From Seeds to Flowers | John Deacon

Chapter 17

October 18, 1971

John turned to Thalia, who was at a loss for words.

Jessica could feel the tension between the couple and took that as her cue to leave.

Thalia couldn't bring her eyes to meet John's. "I... I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier, but..." She gently placed her hands over her hardly visible baby bump.

Today her greatest fear was being realized. Surely John would leave her. She'd have to raise their child all on her own and lose John forever.

John quickly pulled her into a hug, his eyes looking straight ahead. "You're... you're..."

She simply nodded, thinking that if she verbally confirmed it she wouldn't be able to stop the tears forming in her eyes from overflowing. She buried her face into John's shoulder, relieved that he hadn't walked out as soon as he found out that she was pregnant.

John let out a sigh and gently rubbed circles on her back to soothe her.

When Thalia finally was able to compose herself she decided that it was probably time for them to go back to her mother's house.

The walk back was silent. John's arm remained around Thalia's shoulders for the duration of the walk, partially because of the chilly autumn weather.

As the couple approached the front door of Thalia's mother's house, John stopped abruptly. Thalia took another step before looking back at him.

"Is it mine?" John asked, almost too quietly for Thalia to hear.

"You mean the baby?" Thalia asked.

John nodded silently.

"I supposed you don't remember much of what happened on your birthday then," She answered.

John's eyebrows pinched together as he processed this information. "How long have you known?"

Thalia looked down at the side walked and mumbled "about two weeks."

"Oh..." To Thalia, it felt like he was going to say more, but instead ended the conversation entirely with "let's get inside now, it's too cold to keep standing about."

John held the door open for Thalia, then followed her inside. He was excited to be a father, but he was hung up on the two weeks. Why didn't she tell him? Did she not trust him? Did he do something wrong? These thoughts followed John for the rest of the night and suppressed his excitement.

Thalia was the other side of the same coin. She still was afraid that John was going to leave her, just as her parents did. She was relieved, though, that John finally knew. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her. At this point, she had faced her fears and was bracing herself for the inevitable.

The couple didn't bring up the pregnancy for the rest of the night. Things just went on as they usually did. They took that elephant and they shoved it into another room to deal with another time. Both John and Thalia felt like they had to tiptoe around each other to keep that elephant out.

October 19, 1971

John woke up first the next morning with a grin plastered on his face. He rolled over and glanced down at Thalia. Using his uninjured hand, he brushed strands of Thalia's light hair out of her face. He gently kissed her temple before walking out into the kitchen.

Dottie and Ruth were both in the kitchen. Dottie held a steaming cup of coffee close to her chest. Ruth looked to be in a much better mood than the previous day. She was in front of the stove prodding at eggs in a pan with a spatula. The conversation between the two women ceased as they noticed John.

"Good Morning, dearie," Dottie greeted him warmly.

"Morning," John answered, still half asleep. He walked in the direction of the coffee maker.

"Do you like eggs?" Ruth asked. "If not I can make something else for you," she added.

John smiled. "Eggs sound great!" He rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand before pouring himself a mug of coffee and drinking it black.

John set the mug down, having just burnt his tongue on the too-hot coffee. He decided to go wake up Thalia.

He walked into the dark room and crouched down next to Thalia's side of the bed. He reached out and rubbed his hand along her shoulder.

"Good Morning, love," he whispered.

Thalia rolled over so she was now facing him. A soft smile spread across her face.

"Morning," she answered.

"Your mum is making breakfast," John informed her. "It's eggs."

Thalia chuckled. "I had eggs yesterday too." She sat up and brushed through her hair with her fingers.

The couple sat in the dark room, silently. The fears from the previous night washed away in the darkness. They were in this together now.

~~~

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the long hiatus, hopefully, I'll be able to write more now that everything is canceled.

If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave a comment.

:)