Chapter One
“Julie, don’t do that baby. Come here.”
He watched as he daughter continued to ignore him. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. How many times did he have to tell her to stop jumping on the couch?
“Julie… if you don’t cut that out right now, we’re going to have a big problem,” JC warned, his tone sharp. Immediately, his daughter ceased her jumping, giggling when she plopped down on the couch.
“I fawwed down!” She giggled, clapping her hands together. Rolling his eyes, JC fought the urge to smile at his daughter’s antics. She’d been driving him up a wall lately, but all she had to do was smile at him and all of her indiscretions were forgotten like that. Ah, the joys of being a daddy! Holding his arms out for her, he watched as she slid down from the couch cushion and came galloping across the living room, launching herself into his arms.
“Mmm… Wuv you, daddy!” She told him, nuzzling her nose against him. He smiled yet again and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.
“I love you too baby,” he told her happily. He had been blessed with a beautiful little angel. It just so happened that his angel had horns holding her halo up!
~*~
The father and daughter had settled into the living room. He was lying on the couch and she was resting comfortably on his chest, her brown hair fanned out against him. Hearing the front door open, he patted Julie’s back to get her attention before moving her to the other end of the couch to rest. Getting up, he hurried to the door to help his wife with the groceries, smiling when he saw her, arms full of bags. He quickly unloaded her arms and carried the stuff himself, leaving her to shut and lock the door behind her.
She swatted him when she walked into the kitchen and saw him snacking on a cookie out of the package he’d just opened.
“I swear to God! I can never hide those things from you. You must have been a bloodhound in a previous life,” she scowled, snatching the package up and putting them away in the proper cabinet.
He rolled his eyes playfully and popped the rest of the cookie into his mouth before going to the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of water.
“How’d your appointment go?” He asked, opening the water to take a long sip and wash the chocolate down. She’d had a doctor’s appointment earlier that afternoon as a follow up to the appointment to another that she’d had earlier in the week.
“It was okay,” she told him. “So I thought about spaghetti for dinner. What do you think about that?” She asked, completely changing the subject. The change wasn’t lost on JC, though he decided to just play along with her for now.
“Spaghetti? Ewwwww!” He laughed. “I think we should order Chinese. I want an egg roll!”
Rolling her eyes, Jen walked over to him and poked his belly.
“You keep it up and one day all those egg rolls are gonna catch up to you!” She warned, shaking her finger, though she didn’t protest. Truthfully, she didn’t feel like cooking anyway.
“I want shrimp and broccoli,” she told him. Reaching over, he poked her belly as she’d done to him.
“You keep it up and one day all that shrimp and broccoli is gonna catch up to you!” He mimicked, laughing when she swatted him.
“For the love of Pete, can’t I say anything around here without having it thrown back in my face?”
“No.”
“You’re absolutely hopeless, you know that? Just order our dinner. I’m gonna run upstairs and get out of these jeans.”
“Ohh… Can I come?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully at her.
“Would you shut up?! Your daughter is in there”“
“Sound asleep,” he interrupted with a grin.
She didn’t dignify him with an answer. She simply found her enjoyment in smacking him in the back of the head as she passed him on her way out the kitchen. Good Lord, she loved that man.
~*~
Dinner had been a special occasion. It was very rare that Jen had allowed JC to order dinner from his favorite Chinese place, so anytime she did, he found even more appealing. His daughter had seemed to inherit his love for the food. The only difference between the two? JC actually managed to get the rice IN his mouth, rather than all down the front of him.
He had carried his daughter upstairs to bathe her and prepare her for bed, something that was much easier to do when she had a full tummy. She was much more compliant, and much easier to put to bed. When he returned downstairs alone, he found his wife snuggled up on the couch, looking deep in thought.
“A penny for your thoughts?” He asked with a smile, going to her. He took a seat on the couch next to her, pulling her into his arms. Looking up at him, she gave him a sweet smile before speaking.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” she told him softly.
Oh God, he thought to himself. Was this it? Had she realized that married life was not for her? Was she ready to part ways for good? Was she”
“Josh?” Shaking his head, he attempted to focus his gaze on her.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized rather sheepishly. “Go on. What were you saying?”
“Well I just…” She bit her lip and took a deep breath. She’d been going over possible explanations in her head all day long and she hadn’t been able to come up with a way to tell him yet. “I’m pregnant.” Short and sweet. That was the best policy, right?
His eyes widened as soon as the words left her mouth. Sure, they’d talked about having kids soon after the wedding, but THIS soon? They’d only been back from the honeymoon for a month now. She was pregnant already?
Jen had been afraid, based on his reaction, that this wasn’t what he wanted at all. She could feel the threat of tears until she saw the smile that formed on his lips.
“Oh wow Jen… You… oh wow…” There were no words to describe the way he was feeling. He moved off the couch and sank down to his knees in front of the couch, in front of her. He reached out and touched his hand to her stomach.
“Our baby… we… we’re going to have a baby!”
Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, she rested her hand against his. Well, that went better than she thought!
Number of reviews: 18
Print:
Chapter or Story