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Chapter 23 - Oh Baby

"I think I'll stick with soup again, just to be sure," she sighed, reaching up to touch my face. "Your beard's gettin' scruffy," she smiled.

"Is that you tellin' me I should shave?" I laughed.

"No, it's sexy," she said softly. "Just don't let it get crazy like when you first got here... you looked like a scary homeless person," she giggled.

"Duly noted," I nodded.

There was silence for a while as we both turned our attention to the television. I continued to stroke her hair and she eventually started dosing off, her eyes drooping shut. "You know somethin' I'm kind of hungry for," she murmured suddenly.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Those burgers you made the other day on the barbecue. You should grab the stuff you'd need to make 'em... we can eat that tomorrow... or whenever I start feelin' less like crap," she said with muted enthusiasm.

"Will do," I chuckled.

CARLY

"I saw John in the driveway," Maisy grinned when she let herself in a little later that afternoon, dropping her purse on the little table near the front door and kicking off her flats. "Diggin' the beard," she added with a terrible attempt at whistling her approval.

"You should've seen his beard when he first got here," I sighed, sitting up on the couch and stretching my arms and my legs out in front of me. I was starting to feel a little better: John made me a sandwich before he went to shower and I was able to keep that down... so I was pretty optimistic.

"What were you two up to today?" Maisy asked, wriggling her eyebrows at me as she fell down on the couch. She took my hand and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, snuggling in close.

"He was outside all mornin' doin' his chores and mine... and I was on a date with the toilet bowl," I admitted. "Sorry to disappoint," I chuckled when Maisy made a face.

We ended up talking a little more about John, which proved to be less annoying than I would've thought it would be four months ago. I liked talking about him, despite the awkward questions Maisy had a tendency of asking. We also talked about John and Darryl's bromance and how they were hanging out a lot of their own volition, without their nosy significant others trying to set them up together.

It was kind of cute, really.

"They're goin' huntin' on Saturday with Steve, did John tell you that?" Maisy asked.

"No, it hasn't come up," I shrugged.

"Darryl is lookin' forward to it. Anythin' that involves guns or ATVs or drinkin' a lot of beer..." Maisy shook her head and sighed.

"Boys and their guns," I laughed.

"Boys and their guns," Maisy agreed. "Your boy can probably give mine a run for his money... bein' in the army and all," she added.

"He was a medic," I explained.

"Don't they have guns too?" Maisy wondered.

"Mm, I don't know. He doesn't talk about his time overseas. He's been havin' some trouble sleepin'... and it's been gettin' worse... I'd be surprised if he sleeps more than three or four hours a night. I haven't mentioned it to him in a while... every time I do he bites my head off... But he's been talkin' in his sleep now and a couple nights ago it got pretty bad..." I admitted, feeling a heavy weight lift from my shoulders. I was worried, and Maisy was the only person I felt I could talk to about this.

"Is it PTSD or somethin'? I mean, he got hurt didn't he?" Maisy asked.

"Yeah, there was an incident... he talked to me about it the first night he came back. A couple of the guys he served with were killed," I frowned.

"Oh gosh, wow," Maisy whispered.

"Yeah, I'm not a psychologist or anythin', so I don't really know the symptoms or anythin'... He's not like, fidgety or anythin'... doesn't have any mood swings or stuff..." I shrugged.

"He should really talk to somebody," Maisy said.

"I know, I just don't know how to talk to him about it," I told her. "Anyway, what's up with you? Didn't you have somethin' you wanted to tell me? The suspense is kind of drivin' me crazy." I grinned, making myself a little more comfortable on the couch.

Maisy glanced down at her hands, which were pressed against her stomach.

"Darryl and I didn't uh... leave Nashville alone after our honeymoon," she grinned.

I was sick, so my brain was a little fuzzy, but it didn't take me long to realize what she was saying. I stared at her.

"No way, you're not–?" I trailed off.

"I'm pregnant," Maisy beamed.

"Oh my God, Maisy! I'm so happy for you!" I exclaimed.

She hopped to her feet and crossed the living room, reaching inside of her purse for her phone. She handed it to me, showing me the ultrasound photos.

"We found out for sure last week. I'm due on June 1st next year! My mama seemed a little worried about it when she found out, says we're still a little young... but my in-laws are so excited! Darryl's sister had a baby last year so everyone's excited, we'll be raisin' them together... just two years apart," she gushed.

"That's so amazin', oh my God, I think I'm gonna cry!" I giggled as unshed tears threatened to fall.

"It is, I'm really happy... it wasn't planned, but I mean... we wanted kids eventually... so what if it's a year or two earlier than anticipated?" she shrugged.

I hugged her tight and we both giggled and cried for a while, happy tears streaming down our cheeks.

She left a while later and I was feeling well enough to walk her to the door, hanging out with her for a few minutes on the porch before she made her way to her car.

Maisy's news was still on my mind when I returned inside, and I was still smiling like an idiot when I closed the front door. But then, in a split second, something in my brain clicked, my heart fell into my stomach and figurative warning bells started to go off. The flu-like symptoms, the craving for John's burgers...

It could all be a big coincidence...

Wait a minute.

Oh my God.

I stopped dead in my tracks on my way back to the couch, my brain working overtime, trying to figure out the math. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and checked my app.

My period should've started five days ago.

I was late.