Improving Perfection - Chapter 7

[moffel83]

Title: Improving Perfection (Bittersweet 3)
Author:  moffel83
Pairing: Domlijah of course
Rating: NC 17 (for the complete series)
Summary: Dom, Elijah and Luke are a happy family. Can they improve that perfection? And will trying to improve it maybe put what they have in danger?
Disclaimer:  As far as I know this is not true! It's all just in my head;)  This story is an Mpreg and Mpreg doesn't exist in real life.
Author's Note:Thanks to my lovely beta spikessweetgirl
Chapter: 7/22
Word count: 3056

Previous chapters



“Do you want to know the sex of the baby?” Elijah looked at Dom, a question in his eyes.

“Do you?” Dom just asked back.

“Dom…don’t answer a question with another question. Do you want to know?” Elijah asked again, still looking at Dom who was lying next to him in their bed, gently stroking up and down his arms.

“Baby, this isn’t about what I want. This is about what you want. So the question shouldn’t be if I want to know, but if you want to know,” Dom calmly stated, never ceasing his movements.

“I don’t know…,” Elijah admitted, turning over onto his back.

“You know we don’t have to decide now. There’s still lots of time,” Dom assured him, leaning up on his elbow as he looked down at his boyfriend.

“You didn’t know with Luke,” Elijah stated and Dom wasn’t quite sure what that had to do with anything.

“No…I didn’t want to know. I just wanted to know that the baby was healthy,” Dom whispered, not able to stop himself from going back to the day where he had been told that his baby was sick and might die.

Elijah looked at Dom and saw the thoughtful set of his features and heard the change in his voice, so he moved closer to him and hugged him close. “It’s really all that matters, isn’t it?”

“It was to me,” Dom replied silently, locking his eyes with Elijah’s.

Elijah nodded, returning Dom’s look, knowing that right now they were both thinking about the same thing. It didn’t matter if this baby was a boy or a girl, all that mattered was that this baby was healthy and that they wouldn’t have to go through the same thing that they had to go through with Luke once more. Elijah was sure that if it was in Dom’s hands, Dom would do everything he could to spare him from having to go through that, would give everything he had to make sure Elijah would never get news like he had gotten back in the day and for that Elijah loved him, more than anything.

“I love you, Dom,” he therefore said totally unexpected and Dom just smiled gently, leaning his forehead against Elijah’s and returning the sentiment.

“I love you, too, baby. And I am glad we’ve established that, but that still doesn’t bring us any closer to a decision, does it?” He chuckled, the cheek returning to his eyes and making the seriousness from just a few minutes ago leave.

“No, not really,” Elijah agreed, sighing gently.

“What do you want, baby? Do you want to know?”

Much to Dom’s surprise Elijah shook his head slowly, pulled back a bit and looked at Dom from his deep blue eyes. “No…I don’t think so. I mean…it would be kinda cool to know and all, but…it’s not really important and…there’s still so much time to go and maybe…God, I don’t know…it just feels like for now all I need to know is that the baby will be okay and everything else doesn’t matter. And…if we feel like wanting to know later on, we can still ask for it at a later ultrasound, right?”

“Right,” Dom agreed. “Though I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to know already. Get an early start on buying clothes and everything,” Dom winked.

“A way early start,” Elijah chuckled as he moved his hand to his belly that was by now clearly visible. It almost seemed like in the last two weeks his belly had exploded, at least it had seemed that way to Elijah. Before there had only been a slight belly, but by now it was really big. And Elijah hadn’t been amused when he had noticed that he had already gained 13 extra pounds by this state of his pregnancy. For the most part his old clothes had still fit until a few weeks ago, but by now there was no thinking of getting into his old clothes anymore. His waistband had grown so much, Elijah’s pants were now two sizes bigger than what he normally wore. At times he wondered what he would look and feel like by the ninth month if he already felt fat now. However he knew that Dom didn’t mind and still loved him just as much as he had always done, if not even more so now. Dom was utterly fascinated by Elijah’s belly and had started taking pictures of it to compare how much it had grown, making it his own private project to take a picture every three to four days and try to see differences to the last picture.

So Elijah wasn’t really surprised when Dom’s hand joined his own just a few seconds later and gently caressed Elijah’s belly. Dom would often pull up Elijah’s shirt and just touch the belly whenever he got a chance, at times Elijah had even joked about Dom having an unhealthy fixation with that belly and that he was seriously worried about how much Dom seemed to be interested in it and loved it, one time even jokingly claiming that Dom only loved him because of that belly and not because of who he was.

But Dom wasn’t the only one who was utterly fascinated by Elijah’s belly. With it being summer, they had spent a lot of time outside and in the pool lately and Luke had also noticed how Elijah’s belly had grown and had been quite intrigued by it all. Now that he could see with his own eyes how the belly was growing and getting bigger by the day, he slowly started to believe his parents when they told him that the new baby was growing inside Elijah and when he had seen his daddy put his hand on his papa's belly, he had asked if he was allowed to do so as well and when Elijah had told him that of course he was allowed to as well, he had put his small hands on the belly with wide eyes.

Elijah had yet to feel the baby move and he knew that he was supposed to feel it for the first time soon, but so far he hadn’t so he hadn’t been surprised when Luke had exclaimed after a short time that this was boring as nothing exciting was happening. Both Dom and Elijah had burst out laughing at that sentence and had silently agreed with their son, promising him that it would get more exciting the bigger the belly grew. So by now Luke came up on a daily basis asking if he was allowed to check if something was happening already and then he would put his hand on Elijah’s belly and would pull back in slight disappointment when there still wasn’t anything to feel.

Elijah loved watching Luke in moments like that, loved watching him eye his belly in curiosity and anticipation, knowing that Luke was looking forward to becoming a big brother. By now he had probably told everyone who cared to listen that he would be as good of a big brother as Jack was and that the new baby would love him because he would love it, too.

Both Elijah and Dom were glad that Luke seemed to be this excited about the new baby, wanting to enjoy the feeling for as long as they could as a family, knowing that one day sooner or later all that would change. They knew that one day Luke might feel scared of the new baby and what it might mean, that he might think his parents wouldn’t love him anymore when the new baby had arrived and they tried to make sure to prevent those thoughts by always making time for him and involving him in the pregnancy as much as they could, allowing him to touch and feel for himself as well as look and just enjoy all the changes taking place in their family.

Elijah returned to the here and now and sighed happily, feeling Dom’s hand squeeze his.
“You know that one day we’ll have to start going shopping. You can’t stop me from it forever,” Dom chuckled, leaving a kiss on Elijah’s head and pulling him closer.

“I can very well try, though,” Elijah laughed back. “And if it’s a boy again…who knows? Maybe we can still use Luke’s old clothes.”

“What?” Dom looked scandalised at the mere idea and pulled back slightly to show Elijah.

“Why not? A lot of families do that. They use their old things again for the next baby,” Elijah pointed out, enjoying Dom’s scandalised look.

“Hey, I am all for using the crib and all the stuff from the nursery again, even the stroller and highchair, I am more than fine with that, but…you can’t take away the shopping for baby clothes from me. Even you wouldn’t be that cruel, would you?”

Elijah just smiled enigmatically, thinking to himself that no matter what he did, Dom would go shopping anyway. Dom was crazy about shopping on the best of days and as Elijah had found out when Luke had still been a baby, Dom only got crazier where baby clothes were concerned. He was every baby clothes manufacturer’s dream because he saw something, thought it looked cute and then bought it, whether the baby really needed it or not. And Elijah had no doubt that Dom had already been looking at things secretly in recent weeks making a list in his head of all the things he wanted to buy. And if Elijah was honest with himself, he didn’t mind one bit. He liked it and loved how enthusiastic Dom could get about something as simple as baby clothes and never in a million years would he ever take that shopping trip away from Dom. And from himself, because he knew that deep down he wanted to go and buy all kinds of clothes for their baby as well. Dom would get his shopping trip, but he would damn well have to share it with Elijah.

Dom frowned at Elijah’s expression which had changed from the enigmatic smile to a soft smile and exclaimed. “Ha! I knew it…I just knew it…you want to go shopping yourself!”

Elijah only nodded, still smiling at seeing the boyish excitement on Dom’s face. He wasn’t surprised when Dom leaned in for a kiss and he kissed him back willingly, whispering into the kiss that maybe they should still wait a few months though which only got him a playful groan in return.

***

The next morning, Dom and Elijah left for their next ultrasound and Elijah was as nervous as he had been with the first one, just like Dom had expected. All the time they had been waiting in the waiting room, Elijah had nervously bitten on a nail, not even stopping when Dom took his hand from his mouth and squeezed it. Elijah had just squeezed back and had taken his other hand instead and had continued biting on a nail on that hand.

Dom knew about all the things that were going through Elijah’s head and he also knew that beneath all the worry and fear about hearing that something was wrong there was also a lot of excitement about being able to see their baby again and maybe even getting to hear its heartbeat once more. Dom himself felt so excited and couldn’t wait and for him time crept along way too slowly all the time they were waiting.

Once inside the examination room it only took a few minutes more before the doctor arrived and greeted them.

He sat down in his chair behind his desk, looking at them both in his calm, friendly manner and just like last time he started the examination by asking Elijah some questions about how he was feeling. Asking him if he felt okay, if anything was feeling out of the ordinary which Elijah all declined. So far he had been really lucky and the pregnancy had been really easy on him. Of course there had been the morning sickness in the beginning, but now that it had passed, he couldn’t have felt better.

“I am glad to hear that. Many pregnant people refer to the second trimester as the easiest of the three because by now your body is used to all the hormonal changes and the belly isn’t big enough yet to get in the way. So enjoy it while you can,” the doctor said, smiling friendly and chuckling slightly.

He then told Elijah to move over and lie down so he could do the ultrasound which Elijah did. Elijah pulled up his shirt, baring his belly and he smiled when he once again felt Dom take his hand, holding on tightly while the doctor spread the gel on his belly and prepared the procedure.

When he started, Elijah couldn’t help but gasp, because this time, unlike last time, he was immediately able to recognise his baby. He saw the big head and to his amazement he could also make out the nose and mouth with his own eyes, without the doctor having to explain what he was seeing. But what amazed him even more, was the fact that he could see tiny arms as well and it looked as if…

“Ahhh, look at that. Your baby is sucking on his thumb. Isn’t that a nice little picture opportunity it’s giving us here?” The doctor chuckled, looking at Elijah and Dom with a smile on his face. Without asking he pressed the button to have that picture printed, knowing that parents just loved these kind of pictures.

Elijah’s eyes had widened and he just couldn’t tear away his eyes from the sight on the screen, hardly able to understand that what he was seeing was taking place inside of him right that very moment. His baby was sucking on its thumb right now and to Elijah that was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

“God…that’s amazing…so…beautiful,” Dom stuttered, putting into words what Elijah couldn’t and Elijah was only able to nod in agreement.

While the doctor took some measurements and went to look at different things, telling them for example that by now their baby was 5 ½ inches long from head to rump and probably weighing about 7 ounces, Dom and Elijah’s eyes were glued to the screen, taking in the picture of their baby happily sucking on its thumb. Once the doctor was done with everything, he pushed another button and once more they were able to hear the heartbeat of their baby. The doctor listened intently to it, while Dom and Elijah just enjoyed the strong bumping sound of it, holding each other’s hand and smiling the whole time.

After a few more minutes the doctor finished his examination and gave Elijah some tissues to clean up his belly before moving back to his desk.

He put some information in Elijah’s patient file before turning his attention back to them. “As far as we can tell at this point everything still looks normal and just as it should be. It looks like you’ve got a very healthy baby there, Mr. Wood and a pregnancy that so far goes without any complications.”

Elijah just nodded, feeling happy about the good news and he tried hard to keep his emotions under control. He felt relieved, but even more than that he felt beyond excited and felt so much love for this tiny being growing inside of him, feeling a fierce sense of wanting to love and protect it for the rest of his life.

“I’d really like to see you again for another ultrasound in six weeks again,” the doctor continued. He then looked at Elijah’s file once more and turned to him once again. “Maybe you want to bring your son as well? Kids his age are usually really interested in seeing an ultrasound and getting to be involved.”

Dom and Elijah just looked at each other and then at the doctor. If they were honest, they had thought about taking Luke along, but hadn’t known if that was even allowed or possible.

“Would that be possible?” Dom asked, looking at the doctor, feeling slightly surprised by his offer.

“Of course! In fact we encourage bringing along the older siblings during an ultrasound. Especially with younger children seeing an ultrasound and getting to hear the heartbeat helps them to understand what is going on and most kids react really well to it which is why we encourage it. That is if you want to, of course,” the doctor informed them.

Elijah and Dom looked at each other once more and had a silent conversation with just their eyes doing the talking and they came to a conclusion in a single second.

Elijah turned towards the doctor again and smiled at him widely. “That would be great. We’d really love that.”

“Then bring your son along, Mr. Wood. I am sure it’ll be quite an exciting thing for him to get to see his brother or sister this way,” the doctor smiled before getting up and shaking their hands and then leaving the room.

“Luke is going to love that,” Dom just said, looking at Elijah who nodded in reply. They left the doctor’s office and went back home, thinking about how best to tell him, all the while taking glances at the ultrasound pic of their baby sucking on its thumb.

In the end they just picked Luke up from nursery school and took him home, sat down with him and showed him the new ultrasound picture, which this time really seemed to excite the boy because he was finally able to recognise a head and the arms and he seemed quite fascinated by the black and white image of a baby sucking his thumb and when his daddy and papa asked him if he wanted to come along the next time a picture was taken and if he wanted to hear the baby’s heartbeat, he nodded eagerly, clapping his small hands in excitement.