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“Hi” Jo smiled at her husband as soon as he opened his eyes, still groggy from his sleepy state.
“Hey” Alex closed his eyes once again, pulling the comforter up a bit so he could cover his shoulders once again. “For how long have you been staring at me like a creep?” he asked, not opening his eyes.
“Not really sure. Why?” she asked.
“Because it’s creepy” he yawned. “And it’s early on a sunday, and we don’t have to work”.
Jo’s anxiety was eating her alive, but Alex wouldn’t budge. She knew how lazy her husband could be, and after a tumultuous week like the one they had, she would usually be even worse than him, so she could understand why he was acting that way. Still, she couldn’t just sit around anymore and wait for him to get his shit together and wake up, so she poked his arm, and then poked it again and again.
“What?” Alex impatiently opened his eyes with the grumpiest of the faces, finding her smiling one right away. Her smile softened him a little bit. She had this power over him.
“Good morning” she said.
“Good morning” he gave her a sleepy smile. “What has gotten into you? It’s early, Jo. Come here and sleep a bit more with me” Alex stretched his arm, making room for her to find her way to his chest, but she didn’t move at all.
“We can both sleep a bit more if you want to” she shrugged.
“Then why are we awake?” he asked.
Jo didn’t know what to say, so she grabbed the object that was sitting on her nightstand and poked Alex one last time, making him open his eyes again and turn his head towards her.
The look on his face as soon as he saw what she was holding was one she would never forget. At least she hoped she wouldn’t.
Alex had always looked at her like she was magic. Sometimes, in the middle of the chaos, she wouldn’t stop to notice it, or he wouldn’t take the time to show her what he felt she she was near him, but it was always there. If there was one thing her husband was good at, that thing was letting Jo know he never took her for granted, but the look in his eyes while she was holding that pregnancy test that had “Hi, dad” written on it, her handwriting a bit shaky from the nerves, was something else.
His body sat right up, the sleepiness leaving his body and being replaced by adrenaline right away. He rubbed his eyes, making sure that he wasn’t stuck in a dream.
“Jo” he smiled, excitedly yanking the test from her hand, taking a close look at it. It sure was positive. The second line was just as vibrant as the first one, which was something rare. The second line was usually a faint one, or at least it wasn’t as saturated as the first one, as if the life growing in other woman’s bodies was shyly making their way into the new parent’s lives. Not his baby, though. Not the life he had created with his wife. Not the baby that was now growing in her womb. Their baby made that second line shine brighter than anything else he had ever seen. It could maybe be compared to the smile on Jo’s lips the day she became his wife, the day of their wedding. Still, that line and her smile looking at him holding that stick shone light into his heart in a way it he hadn’t ever experienced before.
“Is this real?” Alex took his eyes away from the stick for a moment, looking at her, not afraid to show her the emotions that were flooding his eyes.
Jo just nodded, biting her lips, trying to keep the tears in her own eyes from falling. She unexpectedly found her hand sitting on her stomach for the first time.
“Are you really pregnant?” Alex smiled in disbelief.
“I am pregnant” she chuckled, feeling his arms wrap around her.
Alex gives the absolute best hugs, and Jo felt like she could stay in his arms forever. They hold each other for a while, taking in all the emotions surrounding them in that moment.
Jo was almost upset when he moved his body away from hers, but didn’t fight it.
Alex moved his head so it was aligned with her belly, placing his hand next to hers. “Hi, my baby” he whispered, feeling Jo’s hand move to the top of his head, her fingers running through his hair. He turned his head so he could look at her, his hand still right where it was. “We made a baby, my love. There’s a baby in here” he smiled.
“More like a tiny ball of cells, but you’re not entirely wrong” she laughed.
“Well, I’ve never been so proud of a tiny ball of cells in my life. It’s our little ball of cells. We made it” he smiled.
“Yeah. We made it” Jo dried her tears, feeling the most insane love she had ever felt. And the best part of it all was that she knew that the best was yet to come.