we sure are cute for two ugly people
henry/amber, pg-13 (pregnancy, swearing), gen, ~2800 words
i have not written in literally the longest time lmao i'm glad i even felt the want to write this. lmao rushed, hardly edited, and awkward, but i liked writing it so it must have some worth, right? inspired by juno, and by its ost. high school!au.
"If you were a castle, I'd be your moat, and if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.
All I want is you, will you be my bride, take me by the hand and stand by my side,
All I want is you, will you stay with me? Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea."
- All I Want is You by Barry Louis Polisar
Amber felt the wind slap her in the face as she ran through the street, bounding for her house, clutching a crumpled paper bag in both her hands. From what she knew, she shouldn’t run - but she pretended to herself that no, nothing was wrong - I can run if I wanted to! And she ran and ran until she reached her bathroom door, disregarding her mom screaming for her to get the phone because it was Krystal and her sister’s friends waving hello to her, as per usual when they were there.
The moment she got reached her bathroom door, she shut it closed.
When she emerged, all she could muster was a shaky, “Holy. Shit.”
She also held three sticks with small pink (menacing) positive signs on them, staring at her every time she’d look at them.
“Holy. Fucking. Shit.”
Amber knocked on her sister’s bedroom door, then tumbled in and landed on the bed backside first with a groan.
“What’s up,” her sister said without looking up from the book she was reading on her study desk. Amber chucked a pillow at the chair and Jackie turned around and glared at her. “What.”
“I wanted you to look at me when I say this,” she said with a pout, hugging another pillow tight in her arms. Jackie sighed and bounced onto her bed, sitting up and facing her sister.
“Oh, this must be serious,” she said while lying down beside Amber. “Don’t tell me you’re doing drugs or got pregnant or something -”
Amber inhaled sharply and blinked. Jackie blinked back.
“What does -” she inhaled the same way Amber did, “mean.”
Amber blinked and her lower lip trembled.
“You mean -”
“There is something growing inside of me,” Amber groaned quietly and proceeded to push her face into a pillow, hoping it would absorb the embarrassment she was going through.
“No fucking way,” Jackie whispered to herself, and Amber sobbed, muffled. Jackie crawled up to her and hugged her, cradling her in her arms.
After a while, when Amber’s sobs stopped, Jackie sniffed and cocked an eyebrow.
“So,” Jackie pushed Amber up gently, so they were facing each other. Amber raised her eyebrows. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
Amber groaned again. “Jackie, you aren’t helping at all.”
“Sorry.”
She sighed. “It’s Henry.” Jackie clamped her lips together and puffed up her cheeks, containing a giggle. Amber glared at her.
“Sorry,” Jackie apologized as soon as she could manage a straight face.
They ended up bursting into laughter until they had to wipe tears off their faces, ending in a supportive hug and continuous tears on Amber’s side.
The second bell rang, and Amber blurted out her confession to Krystal on a stone bench on the school courtyard.
“…You’re serious?” Krystal widened her eyes and went over to touch Amber’s stomach, in which Amber responded with a slap to her hand and an insecure putting of her hands in her sweater pockets.
“Well, I wouldn’t joke about it and look like crap today if I wasn’t,” she deadpanned. She was wearing a huge gray hoodie that nearly reached her knees and jeans that were a bit too big for her (so her baby could breathe, she thought).
Amber licked her lips during the uncomfortable silence they’ve reached and, with a bit of fear, looked at her best friend at the corner of her eye. Krystal’s eyes were glazed over and her mouth was pursed.
Krystal noticed Amber’s worried expression and shook her head.
“I’m not judging you at all! God, don’t think like that!” Krystal pushed Amber lightly, cracking a smile. “I’m just thinking of how I’m going to help you through this. I totally will. No doubt about it.”
Amber gave her a weak smile back and hugged her, knowing that if anyone was going to be great moral support, especially in such a serious situation, it would be Krystal (surprisingly).
It was uncomfortable hugging on a bench with the lot of their school milling around, so Amber let go almost instantly. As soon as she moved over back into her sitting position, Krystal poked her straight on her thigh.
“So,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “do I know the baby daddy?”
Amber grimaced and turned her head in embarrassment, then groaned. “Speak of the devil,” she moaned as she stared at a nearing head bobbing out of the crowd, all chubby cheeks and perfect smiles. She felt like cooing and vomiting at the same time.
“Wha -” Krystal followed Ambers line of vision then burst out laughing. “H-Henry?! Him? Oh my God, this is gold -”
By then, Henry had reached them, waving at them with a confused look on his face. “What’s wrong with me? Did my brother draw something my face with a marker again?” he rubbed his forehead with his fingers and pouted, and Amber let out a sigh she didn’t know she was keeping.
Krystal bit her lip to muffle her laughter and got up to leave. “Better get going, I’m gonna be late. See you later, Amber,” she mumbled, trying not to snort, waved, and ran to her building. Amber shook her head with a partly annoyed expression on her face and stood up, slinging her backpack on her shoulder.
“What’s wrong? You look sick,” he said worriedly, biting his lower lip. Amber looked up at him, tired, sighing exasperatedly. They walked together towards their classroom building, and at one point, Henry swung Amber’s arm over his shoulders, reached his hands under her knees and tried to carry her. She squealed and pushed herself onto the ground.
“You’re going to squish my baby -” she whined and Henry nearly dropped her. She landed shakily on her feet and watched as his expression turn confused and worried at the same time.
She shifted on her feet. “I…I’m pregnant,” she whispered, looking at the pavement.
“B-but,” Henry stuttered with his eyes widening, then narrowing, trying to comprehend what Amber has just told him. All he could muster was a helpless “w-what?”
She sighed again, nearly crying. “I-I don’t know either. But…pregnancy tests don’t lie, do they,” she sniffed and shook her head. She lowered her head and wiped the underside of her eyes.
They stood there, the last bell ringing, and the sounds of kids running towards their rooms and the shushing of students filling the air. She didn’t feel like going to classes; she just felt trashed and shitty and tired. She didn’t even want to look up, shame keeping her head down.
When she didn’t expect it, she felt Henry’s arms wrap around her. Awkwardly, sure, but it was comforting at the same time.
“I-I’ll be here for you, okay? If you need anything. I mean, I can’t promise to give you money and stuff, because…you know, I don’t really have a job, but I’ll try to get one, soon -” he rambled into her hair, suddenly shushed by her tightening her arms around him.
“Just,” she leaned against him, “stay here first, okay?”
He nodded and tightened his grip around her, hugging in the midst of perfect silence and falling leaves.
“So yeah, I told them last night,” Amber said as she threw the ball at Henry, who caught it in a mitt, “they were shocked at first - duh, who wouldn’t be shocked to know that this ugly girl got pregnant -” Henry was about to convince her otherwise, but she pretended not to hear his “hey, you’re not ugly!”, and continued, “yeah, but in the end, they accepted it and they said they’d pay hospital fees and that they loved me and stuff.” She caught the next ball Henry threw and threw it back with more force.
She ended up doubled over in laughter as Henry let it pass between his arm and his torso.
“Hey, it’s not that funny,” he came near her with a mock pout on his face, the ball in his hand.
“You suck at this,” she wiped her cheeks with her mitt on, and giggled, “You’re gonna be a shit dad at this rate, dude.”
She missed the way the fake hurt on his face turned real as she got up from the grass she fell on while laughing, shaking the blades that caught on her flannel shirt. “Let’s get some ice cream. I want some ice cream.”
Henry followed her with eyes downcast, kicking empty soda cans in his way.
“Henraaay,” Amber sang as she placed the bottle of beer on the floor. “Can you get me water?”
Henry shifted in his seat and looked down, at his lap, where a puppy dog-faced girl lay, making eyes at him, bags under her eyes and lips chapped (but he still thought she was pretty, in a way - if she wasn’t so insensitive).
“I’m your friend,” he sighed, “not your slave.”
She pouted. “But I’m pregnant,” she whined.
“Can you -” he curled his fists, “stop using that as an excuse,” he stood up quickly, making her sit up in her seat, and stormed into the kitchen.
Her mouth was open and her eyebrows were furrowed, and she felt tears well up in her eyes unexpectedly. She put her feet up on the sofa and buried her face in her knees and hoped to God she wasn’t going to bawl. She wiped her tears away as soon as they reached her cheeks and wished that she didn’t turn so red when she cried.
After what she felt like was forever, she heard a clink of glass and she looked up, finding an apologetic face right above hers, and a mug of water on the table.
“I’m sorry,” Henry whispered quickly and hugged her, lips against the top of her head (like he usually did).
She felt her cheeks burn up and she felt embarrassed, and she wanted to apologize right back. There was a funny feeling in her stomach and she wanted to reply, but she didn’t know what to say and if she did, she didn’t feel strong enough to say them. So she kept her mouth shut and let him hug her, arms feeling like jelly, not capable of hugging him back, no matter how much she wanted to.
Tears left her eyes, and she let them.
She stared at him for a while, as he watched the hockey game on the television screen in her house, the icy blue of the screen making him pale. His cheeks are chubby and his eyes disappear when he smiles and damn it, Amber, you’re not supposed to feel this way, he’s your friend, and another part of her says, well, he fathers the baby in your stomach, that has to mean something. She opened her mouth but it was dry but she knew she had to say something to him. Two things, in fact.
a) I’m sorry I’ve been a total dickhead, and
b) I think I love you.
She thought she didn’t have to explain the first one - she’s been totally using the pregnancy against him, as if it were a legitimate excuse for slave driving.
The second one, she thought, wasn’t something she expected.
She knew Henry liked her - that way - ever since he kissed her in his room while they were playing Mario Kart after finals, and she let them go all the way. But she didn’t care about that, not really. They were best friends, bros even, with a special handshake to go with the title, and she thought that would never change.
But there was something about Henry taking care of her all the time now that made her want to snuggle in his arms forever, and what was so great was that he let her. He always did anything for her, even do her chemistry homework for her when she was sick, and buy her pizza at three in the morning and deliver them to her house when she was bored and craving. He even helped her finish it, even if he hated olives. She guessed it was her hormones going crazy, but he was more than amazing to her recently, and she hated when he was gone and loved it when he was around.
She lied when she said he was going to be a shit dad, because he was going to be fantastic, and she knew she was going to be shit and he was going to be what would make her anything of a good mother.
She also knew he was going to be a great husband, but she didn’t want to say that just yet, because her cheeks burned at the thought.
She subtly edged near him and neared her hand towards his, licking her lips nervously. Before she could put her hand on top of his, he already laced his fingers around hers without looking up from the screen. She tried not to smile too widely and failed, and hoped she’d get the courage to talk to him soon, because there were some things that he needed to know.
But for now, holding hands was fine.
It just kind of slipped when they were lying in her backyard together, on the leaves that Henry had just raked up for her.
“Um, so,” she cleared her throat as his fingers laced up with hers. He looked at her curiously and she stared at the darkening sky. “I love you.”
She didn’t really mean to say it so dully - neither did she mean to say it at that moment. She felt her cheeks heat up and she squeezed her eyes shut and loosened her grip on Henry’s hand, stomach dropping as all his possible reactions flashed through her mind (awkward stares and disagreements and thumb-fiddling).
She opened her eyes slowly, fear still stuck at her throat. She couldn’t see the wispy clouds, but saw instead Henry’s face, deathly near her own, awkwardly dangling above hers. He turned red and lied back down instantly, tightening his hand around hers, embarrassed.
“You weren’t supposed to open your eyes yet,” he groaned. “I was supposed to kiss you first. You know, like in those romantic movies.”
She looked stunned at first, then started laughing out loud, clutching her stomach with one hand and putting her arm through his with the other. He widened his eyes and looked helpless.
“Because, you know,” Henry sighed, “I love you too…and stuff,” he ended awkwardly with a small smile.
She slowly came to a halt, breathing steadily as she smiled and her hair stuck to her face. She knew she was turning pink - she could feel it - but no matter how embarrassed she felt, she knew she had to do it.
She leaned towards him and pressed their lips together in an awkward kiss, giggling against each other’s mouths as they did. After more than a few seconds, she pulled back, breathless and laughing, and burrowed against his chest.
“By the way,” she smiled up at him, “I think you’d be a great dad.”
“I’m pregnant already, don’t worry,” Amber joked as she closed the door of her bedroom, her mother tsk-ing at her as she did. She jumped on her bed and Henry turned her way, setting down the picture frame he was looking at back onto her desk.
“Dude, check this out,” Amber grinned at him and raised her shirt slightly. She unclasped the button of her jeans (“You’ve already seen me naked,” she rolled her eyes and laughed as he flinched) and let her stomach show.
A bump was visible underneath the warm orange light, and his mouth fell open as he touched it with his fingertips, tracing the bump lightly across the expanse of her skin.
Amber laughed and held his hand on top of her tummy, letting it lie flat. “It’s not supernatural, you can touch it if you want,” she smiled warmly at his sheepish expression. He kept moving his hand back and forth, feeling her skin radiate warmth. He looked up at her as if he had something important to say.
“Let’s name him Earl,” he grinned, and laughed as Amber hit his back.
“I’m not letting you name him,” she snorted, then pushed his hand away. He forced it back on, claiming, “It might be your stomach, but I have the right to hold the baby too!”
Amber stuck her tongue out at him, and then laughed. “Anyway, ” she smiled, “we’re calling him or her something nice.”
“Fine, fine,” Henry sighed and lay back down, holding her hand. They nodded in agreement, staring up at the cracked ceiling of the bedroom.
“…We should name him King Henry the Second, like, first name King, second name Henry,” he said all of the sudden, “so that when we have our great, great, great, great grandchildren and stuff, well have a King Henry the Third and Fourth and Eighth in our family -”
“Henry?”
“Yeah?”
“No,” Amber poked his cheek, shaking her head. He frowned.
“I hate you.”
“I love you.”
“…I-I love you, too.”
“…And stuff?” Amber mocked.
Henry sniffed, frowning, but the small crack of a smile on his lips gave him away.
Amber was happy it was him.
i have not written in literally the longest time lmao i'm glad i even felt the want to write this. lmao rushed, hardly edited, and awkward, but i liked writing it so it must have some worth, right? inspired by juno, and by its ost. high school!au.
"If you were a castle, I'd be your moat, and if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.
All I want is you, will you be my bride, take me by the hand and stand by my side,
All I want is you, will you stay with me? Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea."
- All I Want is You by Barry Louis Polisar
Amber felt the wind slap her in the face as she ran through the street, bounding for her house, clutching a crumpled paper bag in both her hands. From what she knew, she shouldn’t run - but she pretended to herself that no, nothing was wrong - I can run if I wanted to! And she ran and ran until she reached her bathroom door, disregarding her mom screaming for her to get the phone because it was Krystal and her sister’s friends waving hello to her, as per usual when they were there.
The moment she got reached her bathroom door, she shut it closed.
When she emerged, all she could muster was a shaky, “Holy. Shit.”
She also held three sticks with small pink (menacing) positive signs on them, staring at her every time she’d look at them.
“Holy. Fucking. Shit.”
Amber knocked on her sister’s bedroom door, then tumbled in and landed on the bed backside first with a groan.
“What’s up,” her sister said without looking up from the book she was reading on her study desk. Amber chucked a pillow at the chair and Jackie turned around and glared at her. “What.”
“I wanted you to look at me when I say this,” she said with a pout, hugging another pillow tight in her arms. Jackie sighed and bounced onto her bed, sitting up and facing her sister.
“Oh, this must be serious,” she said while lying down beside Amber. “Don’t tell me you’re doing drugs or got pregnant or something -”
Amber inhaled sharply and blinked. Jackie blinked back.
“What does -” she inhaled the same way Amber did, “mean.”
Amber blinked and her lower lip trembled.
“You mean -”
“There is something growing inside of me,” Amber groaned quietly and proceeded to push her face into a pillow, hoping it would absorb the embarrassment she was going through.
“No fucking way,” Jackie whispered to herself, and Amber sobbed, muffled. Jackie crawled up to her and hugged her, cradling her in her arms.
After a while, when Amber’s sobs stopped, Jackie sniffed and cocked an eyebrow.
“So,” Jackie pushed Amber up gently, so they were facing each other. Amber raised her eyebrows. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
Amber groaned again. “Jackie, you aren’t helping at all.”
“Sorry.”
She sighed. “It’s Henry.” Jackie clamped her lips together and puffed up her cheeks, containing a giggle. Amber glared at her.
“Sorry,” Jackie apologized as soon as she could manage a straight face.
They ended up bursting into laughter until they had to wipe tears off their faces, ending in a supportive hug and continuous tears on Amber’s side.
The second bell rang, and Amber blurted out her confession to Krystal on a stone bench on the school courtyard.
“…You’re serious?” Krystal widened her eyes and went over to touch Amber’s stomach, in which Amber responded with a slap to her hand and an insecure putting of her hands in her sweater pockets.
“Well, I wouldn’t joke about it and look like crap today if I wasn’t,” she deadpanned. She was wearing a huge gray hoodie that nearly reached her knees and jeans that were a bit too big for her (so her baby could breathe, she thought).
Amber licked her lips during the uncomfortable silence they’ve reached and, with a bit of fear, looked at her best friend at the corner of her eye. Krystal’s eyes were glazed over and her mouth was pursed.
Krystal noticed Amber’s worried expression and shook her head.
“I’m not judging you at all! God, don’t think like that!” Krystal pushed Amber lightly, cracking a smile. “I’m just thinking of how I’m going to help you through this. I totally will. No doubt about it.”
Amber gave her a weak smile back and hugged her, knowing that if anyone was going to be great moral support, especially in such a serious situation, it would be Krystal (surprisingly).
It was uncomfortable hugging on a bench with the lot of their school milling around, so Amber let go almost instantly. As soon as she moved over back into her sitting position, Krystal poked her straight on her thigh.
“So,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “do I know the baby daddy?”
Amber grimaced and turned her head in embarrassment, then groaned. “Speak of the devil,” she moaned as she stared at a nearing head bobbing out of the crowd, all chubby cheeks and perfect smiles. She felt like cooing and vomiting at the same time.
“Wha -” Krystal followed Ambers line of vision then burst out laughing. “H-Henry?! Him? Oh my God, this is gold -”
By then, Henry had reached them, waving at them with a confused look on his face. “What’s wrong with me? Did my brother draw something my face with a marker again?” he rubbed his forehead with his fingers and pouted, and Amber let out a sigh she didn’t know she was keeping.
Krystal bit her lip to muffle her laughter and got up to leave. “Better get going, I’m gonna be late. See you later, Amber,” she mumbled, trying not to snort, waved, and ran to her building. Amber shook her head with a partly annoyed expression on her face and stood up, slinging her backpack on her shoulder.
“What’s wrong? You look sick,” he said worriedly, biting his lower lip. Amber looked up at him, tired, sighing exasperatedly. They walked together towards their classroom building, and at one point, Henry swung Amber’s arm over his shoulders, reached his hands under her knees and tried to carry her. She squealed and pushed herself onto the ground.
“You’re going to squish my baby -” she whined and Henry nearly dropped her. She landed shakily on her feet and watched as his expression turn confused and worried at the same time.
She shifted on her feet. “I…I’m pregnant,” she whispered, looking at the pavement.
“B-but,” Henry stuttered with his eyes widening, then narrowing, trying to comprehend what Amber has just told him. All he could muster was a helpless “w-what?”
She sighed again, nearly crying. “I-I don’t know either. But…pregnancy tests don’t lie, do they,” she sniffed and shook her head. She lowered her head and wiped the underside of her eyes.
They stood there, the last bell ringing, and the sounds of kids running towards their rooms and the shushing of students filling the air. She didn’t feel like going to classes; she just felt trashed and shitty and tired. She didn’t even want to look up, shame keeping her head down.
When she didn’t expect it, she felt Henry’s arms wrap around her. Awkwardly, sure, but it was comforting at the same time.
“I-I’ll be here for you, okay? If you need anything. I mean, I can’t promise to give you money and stuff, because…you know, I don’t really have a job, but I’ll try to get one, soon -” he rambled into her hair, suddenly shushed by her tightening her arms around him.
“Just,” she leaned against him, “stay here first, okay?”
He nodded and tightened his grip around her, hugging in the midst of perfect silence and falling leaves.
“So yeah, I told them last night,” Amber said as she threw the ball at Henry, who caught it in a mitt, “they were shocked at first - duh, who wouldn’t be shocked to know that this ugly girl got pregnant -” Henry was about to convince her otherwise, but she pretended not to hear his “hey, you’re not ugly!”, and continued, “yeah, but in the end, they accepted it and they said they’d pay hospital fees and that they loved me and stuff.” She caught the next ball Henry threw and threw it back with more force.
She ended up doubled over in laughter as Henry let it pass between his arm and his torso.
“Hey, it’s not that funny,” he came near her with a mock pout on his face, the ball in his hand.
“You suck at this,” she wiped her cheeks with her mitt on, and giggled, “You’re gonna be a shit dad at this rate, dude.”
She missed the way the fake hurt on his face turned real as she got up from the grass she fell on while laughing, shaking the blades that caught on her flannel shirt. “Let’s get some ice cream. I want some ice cream.”
Henry followed her with eyes downcast, kicking empty soda cans in his way.
“Henraaay,” Amber sang as she placed the bottle of beer on the floor. “Can you get me water?”
Henry shifted in his seat and looked down, at his lap, where a puppy dog-faced girl lay, making eyes at him, bags under her eyes and lips chapped (but he still thought she was pretty, in a way - if she wasn’t so insensitive).
“I’m your friend,” he sighed, “not your slave.”
She pouted. “But I’m pregnant,” she whined.
“Can you -” he curled his fists, “stop using that as an excuse,” he stood up quickly, making her sit up in her seat, and stormed into the kitchen.
Her mouth was open and her eyebrows were furrowed, and she felt tears well up in her eyes unexpectedly. She put her feet up on the sofa and buried her face in her knees and hoped to God she wasn’t going to bawl. She wiped her tears away as soon as they reached her cheeks and wished that she didn’t turn so red when she cried.
After what she felt like was forever, she heard a clink of glass and she looked up, finding an apologetic face right above hers, and a mug of water on the table.
“I’m sorry,” Henry whispered quickly and hugged her, lips against the top of her head (like he usually did).
She felt her cheeks burn up and she felt embarrassed, and she wanted to apologize right back. There was a funny feeling in her stomach and she wanted to reply, but she didn’t know what to say and if she did, she didn’t feel strong enough to say them. So she kept her mouth shut and let him hug her, arms feeling like jelly, not capable of hugging him back, no matter how much she wanted to.
Tears left her eyes, and she let them.
She stared at him for a while, as he watched the hockey game on the television screen in her house, the icy blue of the screen making him pale. His cheeks are chubby and his eyes disappear when he smiles and damn it, Amber, you’re not supposed to feel this way, he’s your friend, and another part of her says, well, he fathers the baby in your stomach, that has to mean something. She opened her mouth but it was dry but she knew she had to say something to him. Two things, in fact.
a) I’m sorry I’ve been a total dickhead, and
b) I think I love you.
She thought she didn’t have to explain the first one - she’s been totally using the pregnancy against him, as if it were a legitimate excuse for slave driving.
The second one, she thought, wasn’t something she expected.
She knew Henry liked her - that way - ever since he kissed her in his room while they were playing Mario Kart after finals, and she let them go all the way. But she didn’t care about that, not really. They were best friends, bros even, with a special handshake to go with the title, and she thought that would never change.
But there was something about Henry taking care of her all the time now that made her want to snuggle in his arms forever, and what was so great was that he let her. He always did anything for her, even do her chemistry homework for her when she was sick, and buy her pizza at three in the morning and deliver them to her house when she was bored and craving. He even helped her finish it, even if he hated olives. She guessed it was her hormones going crazy, but he was more than amazing to her recently, and she hated when he was gone and loved it when he was around.
She lied when she said he was going to be a shit dad, because he was going to be fantastic, and she knew she was going to be shit and he was going to be what would make her anything of a good mother.
She also knew he was going to be a great husband, but she didn’t want to say that just yet, because her cheeks burned at the thought.
She subtly edged near him and neared her hand towards his, licking her lips nervously. Before she could put her hand on top of his, he already laced his fingers around hers without looking up from the screen. She tried not to smile too widely and failed, and hoped she’d get the courage to talk to him soon, because there were some things that he needed to know.
But for now, holding hands was fine.
It just kind of slipped when they were lying in her backyard together, on the leaves that Henry had just raked up for her.
“Um, so,” she cleared her throat as his fingers laced up with hers. He looked at her curiously and she stared at the darkening sky. “I love you.”
She didn’t really mean to say it so dully - neither did she mean to say it at that moment. She felt her cheeks heat up and she squeezed her eyes shut and loosened her grip on Henry’s hand, stomach dropping as all his possible reactions flashed through her mind (awkward stares and disagreements and thumb-fiddling).
She opened her eyes slowly, fear still stuck at her throat. She couldn’t see the wispy clouds, but saw instead Henry’s face, deathly near her own, awkwardly dangling above hers. He turned red and lied back down instantly, tightening his hand around hers, embarrassed.
“You weren’t supposed to open your eyes yet,” he groaned. “I was supposed to kiss you first. You know, like in those romantic movies.”
She looked stunned at first, then started laughing out loud, clutching her stomach with one hand and putting her arm through his with the other. He widened his eyes and looked helpless.
“Because, you know,” Henry sighed, “I love you too…and stuff,” he ended awkwardly with a small smile.
She slowly came to a halt, breathing steadily as she smiled and her hair stuck to her face. She knew she was turning pink - she could feel it - but no matter how embarrassed she felt, she knew she had to do it.
She leaned towards him and pressed their lips together in an awkward kiss, giggling against each other’s mouths as they did. After more than a few seconds, she pulled back, breathless and laughing, and burrowed against his chest.
“By the way,” she smiled up at him, “I think you’d be a great dad.”
“I’m pregnant already, don’t worry,” Amber joked as she closed the door of her bedroom, her mother tsk-ing at her as she did. She jumped on her bed and Henry turned her way, setting down the picture frame he was looking at back onto her desk.
“Dude, check this out,” Amber grinned at him and raised her shirt slightly. She unclasped the button of her jeans (“You’ve already seen me naked,” she rolled her eyes and laughed as he flinched) and let her stomach show.
A bump was visible underneath the warm orange light, and his mouth fell open as he touched it with his fingertips, tracing the bump lightly across the expanse of her skin.
Amber laughed and held his hand on top of her tummy, letting it lie flat. “It’s not supernatural, you can touch it if you want,” she smiled warmly at his sheepish expression. He kept moving his hand back and forth, feeling her skin radiate warmth. He looked up at her as if he had something important to say.
“Let’s name him Earl,” he grinned, and laughed as Amber hit his back.
“I’m not letting you name him,” she snorted, then pushed his hand away. He forced it back on, claiming, “It might be your stomach, but I have the right to hold the baby too!”
Amber stuck her tongue out at him, and then laughed. “Anyway, ” she smiled, “we’re calling him or her something nice.”
“Fine, fine,” Henry sighed and lay back down, holding her hand. They nodded in agreement, staring up at the cracked ceiling of the bedroom.
“…We should name him King Henry the Second, like, first name King, second name Henry,” he said all of the sudden, “so that when we have our great, great, great, great grandchildren and stuff, well have a King Henry the Third and Fourth and Eighth in our family -”
“Henry?”
“Yeah?”
“No,” Amber poked his cheek, shaking her head. He frowned.
“I hate you.”
“I love you.”
“…I-I love you, too.”
“…And stuff?” Amber mocked.
Henry sniffed, frowning, but the small crack of a smile on his lips gave him away.
Amber was happy it was him.