forget me not

nine

Nini has been jumpy the last few weeks, Ricky noticed. every time he hugged her from behind or tried to touch her, she startled and froze in his arms. it was starting to get concerning.

he figured she was just stressed from the wedding planning, they were two and a half months away from the big day. she'd been a little on edge for the past few weeks with all the wedding planning. he just hoped she wasn't over working herself.

Nini on the other hand was panicking. she had no idea what to tell Ricky. they'd just finally figured their lives out after the accident and were preparing for the biggest day of their lives and now this? she really couldn't believe it.

she's fucking pregnant.

ideally, it was something she would be excited about. before the accident, she and Ricky talked a lot about starting a family and how they were preparing for it. Nini had gotten her IUD taken out just a week before the accident in preparation for their family planning, their main source of contraception becoming condoms, until they decided they wanted to really start trying. that all flew out the window after their drunken night together.

she had went in to see her OBGYN a day after the positive test to make sure it wasn't a false positive. she was definitely pregnant. she was about just over two and a half months. Nini also noticed that she was started to grow a bump. she had downloaded a pregnancy tracker app on her phone and then any was a little bit bigger than a raspberry at this point, but her stomach was just slightly bigger to accommodate her little berry. that's why she froze every time Ricky hugged her, she was afraid he'd feel the bump.

how was she supposed to tell him?

Ricky had just gone back to work, he was already overwhelmed enough trying to keep up with his therapy exercises and teaching full time, plus being a loving fiancé. Nini was scared, petrified even. what if this isn't what he wants anymore?

before the accident, Ricky and Nini loved the idea of becoming parents. they had this whole life envisioned with a farm style house in the suburbs, a white picket fence, the dog, and the three kids. what if that all changed?

Nini's biggest fear was that once she told him about the baby, that he would leave. she'd be left alone, heartbroken and pregnant. what if this new Ricky doesn't want a family? they hadn't talked about kids yet.

Nini was sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand on her stomach and her forehead in the other as she willed the nausea to go away. she'd been hit with pretty bad morning sickness lately, which the name is a fucking lie because she was sick at all hours of the day. Ricky was started to get suspicious.

"Neens, come on, let me take you to the doctor. you probably have the flu." he said as he put his watch on at the dresser.

she groaned a little, "i don't have the flu." she mumbled.

he approached her and squatted down in front of her, his hand on her knee, "then what's wrong baby? i've never seen you so sick."

she got up abruptly, moving around her fiancé and stepping into the bathroom, "i'm fine Ricky, just go to work. i love you." she closed the door behind her.

well that certainly was weird.

~~

Ricky grimaced in pain as he sat down at the table in the teachers lounge. he rubbed his knee to try to alleviate the pain.

"you okay dude?" Mark, the history teacher, said as he sat down next to Ricky.

he nodded, "yeah i'm fine, it's not me i'm worried about."

Mark brought his coffee mug up to his lips, "what do you mean?"

Ricky sighed, "Nini's been acting strange these last couple of weeks. at first i thought it was because i started teaching again but it's not that, she's not even worried about me being at work anymore. somethings wrong. she's moody all the time, she won't really let me touch her, she is so paranoid and anxious, oh and she's been super sick all week and won't let me take her to the doctor!"

Mark simply chuckled and patted Ricky on the shoulder, "congratulations buddy."

the curly haired man furrowed his brows, "what are you talking about?"

"she's pregnant dude. you're gonna be a daddy." Mark says as he chuckles dryly.

Ricky shook his head, "no, that's not possible. she would've told me."

the other man shook his head, "i don't know, everything you described was the exact way my wife acted during both of her pregnancies. sounds like she's expecting, my friend."

Ricky didn't believe this. there was no way Nini was pregnant...right?

~~

the words his friend from work said were in Ricky's mind all day. there was only one way to get them out, he had to confront Nini.

she was standing in the kitchen going through some bills when he got home. she looked exhausted, she was in her lounge clothes, meaning she had probably been sick all day, her hair was thrown up in a messy bun, and she was wearing one of Ricky's college hoodies.

she glanced up from the pile of papers and smiled a little at him, "hi honey, how was work?"

he stood at the other side of the kitchen island, his hands pressed into the counter top, "i need you to tell me the truth."

she furrowed her brows at him, "what? what're you talking about?"

he let out a shaky breath, "be honest with me. Nini...are you pregnant?"

he watched across the counter as her face fell, tears flooding her eyes, "...how did you know?"

he dropped his head and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in, "so it's true? you are pregnant?"

tears fell down her face as she nodded, "yeah." she whispered.

the only sound in the room for a few minutes were their uneven breaths, Nini sniffling a little too. she was taken by surprise when Ricky wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss to the top of her head as he tucked it under his chin.

"how long have you known?" he asked quietly.

her voice came out as a whisper, "almost 2 months."

his shoulders dropped as he rubbed her back, "Neens, why didn't you tell me?"

she pulled herself away from him, wiping at her eyes, "because...i thought you might leave me."

Ricky's eyes widened in surprise, "leave you? Nini, why would i leave you?"

she shrugged, "i don't know Ricky, we haven't talked about having kids since before the accident. i didn't know if this was something you'd till wanted."

he shook his head in disbelief, "Nini, of course i want this with you. there's nothing i want more in life than to have a family with you. god i love you so much, why wouldn't i be ecstatic about having a kid?!"

Nini sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, "so you're not mad?"

he shook his head with tears in his eyes, "how could i be mad? we're having a baby Nini! a baby! this is what we've always dreamed about."

she smiled softly and wrapped her arms around him, "yeah, it is, isn't it?"