Chapter Text
Three pregnancy tests, one blood test, and a visit with the doctor confirmed it…
Beatrice was one hundred percent pregnant.
She left the doctor’s office in a complete daze, everything feeling completely different than thirty minutes earlier. Everything felt dull and dialed down as if she was swimming through a dream. Her world had been turned upside after what she thought was a lingering case of the flu.
Beatrice wandered the streets of Messina aimlessly, a maelstrom of emotions began running through her head: panic at being responsible for a child; terrified at what the next several months would bring; but also elated at the prospect of telling Benedick.
They agreed to start trying for a family after he returned from a seven month deployment, and well…it had not taken long! Given how far along she was, Beatrice suspected the little one was conceived the night Benedick came home…or the following morning.
She smiled at the thought of her husband; Benedick would be so excited. Now the question remained as to how to tell him. She did not want to come up with some elaborate plan because she did not want to delay the good news. Even so, she still wanted to do something special for him.
Luckily, the window display of a children’s clothing shop caught her eyes. Stopping, Beatrice looked over the superhero themed clothing on the small mannequins and a slow smile formed. She pushed open the shop door, excited at the fact she was about to purchase the first clothes for their son or daughter.
Beatrice had the shop employee wrap up her purchases in a plain box, so as not to give the surprise away with baby themed wrapping paper. After taking the package home, she awaited Benedick to return from the base.
She tried her best to distract herself with chores, but quickly found she couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than a minute. Eventually, Beatrice gave up and resigned herself to pacing the living room.
Finally, finally the front door opened and Benedick came through, grinning when he saw her. “Greetings! The love of your life has arrived home!”
The humor in his voice eased the knot of tension in her stomach, if only for a moment. “Not if it’s just you who has arrived.” She accepted his proffered kiss on the cheek. “How was your day?”
“Full of the usual military bureaucratic nonsense. How was your day?”
“Oh…just…fine,” Beatrice hoped he missed the slight tremor in her voice. Taking a fortifying breath, she cleared her throat. “I…uh…went into town this morning.”
“Did you get me something?” he asked, hopefully, as he did every time she mentioned going out.
“As a matter of fact I did.” Beatrice took the box from the coffee table, and handed it to him. She tried, so very hard, to keep her hands from shaking. “Open it.”
Her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest, as she watched Benedick break the tape at the edge before lifting the lid. His brow furrowed when he pulled out a tiny sailor’s cap. “Um, I already have an issued hat and this one is too small for me.”
“I know that .” Beatrice gestured to the box her impatience covering the fact that her fingers were trembling. “Keep going, there is more.”
Out of the tissue paper, Benedick picked up the little blue Superman shirt: the very same design and color as the one he already owned. “Did I somehow shrink my hat and shirt in the wash?”
Beatrice mentally slapped her head, fighting rolling her eyes at him and giving the surprise away. How in the world was he not getting this? Why would she have gone to town to box up stuff he supposedly shrank? “Noooo, but look at them again. They obviously would not fit you, but who would they fit…?”
“A child,” he shrugged, putting the shirt down in the box. “But we have no children.”
Dropping her hands to her side, Beatrice huffed. Her wonderful, but incredibly dense husband. “In another seven months that will change.” Benedick still stared at her blankly. “The last of your wits went to join the other four it seems,” she muttered, before squaring her shoulders. “I’m pregnant, you fool.”
That finally got through to Benedick as his jaw dropped. He visibly swallowed, looking between her and the little shirt that he gently picked back up. “Pregnant?” he whispered.
“Yes,” Beatrice replied shakily, tears starting to fill her eyes. But she didn’t have a chance to say much more as he wrapped her up tightly in his arms. Burying her face in the crook of his neck, Beatrice closed her eyes to relish in the warmth of his embrace. The comforting scent of his skin calmed Beatrice’s nerves.
Pulling back, Benedick’s eyes were lit with joy and he had that wide, toothy smile that she loved so much; that she hoped their child would also have. “We-you-I can’t…a baby!” his excited babbling ended in something she actually understood.
“A baby!” Beatrice repeated happily, unable to hold back a grin. At her words, Benedick picked her up and twirled her around. Neither of them could stop their giddy laughter, much like the night they confessed their love to each other.
Benedick, suddenly, gently, set Beatrice back on her feet before gathering her close for a deep kiss that left her legs feeling like jelly. Once he pulled back, Benedick sank to his knees to press his lips to her stomach.
Beatrice blamed the hormones when a few tears ran down her cheek. He remained on the carpet, hugging her close. “This calls for a celebration,” his voice suspiciously raspy. Benedick looked up at her, his brown eyes, while red-rimmed, but as soft as she’d ever seen them. “Just the three of us.”
Once upon a time, Beatrice would have laughed in the face at anyone who suggested Benedick would be the father to her children. But here and now? Looking into his loving eyes, running her hand gently through his hair, she could not imagine anyone better.