Lovers

Ours

Hello hello hello! I hope you have all had a good day. I have been working like crazy for an audition tomorrow, so wish me best of luck on that! I hope you all have an amazing week! Enjoy/comment/vote xx
-ab

————————————————

September 20, 2027

Harper

Patrick and I take one more walk through Taylor's apartment in New York City, just to make sure that I've gathered up all of my things. I did gain a few more things during my time in the city, but Patrick knew that this would be the case and brought a bigger suitcase than necessary. That means that we have two large suitcases and one small suitcase, all of which are stuffed completely full, as are both of our backpacks.

"I think that we're all ready to go," I tell Patrick, letting out a sigh. "I've got everything packed away."

"Did you clear all of the food out of the fridge?"

"Yep," I nod. "I really think that everything is good."

"Well, we've got a few hours left," Patrick tells me. "What do you say we go out on one last walk in the city? We can go into Times Square, or to Central Park, or anywhere you'd please."

"That sounds like fun," I reply. "Can we go walk the Broadway theatres in Times Square?"

"Of course we can," he tells me. "Do you want to get changed into any nicer clothes, or are you good in what you're in?"

"I don't want to unpack the suitcase," I laugh. While I typically don't frolic about in my 'travel day' wardrobe, consisting of capri-length yoga leggings and a purple tee shirt from Anastasia, I don't care today. People in New York dress a lot more casually than people in London, usually. London is just a fancy city, overall, I guess.

"Go and get your shoes on, then, and I'll do the same," my husband tells me. We both grab our trainers and subway cards, then leave the apartment.

After a quick subway ride into Times Square, a ride that I've gotten very confident at doing within these past few months, we pop up into the hustle and bustle of midtown.

"You know what we should do?" Patrick asks with a cheeky twinkle in his eye.

"What's that?"

"We should go to Schmackery's and get cookies to celebrate our last day in the city."

"I think that I've not heard such a great idea in a very long time," I tell my husband. He laughs as I lead the way towards the famous cookie store that is frequented by both theatre audiences and those who work in the business.

I get a 'Peanut Butter After Dark' cookie, and Patrick gets a 'Funfetti' cookie, then we split them in half and trade, so that we each have half of each type of cookie. After enjoying the sweet treat on the bench outside of the cookie store, we walk towards Times Square, hand in hand.

"I shouldn't have eaten that," I remark after a moment.

"What?" he asks, clearly concerned.

"I'm about to get fat from this baby. I shouldn't do more to encourage it."

"I think," he tells me, "that if anything, you should let yourself have that cookie because you are going through the terrible horrors of carrying a child, and on top of that, you're eating for two. You want to feed our baby the best, don't you?"

"I don't think that getting the baby addicted to Schmackary's in the womb is particularly the best thing for him or her."

Patrick simply shrugs. "Compared to the babies that come out addicted to drugs, our parenting looks great."

I roll my eyes and playfully slap my cheeky husband's arm. "You need to stop thinking like that, mister."

"Yeah, okay, you're probably right on that one," he smiles at me.

"Speaking of the baby, though," I say, "I think that we should tell Kath once we are home. I know that we weren't going to tell people for a bit, but, well, since we already told my entire company... I think the cat's sort of out of the bag now."

"I think you're right," he nods. "Kath and Nessa both should know soon, as should our parents. My parents are really looking forward to seeing you, by the way."

I smile. "I'm looking forward to seeing them, as well. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. I've missed them all so much."

"They can't wait to see you," he promises me, squeezing my hand. The two of us continue walking for a bit longer, past many different theatres and businesses. Eventually, we make our walk into a big circle and end up back at the subway station.

"Let's go back to Taylor's and get our things, and then be on our way to the airport, I guess," I say, checking my watch. We will still be early for our flight, but that's better than being late, for sure. We can easily kill some time in the airport.

"Are you feeling okay today?" Patrick asks me, as we are gathering our suitcases.

"I'm just trying to push it all away," I admit, sighing as I sit down on the edge of the bed, which I made freshly with clean bedding this morning. "Like, yeah, my stomach hurts and I feel like rubbish a lot of the time, but I have things that I need to do, and so I need to forget about that and focus on my more important things. Not that the baby isn't important, of course, but I just don't have the time to sit around and wallow in my own self pity. Brittney told you what I did onstage. If I need to throw up, then I just slip into a toilet and do so, then carry on with my day. I can't let it take me down."

He frowns at me. "But right now..."

"I'm better now than I am a lot of the time," I admit. "I'm hoping that the morning sickness is going to go away soon..."

"Doesn't it usually go away in the second trimester?"

"I think so, yeah."

"That's good. I hate seeing you feeling badly."

"It's the first of many hard things that I'll have to go through as a parent," I laugh. "I just can't wait for April, when I can drag you through it all with me."

Patrick rolls his eyes. "It'll be worth it, though, because we'll have a little baby girl or boy to call our own."

I look at him, right in the eyes. God, he's so gorgeous. Even after all of these years, I'm still so smitten with Patrick.

"It's going to be the hardest time of our lives, but I also have a feeling it'll be the best. We'll be welcoming a little baby into our world, and it's going to change everything, but that baby is going to be ours, and that's something that can't be taken away from us. You, me and the baby. We can do this."