The Bet

Chapter 17

"Pregnant women are so confusing, oh, my God." I looked at Killian who held a slight smile on his lips. I really was in the mood for some alcohol, but we'd decided to go to Granny's for a change and I'd tried to cut down on alcoholic beverages, since Emma didn't drink now either.

"Did something happen?" Killian asked. I knew he tried to be as involved as possible in the whole pregnancy, but he found it hard, so he barely did anything. I figured he hadn't spoken to Emma more than three times about the pregnancy since she found out, which was now over four months ago. She'd been pregnant for about two months when she'd found out.

Time went incredibly fast. I'd almost gotten David and Mary Margaret to genuinely like me, Emma and I saw each other almost every day and my boss was really starting to enjoy my designs. But overall, apart from Emma's ever growing stomach, things remained quite the same. I still loved her more than anyone else.

"We got in a fight," I confessed with a sigh.

"About what?"

"I have no clue at all," I replied and pouted as I looked at my friend. He was drinking coffee and I snatched it away from him, to get some caffeine in myself as well. "I'm not even completely sure it was a fight."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he kindly asked, but I shook my head.

"No," I replied curtly.

~~~~

43 minutes prior...

Emma's arm was draped around me as we lay in her bed. I kissed her jaw and let my hands roam her naked stomach. It was amazing to watch Emma's belly grow every day, especially knowing she was carrying a child in it. I'd felt it kick, too. It was really cute.

At least, for me, it was. Emma was having more trouble with her pregnancy. She was tired very quickly and her hormones had become a big part of her. I knew she was looking forward to giving birth to the child. She wanted to be done with it all.

"Do you want to try on the new shirt I made? It's for the maternity collection."

"Why do you love me?" Emma completely ignored my question, but she did that more often lately. I blamed it on the hormones and the pregnancy, her mind was completely somewhere else, at times.

I didn't really know what to answer, because I hadn't expected this question. There was not just one reason why I loved Emma. There were a whole bunch of reasons, but I couldn't put them into words in the moment.

"Well," I said and rested my hand on top of her stomach, "I love you, because you're you."

"What does that mean?"

"You're kind and funny."

Emma looked at me and cocked her head. I kissed her lips, but she kept looking at me suspiciously. I didn't like this interrogation, because I had no idea where she was going with this.

"There are a lots of other people that are kind and funny," Emma replied. "Kinder and funnier than I am. If you meet someone like that, are you going to leave me?"

"No, of course not," I said and tried to keep any nagging feelings away. Emma was having intense feelings and emotions lately, so I guessed this was part of the hormonal system she got going on.

"Maybe you will," Emma said and she scooted slightly away from me. "I mean, once this baby is born, I'll be a mother. I'll become boring and I won't be kind and funny anymore. You'll stop loving me and you'll go away."