Fears and Surprises

Part Seven

Nikki was sitting at the living room window, practically shaking with excitement. Any time now, their daughter's nursery furniture was going to be delivered. The expectant mother was so giddy that she'd hardly done any work the day before. As for Jack, he was just relieved that the day before was a Friday and they would have some time to build the furniture together and still get some rest after another busy week, before returning to work on Monday.

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"It's here!!" Nikki shouted gleefully, having been sitting at the window for over two hours, watching and waiting.

"Thank goodness! Any longer, and you'd have carried everything home yourself!" Jack muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

Opting to respond without words, Nikki turned and glared at her smirking boyfriend before pulling the front door open with a flourish and bolting outside towards the delivery van.

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"Darling, what exactly are you doing?" Jack asked, perplexed.

"Just looking, imagining everything set up in our baby's nursery." Nikki sighed dreamily, from inside the back of the delivery van as the drivers unloaded the boxes around her.

"You can do that upstairs, you know, in the actual room!" Jack retorted logically.

"Ahh, don't worry, mate, she's alright! Besides, don't you know by now not to try to reason with a mother - to - be?" One of the delivery men enquired cheekily.

"Huh, yeah, you'd think I'd know that one rule by now." Jack replied, half - jokingly.

"This your first baby?" The other delivery driver asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Jack replied, sarcastically.

"Well, even with your partner inside the van, you still haven't been more than 2 feet away from her as we've unloaded all those boxes... So I'd say, yeah, it is a bit obvious, but it's great to see." The first driver chimed in again, pointing in the direction of the growing pile of boxes in the hallway of their house.

"You're in for a wild ride! Equally exciting and terrifying from the second your daughter's born." The second driver commented knowingly.

"So I've been told!!" Jack replied. "Doesn't really sound all that different to dealing with her pregnant mother, though!!" He quipped, with a cheeky smirk.

"I heard that!!" Nikki shouted, from inside the van, shooting a stern glare in Jack's direction.

"I love you!!" Jack replied, placating her jokingly while the delivery drivers laughed heartily.

He smiled to himself as he didn't have to wait long before she responded in - kind.

The two delivery drivers left after they, with some help from Jack, had carried all of the furniture boxes upstairs and into the designated nursery.

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"Ohhhhh!!! This is all so exciting!!" Nikki declared, standing amongst the furniture boxes in their daughter's freshly painted pale pink nursery.

Jack couldn't contain the massive grin which spread across his face as he thought about the changes happening in this room today, and again in a few months time as they welcomed their little baby girl into their home and family.

He couldn't deny that their daughter's arrival seemed to be approaching rather quickly with Nikki, now 24 weeks pregnant, soon to be entering the final trimester. He couldn't deny that he was terrified to be a father, but he knew that his fears were normal, and they meant he'd do all he could to be the best father to their daughter. Some days, he wished for slightly longer before Nikki's due date, but on other days, like today, he wished their little girl was already here.