1.07: Two Becomes Three

"Something wrong, Brittany?" Joaquin asked.

I paused. How was I supposed to tell him - like, "Surprise, I've been holding this huge-ass secret from you that's literally shaped my entire life and by the way you knocked me up?"

Though now that I think about it, that would make a rather good title for a Drop Down Dudes song.

"You know I'm always here for you, right?" More of a pause.

"...Babe?"

"So I've got something to tell you..."

Unloading all my shit on Joaquin at once? Maybe not the smartest move. But hey, it had to happen sometime.

Besides, if he was gonna back out, better now than after things escalated further than they already had.

We sat there together for a few moments in silence - comfortable, with him contemplating the fact I'd literally appeared out of the goddamn sky one day and all that jazz with my mom and the fact we may or may not be parents in a few months, depending on what we decided together. Me? I just ate my yogurt.

"Tell you what I think?" he asked.

"Fire away."

"Well..."

We talked for the next several hours - almost until the sun came up.

In the end, we came to a few important conclusions:

1. We'd keep the baby - I wasn't comfortable with the other options, though it'd make money tight for a bit. He respected that choice, though he said he'd support me regardless.
2. Getting married because of the baby was, in his words, "no bueno." He'd seen it with his parents - and he didn't want that. I agreed, since we'd just barely started dating and I wasn't ready to get married just yet.
3. Priorities now were setting up space for the baby and house expansion. It was cramped with two people; we didn't want to amplify the issue.

At the end, he pulled me into a hug while I went to put my yogurt in the sink.

"It's going to be okay." he said.

And in his arms... I almost believed it.

J wasted no time getting the garden ready; if it was in good shape, it'd help pay the bills.

He also decided to go looking for collectibles.

Hell, he even dug up some shit and touched some frogs. Kinda slimy, I know, but, like, it makes money - getting that nest egg ready for the kiddo.

He surprised me but making the kitchen a bit bigger (room for a stove - though neither of us could really cook) and setting up a room for the baby. And I thought the mom was supposed to have the nesting instinct or whatever.

But mostly I had the "tired" instinct - working extra hours on top of morning sickness is a load of shit, I'll say that for sure.

I read a little bit, but it was all blurring together. Nap time.

The couch wasn't the most comfortable place in the world, but it was a shorter walk to the bathroom whenever I needed to puke - something my first trimester made way too normal.

And I craved mac and cheese the whole time I was pregnant. Granted, we couldn't afford too much else, so at least I could eat it even if it came back up an hour later.

I have to admit, not every aspect of being pregnant was bad.

I'd still rather not have the constant drawbacks, though, you know?

The further along I got, the more I had to pee. Watcher, that was annoying.

I got moodier, too - small things annoyed me more, like that time we ran out of cereal and I had to have yogurt for breakfast.

J, bless him, was fantastic. He was always doting and once the baby started kicking he hardly left my stomach alone.

When I hit the third-trimester mark, he even surprised me with a computer, complete with a desk and chair. Now I could get ahead on my work at home.

Hell, he even cleaned the bathtub.

Even if he used it a few minutes later - at least he didn't mind that I barged in on him to pee again.

My last trimester was when my "morning sickness" finally subsided enough for me to eat. And believe me, I made up for all that lost time. I also started tracking what I ate - after all, I was eating for two. Best to know what's going to my baby, right?

As I reached the final stretch of pregnancy, I worked from home more than ever.

J'd been told in order to have a better chance of getting a raise at the lounge, he needed to learn an instrument. He wasn't great on the violin, but he was slowly improving (key word slowly).

I came home from work one day, and Jesminder was there talking to J. A nice surprise - I hadn't seen her in ages, since she was busy with her own trio.

I let her feel my belly, but something felt... well, different.

"Is, like, really strong cramping normal?" I asked her.

I heard J sigh and looked over to see him rubbing his temples. 

"Brittany, cariña, that means you're going into labor."

"Call a taxi?"

"Will do."

The next hours were a blur, but the end result was worth it.

7 pounds, 14 ounces, ten perfectly formed fingers and toes. We named him after both of our fathers - it just felt right.

Welcome home, Arthur Scott Fitzgerald.

***

And with that, Generation 2 is officially here and I'm caught up to gameplay. Mostly because I'm waiting for the toddler stuff pack to come out before I see what Arthur looks like as a toddler.

But more importantly, the family tree is live. I'll be updating it whenever a chapter is set to include a birth/marriage, so minor spoilers may occur. You've been warned.

Also, college is starting back up in less than a week, so I'll have less time to play/write/update. I'm not going to abandon the blog, I'll tell you that much.