It's been amazing, honestly. It's been more than amazing. Granted, it hasn't been perfect, but it's been so amazing. Almost one year of marriage to Ash seems like something I wouldn't have been able to imagine years ago. 

But, I'm here, working a great job, and now it's the weekend. I've gotten published, and I can't wait to see what people think of my book. Because I've worked so hard on it, and if people end up liking it, then that's going to be so awesome for me.

I feel like I'm in a better mood today. I don't know, my memories haven't been haunting me a lot, and I just feel very upbeat today. I may still be in the honeymoon phase, but I know something is making me happier. Although, it's kind of weird. I feel happy, but tired. I feel tired, even though I got a decent amount of sleep last night. It's one of those weird days in which my emotions and desires conflict in the weirdest ways ever.

"Morning, baby," Ash greets me, as I pour water in the coffee maker. He kisses me on the side of the cheek, as I turn around to greet him with a smile. 

"Morning, babe." 

He opens the pantry door to take out some bread, because carbs are something that can go with any meal of the day, and he pulls out a couple of slices. "You slept pretty well last night. I could tell. Feeling good?" 

I nod. "Yeah, I don't know. I'm in a good mood, but I'm tired. I feel really weird today." 

Ash raises an eyebrow, and then comes closer to me. "Do you want to lie down? Drink some water? I can cook for you today. You can take it easy." 

I shake my head, as I grab my mug from the dishwasher. "No no, it's fine. There's no need to. If I start to die, then I'll take it easy. Just watch me, lying on the floor, unresponsive, and you're dialing 911 and yelling, 'DAMMIT, NICOLE, I TOLD YOU TO TAKE IT EASY!'" 

 Ash lets out a huge chuckle, as I go to grab the pot to pour myself a big cup of coffee. When I went to take the pot out of the maker, something weird happened. I usually find the smell of coffee really relaxing and aromatic, but today, it smelled gross. 

I take a whiff of the smell, and immediately, it doesn't smell good to me. It smells like a weird mixture of sweat and wet dog, and it's making me nauseous at that moment. "Oh gosh, Ash, do you smell that? It smells awful." 

Ash gives me a slightly weirded out look, and then takes a whiff of what's apparently going around in the air. "I don't smell anything. It just smells like coffee and... furniture. I don't know, does that solve the problem?" 

I shove the pot back under the machine, and then my hand flies to my stomach. Nausea whirs in the depths of my body, like somebody is cranking a handle that amplifies the production of it in my stomach. "I don't know what I smell, but it's making me nauseous." I say, while taking deep breaths in an attempt to ease the nausea a little bit. 

Ash immediately runs to my side, and then places his hands on my shoulders. "Okay, I really think you should lie down. Come," he instructs, like a dad instructing his little daughter on what to do. He leads me to the bedroom, where I sit down on the bed and eventually lie on my back to help ease the nausea. 

"I'll get you some water, hold on," he assures, as he runs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I roll on my left side, because that's how I usually sleep, but today, it's different. I feel a weird pain in the left side of my chest area when I lay on my side. 

Immediately feeling the pain go through like a needle, I flop on my back again and stare at the ceiling until Ash comes back with his water. "Here you go, baby," he cooed, and I smiled. I took the glass, and sipped at it as he grabbed his phone to check his texts. 

When he noticed that I had finished drinking the water, he took the glass, and walked out of the door. "I'll cook some lunch for us. Take some rest in the meantime. I'll be in the living room if you need me. Do you want me to stay?" 

I shake my head, but still give him a smile nonetheless. "No, it's fine, Ash. You can hang out in the living room if you want." He gives me a slight smile, and then my hand flies to my phone to call Elena and tell her about everything that I've been feeling. 

I dial her number, and surely enough, it doesn't take super long for her to pick up. "Hey, Nicole, what's up?" she asks, and this time, I don't hear much yelling or Jess yelling, "IS THAT AUNTIE NICOLE!" 

I shrug, and then start to narrate the story to Elena. "I'm feeling like garbage today." 

"Oh yeah? Why? What are you feeling?" 

I let out a sigh, and say, "Well, first of all, the coffee smelled weird today. I usually love the smell of coffee, but today, it just didn't sit with me. And I had some pain in my boobs as well." 

I can almost feel Elena stop in her tracks when I say that. It's like she just walked into Roy and another woman having sex, and she is shocked and wants to throw him out, but doesn't know what to do. "Okay, Nicole, did the coffee smell just really awful to you?" 

"Yeah." 

"And did you feel pain when your boobs came in contact with something, or was it just out of the blue?" 

"I rolled onto my side because of something, and it hurt." 

I can hear her sit down, and then she says, "Okay, you're going to get where I'm going, but this will tell all. Nicole, when was your last period?" 

My eyes widen, as I realize that it's been a while since I've had my last period. I get up to check the calendar that's on my night stand, and flip back to two months ago. Surely enough, two months ago was the last dot that was on a day that I marked for a period. "Oh my gosh, it was two months ago. Elena, do you think..." 

Elena gulps, and then I hear her nod. "Nicole, it's not confirmed, but I think you're pregnant. A lot of your symptoms match up with mine when I was pregnant with Jess and Derek, and you missed your periods. Unless this is a huge ass coincidence, then I think you're pregnant." 

I gulp a little bit, and reflect on everything. This is huge news for me. Ash has always wanted a baby, and I've wanted kids all my life. I know that this is something that's kind of out of the blue, but it's an exciting piece of news either ways. 

I hear Elena clear her throat a little bit on the other end of the line, and she says, "Do you want me to get a pregnancy test and come to your house? I want to be absolutely sure before you tell Ash anything. Then you should book an appointment for your obstetrician, because you want to know how far along you are and you want to take the appropriate medications and everything. Is that fine?" 

I nod, and then say, "Sure. Thanks, Elena." 

"No problem. Is 4 o'clock fine?" 

"Perfect." I hear her hang up, probably to go to the grocery store to see if there's any good pregnancy tests available for me to check if I really am pregnant. A baby is something that I've always wanted, but even when things are wanted, it can turn someone's world upside down.

**************

I make sure to notify Ash that Elena's coming over. He normally doesn't care, and this time was no exception, so it was nice to know that she was welcome usually around the house. When Elena came, I made a beeline for the door, and then swung it open.

 Surely enough, Elena was standing there, with her hair thrown into a ponytail, and a little bag in her hand. "Oh good, you're here," I say, as Elena steps inside the house. 

Ash comes out of the room to say hello. "Hey, how's it going, Elena?" Elena smiles, and says, 

"Oh, everything's fine. Roy's teaching Jess how to man cars and the basics of engineering. Just some stuff he wants her to know." 

Ash smiles, and then goes to the kitchen to get another glass of water. Elena makes eye contact with me, and then she beckons for us to go to my bedroom. We go to my bedroom, and then she opens the bathroom door for me to take the pregnancy test.

*****

It's quick, it's easy, and now comes the worst part. Waiting. I have to stand there and wait for the result to come and tell me if I'm pregnant or not. "This is the worst part of the whole process. Waiting, because it feels like it's forever. You feel like you're in the line for the Simpsons ride at Universal and you don't see the end. It should come though." 

I brace myself a little bit to see what would happen if I was pregnant. At this point, weighing out options is all that I can do. If I am pregnant, then that's wonderful. I'm fully ready to have a baby, Ash really wants one, but is not pressuring me at all, and babies are cute and fun. As the aunt of two nieces and two nephews, I can say that babies are amazing. 

But if I'm not pregnant, that's not a bad thing either. I can always try again. I'm only 26. I can always try again for a baby, and I've got too much time on my hands. And considering how Ash and I are still kind of in the honeymoon phase, that's not going to be too much of a problem. 

Eventually, after weighing out the options, Elena's timer goes off, and then I go to the counter to check out the pregnancy test. Elena lifts it up, and I lean in on the little screen thing to see if it is what it is. I look, and fairly clearly, there are two lines displaying. One line means you're not pregnant. Two lines, as faint as they can be, mean that you are pregnant. 

There are two lines that I'm not blind enough to not see. And that means only one thing. I look at Elena, who just gives me a smile. "Oh my goodness," I say, and the smile on my faces explodes. I throw my arms around her, and we just hug each other for the longest time. 

I'm still having trouble processing things at that moment. I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant with Ash's child. Ash and I are pregnant. We're going to be parents. I have a living thing growing inside of me. 

Everything is a lot to handle. "Go tell him. He needs to know." 

Elena lets go of me, and almost immediately, I run out of the bathroom to find Ash. "Ash, Ash!" I call out, to which he comes running to my side. 

"What, what's wrong?" he asks. 

I look at him straight in his eyes, and not wanting to give him bull crap, I say, "Ash, I'm pregnant." The look of pure shock develops on his face, and then he just looks down a little bit. 

"Are you serious?" he asks, and I can't tell whether he's happy or mad. I gulp, and then nod my head vigorously. 

He looks at me, and then I can see the smile start to form on his face. "OH MY GOODNESS, YOU'RE PREGNANT, WE'RE PREGNANT, I'M GOING TO BE A DAD!" he shouts, and then he pulls me in for a huge hug. I hug him back, as I almost fall flat on my back from losing my balance. 

He brings me out of the hug briefly to plant a huge kiss on my forehead. He stops briefly to give me a smile, and then falls to his knees to feel my stomach. He puts his hand on there, and then places his ear onto my stomach. "Oh my goodness, our little son or daughter is in there!" he squeals, as I chuckle. It may not be the reaction I was completely expecting, but it's an enjoyable one nonetheless.

*********

"There it is! There's your little baby!" the obstetrician says, pointing at the screen right beside me. I can feel Ash's face light up with joy, as he squeezes my hand as a result of all this. 

I smile, and then ask, "How far along am I again, doc?" 

The doctor keeps on scanning the womb to see my baby, and then she says, "About 7 weeks. Which, speaking of, that's long enough that you get to hear your baby's heartbeat! Hold on, let me find it." 

The doctor does some more fidgeting around, and then she puts the stethoscope in Ash and I's ears so that we can hear the heartbeat. Surely enough, there's a faint beating sound, to which I smile, and then Ash smiles as well. 

"That's it?" Ash asks, in surprise. 

She nods. "Yep. That's it. It will get stronger as the fetus matures. But for now, that's what it is." 

Ash smiles, and then his hand flies to my forehead. "So you're done for today. The fetus is healthy, the heartbeat is clear. I've prescribed you some prenatals and medication to help with your morning sickness. I'll see you in a couple of weeks," the doctor instructs, as she wipes some of the jelly off of my stomach. 

I sit up, adjust my clothing a little bit, and then Ash gets up and escorts me out of the room. We eventually get to the parking lot, and with that, Ash just looks at me with a huge smile on his face. "Baby, I'm so happy. I can't wait for the baby to come." 

I smile, and then Ash cups my face. "I'm happy too, babe. Do you want a boy or a girl?" I ask him. 

Ash shrugs. "It's a baby! I'm fine with any gender. A boy is awesome, and a girl is just as awesome. Now, do you want to get something to celebrate? Some chocolate for the soon to be mommy?" I smile, because chocolate is something that I can never refuse. 

Especially since my appetite is going to be increased a little bit, then I know chocolate is going to be something I'm going to crave. "I'm down." Ash gives me a smile, and then he takes my hand and leads me to the car. 

However, chocolate isn't the only thing I'm excited about. I'm excited about having a baby with Ash, who is the most amazing man that I could've asked for. And not only that, I know that Ash is going to be the best father for our baby, which is the one of the biggest reasons on why I'm excited.

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Awww, I just love Ash's excitement on being a father! He's just so cute! What did you think of his reaction? Let me know in the comments. 

Hey everyone! How's it going? Right off the bat, a special thank you to RavensOfOld for recommending the idea! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! 

If you guys have any more ideas, please let me know! (I was thinking of Nicole's wedding to Ash, or maybe when Ash proposed to her. I'm sorry, I'm a sappy romantic. If you want to see one of those (or both) let me know! But if you have ideas, I kindly ask that you don't request sex scenes. Other than that, ask away!) 

That's all I got! Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! I'll see you all soon with possibly another bonus chapter! (or the first couple of parts to my slow burn)

Love you guys, 

Shree