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The bag had sat in Tessa’s closet all week, waiting for Morgan to return from his road trip. Tessa’s stomach had been twisting in knots as she waited for the right time to pull it out. There were two reasons that her stomach had been twisting in knots; both were equally nerve-wracking.
When the door to their house finally swung open, Tessa rushed into the bedroom to grab the bag. As she walked out of the bedroom, bag in hand, she saw Morgan in the foyer. He was slipping out of his shoes and jacket while holding a coffee. He frowned slightly when he made his way over to Tessa.
“What’s with the bag,” Morgan asked, taking a sip from his coffee cup.
“Come sit at the kitchen island and I’ll show you,” Tessa said, nervously biting her lip.
Morgan followed Tessa through the house to the kitchen, taking a couple of drinks of his coffee along the way. When they arrived in the kitchen, Morgan slid onto one of the bar stools and placed the coffee cup onto the island in front of him.
Tessa handed him the bag, pulling out her phone. Tapping it a few times, she made the camera function open and start recording a video.
“Alright,” Tessa said, motioning to the bag. “Go ahead and look in it.”
As Morgan stuck his hand in the bag, Tessa nervously held her breath. She was fairly certain what Morgan would pull out first because she had arranged the contents of the bag to be pulled out in a specific order.
When Morgan’s hand came out of the bag with the smallest pair of skates she could find, Tessa released the breath she was holding. That had been the first item she had intended Morgan to grab.
“Tiny skates,” Morgan raised an eyebrow as he placed the aforementioned skates on the island. “Are we getting a puppy?”
Tessa chuckled as she pointed to the bag.
“There’s more in there; keep looking.”
Morgan raised his hands in a show of surrender before he grabbed the bag with one hand and reached inside with the other.
Tessa heard the tissue paper that was inside the bag start rustling as Morgan moved his hand around. Biting her lip, Tessa hoped Morgan grabbed the article of clothing next. When Morgan’s hand came out a moment later grasping a piece of fabric, Tessa exhaled a relieved breath and smiled.
Bringing his other hand up, Morgan grasped both sides of the fabric. He tilted his head to the right a little and Tessa saw his eyes dart across the fabric; it was as if Morgan was trying to process what he was reading. After a moment, Morgan dropped the fabric to the island and wiped one of his eyes with his thumb.
“What is it, Morgan,” Tessa asked even though she was fully aware of what it was.
“It’s one of the baby onesies that the team shop sells,” Morgan said, lifting it from the island and turning it toward the camera. “It says: ‘My favourite player is Morgan Rielly.’ ”
“There’s one more thing in there,” Tessa said, voice shaky as she pointed at the bag.
Morgan nodded as he stuck his hand inside. Tessa’s heart hammered in her ears as she heard the tissue paper rustling. When she saw Morgan’s eyes dart down to look in the bag, Tessa knew right then and there that Morgan had found what he was looking for.
As Morgan’s hand came out of the bag, Tessa felt her legs start to shake. She gripped the corner of the island with the hand that wasn’t holding her phone. Looking intently at Morgan, Tessa watched as he examined the last of the items that had been in the bag.
Morgan’s face went through a range of emotions. It started with shock, quickly shifted to happiness, and finally ended on pure, unadulterated love as he looked at Tessa. When he put the item down, Tessa swallowed a thick lump in her throat.
“What… what was that last item?” Tessa knew what it was but she wanted to hear Morgan say it; wanted to hear what Morgan’s voice sounded like as he said it.
“It’s a positive pregnancy test,” Morgan said, voice dripping with elation as he grabbed the pregnancy test and turned it toward the camera.
“And what do all three of these items mean to you?”
Tessa bit her lip as she gripped the corner of the island harder. She could feel her legs wobbling from the weight of the current situation.
“That I’m going to be a dad because my girlfriend is pregnant.”
Tessa noticed the glassy sheen to Morgan’s eyes as he stood from the barstool and encased her in a hug, burying his head in the crook of her neck.
As they hugged, Tessa felt Morgan vibrating against her. That was the telltale sign that he was crying. Tessa turned the video off and placed her phone on the island. Bringing her hands up, she ran them along Morgan’s back to soothe him.
Morgan brought his head up and kissed Tessa sweetly. Tessa gripped Morgan’s back and leaned into the kiss. When Morgan stopped kissing Tessa, he brought one of his hands down and slotted it over her stomach. Tessa smiled and placed her hand over the top of Morgan’s.
“I know it’s too early,” Morgan started, “but daddy loves you, Little Fours.”
Tessa felt her heartstrings pull taut in her chest as Morgan rubbed softly along her stomach. Leaning up to kiss his cheek, Tessa ran her thumb along Morgan’s opposing cheek. Morgan hummed softly.
“I love you, Morgan,” Tessa said, putting both of her hands on top of Morgan’s hand on her stomach.
Morgan smiled, bringing his free hand up to brush some hair out of Tessa’s face. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Tessa’s forehead.
“I love you, too, Tessa,” Morgan said. “And I can’t wait to have this baby with you.”
Tessa felt a warmth spread through her entire body at those words because she realized that she felt the same way.
She and Morgan becoming parents is
everything
she could ever want.