𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃

11. best years

BEST YEARS

"oh, wow" emma stood in disbelief, wishing she wasn't standing in the middle of a convenience store, but rather in the comforts of her home.

"how do you feel?"

emma slumped her shoulders, immediately placing both hands on her stomach. she didn't know how she felt.

in some ways, she was happy. and she knew caleb would be happy.

but...luke.

what would this mean for them? would this be the sole thing that crushed the small possibility of them ever rebuilding what they used to have?

emma was more worried about luke's reaction than caleb's, and she didn't know what to take away from that.

emma's lack of enthusiasm was something maya had been anticipating. it was a clear sign that emma was still holding out for luke in some weird way — unbeknownst to emma.

emma being pregnant was the only thing that would make luke walk away for good. he wouldn't dare come between a family. no, he would leave and never look back. he wouldn't be able to stay in emma's life and watch caleb live the life that luke was supposed to have, it would kill him inside.

"i feel... conflicted"

maya placed her hands on emma's shoulders, staring her dead in the eyes. "you're getting married and having a baby. this is going to be the best year of your life"

"luke, put me down!" emma squealed as luke gently tossed her onto their king size bed.

petunia patiently sat by the end of the bed, barking when luke and emma were too caught up in one another to notice she desperately wanted to join them. luke patted the spot next to him, riling the dog up as she couldn't get up on the bed by herself.

luke ended up having to help her up, she was a little chunky.

petunia immediately rested her head on emma's lap while emma teasingly stuck her tongue out in luke's direction, as if to say "told you she liked me better"

"ya know, i feel outnumbered," luke lazily fell backwards, crashing into the heap of pillows emma insisted on having while resting a hand on her stomach. "i think we need another boy around here"

"wait, are you saying you want to have a...baby?" emma's mouth hung open while luke's eyes widened.

"no! i-i mean, no, i don't know — not that i don't ever want a baby with you it's just... we've never talked about, um, kids and i just meant like a cat or dog or something"

emma was the only person luke ever got flustered in front of. he tripped over his words and felt like a blabbering idiot while she just watched and laughed with a small twinkle in her eyes, as if he was the most beautiful creature in the entire world.

"do you.... like...." emma cleared her throat. "have you thought about having kids.... is that something you want?"

"with you? yes" luke responded, not missing a beat.

it's been a year and a half, and luke hemmings can still make emma blush like there's no tomorrow.

"fine, you can get a cat" she smiled. "but we'll continue this baby conversation later, maybe with alcohol.... and sex" she teased.

"really?" luke perked up, his eyes were bright as he watched emma's every move. she nodded, a silly smile appearing on her face at how excited luke got over the little things.