Blue Paint & Red Lights

The mood was beyond jovial that night, with good food, better drinks, and great friends around the small dining room table. We laughed at Antti's jokes and chuckled at the stories Angelina shared about stuff we did when we were younger all while enjoying the food Antti helped me make and the drinking the sweet Slovakian wine Marian had brought. We eventually took the wine and conversation into the front room, where we sat on the couches, still talking.
"Troy, I think we need a puppy." Angelina commented as she pet Gretzky lovingly on the back. Troy laughed and replied, "We'll see."
Antti caught my eye and quickly gave me a wide smile in thanks and I smiled at him back. I was more than glad to welcome Gretz into the family. I excused myself for a moment to use the bathroom and when I came back a short while later, Troy and Angelina were gone, leaving Tomas, Nik, and Marian sleeping quietly, draped on our furniture.
I spied Antti sitting cross legged by the tree, the light illuminating most of his face and casting such a soft glow onto him. He gently pet the slumbering giant that was Gretzky who was laying next to him. Antti glanced over in my direction and motioned his hand to come sit. I obliged and joined him, sitting cross legged as well.

"One present Christmas eve, right?" Antti asked me, still stroking the puppy next to us.
"That's the tradition." I answered softly, trying not to wake the snoozing men. Antti smiled and pulled a small box from the back. It was wrapped with shiny blue paper and I accepted it, placing it in my lap while I pushed a large box at him. He slid his finger underneath the tape on the side and quietly unwrapped the gift. Inside was what Antti had been complaining about for months before. He finally got a Wii. His face lit up and he did an eccentric fist pump before kissing me eagerly on the lips.
"Thank you." He whispered against them and sat back, urging me to open mine.
I gave him a curious look when the wrapping paper slid off and it was an almost flat black box. It wasn't jewelery, I knew that much- Antti was still uncomfortable with making jewelery decisions. I answered that question when I opened it and was greeted by a blue Ford keychain that hung on the same ring as a 'C' that matched the one behind my ear, with the crossed hatchets a sign of the Chicago Blackhawks. I looked up at him, my expression a question.
Antti chuckled quietly before answering, "This summer, we're going to look at houses. Those are the key rings you'll attach to the new keys. It's a promise." After he had clarified his thinking, a grin broke out across my face.

Antti was ready to buy a home with me? I was hoping for this commitment soon, but I didn't expect it this early. The surprise was not a negative one, though, and I leaned over to plant light kisses all over his face. As I backed away, Antti took my hand and said, "Sleep?" I agreed whole-heartedly. I was fatigued and needed to be in our comfortable bed, surrounded by Antti.

Our gifts lie there, abandoned for now- instead we chose the comfort of our king sized bed.

The next morning when we woke up, Niklas, Tomas, and Marian were in the kitchen. They had made a big breakfast for us all before opening gifts. All four men scarfed down their food in order to open their Christmas presents. I laughed and ate mine quickly in response. Nik knew we had gotten him various gifts, but Marian and Tomas were surprised when we pulled out a couple boxes for them. We set to the task of ripping the paper off and Tomas had a sad look on his face, badly hidden by a smile. I knew he missed his family and that his wife and children couldn't make the trip out to Chicago for Christmas so he was stuck with us. Antti and I had put our heads together to get Tomas a couple of tiny baby gifts for his future child and since he had a new found love of baseball caps, we found some nice ones online for him. With Marian, it was a little more difficult, but we managed to find him a new chain for the necklace he always wore. Something about those Europeans and their necklaces, I thought to myself, familiar with the gold chain Antti wore on the regular basis.
In a flash of hormones, I had the mental image of the aforementioned chain swinging above me in a dark room, Antti's face glowing above it.
I shook my head quickly, dispelling the image from my mind and focused on the joy from Marian and Tomas.

"We don't have anything for you guys, we didn't think you'd buy us gifts." Marian confessed, his eyes cast downward on the wrapping paper that had settled in his lap.

"Don't even worry about it, guys." I smiled brightly, lightly shoving him in the arm.

After all the presents had been unwrapped, the paper thrown away, and the living room cleaned up, a grateful Tomas and Marian then admitted it was about that time to leave and call home to Slovakia. Antti and I nodded in response and after they had departed, the apartment almost felt empty. I opened the curtain slightly and the sunlight that reflected off the bright, new eight inches of snowfall.
"Geh." I said, squinting my eyes and letting the curtain fall closed. My stomach was beginning to hurt again, like I had the flu, but I brushed it aside with the thought that if it got worse, I'd take a long lunch break and go see my doctor during work.

"Hey." Antti slid his arms around my waist and pulled me back into him, planting a soft kiss on the spot where my neck met my shoulder. I smiled in reply and my stomach made a gurgling noise and I grimaced.
"Are you okay, kultaseni?" Antti asked, adding on the Finnish word for 'my love'. I nodded against him and willed my torso not to emit anymore horrible noises.
"Did breakfast not sit right?" He asked again, the tone worried. "You look pale."
I felt bile rise in my throat and I pushed myself from him, running towards the bathroom.

"Oh god." I mumbled after flushing the contents of my stomach down the toilet. Antti was then beside me, holding a box of tissues. "Blow your nose." He said seriously, sitting cross-legged down on the bathroom rug and still holding out the box, placing a glass on the counter top. I took a couple from the top and blew, making a face at the feeling of the excess vomit being forced out of my nose. I threw the tissue away, my stomach feeling better, but now generally feeling like crap.
Antti grabbed the glass of water he had set down and held it out to me.
"Thank you." I said gratefully, attempting to hide my face using my bangs as I took the proffered water, quickly swallowing half of it, avoiding the remaining taste of bile in my mouth.
He pushed the bang out of my face and ran his hand down my cheek and across my forehead.
"You don't feel warm, are you feeling well? Olen huolissani sinusta." Antti asked and I could tell he was worried by the crease between his eyebrows and his lapse into Finnish. "I think I just might have the stomach flu or something. Don't worry about it." I stood, reaching for the toothpaste and my toothbrush, anxious to feel a clean mouth again.

The rest of the day my stomach was fine and I forgot about it until the next day at work when I vomited again. Luckily I made it to the bathroom and avoided any questions.
After I had cleaned up, I grabbed my coat and told Suzy that I would be taking an early lunch. The short drive to the doctor's office was just enough for me to realize my stomach had stopped hurting, but I needed to find out what was wrong with me.
"A doctor coming to a doctor?" His laugh was jolly and his beard moved with the hearty chuckle.
"Sports medicine is hardly internal medicine." I commented, sitting down on the high beds that I never had in my offices. Dr.Gunther was the exact opposite of a harsh man and was a friend of the family, so I trusted this man and this man only with my health.
I described my symptoms for him and he asked all the normal questions before he took a couple tests and left me in the empty room for more than fifteen minutes.

--
I had called in, telling Suzy that I would not make any of my appointments for the rest of the day and to reschedule them. I knew Antti's practice was over by now and he would be at home. The words the doctor had said rang through my ears, like staring into the sun and having the imprint of it behind your eyelids.

Stepping into the apartment, I found Antti and Nik sitting on the couch, watching daytime television with Gretzky sitting in between them.
"Doc!" Niklas called, smiling brightly before seeing my face. I didn't even know what to think, but then Antti caught sight of me and before words left his mouth, he stood and led me into the kitchen.
"What's wrong? Mitä tapahtui?" My brain was so shot I couldn't even translate his Finnish. Antti put his hands on my hips and his face so was concentrated on mine, waiting for me to speak.

"I went to the doctor because I puked again today." I started and his face grew grave.
"Samantha, what's wrong?" He asked again, now taking my head in his hands.
"Don't get mad, please." I felt tears sting my eyes and I tried to hold them back.
"Tell me!" Antti started to get frantic, his eyes darting around my face.

"I'm pregnant." Those two words had changed his facial features so drastically. I was terrified he would hate me, be angry that now we would have more of a responsibility than Gretzky but Antti proved me horribly wrong.
Tears of his own started to well and he asked me, "Really?" before I could answer, he smiled brightly and kissed me passionately.
I managed to part from his lips so I could tell him, "You're going to be a father."