RP Log with tacticalmind | Hopes Up

[doesntwaltz]

[Follows THIS | Backdated to Mothers Day]

Rob tossed his car keys onto the bed and then up-ended the paper bag from the pharmacy he had just arrived back at the Austin home with, tipping out no less than six different pregnancy tests. No two boxes looked alike and he turned to Leila sheepishly. "I didn't know which one to get!" he said, already on the defense of his clearly dorky behaviour. One test they needed, but he ended up coming home with six... and a bag of black jelly beans just because he felt like them. He had stood in the pharmacy for close to an half an hour trying to figure out what one he needed, reading over all the boxes until his head started to spin with potential pregnancy facts. The reading didn't even help in his decision, so he just bought the six most expensive ones, figuring they must be the better options. If he brought them all home, then Leila could figure out which one was the one to go for, but he had to admit, the one with the little screen and not blue lines was kind of cool.


Getting to the checkouts had been a whole other story, too. Taking each test from his basket and lining them up on the counter neatly for the checkout girl, all he earned was a weird, questioning look for her, leading Rob to stretch his truth a little, telling her he was a solider who had just come home from a long deployment... and that he had a lot of girlfriends. She didn't seem overly impressed, but it's all he could come up with at the time before he proceeding to clear his throat and start innocently whistling 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' while he waited for her to ring up the purchase. His credit card was offered over and then he bid a hasty retreat from the store, making a note to never go back to that one again. Now he was back in the guestroom they were occupying while they hung around in the wake of Mike's accident. He was anxiously trying to wrestle open the bag of jelly beans, even if it wasn't the best idea for breakfast. "There was like a whole aisle of them and not even any instructions on what to look for. Why do they all seem to be blue, anyway? It ain't like a baby is born blue, is it? Your belly ain't gonna go blue when it hits a certain level. The dude doesn't even shoot blue sperm. You don't pee blue. It's just a conspiracy, meant to confuse us poor dudes trying to look inconspicuous and only managing to make a complete dork of themselves," he insisted just as he got the bag split open abruptly with a rough tug and the jelly beans went flying all over the bed.

Leila looked down at the explosion of black jelly beans with a scrunch of her nose. She hated the bloody things. She hated anything to do with licorice - even remotely. She did start to pick them up, though. Gathering them for Rob so he could put them back in the packet and be able to eat them. She didn't really understand the fetish for blue boxes either when it came to pregnancy tests. When she'd poured the escaped candy back into the bag she eased off the bed and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. She'd managed to pull on one of his shirts as a compromise with clothing. "You gonna be okay, baby?"

Rob nodded as he hugged her back and then rubbed his hands over his face when the hug eased off. "Yeah, it's all good, right? I mean, even if it's not, we're still trying. By the way, the pharmacist thinks I'm an adulterer and Mikey thinks I'm mental with a jelly bean fetish. I told him that's what was in the bag. I nearly bowled him over in the hall, and that's all I could think of to say was in there. He just looked at me like I was mental. Who has a desperate need to get jelly beans from a pharmacy at eight in the morning? No one."

"A pregnant woman?" Leila suggested with a slight smirk. She kept her hand on Rob's back as she rubbed it soothingly, her eyes on his face. He was more nervous than she was, but Leila just couldn't bring herself to start freaking out until she'd actually peed on the stick. The wait was going to be agonising. She glanced down at the array of packages and finally leaned forward to pick up the one with the electronic display. "I feel like I'm about to piss on a remote. I'm surprised they haven't come up with an app for your iPhone so that you can just piss on that, and it'll automatically tell you if you're pregnant, or not. I'm sure Mikey will get it, and the pharmacist can just spend the rest of her life wondering about the man with... six girlfriends."

Rob scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I tried to explain that I was a soldier and had been away a long time, but I think it just more dropped her notion of soldiers in her mind down about ten slots of respect. Which sucks, because it's the pharmacy Mikey's family goes to, and this ain't a huge town. Plus, Mikey ain't going to jump to the pregnant conclusion. I don't think he thought it was jelly beans in there, but god only knows what else his brain will come up with. But better they think I'm a nutcase when I already have the history of it, right? As much as I love you, babe, I ain't letting you piss on my phone."

Leila kissed his cheek, and let go of him so she could rip open the packaging and get the test out. "Hey, I won't piss on your phone. And you are a soldier that's been away for a long time, you just happen to fuck one very special lady instead of several in different ports. Really, who has the energy for that kind of crap, anyway? There's the travel time, the lying, the fucking, the everything... Pfft. Casual lays are casual lays, but keeping up with six girlfriends? Surely she has to realise you're lying. Eventually. Otherwise Mikey's gonna be getting a few funny looks." Leila didn't think pissing on a stick really needed instructions, but she skimmed over them anyway. "Two minute wait... Does that seem long enough to you?"

"I think she thought I was serious, in which case, Mikey's going to get funny looks. I better give him a heads-up, once we know the lay of the land. I just didn't want to say anything to anyone, you know? Felt like I was going to jinx it if I did. I know it sounds stupid, but I feel like I'm preparing for a battle and I'm trying to make sure everything is all in the right place, and we know the lay of the land before we go in," Rob explained, emphasising with his hand. "That even sounded stupid coming out of my mouth. It sounded a lot better in my head. I can do battles! This is just... uncharted territory. Yes, it seems like too long."

Leila tucked the stick into the pocket of the shirt she was wearing and took Rob's face between her hands as she kissed him softly. "This isn't a battle, as much as I know you would love to just be able to strategise for it like one. I love you, Little Rock, but I need you to just take a deep breath for me because I'm about to have to pee on command, and I can't do it if I know you're getting nervous. If you want I'll go into that pharmacy and set her straight. We don't have to say anything, not until we know for sure. But if it's true... we're past the jinx period. I'll be five fucking months along... Okay, now I am going to piss myself. I need to get to the toilet."

"Unless you've just been getting a bit extra cuddly around the middle from burgers and we only just hit the jackpot," Rob pointed out as he nodded, tugging her over towards the bedroom door to hold it open for her. "In which case, if it's positive, I might need to have a chat to Mrs Austin about doctors around here so we can see what's going on. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself. I'm cool, totally chilled," he said, trying desperately to look chilled, even if he was feeling anything but inside and only managed to shoot her a goofy looking smile.

Leila just grinned back at him before she kissed his forehead and disappeared into the bathroom. In the end of the actual peeing was the easy part. She realised now just how much she'd actually been going to the toilet lately. That was a pregnant thing, wasn't it? Women were always going on about their bladders and pissing up a storm while pregnant. She wrapped the stick up in toilet paper and washed her hands after flushing and came back out to Rob. "So now we wait. And I'll try not to get touchy about the burger comment."

Rob dropped down onto the edge of the bed, his leg bouncing anxiously as he started to play with the jelly bean packet, almost to annoyance. "I hate waiting," he admitted. "I meant it in a good way! I actually really love you with some extra cuddly bits. I like you all ways. But it's just..." He set the jelly beans aside so he could tug the shirt up that she was wearing. Standing there in front of him, he had a better view and he brushed his hands over her stomach. "It feels different, looks a lil more... hm... smooth. Does that make sense?"

Leila nodded as she pushed her fingers through his hair and bit her lip. She wasn't opposed to Rob touching her in any way, but the way he was touching her belly with even just the idea of her being pregnant was something new, and something she could definitely get used to. She bent forward as she covered his hand with hers, and kissed him. "It makes sense. Even if it's not... you know what, I'll keep the cuddly bits. Okay?"

"I wonder what it feels like to be pregnant. Not that I'll ever know or anything, but it's a person in there. Moving and growing. I mean, it even feels weird when you eat too much. I wonder how much you're aware of it, or if it just feels weird from the outside," Rob mused quietly, never actually really letting himself think like this in the past. He had never gotten to this point, not even remotely close. "Some people seem to hate it and have a bad time of it, others really love it and think it's the best experience ever."

Leila's hips moved forward a little and she stayed standing as she watched Rob's face. "I don't know, maybe it depends on just how much you wanted to be pregnant in the first place. No doubt there's downsides, and there's uncomfortable parts... I just... I don't know. I haven't really felt different. Not consciously. But that doesn't mean anything... Shit, I won't be able to believe it if I am pregnant. I always thought it was bullshit how you get those chicks on the news that have no idea they were pregnant and then all of a sudden they're popping a kid out."

"You've gotta wonder how they didn't know, though. Like right through, I mean. There has to be a point where you just know something is going on, that you feel sort of different. In saying that, we've been on the road. There's been different feeling all over the place, there's been a lot of sitting and eating different food. Worry about Mikey, even. We've all felt different, so maybe you just missed any of the usual signs you might have picked up if we were rolling with things as usual. I remember Andrew telling me that Ali started to act different, maybe you have too, but you haven't felt it because we've been chilling out?" Rob suggested with a small shrug. "We've been doing a lot of soul-searching."

Leila nodded as she hummed in agreement. "Absolutely. None of what we've been through has been normal lately. We've been in different environments, living very much a life of leisure. There's been no stress. It's been great." She winked at Rob. "Mikey will be okay. We'll keep worrying over him, but he'll be okay. So will Charlie. You're all home safe and sound for a little while, it's time to enjoy it. I happen to be grateful for the time to soul-search. Maybe this is the right time to have a kid if it happens."

"I should start trawling the net for some homes in that Jersey area. Maybe talk to my commanding officers about that job, too," Rob decided, suddenly feeling like everything was very real and maybe even now on a timer, if their suspicions turned out correct. There was a slim chance they might. "I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. How would you feel about inviting Mikey and Charlie along for the rest of the trip? Maybe we could all hit Vegas and just live it up a lil?"

"That sounds like a really good idea, baby. I'm glad that you're finally feeling like you can make some of these moves." She glanced at the clock. Surely the two minutes had to be up, but now she couldn't really remember how long ago they started. There was also a slight fear of what the answer might be. She wasn't sure if she could actually handle it being negative. Her gaze snapped back to Rob's and she smiled. "I think that would be an awesome idea. Plus Vegas means getting to revisit the place we got married. We can actually see some of the sights."

Rob nodded slowly, biting down on his lip. "Mikey'll have to go back to Jersey anyway, so this is one way for it. I don't know when he'll head back to work. But just after that night with him on the bathroom floor, I could see he just needs a break. It's all catching up with him. We just need to figure out if his leg will be okay on the trip, if he thinks he'll handle it. We can stop a lot, stay in more guest houses if he needs sleep in a bed, but it's not entirely implausible. They'd have their own car, ours isn't big enough."

Leila ducked her head as she smirked. "And they probably wouldn't want to be trapped in a car with us, anyway. We can always rotate if Mike needs some time with you, or Charlie." Leila touched his face, her thumb tracing his lip. "I think it's maybe time to check. What do you think?"

Rob smirked. "What, you mean the 'debates' about which road we should take or what to eat for lunch?" he asked with a laugh. They'd had some firey shouting matches occasionally throughout their trip, showing that both could be quite indignant and stubborn when they wanted to be. Probably why they worked so well together. He glanced over at where she had left the test and sucked in a sharp breath, nodding. "May as well get it done, like ripping off a band-aid, yeah?"

Leila laughed as she leaned in to kiss his forehead. "Yeah, those. Alright, here we go. Shit, I'm really nervous, Rob," she admitted as her face suddenly changed to reflect it. She sucked on her bottom lip and was tempted to stay between Rob's legs and ignore the test but she took a deep breath and pulled away to go pick up the test. She came back with it clutched in her hand, and sat next to her husband. "On three?"

Rob wrapped both his arms around her and squeezed her softly. "It's gonna be okay, whatever it says. We're still cool, we still have each other. If it ain't positive, then we just keep trying with the baby-making, yeah? Still got a few weeks of that bet under our belts," he reminded her with a wink and then kissed her temple reassuringly. His own stomach was fluttering nervously, though. He told himself not to get his hopes up, but somewhere between standing in the pharmacy aisle with all the tests in front of him, and now, they had gotten up subconsciously. He was going to be pretty bummed if it wasn't positive. They might not have been trying for long, but they had been trying pretty fucking hard, to the point he was wondering if his whole getting blown up thing might have fucked with his functioning, or maybe stress had lowered his sperm count. "On three."

Leila gave a nod, leaning against him as she tucked her legs up under herself and used Rob as a human cushion. "One... two... three..." She unfolded the toilet paper keeping the stick safe, and looked at the digital read out. Leila sucked in a breath as she just stared at it, really not sure she was reading right. Or even sure she could speak English anymore. "Do you see what I see?" she finally asked Rob in a whisper, still just staring at the word 'positive' on the little screen.

Rob grabbed the stick off her and held it up close to his face so he could get a better view. Then he stopped, squeezing his eyes shut and counting to ten before he looked at it again. Positive. As opposed to negative, because negative would be, well, negative. He could feel his heart start to beat in his chest and it felt like everything rush to the forefront. It was only a moment or two more that he blinked hesitantly at the screen, absorbing it and then he jumped up with a loud shout, waving the stick in the air and doing a happy dance. But only before he pulled her up, wrapping his arms around her and spinning her around. "Positive!" he shouted.

Leila honestly couldn't believe it, but as Rob spun her around and she watched him do the happy dance she started to laugh with joy and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed his face all over. "Positive! Oh my god... Oh shit, we're pregnant! We're having a baby. I have to tell Andy. And Luke. Shit. We should tell Mikey." She pulled back to look at his face. "Or should we get the scan first. We should get the scan first. We need to know the details. Like, how long... and everything. Don't we? Are there even scans when you're first pregnant?"

"I don't care, we're having a baby!" Rob cried happily. He caught her lips in a bruising kiss, feeling like he just wanted to stand there and laugh he was so happy. His face was already hurting from smiling more than he had in a long time and it was taking all his effort not to run to the door and shout to everyone in the house that he was going to be a daddy. He stopped, giving a breathless laugh of relief as he lowered her back down to look at the reading again. It was real, he wasn't dreaming it. No one dreaming would feel like they wanted to pee this bad from excitement. He danced on the spot again and then did a victory lap of the room, holding the stick up in the air. He came to stop in front of Leila again, crouching down in front of her and resting his hands on her stomach. "I don't know if you have ears yet, but I just have to tell you that you're the best thing I ever did. Fuck winning and fuck medals, this is it. Right here."

Leila could feel tears pricking the backs of her eyes and she pushed her glasses up into her forehead so she could try and brush the tears away. She was still grinning hard, but there was just a sudden surge of emotion at seeing the way Rob reacted. She really hadn't seen him smile that in months. She sniffed as she laughed off the tears, and combed her fingers through his hair as she looked down at him. "I love you, Rob. So much. And I'm just... We're having a baby! Shit."

Rob rose up again, cupping her face in his hands and kissing all over her face. "You are amazing, darlin'. We made a baby, and we didn't even know it. I don't deserve you, I don't. But I'm glad you came into my life and gave me the world." He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, almost squealing in excitement as he continued to grin until his whole face hurt. "Can I tell Mikey? Please, please, please?"

Leila cupped his face in return, and leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose. "You deserve me, you just don't realise it. You look like the biggest kid in a candy store right now. Of course you can tell Mikey. I might see if I can call Luke and Andy. The should know."

Rob really did make a squeaking sound of excitement this time and was about to turn away, but then he was back, kissing her again and then breaking it as quick as it started. He beamed at her, with a happy shrug. "Happy Mother's Day, darlin'," he told her and then bolted for the door, flinging it open. "MIKEY! I'M PREGNANT!"