Closer 2

45.

"So, baking cake," Brett said to Elise with a smile. The grown up Chens had  gone out to get some party supplies, leaving Brett and Elise home to bake cake. It was nice to get his mind off everything and just spend time with his daughter. "Wanna help me, baby?"

He went in the fridge and found the ingredients needed for this cinnamon cake he had found a recipe for online. Elise tried to reach for the milk, but it was too heavy for her to lift.
"Yeah, we need milk. Let me grab that, though," Brett hummed, lifting the milk over to the counter and grabbing some eggs too.

"Baaaahh!" Elise shrieked, reaching for the milk on the counter. "Babaaa!!"

"Babygirl, we're indoors. Indoor voice," Brett hummed softly, kissing her cheek. "The milk is too heavy for you to hold."

He closed the fridge and tried to look for a bowl to mix the batter in. Elise was getting impatient sitting on his arm. Luckily he found a wooden spoon they could stir with and handed it to her.
"Here, check that this is okay for me," Brett chuckled watching her for a bit as she studied the new object she had never been allowed to touch before. Then he finally spotted a suitable bowl and pulled that out.

It wasn't long until he had Elise sitting  on the counter next to the bowl while he measured up the ingredients. He had to find something else to stir it all with as she refused to let the spoon go, but that was alright. At least she was having a good time helping baba out.

Brett was still in their little happy bubble when the phone rang in his back pocket. He pulled it out and answered it, half occupied by making sure Elise didn't throw herself off the counter.

"Hello?" he asked, not having checked who it was. The voice that answered him made his stomach tighten.

"Hey Bretty, it's me," Leonora said in the other end. Her voice was shaky, making him even more nervous.

"What's up?" he asked, brushing some hair away from Elise's forehead. He'd have to find her a hairclip.

"I've got some good news," Leonora said, and he could hear her smile. He tried to count the weeks, and it had only been almost three weeks since she was here. She couldn't possibly know already, could she? "Do you have Eddy there? Wanna put me on speaker?"

Brett licked his lips nervously and looked at his daughter. She could sense his change of mood and had quieted down completely, looking up at him with big eyes.
"Eddy's out right now. I'll tell him when he gets back. What's going on?"

"Well, my... I was supposed to have my period a few days ago... So I thought I'd take a pregnancy test..." she said, and he could hear her smile. Brett felt like the room was spinning and he grabbed Elise to sit down on the floor.

"And?"

"Well, it's positive. I've made a doctor's appointment for next week to confirm it, though," Leonora said in the other end of the phone. "But I'm... I'm pretty sure it is... It feels like it's accurate."

"Okay," Brett exhaled, hugging his daughter to his chest. She was still quiet, not understanding her baba's mood. "Thank you, Leonora. I just don't know how to react."

"Don't worry about it, Bretty. Want me to call Eddy, or will you tell him?"

"I'll... I'll tell him. Talk to you soon, okay?"

They hung up, and he finally realized Elise was looking up at him. He opened his mouth to tell her what was going on, but he didn't know what to say. What would she even understand? Should he even tell her anything?

"Babaa...?" she half asked, reaching up to try and stroke his cheek like she had seen daddy do a million times, but she wasn't really coordinated enough to make it work so it ended up as a slap on his jaw instead.

"Oh babygirl, I'm so sorry you have to see this," Brett said, his voice breaking up as the first tears rolled down his cheek. He wasn't completely sure it was sadness that caused them, though. He hugged Elise to his chest, rocking them gently back and forth. "You're gonna be a big sister, baby."