Blame It (Of Mice & Men)

Jellyfish

I woke up in a white room with an IV in my arm and a migraine pounding inside of my head. I groaned at the pain. My eyes shot open and my hand flew to my stomach. Jellyfish! I sat up and someone's hand was holding mine suddenly. I looked over to see Alan. "The baby's okay," he whispered. My face went pale. "You know?" He nodded slowly.

"When I was holding you and waiting for the paramedics, it kicked." He paused for a second and squeezed the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing tightly. "When were you going to tell me?" he chuckled sadly. "The day you broke up with me," I said quietly. He met my eyes and I could see them filling with tears.

"Do you know how much I wanted to run out to the bus and just kiss you and tell you I loved-no, love- you and just tell you how sorry I was?"

"Then why didn't you?" "Because I'm an asshole." "I blame the alcohol," I said, giving him a half smile.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing towards the bed. I nodded and scooted over, allowing him to climb in beside me. He put a hand to my tummy and I placed mine on top of his. "We're going to have a baby," he said, looking at me. "Yeah," I said, my eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He reached up and held my cheek as he brought us close together, closing the gap between us as he kissed me. "I'm so sorry." I looked up at him and sighed loudly.

"Well I guess I just have to forgive you, don't I?" He laughed and kissed me again before the nurse came in, taking my IV out and letting us leave. "So Tino said you've been calling it Jellyfish," Alan said, interlocking our fingers. I laughed. "Well we don't know what it is yet, so it sounded appropriate," I said.

"I like Jellyfish. Let's make it a surprise! We'll ask not to find out what it is until Jellyfish is born!" He said as we got into the car. "Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah!" He exclaimed, starting the car. I nodded, smiling.

Alan rambled about Jellyfish the entire way back to the buses and when we were stopped outside the bus, I took Alan's hands in mine. "Hey Alan?"

He turned and looked at me. "Yeah?" I smiled. "Why are you smiling at me?" I laughed and hugged him. "You're gonna be a great dad." He squeezed me against him and kissed my forehead. "And you're gonna be a great mom."