Anchor ⚓︎ Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

⚓︎ chapter ten ⚓︎

Seven Months Later

A quiet gasp left Eleanor's lips as she lifted the test up eye level. Tears began to brim as she let out a happy cry. The test in her hand was positive, meaning her suspicions of what she was feeling the past few weeks were right on.

She was pregnant.

When she and Jake had first moved in together, they had a bit of an adjustment period, just where they were getting used to what the other did. Like how Jake just made a pile of dirty laundry in the bathroom rather than throwing it in the basket that was just outside the door. Or how Eleanor stayed up way later than she needed to on days she had done a session to make sure that whoever was expecting the photos got them back as soon as possible, but Jake would wound up losing sleep because he hated having her awake alone.  There was compromise and they both learned to live together better.

Jake had gotten back from a short deployment just in time for them to celebrate one year of being together just a month prior with an extravagant date planned entirely by Jake. Okay, he may have enlisted Torie for help, but that was because he wanted it to be extra special. And it was.

They started the day at the beach, enjoying the sun and attempting to surf. Keyword: Attempt. Then they went home to get ready for their dinner at a restaurant on the bay just as the sun was setting.  Then they went to an arcade, still in their fancy garb, where they played way too many games. There was a stuffed bear that Eleanor had her heart set on getting as soon as they walked in, it just happen to cost ten thousand tickets. Jake made it his mission to get that teddy bear and he did just that, no matter how much it cost.

After that, they came back to their apartment where Torie had snuck in while they were gone and set up candles rose petals leading to the bedroom to make it more romantic. They got no sleep that night but it wasn't such a bad thing.

Eleanor had been feeling a little off for the past week and thought it was because her period was coming.  However, when her period was three days late, she had her suspicions that it was something more.  So she went out and bought a couple of tests. And that's where she currently found herself, standing in the bathroom, holding a very positive pregnancy test.

This wasn't unwanted in the slightest. Jake and Eleanor knew the risks of when they would have sex and they took precautions. But Eleanor's birth control had been giving her weird side effects, so she got off it prior to their one year anniversary with Jake's knowledge. She didn't think it could happen so quickly for the chance of her falling pregnant.

She quickly cleaned up her mess and hid the box under all the trash in the kitchen can, so Jake wouldn't see it and ask questions.  Then she hid the pregnancy test in a plastic bag in her underwear drawer.  He would never think to look there for anything.

Milo, who had been laying on the bed, perked up to sounds coming from the front door.  When Eleanor had moved in, Jake brought up the idea of bringing Milo to live with them since she was now going to be there to help care for him.  Eleanor immediately jumped at the idea, having fallen for the dog from when they were in Texas for the wedding.

She watched as the border collie jumped from the bed and ran to the front door where Jake was walking in.  He immediately knelt down and greeted Milo before calling out Eleanor's name.

"Hey, how was your day?" She asked with a sincere smile, trying to make it seem like she wasn't hiding the biggest secret ever from him at the moment.

"It was good," he replied, greeting her with a gentle kiss, "how was yours?"

"Uneventful," she replied with a simple shrug, "just spent the day talking to potential clients and giving Milo all of the belly rubs."

Jake laughed before disappearing back into their room to take a shower.  Eleanor let him and pulled her phone out, trying to think of a creative way that she could tell him that she was pregnant.