Fic: BigBang 2011 - The Works Of His Hands Are Faithful And Just (1/7+Epilogue)
_7th September_
Jensen’s confidence started waning with every step he came closer to the kitchen. As much as he wanted to be happy about his positive pregnancy test his mind just kept wandering back to Jared’s grief stricken face when he had lost his baby, David, four months before. He had barely known Jared back then and had still been trying to tell himself that it was just compassion and not attraction he felt towards the troubled young man. Looking back, he now knew that there had been a bond between him and Jared right from the beginning, otherwise he would never have doubted his vocation and finally asked to be defrocked in order to be with the younger man.
When he reached the kitchen, he saw Jared standing at the stove with his naked back turned towards him as he absently hummed some unidentifiable song while stirring the food. Jensen paused for a second. Jared looked so relaxed and happy that he couldn’t bear the thought of spoiling his lover’s good mood with the news. They both wanted a baby and Jared would make a great dad, but were they really ready to start a family, yet? Maybe it was just too soon… Jensen was aware of the fact that that topic wasn’t up for discussion any longer, now that their baby was already on their way, but he was still nervous about Jared’s reaction.
“Hey, Beautiful,” Jared greeted with a sunny smile on his face as he turned around to set the first plate with eggs and bacon on the kitchen table, seeing Jensen standing in the doorway. “What’s wrong, Jen?” he immediately added, all alarms setting off as he saw the frown on Jensen’s pale face.
Jensen shook his head to clear his thoughts and decided that it was probably better to wait before breaking the news to Jared. He needed to overcome his own worries and insecurities first before he was ready to tell Jared.
“Nothing’s wrong. I was just lost in thoughts...” he answered vaguely, hoping to deflect more questions.
Jared had suffered so much in his life but they had both come such a long way since the day when Jensen had found him sitting at the doorstep of his church, lost and so withdrawn into himself that he was almost unresponsive. There had been so much hurt, so many changes and, in the end, they had overcome everything that fate had thrown their way. They had found strength and happiness in each other and had finally reached the point where they had a healthy relationship, yet Jensen wasn’t sure if the supposedly joyful news would maybe destroy everything they had worked so hard for. He couldn’t fathom the thought of causing Jared any hurt but he knew that he would need to tell him about the baby sooner or later.
“Jen? You’re scaring me, Babe.”
The shaky undertone of Jared’s usually so happy voice shook Jensen out of his thoughts.
“I’m sorry... Guess I’m still not fully awake,” Jensen stammered, rubbing at his face, trying to compose himself a little as he moved towards the kitchen table.
He forced a small smile onto his face to assure Jared he was indeed okay and swallowed hard when the smell of the freshly fried bacon filled his nostrils. Taking a deep breath through his mouth, Jensen tried to suppress his gag reflex as his stomach roiled uncomfortably.
“Really? You look a little pale. If you’re not feeling that hot, just go back to bed and I’ll bring you some tea and dry toast in a few minutes.”
Jared’s voice was soft, full of concern and Jensen’s heart swelled with love.
“No, I want to have breakfast with you.” This time the smile on the older man’s face was genuine and grew even wider when he saw how the worry lines on his lover’s forehead dissolved as Jared relaxed again.
Jared even smiled back and leaned down to press a proper good-morning kiss to Jensen’s mouth before turning around and pouring coffee into two mugs.
Maybe Jensen should have accepted the offer to have tea and toast in bed because he suddenly realized that he would need to come up with a plausible explanation to say no to his morning coffee. He always needed at least one cup of strong, black coffee to wake up fully and start the day and admittedly had a tendency to get a little cranky if he didn’t get his caffeine fix first thing in the morning, so Jared would certainly be suspicious if he declined the offered brew.
“So, what do you want to do on our first day off in... well, forever?” Jared asked cheerfully as he set the two mugs down and took his seat across from Jensen.
Jensen shrugged, busy enough with trying to chew more or less gracefully while trying to keep breathing through his mouth to avoid smelling the food. Thankfully, Jared didn’t notice his weird behavior and continued talking.
“Maybe we could check out that new coffee shop that Chris has been talking about non-stop and afterwards take a walk through Central Park,” the younger man suggested, blushing slightly. “I know that’s what all the tourists do but I’ve never been there and the weather today is so great.”
Jared’s enthusiasm was really contagious and Jensen found himself smiling back at Jared, completely forgetting about his little breathing exercise. As soon as he drew in a normal breath, smelling the rich aroma of coffee and fried bacon, though, the last bite he had swallowed was threatening to re-introduce itself to him. Pressing a napkin to his mouth, Jensen jumped up from the table, almost knocking it over in his hurry, and ran to the bathroom for the second time that morning.
Jared was on his feet and chasing after him within the blink of an eye, dropping onto his knees right next to Jensen as he hung his head over the toilet dry heaving.
“Okay, I’m taking you to the clinic to have Steve check you out,” he announced, the determination in his voice standing in utter contrast to the way he was gently rubbing circles into Jensen’s back.
“I’ll be fine… just need a minute,” Jensen argued weakly.
“You’ve been getting sick for days, Jen. That’s not normal…” Jared countered, wrapping an arm around Jensen’s waist to steady him as he flushed the toilet, closed the lid and made a move to stand up again. “Easy, Babe… Just sit down and I’ll get you your toothbrush…”
Sitting on the closed toilet lid, Jensen’s eyes immediately fell on the small white plastic stick that was still sitting on the rim of the bathtub. He had completely forgotten to dispose of it before joining Jared in the kitchen but luckily Jared didn’t see it as he pulled Jensen’s toothbrush out of the cabinet and put toothpaste on it.
They sat in silence while Jensen quickly brushed the foul taste out of his mouth and let Jared help him over to the sink to gargle.
“Okay, I’ll get you some clothes and help you to freshen up a little. You can shower after we come back from the clinic.” Jared was already halfway out the door and three steps ahead in his mind when Jensen caught hold of his wrist.
Jensen locked eyes with worried hazel ones. “I’m not sick, Jay.” The returning frown on Jared’s face made it clear that he didn’t believe him but Jensen was insistent. “Can we move this into the living-room, please?”
“Sure,” Jared at least agreed, not letting go of Jensen’s bicep as they walked into the adjacent room and sat down on the sofa side by side.
Turning around to keep eye contact, Jensen sighed deeply, trying to assure Jared with his eyes that nothing was wrong. For lack of a better opening and because he could still read worry in Jared’s expressive eyes, he repeated his last statement in a calm voice. “I’m not sick, Jay. There’s nothing wrong with me, okay?”
“But you’ve been throwing up…”
“Yeah, I know,” Jensen cut him off, catching Jared’s right hand and entwining their fingers. “It’s not food poisoning because whatever might have caused that would’ve been out of my system after a day or two.” He saw Jared opening his mouth to say something but held up one finger to silence him. “If you’re going to say it’s a stomach bug then you would’ve caught it from me by now but you’re not sick either, Jay.”
Apparently, that made sense to Jared and he nodded, waiting for Jensen to continue with his explanation.
Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand, trying to assure both of them that everything was just fine. The next words were the hardest part and he needed to get them out right. He just couldn’t blurt out a simple “I’m pregnant” because dropping the bomb like that would certainly not go down well.
“So if it isn’t food poisoning or the stomach flu there’s really only one option left to explain my… symptoms…”
The pensive look on Jared’s face told Jensen that the younger man was piecing together the symptoms he had been showing: nausea, fatigue, headaches.
All of a sudden, Jared went pale as a sheet as realization hit him hard and he shook his head in denial. “You can’t be… We… we only… We used a…”
Jared was panicking, his eyes wide with shock and his whole body trembling, so Jensen pulled him into his arms and held him tight. “Shhh… Calm down, Jared. It’s okay…”
“But we… You can’t…” Jared hiccupped into Jensen’s shoulder.
“We didn’t use protection the first time… on your birthday, remember?” Jensen kept his voice low and soothing, carding his fingers through Jared’s unruly hair and pressing soft kisses to his temple. “I kind of suspected it for a couple of days but wanted to make sure before I told you… so I took a home test…”
At hearing those last words, Jared pulled back a little and gazed at Jensen with watery eyes. “It was positive?”
Jensen could only nod wordlessly, feeling his throat constrict at the utter despair he saw on Jared’s beautiful face. He almost apologized but couldn’t find his voice.
“You’re… You’re having a baby…” It sounded like a statement rather than a question and Jared seemed to be calming down.
“Our baby,” Jensen confirmed in a low whisper, feeling his own eyes burning with threatening tears. It was supposed to be happy news but he couldn’t help to ask the next question, “I know we didn’t plan this but… We’re okay, right?”
Jared’s lips were stretched into a thin line but he finally gave a small nod. “Just need a moment to…” He closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face.
Not daring to move, Jensen just sat next to the man he loved, holding onto his hand in silence.
When he opened his eyes again, Jared looked a lot more composed but still visibly worried. “You have to see a doctor… Make sure you’re okay…” he pleaded. “b-both of you…”
There was fear in Jared’s eyes and Jensen understood where he was coming from. He remembered how Jared had refused to let Steve do an ultrasound when he had been at the clinic to get something for his Bronchitis and only a week later had lost David. Pushing back that painful memory of the small baby boy Jared had lost, Jensen nodded. “I’ll call a cab and we’ll have Steve do a full exam.”
Not even twenty minutes later, they were both sitting in Exam 3 waiting for Steve who was still busy with another patient.
Jensen had already changed into a flimsy hospital gown, figuring that it was better to be doing something than just sitting around and giving himself and Jared more time to think and freak out further. His plan had worked out because Jared had been immediately by his side, helping him out of his clothes and into the gown. They hadn’t exchanged any words, but having something else to focus on seemed to have helped Jared because he looked a little less dazed as he untied Jensen’s shoes and helped him wiggle out of his jeans.
Now, though, they were back to sitting around and waiting for Steve while their minds were going a mile a minute again.
“Man, I hate workaholics!” A loud familiar voice cut through the heavy silence sitting above them as Chris strolled into the room, scrunching up his face in fake disgust. “Can’t you even stay away from this place on your day off? I’d kill to get a day off with Steve.”
“Hey, Chris,” Jensen greeted his old friend, glad to have some distraction, even though he was still worried about Jared who was pacing the small room and hadn’t shown any sign of acknowledging Chris’ presence.
The blond paramedic followed Jensen’s gaze and walked over to Jared first, tapping him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Sasquatch, what brings you two here on such a sunny day?” he asked in an overly cheerful voice, trying to read the worried frown on the younger man’s face.
Jared hunched his shoulders but at least reacted to the question. “We need Steve to check out Jensen.”
Noticing that he wasn’t getting more out of the kid, Chris swirled around, hand still resting on Jared’s back, and eyed Jensen. “What’s up, Jen? Are you coming down with something?”
“No, not really… I was just getting sick a lot and…” Jensen felt his face heating up with a blush. “I took a home test to…”
“You’re pregnant?” Chris’ eyes widened almost comically for a second before the corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a smile. “Congratulations, guys,” he was about to start distributing hugs when he realized that apparently he was the only one who was excited about Jensen’s potential pregnancy. “Jen?”
“Yeah… Yeah, I’m pregnant as it seems,” Jensen replied, his eyes still focused on Jared.
Chris wasn’t someone who beat around the bush and everything around him was screaming that something was wrong, so he just went for it and asked straight away. “That’s a good thing, right? I mean… I’ve seen you guys around the kids that are brought here and you both love kids, so what’s wrong?”
Actually, Jared had been following the conversation even if he hadn’t said much himself and the questions were only putting him more on edge than he already was since Jensen had told him about the baby.
“Can’t you just get Steve to come and check Jensen out?” he snapped irritably.
“Easy, Big Guy,” Chris replied in an even tone, locking eyes with Jared’s intense gaze. “Steve’s still with another patient but I can already take Jen’s BP, temp and collect blood and urine samples,” he offered, trying to calm both his friends down, because it was pretty obvious that Jensen only looked so worried because Jared was so on edge.
“You’re not a doctor!” Jared shot back, less thrilled about the offer than Chris had hoped but the paramedic didn’t waver.
Walking back to the taller, young man, Chris did his best to sound reassuring. “I can tell you’re nervous and probably worried out of your head, Jay, but there are no signs that something’s wrong with Jensen. I can take his vital signs and start getting samples to send them off to the lab. That way Steve will already have some data to look at when he arrives and can decide what else he needs to check, okay?” He waited a moment to see if Jared would object and then started pulling open drawers to get the needed equipment.
“You really don’t have to do this, Chris. We’ll be fine waiting for Steve…” Jensen piped up in a small voice as his friend came back to the examination table he was sitting on.
Chris chuckled. “Don’t be stupid, Jen. I’ve always wanted to play doctor with you,” he joked, winking playfully and hoping that he would at least be able to put Jensen at ease. Jared seemed to be a lost cause right now and would probably only calm down again, once Steve did a full exam and presented all the results to them.
The smug remark really put a shy grin on Jensen still flushed face. “I bet you did.”
“Yeah, too bad it took you so long to figure out that you actually have carnal desires, too,” Chris continued teasing as he strapped the cuff of the sphygmomanometer around Jensen’s left bicep to check his blood pressure. Seeing how flushed his friend still looked, he decided to stop the teasing and give him a minute to relax. “So what tipped you off that you were pregnant?”
Jensen shrugged. “The usual stuff, I guess… I was feeling tired and getting sick just from smelling food.”
“Any cramping or pain?” It was a loaded question and Chris only dared to ask it, especially in front of Jared, because he was pretty sure that Jensen was indeed okay.
“No, it was just nausea and a couple of headaches but nothing too bad,” Jensen answered right away, looking at Jared who was watching him and Chris warily from across the room. “Jay, you don’t have to stand all the way over there,” he added softly, reaching out his free arm towards Jared and hoping that he would take the cue.
Chris busied himself with inflating the cuff and starting to take Jensen’s blood pressure now that the other man had settled down again. “118/64. That’s great,” he declared and took the cuff off, pressing two fingertips to the artery on the inside of Jensen’s wrist. “Now the pulse…” He looked at his watch for a few seconds and then did the math in his head before scribbling down the results on a chart he had gotten from one of the drawers. “68 bpm, that’s also good, Jen.” Chris smiled. “Your breathing rate looks normal as well, so we only need to take your,” he stuck a thermometer into Jensen’s ear and waited for it to beep a couple of seconds later, “temperature. 98.2 and perfect.”
Relief flooded Jensen as Chris confirmed to him that he was doing alright and he relaxed considerably when he felt Jared’s hand coming to rest on his thigh.
“So my vitals are okay. What else do you need?” he addressed Chris, laying his own hand on top of Jared’s and gently stroking his thumb over his wrist.
“I’ll take a blood sample and then I’ll leave you alone with a plastic cup.” Chris was all professional, fastening a strap around his friend’s bicep and curling Jensen’s fingers into a fist before swiping the inside of his elbow with disinfectant. “Open your fist and better look away now, Jen. I know you can’t see blood without fainting like a girl,” the paramedic said teasingly and gently inserted the needle into Jensen’s vein, noticing how he flinched. “C’mon, you have to admit I was gentle.”
Jensen had turned his head away and had locked eyes with Jared’s still worried ones to distract himself. He really didn’t like needles.
“At least this was less painful than when Steve gave my last flu shot.”
“See, I’m way better at this than Steve. Why does everyone think I’m just an obnoxious asshole?” Chris asked with mock indignation as he put a band-aid on Jensen’s arm and went to label the blood vial.
“Because most of the times you are an obnoxious assho-…” Jensen shot back and was cut off by Steve’s calm voice.
“Hey, did you just come all the way here on your day off to insult my man, Jensen?” Steve flashed all three of them a smile as he approached the examination table.
Once again, Jensen blushed involuntarily. “We were just discussing Chris’… bedside manner.”
Steve laughed out loud. “Well, in that case I take everything back and fully agree with you.” He ducked his head anticipating Chris’ slap and chuckled. “I revise my statement. Chris is the most even-tempered person I know.”
“That sounds already better,” Chris said with a smug grin as he handed the plastic cup to Jensen.
“So what brings you here, Jen?” Steve went back to business, noticing how Jared was still hovering over his old friend.
“I took a pregnancy test this morning and it came back positive, so Jay and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a false positive and that everything is okay,” the former priest quickly summed it up, praying that Steve wouldn’t start cracking jokes like Chris had done earlier because Jared had tensed up again when Steve had entered the room.
Predictably, Steve took the news with professional calm. “Alright, we’ll only get the blood test results tomorrow, so I’ll order a urine test too. You can use the common restroom or go behind that screen with that cup, Jen.”
Nodding, Jensen reluctantly let go of Jared’s hand and went behind the screen to quickly fill the cup and hand it over to Chris before washing his hands at the sink in the corner of the room.
Jared was still standing next to the examination table, his shoulders hunched and his gaze turned towards the floor when Jensen came back and retook his position.
“You look worried,” Steve remarked, his eyes clearly focused on Jared but addressing Jensen because the younger man didn’t look like he was in any mood to talk.
“Well, the news just took us by surprise… and we needed to make sure everything’s okay, you know? Just to be safe…”
Steve nodded at Jensen. He had been Jared’s doctor when he had miscarried four months before so he understood perfectly well why his friends were nervous rather then excited about Jensen possibly being pregnant.
“Yeah, then let’s take a look at you.” He checked the clipboard where Chris had already written down Jensen’s vitals. “Chris already checked your vital signs as I see… They all look perfectly normal, so… how are you feeling, Jen?”
“I’m feeling okay, just a little tired and nauseous but those are the only symptoms so far,” Jensen answered truthfully, holding onto Jared’s hand to keep him grounded.
“Feeling worn out and having trouble with nausea is really common in early pregnancy so there’s nothing to worry about as long as you don’t start losing considerable amounts of weight due to throwing up. You might try to figure out which smells get to you and just try to avoid those foods for now.” He saw Jensen nodding in agreement. “Let’s weigh and measure you until Chris comes back with the results from the urine test, alright?”
Again Jensen nodded and reluctantly went over to the scale on the opposite wall, glancing over his shoulder while Steve checked his weight and wrote it down on his clipboard.
Just as Jensen was sitting back down next to Jared, the door of the room swung open revealing a grinning Chris. “I’ve got the results of the urine test and it confirms the result from the one you took at home. You guys are having a baby.”
Seeing how Jared tensed up even worse, the kid was wound so tight he was about to snap, Steve clapped his hands together. “Alright, then I’ll just check your heart and lungs and start with the pelvic exam. Since I already know your medical history and I don’t see any risk factors in your case, we can skip that small talk.”
Jensen looked genuinely relieved at hearing that and didn’t complain when Steve pushed the cold stethoscope to his back, telling him to take deep breaths through his mouth.
“Okay, so far everything’s just fine as I expected,” the doctor summarized after a few moments and started fumbling with the examination table, trying to lift the backrest, so Jensen would be able to sit up instead of lying down for the next part.
Chris understood what Steve was doing and started pulling the stirrups up from under the table. When he was done, he helped Jensen to get settled while Steve wheeled the ultrasound machine over and snapped some gloves on.
“Is everything okay, Jen?” Steve asked, standing between his friend’s bent knees and waiting for Jensen to relax a little.
The nod as well as the small smile that Jensen flashed his friend didn’t look too convincing, yet.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Let’s just get this over with, Steve.” Jensen turned his head towards Jared, searching for eye contact. “You okay, Jay?”
His lover’s voice seemed to pull Jared out of his thoughts and his eyes focused on Jensen. “I am. I just…”
Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand and pulled him down to give him a quick kiss, staring deep into worried hazel eyes for a few long seconds after breaking the kiss. “I’m fine and everything will be alright, Love,” he assured in a soft voice, flinching when he felt Steve taking a swap.
“Sorry, I’m just taking a Pap smear. I’m sure that there’s nothing wrong but I guess you guys want the whole program, right?”
“Sure,” Jensen answered even though he wasn’t really looking forward to ‘the whole program’ that Steve had mentioned. He really didn’t like to be poked and prodded like that but he would do anything to help put Jared’s mind at ease and if that took Steve poking and prodding at him then so be it.
Steve flashed him a reassuring smile and Chris, who was now standing on Jensen’s left side, squeezed his shoulder. “Try to think positive, Jen. After this annoying part we can move to the fun part and take a first look at the little guy… or girl,” Chris pointed out cheerfully to distract Jensen a little while Steve did a bimanual exam. “Either way, I’m going to be their favorite uncle because I’ll give them candy when you and Sasquatch aren’t looking.”
“And I know a good dentist for the kid once his or her teeth start to rot because of all that candy,” Steve butted in when he saw what Chris was doing and how Jensen was indeed relaxing and even grinning shyly at Chris’s words.
“The kid’s going to need someone cool to look up to, you know?” the paramedic shot back without losing a beat. “I’ll buy his or her first guitar… when they start kindergarten, maybe… Wouldn’t want to miss the sensitive phase for musicality,” he mused.
Jensen actually chuckled at that. “Yeah, like you’ve missed my sensitive phase…”
Chris laughed, glad that he had succeeded at distracting his friend. “Naw, you just didn’t have any talent to begin with. Please tell me you passed musical talent on to that kid, Jared.”
“What?” Jared looked up at hearing his name but obviously hadn’t been following the light-hearted banter between Jensen and their friends.
“Do you know how to play the guitar or piano? Hell, harmonica would also do…” Chris asked now determined to distract Jared as well.
Jared shook his head. “No. I never tried…”
“Well, that can be helped.” A wide smile formed on Chris’ face. “I have a spare guitar you can use, since Jen refused to become a rock star and join my band when we were in high school.”
The younger man still looked a bit confused, but before Chris could say anything else, Steve broke the silence by turning on the ultrasound machine and drawing everyone’s attention to the small monitor. “Alright…” he moved the wand around a little and then smiled. “…this is your baby, guys.”
Jensen heard Jared gasp and turned watery eyes towards him, smiling through the veil of tears forming in his eyes. “Jay?”
“I know it doesn’t look like a baby at this point but trust me that’s exactly how it should look. I’d say you’re around eight weeks along, telling by the…”
“Seven weeks,” Jared unexpectedly corrected. “Exactly seven weeks today.”
Jared’s voice was a bit shaky and he looked close to tears, just like Jensen but Steve could tell that they were happy tears. “Okay, seven weeks.” Steve smiled. “If you look right here,” he reached out a hand to point at the monitor but Chris who had walked over to stand right next to Steve beat him to it.
“That’s your baby’s heartbeat,” Chris explained genuinely happy for their friends.
After watching the flickering spot that Chris was pointing at for a few seconds, Jensen wiped at his eyes and cleared his throat. “Why can’t we hear the heartbeat?”
Again Chris beat Steve to it, reaching for the button on the ultrasound machine and turning up the volume, so that the quick staccato of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room.
More happy tears rolled down Jensen’s cheeks as the corners of his mouth curled upwards into a smile. He turned his eyes towards Jared and squeezed his hand when he saw the younger man’s eyes overflowing as well.
“As you can hear, your baby’s heartbeat is strong and steady at 150bpm which is perfectly fine at this stage,” Steve went on explaining before Jensen would have the chance to start worrying. Pulling the ultrasound wand back, he smiled. “You and your little one are as right as rain. We still have to wait for your other test results which might take a couple of days but I don’t think that there’ll be anything to worry about.”
“What about prenatal vitamins? How do we have to adjust Jensen’s diet and what weight gain is normal?” Jared started shooting questions, all of a sudden more alert than he had been since they had stepped into the clinic.
Steve remained calm and patient, his reassuring smile still in place. “I’ll prescribe Jensen some prenatal vitamins because that’s the standard procedure and it can’t hurt to take them, especially while he’s still dealing with morning sickness. I still need to see the blood test results but if Jensen’s eating habits haven’t changed, I’m pretty sure he won’t have to adjust his diet.” He flashed a smile at his old friend. “You’re such a health freak you should have become a nutritionist, Jen. There are a few foods you should better avoid when you’re pregnant but that really shouldn’t be such a problem.”
Jared nodded thoughtfully as the other three men grinned at each other. “Is there anything else we need to consider?”
“That’s pretty much it but I can lend you a pregnancy book just so you guys have some pointers and if you have any more questions just ask away,” Steve added with a warm smile.
“Your man and your kid are both just fine, Jared,” Chris butted in and affectionately patted Jensen’s still flat stomach through the flimsy material of the gown he was wearing. “Hell, the guy’s seven weeks pregnant and still in better shape than me.” The comment coaxed another wide grin out of Jensen but Jared still looked a bit unsure and tense, so Chris put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Try to relax, Big Guy. It’s all going to be fine.” With that said he pulled Jared into a tight hug. “Congrats on the kid, Jay.”
With Steve’s help Jensen had disentangled himself from the stirrups and stood up from the examination table, being pulled into another of Chris’ bone-crushing hugs. “You too, Jen.”
“Congratulations, guys,” Steve chimed in, patting both Jensen and Jared on their backs and pulling Chris off of them and out the door to give them some privacy.
“So…” Jensen finally piped up after silently changing back into his own clothes with Jared’s help. “Did this help to put your mind at ease, Jay?”
His eyes were still moist but Jared finally smiled and nodded emphatically. “Yeah.” He carefully wrapped his arms around Jensen’s waist and held him close, mindful not to squash him like Chris had. “I love you, Jensen.”
“We love you, too, Jared,” the older man replied, full of joy, and covered Jared’s mouth with his own in a passionate kiss. After seeing Jared’s first, shaky but genuine smile, since finding out about the baby, Jensen knew that everything would be all right. The pain of losing David only a few months before was still there and neither of them would ever forget the little baby boy, but now they had a new chance at being a family. They had dealt with so much grief, uncertainty and worry since Jensen had opened his home and heart to Jared, pulling him out of his harsh life in the street. He had struggled so hard with his decision to start a new job and a whole new life but it was turning out to be the best decision he had ever made.
Chapter 2