As Long As You Love Me

Practice Makes Perfect

You were searching for Joe but Daisy found you first. "Daisy!" you squealed. "Oh, Y/N, that ceremony was top notch!" she told you, raising her hand for a high five. "You did an amazing job!" "Oh, Dais," you said, playfully rolling your eyes. "All I did was read another person's speech." "Um, you quoted Nicholas Sparks," she said. "And I know that wasn't for Cal and Alyssa."

"No, it wasn't," you said, smiling over her shoulder. You'd just seen your husband and found yourself feeling like a magnet was pulling you toward him. "Come on, Daisy," you said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward Joe. "Let me introduce you to my freaking husband!"

"Y/N, I already know him!" she said, laughing and running behind you. When you got to Joe, you jumped into his arms and began planting kisses all over his face. You didn't know, but normally such a gesture would have embarrassed him. Not with you, though. You made him a different kind of person; everyone who knew Joe noticed it almost immediately.

"You don't know him as my husband, Daisy," you said, rolling your eyes. "Daisy, this is Joe Mazzello, my husband," you said, tugging at Joe's hand to pull him forward. "Hi," Joe said, holding out his hand. "We met when you were four and your parents, your brother, and you moved in next to my house. You're like a sister to me." Daisy laughed and swatted Joe's hand away, opting for a hug instead.

"You better treat her right, Mazzello," she said, poking him in the chest. "I don't want to have her calling me up at 3 in the morning crying about you doing her wrong. Even if I will be up taking care of the baby." Daisy's eyes grew wide and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

"What baby?" Joe asked, but you knew. You'd put it together in the two seconds between Daisy letting it slip and Joe asking that question. "Oh my god, Dais," you said. "The blond? From last night? Is that Ben?" She nodded, tears forming in her eyes. Daisy had been seeing this guy, Ben Hardy, for the better part of a year but you'd never met him because he was an actor and was traveling for filming and all the things that go along with it.

"When did you find out?!" you asked, careful to keep you voice down. "Last week, officially," she told you. "We went to the doctor and I'm already 16 weeks along. I've known almost the whole time but I waited to go when Ben could be there with me." "So who all knows?" Joe said. "Well," Daisy said, "you two, me, Ben, and the doctor. But if I have another slip up like I just did—" Ben chose that moment to saunter up behind Daisy, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"You're not going to be able to hide it the whole time, Dais," Ben chuckled in his deep, British accent. He caressed her stomach in a sweet way that made your heart want to explode. "I realize that, Benny, but I can't reveal it on the day of my brother's wedding," she told him, nuzzling the side of her head against his. "Alyssa will 'rip my heart right out' as Calvin says."

The four of you shared a laugh as you all went to your table to sit for the reception. After being around them for an evening, you found yourself positively in love with the way Ben seemed to care for and dote on Daisy. You sent up a silent prayer that Joe would be the same way with you when you were carrying his child, though you didn't have any doubts.

As the reception was coming to a close, you couldn't stifle the giant yawn escaping your lips. Joe laughed at you and kissed your forehead. "You're cute," he cooed, batting his eyelashes at you. "No, you're cute," you cooed back, playfully shoving his shoulder. "Well, I'm nauseous," Daisy said and she feigned vomiting in her hand and throwing it at you. Your table erupted with laughter and you had to wipe your eyes.

"Oh, I love this song!" you and Joe both said at the same time. You turned to look at him, your face a mask of amusement. "You do?" you asked. "Of course I do, Y/N! Who doesn't love Queen?" he said. "Well then let's get out here and dance our first dance as husband and wife. Even though it's not our wedding," you laughed.

"Oh, but when we have one, this will be the song for our first dance," he said as the bass line for Another One Bites the Dust blasted in your ears. Joe was a pretty good dancer, you quickly found out. The two of you had a blast on the dance floor and you couldn't stop laughing. When it was time to go home, you were so exhausted you had to use Joe as a crutch. You both said your goodbyes to the newlyweds and told Daisy you'd see her on Tuesday for your weekly lunch date.

In the car ride on the way back to your apartment, you asked Joe to stay the night with you. "I have a lot of packing to do tomorrow and I need you to help me feel better about it tonight," you yawned, lazily winking at him. "You sure you're gonna last much longer?" Joe laughed, reaching over to grab your hand. "Hmm, probably," You hummed. "I mean, we need to get in some more practice, don't we?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Three months later you found yourself in the bathroom at a job location, your stomach emptying itself of what felt like everything you'd ever eaten in your entire life. You weren't 100% sure what was going on since you'd always had irregular periods so you chalked it up to lunch not sitting well with you.

Nevertheless, you couldn't stop yourself so you'd gotten several pregnancy tests on the way back to the hotel you were staying in for your current writing assignment. Every single one of them came out with the same result. "I'm pregnant, Dais." You didn't know who else to call and you couldn't tell Joe over the phone because who does that when they don't have to?

You'd be home in two days anyway, but you'd found out over the course of the last three months that it was hard to keep your emotions hidden from your husband; it was almost like he could read your mind. Or your face. Probably your face. That was an unfair advantage you'd given him because your facial expressions always gave away to your feelings.

Daisy was ecstatic for you and promised she wouldn't say a word to anyone, "especially not Calvin," she said. You thanked her and ended the call to use your phone and email your gynecologist to make an appointment. Just then a soft knock came to your door. It was 10:43pm, and you weren't expecting anyone of course, so you'd been lounging around naked, and had to scramble around the room to find your robe.

"Just a minute!" you yelled, tying the belt around your middle. You walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. There was Joe for the second time, holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers. Again.