Stuck With Me

44 | Hormones

So far, Alice's pregnancy had been going perfectly well. Sure, she had some cravings and her hormones where all over the place, but everything seemed to be fine. They were falling in love with the idea of raising another baby more and more every single day and everyone around them was fully on board. But today, FP had some another news that wasn't baby related. He had called up his girlfriend to ask her to hurry home, which she did. When the front door opened, FP's eyes started to beam. 

"I'm so glad that you are home, babe!" He smiled happily and jumped from the couch to welcome her home properly with a kiss. Alice giggled and sat down next to him, softly rubbing her now slightly showing baby bump. 

"Tell me, what did you want me to talk about?" She smiled sweetly, as she looked at the sparkle in her boyfriend's eyes. All he hinted on that it was something work related, but besides that she had no idea. 

There was something different about him when he talked about his passion. Something that made her fall in love with him over and over again. Something that was so rare to see in someone's eyes. 

"You know how I've been negotiating for a better contract?" He started, and she immediately recalled that they had been talking about that last week. But Alice could barely register where this was going, as suddenly everything was overwhelming her. 

It wasn't just the fact that the look in his eyes was hitting her, it was everything. Her job, their kids, their baby. Her eyes filled with tears and she silently sobbed, even though she had tried to hard to keep herself together. it had been building up for a few days now and it was finally coming out. 

"What is going on?" He asked her worried, an arm wrapped around her on instinct. Alice couldn't answer yet as the words weren't just hard to found, she had to let it all out first too. She sniffled quietly as his hand reached for her cheek and wiped away the falling tears. 

"Hey, talk to me, Al." His voice was soft and welcoming, so she took a breath to start talking. Not that she exactly knew what to tell him, but she had to try at least. 

"I'm so sorry. I just—" Her voice cracked and she wiped away another few tears that still managed to get out even though she tried to hold them in. 

"You don't have to say sorry, please tell me what is going on." He softly soothed her as he pulled her closer. Alice intertwined their fingers and looked up at him after she found herself calm enough again.

"I am just a little overwhelmed. Carrying a baby while working full time while processing that Betty and Jughead are leaving for college soon. It's too hard." She sobbed silently, as she felt him squeezing her hand. 

Things like her job and their kids were issues she would normally stress about too, with or without baby. But it felt like these weeks she had been asking too much from herself. It was all getting into her head even more now. 

"Come here you. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He now fully wrapped both arms around her and kissed the top of her head to tell her that he was here. Maybe he could have seen sooner that something was going on, but he had no idea she was feeling like this. 

"Because it sounds weak. And I don't want to be weak. I can't be weak." She said firmly, more to herself than to him but that didn't mean those words didn't break his heart. 

Before he would tell her how much he looked up to her and everything she is doing, he pushed his finger under her chin to make her face him. He wanted to look directly into her eyes as he encouraged her. 

"Alice, you're everything but weak. Do you hear what you are saying? You should get the Nobel prize for what you are doing." He chuckled sweetly and he felt a little relief when there formed a small smile on her face too.