for Will (set to early September)

[notsocommon]

Helen had just about reached the point of pregnancy where things were less novel and more uncomfortable and this evening's discomfort took place in the form of a lovely round of indigestion coupled with Gregory squirming around. In hindsight, it had possibly been a bad idea to go back for thirds on dessert and yet she found she couldn't help herself; pregnancy had been a free rein to eat things she normally never would, which included sweets.

She was a little restless in bed, trying to get him to settle, and she shifted from her back to her side. Sleeping on her side had proven to be much easier these days than anything else and at least it afforded her the luxury of having Will curl up behind her.

"Baby won't settle," she whispered into the dark by way of explanation. "I think I ate entirely too much earlier and now I'm suffering for it."

Comments

[inabmovie]

Will groans a little in sympathy and rubs his hand lightly along her spine. She can't really turn over for a proper back rub but at least he can do a little something to help, he hopes. "He's running out of room in there," he murmurs. "Not too much longer."

[notsocommon]

"Did you know that the Asian elephant's gestation period is approximately twenty two months? I couldn't imagine carrying this child for the better part of two years," Helen said, groaning at the thought of it. "I'll be doing well to survive the next three."

Helen winced slightly as the baby kicked his feet toward her ribs. "Gregory! Really, there's no more room than what you've got. I'm not stretching."

[inabmovie]

"I can't think of one single way in which I would ever compare you to an elephant," Will says, voice totally serious even though he's grinning a little. He knows Magnus thinks she's huge and unattractive and he could not possibly disagree with her more. "And I really don't think I could wait two years to meet this kid."

He shifts his hand from her back to her stomach, rubbing lightly. While he knows Magnus is pretty over being pregnant by now, Will can't quite get enough of it, and he doesn't miss many chances to touch her still-expanding belly. "You want to give your mom a break, kiddo?" he says encouragingly. "She's pretty tired, carrying you around all day."

[notsocommon]

"I don't think I could wait either. I'm too eager as it is," Helen said, catching Will's hand and sliding it down to where she thought Gregory's little hands might be pressing at her. It was hard to gauge whether or not Will would be able to feel but it certainly felt stronger than usual.

"Do you feel him? I think these are his hands."

[inabmovie]

Will's not expecting to feel anything, since he hasn't felt anything so far, but Magnus shifts his hand just a fraction of an inch to the side and bam, there it is, an insistent little poke that's totally unmistakable. "Oh, my God," he says, and presses back a little against the spot--not that he thinks the kid will feel it or understand what he's doing, he just has to do it. "There you are."

[notsocommon]

"It's amazing, isn't it? I've been feeling him for a while but it's different to share it with you."

Helen actually thought her heart might burst at how sweet it was to hear Will talking to the baby but since she couldn't articulate that, exactly, she settled for laying still and quiet so that Gregory might press against his hand again.

"I think he knows our voices by now."

[inabmovie]

"Yours, probably," Will agrees. "He probably can't hear me as well." He shifts and curls against Magnus in a different way, so that his head rests against her hip, close to the place where he felt the baby move. His thumb moves back and forth over the spot, pressing lightly now and then when he feels a little push back.

[notsocommon]

"You should talk to him now," Helen suggested, letting her hand drift through Will's hair when he shifted to lay against her hip.

"Let him get to know you. I know it's not much, considering he isn't born yet, but he should know you're important from the very beginning."

[inabmovie]

"Well, yeah." There's a push that's stronger than the ones he's felt in the last few minutes, strong enough that he probably could have seen it if he had been looking right at it. "I just, you know. Don't know what to say. Which is dumb, I know."

[notsocommon]

"Hello is a fine way to start," Helen teased. "Gregory, we're your parents. You're going to have to stay right where you are for the next few months but you should know we're incredibly eager to meet you."

Maybe she shouldn't be talking to the child as if it were an adult in miniature but Helen imagined there was no real wrong way to do this thing.

[inabmovie]

"Yeah," Will says quietly. "I can't wait to meet you." He's still rubbing his thumb over the spot where he feels the baby move now and then, but he's quiet, because he really doesn't know what to say. Nothing seems good enough for the first thing he's saying to his kid, even if there's a good chance the kid can't really even hear or understand him.

[notsocommon]

"When I was pregnant with Ashley," Helen said softly, her hands still toying lightly with Will's hair, "I longed for this. I wanted her to have a father so badly but, selfishly, I wanted a partner. I wanted someone to take care of me when things got difficult, someone to tell me I was lovely and rub my feet. I'm so grateful for you, Will. You're better than I ever could have imagined."

[inabmovie]

Will doesn't think he's doing anything special; it doesn't occur to him when he does these things that he's doing something out of the ordinary. He just does these things because he's a decent guy (he thinks) and because he loves her.

He presses a kiss to her belly in the spot where he's been feeling Gregory, who seems to be calming down a little, and tilts his head to look at Magnus without dislodging her hand in his hair. "I'm grateful for you, too, Helen," he says. "It's been... amazing. And still is."

[notsocommon]

"We can do anything together," Helen said warmly. "I have full faith in that. This is just the first step in a grand new adventure, as trite as that sounds, and we'll go hand in hand."

There was nobody else she'd rather have for a partner than Will and she trusted that in this, too, they would be an admirable team.