better together | ethma

Nine

Emma's POV
Two Weeks Later

Ethan and I enjoyed the rest of our honeymoon by going to the beach, trying different restaurants, seeing the museums, the volcano in Santorini, and hanging out just the two of us in our villa. Which meant lots of making love.

We both had another full week off of work when we got back to Chicago, so we spent the whole week with Tenley. Even though she was in school, she only had to be there until noon everyday, so we still got to spend a lot of time with her last week.

Ethan and I missed her a lot during our honeymoon, so it felt good to be back home with her.

Today is Friday, so Ethan and I both didn't have to work today, and since it's been two weeks, we picked up a pregnancy test when we went grocery shopping.

We got home and put all of our groceries away before heading upstairs.

I took two tests just in case, and I flipped them over so that we couldn't see the results yet.

Ethan and I sat down on our bed, and he put his arm around me.

"I'm gonna say a prayer for us." He said. I nodded and leaned my forehead against his.

"Dear God, we thank you for our healthy and happy marriage thus far, and we thank you for the ability to keep a good roof over our heads and for the ability to provide for each other and our family. We thank you for our little girl, and we thank you for keeping us safe, happy and healthy. We ask that you please guide us to our next child, and that no matter how long it takes, the child will be healthy and happy. We ask that you will be with us in this adventure, and that Emma will be healthy through her future pregnancy. Amen."

"Amen." I whispered. I looked into Ethan's eyes.

"Ready?" He whispered. I took a deep breath. This might be one of the biggest moments of our life together.

We both closed our eyes and flipped the tests over.

Not Pregnant

I could feel disappointment reach my face.

"It's okay, Em." Ethan said, tightening his hold around me. "We'll keep trying. It'll happen."

So we kept trying.

We started tracking my cycle closely so that we knew when I was ovulating, I started eating healthier, and sure we didn't get pregnant in the first month.

Or the second.

But, there was a new addition to the Dolan clan because Grayson and Alex's daughter Maeve was born.

Ethan and I took Tenley to meet baby Maeve at the hospital, and it was so cute to see her holding her new baby cousin. She'll be a great big sister someday.

We didn't have any luck the third month.

But something felt different in the fourth month of trying.

So, Ethan and I sat down and said a prayer like usual when we take pregnancy tests, and we finally got the answer we've been praying for.

Pregnant

Ethan smiled at me with tears in his eyes, and I already had a river streaming down my face.

We were so happy.

He gave me a hug before giving me a long peck on the lips, his arms still wrapped around me.

"We're having a baby!" He said in a soft voice.

I stroked my thumb back and forth on his cheek as I kissed him again.

"We're having a baby." I repeated.

He smiled before he raised my shirt above my stomach and leaned down to kiss it.

"Hi, baby. It's me daddy. I love you so much already, little squirt."

I smiled at him, and put my hand on my stomach. "Mama loves you too, little squirt."

Ethan kissed my stomach a few more times before he sat back up and kissed me on the lips again.

"Hey, baby mama." He said against my lips. I smiled.

"I can't believe we're finally having another kid."

"Me too. I can't wait to find out if it's a girl or a boy."

"You mean a Taytum or a Keegan." I joked. He kissed me.

"We can call the baby 'Baby TK' until we find out, and then when we find out, we can drop one of those letters."

"Baby TK." I said, my hand resting on my belly. I smiled at Ethan, and he put his hand on top of mine.

-

Ethan and I agreed to not tell anyone until we made it to a doctors appointment, so when we went in for my 12 week and the baby was perfectly healthy, we went home with a smile on our faces and a sonogram picture to be framed.

It was May when we told Ethan's family, and my mom.

First we told Tenley.

We sat her down on our couch and talked to her about how she has a baby cousin that she loves to play with, and how she gets to have a little baby brother or baby sister. She was super excited, dancing around the living room and rambling about how she really wanted a little sister, and Ethan and I were happy that she was excited about it.

We announced it to Ethan's family at a family cookout that took place at Grayson's house, and they were so excited. Ever since Ethan and I got married they've been asking us when we're having a baby.

My mom was the same way. She loved Tenley so much, and she wanted Ethan and I to have another kid.

And a few days after our announcement, we got the call that we were in fact having a little girl.

Ethan lifted me up in a hug and spun around, both of us super excited for our new baby girl.

Baby Taytum. We got so used to calling her Baby TK that we still called her that anyway, but we also had nicknames like 'little squirt', 'sweet T', and 'Baby T'.

Ethan and I decided to keep her name a secret until she's born because we want it to be a surprise to everyone else.

Even Tenley.

We just told everyone that Ethan and I picked her name, and we weren't gonna tell anyone.

But, we did tell them she's a girl.

We just told everyone to call her Baby T for now.

It was fun to have it be a little secret between Ethan and I. We even found a middle name for her.

Taytum Sienna Dolan