From Here On Out

39

Having the news out felt like a weight had been freed from her chest. Daveed echoed these feelings, although, it wasn't the size of the secret that felt so heavy. The two of them just both happened to be terrible at keeping secrets. But now that it was out in the open, nothing about their relationship was hidden and they were extremely glad to have this new freedom.

The month since Daveed had stood before her on one knee had been quite blissful. She woke up engaged and went to bed engaged, and she had been happier than she could imagine. They'd grown closer, which said a lot for them, and they'd almost become inseparable as the days went on. She'd had many conversations with her mom, squealing over the wedding as well as ones with Jasmine and Mary, the two of them also squealing, and looking for ways to be a part of the wedding as much as possible.

It had been sort of a honeymoon season, but, as seasons tend to go, the dimmer parts were moving in.

Her pencil was tapping along her paper. She hadn't done any of her math problems in several minutes as her mind was consumed with a melange of thoughts.

Daveed looked over from where he too was working on homework right beside her. His head tilted watching as she fluttered the pencil and curled her eyebrows in thought. The brainpower clearly wasn't going to the worksheet so he knew it had to be somewhere else. "What's up, babe?" he asked, still staring in her direction.

Emmy stretched her arms out wide and fake yawned in an effort to deflect his question. She went back to her page assuming it had worked on him. He scooted his body from the foot of the bed to the top where she sat and put his finger under her chin. Daveed lifted her head up slowly to catch her eyes. "Babe, what's going on?"

She held his eyes for a few moments, wondering how to even articulate what she felt. She didn't know which emotion to start with; the fear, the worry, the nerves, all spun like an arcade game in her head. She didn't want to make him feel bad, she didn't even think he was the reason for any of these feelings. She just felt like her head was simply turning against her. 

"I'm scared," she stated, turning her head down immediately as if guilty for admitting it.

"Baby," Daveed sighed, lifting her chin back up then scooting closer to get next to her, "That's ok, talk me through it."

Emmy shook her head, "I don't know how," she shrugged, "I'm scared of having a baby, scared of getting married, scared for the next... I don't know... year. I don't know how to put that into words."

He gave her one more of those signature head tilts, "Sounds like words to me." he shrugged.

She lightly rolled her eyes, "But that's not- I can't just say I'm scared of getting married," she looked at him, "That doesn't hurt your feelings at all?"

Daveed shook his head, "No, because I know you want to marry me." He moved in front of her to now to grab both of her hands, "It makes sense to be scared. You're 18, Em. You're supposed to be doing stupid college things, and you never got to. I'm sorry for that," she tried to interrupt but he continued to talk, "You got a FastPass to adulthood, and I got half of one. So, don't feel bad to tell me you're afraid. I'm scared as hell too, and I'm not the one carrying a baby."

"It's just so fast. And I don't know what I'm doing anymore," she sighed.

He saw tears start to well in her eyes, and he pulled her into a hug. "You remember what you told me right after we moved in here? 'Piece by piece'" he echoed her, "I got you, Emmy. We got each other. You don't need all the answers."

She let a few tears fall onto his t-shirt. Her head rose to look him in the eyes once more, "Have you ever seen a video of a baby being born? I mean, that should just not be allowed." she shook her head, some of the seriousness leaving her tone.

Daveed couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, "It's really... something. But, you can squeeze my hand as tight as you want. Break it, it wouldn't be the first time," he tried to make her laugh.

"Let's hope I'm not in enough pain to break your hand," she let out a laugh. She wrapped her arms around his neck to complete his half hug.

"I hope not," he said before pressing a kiss to her lips, "We also need to think of names, that is, if we're ruling out Daveed Jr," he smirked.

Emmy broke out into a fit of giggles, "No Daveed Jr but... how about he gets your middle name."

Daveed's eyes widened, "You for real?" he looked into her eyes.

"Yeah," she smiled, "I like the idea of him having that piece of you."

"Thank you," he kissed her once more, this time on the temple. He turned his eyes up to think for a moment, "What about his first name?"

"I didn't get that far," she giggled, "Boy names are so much harder than girls."

Daveed joined in her laughter, "You never made one of those baby names lists?"

She shook her head, "It's all girl names. Did you make one?"

Daveed frowned, "Of course not. I thought that was something girls did at sleepovers or sumn."

"No, we just paint our nails and talk about boys!" she mocked him with a fake girly voice. She laughed a little at her own joke but added, "I kinda always liked Dylan though."

"Dylan Daniele," he said slowly, "Diggs?"

Emmy nodded her head, "Or Raver- Diggs but that's kind of a mouthful."

Daveed pulled her closer, "Did we just name our child?" he asked as blush coated his cheeks.

"I think we did," she smiled, her dimples showing through. "Let's ask the audience," she looked down at her belly, "Dylan? You like that little man?"

"Yes mommy, I love it," Daveed said in a child- like voice.

"Mommy likes it too," Emmy smiled down at their baby "sitting" between them.

Daveed looked around their bedroom to see night falling behind the windows. His eyes then caught the clock that read 10:00. "Bedtime?" he asked.

Emmy nodded and he threw his untouched notebook on the ground. He placed her paper down atop it and then laid down. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her to a laying positing as well and the two of them lie face to face.

"Feeling a little better?" Daveed said, stroking the side of her face.

"Mhm," she said softly, "I think a lot of it is stress."

"Understandable," Daveed said, rubbing up and down her back. "Try to sleep. You and Dylan need it."

"Goodnight D," she told him before turning her back to him, "Goodnight baby D," she whispered downwards.

"Goodnight baby D," she heard Daveed whisper as well. The two of them cuddled close and in minutes, snores could be heard around the room.