The Constable's Child

It Begins

Consciousness slowly returned to Ichabod. His deep brown eyes fluttered open and he took in his current surroundings. He was still at Dr. Graham's office, but he was lying on the floor for some strange reason. He turned his head to the side to see Katrina kneeling over him and holding his head in her hands.

"Ichabod, are you alright?" She asked.

"Katrina? How long have I...?" Ichabod asked, sitting up and looking at his wife.

"Not long; forty-five minutes to an hour at most." Katrina answered casually.

"Oh... But what happened?" Ichabod asked again before standing up.

"Your wife is expecting. Congratulations, Constable." Dr. Graham said with a smile.

Ichabod's eyes widened again before remembering the events that just occurred before he fainted; he remembered hearing Katrina telling him that she was with child. He looked at his wife who had a bright smile on her face as she said to him,

"It's true, Ichabod. You're going to be a father."

Ichabod blinked a few times, a look of shock and disbelief stamped on his face. After a long moment of silence, Ichabod wrapped his arms around Katrina and spun her around the room before bursting into laughter.

"Katrina, this is wonderful!" He cheered.

"You're... truly excited about this?" Katrina asked, almost bewildered at her husband's reaction.

"You're joking. How could I not be excited?" Ichabod asked, hugging his wife tighter.

"Well, I'm glad you are!" She giggled, wrapping her arms around her husband's chest and laughing along with him.

It was true; Ichabod couldn't be more excited that he was going to become a father, but he was also rather nervous about parenthood. What if he wasn't ready to be a father? What if the baby didn't love him? What if he didn't love the child? What if something bad happened to the baby? There were so many questions whirling around in his mind at the moment that he almost forgot that Katrina was right there with him. He looked down at her and smiled after the two of them finally calmed down; Ichabod's dark eyes glanced down at Katrina's stomach and he smiled.

"So... what did the doctor say?" Young Masbeth asked when Ichabod and Katrina made it home.

"Dr. Graham has given us rather marvelous news, young Masbeth." Ichabod replied.

"Sir?" Masbeth asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"You may want to sit down for this." Katrina told the boy before ushering him towards the sofa.

"What's going on?" Masbeth asked worriedly before sitting down.

Ichabod and Katrina smiled before facing Masbeth and declaring, "We're having a baby."

Masbeth stared at the excited couple with shock before saying, "Really?"

They nodded their heads in response. Masbeth stood from the sofa and smiled at the couple before wrapping his arms around both of them in a hug. Katrina and Ichabod had been married for a year now and they thought they were more than ready to start a family of their own and now all they had to do was wait.

Shortly after the announcement of his wife's current condition, Ichabod had decided to do as much research as he could on the subject; he knew nothing of pregnancies or children and he felt like he practically needed all the help he could get at this point.

Taking a deep breath, he began planning. At his desk, he opened one of his notebooks and wrote on the top of the blank page "Pregnancy Chart". If he remembered correctly, an average pregnancy would last about nine months. He conceived the baby around early December, roughly two weeks ago. He scribbled down the months December to August of next year. As he continued to write, he heard a familiar voice ask,

"What are you doing?"

Ichabod practically jumped out of his chair before seeing Katrina standing in the doorway and giving him a smile. He calmed down and sat in his chair again.

"Nothing, dear. I'm just trying to..." Ichabod said before Katrina interrupted him.

"Are you planning my pregnancy?" She asked, teasingly raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe..." He replied, his eyes glancing away from her. "One cannot be too careful."

Katrina giggled under her breath and smiled before walking towards her husband and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Ichabod, you don't have to do this." She said, glancing down at the chart he had drawn up. "Although I appreciate the effort, there's really no need."

"Yes, there is, Katrina." Ichabod tried to argue. "I know nothing of this sort of thing and your current... condition, as unpredictable as it is, we need all the knowledge we could get our hands on. And... and I just don't want you to get hurt if we do anything wrong."

"I understand, but it's not like I'll be doing any heavy lifting or anything. We should let the pregnancy normally progress, just like Dr. Graham had instructed... But if it makes you feel better, you can still make your chart."

Ichabod chuckled, stood from his desk, and gave his wife a kiss before placing his hand on her stomach. Katrina put her hand on his and smiled at him in response.

After that, Katrina's pregnancy wore on. She had a little trouble coping with the morning sickness; she vomited a few times almost every day and she almost didn't want to eat anything because she figured she would just throw it back up again, but she also know that it was crucial for her to eat. She was also very tired during the day and often took naps. A few months passed and the morning sickness had faded completely... much to Katrina's relief.