A Life Down Under (South of the Border Sequel) Zac Efron Character x Reader

Chapter 3: This

*Flashback*
June 15th, 2020

"Hey, sleepy head," Zac greeted Y/N as she returned from a nap, joining him in the kitchen.

"Hi," she arched up on her tip toes to kiss him.

"Hi," he murmured back into her lips, rubbing his hand over the back of her messy hair. Zac loved the fact his wife, normally bursting at the seams with activity and plans, had settled into a quieter life in Australia. She'd spend an hour nearly every afternoon, taking a nap in the back yard, listening to the ocean.

"What's all this?" she questioned as they separated.

For his part, Zac had spent much of their time in quarantine in the kitchen, cooking.

"I went and did our weekly grocery run, and got some new wines, and stuff to make dinner."

"Oh? And what are we having?"

"They had the most incredible ahi. So...I thought I could use my new knife to make a little sashimi, and then we could make some sushi rolls together?"

"That sounds great. What can I do to help?"

"You can sit right here," he pulled a counter stool out for her. "We don't need another repeat of the last time you tried to make rice," he teased her, referring to a time not long beforehand where she had somehow managed to burn an entire pot of rice when she got distracted.

Happy to leave the cooking duties to Zac, she took a seat while he set a glass in front of her, filling it with white wine. While he organized ingredients from the refrigerator, she took a sip of wine, instantly pulling a face.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"What is this?" she tried to be polite.

"Sauvignon blanc," Zac returned with the bottle. It was one of her favorite wines.

"When did you open it?"

"Like ten minutes ago."

"It tastes like it's spoiled," she stated, matter-of-factly.

"Here, let me try," he took the glass from her, swishing the wine around in his mouth. "Honey, it tastes fine to me."

Shrugging, she filled a glass of water instead, and continued to watch him cook. But, as Zac unwrapped an outrageously expensive filet of fresh, wild caught ahi tuna, her body revolted.

She got up from her seat and ran so quickly down the hallway, startling Zac. He calmly set the sushi knife he had been so excited to use down on the counter and slowly made his way to the powder room, where she was on her knees in front of the toilet.

Smiling from ear to ear, he crouched beside her and patiently rubbed her back, waiting for her to finish. When she did, he playfully kissed all over her cheeks as she wriggled from him, desperate to brush her teeth.

"What is so funny?" she questioned, as she put a toothbrush in her mouth and he couldn't manage to stop smiling.

"I tollllllllllllllld you," he playfully pointed an accusatory finger at her reflection in the mirror.

She froze, mid brush, as she put two and two together. "No way," her words were muffled by the toothbrush and minty tooth paste in her mouth.

"That afternoon, in the rain, I wanted to come back and take a shower," he proclaimed his innocence. "But you? You were on a mission," he beamed. "I warned you this was going to happen," he continued to playfully mock her.

A few weeks ago, they had gone for a walk along the beach in the late afternoon, before dinner. They thought they had enough time to make it back before the rain storms rolled in, but they were wrong.

They arrived back to their bungalow and couldn't keep their hands off each other. Zac's heart fluttered, thinking of how they struggled to peel their wet clothes off each other while their lips fought for control.

He thought the bedroom would be more fitting, romantic, but they only managed to stumble as far as the couch. He remembered staring down at her, her hair wet and matted, naturally curly, and how in love and connected with her he had felt in that moment.

After the couch, they did find their way to the bedroom, and left the balcony doors open. No one could hear their passionate moans as the torrential rain beat down outside. Now, a few weeks later...could they really be pregnant?

"Do you have test here?" he questioned.

"No," she sighed, feeling unprepared.

"I can run out and grab some quick," he motioned towards their front door.

"Are you crazy?" she teased him. "Do you really thing what we need right now is someone to take a picture of Zac Efron buying some pregnancy tests?"

She had a point, but the alternative was sending his possibly pregnant wife out to the store in the middle of a pandemic. Before he could even process his thoughts, she had retrieved her mask and purse.

"Honey, I don't want you going out if you don't have to," he pleaded.

"I will be very quick, and I'll wear this," she held up the mask.

Thirty minutes later, she had returned, and they both stared down at a test on the counter, watching as a digital hourglass rotated on the small screen.

Getting too anxious, Y/N sat down on the edge of the bathtub, staring at Zac, fidgeting with excitement as he focused on the test.

Zac's palms were sweaty and he was finding it difficult to breathe normally, absolutely bursting with a mix of anxiety and joy. Even if they weren't pregnant that time, the very fact they had gone from a place where she had been terrified at the very idea, to a place where this was something they both truly wanted and were excited for was a testament to how far they had come with each other.

Finally, at long last, the test registered a result and he turned back to her. Try as she might, she couldn't read his expression. She got up and stood by his side as they stared down at the test-

'Pregnant'

Immediately his lips were on hers, his arms were tightly wrapped around her, and he picked her up, her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. Her head rested at the crook of his neck and they just held each other.

Eventually, she picked her head up, staring into his eyes. They were both crying tears of happiness and joy, and he playfully kissed her as he gently set her back down.

They returned to the kitchen, and Zac retrieved a frying pan, and he laughed at himself as he turned the burner on the stove on.

"Now what's so funny?"

"To think, I was about to try and seduce my pregnant wife with raw fish and wine," he laughed.

"Nine months...no more wine. No more sushi," she sighed.

Zac was lit up like she'd never seen before as he dropped the outrageously expensive fish into a hot skillet before he sipped on her glass of wine.

All he'd ever wanted was this.