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Mac woke to a strange sound. It was 4 am on a Wednesday morning and his wife wasn’t in the bed beside him. For the last couple of days, she has been feeling unwell, and yesterday she even took the day off from work. Therefore, seeing her out of bed made him jump to his feet without even putting a shirt on. Mac went straight to the bedroom where he found Riley bending over the toilet bowl. He rushed to her side and held her hair while she vomited. He drew little small circles on her back to sooth her, and waited patiently for her to finish.
“Ah, I hate puking,” she said when she finished. She then flushed the toilet’s water and washed her face.
“How are you feeling?” he asked in concern.
“Strange. I don’t think I ate anything funny yesterday. Unless,” she turned around and pointed at him, “the Chinese takeout was off. I knew something wasn’t right with it.”
“I ate it too and I’m fine,” he shrugged. “Besides, you’ve been feeling not so great for the last couple of days. I don’t think it has anything to do with the food.”
“True,” she nodded in agreement.
“Do you want to go back to bed and I’ll make you some tea?”
“That sounds great, babe. Thanks,” she said softly. She came to him for a kiss, and right before their lips touched, she stepped away. “I should probably brush my teeth first.”
He chuckled. “You said it.”
She half smiled. “You go get that tea while I get the sour taste out of my mouth.”
He smiled and kissed her on the check because he couldn’t resist and went to their kitchen. If his wife won’t feel better in a few hours, he intended to call a doctor.
After about ten minutes the tea was ready, and he went back to their shared bedroom with two cups of tea and a plate of cookies. He didn’t know if Riley would eat them with how she’s been feeling, but after seeing them in the kitchen he decided to bring her a few just in case. After all, they were her favorite.
He expected to see her fully resting, but instead he found her sitting on the edge of the bed in a deep thought.
“Riles?”
“I’ve been thinking. It’s the 14th today.”
“So?”
“So, my period is late for a few weeks now. I haven’t been paying it much attention, but with the morning sickness that just happened – “
His eyes nearly popped out of their place. “You don’t think – “
“Yeah.”
Holy shit.
“Before anything, we have to check it to make sure. I can go to the store in a few hours and buy a pregnancy test.”
“Or,” Mac said with sparkling eyes, which Riley knew was a sign that one of his Mac-hacks is about to happen, “I can make you a test right now.”
She chuckled softly. “Of course you do.”
“I’m going to need a bowl, spoon and some bleaching powder.”
“I’ll get the bleaching powder and you get the rest,” she said. As happened many time before, she didn’t question his idea but went along with it. The tea and the cookies long forgotten, each of them went to get what they needed.
A few minutes later they stood in the bathroom with a mediocre bowl, large spoon and some bleaching white powder. Mac handed the bowl to Riley. “I need you to pee in it.”
“You want me to pee into a bowl?”
“Well, it’s easier than peeing on a stick.”
She thought for a moment before she shrugged. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“We can always wash it later.”
“Or we can just throw it away.”
He laughed. “Or we can do that,” he agreed.
She smiled and entered the bathroom with the bowl. She left the door open, and Mac watched his wife peeing in it. “Let’s agree to not share anything about this morning with Bozer or Russ, or we’ll be getting more pee jokes than I can handle.” She finished and closed the door behind her after handing him the now half-full bowl.
“Now all we have to do is mix the bleaching powder and wait. If you’re pregnant, you’ll have the hCG hormone in your urine, which will cause a chemical reaction with the powder. I know it’s gross, but it should actually work.”
“I was going to say weird, but gross works just fine,” she teased him with a smile. After a minute of mixing, a thick foam was starting to show in the bowl. “What does it mean?”
“It means we’re going to be parents.” The shock in his voice was clear.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m pretty sure.”
“You know I love you, babe, but I’m going to need a little more than ‘pretty sure’ with this one.”
Mac eyed his wife with surprise. Clearly the situation hasn’t sunk in yet. “We can make a few more tests.”
“Tell me what you need.”
After a few more DIY tests that involved sugar, toothpaste, and vinegar, which all showed the same results, the couple looked at each other with surprise. “We’re going to be parents,” Mac mumbled.
“Are you happy?” Riley asked him warily.
“I am. You?”
His wife smiled softly and put her arms around his back. “I’m more than happy,” she whispered joyfully. They kissed deeply for a few minutes, not a care in their minds. As always happened before, they lost themselves into the kiss.
When they broke apart, Riley rested her head on the crook of Mac’s neck and he held her close. He inhaled her intoxicating scent and they stayed still for a few minutes. Riley was content to stay in Mac’s arms all morning when she felt him stiffen against her body. “What is it?”
“We have to tell the team and start making arrangements. We’ll have to prepare Bozer’s old room for a baby, and at some point you’ll have to take a break from work. We still have our savings though, and we can always take a mortgage if we need to. We have to decide on names, and I was thinking Bozer can be the godfather – “
“Whoa, whoa, slow down babe. I love your enthusiasm, but what happened to a good old-fashioned improvisation?” she joked. When she saw he wasn’t laughing she looked closely at him. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He looked lost and defeated all of a sudden, and Riley’s suspicion grew. “Talk to me, Mac.”
He sighed. “What if I can’t do it, Riley? I don’t know if I can be a good dad, I never had a father figure. Not really, anyway.”
Riley’s heart melted at his tone. She knew without a doubt her husband would be a great father, and him worrying over that only proved her right. “Look at me,” she asked and held his head in her hands. “You didn’t have one father figure, because you had many. You had your grandfather, Milton, Jack, and eventually your father. You’re going to be an amazing dad,” she whispered in confidence. “I know because you keep visiting Pena’s daughter even after all these years, and in every mission a kid is involved you keep showing me what a great parent you would be. Do you remember Valerie from 8 years ago?”
“From Mission City? I didn’t know you remember it.”
“Of course I do. I remember every single mission with you, Mac.” Even after all these years, she still amazed him every day and made him fall in love with her all over again with a simple look. “I get you. I’m terrified too. In fact, I think it’s the scariest thing we ever had to face. But I know we’ll figure it out, together, like we always do.”
He sighed in relief and kissed her temple. She always had that effect on him. She was the only one who can calm him and understand him, make him see sense when he was stressed.
“You should rest. It’s been a crazy morning, and now that we know there’s a little one inside you, you need all the rest you can get,” he said softly and smoothed her silky her. “I’ll clean up here and join you, ok?”
She shook her head. “The cleaning can wait. Right now I just want to snuggle with my husband and rest.”
He let her lead him back to their bedroom where they got under the covers. Riley’s head was resting on Mac’s bare chest while they unconsciously put they integrated hands on her stomach.
“We will have to tell Matty at some point.” she heard him say.
“As I know Matty, she probably already knows.”
She felt him chuckle and smiled. “That actually might be true.”
They stayed cuddled in a comfortable silence. When Riley was about to fall back asleep, Mac whispered against her hair, “If it’s a boy, I was thinking of the name Jack.”
A slow, loving smile spread across her face. “Jack James MacGyver.”
His eyes found hers. “And if it’s a girl?”
“Gwen MacGyver.” Once again his amazing wife surprised him with her perception and sensitivity. They never spoke about his aunt, for there were always more pressing matters to discuss, and yet she knew what she meant to him.
His eyes bored into her own with such an intense emotion that took her breath away. “What?” she whispered.
“You’re going to be an amazing mom, Riles.”
She smiled tiredly. “We both are. We’re going to kill it in the parental department.”
He laughed quietly and kissed her hair. “Go to sleep. You’re exhausted.”
Riley snuggled up even closer against her husband’s strong body and closed her eyes. “Night, babe. Love you,” she mumbled.
Mac watched his almost sleeping wife and tightened the covers around her. “Love you too, Riles.” After a moment of thought, he caressed her flat stomach lovingly and whispered, “ And I love you too, little one.”