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Time had passed as it inevitably does, bringing the now happily married couple everything they could've ever wanted.
They both managed to survive college, graduating right on schedule. Thankfully the perfect jobs were out there waiting for them as soon as they got those hard earned diplomas. El had gotten her dream job, working for a well known newspaper right there in town. Mike was also pretty satisfied where he was too, as he was making his way up to assistant editor at the publishing company he worked for.
They still lived in their cozy little home, only now it held a few years worth of memories with their four legged baby. Much to El's surprise, Mike had grown to love their dog, like really love him. It seemed that he finally understood why his sister acted the way she did with her dogs because he treated Vader like it was his actual child. He was always carrying the dog around and talking to him in that baby voice that people do. El never failed to tease him about that.
As for El, she loved Vader too, but he had really been testing her patience lately. If he wasn't tracking mud through the house, he was chewing up something. Like right now, she had just finished yelling at him for chewing up one of her new shoes. Sure, she had left them lying by the front door, but their pup knew better than to use something of theirs as his chew toy.
El quickly handled that situation, giving the dog a stern scolding before getting back to cooking dinner. Usually, Mike was the one to cook for them, given his expertise and all, but he had to work a bit later today so she took it into her own hands to get it started.
She still wasn't the best cook, nowhere near it actually, but Mike had taught her a lot over the years. He always stuck with the easy stuff, considering the fact that she could barely cook frozen pizza in the oven without something going wrong. And after tons of practice and only two complete cooking disasters, she had actually managed to perfect a few dishes.
Even with her limited skills though, she still secretly panicked the entire time if he wasn't there with her. All it would take is one wrong step and everything would be ruined.
Luckily, she heard the front door open about halfway into it. Mike was finally home from work, meaning that he would be around to help her out with dinner if she needed it. She really hoped that she wouldn't need his help, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Hi, baby." Mike spoke softly from behind her, as he wrapped her up in his arms.
El grinned at the sound of his voice, leaning back into the comfort of his embrace. "Hi."
"Well, I was actually talking to her..." He muttered, gently rubbing his hands along her protruding belly. "But hello to you too."
"Oh okay, I see how it is. You just pop a bun in my oven, then forget all about me." El teased, as she spun around in his arms.
"You're the love of my life, baby." Mike beamed, fiercely delivering a kiss to her cheek. "I couldn't forget you no matter how many little versions of you I help bring into this world."
"Good." El then leaned up and planted her lips on his, happily reveling in the kisses she so rightfully deserved after being away from him all day long.
"So how was work?" She asked, once they'd parted, still as close to one another as they could be with her big belly being in the way.
"It was good, I actually got a lot done today. Dustin came by around lunch too, and dropped us off a gift since Lily wasn't able to come to the baby shower."
"Aw, that's sweet! What did they get her?"
"I haven't looked, figured you'd want to open it together."
"Let's open it then!" She reached over and snatched the bag from where he had set it on the counter, beginning to pull out all the pink tissue paper stuffed inside.
She held up the little white onesie for them both to see. It had the words "storm pooper" in black lettering, right below the picture of a stormtrooper helmet.
"This is the cutest thing I've ever seen!" El gushed, her eyes beginning to tear up the longer she stared at it. "But what if she doesn't like Star Wars?"
"With us as her parents? Please. She's going to come out of the womb a nerd, I'm certain of it."
El couldn't help the snort of laughter that came out, knowing he was probably right about that. If their child didn't end up with her nose in a book by the time she could read, something just wouldn't be right.
"Gosh, I can't believe she'll be here in a few weeks."
"I know, it really doesn't seem real."
"We're going to be parents, Mike! And not dog parents either, actual parents to another human being! Do you think we'll be good at it?"
"Well, I hope we'll be better parents than you are a cook." He snorted, his eyes glancing off behind her. "Whatever you've got cooking back there is burning."
"What!" She whipped around, immediately trying to salvage part of their dinner, but it was too late to save it. "Shoot!"
El quickly turned off the stove top, dropped the spoon in the pan and huffed out a heavy breath. Even with her back to him, Mike could tell by the soft shake of her head that she was starting to cry. Really, it was all she did lately.
Of course, he completely understood that it was kind of out of her control. That was pretty obvious after the day she cried over using up the last of the orange juice before he could get any. He had assured her it was perfectly fine, yet she still sobbed like a baby.
No matter the reason though, he always did his best to comfort her... and to keep the orange juice stocked up.
"You okay over there?"
"Yes. It's just these stupid pregnancy hormones." El sighed, turning back around to face him. "They're turning me into a wimp."
"You're not a wimp." Mike chuckled, stepping closer and bringing his hands up to her face. His thumbs grazed her cheeks, while his eyes roamed her face before locking with hers. "You're a beautiful, strong woman who is carrying our baby like a champ."
"Great, now I'm gonna cry even more." She whined, shooting him a sad smile as she inevitably began to sob harder over the sweet things he'd said. "I love you."
"I love you." He spoke softly, wiping away the fallen tears on her cheeks. "You want me to finish making dinner?"
"Please do."
"Okay, you two go lay down. I got this covered. And don't worry, alright? We'll be great parents. I know it."
"Yeah." She agreed, her eyes shining as she looked up at him. "The best!"
"The best." Mike nodded his head, leaning down to steal one last hasty kiss.
With that, he let her go and she wobbled her way into the living room. After retrieving her favorite fuzzy blanket, she laid down on the couch, which conveniently gave her the perfect view of Mike as he did his thing in the kitchen.
She wasn't sure how long she laid there, not paying a bit of attention to whatever was playing on the television, but it was long enough for all her tears to dry up. She just sat there watching him, while mindlessly rubbing her belly.
She felt a few kicks here and there, each one reminding her that their baby would finally be in their arms soon. And no matter the worries that somehow crept in, at the end of the day, there was no doubt in her mind that they'd be the best parents to their little girl.
After all, they've done perfectly fine taking care of their dog over the past few years. A baby couldn't be that much different... right?
the end.
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hi, just wanna say thank you so so much for all the love on this book!
i feel like there was kinda no major plot once the whole dog thing went away, it mainly just being fluff & me winging it but i really loved writing all the fluff & i hope you guys enjoyed reading it! i actually had some drama & stuff planned but they're so soft, i couldn't do that to them & ruin their happiness 🥺
this book was so fun to write tho & probably the easiest, so i'm really gonna miss it (and them) but i'm also happy to be moving on! i do have other books & a one shot book out tho so check those out if you'd like!
ok ily guys, bye!