Work Text:
Nene stared down at the pregnancy test in her hands.
Two lines stared back up at her.
The sun was setting through the window. Despite how quiet of a night it was all supposed to be, she wanted to scream. Cry. Squeal?
All she did was giggle under her breath and watch her grin in the bathroom mirror.
Part of her wanted to burst out of that door, grab Rui by the shoulders, and excitedly ramble and ramble until they both ended up either giggling or in tears. The other part just wanted to live this moment forever, sit in the bathroom giggling to herself and looking down at the test until it started to feel more real.
She heard a quick knock on the door, then Rui’s voice.
“Nene? My Nene, are you alright?”
“Yeah-!”
She tried to suppress the teary quiver in her voice. She also had to gulp down the instinct to spill everything right that moment.
She reached for the door without thinking, before seeing her dress still draped over the counter behind her, and her nice shoes sitting propped up against a lower cabinet.
Right. She still had a dinner to go to. One she had to act normal during.
She slipped the test into her purse.
God, it felt like ten thousand butterflies - no, something much more forceful. Ten thousand birds were inside her body. The kind with wide, powerful feathered wings that beat and brushed against her chest. She could choke on the thin, empty air in there.
She pulled on her dress, preemptively trying not to tremble. One shaky hand steadied as it hit the doorknob. She took a deep breath.
“Sorry for the wait, um- I just had an upset stomach.”
She looked up, watching Rui’s eyes scan her. Looking just as nervous as her, somehow.
“I still feel up to dinner, it’s alright. I’ll tell you if I feel too bad to continue.”
Rui nodded and quickly ducked into the bathroom himself. Nene turned and sat on the bed across from the door. She smiled at the nothingness on the floor.
Dinner tonight with Rui. The perfect time to tell him, and make it special.
God, they’d wanted this. They hadn’t been exactly trying, but they’d discussed and he’d always been so eager, so on board. A thousand times he’d pulled baby rompers off a hanger and talked just a little too enthusiastically about the practicality of it. Enough times he’d told her she should test herself “just in case”, with something glimmering and hopeful in his eyes that she was sure she couldn’t see the full extent of.
Just to think of the way his eyes would show his smile before his lips caught all the way up, the way she could always see it when a thousand ideas and thoughts were running through his head at once, made her heart race in just the right way.
She snapped out of it just in time to hear the door click unlocked. Rui stepped out, dressed in a nice suit.
“Going all out for tonight?” Nene chuckled, playfully swatting the air in front of him.
She looked up as he bent over to plant a kiss on her forehead. “Mmm, I remember showing up to our first date in this. I was a little… er, nervous to impress you.”
“Well it worked, didn’t it?”
Rui chuckled and stood back up.
“I guess so. It just makes me a little nostalgic.”
Nene stepped out of the car, feeling Rui’s hand grab onto hers at the first opportunity.
“Hey, this is a nice place… How did you even find it?” Nene asked.
Rui chuckled and squeezed her hand a bit tighter. “Ah, it’s easy to find places like this online now. And can’t I just treat my Nene every once in a while?”
She giggled and followed him inside. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t free her hand from his.
By the time they had gotten their food, Rui had gone from mildly concerned to seemingly anxious out of his mind. Sure, on the outside, he didn’t look much different to the outside observer, but Nene could tell there was something running around his brain.
She didn’t want to pry too far, but he seemed to notice her stare first.
“Hm?”
“Ah, I just thought you looked a little… preoccupied, Nene.” Rui said, one hand fidgeting idly with a loose strand of hair.
Nene sighed. Of course she also looked preoccupied as much as he did. Maybe she needed a deep breath and he was picking up her energy a bit too much.
“No, I just… feel a little nostalgic, like you said. This feels exactly like when we used to go to crazy places for dates all the time, and something would always blow up.”
Rui chuckled, his lips turning to a smile she couldn’t tell whether amused or mischievous.
Nene sighed and looked around. “Rui, please tell me none of our appetizers are going to explode in my face.”
Rui went back to poking his food with his fork.
“No promises.”
“Rui.”
One of her arms, without her fully realizing, landed across her stomach protectively.
The waiter came back, asking something about drinks.
“Mm, this wine looks good. One of those. And for my Nene?”
Nene froze a bit. Shit. Shit. What was the first thing she could think of?
“Uh, just… a lemonade, thanks.” She turned back to Rui. “My stomach’s still bothering me a little, I don’t want to bother anything further…”
Rui nodded and seemed to take that as an answer. Thank God, she didn’t know if she could come up with a better answer.
“So… you said you’d had plans for the whole night? What are your big plans?” Nene asked.
That amused and mischievous grin returned to Rui’s face.
Rui twirled a long clump of hair around one finger, his voice wobbly in a way Nene placed as certainly planning something.
“Ah, well it’s a surprise.”
The… park?
Nene wasn’t one to doubt Rui’s plans, but there were very few reasons to go to the local park after dark.
Yet there they were. Rui must have been planning something.
The sun was already mostly set by then, the night breeze chilling her slightly. If she’d known they were going to be out in the middle of a field at this hour, maybe she’d have grabbed an extra jacket or something. Even the birds were mostly silent by then.
This felt like the place to say something. Her fingers drifted to the test still shoved in her purse. When they got a quiet moment… it’d all be better to focus on his reaction. It’d be priceless, for sure, to hear his excited tone and watch him grin like an idiot about it.
Nene’s eyes followed the bushes as they walked by. She squinted to see the dark leaves of a tree, and leaned to make sure she could see behind the benches. Some robot contraption had to be about to jump out at her by now.
She heard a light chuckle ahead of her as Rui noticed her obvious caution.
“I planned something… rather special. I actually wanted to have a robot jump out of that bush back there.”
Nene flinched back from the bush he pointed at, obviously eliciting another chuckle from Rui.
“...but I thought that wouldn’t be the right thing for this occasion.”
Nene rolled her eyes. “...Thanks for warning me.”
Ahead of them were two benches, set atop a ledge with a perfect view of the first few stars appearing over the vast lake. Rui beckoned her closer, then sat down on one of the benches.
Nene sat down next to him, leaning over on his shoulder. He moved his arm so she could wrap her arms around it.
She kicked her feet a little just to do something as Rui seemed to rustle around looking for something. Dust clouded up at her feet, collecting on the paved patch ahead, and on the various items left underneath the benches. A water bottle, a half torn up magazine, and a whole laptop? Who even left this stuff here-
“Nene, could I see your camera? I’d like to take a picture here.”
“Mhm.” Nene nodded and outstretched her arms to give him the purse-
Wait. Shit. No, the test.
Just as Rui’s fingertips brushed it, she pulled back all of a sudden.
“...Sorry… um, I think I put it in a different pocket than usual.”
She pretended to file through the various pockets and zippers before handing him the camera. He propped it up against the bench next to them and set the timer. He crowded up next to her again for the camera.
As he went to retrieve it, Nene’s gaze still followed him.
“...I know you’re planning something, Rui. What is it?”
“Mmm, you’ll see.” He leaned over and reached an arm past her legs, grabbing the abandoned laptop.
“What-”
Whatever the next thing she was going to ask was, it completely slipped from her brain as she saw a light appear over the water. Then two.
A whole army of drones flew upward in a thousand different colors, shining rainbow lights onto the water below. Her own skin and the ground at her feet was instantly painted with colors.
She wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.
It was beautiful. She had no idea how he coordinated so many drones… or how he could have hidden so many drones to surprise her. And yet, there he was.
There was something so absurd about this man constructing, concealing, and then releasing hundreds of drones at a public park. And yet, it worked.
“Rui, this is-”
Another hand made contact with hers. She looked over and interrupted herself when she saw Rui.
Not sitting next to her anymore. His face was splashed with all the colors, he was smiling up at her with nervous, teary eyes - and he was on one knee, with a tiny box clasped between his hands.
Wait.
He didn’t know.
Her heart sank. God, he didn’t know!
“Um, wow- I-”
She stammered, looking for an answer. All the words stuck in her throat. Her heart screamed YES, her brain clawed and screamed to get out of that situation.
“I-Wait… Rui…”
She watched his hands shake just a little.
This was a big decision. God, why’d she have to complicate it?! He didn’t know about the elephant in the room. Or really, the baby in the room. He at least deserved to know before making a decision like that. Maybe he’d change his mind- no, she hoped not. Or maybe if it was better for them- Why was she thinking like that?
“Rui, I… please, I can’t…”
She couldn’t stammer out the rest of her thought before it dissolved. She watched a bit of the light fade from Rui’s eyes. Only then did she realize how those words sounded.
No. No, I’m not rejecting you. That’s not what I mean. I just need to tell you first…
“Rui, I- no, I…”
Wrong words. Absolutely wrong words.
“Not what I meant- I- I just… Please stop-”
Nene sat on the side of the bed with her head propped up on her hands, staring at the floor.
She stole a quick glance to Rui’s side. He was still. He breathed too quickly to actually be asleep.
The ring box still sat on his side table, shut and almost tucked behind the alarm clock as if to hide it.
She quickly turned back away before her heart had a chance to drop too far down to her feet.
Rui rustled next to her. She felt him sit up behind her, and a hand on her shoulder.
“Nene?”
She gulped in a deep breath and turned around.
Rui’s eyes immediately turned away.
“Nevermind.”
“No, no. I can tell it’s bothering you.”
She put her hands on the sides of his face and brought their eyes together.
Rui sighed and grabbed her by the wrists, pulling her hands away.
“Nene, I… apologize for last night. If I’m going too fast, please tell me. I was just very eager, I’d like to go at your pace, then. If getting engaged now isn’t what you want, I will wait.”
Nene shook her head.
“No, I’m sorry, um… I really didn’t mean it like that. I planned to tell you that night, and then when you proposed I panicked…”
“Tell me what?” His eyes tracked hers. He grabbed her purse and handed it to her just as she reached for it.
“I… um… I thought it’d be good news, but I wanted you to know before you made a decision like that, because it might change your plans a lot, I know. I didn’t want you to go in blind… um… it just felt like I’d be springing it on you otherwise.”
She felt a hand on the side of her face now, warm and gentle.
“My Nene, you’re rambling… You can tell me anything.”
His eyes were warm. Warmer than putting your hands in front of the fireplace in the winter months, enjoying a hot cocoa, or a thousand warm sweaters.
She smiled and handed him the test.
“I… just thought you should know first. If you don’t want to get married for now, um- it’s okay…”
She stared down at the bedsheets below in complete silence for a few of the longest seconds she’d ever experienced.
“Ah, um, thank you for telling me-” came Rui’s voice.
Nene looked up to see that same warm expression, but slightly different. He was trying to keep a straight face, clearly, but a smile reached to his eyes first, and his lips trembled just about as much as his fingers did.
“Nene, how do you feel about it?”
He looked more like he was asking for permission than anything. Permission to show all the excitement that kept building beneath his poker face.
Nene grinned wider. “I mean, I’ve been waiting for this for so long. I think… I’m excited beyond words, Rui. We’re going to have a baby.”
Only when those words left her lips did it actually start feeling real to her. So very, very real all of a sudden.
She looked up with teary eyes, just to see the giant grin blossom over Rui’s face. His trembling hands reached toward her, grabbed her sides, and held on just gently enough.
“I… I will do my best for you both, Nene.”
Before she knew it, she was pulled into his arms, resting her head against his chest.
She sniffled, holding back shaky tears of just about every emotion.
Rui leaned away from her. One arm reached back and the box dragged off the side table.
“And… if I may, my offer still stands.”
Nene grabbed his hand with both of hers.
“Yes. Absolutely…” Nene sniffled.
“Then,” Rui flipped open the box and held the ring out. “I believe this is yours.”
As soon as Nene felt the ring slip onto her finger, she collapsed in tears into Rui’s chest. Rui leaned back into her, body shaking in a way that told her he was probably in tears just as much.
One of his hands wrapped around her and landed with his palm flat against her chest. The other held her hand, thumb idly brushing over her new ring over and over.
And there, she had everything she could’ve wanted.