More Than Us (Ianthony)

Chapter 20: Desperation

What Ian said was true. A lot can happen within five weeks, but none of the possibilities that Ian was worried about ever happened. In fact, nothing happened at all. His pregnancy was pretty boring and very uneventful over the next five weeks which is not at all what Ian expected, but he didn't really care either. He was just happy that he was able to have a somewhat normal pregnancy during his final stretch. It did wonders for his stress and helped him relax making him the most comfortable he had been in weeks; but what he also got with his "normal pregnancy" was a bit more than what he bargained for. Today is August 26. Ian is now a full week past his due date and he is sick of it all. He wants nothing more than to go into labor and have Mason already, but he has not been showing any signs of labor so far. You'd think that with all the papering he's been getting from Anthony, compliments of how great he looks, and even a free milkshake from a fast food place that he would be pretty content with being pregnant, but Ian didn't care about all of that. All he cared about at that moment was getting Mason out of his stomach.

"You look so gorgeous. You know that, right?" Anthony complimented, massaging Ian's swollen feet as he laid on the couch and watched TV with Pip sleeping on his chest.

"Shut up. No I'm not. I'm fat, I can't breathe, I have horrible heartburn, and this house is an absolute mess!" Anthony chuckled.

"That doesn't matter. You're still beautiful. To be honest, I don't think you've ever looked better. I think it's the pregnancy glow." Ian rolled his eyes.

"Stop..." He groaned. "If I hear the word "glowing" again, I will jump off a fucking bridge." Anthony laughed even harder.

"Jesus. Aren't we moody, today?" Ian scoffed.

"Wouldn't you be? You're not the one with a watermelon laying on all of your organs 24/7!" Anthony sighed lightly.

"I guess I can't blame you. Do you want anything?" Ian shook his head.

"The only thing I want right now is labor. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. I'm so sick of being pregnant." Anthony frowned a little at his husband, feeling bad that there wasn't anything else that he could do to make Ian more comfortable, but maybe there was another way he could help.

"Since you want labor so bad, why don't we try to induce it?" Ian rose his head up from one of the many pillows he was laying on and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Wait, I can do that?" Anthony bit his lip.

"I'm more than sure that you can, but I'll look it up just to be sure." Ian laid his head back down.

"Well, go do that.If you find anything please let me know. I'll do anything to get this kid outta me." Anthony laughed lightly and got up from the couch. 

"Alright." He then placed a small kiss on Ian's forehead. "I'll be in the office if you need me, okay?" Ian nodded.

"Mhmm." Anthony then disappeared into the office, emerging again thirty minutes later with a sheet of paper filled with a list of labor-inducing methods. He sat on the couch beside of Ian and put his feet in his lap.

"Alright. I've found nine ways to induce labor and called Dr. Goodin to make sure that it was safe. He's given you the green light to try these, so look over them and tell me what you want to try first." Ian read over the paper and picked four that he wanted to try. He would've tried the rest, but the other methods could only be done in a doctor's office and he was trying to avoid the hospital until he went into labor. The first thing they tried was the spicy food method by going out to dinner at Ian's favorite Thai place.

"How is it?" Anthony asked, looking over at Ian who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Shew..." He gasped out, taking another large gulp of water. "S'good, but it's spicy as fuck. I know that's the idea, but Jesus. I think I might order some ice cream for dessert just to cool my mouth down." Anthony laughed.

"Alright, that's fine. How are you feeling?" Ian picked up an unused napkin from the table and started fanning himself with it.

"Like Satan is about to make my mouth his new home." Anthony laughed harder.

"No, I mean like with the baby."

"Oh." Ian looked down to his stomach and sat there for a moment to see if he felt any contractions. "Notta. He's still being stubborn." Anthony sighed disappointedly.

"Alright. On to the next thing." After their Thai meal, Anthony took Ian to the gym, hoping that some exercise would help Ian go into labor.

"Anything yet?" Anthony asked Ian who was lightly jogging on the treadmill next to him.

"No." Ian panted. "But I'm the sweatiest I've ever been in months if that counts for anything." Anthony chuckled.

"It counts for a good workout." After the gym, Anthony drove Ian around the outskirts of the city, hitting every bump and pothole that he could find.

"Honey, I know a bumpy car ride is supposed to help me, but could you please slow down a little? It's not really good for my back." Anthony looked over to Ian and then back to the road, putting his foot on the brake to slow the vehicle down.

"I'm sorry, babe. You okay?" Ian nodded.

"Yeah, but I don't feel any contractions. This is a no go." Anthony groaned lightly.

"Damn it. That leaves just one more thing." Anthony then drove them back to the city and then to a grocery store.

"What was that stuff called again?" Ian asked, looking through the multitude of tea packages.

"Uh, red raspberry leaf tea. It's supposed to help regularize irregular contractions." Ian looked a little longer before finally finding it.

"Got it. Now let's go pay and leave. I need a hot bath and some chocolate." Anthony then took Ian home and ran him a bubble bath, bringing him his favorite chocolate and two cups of the supposedly "labor-inducing" tea. When Ian got out of the tub, he joined Anthony in bed and groaned.

"Nothing but a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions." Anthony smiled.

"Hey, that's better than no contractions at all." Ian sighed.

"Maybe, that doesn't change the fact that I'm still uncomfortably pregnant. I just want him to come out already. I wanna hold him, hug him, kiss him, and all of that other parent stuff." Anthony reached over and caressed Ian's large stomach.

"Don't worry. We'll be able to hold him soon. Then you'll be able to walk around without having to worry about swollen feet and will have a cute baby as a reward for carrying a watermelon around for a little over nine months." Ian leaned his head back and sighed dreamily.

"Oh, that'll be the day." Anthony laughed and kissed Ian's cheek.

"Why not try to get some rest? I'm more than sure you need it after a day like today."

"I'll try. It's been tough to sleep when you have a kickboxer in your stomach." Anthony tucked in all of Ian's usual pillows and covered him up.

"Well, let's hope he takes a break from training long enough for you to rest up." Ian scoffed.

"Yeah, right." Anthony reached over to their nightstand and clicked off the lamp, plunging their room into darkness. After covering them up with their large comforter, Anthony pecked Ian's lips with a light kiss.

"G'night, sweetie." Ian sighed softly in relaxation before replying.

"Night."