What Now?

Dinner

You arrived at the hotel the next night at 5:50pm. You were always one to show up early, because you hated being late. The check in with the desk was faster this time, and you were shown to the room right away.

Henry was already there when you walked in. You smiled at the fact that he was always early too.

He stood up and pulled you into a tight hug, holding you for a bit before pulling back and kissing the side of your head.

"Hey, sweetheart. You look beautiful."

You blushed. You weren't in anything special, just another maternity dress. They were the most comfortable option. "Thank you, Henry."

He smiled at you, then brought his hand to your belly. He gently rubbed across the fabric-covered skin, saying hello to the baby. She kicked him when he brushed your bump, and he chuckled.

"That's right. Daddy's baby girl is saying hello."

You smiled at that, and felt tears in your eyes. Damn hormones.

He looked at you. "Are you alright, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, these damn hormones have me crying at everything. I saw a puppy on the sidewalk outside work earlier and cried for like 5 minutes. It's crazy."

He chuckled at that and pulled you into a hug, smiling against your head as he held you to his chest for a moment. You didn't know just how incredible he found every moment of this with you. He was so genuinely excited about the baby. He couldn't believe he was going to be a father. And, the longer he knew you, the more grateful he was that it was you. He'd slept with some pretty crazy people. The type who thought there was something there when there wasn't. You were so unassuming. From the moment you first reached out, you'd done nothing but take care of his needs. You were so thoughtful and kind.

He pulled back and gestured to the chair, pulling it out for you. Once you were sitting, he asked about your day. You told him a little story about having the baby moving like crazy during a client meeting, and how distracting and amazing it was. He smile lit up the room when you talked about the baby. After you'd asked about his day, he told you he had a couple things he wanted to talk about. You nodded, somewhat nervous.

"I've decided to buy a house here in the city. I'll still go to London occasionally, but I'm going to be here as much as I can. I don't want to live in a hotel forever. I started looking today. I am going to try to find something here in Beverly Hills. I don't want to be too far away."

"That's really great, Henry. Truly. I'm so happy to hear that you'll be in the city as much as possible."

He smiled at that. He couldn't imagine not living in the same city as you and his daughter. It was still such a surreal experience when he thought about the fact that he had a daughter.

"I've also decided that I'm taking a year off from acting. I'll fulfill any contractual obligations that I have, but I want to be able to see you and the baby as often as possible."

"That's amazing. I'm so glad you want to be here. I want that too. I think it's wonderful that you are taking that time off to be with the baby."

"And you."

You smiled at that, and softly said, "and me."

You'd been thinking about something, but hadn't known when to bring it up. Now seemed good.

"So, I was thinking and I wanted to ask you something."

"You can ask me anything, sweetheart."

"Do you want to be in the delivery room with me when I give birth? I'd like it if you were, but it's up to you."

"Oh my god. Yes. Of course! I'd love to be in there when our daughter is born."

You stood up and walked around the table to hug him. You were so glad he wanted to be there. He held you tight against him, whispering thank you in your ear.

You pulled back and smiled at him before going to sit back down. You spent the rest of dinner talking about all kinds of things. You no longer only talked about the baby.

You couldn't help but smile at the way that Henry spoke with such animation about everything. He was so expressive, at least with you. You'd seen the same from him with his parents. He'd been more guarded with your parents, which you understood. It made you grateful that he seemed at ease to be himself with you.