17 Nights

Ava walked out of Marc's room feeling more confident and poised. She wore a more guest fitting dress and a grey cardigan. She knew that Marc hadn't told his parents about her being pregnant, so she saved the family awkward glances at her stomach and wore a dress that didn't hug her body. At three months, Ava was already showing a bit of but from her otherwise flat stomach.

She made her way over to the kitchen and greeted Linda, who was busy cooking something that smelled good. Linda greeted her with a smile as she threw in some sauce into the pasta that looked amazing.

"That looks amazing," she complimented Linda's cooking. "Do you need any help? You must be tired after a long flight."

"No it's alright. It's been awhile since I cooked for Marc," Linda replied. "Just sit back and relax, I love cooking for my kids."

Smiling, Ava looked at the mother of four with admiration. Even in their adulthood, Linda still loved taking care of them; she had never met a mother like that. Her mother was great, but she was more a best friend or a sister than a mother. Josephine didn't really take care of her, sadly, she was mostly raised my nannies and maids. Seeing a mother who lived and breathed her kids, she only hoped she would be like that one day.

"I'll set up the table then," Ava offered, and took out the plates and cups before Linda could protest. "It’s the least I could do."

Once Ava was out of the kitchen, she noticed that Marc, Jared and Henry were all in the living room watching TV. As she was setting the plates, she noticed Henry glance at her and kicked Marc's foot. Marc gave his father an annoyed glance and grunted, making Ava laugh. It was amusing to watch how the family interacted; it was what she imagined a family would act. Not to mention, Marc was just like a child. An extremely tall child.

"What?" Marc grunted, keeping his eyes glued to the TV as did Jared.

"What? Go help your girlfriend," Henry scolded his second oldest son.

Ava snickered as Marc hesitantly got up, giving the TV one last helpless look and walked over to her. "Please, don't get up on my account," she teased him.

Kissing her cheek, he took remaining plates from her hands and finished setting the rest of the table. Setting the last plate on the table, he looked up to see Ava looking at him with a smile on her face. "What's that look for?" he asked, walking over to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head. She kissed him chastely on the lips. "Your family is amazing."

"Dinner's ready," Linda announced, walking into the kitchen. Henry and Jared automatically got up from the couch, as if the magic word to get them out of their comfortable seats were 'dinner'. "I need a serving spoon," she mumbled to herself and turned towards the kitchen. Just as she was about to enter the kitchen from the dining room she noticed an odd black and grey picture hanging on the wall. Looking at it more closely, it dawned on her that it was an ultrasound and underneath it said 'Jenkins'. "Marc, what is this?"

The couple looked at Linda, following to where she was pointing and both their eyes widened; realizing that she noticed the ultrasound Ava had given Marc to keep. Ava looked at marc surprised that he would actually put the ultrasound on display instead of just putting it in a drawer or something. It was a recent ultrasound and he asked for two copies, one for Marc to Keep. Marc struggled to say something to his mother, Henry and Jared approaching, making their way over to Linda to investigate the picture.

"That looks like an ultrasound of a baby," Jared sated the obvious.

Both Linda and Henry looked at their son and his girlfriend expectantly, but they just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights. Linda hoped that it was just a random picture that Marc had, but deep down she knew it wasn't. She wasn't angry at Marc and Ava for being pregnant, but she had hoped that they would have been married before starting a family.

Ava bit her lip nervously, she looked at Marc weakly. "Surprised," she offered, grabbing Marc's hand for the expected disappointing looks.

"You're pregnant," Henry said slowly.

"Oh my God Marc!" Linda exclaimed and hugged her son. Despite being disappointed that Ava was already pregnant before knowing each other long enough or being married, she was genuinely happy for Marc and Ava. "I'm going to be a grandmother again.

"Thanks mom," Marc said and returned her hug.

"Congratulations honey," Linda congratulated Ava warmly, getting teary eyed as she hugged the beautiful actress.

"Thank you," Ava genuinely thanked Linda and then was congratulated by Henry and Jared.

"Now let's eat and talk more about this," Linda ushered everyone to their seats.

*

Ava let out a small laugh when Jared said something funny. It had been almost two hours since the family had found out about her pregnancy and they had been nothing short of welcoming of her. Linda talked excitedly to Ava, giving her advice and tips for the duration of her pregnancy.

She excused herself from the family when she noticed that Marc was still in the balcony. He had excused himself a few minutes earlier when his cell phone rang and from where she sat, she could see that Marc was no longer on his cell phone and was leaning on the railings deep in thought.

"Damn it's cold," she whispered to herself when the moment she stepped out of the apartment and into the balcony. Marc turned around and saw Ava approach him. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his back.

Marc just shook his head sighing, and turned around so that Ava was now resting on his chest. "I was just thinking about the baby. When do you find out if it's a boy or a girl?"

"I'm going to the doctors next week and they said that by then they could probably tell if it's a boy or a girl," she informed him. "Are you scared?"

Ava looked at Marc straight in the eyes. She was scared of what kind of response she'd get out of Marc. She was scared that he'd realize that she and the baby weren't worth it and leave. She was scared that he would realize he still had a whole career ahead of him and leave them.

Sighing, Marc hugged Ava tighter as if to reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere. "I am. I'm scared for sure, but I know it would get better. I know that we'll make it. It wouldn't make a difference if your family and my family disapproved of you being pregnant, I want the baby and I want you."

Ava's lips trembled as she struggled to keep her emotions intact. All doubts of Marc not wanting to be with her and the baby all flew out the window. She could see that everything he said was the truth. She knew that she could depend on him.

"I'm scared too. I'm scared that my parents will stop talking to me; I'm scared about facing the world and telling the world that I'm pregnant; I'm scared that we'll be terrible parents, but I'm not scared about having this baby," she admitted. "This baby is the most important thing that connects me to you and I'm already in love with him or her."

Marc smiled lovingly at his girlfriend and kissed her forehead. He wrapped her tightly against his hest, resting his chin on her head. They stood in each other's arms in silence, enjoying the moment where it was just them. Just Marc and Ava.