HEF?

French

"Du snakke fransk no?" (You speak french now?) I asked when I walked back in, all the stuff stacked on one plate. "Ikke egentli, men morsomt å prøve, ikkesant?" (Not really, but fun to try, right?) he smiled, still a bit uncomfortable about this situation. I simply nodded in agreement and put it all on the table before sitting down besides him. "Koffor.. koffor kom du ikke te bryllupe?" (Why.. why didn't you attend the wedding?) I nervously asked, afraid that I already knew the answer. "Æ bare greide ikke å sjå ka du bestæmte dæ for, så.." (I couldn't manage to see what you decided for, so..) Despite knowing that would be his answer I still got a bit shocked by it. "Men.. koffor?" (But.. why?) I asked, reaching for my glass as I said so. "Æ antar æ va redd." (I suppose I was scared.) He shrugged before taking a bite out of the cookie he had grabbed.

We just sat there, talking, mostly about my wedding and his love life, and it all went smoothly until I did the grave mistake to talk about the doubt I experienced after reading his note. His eyes lost all the light they held as I mentioned it, and he did that grimace he made when feeling guilty. "Ja, onnskyl for de, når æ skreiv den tænkte æ de va ein fantastisk ide, som de kanskje ikke va, men æg gjor de no." (Yes, sorry about that, I thought it was an amazing idea when I wrote it, which it may not have been, but I did it nonetheless.) He tried to smile, but it did not quite reach his eyes. "D går fint, å for å være helt ærli.." (It's alright, and to be completely honest..) I started, unsure of how to finish it. "Om du hadde vært på bryllupe så tru æ faktiske ikke æ hadde fullført de.." (If you had attended the wedding I actually doubt that I would've gone through with it..) I mumbled, feeling a tear fall down my cheek. But I hoped it was only my pregnancy hormones that made me cry, and not my actually, true, feelings. "Hei.. hei.. de går fint, kom hær.." (Hey.. hey.. it's alright, come here..) He calmly said, pulling me closer to him so we sat there, hugging.

Suddenly someone cleared their throat behind us, which scared me at first, but then I calmed down and realised it was Max. "Hei!" (Hey!) I tried to smile, fighting the tears I felt was still pressing. "Are you, alright?" His voice was shaky as he asked it, making me get up from the couch and embrace him, not because I felt I had to, but because it was a need. "Ja.." I simply whispered into his breast that I was now pushed up against. "I suppose I'll go then, hade Kari, snakkes!" (Bye, Kari, talk later!) He said it so visibly fake cheerful I couldn't believe him for doing that, but Max did not register how fake it was. "I didn't know he would come here today?" Max asked when the door closed behind Fredrik, leaving us alone again. "I didn't know either, but I'm glad he did." I started, unsure if I should continue, the look on his face made me open my mouth again and continue. "Despite having been afraid of talking to him about feelings I'm glad I finally did. And don't worry, it was mostly about Norway and how much we missed being young. Nothing serious!" I half-Lied to him, scared to share what we truly had talked about, but we had talken a bit about it, so it was not a complete lie.

"Alright, test!" He kissed the top of my head as he mumbled it, making a single tear leave my eye. "Right.. the test.." I mumbled, sad for having said goodbye to Fredrik, again. "Are you scared?" Max asked pulling me from him so he could look me in the eyes. "Well, no." I shrugged, because I was in fact not scared. "Alright, then here.." He said it as he pulled the pregnancy test out of the bag with groceries. "Thank you." I smiled, before running off to the toilet.

Taking the test was way less nerve racking than I thought it would be, but the waiting was worse than I remembered it being. I think it was right after I had turned 17 it happened, my period didn't come, despite having used protection. It had stressed me out so much I had made Mia buy a pregnancy test for me and come over to help me take it.

"Kari! I have it!" She shouted through the house, luckily I was home alone when this happened. "Oh thank you, so, so, much!" I shouted as I ran down the stairs to meet her in the living room. "Ready to take it?" She asked as she whipped it out of her pocket, making my heartbeat get even faster. "I will never be ready, but I have to do it." I mumbled as I took it and lead way to the downstairs bathroom. When we had closed the door I sat down on the toilet and peed on the test. My heart was pounding faster than it did after running intervals, which amazed me. "And all we do now, is wait?" I asked, scratching my shoulder out of nervousness. Somehow it calmed me down, but I can not remember when I figured it out, or was taught that it worked. "Yes, all we do is wait." She answered, just as nervously.

This reminded me somewhat of that exact moment, but now I was actually looking forward to the answer, hoping I got the same relieved smile on my lips after getting the results. And I did. "Max! Come here!" I shouted through the apartment as I ran to the living room with the test in my hands. "Kari, if I am supposed to run to you, then you don't have to run to me!" He laughed as he caught me in his arms to stop me. "Look!" I happily exclaimed, pointing at the results. "It's positive." He mumbled, looking into my eyes. "I'm going to be a dad!" This time he shouted it, so I was certain all of Monaco could hear him. "You're going to be a dad, and I'm going to be a mom!" I almost didn't believe myself as I said it, but I could feel tears of joy run down my cheeks so I knew it was true.

We're going to start a family. A real family, with married parents that love each other more than anything, and a child. A child they put above anything, well almost anything, had to get income in some way too, so the child would have to grow up around F1 and Motorsport. But as it would be the only life the child would ever know it wouldn't complain, at least I hoped so. "I guess, Max, that we now have to get hold of a midwife, and probably tell our family and friends." And people that are neither, but we still love. I thought, not letting it show through my bright smile that blinded Max as I spoke. "I suppose we have to do so, indeed." He smiled just as wide as me, before leaning down and kissing my cheek.

"I should maybe have told you this earlier, but I want the child to get baptised in the same church we got married in. And I will not have a baby shower, half the excitement is learning the baby's gender when they are birthed." I fiddled nervously with my grandfather's ring as I said it, not meeting his eyes. Not because I was scared of telling him, or his reaction, but because I regretted not telling him sooner. "Of course, any other things you want to inform me of now so I can take it all in at once and get it all processed?" He jokingly asked, unknowing of the information and traditions I had to tell him. "Well.." I started, sitting down on the couch in the process.