Chapter Text
Two things happen that change Langdon forever as a partner.
The first is when Mel is sick, and he tries to comfort her. She’s sore, achy, and embarrassed by throwing up in their bathroom. Even the tea he makes her has her sick again.
After a few days, he sees her with her thumb in her mouth, staring at the grocery list. It’s so focused, he swears he’s watching from behind glass. After a long moment, she scribbles something down.
At first, he thinks it’s nothing. If it were that private, she wouldn’t put it on a grocery list. Sometimes she got anxious asking him to pick up anxiety medication or tampons, but he has never flinched.
But he’s moving to check it while at the store, because she’s watching Tanner and Penny, and he stops in his tracks. Prenatal vitamins?
As far as he knows, she hasn’t taken a test. She hasn’t mentioned anything about her period or anything else.
But she has been excellent with the kids. She’s sweet and empathetic, if a little awkward. They don’t seem to mind one bit. Tanner just got diagnosed with ADHD and she has been wonderful helping him with some tricks Langdon never learned as a child.
He picks up the multivitamins Abby used with Penny. She liked them better, and her levels had been good.
It’s hard not to be a little giddy and very nervous. She had been very reluctant when he loosely brought up the topic. It’s a huge topic, likely not one Mel had expected at the time. But someone at daycare asked when they would have one, and she stuttered a non committal response.
That night, he’d simply asked if it was ever something she wanted. She had a laundry list of sensory issues and reasons not to. He had told her it was in no way an urgent topic, and if she didn’t want another he would be perfectly happy with the two he has. Even though he had not been able to make it work with Abby, she was a great coparent and had given him the best children.
-
“Thanks,” she squeaks when he passes her the bottle.
“Mel? Uh… I just wanted to know what the… plan is. Why the vitamins?” He also knows some women take them for great hair and nails.
“I… I just want them on hand. Plus, you know, if you ever want to start trying you should have a good folate store to prevent neural tube def—”
Frank kisses her, overcome by the mere idea. Trying. Trying with Mel.
“I— I’m not quite ready. If that’s okay?” Her brows quirk together and Frank nods. “I just like to be prepared. When I had that upset stomach I got scared that it would happen by accident and I’d really rather… I’d rather be prepared.”
And that she is. Mel always has everything the kids might need. She packs perfectly for trips. And she never ever forgets appointments, which is a saving grace.
Just prepared. Prepared to maybe have his baby.
She’s still very shy when he touches her. Though he has loved her thoroughly for months, she is self conscious and also loves when he talks her through it. Maybe that’s what she really loves.
But he is almost magnetized to her, now. He remembers the changes Abby went through. Seeing those changes on Mel… he’d like that.
“I’d like to review family health history. Any issues with Tanner or Penny’s pregnancies that could indicate genetic issues on your part. I also… I know I’m… different. And so is Becca. So, if you have concerns about that, we could also look into donor eggs or gene panels.” She looks up as if asking what type of suture is best.
“Mel, I would love a kid just like you. And if anything comes up, we will have the best resources to give them everything they need. Okay?” He rubs her shoulder, watching as she nods.
It doesn’t have to be decided that night.
Abby had been very infatuated with the idea of pregnancy. She lived in a world where Frank would come home from work at 5pm, and look after everything. He would pay the bills, she would raise perfectly behaved children.
Their children were bright, rambunctious, and full of wonder. The house was smaller than she dreamed, the hours were longer, and he was a real person instead of a carved fantasy. He had his shortcomings, and he hadn’t been sure how to address them.
She was a fantastic mom, but especially during COVID and residency, that didn’t match the image she had created. He was fatigued to hell. She had to stay with her parents so they had a cohort, and he could sequester or rest. Money was tight and politics got wild.
When he struggled, she just couldn’t understand. Couldn’t he just make more money, work harder, and provide? Couldn’t he shut it off like her father had? But look where that got him.
Mel is different. She is concerned about sensory struggles. Telling Becca also tops the list. Most of all, she’s afraid that if she becomes overstimulated or has sounds/textures that she struggles with, she won’t be able to be a good parent in that moment.
She’s concerned about genes, routines, work schedules. Her career could be altered significantly. Being dependent on Frank also creates some uncertainty, as she hasn’t depended on anyone else before. Even her parents were so busy with her twin she simply didn’t express needs.
Frank tries not to bring it up. But it changes the way he sees her with his kids. It changes how he analyzes his own children and their emotional regulation. She knows a lot about childhood development, her curiosity about herself and her own struggles getting the best of her.
And it completely shifts the way he sees Mel.
She eagerly holds a patients baby, when he needs to help a new mom who went too hard trying to lose weight. He has to correct his focus numerous times. The mother asks Mel if she has any, and she stutters over herself to say ‘someday’.
It makes him need a break, disappearing as he pictures Mel with their own. It takes several minutes of cold water splashes to get himself in order.
When she’s cooking, he slips his hand around her midsection. When they’re at the zoo with Penny and Tanner, he sees a stroller and kisses her hair. Any time babies show up on television, he tucks her into his side. Each action gets a grateful hum, her eyes fluttering when there’s enough privacy.
“Frank?” Mel asks on the drive home. Both of them are beat, absolutely drained by a lengthy day.
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m ready.” She peeks up at him and he stops at the light, staring back. Both are silent.
He just smiles, filled with love and hope and excitement. Learning her has opened up this whole new world to him. Being loved and wanted and understood has also changed Mel, she tells him all the time. But they can both offer so much to a baby.
“But I am going to have a bunch of sensory issues and I’ll need someone to help me when I do. You said Abby was glowing and had easy, smooth pregnancies. What if I’m different? Or— I might feel really awkward because people want to touch me? I don’t like being centre of attention, and I worry they won’t be able to have friends because everyone will think I’m weird?”
Frank pulls the car into the driveway, letting Mel muse quietly. If he counters her points too quickly, sometimes she feels like he is disregarding them.
“Mel, I love you just as you are. If you need a little extra help, I’ll be here however I can.” He means every word.
—
So when he knows the little beep from her phone, he gets anxious. Mel is jittery at work the entire day, and he tries to gently reassure her. She wants to try, and her app is saying it’s time.
She’s so nervous that he almost won’t sleep with her. As he peels away the layers, he chases the fabric with his mouth on her skin. Her fingers tangle in his hair as he gently kisses and sucks at her centre.
“Need you,” she murmurs and he knows she’s scared.
“Just let me take care of you. Gotta taste you, feel you cum on my face. Show me you’re ready for me,” he crows. “Just relax, baby.”
Mel takes a steadying breath, sinking into the bed and unwinding beneath him.
Frank brings her just a hair from climax, over and over. Her hips roll up, chasing him when he abandons her core and kisses her thighs. When he lays a gentle kiss over her womb, she yanks on his shoulders.
The kiss he gives is something profound. It feels as if his heart is bound to her forever in this moment. He can give her a baby, but she alone has given him this sort of love.
It’s the start of them making a family.
“Ready?” He strokes her side, watching her expression loosen. She shuffles a little, nodding as he kneads her thigh and hooks it around him.
Mel King has never, ever, had unprotected sex. She took her pill the same day, at the same time, religiously. She insisted on condoms, and knew the statistics of efficacy for each form of birth control.
Even the nudge of his silken tip makes her moan, fingers digging into him. Frank kisses her slowly and tenderly, whispering reassurance and encouragement. He offers to wait, and she shakes her head and tightens her legs grip.
“Fuck, Mel.” Frank gasps when he slides through her folds for the first time with nothing between them. Nothing to stop pregnancy.
“I love you. Please, please, I wanna be pregnant.” Mel is nodding and cupping his jaw, like he’s the one unsure. But he guides her hips to angle upward and kisses her again as he sinks inside.
Both of them hold each other, catching their breath and touching everywhere. The sensation is electric, a mix of nerves and pleasure. Frank looks at her eyes as she finds some tether again.
“I am so fuckin’ grateful I found you, Mel.” Frank whispers as he tucks her hair back. She hates it in her face, and he sees her eyes crinkle as she allows the tender moment.
When she pulls his mouth to hers, she makes no complaint when he quickly moves to kiss and nip at her neck and earlobe. For someone so touch averse, she loves every crumb of physical contact he can offer.
His rhythm is slow but deep, swivelling his hips when he presses against her cervix. She makes that beautiful sound, the one where it’s just shy of pain but almost all pleasure. He returns with a long groan, anticipating how it’ll feel to finish right there.
She’s mewling, meeting each thrust with canted hips. He feels her tighten, he whispers that she’s so, so good.
“Too nervous,” she whispers through hitched breath. She said the same thing when they first slept together.
“Focus on how good you are for me. I love you. Lemme breed you, lemme enjoy these perfect tits while they’re all mine,” he growls before lowering his mouth to her nipple.
She lets her head fall back and keens at his affections. It’s absolute bliss, having him worship at her altar.
“So pretty, Mel. Open up for me. Let me give you a baby,” he murmurs. And she relaxes, bit by bit, as he kisses her throat, her cheek, then her mouth.
Mel wraps around him, letting out noises she usually bottles up. Her fingers move to her clit, and he knows she must be right there. The way she tightens and pulses around him makes his own body electric.
“Look how bad you want me. You need me… need me filling you up.” Whatever he’s saying after that is senseless and filthy, governed only by greed and instinct as he buries deeper and deeper.
Mel flutters around him another minute, eagerly waiting to let him catch up. It’s so euphoric, he’s almost unwilling to chase his high too quickly. Instead, he savours this moment. If he were any further pressed against her, they’d be melded.
“Please,” she begs.
“Please, what?” He smirks and kisses her at length, knowing that if she asks him he will finish immediately. He just wants one more moment of this, here.
“Mmmmm, please cum inside me.” Her cheeks heat, and he groans because she shouldn’t sound so filthy and look so shy.
“Yeah, Mel. Yeah? Why?” He feels the tightness in his body, the precipice approaching rapidly. Her palm moves to where she can feel him through her low abdomen, and that makes him see stars. She’s letting loose, crying out loudly as he pummels her depths and knocks against the flat of her hand.
“I wanna have your baby!” Mel lets out a shuddering breath as her climax knocks the wind out of her. She winds one hand into his hair, the other abandons her middle and digs into his low back.
Frank has never been deeper, nor cum harder in his life.
“Feel fuckin amazing.” The praise makes her clench around him again. Frank groans into her shoulder, still rolling his hips as the pleasure washes through him again and again.
Mel kisses him anxiously, holding his face.
They’re both pretty sure they can never go back from how they feel in this moment.
“I love you.” Both speak at the same time, and laugh in each other’s arms.
But seeing Mel’s eyes sparkle with the possibility of carrying his baby changes him forever. It changes the way he looks at her when she changes an ingredient while cooking. It alters how she is at work when the topic comes up, which means he needs to find a professional and quiet way to reassure her.
It even changes what some of their friends mean when they ask how things are going. Mel told Dana and Trinity, who has slowly adjusted to his presence. He told McKay and eventually, Robby.
Frank holds Mel when they go to bed, one hand over her middle. And he’s ready for everything else to change, too.