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Jess wasn’t sure how she was going to tell him. A million possibilities of how he could react raced through her mind. Would he be thrilled? Terrified? Would he leave her? She shot that one down almost as fast as it came, knowing that they didn’t wait so long to be with each other just to separate again. No matter how they felt, they would work it out together, as a team.
She thought about calling Cece for advice, but then again, Cece’s own husband had to be the one to inform her about her pregnancy. Maybe she could have Schmidt or Winston do it for her…
For a split second she wished that it was a false positive but the three positive tests laying on the small bathroom sink reconfirmed what she already knew. They were going to have a baby.
Before she could think of her plans any further, she heard the door to the loft open. A faint groan followed by a thump on the couch signaled that her husband had returned from walking Mario. “Jess?” He called. She heard some movement and then another grunt indicating that he was making an effort to move off the worn, leather couch to find her.
She panicked. Jess picked up the tests and scrambled to find a place where Nick wouldn’t find them. The trash seemed like the most common answer, remembering how grossed out her husband was by it. That had been a futile yet hilarious argument when she asked him to take out the trash and he refused because that’s where she put her “feminine disposals”. Yet that reason alone was why Jess decided against hiding them there. The rest of the bathroom didn’t offer many discreet places. As she heard his footsteps grow closer, the mother-to-be resorted to the last place she could think of and stuffed them into the pocket of her dress.
The door began to open and she assumed the most “natural” position she could think of, leaning against the urinal.
“Jess, what are you doing?”
“I’m just… Just making sure everything is up to code.” She knocked on different spots on the porcelain as if she were checking for cracks. “Yup, looks like everything is working.” She buttoned it by pulling on the handle while the water made its way down with a swish.
He didn’t entirely believe her, but his relief that the plumbing was working took precedence. He shrugged it off.
“What time is dinner with Cece and Schmidt?”
“Seven.”
Nick threw her a thumbs up and leaned in to kiss her cheek. Remembering the plastic sticks in her pocket, Jess leaned her head in to meet him halfway while keeping the rest of her body as far from him as possible. He didn’t seem to notice, concluding it as Jess just being Jess. He excused himself as she released a sigh of relief.
----
Dinner with the Parekh-Schmidt’s was pleasant despite the giant news she was keeping. She didn’t know why she thought she could keep it a secret; she was a horrible secret keeper, especially from the two people who knew her best in the world. If trying to keep her facial expressions straight wasn’t hard enough, Jess struggled to find an excuse for why she couldn’t drink the wine. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She “accidentally” spilled the dark red beverage onto the hardware floor. She got what she wanted when Schmidt effectively cut her off for the rest of the evening.
Stories of either Ruth or them trying for their second child seemed to be the only topics any of them could talk about. Even Nick chimed in with his plans for “getting the next one to love him” unlike Ruth. And where she normally would go gaga for her niece, Jess felt like she was suffocating; everything was a reminder of what she was hiding.
As soon as Nick finished his last bite of the slice of Cheesecake his wife prepared, Jess dragged him out of the house without offering to help clean up like usual.
----
She spent the next two days conceiving and rejecting ideas of how to tell him: Go big, like throw a party and write it on a banner, or keep it simple and let it slip during dinner. She even considered telling Winston and letting him tell her husband- it seemed to work out the last time.
But she had to do it soon. Nick was starting to get suspicious of her stranger-than-usual behavior. He tried to show her a photo that Winston sent of Dan-Bill kissing his mother’s round belly, and rather than fawning and/or shedding a few tears like he expected, she threw his phone across the room and ran in the other direction.
There was a small stint in which she accidentally told Russell- not that he noticed. Russell brought his son (one of many) to the office that day and Jess offered to watch him while her boss was in a meeting.
“You’re sure it won’t be a problem, Jess? I can get my assistant to do it on her lunch.” He asked, gathering his notes.
“Yeah, it’s totally fine.” She replied, making silly faces at the toddler perched on her hip. “I should get used to this now that we’re having our own.” Her eyes widened in horror at the realization of her slip, but Russell seemed too preoccupied by an email to even hear her. She swiftly dismissed her and his son before he could process her mistake.
----
It turned out that Jess didn’t have to be the one to tell him after all. They had been watching some action movie on the couch when Jess got up to make another bowl of popcorn. She could hear the sound of Mario’s collar come from somewhere down the hall, but didn’t acknowledge it, knowing he’d be cuddled into her husband’s side when she returned. She didn’t see what he had in his mouth when he jumped into Nick’s lap. She didn’t see their tug-of-war match as he tried to extradite the mysterious object from their dog’s clench. She didn’t see his eyebrows furrow and then shoot up when he figured it out.
“Jess?” He called from his spot, an obvious waver in his tone that she didn’t seem to notice.
She continued to pour the fresh contents into the bowl.
When she didn’t answer, Nick brought the stick to her. “Jess?” He tried again.
She finally looked up, at first not understanding what his doe-eyed gaze and sudden increase in breath was for. But when her eyes followed the path from his chest to his arm down to the hand that was holding the cause, her eyes mirrored his.
They didn’t blink. They didn’t breathe. Neither of them could utter a word.
Finally, Jess found her voice. “I was going to tell you.” She spoke softly.
He took another step towards her, holding the positive test up higher. “Are you sure?”
She nodded slowly. Jess couldn’t read what he was thinking. Scared of what his reaction would be, and frustrated that after all this time together, she was still figuring him out, she wrapped her arms around herself waiting for his next move.
Another step.
Finally, a smirk began to grown on his face, small at first, but eventually big enough to display his imperfectly perfect teeth. “I knew it. I knew you’d choose me to get you pregnant.”
At the steadiness in his voice, she charged into his arms holding him close and pouring the anxiety, relief and exhilaration all into her grip. He held her just as tight. The only sound that breached the silence in the spacious loft was her small sniffles. When she was ready, she lifted her head to meet his eyes. She saw warmth and amazement and Jess couldn’t believe she doubted him for a second.
Then, they were laughing. Their disbelief turned into excitement as it became more and more real for them.
She stood on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and softly pressed her lips against his.
“Yup. Let’s go.”