Chapter Text
*6 weeks*
Carson woke up feeling a little uneasy, then it hit her. Nausea. She laid still for a few minutes trying to push it down. She focused on Greta’s arm around her, the weight pushing into her ribs. It didn’t work.
She slowly got out of bed trying her best not to disturb the redhead. She barely made it to the toilet before getting sick. She was about to be sick again when there was a knock at the door.
“You okay, peach?” Greta didn’t get an answer and instead heard Carson heave from the other side of the door. “Okay, I’m coming in Car.”
When Greta opened the door Carson was flushing the toilet and standing up grabbing her toothbrush.
“You okay?” Greta was standing behind Carson looking at her through the mirror.
“Yeah, I just woke up and felt sick. Sorry for waking you up.” It came out mumbled as she was brushing her teeth.
“You don’t have to be sorry, Carson. You’re my wife, I want to make sure you’re okay.” She was standing next to her now, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you need anything?”
“No. Thank you. I’ll be back to bed in a few minutes” Greta gave her a quick peck on the lips before heading back to the bedroom. Carson took a deep breath before going under the sink and grabbing one of the pregnancy tests.
“Don’t get your hopes up. It’s probably just a bug, the doctor said it usually doesn’t take on the first try.” She mumbled to herself.
As she was waiting for the test results she was hit with the memory of a few months ago. Greta had been so happy when she walked out of the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test in her hand. That memory was quickly overshadowed by Greta crying on the bathroom floor after having a miscarriage. She shook the memory from her mind before checking the test. She smiled when she saw the ‘pregnant 3+’.
She quietly went back to bed hoping that Greta would still be awake but she was met with the sound of soft snores when she got to the bedroom. The news would have to wait until morning. She had a hard time falling back asleep, thoughts running wildly through her head. The main one being the six weeks left of baseball season. The Peaches had lost two games all season, both on a fluke, and were pretty much a sure thing to win the championship.
Carson woke to an empty bed. She was surprised, Greta wasn’t usually up before her. As she went to get out of bed the bedroom door opened. Greta came in and smiled when she saw Carson awake.
“Mornin’ chickadee. I was coming to check on you and see if you wanted breakfast?” Carson’s stomach flipped at the thought of any breakfast food.
“No. No, uh I’m good. But Greta, I have something to tell you. Well show you something, give you something. Yes. I have a present for you.” Greta arched an eyebrow at the smaller woman. “Close your eyes.”
“If this is just you naked, I would much rather watch.” Greta winked at her, taking full delight in Carson’s cheeks turning bright red.
“Just close your eyes. Please.” Carson gave her a reassuring smile.
Moving quickly once Greta’s eyes were closed Carson dug through her side of the closet for a onesie she had gotten a few weeks ago. It had small peaches on it and said ‘I love my moms’ . She also grabbed the positive pregnancy test from the night before.
“Okay. Open them.” Greta did as she was told first she saw an absolutely beaming Carson, a big smile plastered on her face, second was the onesie and finally the pregnancy test.
“You’re- it worked? You’re pregnant?” Carson could only nod. Greta’s smile matched Carson’s now. “Did you only take one test? When did you take it?”
“Only that one, yeah. Should I take another?” Panic washed over Carson for a second. “We have more, I can take another right now. I figured I would take it since I don’t ever throw up or get sick really but I can take another one. The doctor did say that it might not take on, maybe it’s a false positive. I’m gonna take another on-”
“Carson. Baby, breathe.” Greta cupped Carson’s face in her hands. “I’m sure it’s not a false positive. Take another one later, if you want.” She closed the gap between them pulling Carson into a kiss. Carson pulled away a little too quickly.
“Did you have eggs this morning?” She scrunched up her nose.
“Yeah I made an omelet. Why?”
“You taste like eggs and I don’t think baby likes them.” Carson put her hand on her stomach still making a face.
“I guess that means I need to go brush my teeth, because I definitely want to kiss you more.”
A few hours later Greta was doing her makeup for a night out with Jo and Maybelle when Carson came running in with something in her hands.
“Look!” She shoved a piece of plastic towards her wife.
‘Pregnant 3+’ was on the test in her hands.
“Oh peach, look at you.” Greta’s eyes lit up. “My peach and little peach. Can I kiss you?” Carson nodded and closed the gap between them. Greta tried to pull Carson into her lap but she resisted.
“We don’t have time, we’ll be late. Plus I wouldn’t want to ruin your hair.”
“Fine. But later, you’re all mine.” She gave Carson a wink followed by a quick peck on the lips before fixing her lipstick.
*9 weeks*
“You’re staring again.”
“Sorry. Just, this is a sight I have to get used to.”
“I’m sorry, this sight? Your wife holding a teammate's kid?”
“Her holding a baby, Joey!” Greta had a beaming smile and tears in the corner of her eyes.
“Wait, farm girl knocked you up?”
“She’s not from a farm ya know, and other way around. My egg, her uterus.”
“We’re gonna have a little bird running around the field next season, huh? I’m happy for you Greta and for Carson.” Greta smiled and hugged her best friend as she continued to watch Carson, the woman carrying her baby sleep.
“She’s about nine weeks.” Greta leaned over and picked up her purse digging through it before pulling out an ultrasound. “We had our first appointment yesterday.”
Jo smiled as she looked at the ultrasound. “Look at you go, bird. You’re gonna be the best mom. I know it already. When are you gonna tell everyone else?”
Greta sighed. “We’re waiting a few weeks. Until she’s at least twelve, just to be safe.”
“I get that. If this kid is built like you though, she’s gonna rip poor farm girl in half.”
“Oh she? You think it’s a girl.”
“Just a gut feeling I have and my gut is rarely wrong. But yeah I’m sure she’s gonna be tall like you.” The room fell silent for a few minutes before Jo continued.
“You know, when I was giving Carson one of my talks once, she told me she didn’t want kids. She said she never wanted kids until she saw you holding a baby for the first time. Some fan’s baby for a picture, she said that moment she knew she wanted one with you. When you, when you lost the baby, she called me to be there. But a few days after I had left she called me again, I thought maybe you weren’t okay but it was her.” Greta tilted her head like a confused puppy.
“Care to elaborate?”
“She was upset. Crying actually. She said she thought she was okay but she hadn’t really given herself time to feel anything and you were back at work so she had time to be alone with her thoughts and it hit her. She was really upset, we talked for like three hours.” Jo shrugged like it was nothing.
“Remember when you hated her? You told me she wasn’t worth it.” Greta teased, she was about to speak again when she heard Carson.
“Greta, take the baby.”
“What?”
“The baby, take him. Please.” Greta quickly
grabbed the baby as Carson bolted from the couch heading towards the bathroom before realizing the door was still shut. She made her way to the kitchen garbage before losing her lunch.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. You’re sick and you were holding the baby.” Shirley always did have perfect timing.
“Shirley, she’s not sick.” Greta handed the baby over to his mother.
“She just threw up in my kitchen!”
“Shirley, Shirl. She's not sick. Please believe me.” Greta practically begged.
“Then why is she throwing up?”
“She’s pregnant.” It slipped, truly. Carson was walking out of the bathroom just as Greta finished saying it.
“Oh! Oh that’s so exciting!” Carson was giving Greta the death glare.
“Oh you’re in big trouble.” Jo leaned in to whisper as they watched Shirley wrap Carson in a tight hug, the baby squished between them.
“Definitely.”
“What did the other girls say? Did you tell them?” Shirley was ecstatic.
“They don’t know yet! We’re waiting a few more weeks to tell them.”
“Like how many weeks? Because this is a really big secret to keep.”
“Three weeks, a month tops. Don’t say anything to anyone, even your husband.” Carson had turned into Coach in the moment and Shirley immediately nodded.
On the car ride home Carson looked to Greta who had insisted on driving.
“I heard you tell Jo.”
“I was just really excited, I had to tell someone.” Greta was rambling and Carson couldn’t help but laugh at how much she’d rubbed off on the woman.
“It’s okay, I told Lu. For the same reason. But I give it about four days before the rest of the team knows.” Carson laughed.
“Wanna do over under? I give her at least a full week.”
“Oh you’re on Gill.”
Carson was right, it was exactly four days before they started getting texts from the other girls. Including a very lengthy apology text from Shirley.
*12 weeks*
Carson usually loved mornings. She loved the quietness before the rest of the world woke up. This morning was different. She woke up on the couch to the sound of Greta banging something around in the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” Carson rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she walked into the kitchen.
“Have you seen the ultrasound picture? The one I've been keeping in my bag.” Greta looked panicked, her hair was a mess and she was breathing heavily.
“What? No. I thought it was in your bag. Take the one from the fridge. Just stop throwing shit around.”
“I can’t take the one from the Fridge!” Greta was yelling now and Carson couldn’t help but look at her with wide eyes.
“Woah. Why? I have another scan next week. We can get a new one.” Carson was slowly approaching Greta. Trying to take her hands but she pulled away.
“No. You don’t understand. The one from my bag. I folded it and I tucked it under my belt on my uniform. Every game since we went to the doctor, I wrote the scores on the back. I don’t think you should start today.”
“What? Greta, it’s the LAST game. The championship game. MY LAST GAME! I’m not starting Ana.”
“Please Carson, for me. Unless I find the ultrasound. Please.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in things like this. Tokens and luck. I thought you believed in Zoology and ice cubes?” Greta wasn’t listening she was still rummaging through her stuff.
“Could it be in the locker room?”
“Yes! I think that’s where I left it! I’ll meet you there.” Greta gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left.
Carson walked into the locker room and was greeted by cheers from the rest of the players. She waved around to everyone before heading over to her little cubby.
“Please don’t start today, Car. I just have a feeling.”
“Did you find your picture?” Carson didn’t look towards the redhead. She was getting everything ready, her uniform, plays, batting order.
“Yeah. It was here.” Greta unfolded it showing Carson before folding it back up and tucking it under her belt.
“Okay good, that means I can start.”
“Car, please.”
“Look,” Carson turned to her wife as she started to pull on her uniform. “If you’re so concerned, I’ll start Ana at first. You can sit.”
“Oh Peach, come on. I’m just thinking about your safety.”
“Don’t ‘peach’ me. You’re sitting out the first inning.” Carson finished getting ready as Greta slumped over to a bench on the far side of the room. Carson made her final speech handing a pen to each of the players to sign a beam as they have done for the last two years.
“Ana, you’re on first. Gill is benched.” Carson nodded before heading out to the field. The whole team looked at Greta with surprise as she shrugged and sat down.
The first few innings were a back and forth between the two teams. Carson threw up twice, Jess took a ball to the face, Lupe almost blew her arms out, and Greta watched it all from the bench. Carson finally decided to play her in the fifth inning.
“It’s the top of the ninth, the Blue Sox have the bases loaded, there’s one out and the score is tied. This is a ball game if i have ever seen one. If the Peaches can hold it together we can see them take home their second title!” the announcer spoke through tinny speakers.
Lupe threw a perfect pitch and the bat connected. Jess caught the ball and threw it straight to Carson at home. She had thrown her mask off and was ready for the out. The runner from third barreled into the catcher knocking her flat on her back. The whole stadium was silent as the Peaches, especially Greta, waited with baited breath for a reaction from Carson. She slowly reached her hand into her glove pulling out the ball and hoisting it above her head.
“THAT'S THREE OUTS! With an amazing play by Shaw.” the announcer spoke over the cheers of the stadium.
“Ana, you’re taking my spot in the line up if I'm not back” Carson was taking her gear off as she looked up at Ana. The team watched as Carson limped towards the locker room.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Lupe actually looked concerned for her friend.
“Yeah I’m good, just need a minute. Can you tell them of the change in the line up?” Lupe nodded and headed to the booth.
Carson sat as soon as she hit the locker room taking a deep breath. She was sure she was okay, just had the wind knocked out of her. She placed a hand on her stomach “You okay in there little peach?” A wave of guilt washed over her as Greta’s voice from the morning echoed through her head. She made her way back to the dugout as Ana was heading up to bat. She looked at the scoreboard and sighed. Only one runner on base, second at that and one out. She quickly called a time out.
“Ana, hey listen. All you have to do is bring Gill home. There’s a hole between center and left, aim for it. Go for second if you can.” Ana nodded a little surprised Carson wasn’t jumping back in.
Carson stood on the side making eye contact with Greta giving her the signal to steal. Greta nodded and took off as soon as the first pitch was thrown.
Strike one. All Ana had to do was hit it. Second pitch and the bat connected. The ball flew to center field where it was caught but Greta was almost home. She slid right before the ball was in the catcher's glove. The whole team ran out of the dugout wrapping Greta in a hug. After a few seconds she sought out Carson pulling her into a kiss lifting her off the ground.
When pictures were being taken Greta constantly had a hand on Carson’s stomach.
“Now Mrs. Gill,”
“Please call me Greta.”
“Okay, Greta we know the other ladies have tokens or some sort of good luck charm but you’ve said before you don’t believe in that. Is that still true?” The sportscaster was shorter than Greta.
“Actually this year I do have a little charm. I wouldn’t call it a good luck charm, per se, but this year is different.” Greta was smiling so much her cheeks were starting to hurt.
“Can we see this charm? Or is it one you keep secret?” Greta laughed nervously
“Well this charm also involves Carson. Do you think we could get her over here?”
“Uh, sure.” Greta called for Carson who came running over with a big smile on her face. She radiated sunshine.
“So Greta here tells us that she has carried a good luck charm for some of this season, and it involves you.” The report looked to Carson who looked at Greta. “Would you mind showing us?”
“Oh. Uh, yeah. Sure, that’s fine, yeah,” she looked to Greta for reassurance that this was the right moment to announce their pregnancy. All she saw was love and excitement in her eyes. “go ahead and show them.” Both of them were beaming as Greta untucked a small piece of paper from under her belt. She unfolded it so the image was facing her.
“So this is when I got it, we had a late game that day and this is the score. Along with the score from every other game since that day. And this,” She slowly turned the picture around, “is why I needed Carson here.” She held the ultrasound in one hand and placed the other on Carsons stomach over the smaller woman’s hand.
“Oh. Another little peach is on the way? This is the first child for both of you, right?” Both women nodded.
“Now if you don’t mind we have a victory to celebrate!” Greta pulled Carson away smiling before pulling her I to a kiss.
The celebration went on for most of the night with all of the girls having a great time. Carson decided around two am that she was ready to call it a night.
“Hey Greta, I’m gonna head home. Jess said she’ll drop you off if you want to stay.” Carson was rubbing her left eye as she rolled her neck.
“You doing okay?”
“Yeah. Really sore from earlier and tired. I’ll see you when you get home.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss her wife.
“I’ll come with you. Help you alleviate those sore muscles.” Carson could smell the wine on her breath.
“Not tonight babe. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired.” Carson wrapped her arms around Greta’s waist burying her face in her wife’s chest.
“I meant just rub your shoulders, a nice massage. After all you deserve it coach.” Greta had her chin resting on Carson’s head. “Also I need to lay down, because the world is starting to spin.”
“Are you drunk? Like actually drunk? I guess my massage will be coming in the morning. Come on, let’s go home.”
“Hey.” Greta lifted Carson’s chin to look in her eyes. “I love you.” There it was, the dopey smile Greta fell in love with and could fall in love with a million times over. The smile she swore put the sun in the sky.
“I love you too, but let’s go home ‘cause I’m exhausted.”
The couple walked hand in hand to the car before heading home for the night.