❅ Two years later.
LEX
"Stop moving so much," I complain when Blanche tosses and turns for the umpteenth time in our bed.
She hogs the covers and since we've been living together, there hasn't been a night where my toes have been covered. I've started to wear my fluffy socks to bed.
Fuck clichés, but I don't like cold feet.
To be honest, I prefer she sleeps each night beside me. To wrap my arms around her and keep her close. If she pulls the blanket from me, it's another reason to scoot closer to her. I really meant it when I said I wasn't letting her go.
"Can't sleep." Blanche responds with a whiny voice.
I turn around to face her and offer her my arm as a pillow so she can cuddle with me. "What's wrong?"
She motions to her protruding stomach. "Bean won't stop kicking and he's keeping me up."
I smile and lower my hand under the covers to touch the swell of her belly where our son is growing. It's marvelous to see him on the echographies and I think it's a wonder each time I see he has grown a little bit more in the warmth of his mom's nest.
"Our little Anakin." I greet the little one.
"Nope." Blanche looks at me sternly. "I vetoed Star Wars names."
She did, but I'm always trying to get a rise out of her. Keeps things interesting. I reach out and comb her blonde hair—her natural color—back with my fingers. Blanche leans into my touch, her cheeks blushing faintly.
"No," I laugh. "You said no to Leia, but we found out it was a boy in the last appointment with the ob-gyn, so boy's names are on the table now."
She blows a raspberry. "I'm okay with a geeky name, but not something obvious."
"I'm not calling our son Palpatine or Gandalf." The notion of it makes me snort when I say it. "Although..."
"Lex Todd." Blanche swats at me. "Don't you dare."
She's a cute little menace, glowing with her pregnancy. Seeing her happy like this, I don't mind dealing with the hormonal mood swings.
When we found out, we were carefully optimistic and didn't tell anyone until Blanche was a little further along. We didn't know if we could handle the questions if another miscarriage was to happen. Until now, our little bean is a big and strong fellow.
We renovated the duplex above the bakery by doing a lot of work ourselves. Many months after work and on the weekends sanding and painting the woodwork, checking out garage sales in the neighborhood to spruce up some furniture that could fit our style.
Blanche framed all of my movie and game posters for the living room and even did the Ikea lamp hack to fabricate the Death Star above our dining table. Next to all my comic books are her romcom paperbacks in the reading nook we made with a modern bookshelf structure and a Snorlax lazy boy she found online.
"Oh, come on." I keep teasing her. "We should make each a list, though. Then swap it and cross out the ones we don't like and then choose from what's left."
Blanche hums in agreement. "Good idea."
I haven't lifted my hand, and suddenly I feel a soft kick. "He's moving," I exclaim happily.
"He won't stop." Blanche rolls her eyes, moving her hand to cup over mine. "Will you let mommy sleep a bit more, bean? I'm up in a couple of hours," she whispers, before gazing at the clock on my bedside table and groaning.
Blanche normally has to wake up around five. I turn around to check the clock—in two hours—and I think I can give her time until seven thirty. Sliding my arm carefully from under Blanche's neck, I lower myself under the covers and lift her pajama top.
I kiss her tummy and hum a lullaby to the bean. I don't attempt singing or no-one in this house will ever sleep again. I'm that awful. Hopefully, it calms him down and lets his mom sleep a while longer.
Blanche recognizes the song and begins to hum with me. When we finish, I crawl back to her side. "You stay a bit more in bed today," I touch my lips softly to hers. "I don't have to be at the newspaper until later and I can take care of the setup today with Marisol. You need to rest."
"Are you sure?" Blanche says drowsily.
"Of course." I nod before kissing the tip of her nose. "Remember these things when you're mad at me again for whatever," I tease.
"I'm sometimes annoyed at you, but never mad," she mumbles back, sleep overtaking her. "But I love you and I know you love me because I'm incredible."
"Because you feel like home to me. That's why I love you."
⁕❅⁕
BLANCHE
I waggle downstairs when I wake up. The extra time Lex let me sleep was like a dream. I didn't know I needed it so much, and the bean also quieted down and fell asleep to his daddy's humming.
The scent of coffee hits me and I'm suddenly sad I can have any. I can have decaf as I'm pregnant, but what the hell is coffee without caffeine? It's an aberration. It's blasphemy.
Fight me on it, I dare you.
"Blanquita." Marisol greets me when I reach the bottom stair. It leads straight into the kitchen of Hotcakes and the aromas hit me straight, making my stomach growl. "Better?"
Ever since I told her I'm pregnant, she's been worried about me. Understandable, as she was the one to take me to the ER when I had my miscarriage. It will be a loss I carry with me, but Lex and I grieved, taking our time to come to terms with it. Being now in a safe space when we wanted to try for the bean in my belly.
No expired condoms this time, all planned with a lot of love... and practice.
"Yup." I nod, a lot more energized than what I expected after an entire night of barely sleeping a wink. "Where is Lex?"
"He's getting you breakfast," Sol says, leaning her head to the side and motioning for the counter. "How's the baby?"
"Kicking."
"Means that you have a little fighter in you." Marisol steps closer and hugs me. "Just like his mom and his dad."
These hormones are making me weepy.
Sniffing, I let go of Marisol so she can continue working and I saunter my way to where Lex is playing coffee barista. He's wearing an apron with a batman themed blueberry muffin that I got made especially for him. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up as he's working and finally I get what the fuss of forearms is about in romance books.
"Hey."
"Blanche." Lex smiles brightly. Not at all sleep deprived as he took over from me this morning. Right, he had coffee. "Sit down, I got you something." I sit at the counter and Lex slides over a small plate with a single cupcake on it my way. "Bon appétit." He grins, leaning forward on his elbows and resting his head on his hands. Looking at me.
I could stare at this man forever. His dark raven hair flops over his forehead and the glint of mischief shining in his eyes sparks brightly behind his glasses.
Until I really look at the cupcake.
A red velvet with cream cheese filling. An engagement ring I recognize as it once belonged to my mother is sitting in the swirl of frosting and a small sugar cookie sits beside it, "Marry me?" written in Lex's scrawny handwriting.
I look up at him with wonder in my eyes, and words get stuck in my throat.
"Remember when we stood here all those years ago, and I was the first one to drink a cup of coffee when this was all bare walls and you didn't even have chairs?" Lex asks and I can't help but tear up. "I loved you then already." He pauses to wet his lips. "I think I fell for the blue-haired—with the green streaks—girl that put her hand in mine on that bench at the hospital courtyard."
I wasn't the girl every boy noticed, but I was the girl he noticed, and to me that was everything.
"I was afraid." I muse, recalling all the trouble we went through because I couldn't admit my own feelings to myself. "I always knew you were it for me. I only needed to convince myself in the same way." Laughing, I take his hand and lay it on my heart. "You're all I want. I want you all for myself. Because you know me too well."
"So, what do you say?"
"Yes," I say, flicking a bit of the cream cheese frosting and putting it on his lips before I kiss him.
⁕❅The end❅⁕
~
A.N. Thank you all so much for reading! Stay tuned for the next update on how to read a bonus chapter from Life Happens.
xoxo