mila (listentoteeth) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-07-08 13:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | #march 2018, aaron, aaron x mila, mila |
Who: Aaron and Mila
When: mid-March, afternoon
Where: their new house!
Status: Complete
Aaron had been working hard for the past month and a half. He and Mila had sold both mobile homes in Seaview -- after sorting through so much junk at his place and giving it a very thorough cleaning -- while house-hunting for themselves at the same time. Not that there were a lot of options in Point Pleasant to hunt through. But they’d found a nice little place on Maple Street, far away from the Cooperdale tunnel, and had fallen in love with it. Aaron’s credit wasn’t good enough to buy it in his own name, but Mila had added him to the deed, and he was happy about that.
He got the feeling his brothers didn’t like the idea, just in case something happened down the road, and he knew the Morettis disapproved of them shacking up, but Aaron didn’t give two fucks. He was just thrilled to be living with his girl again, and he was sure Caden and Roxy were glad to be rid of him. He was glad to be rid of them too, if he was being honest. Mila was his future, he knew that in his bones, and he just wanted to be with her. Finally having privacy to fuck all they wanted without sneaking around or spending money on a hotel room was a big bonus too.
The weather was finally better, and in spite of the sadness that was still lingering in the family -- Jasper hadn’t returned, Gavin was still a mess, and Adrian had disappeared again as well -- Aaron felt good. He loved spring and summer, and this year it felt like they were bringing change with them. Good change, he hoped. He had a window open as he sat cross-legged on the floor in the spare bedroom, going through a box of old shit he’d saved from high school. Aaron huffed a snicker as he slowly looked through a handful of pictures from a couple of wild parties he’d attended.
As much as she loved her parents, Mila was relieved to be out of their house and into one of her own. As stressful as buying a house could be, it was thrilling to search for one with Aaron. Buying it together held a promise and Mila had a feeling this would be the home they raised a family in. She wasn't going to get ahead of herself, of course, but things seemed to be falling into place. It wasn't perfect, of course. She was still on her medication. She still had nightmares and moments where she questioned her reality. Aaron's dad was still dead and his nephew was still missing. Gone. But this house... it was theirs. A place they could be together and shut everything else out whenever they needed to. Her parents hadn't been happy and Mila knew her mother prayed for her soul every night, but it was what it was. Mila needed to get on with her life and Aaron was going to be a part of it. They would get married eventually. But right now they were making the empty house they'd purchased a home. And Mila had been more than content with just that.
At least for a while. She hadn't really realized how long it had been since she'd had her period. She bled sporadically for a while after returning from the tunnel so it was hard to determine. Mila hadn't really thought about it until she woke up the week before feeling queasy and eventually throwing up in the bathroom at work. Since it hadn't contained any of the black liquid that she had occasionally thrown up over the past couple of months, it got her thinking.
Her worry had been confirmed with a home pregnancy test she bought during lunch and took in the employee bathroom. After suffering a mild panic attack, the worry had begun to shift into something else. She wasn't crying on Gavin Lucas's shoulder this time. This time she was crying from an overwhelming sense of closure. It was like looking at the plus sign on the tiny stick in her hand had somehow shut the door on the past and was taking her down a new path. One that wasn't filled with fear and darkness. Obviously she was worried that she could miscarry again, so without telling Aaron she called her doctor. Given her history, they brought her in for a blood test to make sure everything was, as her doctor put it, in working order.
And today, while Aaron was upstairs in the spare room unpacking some things, Mila was hanging up the phone. They had furniture and several boxes still to unpack in the kitchen and the living room, but those could wait. With hands trembling, Mila set her cell phone down on the coffee table they had brought from her old home in Seaview, and walked up the stairs to find Aaron. He was grinning at pictures in his hand when she entered the room.
"What are you looking at?" Mila asked, hoping she sounded casual enough. She was sure he would be able to hear her heart thundering in her chest.
Aaron was too wrapped up in walking down memory lane to notice anything out of the ordinary. He looked up and smiled at Mila, turning the stack of pictures in his hand to show her the one on top, a drunken teenage Aaron hanging onto one of his equally-drunk friends. “Just some old dumb high school stuff,” he said, amused. He looked at the photo again, huffed, and set them aside. Most of the stuff probably had to stay in the box and be put in the attic or something, it wasn’t like they had an abundance of shelves and shit yet. Aaron’s trailer had mostly been full of junk, not proper furniture, and this house was bigger than Mila’s old place. But it was still nice to poke through stuff he hadn’t touched in a long time. “How’s it goin’ downstairs, babe? Need a hand with anything?” he asked as he reached for a yearbook in the bottom of the box.
Mila moved to sit down with Aaron, reaching for the photos he had set aside. High school felt so long ago but she smiled at the sight of a glassy eyed, teenage Aaron. She had photos of her own somewhere in a box, though she was less eager to pull those out. Mila had been a "late bloomer" as her mom would say. Awkward and shy. Pining after Aaron Lucas in the hallways. The memory made her chuckle now and she set the photos aside, watching as Aaron pulled out his yearbook. "Everything's fine. I still have some dishes to put away but I think I'm going to run them through the dishwasher first."
For a second, Mila considered just waiting. Maybe another week or two. Just in case. But she didn't think she could act normally for that long and she didn't want Aaron to start worrying about her if he happened to notice. "So..." Mila trailed off, realizing she wasn't entirely sure where to start, or what to say. In the end she just clasped her hands in her lap and gazed at him. "I'm pregnant."
Aaron grunted softly to acknowledge what she said about the dishes, his fingers already starting to flip through the thick yearbook pages. It was a small town so it wasn’t a huge book, and he was almost to the Ls in the senior picture section when Mila went on. He was half distracted so the words took an extra second to really make sense in his brain. When it clicked, Aaron’s head jerked up and his eyes went wide as he stared at Mila, heart picking up speed. “What?” he breathed, his gaze searching hers for some indication that it was a joke. That didn’t make any sense of course, it was nothing to joke about, considering their history, but for a second Aaron just couldn’t comprehend it. He set the yearbook down and turned toward her, reaching for her hand. “Are-- are you sure?”
She had been holding her breath, waiting for his reaction. Her own conflicting feelings were churning around in her stomach. For anyone else it might have been exciting, happy news. Or terrible and worrying. She worried more about how Aaron would feel about it, considering everything that had happened in their short history together. "I'm sure," Mila said, sliding her fingers through his. "I took a test and my doctor had me come in for blood work. She just called me with the results and confirmed it. She thinks I'm around seven weeks. I haven't really had a consistent cycle so it was hard to really determine but she'll have us come in in a couple of weeks for an ultrasound." Mila took a breath, her eyes still locked onto his. She wanted to ask if he was okay, or upset, but her throat felt too full to say anything else.
He didn’t get the flood of overwhelming joy that he had the first time Mila had delivered this news, but there was joy in all the emotion that bubbled up inside of Aaron. It was just tempered by shock and concern and some lingering grief was well. Aaron couldn’t really tell how Mila felt about it from her current expression, which would make up a big part of how he felt about it ... but a natural smile took over his face. Aaron shifted up onto his knees so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders to pull her into a hug. “Oh my God,” he murmured and huffed a soft laugh. After a second, he pulled back enough to look at her again, his gaze ticking down to her stomach. She wouldn’t be showing at seven weeks, of course, but he couldn’t help it. “Are, uh, are you okay? With it? I mean, how are you feeling?” he asked, eyes coming back up to search hers.
As soon as Aaron smiled Mila felt some of the tension leave her back and shoulders. She exhaled sharply and wrapped her arms around him. The urge to cry was intense but Mila managed to squeeze her eyes shut and will it away before she felt Aaron pull back. She opened her eyes again and smiled softly at him, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "I feel okay. A little tired and nauseous, but it's not too bad. I think maybe I'm mostly scared," she admitted, hoping he understood. "With everything that happened before, I just... I don't know, Aaron. I'm happy, but... scared. Are you okay with it?" Mila had already thought about her parents, and his brothers and while she knew they didn't control their lives, she was nervous about how everyone would take it, especially given the last pregnancy seemed to trigger all of the badness.
Happy But Scared sounded about right for how Aaron felt too. He knew there was a chance they could lose this baby too, and after everything else they’d been through in the past several months ... he wasn’t sure they could survive it. But the reality was here, whether they were ready or not. Maybe they wouldn’t ever be ready, they just had to work through the fear as it came. Aaron cupped the side of Mila’s face with one palm, emotion starting to make his throat feel thick already. It was what they’d wanted, just sooner than expected. But God worked on His own timetable, didn’t He? “I’m scared too,” he murmured, not wanting her to feel alone in that. “But so, so happy.” Aaron smiled at her again, his eyes a little watery. He leaned in to kiss her a few soft times. “I know it’s kinda sooner than we planned on trying again, but ... if you think it won’t like, hurt you to be pregnant again ...?” There was a hopeful note in his voice that he couldn’t help. Mila’s wellbeing was his priority, but there was no question that Aaron wanted to keep it if she did.
Mila had secretly harbored thoughts that she might not be able to get pregnant again, especially after what had happened to her in the tunnel. It was something that was always lingering in the back of her mind. But now that it had happened, Mila knew the next phase was worrying over whether or not her body would fail her again. Covering Aaron's hand with her own, Mila wanted to reassure him that she would be fine, but how could she possibly know that? She thought everything was fine the last time. "I want to keep it," Mila said instead, managing a small smile. "I feel good and my doctor said she didn't see anything in the blood work that was concerning. So, maybe this time will be different."
As much as he wanted reassurance, Aaron knew Mila couldn’t predict how things would go any better than he could. Even if her pregnancy stayed healthy this time, there was no telling how it would affect her mentally and emotionally. He realized he’d been holding his breath to hear her say she wanted it too, and Aaron smiled again with relief. Their families might not approve again, but he mentally dared either of his brothers to say any-fucking-thing about it this time. Aaron wasn’t going to take their bullshit again. His grin growing, he took her hand and pulled it to his lips for some more kisses, another soft little laugh bubbling up out of him. “It will be,” he told her. He knew that she knew that he couldn’t know that, of course, but Aaron was going to be positive about this, dammit. Their luck was turning around, and this baby had to be part of it. “It’s our new beginning. And now we got room for it.” He glanced around them at their new house and beamed at Mila. “I love you.”
Mila worried about what her mother was going to say, but there was really nothing that could be done about it now. She vaguely wished that Adrian was still around, so she could tell him that he was going to be an uncle. The look on Aaron's face warmed her and Mila squeezed his hand. God, please let this be real. Maybe by now she should have been able to accept she was home and safe, but every now and then, the doubt creeped in. "I love you too," Mila said, already aware now that the spare room they were sitting in would end up being a nursery. "Can we keep the news between us for a while? At least until we see the doctor and make sure everything is okay?" There was no point in upsetting their families if there was something wrong with the baby and Mila didn't think she could handle angry words or tears over this again.
Aaron didn’t hesitate to nod about keeping it a secret for a while. He knew another miscarriage was a possibility, so it was better to wait until they were through the most risky time -- something he hadn’t even known was a thing until after Mila’s first pregnancy. Besides that, he kind of wanted to just keep it for themselves for a while too. His brothers had rained on their parade the first time, and Aaron didn’t want to let them do it again this time. “Of course, yeah,” he answered, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “Did you get an appointment set up? When is it?” Aaron planned to be at every appointment, feeling almost as happy about getting to support Mila through it all as he was about the pregnancy itself. God was going to make up for all their losses, he felt sure of it.
Mila knew it would probably be difficult keeping such a big secret, but it felt necessary. The only person she could see herself telling would be Roxy, simply because Roxy was her best friend and Mila knew she wouldn't tell Caden. Aaron was her support system but she still harbored fears that she didn't want to reveal to him. He had been through enough already and she just wanted to see him happy. "April 6th at 10:30," she said with a small smile. It was only a few weeks, but it felt like years to Mila. Without giving it much thought, Mila scooted in and hugged Aaron, burying her face against his neck. She was torn between excitement and dread and it was a strangely uncomfortable place to be. It was possible things were turning around for them, but it felt like she couldn't really breathe until she knew for sure that the baby was okay.
April did feel like so far away, and Aaron already wanted to be in the doctor’s office doing an ultrasound or something. He wanted to see their baby, hear its heartbeat, all that good shit. But he knew he couldn’t rush biology and it was probably too early for all that. With a soft ‘aw’ and a chuckle, he wrapped his arms around Mila. He just hugged her for a beat, then shifted his grip to pick her butt up off of the floor and pull her into his lap. Aaron nuzzled and cradled her gently, his chest still full of fluttering emotions. Most of them were good, and he wished he could just radiate them over into Mila to help ease her fear. Not that it wasn’t warranted, but goddammit, they deserved to be happy about this news. He hated that it was tainted, but he was going to pray as hard as he could that things would turn out okay. “I’m with you,” he murmured softly to her. “Whatever happens.” It probably wasn’t much, but it was all he had.
Mila huffed a soft laugh when Aaron picked her up and moved her. She realized that in time he wouldn't be able to do that so easily, which made her chuckle again. But she held onto him, feeling comforted with his arms around her. "I know you are," Mila whispered. And that was more than enough for her. Aaron had stayed by her side through everything, even when she wouldn't have blamed him if he had never wanted to see her again. She wanted this baby for him as much as for herself. Despite what his brothers thought, Aaron would be an incredible father. Certainly better than either of them. It was a petty thought that triggered some guilt, considering what Gavin had been going through so Mila pushed it away quickly and nuzzled Aaron's neck. "I guess I should finish unpacking downstairs...unless you're hungry, then I can take a break and make us lunch or something."
If Aaron could’ve listened in on Mila’s confidence in him, he would’ve been even further over the moon. In his own head, he was pretty sure he was going to make a lot of parenting mistakes, but he was going to give this kid his all and love him or her more than anything in the world ... which put him light years ahead of his own dad. He could feel it growing again in his chest, that incredible sense of love for someone he hadn’t met yet. Aaron had been stoked at the prospect of being a father the first time, and that sense of excitement was coming back already. He was going to try not to express it too much so as not to put more pressure on Mila, but it was nice to feel something good for a change. “I am kinda hungry ... here, let’s like, just be done for the day,” he suggested, pulling back enough to smile at her. “Boxes ain’t going anywhere. Let’s have lunch and go to the park or something. Oh! A picnic? I dunno, we should do something nice.” He kissed her nose and grinned a bit.
Mila wasn't worried about parenting mistakes. She was sure everyone made them. Her own parents included. The most important thing was knowing Aaron would be there for them and love them. There was no doubt in her mind that he would do the exact opposite of what his own father did. He wouldn't make the same mistakes Gavin did either. Mila smiled at his enthusiasm and she had to admit taking a break from unpacking was really tempting. It wasn't like they were on a deadline. This was their home now. They had all the time in the world. "Let's do that," she said, pressing a kiss to his mouth. "It's a nice day. Let's grab some food and go to the park for a bit." Then they could go for a walk, or come back and take a bath together. Something relaxing. After everything else, Mila felt they deserved to have some good days.
There were still some chilly days, but spring had pretty much settled in Point Pleasant, and Aaron wanted to take advantage of the good weather. Going outside with his beloved to get some sunshine and fresh air sounded perfect to him. All he wanted to do was be close to Mila, cuddle and kiss her, be happy with her, even if it was necessarily muted for now. They had their own house now, there was a baby on the way, and there was a wedding somewhere in their future. After everything they’d been through, Aaron felt like they at least deserved all of that. Life might always be dangerous in Point Pleasant, but they still had to have a life. All he wanted was to build that life with her. “Hell yeah,” he agreed with a bright smile. “I’ll help gather food.” He playfully pinched at the sides of Mila’s hips until she got up, then followed suit, ready to enjoy the day with her.