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‘Can you stop by the grocery store and get me a jar of pickles?’
He’s on his way out of the station when the text comes. Tim looks at it for a few seconds and thinks nothing of he types back, ‘I bought one last Saturday’. It’s currently Tuesday, there’s no way they went through an entire jar of pickles in three days. He throws his bag in the backseat of the truck and is about to start the engine when his phone vibrates again.
‘Get the fucking pickles, Timothy.’
Yeah, today is gonna be a rough one for him.
Tim likes to believe he knows Lucy pretty well these days. So many years and two kids later he’d be an idiot not to pick up on his wife’s mood. Whatever is happening today has put her in her worst one. He also knows what to get her to help her navigate her emotions.
So he stops by the grocery store like a good husband and gets two kinds of pickles (spicy and normal ones), the ridiculously expensive gourmet ice cream she gets only on special occasions and a bottle of tequila. Most of the lights are off when he gets home and he frowns. “Luce?” He calls as he unlocks the door and the house is too quiet for his own comfort. It’s close to dinner time, there should be two little girls fighting over toys and who gets to sleep with Kojo tonight.
“In the kitchen,” She yells back and he moves deeper into their home. The hallway is lined with photos from their dating years, from when the girls were babies, recent ones from school events and family get-togethers. They’ve actually been talking about upgrading to a bigger house. The space much needed as the girls grown up and will need their own rooms instead of sharing one. He finds her indeed in their kitchen, chopping vegetables aggressively.
“Where are the girls?” He asks, putting the grocery bags on the counter.
“I asked for Nyla to take them for the night.” She replies curtly.
“Ah,” He hums and now knows for sure this is serious. Lucy will ask Nyla to look after the kids only when she needs a neutral person in the middle. Genny will always take her side and Angela favours him when they argue about something. Nyla is the only one that will hand them both their asses when they’re being stupid. Which means whatever Lucy has to tell him can go either way. “Did something happen?” He prompts after a few minutes of silence.
Lucy’s shoulders tense, her eyes focused on the cutting board before her. His heart clenches for a moment and then he’s on his feet, pulling her in his arms. It seems that’s her breaking point and then she’s sobbing. Tim hasn’t seen her like this in a while. Distraught to a point where all she can do is cry.
“Hey, hey,” He tries to soothe her by rubbing her back gently. “Everything’s gonna be fine,” He says and it only results in Lucy sobbing harder. He won’t admit it but he’s getting a little scared now. “Luce, come on, you’re scaring me.” He cups her cheek and forces her eyes to meet his. “What’s wrong?” He asks gently and a fresh sob shakes her body.
Tim picks her up easily and moves them to the couch. She wraps herself around him tightly. The only thing he can do right now is hold her and let her feel her feelings. It takes Lucy a good fifteen minutes until she can get her emotions under control. He tries to get up but she grabs onto his arm tightly. “Let me get you some water,” He begs and Lucy nods. He’s back within seconds, taking a seat beside her. She turns to face him fully. “Drink.” He orders her and some of his old TO voice bleeds into the words. Lucy downs half the bottle in one sip, too exhausted to push back. “What’s wrong?” He asks again and watches as a million emotions pass through her eyes.
“I’m pregnant,” She whispers and for a moment he thinks his ears are playing tricks on him. “The doctor confirmed it today,” Her words cement the idea in his head. Amelia came into their lives as a blessing to bring them back together. Rosie was not planned but she wasn’t a surprise either. They weren’t being careful. This? He doesn’t know how to feel about it and if those are his emotions he can’t imagine what Lucy is going through. “I know you wanted a lot of kids but Rosie just got out of diapers and Amelia is doing a lot of things on her own and I-“ He can see the panic rise in her once more. Lucy spent the majority of her early years trying to please everyone around her. Of course her first thought is what everyone else needs from her.
“Lucy,” His voice is low and steady. “What do you want?” The words sit between them for a moment. “Don’t think of me, don’t think of the girls or anyone else. What do you want?”
“But you wanted kids-“ She tries again and he cuts her off, a finger over her lips to stop her.
“Not at the cost of your own comfort and sanity, Lucy Bradford. You know I love nothing more than helping with everything but you’ll go through this change again. Your own body will make space for a whole new person and no matter how many night feedings I do this baby will still need you 24/7. So I’m going to ask you again what do you want? There’s no wrong answer to this question.” Tim sees the tension deflate from her body, her shoulders finally dropping. It only takes her a few moments to reply but Tim will swear later it felt like centuries.
“I don’t want to have an abortion,” She murmurs and she sounds so small something breaks inside of him. “I’m just overwhelmed because I didn't factor this anywhere. Amelia was a surprise, Rosie not so much but we were careful this time. We just-“ Her eyes well up with tears again and he pulls her into his arms.
“It’s going to be alright,” He drops a kiss on her forehead, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo.
“I’m going to be happy about this tomorrow,” She confesses and he nods. “I’m just-“
“Overwhelmed and that’s okay.” He assures her.
They stay like that for a few minutes, wrapped around each thinking of the new adventure they’re about to start.
“You’re getting a vasectomy,” She finally breaks the silence and he laughs.
“First thing on my list tomorrow,” He drops another kiss on her forehead, pulling her even closer. “As soon as possible. This is the last kid we’re having.” She finally laughs, her head tucked against his neck. “I’ll also take you out to celebrate when you’re ready to be happy.” He promises.
“We haven’t been to Treats of Vietnam in ages,” She agrees. “Our babies love their Pho soup.” It was one of the few foods she could stomach the first months during her previous pregnancies.
“I’ll take you to the moon if you want to,” There’s nothing he won’t do for the woman in his arms.
I thought the plane was goin' down
How'd you turn it right around?