Ever since David had mentioned her being pregnant Caroline hadn’t been able to get the thought out of her mind. She had brushed it off that night, thinking it was ridiculous and just enjoyed her evening with David. But the strong smells hadn’t gone away and now her period was late.
Shit.
This was a disaster. There was only one person whose it could be. Caroline’s love life was seriously lacking lately. And now she could be having a baby with a man she had fallen in and out of love with over a weekend. From some sort of weird spell or something. Great.
On her way home from work Caroline had bought a test, with every intention of taking it on her own. Maybe there would be nothing to tell Will about. But she was scared. She didn’t want to be alone for this, and she didn’t really want to tell anyone else. It was already embarrassing enough that she had gotten engaged to a guy she didn’t even know. She couldn’t imagine telling any of her friends that she could be pregnant with his kid too.
So she had texted him and asked him to come over. Of course he had agreed pretty much immediately, that was just the kind of guy he was. Now all that was left was for her to wait.
Laurence didn’t know why Caroline had wanted him to come visit her, but he suspected it wasn’t just for a friendly visit. Laurence had found that, typically, when one asked someone else to come over out of the blue, it was rarely for a good reason. He’d been toiling in the fields when Caroline had texted him, and so he’d needed to shower and change before he could make his way to Caroline’s place, but he thought he’d made relatively good time.
He checked himself in the rearview mirror to make sure he hadn’t rushed out of the house with hair that was a mess or a crooked tie, and then he made his way to Caroline’s apartment and rang the bell.
Caroline was pacing her apartment as she waited for Will. What was taking so long? She was tempted to just take the test before he got there. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She needed some sort of support.
When she heard the bell she opened the door almost immediately. “Hey,” she greeted stepping aside to let him in. And then it all came out of her mouth. “So I don’t know what is going on. I’ve been smelling all this weird stuff and I’m late. I think. I think I’m pregnant.” Not exactly how she planned on telling him but she wasn’t exactly thinking straight right now.
For a moment, Laurence had no idea what Caroline was talking about. He didn’t know what smelling weird stuff had to do with anything, and when she said she was late, he couldn’t immediately see how - they hadn’t set a time for meeting up, and anyway, Laurence was here at her flat. How could she be late to meet him at her own suite?
And then he heard her say she was pregnant, and for a minute, his mind stopped. It wasn’t that Laurence didn’t want to be a father - in fact, he was rather looking forward to it. But he’d always assumed that, if he were to become a father, it would take place within the confines of a loving marriage.
How could this have happened? Aside from the obvious, of course. That much he understood quite clearly,
His face fell slack for two heartbeats, and then he blinked, coming back to himself. This was nothing he couldn’t handle, and Caroline seemed distressed. While it might normally be considered improper, he thought the circumstances warranted it, and so he stepped forward into her flat, gently nudged the door closed behind him so that the neighbours would not see fit to get involved, and wrapped her in his arms. “It will be okay. We will make it work, if you are. How certain are you?”
Caroline noticed the look on Will’s face. Shit. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him. This was stupid. It was probably nothing and she was worrying Will for no reason. She should have just sucked it up and taken the test on her own.
But then he was closing the door and wrapping his arms around her. Caroline melted into him, soaking up every bit of comfort she could. Though at his question she pulled away, looking up at him. “I’m just guessing,” she admitted sheepishly, eyes falling to stare at the floor as she went on. “I, uh, bought a test but didn’t want to take it alone.” She looked back up at him, her cheeks slightly pink when she finished.
“That’s understandable,” Laurence said, with a twinge of relief. “You shouldn’t have to do this alone.” He swallowed. He was fond of Caroline, but he didn’t love her. Still, he’d known of successful marriages built on less, and a mutual respect was a solid enough foundation to build on. “And you wouldn’t be alone with this, I hope you know that. I will marry you, if you so desire it.” He did some quick mental arithmetic. “We may even be able to get to June before you start showing.”
Oh my god. This was not happening again. She liked Will and all and was glad they were friends. He wouldn’t be the worst person to have a baby with either. She knew he would be a good dad. But she did not want to marry him. Even if it was sweet that he remembered she wanted a June wedding.
“Will,” Caroline began. “I don’t want to get married.” Not right now, she was too young. And if she did get married someday she wanted it to be for love. “Let me just. I need to,” she nodded at the bathroom. “Can you wait here?” She’d wait with him for the minute or whatever they had to, but she did want her privacy while she actually took the test.
Laurence tried not to let the relief show on his face when Caroline turned down his proposal. This wasn’t particularly how he wanted to get married, and even if they were married today, he had no doubt that his family would suspect what had happened.
“I will wait in the living room,” he said, letting her go. Once she was gone, he made his way to her living room and took a seat on the couch, ignoring the slight twinge of conscience that told him he shouldn’t have sat down without her inviting him to. If he and Caroline were to have a child together, then he should get used to inviting himself to sit on her couch.
He rested his elbows on his knees, fingers laced, chin resting atop them. He wondered what his father would say if Laurence announced he had an illegitimate child. There was no question of Laurence inheriting - not with two older brothers, the eldest of which had five children of his own - so at least that wouldn’t be a concern. But he wondered if it were still likely to cause some kind of scandal.
Not likely. It was the 21st century, and Laurence had moved across the pond. Any rumours of his personal life would be unlikely to cause any ripples on their side of the pond. Which only left his parent’s opinion. And they already thought he had an illegitimate child, wrong though they may be.
His brows furrowed together, so lost in that sudden thought that he didn’t notice when Caroline returned, trying to think of who, exactly, his parents thought was his illegitimate child. No one came to mind, and he wondered where the thought had arisen from in the first place. Of course his parents didn’t think he’d fathered a child already.
Will may have been trying to hide the relief on his face, but Caroline still saw a glimmer of it. Which was actually a relief to her. She didn’t want to hurt him by not wanting to get married. But the not wanting to hurt him wasn’t enough to make her say yes. Even if they did end up having a kid together.
“Okay,” Caroline said softly before making her way into the bathroom. She didn’t care if Will sat down or not. He was more than welcome to make himself at home, always. Besides manners weren’t exactly a priority right now anyway.
After a few moments Caroline returned. She left the stick in the bathroom and set a timer on her phone. She didn’t exactly want to carry it around her apartment. She didn’t sit down next to Will though. Instead she was back to pacing.
The pacing was impossible to miss, and Laurence pulled himself from his own thoughts to look at her. He’d learned stillness in his time at sea; one often knew they were entering an engagement long before the engagement started, and having a restless captain would only unsettle his crew.
“You should sit, Caroline,” he said gently. “Pacing won’t make the results come any sooner. Would you like me to make you a cup of coffee?” He frowned to himself. He preferred coffee, though it was unlikely to calm Caroline’s nerves, and she should limit her coffee intake if she were pregnant. “Or perhaps tea might be better in this case.”
Sitting. Right. That would probably be good. She could do that. Maybe. She made her way over to the couch, shaking her head at his question before sitting down next to him. “No,” she added to her head shake. “That will take too long. Just sit with me?” she asked, looking over at him with her big blue eyes. Caroline was feeling very vulnerable right now which was a pretty rare occurrence.
Laurence nodded once. He could sit with Caroline. He slid closer to her, and put an arm over her shoulder.
Once again Caroline let herself melt into his comfort. But no sooner than she did the timer on her phone went off. Caroline jumped back, her heart practically jumping out of her chest. “I can’t look,” Caroline said though she did get up off the couch, eyes falling to the bathroom where she had left it. “Can you tell me what it says?”
“Yes, of course,” Laurence said, giving her shoulder a squeeze before he released her. He stood up and made his way to the bathroom. Aware that she was watching him, he didn’t let himself hesitate any longer than to square his shoulders, and then he crossed the bathroom threshold and took hold of the pregnancy test.
There was a small piece of him that was disappointed when he saw the results, which he supposed wasn’t so unexpected after all. This wasn’t how he had wanted to have children, but he did want children some day. More overwhelming than the disappointment, however, was the relief.
He turned toward Caroline, holding it out to her. “It’s negative,” he said.
She was so glad Will was here with her. She didn’t think she could handle all this on her own. She followed him to the bathroom, standing just outside the open doorway. She covered her face with her hands, peeking out between two fingers.
She held her breath while she waited. “Oh thank god,” she said, finally letting out her breath. She wrapped her arms around Will in an relieved hug.
The hug surprised Laurence, though perhaps it shouldn’t have. He returned it, after a moment to realize what was happening, being sure to hold the pregnancy test apart from her while he did so. “This is a relief,” he agreed. He hadn’t even realized he’d already started planning what would have been needed for a new child until he was able to let all those plans go.
“Oh yeah,” she agreed, releasing him from the hug. “I’m so not ready to have a kid.” Maybe someday. But right now her career was the priority. Hell she wasn’t even dating because she was so career focussed right now.
“I need a drink,” Caroline went on, already walking over to her kitchen, forgetting that Will was still holding the pregnancy test. There was a garbage in her bathroom though if he wanted to throw it away. “You want a drink?” she called over her shoulder as she got some glasses out of her cupboard.
Laurence did precisely that. He would hardly call himself squeamish, though there was only so long one could possibly want to hold a stick that someone else had urinated on.
He followed her out to the living room. “I would certainly not complain,” he said. A drink right now seemed warranted.
Caroline brought over a bottle of wine, (she didn’t keep much else at her apartment) and two glasses setting them on the coffee table. She poured both Will and herself a generous glass, setting the open bottle down on the coffee table. “Thank you,” Caroline said, taking a seat on the couch, assuming Will would do the same. “I really didn’t want to be alone for all that. And I uh, didn’t exactly want to tell anyone else you know?”
“I understand entirely,” Laurence said, picking up his wine glass, though he didn’t sip from it at first. “I do appreciate it. Had you been pregnant, I would have liked to be the first to know, and I would not have wanted you to go through all of this without someone by your side. Should we… make a toast?”
Was it insensitive to make a toast to something like this?
Caroline was relieved Will felt that way. Especially since it turned out negative and she pretty much wasted both their time. “Well thanks to you I didn’t.” Go through it alone she meant. Even if it had all turned out fine, she had been scared before taking the test and Will had definitely been there for her. She raised her glass, thinking about it for a second. What would the appropriate toast for something like this be? “To still being able to drink,” she suggested sheepishly.
“To you still being able to drink,” Laurence said, knocking his glass against Caroline’s glass, and taking a generous swallow of the wine.
Caroline also took a long swallow from her glass, finally starting to feel more relaxed. “You know,” Caroline said settling back into the couch, wine glass still in hand. “You wouldn’t be the worst person to have a child with. As far as if I had to choose someone that I wasn’t in love with to have a kid. It’d be you.” She was still a bit ramble. But she meant it. Will was such a kind and thoughtful person. She knew he’d make a great dad.
“I’d the same thought,” Laurence admitted. “When I do have children, ideally, it will be someone I love, after we’re wed, and planned. But if I had to have an unexpected baby with someone else, I can think of no one better than yourself.”
Except, well, maybe slightly more age appropriate. The thirteen-year age difference would certainly have caused talk; it wasn’t the sort of reputation that Laurence wished to cultivate, even if Caroline were remarkably mature for her age.
“Well we can drink to that too!” Caroline said happily taking another long swallow of her wine. She was going to have to refill her glass soon. But whatever they both totally deserved all the wine after that scare.
Laurence was in complete agreement; while he rarely indulged in more than a couple of glasses of wine, but they’d finished the bottle before Laurence had noticed, and it became increasingly clear that he would need to spend the evening on the couch if he didn’t wish to pay for a taxi to his farm and back. And so, like the first evening they’d met, Laurence slept on the couch, a little dishevelled but more or less content.