Time for a Sign

I had no idea what a positive pregnancy test would look like, so I felt kind of cheated when I realised the only difference was that there were two lines instead of one, both of which were displayed on the stick.

"So? What does it say?"

I took a deep breath, unable to keep the smile off my face as I called back out to her with a shaky voice. "You tell me."

She burst into the bathroom and took the stick from my hand, her eyes and smile wide as she pulled me into a hug.

"Congratulations Alecia, I am so happy and excited for you!" Jessy exclaimed. She continued to hug me as I processed the news. I was going to become a mom.

"Okay, now that the initial excitement is over, I need to get to the doctor to confirm it and start eating properly and taking vitamins and-" Jessy clamped her hand over my mouth.

"Calm down, drama mama. I'll book you an appointment while you get ready and then afterwards I'll take you out for breakfast to celebrate."

I got into the shower, still smiling, and looked down at my flat stomach. Of all weeks for Pat to be overseas and basically unreachable, it had to be the most exciting week of our lives even if he didn't know it yet.

Jessy was waiting for me outside the bathroom as I grabbed my bag before dashing out of the house, too excited and anxious to get to the doctor's office.

Thankfully the doctor confirmed what the test had told me, I was about ten weeks pregnant, however he seemed less than pleased with my health.

"Your body mass falls into the underweight category, and now that you're pregnant you need to start eating more vitamin and mineral rich foods to ensure you stay at a healthy weight. You risk not carrying to full term and going into labour prematurely should you stay at a low body mass."

I began to grow nervous as all the risks began to run through my head. I knew that Pat had been born prematurely, and his own mom had told me how hard it was not only being in the hospital for weeks until he was healthy, but also once they had gotten home and they weren't just looking after a healthy child. I wasn't sure if Pat and I were going to be able to cope with that, since they hadn't stopped touring yet and I began to wonder if falling pregnant was such a great idea.

* * * * *

I was still thinking about all the risks associated with our baby being born premature and Jessy picked up on it.

"Are you okay Alecia? You're really quiet."

I bit my lip. "I guess I'm just scared."

"Alecia, do you remember how scared I was when I found out I was pregnant with Connor? The boys had just gone on a full US tour and they were spending two days after it at home before going overseas for like a month. There was no-one here and I had to handle all the appointments by myself."

"I know, but that's not what I'm worried about. Jessy, I'm scared that the baby is gonna be born premature."

Jessy furrowed her brow. "Why would you think that?"

"The doctor said that I'm underweight and because of that I risk the baby being born prematurely. Also Pat was born premature and not only does that mean the risk is greater, but I've heard how hard it is to take care of a premature baby."

"Okay, Alecia, chill. We'll get your weight up, we'll get you some pre-natal vitamins and you'll stop stressing, okay? Stress isn't good for the baby, you have to remember that now."

I attempted to calm myself down, letting Jessy's words comfort me, but that voice was still nagging in the back of my head. I changed the subject so I wouldn't keep thinking about it.

"So, when do you think I should tell Pat?"

"Wait until they get back from tour. Knowing Pat, as soon as he would have heard it, he would be on the next flight home. And they really wanted this tour so that's not a great thing."

I nodded. "It also gives me a little bit of time to get myself together before I tell him."

"And we both know that he's going to be over the moon about it, you've been trying for so long."

I began to grow a little excited, I couldn't believe that we were finally going to start our family.

* * * * *

Over the next few days I started taking more vitamins and I prepared all my meals for the week so I would still be eating healthy if I had a big day at work and didn't feel like cooking. Pat was due to come home on Sunday and I began to grow anxious about telling him. I kept telling myself that it was stupid to think like that because Pat would be thrilled once he heard, but it still made me nervous.

I woke up early on Sunday morning, feeling nerves fluttering in my stomach in addition to the nausea I was feeling from morning sickness. Pat's flight was due in at 11am and he was stopping by the 8123 studio to help unpack their gear before heading home, so he wouldn't be in until after lunch.

I ended up falling back asleep for another hour, waking up once my nausea had passed, and I got to work on making sure the house was clean and ready for Pat.

I was routinely checking my phone every five minutes since it changed to 11am, waiting for a message from Pat to say he was on his way home. Finally, at 12:27pm, he messaged me.

'On my way home, have some exciting news for you. Can't wait to see you.'

I sent him one back. 'Can't wait either, I have some big news for you too.'

I jumped up from my seat and sat impatiently on the couch, waiting for the sound of a car pulling up. About fifteen minutes later, I heard a car door close and the rattling of suitcase wheels on the pathway. The door swung open and I ran towards my husband, almost tackling him to the ground.

He let go of the suitcase and wrapped both his arms around me as I buried my head in his shoulder. He pulled me back and took my face between his hands and kissed me long and hard, making up for the last week.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, preparing myself to tell him my news. "So, you said you had some exciting news?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah! Well, during this week while we were away, we organised and booked a US tour, so we're gonna do west coast in about three months, central two months after that and east coast two months after that. We'll be gone for about two weeks on each leg, so we'll have a month or so off in between which means that we can keep trying for a baby and we'll be all done touring before anything major happens. So what was your news?"

I froze in shock. In three months I would be five months along, so I was going to be due while Pat was on the east coast on tour. Suddenly, my big and exciting way of revealing my pregnancy to him had flown out the window. "I'm ten weeks pregnant."

Pat's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "What?"

"I wasn't feeling well on Wednesday and I realised I had missed my cycle, so I took a test and it came back positive and the doctor confirmed it and now I'm taking these weird vitamins and-" Pat covered my mouth with his hand.

"We're having a baby?" he asked me, his hand still over my mouth. I nodded, unable to speak, and a smile grew on his face as he picked me up and spun me around. "Holy shit I can't believe it!"

"But, the tour-"

He was still smiling, until I saw him add up the dates in his head. "Fuck, we're supposed to be on the east coast just before then. I don't wanna miss anything."

"We'll figure that out when we get to it. For now let's just celebrate the fact that in a little over seven months we're going to be parents," I said, letting the smile creep onto my face as Pat's grin returned.

"Have you told anyone else yet?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"The only one who knows besides you and me is Jessy. She brought me the test and took me to the doctor."

"Can we tell the guys?" Pat asked. I bit my lip.

"Let's just wait until I'm past my first trimester, we can keep it our little secret."

Pat smiled again. "I still can't believe it, this is incredible. After an awesome overseas tour, this news has just made my year. I love you so much." He pulled me into a tight embrace again as I mumbled "I love you too" into his shoulder.

I pulled away from the embrace. "Come on, you must be hungry."

Pat shrugged. "We got In-N-Out on the way to the studio. I'm kinda tired though, let's just stay in this afternoon."

"Sounds good to me."

I put Breakfast At Tiffany's in the DVD player and Pat laid on the couch, opening his arms for me to lie in front of him. Within ten minutes he was fast asleep, one arm wrapped tightly around my waist and the hand of the other placed softly on my still-flat stomach. I smiled to myself as I snuggled into his chest and placed my hand over his, closing my eyes and falling asleep with him.

* * * * *

When I woke up, Pat had left the couch and I could hear him clattering about in the kitchen and the sound of the electric kettle boiling. I pulled myself up off the couch and dragged myself to where he was pouring the boiling water into two cups, tea for me and coffee in his own mug. He gave me a smile as I stretched myself out and sat myself down at our breakfast bar.

"So, since this 'parenthood' thing is really happening, we need to start preparing."

I looked at him dumbly; still waking up. "Preparing?"

"We'll need to turn one of the spare rooms into a nursery, we'll need a crib and more furniture, not to mention clothes and diapers-"

I started laughing and Pat stopped talking. "Pat, slow down. We have months to sort that stuff out. I'm sure that once I'm on maternity leave I'm gonna start 'nesting' and get almost all of that stuff done."

Pat furrowed his brow. "Nesting?"

I nodded. "Remember when Jessy was pregnant with Connor and Garrett said that she would go shopping every day? It's like when birds start making a nest to lay eggs in. Pregnant women, Jessy especially, go crazy making sure everything's ready for the baby. Remember the time you walked into Garrett's house and there was an entire wall of diapers?"

Pat chuckled at the memory. "Garrett said it was nearly a year's worth."

"So don't worry about anything right now, I'm sure I'll get it done in time."

"Alright, I trust you." He walked around to the breakfast bar with my tea and placed it in front of me before wrapping his arms around me and placing a kiss to the top of my head. Now I just had to break it to his friends that their plans were going to interfere with my life.