A Long Nine Months

2: A Good Dad

The door opened and slammed shut as James jogged into the cottage, his face wrought with worry.

"Lily!" he called into the house, his hands slapping against the arm of the couch to come to a quick stop. "Lily! Are you okay?" He peered around the house, trying to guess which floor  to start his search.

"Up here, James!" Lily's shaky voice came floating to him from upstairs.

He bounded up the steps and swung around the banister to barrel towards their bedroom. Slightly out of breath, he slid to a stop in front of their open bedroom door.

"Hey Lils," he said with his lopsided grin. He walked into the room and kept his smile on even though he was starting to get more and more worried as he approached. Her face was pale and her typically smooth hair was unkempt and frizzy. She was perched carefully on the edge of their bed with her hands clasped together in her lap, wringing together habitually.

"Lils?" he asked cautiously and sat on the bed next to her. He laid one hand over hers and she looked down at their joined hands with a watery smile. "What happened? You just... ran outta there. I was worried sick."

"I'm okay, James," she said, looking up to meet his gaze. "Really. My stomach was just upset. A bit nauseous, you know? But it's feeling better now."

He nodded and let out a pent up breath as some of the tension left his shoulders. He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, making her smile beneath her waterfall of hair spilling over her shoulder.

"Oh! Here," he said, reaching beside him on the bed and holding up a fluffy white scarf. "You left this."

"Oh! I totally forgot about it, thanks," she exclaimed, her eyes opening wide and taking the scarf from him into her lap. She fingered the edge of the yarn and stared into her lap, biting her lip anxiously.

James smiled, but when he saw some sort of nerves breaking through her countenance, he asked, "What is it?" He leaned forward to try and peer under her hair to be able to read her expression.

Lily sniffed loudly and James' eyebrows contracted with worry once again.

"What--" he started to ask, but he stopped abruptly when Lily's arms were thrown around his shoulders and she dug her chin into his shoulder, sniffing loudly and holding the white scarf against his back.

He wasn't sure what to say or what was wrong with his wife, so he fell silent and held her close. He breathed in her rose scented perfume and closed his eyes, hoping that she would speak her mind.

"Thanks for remembering my scarf," she whispered, peering at it between her fingers over James' shoulder.

"Of co--"

"You're going to make a great Dad," she said softly, biting her lip and trying to read his reaction through his arms wrapped around her.

James scoffed. "A great Dad? Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself there, Lils?"

Lily didn't respond and continued to bite her lip, waiting for the moment when he understood.

James expected Lily to laugh, even just a giggle, at his joke, but something about her silence made him rethink what she meant. He furrowed his brows and cocked his head, letting her words wash over him again. Then, without warning, he leaned back and held Lily at an arm's length.

"A great Da...," he began to repeat. "Do you mean... Are you... Are you pregnant?" he finally blurted out incredulously.

Lily nodded and continued to suck on her bottom lip anxiously.