#daddy!tom

           “Be horribly lost.” I could see the smile on her face, the way her bright blue eyes lit up. “I love you.”

           “I love you, too. I’ll call you when we get settled in, okay?”

***

           Tom flew out of Heathrow on Friday evening, promising to get in contact as soon as he got settled in with his lodgings in New York. He spent most of the evening sitting with Rhett, playing and reading to him. His publicist, Luke, picked him up at the house in a black town car. Luke was kind, with a bright smile and serious eyes. He introduced himself with and left a packet of instructions for my departure on Sunday.

           By the time Rhett and I made it to Heathrow on Sunday afternoon, I was exhausted and full of trepidation. It wasn’t just that I’d never been on a plane. It wasn’t the seven-hour flight with a small child. It wasn’t being so far from home. There was no way to put words to what I was feeling.

           I didn’t understand how I was going to make it through the next month and a half. I hoped my days would be long, that I would be able to keep up with my graduate work. There was a faint hope that I could see the city—although I knew that I would more than likely go with Rhett in tow.

           Chuckling softly, I made sure that Rhett had his binkie as I waited to board the plane. A faint thought traced through my mind—I could begin to understand how single mothers felt.

***

           The packet Luke had given me included the airline tickets, contact information for people in London in case of any trouble, a general itinerary, and contact information for New York when I arrived. As I looked through the information, I noticed that the tickets were for first class and that we were given a private room to wait.

           By the time we got on the flight, settling into the comfortable seats, Rhett was falling asleep. He let out a few faint noises as he snuggled into his carrier. The plane rocked as it rushed down the runway, lifted into the air. Rhett whimpered until his ears popped, adjusting to the pressure. Then he sank back into sleep, where he stayed for nearly half the trip.

           I read late into the night. While I’d brought books on biomedical engineering and research for some of my coursework, I’d also picked up a few easy reads from the shops in the airport. It was one of these that I lost myself in as we flew west over the Atlantic. Every now and again, I would check on Rhett and then return to my book.

***

           To my body, it was past midnight. According to the clock, it was almost the same time that we had left London. Seeing the sun still streaming over the New York skyline was enough to make my body sink into the beginning stages of jet lag. I dreaded the next few days.

           There was a driver waiting for us at the concourse. He easily took my bags and wheeled them out to the car. I hefted Rhett’s carrier up higher, my fingers aching from carrying its weight. While Rhett had been able to sleep soundly for most of the trip, I wasn’t as fortunate. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Tom’s face, felt a rush of a sensation I couldn’t explain, suddenly sank into panic thinking something was going to happen to Rhett. There was a cool terror singing through my veins—a mix of anxiety and something else entirely.

           My phone vibrated in my pocket. I dug it out, recognized Tom’s number. “You have great timing.”

           He made a sound that was half a chuckle and half a sigh. “Your driver called. Was the flight alright?”

           “I suppose. I don’t have anything to compare it to. Rhett slept most of the time. He wasn’t fussy at all.”

           “I’m glad. I worried that he would give you trouble.” Tom went quiet for a few moments. “Is there anything you need before you get to the hotel?”

           With perfect timing, my stomach grumbled. “Something to eat would be nice.”

           “Your driver will stop wherever you’d like. Or, if you prefer,” he said softly, the tone making me think of Cady’s voice when she’d missed me, “I can have something from room service waiting in your suite.”

           “That sounds wonderful. I’m ready to just relax.”

           I could almost see Tom smiling on the other end. He spoke smoothly, relaying the hotel information and asking what I wanted to eat. At first, I asked for the lightest items. Tom pressed, insisting that he knew how exhausting flying could be. In the end, he promised that he would order a little of everything from the room service menu.

           When we arrived at the hotel, someone was waiting on the curb to carry my bags up to the room. Tom was standing in the hallway, a key card held between his first and second fingers. He smiled broadly when he saw Rhett, rushing forward to take the carrier from me.

           “I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured to his little boy. He glanced up, his blue eyes darkening slightly.

           “Both of you.”

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“Open the door. Seriously, who are you?” asked Tom on the other side of the door, also getting dressed.

“I don’t know what just happened either,” you said your fingers trembling as you finished to get dressed. “What is this situation? I’m going crazy.” And then, you looked up at the bathroom, and it hit you. It wasn’t your room. None of the stuff you prepared yesterday was here. “I’ll get out,” you finally said. You tried to gather all the courage you had left, took a deep breath and opened the door. As soon as the door was slightly open, two strong arms immediately took you and pushed you on the nearest wall.

“Tell me the truth,” he said fulminating. “Who. Are. You?”

“I really have no idea of what’s going on,” you said frightened by his cold glance. “It said 2009, so I went in thinking it was my room.” you tried to explain.

“But surprise, surprise! I was in that room! That’s what you're implying?” he replied. “You expect me to believe in such nonsense!” he shouted at you, trapping between the wall and his chest.

“Then, you can go see it for yourself,” you declared with the last once of courage you had. He looked at you, gauging you before taking your hands in the direction of the door.

“I’m gonna see for myself, then,” he said as he opened the door. He carefully examined the number of the door. It said ‘2006’ but as he touched the number six, it became ‘2009’. “How could it be possible”, he muttered. “How did you get in?” he asked, turning in your direction.

“I… I just inserted the card and leant on the door to open it, but I think it was open,” you said in a small voice.

“Does this make any sense at all??” he asked punching the door out of frustration. “What am I doing here with a woman like you?” he asked himself out loud.

You looked down, fidgeting your fingers. “Anyway it’s not over yet, so just keep that in mind,” he said slamming the door. You looked at the door, utterly dumbfounded. How did you end up in such a mess up situation? But most importantly how were you going to make it through this? Utterly annoyed, you headed to your suite, hoping to find some comfort with your boyfriend. Once in front of the door, you took a deep breath and were about to open the door when you heard two voices.

“Does it feel good?” you recognise your boyfriend's voice.

“It does,” a feminine voice responded.

You ventured silently into the room so nobody would hear you. You passed the lounge and followed the voices’ noise which led you towards the bedroom. When you were close enough, you noticed the open door and two bodies in the bed. You cleared your throat which caused Harold to looking up, staring directly into your eyes.

“Oh, you’re here,” he said, tearing himself off of the woman at his side.

“Is she that woman who you told me about that is so into you?” the woman said, judging you.

“How… How could you…” you managed to say fighting the tears which wanted to fall.

“Where are your shoes? And what have you been doing all night?” he asked you as if he wasn’t in bed with another woman. The nerve he got. “We came here to have fun anyway.”

You couldn't believe your own eyes. The nerve of it! The more he spoke, the more you were breaking down.

“Honey, your type really sucks,” the woman dared to say. “How could you come on vacation with this kind of girl?” she chuckled before leaving in the bathroom.

You turned around, hiding your tears.

“Why are you crying?” he chuckled. “You think I’m your boyfriend or something? I think you’ve misunderstood,” he said pointing his fingers at your chest. “I was with you because I can make use of you. How could someone like me go out with someone like you? Does that make any sense to your little brain?” 

Tom was at the door and heard everything. That's why he chose this exact moment to enter the room and putting your shoes you had forgotten earlier at your feet. “Wear this and get up,” he said ignoring your now ex-boyfriend. “Don’t waste your time, come with me” he added still looking at you, and only you. 

“Hey, what are you doing?” Harold asked stunned.

“You think you’re some kind of gentleman? That you do her a favour in dating her?” Tom said turning to face him, a devious smirk on his face. “But, you’re just trash. Let’s go,” he said to you, holding your arm.

“Wait!” he shouted out a duffel bag in his hands. “Take this,” as he threw it in the hallway.

Tom picked the duffel bag and guided you to his suite. Once in the suite, he put the bag on the coffee table. Exhausted by all the events, you sat on the bed.

“You can rest, if you want,” he said, “I can understand.” You nodded thanking him with a look.

——

“Why did you help me earlier?” you asked startling Tom. He was typing away on his computer.

“Why would you listen to all that?” he asked instead of answering. “Are you stupid?”

After his words, you looked down fidgeting your fingers, a habit you took when you were nervous, and holding back your tears.

“I just wanted…” you said wiping the tears which managed to escape your eyes. "I wanted that, for once, someone loved me. I really tried," you added as you wiped more and more tears. Your face was cover with tears. You couldn't merely stop.

“Why are you crying?” he said. “Has your life ended?! No, so you can show that it hasn’t and live in a cool manner!” he declared trying to keep his voice down. 

“It’s… it’s just that I really liked him…” you explained shyly. “He treated me differently. That’s why I anticipated this stay so much. I prepared everything. I really tried, but now… what am I, really…” you continued wiping your tears. After a short silence, you asked, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“About why I helped you?” he stated. You nodded. “My girlfriend dumped me, so I couldn’t let you in this situation, you know?”

“Oh, my… I'm so sorry,” you stuttered. “Does… it’s my fault, doesn’t it?”

“Nah, it’s her fault actually,” he said reassuring you. “It wasn’t the first time, but I feel it’s over for real? I’m just so sick of waiting. But listen to me, from now on, you are no longer a post-it. You’re crazy glue!” he said before adding, “Once you are removed, the body and skin will be hurt even more. You need to show them how great you are.”

“I’m stupid, huh?” you said looking at him with tears rolling on your cheeks. “I should hate him, I really should but I can’t. He’s a bad person but my feelings for him were real.”

“You and I are similar,” he said. “I as well, because Leah didn’t come, became alone. I even prepared a proposal,” he added looking down at his hands, sorrowfully.

“I’m really sorry,” you said. “Because of me… your proposal didn’t work out.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” he said. “We can’t always win the game of love.”

And then, a deafening silence fell. Tom began to type back on his computer while you looked around you, fidgeting with the bedcovers. A bright shade of red coloured your cheeks as you gazed at the covers. Still, too bright memories were in your mind. Who would have thought the post-it girl, naive and insecure would be here? Surely not yourself. You stayed in this silence, only disturbed by the keyboard's sound of Tom's computer, few more minutes before you decided to move.

“Huh,” you cleared your throat to catch Tom's attention. “Thank you for everything, I’ve probably taken advantage of your kindness for too long,” you added as you got up from the bed. You took the duffel bag Harold kindly threw at you earlier and you were ready to leave.

“Do you have a place to stay?” he asked.

“Yeah, my friend Lizzie is going to take me and will come with me to take the few things I left in Harold’s apartment,” you told him. You didn't even know why you told him so much. He probably didn't care.

“Good, good,” he said as he stood up and guiding you to the door. “Well…  About yesterday’s event, forget about it,” he said smiling kindly at you.

“Of course,” you said, smiling back. “We’re not going to see each other again anyway.”

“Don’t forget, be confident and don’t get intimidated.” he reminded you.

“I’ll try,” you muttered as you walked away, joining Lizzie.

——

You were late. You hated being late because it meant that you needed to hurry. You did your best to run without letting the coffee and the clothes you took from the dry-cleaner’s. As you slalomed between people, trying to avoid them, someone grabbed your arm. "Y/N!" the voice said. You turned over and saw Lizzie. "Again!?" she said furiously.

“I was on my way anyway,” you said trying to defend yourself.

Lizzie only exhaled loudly and took the clothes off your arms to relieve you. You walked side by side chatting as you headed to the office. You were almost there when a black car with tinted windows parked outside the building. A few minutes later, five burly men went out the building and stood in front of the car.

“What happens over there?” asked Lizzie, stopping. “They all look like gangsters, don’t you think?”

You laughed a little at her remark, but when one of the burly men opened the car’s door, a brown-haired man came up followed by a blond-haired man. You froze, you knew him.

——

“Welcome Mr Holland,” the boss of Brooke and Cromwell Law Associates greeted him. “It’s an honour for our law firm to work with you.”

“You know why I decided to change law firms,” Tom said. “I need you to handle this project well.”

“But do not worry, if you’d like to follow me,” he said making a hand gesture inviting Tom to walked pass him. Tom followed one of the men, leading him to an office, which he guessed was the boss's one. The boss invited Tom to sit, dismissing the burly men.

“I’m at your disposal,” he said. “I’m listening.”

“One of my factories is giving me a headache,” he explained. “I need to work on it, but we can’t get near to it. So we can’t even start on an estimation yet. What kind of situation is this?”

“We’re here for this kind of situation,” he said laughing slightly. “Is this all the paperwork?” he said pointing at the file in front of him. Tom simply approved. “Also, about your business in Paris, if you hire our firm for the business consulting, I have the perfect person to help you out.” he smiled politely.  

“If you introduce him to me, I’ll consider it,” he said.

Right at that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Ah! Actually, we were talking about you,” he said to the person at the door. “Please come in and have a seat. This is Tom Holland the CEO of Busitalk.”

The person concerned sat on the armchair in front of Tom. But when he looked up, his face was distorted with apprehension. "This is Mr Lara, our lawyer." Tom gave him a dirty look. Mr Lara didn't know what to do with himself.

“Hello, I’m Mr Harold Lara.” he introduced himself as he was scared shitless.

Tom ran his eyes up and down, judging him before he let escape a deep laugh which made Harold's blood ran cold. The atmosphere in the room changed without a minute, it was heavy and almost oppressive.

“I have another appointment so I’m afraid that I have to leave now,” he said. “And about consulting business in Paris… I’ll consider it,” he said as he looked at Harold, a devious smile on his lips. He stood up, throwing a last dirty look at Harold before leaving the room. Once Tom was outside, Harold let out a breath he didn't know he was holding back.

Tom walked around the hallways, heading to the exit. "If I remember correctly, she mentioned she worked at the same office with that trash," he muttered to himself as he headed to the elevator.

——

“Miss Y/N, please take care of this before noon,” one of your co-workers said leaving a few files on your desk.

“Ah, okay,” you replied taking it and opening it to start reading.

“Y/N,” Lizzie said. “I need it, I have cramps” she whispered to you.

You tilted to opening one of your desk's drawer. You took some painkillers and sanitary pads out. "You're my lifesaver," she said before leaving quickly to the bathroom.

While Lizzie was heading to the bathroom, you started reading the file in front of you. But, something was nagging at you. You tried to put all your thoughts at the back of your mind but it wouldn't go away. And the fact that Lizzie talked about it added fuel to the fire. You took your calendar on your desk and checked to get rid of your doubts. Then came what you feared the most, you didn't have your period this month. You took a deep breath, trying to reassure you, it wasn't the first time your period was late huh? You bit your lips, you were becoming a mess. That's all I needed, you thought freaking out as you leant on your desk. "What's happening?" Lizzie said intriguing by your state. You looked at her, tears forming in your eyes. "Oh my god, tell me already!"

You looked around, making sure nobody was listening, not wanting to drawed the attention on you. “I... I think I might be pregnant,” you whispered.

“What?” Lizzie asked.

“I think I’m pregnant, Lizzie,” you repeated slowly and carefully.

“OH MY GOD, WHAT-” she shouted drawing the attention of your co-workers.

“Shush!! Be quiet!” you said shushing her and smiling softly at your co-workers. “I don’t know yet, but I checked the internet… and I think I am. Honestly, I’m scared,” you said. “When I think about having a child… I’m scared to do it but when I think about not doing it… It makes me feel so sad,” you tried to explain her. “And I’m scared about other people finding out. People like my mother or my sisters, but mostly my mum.”

“Does Harold know about this?” she asked.

“No,” you stuttered. “That’s because… because that’s not him the father.”

“WHAT?” she shouted. “Who is that?”

“I-I can’t tell you,” you said. “And I can’t tell him, because he has a woman he loves. He’ll suffer if I tell him and he’s been through enough by sleeping with me. I can take this alone.”

“Then go to a pharmacy right away,” she said breathing out. “Buy a pregnancy test and confirm whether or not you’re actually pregnant. But then you have to discuss it with the baby’s father.”

“It is necessary to discuss it with him?” you asked fidgeting your fingers in the grip of emotion.

“Of course!” she said. “He’s the baby’s father. Even if it’s difficult for him, he had to share the burden too, no?”

“Well… okay,” you said nodding. “Thank you… for listening to me,” you said smiling softly at her.

“I need to give those documents to the accounts department,” she said carefully. “You sure, you’re going to be alright, because I can ask someone else.”

“No, no,” you said smiling. “You can go, I’m utterly okay.”

“Don’t disappear, I’m coming right away!” she said laughing.

As soon as she disappeared, you leant on your desk all the things rushing through your brain.

“No. No, it isn’t,” you said to yourself as you laid on the table. “It can’t be.”

You left your fit of terror when someone put a coffee next to your face. You turned around, thinking it was Lizzie but you came face to face with Harold. He took a desk chair and sat close to you. “Why do you keep avoiding me?” he asked smiling at you.

“I’m not avoiding you,” you said as you tried to move off your seat but without success.

“The man at the hotel… Why didn’t you tell me he was the CEO of Busitalk?” he asked with a fawning voice. “Do you still keep in touch with him?

“No, I didn’t,” you replied looking around for Lizzie. “I was with him only for a day.”

“Come on,” he chuckled. “Are you telling me that you had a one night stand with him?”

You quickly scanned the open plan, hoping no one would have listened to your conversation.

“I can give you his number,” he insisted. “And you can meet him again? It’d help me out.”

Once again, you couldn't believe the nerve he got! He was all wrong but still lectured you.

“I don’t know him well,” you explained. “I don’t usually reject people’s favours, but I can’t do it.” you finished and immediately stood up wanting to escape. While you started to leave, he caught your wrist forcing you to look at him. 

“You’ve already done it once, one more time can’t be that difficult,” he said, his grip tightening around your wrist. “You behaved like a naive woman at first, but I already know that you’re not.”

“Let go of me,” you said trying to be calm and getting off his grip.

“How did you seduce Tom Holland?” he screamed, alerting your co-workers. “It’s really strange. You’re just a common and an ordinary woman. I don’t know why he’s attracted to you.” he chuckled deviously.

You pushed his hand, freeing yourself from his grip. You wanted to run away, hiding you but he caught your wrist again but this time with more strength.

“You’re a gold digger?” he chuckled darkly. “That’s why you seduced Tom Holland,” he screamed at you, his face red from the anger. “You know what would happen to you if there were that kind of scandal?” He was about to continue but someone gripped his arms furiously, forcing him to let go of your arm.

“Does it hurt?” Tom asked laughing. “Please, spread the rumour that I tried my best to win Miss Y/N’s heart but she never accepted me.”

You looked at Tom dumbstruck. You didn't know what to say, you couldn't move any more.

“You were trash and you’re still trash, I see,” he said. “Your bad character is still the same, huh?” he added judging him. “I’ll hire a consulting lawyer for my business in Paris under one condition.” he said to your boss who was watching the scene. “This trash, you need to fire him.”

All your co-workers present in the room gasped in shock. The atmosphere was as oppressive as it was in the office earlier. But no one tried to stop Tom, not even your boss. “Miss Y/N,” he called out to you. “Let’s go.” He looked at you and took your arm tenderly. You moved slowly away from the noise and headed to the lunch room of the firm.

“Thank you for saving me back there,” you said. “Thank you, once again,” you laughed.

“Is this how you’ve lived so far?” he asked you as he sat next to you.

“I’m sorry,” you said looking down at your hands. “By the way, have you seen Leah since last night?” you said trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes… yes,” he replied caught off-guard.

“That’s really good!” you said joyfully. You were about to add something when Lizzie came out of nowhere out of breath.

“Y/N! Y/N!” she cried. “Oh my god, you’re here! I was so worried about you. When I came back you weren’t here any more and everyone was talking about what happened.”

“I’m fine Lizzie,” she said smiling.

“So, you’re her knight in shining armour,” she winked at Tom. You hit her arm, embarrassed.

“Yeah.” he laughed. “You can say that.”

——

Once you went out of work, you took your courage and headed to the nearest pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test. You took three tests, better safe than sorry. Normally on your way home, you took your time, enjoying your free-time after a long day at work. But today you almost ran to your apartment hoping to end this ordeal. You put the tests on your table, unwrapping them cautiously. You did all the tests at once and then put them on the table, waiting as much time as it was needed. You took a deep breath and took the tests in your hands. After a while, you dared to look at them. All you could do was gasping when you saw the two little lines.

You were pregnant.

Unfortunately, Henry is not a big fan of sharing Daddy’s attention, so you are always trying your best to keep him distracted him when he focuses on his fans.

At the moment, you are at the beach, taking a walk with your husband and your little boy. This was a much-needed vacation for both of you, Tom had been incredibly busy with movies and press tours, in the meantime you had been busy taking care of Henry and working hard on meeting deadlines at work. As an architect, you were either stressed about the designs, models or the presentations. Tom thought it was enough when he got back from his last press tour that year. He had been aching to go back home, take you out for dinner, play with his son, cuddle in bed with your little family and watch some old school Disney movie.

What he found upon coming back home last month was you running on fumes to finish a model. He tried to ask you to relax, saying that one night out would not hurt, but you were not having any of it and simply snapped.

You had been terribly embarrassed about it, turning red the morning after, promising to make it up and crying once you got around to apologizing. Tom had not been holding any bad feelings about it, he knew what it was and basically ordered you to take a vacation from work.

And now…you are staring at the beautiful beach, the sand creeps into your sandals as you walked, and the sun feels warm on your exposed skin while you listen to Tom talking to Henry.

“I swear!” He points at the water, “sometimes the whales come near the beach and it’s beautiful! But you must respect the animals, okay?”

“Have you touched one, Daddy?” He asks and places his arm on Tom’s shoulder.

Tom’s hair is a little longer than it usually is, but you gotta admit you like it. You reach out and run your hand through Henry’s curls, his hair looks almost as curly and messy as his dad’s. Tom is already wearing his swimsuit with a grey tank top, Henry is sporting something similar and your husband holds the child on his side with one arm while you carry your things in a backpack.

“Not a real one, H.” He says affectionately, turning to you with a smile. “Although…your mum and I swam with dolphins once…”

You smile at Tom and turn to your son.

“They’re soft and slippery.” You comment, foreseeing his next question.

“When was that?” Henry throws himself back on Tom’s arm to look at you, his head hanging upside down.

“Oh, it was years ago, love!” You catch yourself giggling while Tom attempts a manoeuvre to get Henry to sit up straight again, his facial expression is always priceless.

“Ah…” he complains, “You didn’t wait for me!” Henry complains again, this time you laugh and watch Tom chuckling as well.

Your husband gives up with the odd ways of your three-year-old and pats him in the belly.

“Oh, man if only you knew…” he mutters, which gets you blushing.

You had never been too good at math but you were always quite certain of one thing about that trip to Cancun: two people left London and three came back.

“What?” Henry reached out and touched Tom’s face without much care.

“Nothing, baby.” You say, avoiding to look at your husband’s smug smile. “Do you wanna build some sand castles?” You ask and the boy sits up nodding.

After an afternoon at the beach, you take pictures with the beautiful sand castles you three managed to build. Tom spots a group of kids playing near a tree and you see it in his eyes. He is dying to show off his Spider-Man-esque abilities.

You tell him to just go and he smiles a wide smile that never fails to get you in a good mood. Henry runs around the castle, trying to dig a canal for some water to run through and around the masterpiece you created.

You hand him a plastic shovel and look over your shoulder, Tom says hello to the boys around the tree and they grab their phones, recording videos of him as he talks to them.

“Muuuuum!” Henry cries, running to your lap, getting sand all over your legs, shorts and shirt.

“What is it, love?” You wrap your arms around him and look around, wondering what happened.

Henry cries and climbs up your body, clinging on and wrapping his smaller arms around your neck before you can spot the little orange animal.

“Oh…” you smile at your boy’s innocent fear, “that’s a little crab, darling!”

Henry cries out again and you decide to move away and try to distract him from the harmless creature.

You stand up and hold Henry in your arms, you turn to face the tree where Tom’s about to try a trick.

“Look, where did Daddy go?” You ask him.

Henry lifts his head from your neck and opens his eyes, looking around for a moment before finding him.

“I think he’s about to do something super cool…” you warn your kid.

“Daddy?” He wonders, and before you know it, Tom’s taking a few steps away from the tree.

He does not turn to see if you are looking, he simply goes for it; running toward the tree and using it to make an incredible jump forward. When he lands on his feet you thank the heavens and hear people cheering around the beach, your son included.

“Daddy!” Henry is so pure you can see right through him, he could as well be staring at God Himself.

Tom laughs and thanks the boys around him, he accepts taking some pictures with them and after a moment that seems eternal to your little boy he comes back to you.

“Daddy, daddy!” Henry reaches out and almost jumps out of your arms to get to Tom.

Everything about the super scary crab has been forgotten.

Tom holds his son up and smiles when he asks about the trick.

“Teach me! Can you teach me? Teach me!” Tom nods and smiles at his boy.

“Soon.” He promises and puts Henry on his shoulders.

It will really happen soon, Henry is a lot like Tom and it looks like he enjoys his dancing lessons as much as Tom always did. You guess now gymnastics will be thrown into the mix.

You suddenly feel a little overwhelmed. These vacations were supposed to help you clear your mind before doing anything rash…the only reason why you had been so stressed during the last few weeks was that you were worried and considering taking some time off to focus on your family.

“Darling?” Tom asks, his brown eyes stare down at you as you absentmindedly let your hands drop to your stomach, which he still somehow does not notice.

Tom had been home intermittently for the past six months, you did not think it would happen, but it did: you found out you were six weeks pregnant a day before he was officially back home, and you did not want anything more than to tell him and watch him get as excited as you were. You imagined Henry would be confused about the word “pregnant” but he would be excited too once he realized that it meant he would have someone to play with.

“Yes?” You wonder, blinking and thinking of the right thing to say now that he knew something was up.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“I’m pregnant.”

It just comes out like some sort of verbal diarrhoea. Tom’s eyes widen and you instantly cover your mouth with your hand.

“Pregnant?” He asks, full of wonder.

“What is a preganant?” Henry asks from his comfortable sit on Tom’s shoulders.

“Uh…” you nod and look up at Henry. “It means you will have a little brother or sister.”

“Do I get to choose?” You giggle at your son’s comment, shaking your head.

Tom smiles and grabs Henry, putting him down and holding his hand to take a step toward you.

“I want to quit my job. I can’t handle everything! And you’re having another busy year next year!” You turn to Henry and cup his chin in your hand. “You deserve so much better too…”

“Darling,” Tom reaches out and places his hand on your waist, “you know I support you no matter what.”

You put your free hand on his cheek and smile in great relief.

“Come here, H!” Tom holds Henry up and the two of them Hug you.

“Mum?” Henry asks through the hug and when you turn to him, he stares up at you and grabs your face in his hands, “I want a brother…”

Tom smiles a goofy smile.