021: Surprise!

Even though it had been a few hours since Kayla Ravenswood had left an appointment with her new doctor, she was still in shock. She'd gone in for a routine appointment to get her medication refilled and just a general check-up. They'd done blood work and ran some other tests, everything coming back good. That wasn't a surprise to her, she'd felt better than she had in years – she was actually content with her life and looked forward to the future. That content was only added to when the doctor came back in the exam room to give her the results of the various things they'd done – she was pregnant. After the doctor had told her that bit of news, it took her a few moments to understand what was going on. Once she did, the doctor offered to do an ultrasound and she had gladly accepted.

Once the ultrasound was performed, it was determined that she was seven weeks along and so far, things looked great and the baby appeared healthy. She even got to take an ultrasound picture of the baby home with her, which was exactly how she was going to reveal to Rick that he was going to be a father. For the first time in her life, everything felt perfect.

When Kayla returned back to the penthouse, Rick wasn't there. She sent him a quick text and he replied to let her know that he was in the middle of some virtual meetings that he'd been putting off since the city had shut down. He'd promised to be home within the hour. Knowing that she now had a deadline, she went to work wrapping up the ultrasound picture into a little box to give him over dinner. Once the box was securely wrapped, Kayla got started on dinner. A roast chicken with an assortment of steamed vegetables along with some little roasted potatoes was what she made. She was just putting dinner out on the butcher block island she knew he preferred to eat at when she heard the familiar rumble of the elevator. Peeking out around the corner from the kitchen, she spotted Rick stepping off, already stripping off the suit jacket he had on.

"Hi, husband." She gave him a wave and a bright smile as she walked over, stealing a kiss.

"Mmmm," he chuckled, "now that's a homecoming I could get used to."

He hadn't quite been truthful with her over the messages but hadn't wanted to spend time typing out or dictating to the voice-to-text feature what he was actually doing. Over the last week, he'd been meeting with various realtors over FaceTime and Skype, searching for the perfect house in the Vegas area. Everything with the quarantine and the damned virus had made him realize that The Strip wasn't the best place to be, especially now that he wasn't a lonely playboy bachelor.

Kayla nudged him, snapping him from his reverie. "Who has two thumbs and made something delish for dinner?" She pointed both of her thumbs at herself. "This gal."

Rick couldn't help but grin at her effervescence, "it smells fantastic, too. I take it everything went well with your appointment?"

"Everything was great." It was hard for her to not just blurt out the news, but she wanted it to be perfect. "Are you hungry?"

"Absolutely famished." He wrapped his arms around her, planting a deep kiss on her lips. "Almost tempted to say we should start with dessert." The double meaning was clear as he rested his forehead against hers, drinking in how good it felt to have someone who cared in his life.

Now that he mentioned it, she could have gone with a little pre-dinner dessert herself. She was just about to start unbuttoning his shirt, when her eyes spied that little wrapped box in silver paper that she'd left on the bar. "Dessert is absolutely on the menu, but first dinner." She gave him one more long kiss before grabbing his hand to lead him into the kitchen.

Laughing, Rick allowed himself to be pulled along – the smell of dinner was making him realize that he'd skipped lunch, his stomach rumbling in protest. "Have quite an appetite today. I'll certainly have room for it."

Being the dutiful wife, she pulled out his chair for him. "What can I get you to drink?"

"The sparkling soda with lime is fine. I think there's a bottle or two in the fridge under the bar, still." Over the past week or so, he'd almost stopped drinking altogether. The longer they spent in quarantine, cut off from everything else, the more he'd felt the pull of the darkness in his head. Cutting himself off was necessary. For the most part, doting on her was the perfect distraction.

"I'll be right back." As he sat down, she kissed the top of his head before heading out to the bar to grab his drink. She snagged the box as well. When she returned, she poured some into his glass before taking a seat across from him. "How was your day?"

"I'm starting to enjoy having meetings online. It makes things easier when I don't have to be face to face with these idiots," the lie came out smoothly – it wasn't really false, after all. He reached for his glass, taking a small sip as he watched her over the rim. "How about you?"

"It was a great day; it took a little longer at the doctor than I thought it would." She picked up her drink which happened to be a glass of milk. "They did some blood work which was good. He put in refills for the meds for another year. So yeah, everything is really good."

"That calls for a toast," he reached over and clinked the edge of his glass against hers. "To good health and good days."

Her smile widened as she took a drink from her milk. The excitement in her had become too much and she had to tell him. "I have a present for you." She lifted up her cloth napkin and held up the box. "This is for you." She handed it to him and watched closely.

"Kayla... what..?" One dark brow rose as he studied her for a moment, seeing the excitement that had her almost vibrating. Curiosity getting the best of him, he tore open the paper and opened the little box. Inside, nestled on a bed of tissue paper, was a small black and white picture. For a moment, he was baffled, not really sure what it was until he saw her name and the date printed at the top corner. "Is this...?"

He lifted his head, staring at her. His initial reaction was shock but that wore off quickly, all the little signs over the past few days making far more sense. It wasn't as though they'd been careful any of the times they'd been intimate – he'd never really used any kind of protection with her, ironically. He thought back to their conversation the morning after they'd impulsively married. It seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it hadn't even been a month yet. Blinking, he felt a prickle of emotion – he knew how much she wanted this. It took effort to force the words out past the lump in his throat.

"Are we? Really?"

"Yes!" She nodded eagerly. "I honestly had no idea; I about fell over." She scooted her stool closer and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder as she laughed with pure joy. "I'm about seven weeks and wait until you hear this," she climbed into his lap, an arm sliding over his shoulders. "My due date is November twenty-first!"

"Almost my birthday," he seemed stunned, "seven weeks. You mean... my goodness, it must have happened almost the first time I took you to bed."

"That's what I figured." She laughed as she kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly, not ever wanting to let him go. "So... surprise!"

"I guess that accounts for not feeling the greatest the other night, hmm?" He hugged her tight, kissing her neck. He could tell how happy she was and it made him feel like a million dollars. He'd given her everything he possibly could and this was the one thing he knew she wanted most in the world. "I can't believe it. We're... going to have a family."

"Yeah," she grinned and pulled back. "I know this is quick and we're newlyweds..."

He laughed, shaking his head. "I've been shopping around," the words came out tinged with amusement. "Subconsciously, I must have known. I've been looking for a house for us. Staying here, while it's convenient to the club and the office... doesn't hold much appeal. We'd be safer in a house – more of a controlled environment and I thought... well..." he smiled sheepishly, "surprise?"

Her hands came up and cupped his face. "So, you're really happy about this?" She loved him so much and wasn't sure she could go through with it if he wasn't completely on board.

"Of course." Rick nodded, despite the prickle of unease that ran its icy fingers down his spine. "This is incredible!" As terrifying as the prospect of being a parent was, the fact that he'd been able to make this dream come true for her meant everything. The joy she felt, that was making her positively glow, was almost addictive and as he held her close, he could feel that warmth in his chest grow. He never wanted to stop feeling like this and he knew now that he'd be willing to do whatever it took to make that happen, even if it meant dismissing his own misgivings. "I'm happy, Kayla." His eyes shone with tears as they met hers, "so very happy. God..." he pulled her close, hugging her tight, "I love you so much."