The interview

Chapter 25

A few days later, Daniel sat on the closed toilet, holding his head in his hands as Lucy paced back and forth wringing her hands together and biting her lip again, ignoring the stinging. They'd been like this since Lucy had set the pregnancy test stick down by the sink, now they had to wait out the longest 5 minutes of their lives. Daniel was the first one to break the silence, "What if it comes back positive?"
"I don't know." She whispered, barely even hearing him.
"We were careful right? The only time we didn't use a rubber was when you were on your period. And it was one time."
"It only takes one time Danny."
"But you were-"
"It can still happen. Sperm cells can live in a woman's body for up to 7 days before her body kills them off." She paced faster. Daniel leapt up from his seat and grabbed her by the arms, "Please stop you're making me dizzy."
"I can't help it!" She yelped, hugging herself. She started shaking, "If... say worst case scenario I am, do we... do we keep it?"
"You're not saying you wanna abort it right?"
"No! No of course not! I can't even bring myself to think about that. I meant like..."
"Adoption?" Daniel sat back down as she nodded, "I don't know Luce. We're definitely not ready for a kid. Fuck we've been together nearly 3 months, we're the least ready people." His voice was rising without his control and when he looked up he saw tears building in her eyes, "Would you leave me if I was?" She whispered weakly, tears already falling. The question stabbed Daniel straight through the heart. He pulled her down to him, folding her onto his lap and held her tight, "Jesus no! Never! Baby or no baby the day I walk away from you is the day the bottom half of my body becomes part goat." He pressed her head over his heart, "Don't ever even think that ever again." He pressed his lips to her head, "I love you."
"I'm sorry. I panicked. You were yelling a little and looked so angry..." Her voice trailed off. Daniel squeezed her tighter, "I'm not angry Lu, I'm fucking terrified. This is a person we're talking about. A person we made, together. That little living being with a working heart beat is fully our responsibility."
She gripped the front of his shirt, "Oh well when you put it like that, that makes me feel so much better." She mumbled sarcastically, curling up smaller, "I can't even look."
"Me neither." He murmured, screwing his eyes shut. Had it been five minutes yet? His leg started bouncing restlessly as he turned a little away from the stick, "What the fuck do we do if there's nothin' but a set of 2 pink lines behind us?"
"I don't know." She sniffed, starting to sob softly. Daniel clenched his jaw as he held her tighter, trying to offer her and himself some kind of comfort, his parents would flip out. Whether it would be the good or bad kind, he had no idea. The rest of his family however, was a completely different story.
"It would be kind of cool to teach a kid how to box though. Or play sports." He tried to laugh. Lucy let out a weak, shaky chuckle of her own, "Bold of you to assume I'd let my kid box."
"Not even non-competitively?" He tried to joke again, still feeling her tears wetting his shirt further. She was silent for a moment before her small voice echoed through the painfully silent room, "I'll think about it."  She then lifted her head and wiped away her tears, "It's time. If we push it back any further, it's just going to make us feel worse." She stood, her back still to the sink. Daniel nodded, standing too, "Yeah. Yeah. Let's just... get it done." He reached between them and squeezed her fingers, "On three?"
She nodded and squeezed his fingers, "One."
He swallowed the suddenly sick feeling in his throat, "Two."
They looked at each other with terrified eyes as they squeezed their hands together so tight, their knuckles turned matching shaded of paper white, "Three."
They whirled around in perfect unison and stared at the test.
"One line." Daniel breathed, feeling his knees buckle slightly.
"Negative." Lucy sighed, leaning against the wall and slipping down onto the floor, "That means negative."
Daniel dropped down beside her heavily, still looking extremely pale, "Jesus..."
"Yeah."
"But why would your period be late?"
"I don't know, stress maybe? Work's been a little much lately with me busting my ass for a promotion to get away from Melissa. And on top of everything that happened with Dylan, us..."
Daniel nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense."
They fell into silence again, still looking at the test stick, Daniel letting a weak smile crack across his face, "Is it weird that a small part of me wanted it to say you were?"
She rose an eyebrow at him and laughed, she couldn't help it, "Really?"
He smiled a little wider, "I don't think you realise just how whipped you've got me, Queen."
"Half the blame for that goes on you too, Walsh." She grinned, punching his arm softly. He nudged her back, grinning softly, "Yeah yeah." He reached an arm over her and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders, pulling her to his side tightly, "So that's it. Panic over?"
"Panic over." She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Daniel rubbed his cheek against her hair softly, "Woo."
She looked up at him, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah." He shook his head, "I just..."
"Feels a little anticlimactic huh?" She hummed softly, snuggling into his neck. Daniel tightened his arms around her tightly, "A little yeah. But at the same time, I don't wanna share yet." He mumbled, clinging to her like his life depended on it, "But..."
Lucy tilted her head up a little, "But?"
"Would you? In the future I mean?"
"Have kids?"
He nodded, waiting with baited breath. He then felt her nod against his neck, "Yeah. I've always wanted to be a mom so..."
He smiled to himself and kissed her head, "That's cool."
"And you?"
Daniel smiled wider, "Definitely. Three, two boys and a girl. Greyson, Matt and Aria."
Lucy laughed softly, "Boy, you really planned that out huh?"
He blushed hotly, "Shut up. Men can be gushy about this stuff too." He grumbled as her shoulders shook with a small giggle.
"This stays between us right?"
"Hell yeah." Lucy nodded again, jumping up and tossing the stick into the trash, "There. No evidence." She dusted her hands and turned to him, holding her hands out, "You gonna get up?"
Daniel sighed and stood, squeezing her hands, "I guess I should."
"Mmhmm, or Max will kill you." She smiled, leaving the bathroom and tidying the bed off. Daniel pouted slightly and followed her out, "Yeah yeah." He picked up his gym bag and slung it over his shoulder, "Will you be back here later?"
"I'm thinking of staying late tonight. Work's piled up again and I really need to catch up." She sighed, straightening the sheets. He nodded and kissed her cheek softly, "Ok. Love you."
"Love you." She called back as he jogged from the room and down the stairs. By the time he reached his car, he stopped and looked back with a tight feeling in his stomach, for reasons unknown.

***

Lucy sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes, sighing heavily. She looked at the clock, 10:47 pm. Pushing the take out containers into the trashcan beside her desk, she pushed herself to stand and stretched out her stiff legs and back. Snapping her laptop shut she grabbed her bag and coat, sweeping out of her shared office and down the hall. Pushing her arms through her coat sleeves, her stomach churned. Stopping abruptly and spinning on her heel, she bolted back down the hall, past her office and crashed into the ladies restroom, gripping the toilet tightly as her Chinese food flushed back out of her.
She fell back onto her behind and groaned, her ribs ached from the forceful retching and her head was spinning.  Wiping her mouth of the harsh toilet paper, she flushed her puke down and stood shakily on her feet, "Ugh..." Clutching her stomach, she moved back out of the bathroom and down the hall, just wanting to go home. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out as she pushed through the doors, out into the biting cold,

D: hey babe, u eaten? Or pizza? Xxx

She groaned softly, feeling her stomach twist again at the thought of anymore food. She tapped back,

L: Had chinese, didn't sit well 🤢 u can still have pizza tho, be home soon love u xxx

With that, she shoved her phone back into her pocket and hailed a cab, climbing into the nice warm car and slamming the door behind her, forcing out Daniel's address shakily.
"You ok lady?" The driver rose an eyebrow in the rear view mirror, "You look like you're about to spew."
She smiled weakly, resting her head on the cold window, "Nah, just some bad takeout."
The driver nodded, "Ahh, well in any case, if you're gonna be sick, try and aim out the window ok?"
She nodded, closing her eyes to try and stop the dizziness, "Yeah, I will."
The rest of the drive was quiet, Lucy clenching her teeth and swallowing heavily every time the nausea rose up her throat, 'No, no no no no no. Stay. No.' She would chant, forcing it to stay down, at least until she got back. She'd receive looks from the driver every-now-and-then, whether they were concerned or a warning, she wasn't sure. But when he pulled up by Daniel's driveway, she tossed him a 20 dollar bill gratefully without waiting for the real total and bolted to the door, hand clenched over her mouth. She didn't even hear Daniel calling her name in concern as she almost tripped up the stairs, flying passed the living room and up the second flight of stairs, crashing into the bathroom.
Daniel bolted after her and skidded to a stop outside her door, "Jesus Lu, where'd you get food from?" He sighed, holding her hair back.
"Golden Dragon. I've had it before." She mumbled back, flushing again, "I've never had a problem with them before."
"Maybe it was just a bad batch?" He shrugged, rubbing her back, "Water?"
She nodded and felt him step away from her, listening to his steps getting quieter as he went back down to the kitchen. She sat with her back against the wall and sighed heavily, "The last thing I need is food poisoning." She grumbled, the pile of paperwork on her desk that still needed to be done flashed behind her eyes and she pulled at her hair in frustration. Jax walked into the bathroom and lay on the floor beside her, wining softly for her attention. She sighed and rubbed one his ears while Daniel came back in with a small bottle of water, "All gone?"
"For now." She lifted her head and took the bottle, "Thank you."
He sat down with her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "If you still feel shitty tomorrow maybe you should go to the doctor?"
"It's a bit of bad kung pao chicken, I'll be fine." She pinched his cheek softly, "Stop worrying."
"Still. If you get any worse-"
"Yeah yeah, we'll see." She sighed, sipping some water, "We'll see."
Daniel pressed his nose to her hair, "Ok."

A/N: I'm alive! And very sorry I disappeared like that in you all 😅 planet's kinda gone to crap huh? Hope everyone's staying safe and being extra careful during this time! I'll be back sooner this time, promise! Wash ya hands boys and girls!!!