Hush Hush

Max will only see the fun things in having another baby, Amelia thought as she sat in her car a few minutes after her appointment ended. She couldn't bring herself to call Max and tell him, or call anyone.

He'll see little shoes, cute little outfits, giggles, fun little messes that I will have to clean up.

Max had been there for Emma, but he hadn't been there a lot. He'd seen a few tantrums and sick days, but not enough for him to really know what he was dealing with. She didn't want to have to deal with this alone. She knew that Max wouldn't abandon her, but she was fairly certain that he wasn't as ready for this as he thought he was.

Amelia sighed and started the car, driving to pick Emma up from the Briere household. She pulled into the driveway and walked up to the front door, having Emma run into her arms.

"Did you have fun?" Amelia smiled, brushing Emma's messy hair off of her face.

"Yeah! We got to go to the movies last night, then got ice cream!" Emma smiled.

"What? Danny didn't have to do that!" Amelia smiled, looking at Danny.

"It was no problem," Danny smiled. "We all had fun."

"Thanks so much for taking her, Danny." Amelia smiled.

"Again, no problem. The boys love having her around," Danny smiled.

Amelia talked with Danny a little longer before carrying Emma to the car. She strapped her into her car seat and drove them home.

"Go get your Daddy," Amelia smiled, when they walked up the stairs. Emma ran off to get Max out of bed while Amelia walked to Emma's bedroom to put her overnight bag. On her way back to their bedroom she walked by her old bedroom which they were now using for storage.

"Thinking of moving back in there?" Came Max's voice behind her.

"Max! You scared me!" Amelia gasped, turning around and looking at him.

"Sorry, hun." Max laughed, taking her in his arms. "How was the doctors?"

"It was good, but there's something that I need to tell you." Amelia sighed.

"Are you okay?" Max panicked, putting this hands on her hips.

"I'm fine, sweetie! Relax, it's okay!" Amelia smiled, touching his face.

"Then what is it?" Max asked.

"Max, I'm pregnant." Amelia stated, trying not to sigh.

"What?" Max asked, his eyes wide once more.

"I'm pregnant again," Amelia sighed. "That's why I went to the doctor today. I've taken a few pregnancy tests and they've been positive so I made the appointment and I'm for sure pregnant."

"Lee," Max smiled, holding her face.

"Yeah," Amelia nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Max asked, noticing they weren't the happy tears he felt welling up in his own eyes.

"Max, I don't know if I can do this." Amelia sobbed, pressing her face into his chest.

"What do you mean, hun? You've done this before," Max stated, holding her tightly.

"I know and it destroyed us," Amelia sobbed. "What if I'm a bad Mom? What if I don't love this baby the way that I love Emma?"

"Amelia," Max scolded. "You're a wonderful mother! You are a great mom to Emma and you'll be a great mom to this baby as well. You will love this baby the same way that you love Emma. This is just your hormones and nerves talking. You can do this again."

"You can't leave," Amelia ordered, grabbing his shirt and pulling his face down to her own. "You cannot leave me. This isn't going to be easy. This is going to be hard. The baby is going to be cute all the time and Emma is going to feel like she's second-best now and again. I need you to be on my side and I need you to help me. I need you to help Emma realize that we love her just the same as we did before her new sibling."

"I promise, Lee." Max nodded. "We'll do it right this time."

"You have to help me with this, Max." Amelia begged.

Amelia was showing weakness, or maybe she was finally just breaking down and asking for help. Max didn't think of it as weakness. He never saw Amelia as a "weak" person. He only saw her as strong. She was the strongest person he knew.

"I will," Max nodded. "I promise."

"We can't just shut down and start resenting each other like we did with Emma," Amelia stated.

"We won't," Max replied. "We've got it right this time. I know we do."

"We better," Amelia stated. "Or I'm going to be really mad at you."

"Nothing new," Max smirked, pulling her close and kissing her forehead.

As they walked downstairs to go and find Emma, Max couldn't help but be excited. He was so happy that they were having another baby together. The only thing that scared him was that he hadn't been there through all of Emma as a baby. Basically because Amelia asked him not to be, but he wondered if he was ready for a baby. A real, newborn infant.

"Max, you okay?" Amelia asked as they sat on the couch watching Emma play with her toys.

"Yeah, I'm good." Max nodded, hiding his panic.

Max had always been the fun parent. He wondered if he was going to be the same with the baby or if he would change all together. He was a fun parent because he didn't have to be anything else. Max was concerned the baby would change him.

Max began to rethink his decision and excitement for this baby.