Work Text:
Cove: “I think that’s everything packed. Oh! But what if I’ve forgotten something?”
The first few times he tried that excuse, you were willing to believe something might have slipped his mind. By now though, you were certain your husband was just trying to put off leaving as long as possible.
Recently, he had been told that ORCA was hosting an important climate summit and they needed all hands on deck. In particular Cove’s ocean studies would be part of the keynote presentation so there was no getting out of it.
Truth told, you’d be lying if you said you were happy he was going but it would only be a few days. Unfortunately, your work schedule was such that you wouldn’t be able to go with him so the best you could do was wrap your arms around him and nudge him towards the door.
[Y/N]: “Come on Cove, it’s a long drive. The sooner you get there, the sooner you can call me and let me know you’re safe.”
That old, familiar blush spread across his cheeks as your husband took a deep breath and returned your hug. You could feel him start to smile as his face pressed into your hair.
Taking a deep breath, Cove stood with his head high as he grabbed his luggage and you couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter. No matter how long it’s been, your sweetheart husband was always going to be a kid at heart.
Cove: “R-right. I promise I’ll call when I get there. And every night until I get back. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
With a smile you just shook your head, giving him another nudge towards the door.
[Y/N]: “Cove, I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ve got enough work to keep me busy and I don’t want you to be late.”
Cove: “Alright, alright. I’ll see you in a few days, Mrs. Holden.”
Oh now that just wasn’t fair. You could barely look at him and the warmth of your cheeks told you that Cove had won that one as he left for his car.
Standing at the door in the early morning sun, you waved as you watched your husband drive off.
The moment he disappeared around the corner, however, your face fell and you slipped inside. Once the door closed behind you, one hand started to play with the hem of your shorts nervously while the other fell to your stomach.
After nearly fifteen years of it happening like clockwork, you were overdue and by more than a week at this point. You’d meant to tell Cove before he left but whenever you tried, your voice caught in your throat or you always ended up saying something else.
With a sense of unease and worry creeping up your back, you grabbed your purse, took out the pregnancy test kit you’d hidden in there with a silent thank you that Cove hadn’t seen it, and took it to the bathroom.
A few agonisingly long minutes later, you knew for certain as a little plus stared back at you on the digital screen. The single word written next to it only removed any further doubt.
You were pregnant.
A shaky breath you hadn’t realised you were holding in rushed out of your lungs and the early signs of tears started to burn the corners of your eyes.
You supposed you shouldn’t really be surprised. After all, you and Cove had agreed that you wanted to start a family someday at your wedding.
So why were you still so nervous?
Letting out another breath, you stood up and made your way to your workstation, setting down the test in your room as you passed by. You were ahead of schedule on your work project but you didn’t get there by slacking off.
Booting up your work computer, you tried to get down to work. When you looked back at the clock and noticed that twenty minutes had passed with you barely making any progress, you let out a sigh. More tears threatening to fall, this time out of frustration.
You wouldn’t be able to handle this for the next three days, so you reached for your phone. You had to call someone. There was no way you could call Cove, even if he wasn’t still driving, you weren’t going to tell him unless he was in the room with you. So who do you want to call?
>Liz. You and your sister have always had each other’s backs<
>Your moms. When it came down to it, you could trust them with anything<
>Mr Holden. One of the only people in the world who knew Cove as well as you do<
Liz
Tapping your sister’s name in your contact list, you held your phone to your ear and tried to keep your breathing steady. Mercifully, you heard the click pop of her picking up after only a few rings.
Liz: “Hey sis, what’s up? Wait, let me guess. Cove’s gone to that big fancy meeting thing of his and you’re already pining for him. I just sat down for a late breakfast so I’m free to talk if you’re missing your shadow that badly.”
In spite of it all, you couldn’t help but giggle at her teasing. No matter how many years passed, you and Cove getting engaged gave your big sister joke ammo for life.
[Y/N]: “Not just that.”
You tried to keep the lighter mood going but even you could tell that your voice wasn’t in it. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you summoned the courage to continue.
[Y/N]: “Liz. I’m… I’m pregnant.”
For the longest time, the only noise that came out of your phone was the clatter of silverware falling onto a table, until…
Liz: “WHAT!?”
The sudden outburst left you wincing from the volume before she continued.
Liz: “Oh my God, [Y/N]. I-is everything ok? Do you need me to come down, I can tell work it’s an emergency or-”
You do your best to cut her off. Explaining to her that it wasn’t unplanned but you were just feeling nervous and worried. You were rewarded with a sigh and a chuckle from the other end of the call.
Liz: “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, really. You’ve had it bad for that crybaby special boy of yours since you were kids and now here you are having a kid of your own.”
Liz: “When did you stop being my baby sister…”
You could hear a wistful sigh that had you frowning slightly in worry.
[Y/N]: “I’ll always be your baby sister, Liz.”
Your sister let out a giggle that slowly became a heartwarming laugh.
Liz: “Thanks [Y/N] but you know what I mean. You’re all grown up, you have the sweetest husband in the world and you better believe that the moment you need anything, I’m just a phone call away, okay?”
You couldn’t keep the warm smile from forming on your face, or the warm tears from starting to spill down your cheeks.
Liz: “So don’t worry. You’re gonna be a great mom, Cove’s gonna be a great dad, and I’m gonna be the best aunt a kid could ask for, got it?”
Your sister’s confidence was infectious, you had to give her that.
You spent the next few minutes chatting over this and that until responsibilities forced you to the end of the call.
Liz: “Well, can’t put off work forever, can we? Thanks for calling, sis. Love you, bye.”
__________________________________________________________________
Moms
It always felt a little weird seeing the number for your moms’ house on your contact list with ‘moms’ next to it instead of ‘home’ but you didn’t take much time to dwell on it before pressing it and waiting.
It didn’t take long before they picked up, thankfully.
Ma: “Good morning sweetie, how are you doing?”
You could hear her lean back slightly before you heard her voice again, slightly distant.
Ma: “Pam! [Y/N]’s on the phone, come on over.”
Deciding not to give yourself any chance to wriggle out of it, you took a deep breath and told them directly.
[Y/N]: “Moms… I’m pregnant.”
The silence hung in space for a few moments only to be broken by the sound of a chair scraping before your Ma let out a noise somewhere between a cheer and hysterical laughter.
At least she stood up so she didn’t blow out your ears. Even so, hearing Ma’s excitement perked you up a bit.
Mom: “Sweetie, that’s wonderful news! Have you told Cove yet?”
You feel warmth spread up your face even as the familiar cold fingers of stress grip your spine.
Ma: “Oh hun…”
You hadn’t really noticed when she had stopped celebrating the news but clearly Ma must have sat back down.
Ma: “It’s alright to be nervous, honey. This is a big step in life for you.”
Mom: “That’s right, kiddo, but it’s not just a big step for you. I hope you don’t plan on waiting too long to tell Cove.”
Ma: “I’m sure he’ll be over the moon to hear it, honey. And if there’s anything either of you need, anything at all, even if it’s just a chat, we’ll be here.”
Hearing your moms talk, you don’t know when it happened but you found you’d started breathing a lot easier.
Mom: “Oh kiddo, it doesn’t feel like five minutes since we found you and Cove sitting on that hill together and now look at you. All grown up…”
The wavering of her voice was enough to set you crying, tears rolling down your cheeks as you and your moms reminisced for a while longer before work meant you would have to go.
Mom: “Tell us how it goes with Cove, kay kiddo?”
Ma: “Like we don’t know it’ll go well. We love you honey, and we’ll speak again soon.”
Saying your goodbyes, you hung up with a smile on your face.
______________________________________________________________________
Mr Holden
Cove’s dad, Mr Holden, your father-in-law. He’d been there for you almost as long as your own mothers. As you scrolled down to his name in your contact list, you just hoped you weren’t interrupting him at work.
Tapping his name, you waited and you were just starting to worry that you were right until you heard a click followed by a familiar voice.
Mr Holden: “Hey hey kiddo, nice to hear from you. Just taking five before the midday rush, how are you doing?”
[Y/N]: “Hey dad…”
You knew the moment you opened your mouth that your voice was going to be a brittle thing. Mr Holden clearly didn’t miss it either, and you could tell the next time he spoke that his friendly grin had slipped.
Mr Holden: “[Y/N]? Hey, is everything ok over there?”
Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath in to steady yourself.
[Y/N]: “Dad, I’m… I’m pregnant.”
He went quiet after he heard that, and if it weren’t for the shaky breathing you could hear through the line, you’d have started to worry that the connection had gone dead.
Mr Holden: “...I’m gonna be a grandpa…”
He seemed to be saying that more to himself than anyone else, as if making sure he wasn’t dreaming. Clearing his throat, he spoke up again.
Mr Holden: “Ah, uh sorry kiddo, I’m with you again now. That’s… That’s amazing news, is there anything I can do, anything you need? I might still have some of Cove’s old baby things if you need them but if you need help picking out new stuff I can-”
Mr Holden started to trail off, but whether that was because he’d noticed you hadn’t been able to get a word in edgeways or if he had started thinking in his head again, you didn’t know.
Either way, you took the opportunity to step in. You’d only meant to talk about finding out you were pregnant but without even noticing, you’d started venting all your worries to him.
And he just listened without a word until you were done.
Mr Holden. “Oh [Y/N]... I know exactly how you feel, believe me. I was the same way when I found out Kyra was expecting. But trust me, you’ll be fine, both of you. I know you won’t make the same mistakes we did.”
You let out a shaky breath and dried your eyes. He was using his ‘dad voice’ the one he always used when he tried to convince Cove everything was gonna be ok. It was surprisingly effective.
Mr Holden: “I’ve never known a pair of people better fit for each other. There’s nothing life can throw at you that I don’t believe you can figure out a way through together. But if either of you ever need help then you can call any of us, anytime. Kay?”
The dam burst again and there was nothing you could do to stop the tears this time. But, through it all, a smile split your face wide.
[Y/N]: “Okay. Thanks… dad.”
Mr Holden: “Attagirl. Anything else you wanna talk about while we have time?”
You spent the next few minutes idly catching up until Mr Holden had to go help out with some customers.
Mr Holden: “Oh but before I go, when you talk to Cove, tell him his dad’s proud of his little marine biologist.”
______________________________________________________________________
Putting your phone down, you found yourself feeling far more at ease. Smiling down at your stomach for a moment, you sat back down at your desk and got to work.
Unfortunately, even rallying a less heavy heart wasn’t going to make time magically move faster so you spent the next few days keeping yourself busy with work and chores around the house.
Cove kept his word and called every night before you both went to sleep but even with that, you were struck by how much bigger your bed was without him in it.
Still, as it always had in the past, time kept moving forward, and soon you were standing in the hall waiting for Cove to walk through the door. You’d placed your pregnancy test in a box and planned on showing him as soon as you could.
Bouncing on your heels with anticipation, you were brought out of your thoughts by the sound of the front door clicking open. Your husband had barely had the chance to walk through the door and put down his luggage before you launched yourself at him.
Cove: “A-ahh. [Y/N].”
As soon as his arms wrapped around you, you sank into his warmth. For just a moment, everything felt so very far away until the feeling of the small box in your hand brought you back to reality.
Stepping back out of the hug, you quietly held out the container and Cove’s smile grew warmer as he took it.
Cove: “Aw, you got me a present too? I got you a few things that reminded me of you too, they’re just in my bags though.”
You couldn’t help but giggle at his, not completely incorrect, guess before watching him start to open it. A look of confusion took over Cove’s face for a moment before his mind processed what he was looking at and the box slipped out of his hands.
A full range of emotions passed across his face in the moments that followed. Shock gave way to confusion, gave way to fear and worry, gave way to happiness, then he looked at you. Tears ran down his face as he took a shaky step towards you.
[Y/N]: “You’re gonna be a dad, Cove.”
A strangled sob forced its way out of his throat before he wrapped his arms around you, lifting you off the floor and spinning you around. He could only manage to croak out your name between sobs as he pressed his face into the crown of your head.
Cove: “Oh my god… Oh my god, [Y/N], really? This is incredible!”
You nodded, face pressed into his chest as tears of your own filled your eyes. Stood there holding each other just reinforced what you already knew: Cove was every piece of you that was missing, and you knew he felt the same.
Your family was right, you had each other, you’d be able to figure out the rest from there. You were going to be fine.
All three of you would be…