Once Upon A Child
Rating: G
Fandom: Selfie
Genre: Het
Spoilers: None
Pairing: Henry & Eliza. Because adorkableness.
A/N: I asked for prompts &
odakota_rose said " NEXT TIME". Then she had a "what if" spiral & I kinda wanted to write it. Here goes. It would come between parts 4 & 5 in the first prompt I filled, hence the title.
Four B. #babyflow #partyofthree #babydaddy #hotbabymomma
In March of their third year of marriage, Eliza was a week late.
“What if I’m pregnant, Henry? I know we never really talked about this, but I’m not ready to start shopping Baby Gap, even though I did score my niece some hella cute clothes during my lunch break today.”
Henry managed a tiny smile at how her run-on sentence had gone from zero to off-topic in under six seconds. He stood before her & placed a hand on each arm, bending a little to look directly into her eyes.
“If you’re pregnant, we’re pregnant. Not literally of course since I have no uterus. But I will be with you every step of the way.”
He waited until she took a deep breath & nodded before he straightened up.
“Besides, we don’t know anything for sure, so try to not freak out, ok?”
“Easy for you to say - you’re not the one who won’t be able to fit into their skinny jeans…” Her eyes widened. “I won’t be able to wear skinny jeans! I’m not ready for this kind of commitment!”
Henry knew a spiral when he saw one & he knew exactly what she needed to help centre her.
“But this would mean you’d need a whole new wardrobe. I’m fairly certain that Neiman Marcus just put out their spring maternity line.”
She nodded slowly, considering it.
“Shopping. I’m always down for that.”
She kissed him before bounding off to check out designer maternity wear online.
When the doctor’s appointment confirmed that Eliza would, in fact, develop a baby bump, she alternated between freaking out & exhibiting a single minded focus on baby shopping & maternity wear that would serve an Olympic marathoner well. She was so wired she woke up early to go spend that Saturday with Bethany, getting some sisterly advice. When she opened the door on Sunday morning she called out, “Honey, I’m home!” It was a cliché that amused her.
She walked past their dining room & did a double take. Henry hadn’t even heard her come in because he was waist deep in papers. He’d busted out a whiteboard with “PREGNANCY WEEK BY WEEK” scribbled across the top in all caps, with a list in his neat hand beneath it. The dining table couldn’t be seen because it was completely covered in books, most of which featured a baby or a baby bump on the cover, & papers which Henry had obviously printed out in her absence. Eliza picked one up & read the title aloud.
“’Developmental origins of adult health and disease: the role of periconceptional and foetal nutrition.’ Henry? What’s going on?” She asked in a tone that managed to be simultaneously gentle & suspicious.
He looked away from a cork board where he had stapled some key words & was in the process of using string to link the various important maternal health factors to their impact on the baby.
“Oh. Eliza. Didn’t hear you come in. Just, you know, getting ready. Did you know that apparently, some alcohol during pregnancy may not be all that bad? At least, that’s what I think that paper was saying. I need to read it again. After I brush up on my human anatomy. Where did I put that text?”
He began rifling through a pile nearest him. He failed to find what he was looking for but did stumble on a pile of flash cards.
“Oh! I made this list of foods that we’re gonna need to buy. Rich in nutrients critical for foetal development.” He frowned. “We may have to import a few of these things though.” His expression cleared replaced by determination. “Doesn’t matter. Can’t risk congenital disease just because we were too cheap to spring for these fruits directly from Angola.”
He thrust the cards at her. “Here. Hold on to these.”
He tried to turn away to continue his hunt for the anatomy tome but Eliza caught his wrist. Henry was in full-on panic mode & she was going to have to keep him from going postal.
“How about we look at this list in the living room, hmm?”
“But the anatomy-”
“Just for a minute.”
He looked back at his fortress of cutting edge obstetrics knowledge as he let her lead him to the couch.
“Henry, you’re over reacting.”
He recoiled from her as if he’d been struck.
“What? No. I-”
“You’re talking about importing food from Angola. Not just from Whole Foods, not just insisting on organically-grown, pesticide-free, non-GMO stuff but food from another continent. There has to be a rule about stuff like that.”
He moved to speak but she put a manicured finger against his lips.
“Deep breaths, Henry,” she watched him struggle with the instruction for a second before following her lead. In a few moments, their breathing was synchronised.
“There’s just so much to know if we’re gonna be ready, so much to do to give this child a head start. Did you know that if you don’t get enough folic acid, the baby’s neural tube development will be impaired? And that it’s too late to do anything about that now because we weren’t planning to have a baby & the neural tube is already formed?”
He sighed & caught his head in his hands. Eliza shifted closer & placed a hand on his back.
“Ok but we have doctors for this. How about we just focus on the things we can change?”
He let his hands fall to hang between his knees, a ghost of a smile playing on his features. He regarded the woman next to him with something akin to wonder. He framed her face in his hands & placed a grateful kiss to her forehead.
“You’re right. This baby is lucky to have you.”
“To have both of us. #winningcombination, remember?”
He rocked into her in response.
“So! We should use all this knowledge of yours & go grocery shopping. Bethany assures me that I should indulge every craving-”
Henry nodded. “Usually, when you crave something it means your body needs the nutrients in those foods.”
“Well my body & your baby want mocha almond fudge ice-cream, the biggest bag of Cheetos we can find & chilli cheese fries.”
She could see Henry comparing the junk food to his giant poster board of maternal health as his frown deepened.
“Our baby wants fat, sugar, monosodium glutamate & FD&C Red 40?”
Eliza nodded solemnly.
“Total half-Korean diva.” She added an eye roll for dramatic effect earning his laughter.
“You’re the best wife ever. #blessed.”
He rested his head on her shoulder groaning. “Can we agree to never speak of this again?”
Eliza’s grin was victorious.
“Yooouu just used a hashtag in conversation.”
“Don’t we have Cheetos to buy?”
He could tell from the look on her face that she wasn’t going to let this go. Not by a long shot. Surprisingly, as long as he had her, he was ok with that.
Fandom: Selfie
Genre: Het
Spoilers: None
Pairing: Henry & Eliza. Because adorkableness.
A/N: I asked for prompts &
odakota_rose said " NEXT TIME". Then she had a "what if" spiral & I kinda wanted to write it. Here goes. It would come between parts 4 & 5 in the first prompt I filled, hence the title.
Four B. #babyflow #partyofthree #babydaddy #hotbabymomma
In March of their third year of marriage, Eliza was a week late.
“What if I’m pregnant, Henry? I know we never really talked about this, but I’m not ready to start shopping Baby Gap, even though I did score my niece some hella cute clothes during my lunch break today.”
Henry managed a tiny smile at how her run-on sentence had gone from zero to off-topic in under six seconds. He stood before her & placed a hand on each arm, bending a little to look directly into her eyes.
“If you’re pregnant, we’re pregnant. Not literally of course since I have no uterus. But I will be with you every step of the way.”
He waited until she took a deep breath & nodded before he straightened up.
“Besides, we don’t know anything for sure, so try to not freak out, ok?”
“Easy for you to say - you’re not the one who won’t be able to fit into their skinny jeans…” Her eyes widened. “I won’t be able to wear skinny jeans! I’m not ready for this kind of commitment!”
Henry knew a spiral when he saw one & he knew exactly what she needed to help centre her.
“But this would mean you’d need a whole new wardrobe. I’m fairly certain that Neiman Marcus just put out their spring maternity line.”
She nodded slowly, considering it.
“Shopping. I’m always down for that.”
She kissed him before bounding off to check out designer maternity wear online.
When the doctor’s appointment confirmed that Eliza would, in fact, develop a baby bump, she alternated between freaking out & exhibiting a single minded focus on baby shopping & maternity wear that would serve an Olympic marathoner well. She was so wired she woke up early to go spend that Saturday with Bethany, getting some sisterly advice. When she opened the door on Sunday morning she called out, “Honey, I’m home!” It was a cliché that amused her.
She walked past their dining room & did a double take. Henry hadn’t even heard her come in because he was waist deep in papers. He’d busted out a whiteboard with “PREGNANCY WEEK BY WEEK” scribbled across the top in all caps, with a list in his neat hand beneath it. The dining table couldn’t be seen because it was completely covered in books, most of which featured a baby or a baby bump on the cover, & papers which Henry had obviously printed out in her absence. Eliza picked one up & read the title aloud.
“’Developmental origins of adult health and disease: the role of periconceptional and foetal nutrition.’ Henry? What’s going on?” She asked in a tone that managed to be simultaneously gentle & suspicious.
He looked away from a cork board where he had stapled some key words & was in the process of using string to link the various important maternal health factors to their impact on the baby.
“Oh. Eliza. Didn’t hear you come in. Just, you know, getting ready. Did you know that apparently, some alcohol during pregnancy may not be all that bad? At least, that’s what I think that paper was saying. I need to read it again. After I brush up on my human anatomy. Where did I put that text?”
He began rifling through a pile nearest him. He failed to find what he was looking for but did stumble on a pile of flash cards.
“Oh! I made this list of foods that we’re gonna need to buy. Rich in nutrients critical for foetal development.” He frowned. “We may have to import a few of these things though.” His expression cleared replaced by determination. “Doesn’t matter. Can’t risk congenital disease just because we were too cheap to spring for these fruits directly from Angola.”
He thrust the cards at her. “Here. Hold on to these.”
He tried to turn away to continue his hunt for the anatomy tome but Eliza caught his wrist. Henry was in full-on panic mode & she was going to have to keep him from going postal.
“How about we look at this list in the living room, hmm?”
“But the anatomy-”
“Just for a minute.”
He looked back at his fortress of cutting edge obstetrics knowledge as he let her lead him to the couch.
“Henry, you’re over reacting.”
He recoiled from her as if he’d been struck.
“What? No. I-”
“You’re talking about importing food from Angola. Not just from Whole Foods, not just insisting on organically-grown, pesticide-free, non-GMO stuff but food from another continent. There has to be a rule about stuff like that.”
He moved to speak but she put a manicured finger against his lips.
“Deep breaths, Henry,” she watched him struggle with the instruction for a second before following her lead. In a few moments, their breathing was synchronised.
“There’s just so much to know if we’re gonna be ready, so much to do to give this child a head start. Did you know that if you don’t get enough folic acid, the baby’s neural tube development will be impaired? And that it’s too late to do anything about that now because we weren’t planning to have a baby & the neural tube is already formed?”
He sighed & caught his head in his hands. Eliza shifted closer & placed a hand on his back.
“Ok but we have doctors for this. How about we just focus on the things we can change?”
He let his hands fall to hang between his knees, a ghost of a smile playing on his features. He regarded the woman next to him with something akin to wonder. He framed her face in his hands & placed a grateful kiss to her forehead.
“You’re right. This baby is lucky to have you.”
“To have both of us. #winningcombination, remember?”
He rocked into her in response.
“So! We should use all this knowledge of yours & go grocery shopping. Bethany assures me that I should indulge every craving-”
Henry nodded. “Usually, when you crave something it means your body needs the nutrients in those foods.”
“Well my body & your baby want mocha almond fudge ice-cream, the biggest bag of Cheetos we can find & chilli cheese fries.”
She could see Henry comparing the junk food to his giant poster board of maternal health as his frown deepened.
“Our baby wants fat, sugar, monosodium glutamate & FD&C Red 40?”
Eliza nodded solemnly.
“Total half-Korean diva.” She added an eye roll for dramatic effect earning his laughter.
“You’re the best wife ever. #blessed.”
He rested his head on her shoulder groaning. “Can we agree to never speak of this again?”
Eliza’s grin was victorious.
“Yooouu just used a hashtag in conversation.”
“Don’t we have Cheetos to buy?”
He could tell from the look on her face that she wasn’t going to let this go. Not by a long shot. Surprisingly, as long as he had her, he was ok with that.