Hush Hush

It was beginning again. The fighting. Max and Amelia began bumping heads almost immediately after his parents left. There was something about it that made them crazy. They were fighting all the time now, and it was the same fight as always.

"Stop pushing me to do this!" Amelia stated angrily one night after a particularly heated dinner. All they had done was fight. Fight and fight.

They were alone that night. Emma was staying the night at Danny Briere's house.

"I'm not pushing you to do anything!" Max replied, putting more dishes in the dishwasher. "I'm just saying that I would like to get married to you."

"We just go back together!" Amelia replied, tossing pans in the sink.

"Right, after four years. After having a daughter together," Max replied. "Why don't you want to marry me?"

"It's not that I don't want to marry you! I'm just not ready," Amelia sighed.

"You'll never be ready. You're never going to be ready to get married and have more babies with me," Max stated. "Why don't you just do it then?"

"Because I want to have a life of my own! I want to get another job, find a new hobby! I want to be more than just Emma's Mom! I will not sit around her and just be some woman you marry and in-pregnant for your own selfish need!" Amelia stated angrily, finally blowing up at Max.

She knew that Max wanted to have more babies. She knew that Max wanted to get married. What she didn't know was that Max wanted to have it all so soon.

"Why aren't Emma and I enough just how we are?" She asked, before walking upstairs to their bathroom.

Amelia sat down on the ledge of the bathtub and hung her head low. She was panicking, angry, irritable, and emotional. Even more so than usual. She kneeled down on the bathroom floor and opened up her cupboard beneath the bathroom sink, rummaging around for the tiny Ziploc bag. She pulled it out of the basket and held it in front of her face. Inside the bag were six positively pink pregnancy tests.

If Amelia had to guess it had been from the first time they had sex when they got back together. She had guessed they hadn't worn a condom, but for the life of her she couldn't remember. She had scheduled a doctors appointment for the next morning. She knew she had to tell Max, but she was so mad at him at that moment and so mad at herself.

It wasn't that she didn't want more kids. She did. Just not right now. She wasn't ready to have more babies. Emma was enough. She would be over the moon if Emma was all she had in her life. Emma was her entire world and she wasn't ready to bring another baby into that world, as awful as that sounded.

"Amelia," Max stated, knocking on the bathroom door. "Hun, could you come outside please?"

Amelia shoved the pregnancy tests back into the basket and closed the cupboard door. She stood up and unlocked the door, opening it. Max stood on the other side of the door, leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm sorry," Max sighed. "I had no idea you felt that way. I don't ever want you to feel like I took your freedom away from you because I know that when you feel that way then I lose you. You'll push me away and you'll run again. I don't want that."

"I don't want that either," Amelia sighed with relief, happy that he understood where she was coming from.

"I just want you," Max shrugged. "I don't know what it is about me that you don't want for something like marriage or another baby."

"I do want that stuff! I do!" Amelia replied, holding onto his face. "I'm just not ready for it!"

"When we'll you be ready?" Max asked. "I'm almost 30. No one ever thought I'd be ready for marriage, but I am."

"I'm the same age as you and not ready to be married," Amelia shrugged. "It's different for everyone."

"Then I'll stand by you until you're ready," Max replied.

"What if I'm never ready?" Amelia asked. She had to know.

"Then you, Emma and I will have a nice and relaxing life here," Max smiled. "Just us three."

That was exactly what Amelia needed to hear. Even if it might be her, Emma, Max and Baby Number Two. Max and Amelia headed to be early that night, simply because they were alone and they could.

The next morning Amelia woke up before Max, she showered and got ready for her appointment. She wrote Max a note telling him that she was going to the doctors for a checkup and that she was picking up Emma on the way home.

Amelia waited in the doctor's office. It was filled with old people and mothers with young kids. Amelia watched the mothers with young children and babies. She wondered if she was truly ready for this. What would she say to Max?

"Amelia Davenport," The nurse called. Amelia stood up and followed the nurse into the examination room.

"So you're here for a pregnancy test?" The nurse asked as Amelia sat down on the examination table.

"Yeah," Amelia exhaled.

"Nervous?"

"Very," Amelia nodded.

"First possible pregnancy?" The nurse asked.

"No," Amelia replied, shaking her head. "Third. I was pregnant when I was 20 and didn't know, ended up having a miscarriage. Then I had my daughter a few years later when I was 24."

"Same father?" The nurse asked.

"No. When I was 22 I was engaged to another man. My daughter is with the man I'm currently dating," Amelia replied.

"Okay," The nurse nodded. "I'm going to do some blood tests and we'll see if you're pregnant or not."

Amelia nodded and got ready for the blood test. The needle didn't much hurt, it was the waiting. The wait for the test results was excruciating.

"All right, Ms. Davenport." The doctor stated, announcing his presence. "It looks like you are indeed pregnant. So I can give you the number of an ultrasound technician and you can make an appointment to see how far along you are."

"Okay," Amelia nodded, her heart racing.

She was pregnant again. How was she going to tell Max? He was going to be so excited, and she didn't know if she was ready or not. The Davenport-Talbot family were getting a new addition to the family.