The Afterglow

Chapter 5; Twist of Events

"Come on, Gwen! We're going to be late!" Peter called out, lingering by the front door as he waited for her to join him.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Gwen emerged from the upstairs hallway and made her way swiftly down the stairs. She grabbed her jacket and slipped it on, giving Peter a giddy smile as she did so.

"You know, it's not so easy to move around hastily while having to be careful." She informed him.

"Right. I know that. But come on, you're not even fat yet, it can't be that hard to move around." He said skeptically, earning him a glare from Gwen.

"Listen buddy, you put the baby in there and you are not the one who, in a few short months, will have to move around with a weight equal to that of a bowling ball inside of you. So, unless you want me to tape a watermelon to your stomach, I suggest that you never use the word fat on me again." She warned him jokingly.

"No thank you, I'm good." He rejected, playing along.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She concluded. "We should probably get moving, I'm nervous enough already without being late for this appointment." She added, chewing on her lower lip as she continued outside to the truck.

Peter joined her a few seconds later, hopping into the driver's side and starting up the engine. He reversed to the end of the drive, but stopped briefly to look over at Gwen in the passenger side, reaching out and placing his hand on her knee.

"Hey, I know uh- I know you're nervous about this but don't worry too much. I'm sure that everything will go exactly as we are hoping, and for what it's worth… You're going to make a great mother." He said encouragingly. "Oh, and what I said before… I wouldn't care if you weighed a hundred pounds more than right now, I'll still love you even then." He added.

"Yeah, you'd better. You goofball." She quipped.

Without responding, he looked into the rear view mirror and pulled the truck right out of the drive, setting out onto the road. Though at every traffic light, he snuck glances in her direction and couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"But thank you." Gwen said, referring to his earlier words. "I uh- I'm happy that my life is here with you, and I know you will make a great father too." She assured him.

The rest of the journey was spent with only the sound of the music played on the radio filling the air and once they'd pulled into the hospital parking lot, Peter nabbed an empty space hastily and removed the key to switch off the truck engine.

"You ready?" He questioned.

"Yeah. You?" She answered.

"Mostly." He answered before hopping out of the truck and walking around to help her out too.

Intertwining their fingers, he squeezed her hand as they made their way towards the entrance as a non-verbal way of telling her that he was right there with her. Although he did not let it show, he was just as nervous as she; if not more. He loved Gwen deeply, but he was afraid that she would somehow discover what he'd hidden from her and stress her out, causing everything to go wrong. It was a silly notion, but something that frightened him still. He would never be able to forgive himself if he were to cause such pain. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind in order to be fully supportive of her, he forced a smile onto his face as they reached the front reception.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The woman at the desk, Amber, Peter read from her badge, questioned.

"Hi, I uh- Have a check up at nine o'clock with the midwife…" Gwen stammered.

"Okay, can I take your name please?" The woman questioned.

"Gwen. Gwen Parker." She answered, noticing Peter's smile as she said her name aloud.