Timing is Everything

“What are you two up to today?” Louis asked us a couple of days later. We didn’t know how to break the news to him, but now seemed like the time.
“Going to the doctor,” Luke said through his cereal.
“What do you need to go to the doctor for?” Louis asked.
“He doesn’t,” I said. “I do.”
“Then why does he need to go with you?”
Luke put his bowl down. “Louis, um, Ellie’s, uh, pregnant.”
Louis’s eyes opened wide then stared at me. “Seriously?” I nodded. “Wow. What are you going to do?”
“Raise a baby,” Luke said. “We don’t know how far along she is or anything, but we’ll find out today.”
“And no putting any of this on the Internet yet,” I added. “We kind of have a video planned for tonight.”
“I’m not,” Louis said. “But are you two excited for this?”
“Yeah,” we both said.
“Then congratulations!” Louis smiled. “I’m happy for you two.”

Everything went well at the doctor, and as soon as we got home and told Louis the news, we started to make a video that both of us would put up.
“Hey, everyone!” I said to the camera.
“Hey, guys!” Luke said. “If you’re subscribed to both Ellie and myself, you might be wondering why both of us have this video up. Thing is, we have some really big news for all of you. Ellie and I went to the doctor today, and,”
I held up the pregnancy test for the camera to see. “We’re pregnant!” we both yelled.
“Today was my first doctor’s appointment, and we found out that I am just over eight weeks along, the baby is healthy, and I’m due July 20th,” I said.
“That’s all we found out so far, but we’re both very excited,” Luke said.
“A little nervous, but excited,” I added.
“I’m going to be a daddy!” Luke yelled.
“Yep,” I said. “I’ll be a mommy. We don’t exactly have everything worked out with how we’re going to live and all, but we’ll figure it out and let everyone know.”
“And if anyone has any questions, just ask,” Luke smiled.
“I guess that’s it,” I smiled back. “Thanks for watching, guys, and we’ll keep you updated.”
Luke kissed my cheek as I turned off the camera. “We’re going to be parents,” he whispered.
“I know,” I replied. “Oh, we have to tell our parents.”
“Shit,” Luke said. He wasn’t very close with his parents, and I wasn’t really close with mine, so having to tell them something like this may be a bit awkward. “Who should we tell first?”
“Mine are closer. Maybe we should get it over with,” I said.
“Call and see if they’re busy tomorrow night. Should we go to a restaurant or their house?”
“Probably the house. I’m not sure how they’re going to take it.” I talked to my parents once a week and saw them maybe once a month.
“Dinner tomorrow night at six,” I said, walking into the boys’ apartment after hanging up with my parents.
“Did they seem suspicious?” Luke asked.
“Not really. Probably just think I need money or something,” I said.
“How do you think they’re going to react?” Louis asked.
“I don’t know. They’re not going to be thrilled. I just hope they’re supportive.”
“They will be,” Luke kissed my head.
“I better get going,” I said. “I have work in a few.”
“Are you going to tell them?” Luke asked.
“Eventually. I think we should tell our parents first. Can you call yours while I’m gone and invite them over for dinner this weekend?”
“Of course,” he said.

“Did you see the feedback from our video?” Luke asked me on the drive to my parents’ house. I shook my head. “They’re ecstatic! Everyone is so happy for us.”
“It’s good to know we have their support. I wonder what this will do for our views. It might drop if we spend too much time on baby things.”
“Or it’ll raise. We’ll have to see, but they are our channels, and we can post whatever we want.”
“That’s true. So, what are we going to do, Luke?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are we going to move in together? Are we going to get married? You know my parents are going to ask all these questions.”
“We don’t know yet. I mean, eventually, we really should move in with each other, so we’ll both be there for the baby. But, do you want to get married? Neither of us really expressed much thought toward marriage before.”
“No, I don’t want to get married.” I was never crazy about the idea of marriage. Getting pregnant shouldn’t change my views on it.
“You don’t want to marry me?” Luke asked, slightly offended.
“Maybe one day, but I don’t want to get married just because we’re having a baby. We wouldn’t get married anytime soon if we weren’t. Plus, who knows? Things might not work out, and we’ll have to get a divorce. It’ll just make things more complicated. Just wait a few more years and see if we really belong together before we do something like that. Like we would if I wasn’t pregnant.”
“Do you at least want to be engaged for that time?”
“Seems kind of pointless,” I chuckled. He smiled back at me. “I don’t understand why some people think being engaged for years does anything. You should only be engaged if you’re actually planning a wedding.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Luke said and kissed the back of my hand that he was holding as we turned onto my parents’ street.
“Ellie! It’s so good to see you!” my mom yelled as she answered the door. I have always looked just like my mom. We both had long red hair (only I colored mine bright red), bright green eyes, and a strong face. Personality wise, I took after my dad completely.
“Hi, Mom!” I said and hugged her. “Good to see you, too.”
“And Luke, handsome as ever!” she yelled and hugged Luke.
“Nice to see you, Mrs. Cooper,” Luke smiled as he hugged her back.
“Please, call me Sandra,” she said as we walked into the house.
“What’s for dinner, Mom?” I asked.
“Lasagna. Your dad’s taking it out now.”
“I guess this is where Ellie gets her cooking skills from,” Luke said as we sat down, and my dad started serving out slices.
“She wishes she was as good as me,” my dad said.
“So, Ellie. What’s new?” my mom asked as I turned down a glass of wine from my dad.
“Luke and I actually have some really big news for you,” I said. “We went to the doctor yesterday.”
“You’re not sick, are you?” my dad asked nervously.
“No, opposite, actually,” I said. “We’re going to have a baby.”
Both of their eyes widened. They were quiet for a minute, and I might as well have been dead. Finally, my mom broke the silence. “Eleanor, how did you let this happen?”
“It wasn’t on purpose-“
“Were you safe?” she interrupted.
“Yes, we were, but things-“
“If you were, I don’t see how this could happen.”
“Things happen all the time-“
“If you were safe, you would have waited until you were married. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what we taught you.”
“I know, Mom, but things aren’t the same anymore-“
“Clearly, you’re pregnant.”
“No, I mean, hardly anyone waits until marriage anymore. I don’t even know if I want to get married.”
“What are you talking about? Aren’t you two getting married?” my dad interjected this time. Luke and I were silent.
“Of course they’re getting married!” my mom said.
“No, we’re not,” I said.
“What?” my mom asked sternly.
“We were talking about it on the way over here. We’re going to eventually move in together, but when it comes to our actual relationship, we’re going to continue like we were if we weren’t having a baby,” Luke said.
“But you are having a baby. It changes everything. It’s not about what you want anymore; it’s about what’s best for the baby!”
“Us getting married isn’t necessarily best for the baby,” I said. “What if things don’t work out? Then we have to put the child through a divorce. Either that or live with parents they know aren’t happy together. We’re still trying to figure everything out, Mom.”
She finally calmed down some. Everyone picked at the food for a minute before my mom spoke again. “How far along are you?”
“Nine weeks on Saturday,” I said.
“I guess we could start buying baby things this Christmas then,” she smiled slightly. That’s right. Christmas was next week. How could I have forgotten that? Luke and Louis had just posted their Christmas video. “And you two don’t know how your living arrangements are going to be?”
“We’ll be together,” Luke said. “Just not sure where or when.”
“Then I guess we should stick to buying the things that are going to stay here,” she smiled more as she sipped her wine. “You don’t mind if we turn your old room into a second nursery for the little one, do you?”
“That’d be great,” I said. “So, you plan on being around for everything?”
“Of course!” my dad said. “You think we’re going to miss out on our grandchild’s life?”
“Have you thought of names yet?” my mom asked. They were taking this better than I thought.
“What about you, Luke? Do you want a son or daughter?” my dad asked him.
“We haven’t thought that far ahead,” I said.
“And I’d be happy with either,” Luke added.
“That’s the attitude,” my dad said, raising his glass.
“When’s your due date?” my mom asked.
“July 20th,” I said.
“Wonderful. A summer baby!” she smiled. “Are you going to get another job to support the baby?”
“Actually, I was thinking about quitting this one.”
“And getting a real one?” she asked.
“Not exactly. See, Luke has been doing really well on the Internet, and makes enough to where he doesn’t have another job. He’s even got an offer to do a weekly radio show, so that’ll bring in more money.”
“And what about you?” my dad asked. “You need to have a steady income if something happens.”
“Well, Luke’s success has been bouncing onto me also. I’m getting paid more and more to post videos online, and the video we posted about the baby got so many hits-“
“You told the Internet before you told us?” my mom asked. “Luke, do your parents know?”
“Not yet; we-“
“Lovely. Everyone online knows more about my daughter’s life than me.”
“Sandra, this isn’t about you,” my dad said. “Please continue, Ellie.”
“Thank you, Dad. Anyways, if I keep posting videos about the pregnancy, more people will probably watch, and I’ll be able to support the baby and myself.”
“And if that doesn’t work?” my mom asked. “I wish you’d gotten a real job after college. That way you would have some experience if this fails. Seems like four years of college down the drain.”
This is what I didn’t like about my mom. She’d seem real supportive about something then nitpick at all the little details. It’s like she doesn’t know how to just seem happy for someone.
“No matter what, I would never let anything happen to Ellie or the baby,” Luke said. “If anything does happen, I’ve got a good bit of money saved that will last us until we can get stable jobs.”
“Have you ever had a baby before, Luke?” my dad asked.
“No, sir.”
“Do you know how much one costs?” my mom asked.
“Not exactly,” he said.
“You have no idea,” she said. “Just wait until all your bills come after the first month the baby is born. Then you might think about getting another job.”

“That went well,” Luke said sarcastically on our way home. “I’m still confused by the way. Are they encouraging or not?”
“They are,” I said. “They just want to make sure we do everything the way they think it should be.”
“If it were the way they think it should be, we would have already been married,” he joked.
“Are you coming over tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m just going to stop by my place for a bit, get some clothes, and make sure Louis is alive.”
“Have you told him that we’re going to be moving in together?”
“Not yet, but he has to know it’s coming.” Luke and Louis have lived together since before I knew them. This had to be hard on Louis, knowing that his best friend won’t always be able to be there for him anymore.
I knew once me and Luke started getting serious, it was difficult for him. Not that Louis doesn’t get girlfriends; he just doesn’t keep them around for long. I’ve never seen a friendship as close and Luke and Louis. And I’ll admit, it was intimidating at first. Now with the baby, I feel like it might be pushing Louis too far. I don’t want either of them to get hurt.