eighty-eight

                                    

                                          
"Dad will be home in a few minutes and then I have to head to work, okay?" Mariana asked as she leaned down to press a kiss to Christopher's cheek. "Did you finish your math work?"
                          
 He nodded absentmindedly and Mari took that as a good sign as she headed for the kitchen to pack her dinner. Halfway through shoving tupperware containers into the lunchbox Buck had given her that looked like a firetruck, the low rumble of Eddie's truck approached the driveway. He entered the house from the garage and pulled off his mask.
                          
    "Hey, how was work?" she asked as he washed his hands. He dried his hands on a towel and pulled her in for a searing kiss. She hummed against his lips and pulled away with a grin.
                          
    "What was that for?"
                          
    "I hate this," he groaned against her neck. "I get it. I do. But I hate being away from you and the boys."
                          
    "Oh, poor baby," she teased. "Only a few more months and then you get me back on shift AND you get Peanut."
                          
    He kneeled down on the kitchen tile so he could be eye level with the small swell of her stomach. Eddie grinned up at her as he ran his hands along her sides. At twelve weeks pregnant, they were finally able to hear the heartbeat from their child and Eddie wouldn't even lie that he cried when they first heard the whoosh of the heart.
                          
    "Any nausea today? Cravings? Need me to get you anything?"
                          
    "We're good, I promise. If I need anything, I will let you know."
                          
    "I'm holding you to that."
                          
    "I know," she laughed and bent down to kiss him. "I gotta leave for the hospital soon."
                          
   While their shifts lined up pretty well, there were the occasional times like this where they barely saw each other and only had time for a few kisses. Eddie knew that despite post-shift exhaustion, he wouldn't be able to sleep until midnight when she would be curled up next to him and he could wrap his arms around her and know she's safe.
                          
    But that night when she did come quietly into their bedroom and changed out of her scrubs and took a quick shower, Mari didn't immediately slide into bed like she usually did. Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall.
                          
    "What's wrong?" he asked, voice rough with sleep. He sat up behind her and kissed her shoulder, pulling her hair over her shoulder.
                          
    "I'm craving a burger," she admitted. "And I'm trying to ignore it and go to bed, but Peanut really wants this stupid burger."
                          
    Eddie slid out of the bed and grabbed a pair of jeans and his keys. "Where from?"
                          
    "You don't need to, Eds. It'll pass."
                          
    "And you need to keep up your energy so Peanut is getting a burger. In N Out? Your usual?"
                          
    She exhaled a grateful sigh and nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I love you."
                          
    A burger run at midnight was nothing compared to what she was doing. Mari was literally creating life inside of her, the least he could do was get her a burger. No matter how tired he was, he would crawl to the ends of the earth to get her what she wanted.
                          
    When he came back half an hour later with a milkshake and a burger, he found Mari sitting up in bed with her laptop in her lap and her glasses perched on her nose. He kissed her hair and set the In N Out on the nightstand before crawling over to his side of the bed.
                          
    "Whatcha lookin' at?" he asked tiredly.
                          
    "New houses," she explained. "We're going to need a nursery."