Chapter Text
“Oh fuck,” Roy said, looking at the test Keeley held in their en suite bathroom.
“Yeah,” she nodded, agreeing with his statement completely.
The next thing she knew he was grabbing his black leather jacket and leaving their home. She would've followed him if she wasn’t completely frozen in place, still staring at the two positive lines, one fainter than the other.
They had only been married for a month, they had never talked about their timeline for having kids. They both assumed children were in their future, but there was no conversation further from that.
Keeley pulled out her phone. “Babe? Can you come over? I know it’s Tuesday and you probably have big important meetings and shit-,”
“I don’t care, I’ll cancel them. I’m coming over,”
-
Coach Beard and Ted eyed Roy marching into the locker room, rather more defiant than they usually see him. They had their necks craned to the side, sitting in their swivel chairs in their shared office.
“You see that, Coach?” Ted asked.
“Oh yeah,” Beard nodded.
“He’s more lost than Nemo in Finding Nemo,” Ted quipped.
“You can say that again,” Beard agreed.
“Roy!” Ted got up, going over to Roy who was busy throwing towels on the ground, that Will just folded. Ted tried his best to put on his happiest smile. “How are you doing today?”
“Argh,” Roy grumbled back, throwing a football on the ground.
“I’m gonna take that as a not-so-great, then,” Ted replied as the players started to make quick traffic of the locker room. “Let’s go inside the office.” He subtly tried to guide him inside, closing the door behind him. Ted didn't want to make a scene out of this.
Roy started pacing the office, fiddling with the wedding ring on his left ring finger. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Ted sat back down at his desk, trying to pretend to be busy, gesturing to Beard to do the same.
“Oi!” Roy called out after a while. “Aren’t you going to give me a fucking lecture on why I shouldn’t be pouting?”
Beard and Roy looked at Ted. “Ah, no. I don’t think that would help you to be honest. And I don’t know why you’re pouting, to begin with. I mean, it could be that the towels were folded too good by my man Will over there-,”
“Oh, fuck off,” Roy spat, continuing his pacing.
Higgins miraculously knocked on the door. “May I come in?”
“Of course, Higgins, what’s shakin’?” Ted asked.
Higgins walked in, closing the door behind him. “Sorry to bother you right before training, but Rebecca wanted to pass on to you all that she had to leave work early.”
“Everything alright?” Beard asked Ted.
Ted and Rebecca were engaged and planning for their wedding in July after the season finished. They finally realized that they loved each other and didn’t want to spend a single moment apart. Keeley thought it was a wonderful love story co-workers turned into lovers, excited that they can double date.
“Oh yeah, she forgot she had a…dermatology appointment,” Ted made up, hoping no one would notice his lie.
“Hmm,” Beard nodded, half-believing it.
“What’s up with him?” Higgins nodded to Roy who was now just standing still and pouting.
“He’s been going back-n-forth for minutes now, we can’t figure out why,” Ted shrugged.
“Lemme guess, you accidentally bleached one of your black shirts,” Higgins said.
“That’s a good one,” Ted pointed at him.
“No!” Roy yelled, making everyone silent. “Something fucking big is fucking happening, but I can’t talk about it because it’s not my news to share, except it kinda is but it really isn’t, and I’m scared to fucking death about it.”
The three of the other men looked around the room. “You know what this is time for?” Ted asked.
“Diamond Dogs round-up!” Higgins, Beard, and Ted all yelled. They all started to bark joyfully as they all took their positions.
“Fuck, no,” Roy shook his head.
“So it seems that Roy is in a dilemma of sorts with someone,” Ted explained. “That we all can or cannot hypothesize what or who it is about.”
Roy grumbled again. “I hate this already.”
“I’m sure you do,” Ted smiled. “But whatever this situation is, he is scared to make this next jump. What should he do?”
“If I may,” Higgins was the one who most likely understood the reference the most, being a father to five boys. “Embrace the challenge. It is new and scary, but also wonderful and powerful. But above all, it will be lovely.”
“But what if I don’t have a fucking wonderful, powerful, lovely history with it?” Roy asked, somehow getting angrier.
“Who cares?” Beard stated. “Doesn’t mean you can’t make lovely new memories. Your past is not your future, baby.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Ted smiled. “Keep swimming upstream brother, use that lifeboat like that that snotty guy did on the Titanic.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?” Roy questioned. He looked around trying to understand why Beard, Ted, and Higgins were smiling. He grumbled again, trying to bite back a smile. “You all are the lifeboats aren’t you?”
“Yes, we are,” Ted grinned.
“What are you going to do?” Higgins asked, loving every moment of this conversation.
“Can I take today off? I need to take a drive to sort some shit out,” Roy asked them.
“Yeah, of course,” Ted nodded.
And with that, he left.
***
Rebecca barged into Roy and Keeley’s townhouse. “So I wasn’t sure what the emergency was so I brought both wine and vodka! I am noticing now I should’ve brought food as well.”
“No!” Keeley cried into the fluffy pink pillow.
“That wasn’t the response I was expecting,” Rebecca replied, setting the items down and joining her friend on the couch. She stepped out of her high heels, grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch to put over them. “What’s wrong?”
“This!” Keeley handed her the stick.
It took a second for Rebecca to process what it was. Then a sort of melancholy sadness-like happiness flowed through her. “Oh! Well, I can take you to a clinic?”
“I want it, that’s the problem,” Keeley cried. “The baby.”
“Then why are you crying?” Rebecca asked, pulling the pillow out from Keeley’s arms.
“So I took the bloody test with Roy because I was a week late. We didn’t think anything about it because work has been a lot lately so it could’ve been stress. He said ‘oh fuck,’ and basically ran out the door,” Keeley complained. “He ran, Rebecca!”
“I see,” Rebecca nodded, bringing her friend closer. “Roy had a weird childhood, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he isn’t terribly close with his parents.”
“Maybe he needs to wrap his head around this…Come to terms with all this,” Rebecca offered. “He always comes back.”
“He’s a runner when he’s scared,” Keeley agreed. “Although he can’t move that fast anymore because of his knee.”
Rebecca nodded then paused. “Keeley…you’re pregnant!”
“Aw fuck, yeah I am,” She smiled. She lifted her shirt to see if there was a bump. “It’s probably so small now.”
“What do you want to do?” Rebecca asked. “I have the entire day just for you.”
“Can we get lunch together? Pretend it’s just another day?” Keeley asked.
“Of course,” Rebecca nodded.
They found themselves at the Crown and Anchor Pub of all places, Rebecca with a pint and Keeley with a Shirley Temple, served with a wink from Mae. With the fish and chips settling in their stomachs, Keeley unlocked her phone.
“So, we need to talk about your wedding,” Keeley said. “I guess I'll be like proper pregnant then.”
“Right,” Rebecca agreed, a lump in her throat.
Keeley turned her phone around to show her friend. “So as wedding planner slash bridesmaid, I oughta look good but not too good.” It was a turquoise-colored floor-length gown, with flowy chiffon fabric. Simple, but dazzling. “What do you think, babe?”
“It’s wonderful, Keeley,” Rebecca smiled, folding her hands in her lap. She wished Ted was here, he would fix everything.
Keeley shut her phone off, putting it back in her purse. “Oi, out with it. What is wrong with you?”
“Keeley…,” Rebecca started, already feeling the tears fall. “I can’t have kids. I’m infertile.”
“Oh,” Keeley said. “How shitty of me to only talk about myself-.”
“Stop that talk right now!” Rebecca ordered. “Shit, you deserve to be happy about this!”
“I am confused about how to feel,” Keeley admitted.
Rebecca sighed, grabbing her friend’s hands. “My time to have children has passed, but I can fill that gap…I’m so happy for you. Words can’t even describe it. I just wanted to tell you where I’m coming from. God, I wish Ted and I could have a baby of our own. But we have Henry, and that is more than enough for us.”
“Babe, you’re gonna be the best Aunt Rebecca ever,” Keeley promised. “And it’s completely fine to be sad and happy at the same time, okay? Don’t ever think you need to hide your feelings from me.”
“Thank you, Keeley,” Rebecca smiled at that. “Let’s take you home to your husband, shall we?”
***
Keeley entered their house to see Roy standing at the door, waiting for her to come back.
“I--I don’t know what to fucking say to you,” Roy said, who looked like he’d been crying, gripping the bouquet of wildflowers so hard his knuckles were turning white. “I’m sorry.”
Keeley was definitely not expecting that as she walked in the door. “Oh, Roy.” She scooped him in a hug, putting the flowers on the table.
“I shouldn’t have fucking run. I’m so fucking sorry,” Roy shook his head. “I need to embrace this change, you know? I wasn’t expecting it. We never talked-.”
Keeley let go of the hug. “I know. We’ve barely been married for a month.” Keeley acknowledged.
“I want this baby with you. So fucking bad,” Roy smiled.
“I do too,” Keeley breathed out.
“I am fucking scared though,” Roy said.
Keeley nodded into Roy’s shoulder. “I’m scared too, Roy.”
They sat on the couch together, Roy’s arms wrapped around his wife. “I had a weird childhood. My parents were great, but you know I’m not that close to them. I was close to my mum but my dad...,” Roy trailed off while Keeley nodded. “I just want this to be different.”
“I get that, love,” Keeley said. “It will be.”
“But I’m fucking angry all the time, I would never ever want to be angry towards our baby,” Roy’s voice got softer.
“I know that,” Keeley nodded. “What’s really going on then?”
He sighed, rubbing his beard. “What if they turn out like me?”
“What, a rich and famous football player-turned-coach?” Keeley asked, kissing her husband’s hands.
Roy chuckled then frowned. “Someone who is constantly fucking mad at the world, with a pissy attitude. I’m a terrible person, love.”
“Well, that’s fucking wrong. If you were a terrible person do you think I would be married to you? That I want to be pregnant with your child?” Keeley turned to him, holding his face. “We’ll do this together…Babe, we’re gonna be parents. We’re having a baby.”
With tears still in his eyes, Roy turned his body towards her. “Can I?” He gestured.
Keeley nodded, beaming from ear to ear. “Go on, Roy-O.”
Roy hesitantly touched her stomach. “Hi there. I’m your dad. I won’t lie, I’m fucking terrified, but I’ll give it my best shot. I love you more than words can ever describe.”
“Well said, love,” Keeley kissed him on the cheek. “You’re gonna have a great life, little one. Just wait.”
“Phoebe is gonna be so excited,” Roy gushed, wrapping his arms around her again. “Can we tell her and my sister soon?”
“Of course babe,” Keeley nodded. “I do have something to tell you.”
“Uh-oh,” Roy grunted.
“No, no, it’s nothing bad. I may have talked to Rebecca about it…,” Keeley grimaced. “She won’t tell anyone though.”
“That’s fine, Keeley. It’s your fucking business. Your best friends, I promise it’s okay,” Roy smiled. “I love you.”
“I love you, Roy-O,” Keeley kissed him.