Marion & Leo

"my mom's gonna freak out."

 I was just spitting the mouthwash down the drain when I heard the door to the apartment open. Traipsing nervously down the hall and into the kitchen, I said, "Hey, Ry."

He looked at me from behind the fridge door. "Oh, hey babe. I figured you'd still be in bed. Do you feel any better?"

I shook my head no, but he wasn't looking at me, so I simply said "yeah." He shut the door and flipped around to rummage through our liquor cabinet. "Ryan, can we-"

"When's the last time you threw up?" He questioned, grabbing a bottle of Grey Goose.

"Um, about ten minutes ago," I replied. "Listen, babe-"

He unscrewed the bottle, got two shot glasses out of the cupboard and filled them. "I have just the thing."

"Ryan, it's a Tuesday-"

"Sweetness, this'll kill whatever's in your system, believe me." He picked his up and tipped it in my direction. "Cheers."

"I'm pregnant."

He dropped his glass, letting it shatter into a million pieces on the tile and leave a small puddle of vodka at his feet. He stared at me for several seconds, hand still raised to his mouth and eyes wide and completely blank. I motioned to get out of my chair, and he sprung alive. "No, don't get up, there's broken glass!" As he stepped toward me, he smashed a piece beneath his shoe. "Shit."

"Ryan, I-"

"Hold on two seconds, Hales. I'll be right back." He disappeared down the hall, presumably to get a broom and maybe to freak out.

He returned with a broom and a dustpan, beginning to sweep nowhere near the mess.

"Ry, look at me."

He looked up at me, flushed and breathless. "Hey," he whispered.

Smiling slightly, I said, "the glass is over there. You just sit down and I'll get it."

He moved toward me again. "Hell no, my baby's in there. Sit your ass down."

Giggling, I sat back down and muttered, "okay," while he swept the glass into a pile.

After he dumped the dustpan into the trash, he rested his elbows on the counter and said, "We're pregnant?"

I smiled so big at his use of 'we.' "Yeah, we are," I said.

His smile matched mine as he ran a hand through his hair and said incredulously. "My mom's gonna freak out!"

"I mean, we're living together, it was gonna-" he daintily pulled me up mid-sentence, dropping to his knees and lifting my shirt. "Hey, baby," he whispered, skimming his thumb softly over the skin under my belly button. "I'm Ryan. I'm your..." he looked up at me, eyes wide. "I'm your dad." And then he planted a kiss on my stomach, lighter than a butterfly's wing.

He stood up and looked straight into my eyes, his blue eyes dancing. "We made a baby."

I smiled. "Yeah, we did."

"I love this baby," he exclaimed, not missing a beat.

"Me too," I replied, tears forming in my eyes.

He stood up and hugged me, pulling me tight into him. "Oh my God, we're having a baby," he breathed.

I clung to him. "We're having a baby."