Chapter 1

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            This was big. Possibly the biggest thing that had ever happened to me. And that's saying something. I've been through a lot. Objectively of course. Anyways, this was big. Very big. So the first person I tell is, of course, Kayla. And not Jack. An unfortunate but necessary temporary omission. Ha! Guess college doesn't do you any good anyways.
"College did me a lot of good, actually" Kayla says through the computer screen. I did the thing again.
"Yeah it did." I say fondly. Kayla was a grown-up now. All mature and stuff. She and Wren had gotten married and did the whole, "start a family" thing. Moved back to Ohio, bought a house, had a kid. Asher, the freaking cutest kid ever. Which was fine. Me and Jack were fine as we were. Until now I guess.
        Kayla interrupted the silence by asking, "When are you going to tell him?"
"I don't know. Whenever the time feels right I guess."
"Okay. Well call me as soon as you do. I have to go. Asher just puked on another onesie. Wish me luck."
"Good luck. Bye Kayla. I miss you" I replied.
"I miss you too. Bye Isis" She hung up.
        I sit back at the desk chair in my beautiful bedroom in my beautiful French shack and sighed. It's  one of those rare moments where I'm not completely enjoying the French coast with its pure blue waters and endless amounts of sunbathing villagers. Today, I am preoccupied. It was eleven  AM. Just about six hours until Jack gets home from work. Okay. I get to work.
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        That was possibly the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. Chicken Parmesan. Who knew that chicken could be so damn difficult to make? God there's a lot of chopping and frying and baking, and lots of things that involve heat so I'm surprised I didn't burn the house down. I mean, there was a small grease fire, but I put it out without much damage. Mostly ( RIP Mr. Toaster).  Jack makes dinner 98% of the time and for good reason. Cooking is not my forte.  But tonight had to be special. Big things were about to happen. Big things.
"What big things?" A familiar voice asks from the front door.
"You'll see." I walk toward the front door, making sure all the hot things were turned off and the house wouldn't be burned down.
"On a completely unrelated note, I made dinner and I tried pretty damn hard so try not to puke at the table. Save it for when you fake the need to pee afterwards." Jack laughs and says,
"I'm sure it's going to be amazing." I smile, knowing he's just saying that. As he puts his coat and briefcase away, I get down plates and silverware and start to serve the very questionable meal I have just attempted. Jack  stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
"I love you" he whispers into my hair.
"I'd hope so. We've been married for five years. I love you too." He smiles kisses me on the cheek. Then, he grabs the now-full plates of hopefully edible chicken and takes them into the dining room (conveniently located three steps away from the kitchen) and sets them down. I follow with the napkins and the silverware.
        We sit down and start to eat. He makes some fake comment about how good the food is and I make some real comment about how he's totally lying. And he apologizes and says that he really appreciates me making dinner. We talk about nothing. How his day went. The bratty kid in his second period class who got sent to the principals office today for setting something on fire. We talk about my next script I'm writing. Something about me telling the internet about some stupid thing I did this one time.  Silly stuff about our day. We talk so long I almost forget what I have to tell him. Almost. When I think about it again my palms get sweaty and I get anxious.
        Jack gets up, taking our plates with him. He sets them in the sink to do later. He reaches on top of the fridge for the wine bottle,asking
"Do you want a glass?" I say no. He pours himself a moderate amount into one of the cheapo wine glasses we got at target and sits down next to me again.
"So, what were the 'big things' you were talking about earlier?" He asks casually. He has no idea what I am about to do to his world.
"Well, it not so much 'things' as a singular 'thing'" I respond nervously.
"Well, okay. What is the 'big thing'?" He looks so happy. Peaceful. He is not going to know what hit him.
"So, I got some news today," I start nervously.
"What kind of news?" He asks tentatively, noting my tone.
"The kind you get from the doctor." The gentle concern on his face turns to full-out worry. He grabs my hand.
"Hey. Are you okay? Isis, what's wrong?" Here is where he breaks apart, I think.
"Nothing is wrong. At least with me. Now what's inside of me is a different matter."
There are literally no other ways to stall.
"Isis I don't understand. Inside of you?" The worry deepens.
"We're.... I'm.... There's..... IM GOING TO HAVE A BABY! And I know that's not exactly what you wanted and I know you said that you didn't really want to try to have kids yet and I know there are memories of Tallie and Sophia that come up with all of this and I know that all of this is probably going to be really difficult for us. But I am really excited. Seriously excited. This kid is going to be perfect. Half me and half you. And I'm really hoping that you aren't angry and that you can be happy about this too. I mean if you aren't then that's okay we can figure it out. But it would be a lot better if you could  just be happy about it. But we can figure out anything. It's gonna be fine." As all of this comes rushing out of my mouth, his extreme worry turns to confusion, which eventually turns to... joy?! As he decodes the last of what I've said, he makes his way around the table to sit next to me, and for a second I'm worried he's going to tell me he's not happy. But then a huge smile spreads across his face and I know that I'm wrong. He grabs my hand again.
" Isis this is... incredible. I am over the moon excited. And yeah, this is a little surprising, but I could never, ever be unhappy about something like this. Ever. I'm sorry if I ever made you think that this was a bad thing. This...this is so amazing. I can't believe it." He's happy. He's actually happy. Which means I can be happy.
"YAY!!! I am really  really glad that you're happy about this because I really didn't want to 'deal with it' if you weren't." I can breathe again. This is so much better than I could have imagined. Jack leans over to me and plants a soft kiss on my lips.
" I didn't know it was possible, but somehow I feel like I love you 1000 times more. God Isis. This is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to us." He's almost giddy with excitement while I am exhausted from the worry. I put my head on his shoulder and he wraps his arms around me. We look out the window at the fading sunset over the French ocean.
"Yeah, Jack. This will be"

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