard him leave a couple hours ago. Their fights never ended like this, they would always find their way back to each other, but this is clearly a conversation they both need to have when they are not so angry.
Iris finally doses off after laying in bed for a couple hours. She wakes up at 5 and gets ready for work. She's out of the door before Barry can even process what is happening. Barry came home really late. After stopping two armed robberies and a fire, he finally crashed on the couch. He isn't fully awake when Iris leaves but he can feel her staring at him as she's walking to the door.
They both start their day, trying to not think too much about their little fight
at 1 pm they both get a message from Joe that they're having a family/team dinner at his house.
Iris wants to cancel but she and her father both know that she will never turn down her grandma Esther's noodle dish.
She will just have to pretend that barry and her are fine. That won't be a problem, they are the gold-standard after all.
At 7 pm sharp she parks in front of her dad's house. With a bottle of whiskey in her hand for her dad, she opens the front door. She would definitly be drinking from the bottle if she weren't pregnant. She's sure Barry would divorce her immediatly if he saw her drinking from the bottle right now.
"Hey guys, I'm here" she calls out from the living room. Joe walks out from the kitchen wearing an apron, Iris can't help but smile at the sight.
"Hey babygirl how's it going" he asks after giving her a hug
"Im good thanks, where is everybody?" She looks around but can't see anybody else but her dad.
"They should be here any minute now. I called Cisco about 5 minutes ago and he said they were just wrapping things up at S. T. A. R. labs."
Iris can't help but think of Barry, she tries to act cool and says "Okay, do you need any help?"
"As a matter of fact I do"
The team arrives 5 minutes later, minus Barry. They say he's taking care of some last minute things at S. T. A. R. labs but Iris knows better than to believe that excuse. He's probably practising how to act normal around her.
He finally arrives as they are about to dig into their meal. He takes a seat between Caitlyn and Cisco while Iris is sitting at the other end of the table. Joe realises how Iris's body tenses up when Barry enters the dining room, but he doesn't say anything . Iris doesn't look up from her meal during the whole dinner.
Cisco, Joe, Caitlin, Ralph and Sherlock chat animately among themselves. All of them are oblivious of the tension in the room. Well all expect one. Joe keeps observing them throughout the entire meal but he keeps his mouth shut. Barry keeps staring at his beautifull wife across the table, he can feel the guilt eating him up alive when he sees how silent Iris is.
When they're done with the meal Iris volunteers to bring desert and Joe offers to help.
"Everything okay? You seem awfully quiet today" Joe says as she pulls the cake out from the fridge.
"I'm good, just tired I guess"
"Mmhmm, and that explains why you and Barry haven't interacted at all tonight?"
"Dad please do-"
"I just wanna make sure that you guys are okay"
"We're fine we just had a little fight."
"Okay, you know what they say, you should not let the sun go down with anger in your heart"
"But the sun already went down dad" she said with a giggle.
"Well don't let it come up again before making it right with him. Dont get smart with me young lady"
"Ahaha okay dad, thanks for the advise"
"You're welcome baby girl." he says and kisses her on the forehead.
It's around 11 pm when everybody starts leave. All the team members went home or to star labs, except Barry and Iris . Joe is about to go in the kitchen to give them some privacy when they all get an alert on their phones. A "robbery in progress". Barry leaves immediatly and Iris takes this opportunity to drive home.
"Dad, I'm going"
"Okay honey dont forget my advise"
"I wont thank you once again. Bye"
"Bye baby" she hugs him and walks towards her car.
When she walks to her front door she takes a deep breath before entering, She has avoided this conversation for as long as she could, but they have to have it now.
She opens the door and walks inside ...the light in her bedroom indicates that her husband is already home. She takes off her shoes and walks to their bedroom. She can hear the shower running which is odd, Barry never showers for that long, unless she was there with him. She takes off her clothes and is left in her bra and panties when the bathroom door opens and her husband walks out. She doesn't turn around to look at him but she can feel his eyes on her.
She takes her towel out of their closet and wraps it around her self. She is about to walk to the bathroom when he calls her.
"Iris, ca-can we talk?" He says in a low voice. The way he says her name has always been her weakness. He has the ability to give her goosebumps, calm her down or make her happy just by saying her name. She closes her eyes and thinks of her fathers words. She turns around and just looks at him he stares back at her trying to come up with the perfect apology but comes up with nothing. Nothing can justify the hurtful words he said to her and he knows that. But he has to try. He walks towards her and intertwines his hands with hers. Iris looks down at their intertwined hands and refuses to look up at him she can feel the tears burning at the back of her eyes but she tries to blink them away.
"Im sorry baby" he says and she feels a sob escape her mouth. He embraces her in a hug and she clings to him like he's fading away.
"I didn't mean it, I didnt mean any of it. I was just caught up in my emotions but I didn't mean it. You are not a bad mom Iris. You are the most loving and selfless person I know and I am so sorry for making you think otherwise," she pulls away and turns around, trying to get herself together.
"You,re right though I, jeopardised our baby's life and I'm sorry for that. I have been dying to get a good story lately and when I finally got one I took it without thinking twice and I'm sorry for that," she says turning to look at him.
"But you left before they noticed you and I'm proud of you. I promise I won't judge you like that ever again. Its not fair to you and I know that now. You were just doing your job and I will repect that. Please accept my apology" he takes her hands again and brings them to his lips. She smiles and nods. He grins and pulls her to him. He dips his head and connects his lips with hers, giving her one of those earth shattering kisses. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer. They both come up for air and smile at each other.
"I love you so much" he says while leaning his forehead on hers.
" I love you too" she says while closing her eyes. "You know what would make this moment much better?" he asks with a mischieveous look on his face.
"What would that be" Iris asks already knowing where this conversation is going.
He lifts her up in his arms and lays her on the bed.
"Makeup sex."