Remember, Everything Will Be Alright

XI

18 December 2019

Notification from Dionysus:

Hey Dad! You have officially made it to your second trimester. Don't forget to log your symptoms here on the Dionysus app.

Dan let out an excited laugh, loud enough to travel all the way to the kitchen. Seconds later, there was a scratching noise against the bottom of the door. Dan could hear Phil scolding the transgressor from the outside.

"Jagger! Get away from the door," Phil said. "Dan is sleeping."

"I'm not anymore!" Dan shouted to Phil. "Both of you, come in."

Phil opened the door, and in ran Dominic and Ashley's Pit Bull mix. Once he reached Dan's bedside, he jumped and rested his paws on the mattress, leaning over to lick Dan's face.

"Hello, sweet boy! How did you sleep?" Dan asked the dog between wet kisses.

"I think he found a place in the closet," Phil said, impersonating the dog by nestling his face in his arms. "He just cozied up in a pile of towels and slept there all night."

"Let him up," Dan requested as Phil approached the bed.

Phil shook his head. "Are you crazy? Ashley seemed pretty proud of how disciplined Jagger is. I don't want an angry phone call from her when she and Dom come home from New Jersey asking me why Jagger started sleeping in bed with them. It was bad enough I let you convince me to take him out of his crate!"

"He was crying!" Dan defended.

Phil sighed. It broke Phil's heart to remember the look on Dan's face as he heard Jagger's whining from inside his cage in the living room and the sighs he made that suggested Phil take action. "He was," Phil agreed as he plopped facedown onto the bed next to Dan. "What was so funny first thing in the morning?"

"Oh!" Dan said, raising his phone to show Phil the notification.

"Sweetheart, that's wonderful!" Phil said after he read the words on the screen. "I'm so proud of you." He got up on his elbows to kiss Dan's lips before he peeled the duvet off Dan and uncovered his round belly. "And you too," he added, planting a kiss above Dan's oblique. "Can you feel this?" Phil asked before pressing his lips back onto Dan's skin and blowing a raspberry. Jagger, who had still been perched at the side of the bed. let out a low growl at the noise. He tried to climb the bed, uncomfortable with the attention Phil was paying to Dan's bump. Phil immediately backed away.

"He did not like that!" Dan said through nervous laughter. "It's okay, boy." He stroked the top of Jagger's head, scratching him through his short, golden pelt.

With Dan's reassurance, Jagger sunk and laid on the floor, settling down with an uninspired sigh.

"This is a big deal, though!" Phil said, pointing to Dan's phone. "The risk of miscarriage drops to basically nothing after you make it to the second trimester."

"I know," Dan said, covering himself up with his nightshirt and draping his hand over his middle. His response was void of the relief Phil hoped Dan would have felt at the statistic. "I don't mean to be a downer when I say this, but Dr. Kellgren-Fozard said that it's best to speak about these things before they manifest somewhere else."

Phil nodded at the advice from Dan's therapist. "Go ahead."

"It's just, how can I say that I'm at any lower of a risk than I was yesterday? What could have possibly happened over the course of a night's rest that makes Baby Lester that much safer?"

Phil shrugged. "I don't pretend to be a doctor. Maybe you just need to trust what your body is telling you. Do you feel alright?"

Dan nodded.