liam perkins đ peter pettigrew (wrmtail) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-02-28 20:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * jach, * jamie, c: avery perkins, c: liam perkins |
WHO: Avery & Liam.
WHERE: Their home.
WHEN: Thursday, February 21; Evening.
WHAT: Avery shares her news with Liam.
RATING: Low.
STATUS: log; complete.
After her phone call with her test results Avery had spent a fair amount of time huddled on the bathroom floor. Which ended up being a very convincing argument when she closed up the gallery some time later. No one questioned her when she said she was feeling under the weather. She went for a long drive then, her jeep rumbling along rarely used back-roads. A hike would have been preferable. But that would have required her going home to change, and she didnât want to run the risk of Liam seeing her yet. Not until her head was a little more clear about the whole thing. So she drove. Over familiar roads with calming memories. And she kept driving until she felt like herself again. Avery couldnât deny Cerseiâs presence, but she could assert herself. These memories didnât mean she had to lose her own spirit. And she wouldnât let her fear of what might or could happen ruin this moment for her. It was only then that she returned to the farmhouse that she and her husband shared. As soon as she was inside the gate, the dogs ran through the doggie door and out to greet her. They ran alongside the Jeep until she parked and rewarded them with their earned pets and ear scratches. They didnât leave her side as she made her way inside and changed from her work clothes and into a pair of leggings and one of Liamâs flannel shirts. She was washing her face when she heard the kitchen door open and close. It had been a relatively typical day for Liam. He'd gotten up early to do the morning chores, spent the day tending to his scheduled appointments and taking in a new rescue that was brought in, and then tackled the evening chores. The routine was a comfort to him, especially in the last couple of months as he and Avery had been dealing with the added stress of their dreams. He had been comforted when she had told him what was going on with her as soon as she had her first dream; it had made him wonder all over again what he had been thinking in holding off as long as he had and struggling on his own before Avery had prodded him for the truth. Still, he knew that Avery's dreams had been weighing heavily on her and he had been doing his best to try to be as supportive or distracting as needed. When Liam entered the house, he was likewise greeted by the tapping of paws against hardwood floors and he immediately dropped to one knee to greet the dogs. Both got a plethora of pets as they sniffed around his clothes, trying to assess whether or not they should be upset that he smelled like other dogs, before he had pulled himself back up to his full height and went in search of Avery. He'd heard her car pull in as he finished feeding the horses, so he knew she was around somewhere. Finding her, Liam greeted Avery with the usual smile, his fingers already working the buttons of his flannel shirt so he could change into something that didn't smell like some mix of hay and antiseptic. "Hey, baby. How was your day?" Such an innocent question. And Avery had no idea how to answer it. Her day had, quite frankly, been a roller coaster. But she didnât know how to say that without worrying him. So instead she dried off her face and joined Liam in the bedroom. âHey, you.â She greeted him with a kiss before dropping down onto their quilt covered bed. Avery wasnât sure if Emma sensed her emotions, or just wanted extra attention, but regardless of the reason, the dog bounded up onto the bed and settled down next to her. Avery automatically responded by petting her soft white fur. The bedroom had always been a place where the two of them were open with one another. Where they felt safe to be vulnerable and let down their respective guards. So it shouldnât have come as a surprise to Avery that it seemed the right place to share her news. âI got some surprising news today.â Liam watched Avery with no lack of fondness on his face as she settled down on the bed with Emma, then shrugged off his flannel to replace it with a t-shirt. At her words, though, he found himself hurrying to pull the shirt over his head, just to let himself give his wife his full attention. Surprising news didn't indicate whether or not it was good or bad news -- just that it was news she hadn't been anticipating. "Yeah?" Liam walked across the floor, then sat on the bed next to Avery, the opposite side from Emma. "What's up?" Moment of truth. She knew it was silly to be nervous. But she couldnât help herself. Her stomach fluttered and Avery took a deep breath to try and calm herself. Then she looked into Liamâs eyes and everything she was feeling seemed to still for a moment. She reached over to lace her fingers through his. âYou know how I havenât been feeling well lately? I made an appointment with my doctor the other day, just to be safe. And I heard back from them today.â She inhaled and gave his hand a small squeeze. âIâm pregnant.â That was definitely not what Liam had been expecting. He had assumed that her news would somehow be work related or maybe something from her family. The idea that she was pregnant was so far outside of the realm of what he had been expecting, he needed a few solid seconds for the news to actually click. It wasn't that he was upset by the prospect of a pregnancy -- on the contrary, as soon as her words made sense in his mind, Liam found a smile starting to form at the corners of his mouth. He had always wanted to be a father and had looked forward to a future of being able to parent alongside Avery ever since their relationship had reached a point where dreaming about such things was allowed. And while they might not have been actively trying for a baby, that didn't make this unexpected news anything other than good in Liam's mind. "You're pregnant?" When Liam asked the question, he found his voice laced with a hope he hadn't heard in a long time, probably not since he had asked her to marry him. "We're having a baby?" The muscles in Averyâs shoulders untensed for the first time since sheâd received the phone call. That hope in his voice, and the smile on his face- it was enough to overcome the last of her doubts. She smiled back at him and her vision grew watery as tears brimmed her eyes. âMmhmm,â she nodded. âWeâre having a baby.â "Oh." The syllable came out in a breath, Liam's smile only widening at her confirmation. They were having a baby. They were going to be parents. Suddenly, all of the difficulties in the past several months seemed to shrink; they would never go away entirely, but when presented with such undeniably good news, Liam found himself focusing solely on something new, something happy for the first time in a while and it felt wonderful. Reaching out, Liam cupped Avery's face, her beautiful, lovely face, in his hands. He felt like there was so much more he wanted to say, promises that he should make, declarations to be shared, but none of it felt like enough. He could talk for days and it wouldn't be enough. Instead, he settled for the words he knew were right, his thumbs brushing over her cheeks. "I love you, Avery." Now the tears were actually falling down her cheeks, but she made no move to wipe them away. All the stress and unease sheâd felt earlier in the day fell to the back of her mind and she just basked in his smile and those words. It was good news. The best news. And there was no one better to be raising a child with. She was certain of that. âI love you too,â she responded with a small, watery laugh. From the other side of her, Emma gave a woof and wiggled her way onto Averyâs lap. She nosed her way in-between the two of them and pawed at Liamâs arm. âOh no,â Avery laughed again and wiped her cheeks with her fingertips. âSheâs jealous already.â Liam joined in Avery's laughter, hands dropping so he could pet Emma's neck and scratch at her ears as she placed herself between the two of them. A moment passed, though, before he found himself extending his arm out over the dog until his palm was able to press to Avery's midsection. He couldn't feel anything, of course; he hadn't been able to see the changed in his wife, but he knew that they would come eventually and despite being unseen, their child was growing within her. He felt his own eyes growing damp at the thought. "That's all right," he said, using his other hand to pass over Emma's fur once more and meeting Avery's gaze with a smile. "She's going to be the best big sister." Avery put her own hand overtop of Liamâs as it rested against her stomach. She was only six and a half weeks, so definitely too soon for either of them to feel anything. But it was a nice moment, regardless. It was a grounding, connected moment. She dropped her head to lay against his shoulder. âAnd you are going to be the best dad.â Liam lifted his free hand from Emma's fur, his fingers instead threading into Avery's hair as her head fell to his shoulder. "And you're going to be the best mom," he determined, because there was no greater truth in his mind. The idea of having a child was a daunting one that was tinged with being just a bit terrifying, but he knew that it would be a challenge that they would be able to take on together -- just like any other challenge that they had come across since they had met. They were a team and that wasn't ever going to change. |