Archive of Our Own ^beta

He’s standing by the door. She doesn’t notice the sound of his footsteps as she sits thoughtlessly on the side of her bed.
“It’s me. Can I come in?” he asks, thinking back to the last time he visited and was told to leave.
This time, she says: “Sure.”
She sounds more solemn than usual, which worries Jayce. He walks over and takes a seat beside her on the soft bed.
“You doing okay?” he asks, tucking a loose strand of hair (she doesn’t usually allow herself to have any of those) behind her ear.
She bites the inside of her cheek and fidgets with her hands.
“I’m fine.” she responded bluntly.
Jayce hated to see her like this. Usually, she was so eager to talk to him but now each of her responses were quick and to the point.
Jayce knew it was a weird question, but he really wanted to ask:
“Um, are you craving anything?”
“No…not yet. Actually I haven’t wanted to eat much of anything lately.”
“Oh. You been feeling sick?” he asked.
Recalling the violent vomiting fit that had taken control of her that morning, Mel nodded. Nausea still lingered within her despite the fact that it was now late afternoon.
“Pretty sick.”
Mel thought for a moment before she spoke again, deciding how she should word the question that had been burning in her mind since the day she found out.
“Do you think I’d be good at it?” she finally said.
Clearly she didn’t word it right…
“At what?” Jayce asked.
Mel rolled her eyes.
“At being a mother.” she added.
Jayce, who now felt utterly stupid, turned so that he could place his hands on Mel’s shoulders.
“Mel, of course you would. I’m not saying it won’t be hard but… I’ll be here for you.” he said sincerely. A declaration of his loyalty to her and to this unexpected baby.
“Thank you; that makes me feel better.. You’ll make a great dad you know.”
Jayce can’t help but feel excited about this. The thought of raising a child - he didn’t care if it was a girl or a boy - was something he had always dreamed of. He was lucky to have the loving parents that he did, even if he did lose his father young. It brought him joy knowing that him and Mel were going to show their child just as much, if not even more love. He realised that it wasn’t so simple for Mel. She had revealed to him, after her disappearance and after the war, that she didn’t even know who her father was. He liked that his child would never have to worry about that, as Mel would never have an affair and he would never ever leave his child unless it was God’s plan to rip him from the world, or to take him away from them in some way.
He shuffled over to be closer to her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Then, she said something that was more like her.
“Tell me about your inventions or something.”
Jayce smiled at this, causing her to smile also. He immediately began to ramble on about some complex device he had been working on that would one day be able to restore people’s hearing if they had suffered hearing loss. Mel was genuinely impressed by this and it made Jayce want to work even harder on it. He admitted that he wasn’t 100% sure how it would work yet, and that he had only made a few undeveloped prototypes.

Mel fell asleep on his shoulder, not due to boredom but due to the toll pregnancy was already having on her body. Jayce thought he might just be the luckiest man in the world.

~ The next day ~

Jayce walked in, a large paper bag in one hand and the keys to Mel’s abode in the other. She had given him a spare set of keys the day she told him she was pregnant, given that they would have to be spending a lot more time together. It was almost 11am, so Jayce was expecting to see Mel up and dressed and hoped that he wouldn’t wake her or anything.
To his surprise, he heard the horrible sound of retching. He dropped the bag and the keys and got himself to her side as quickly as possible. Not knowing what else to do, he quickly held back her long curls. She was slightly alarmed by his touch but didn’t get the opportunity to look up as she inelegantly coughed up more liquid. Mel was usually fully dressed, and sometimes even working, by 8am, yet here she was, in her nightgown, the clock saying it was almost afternoon. Jayce let go of her hair as she lowered herself to the ground and exhaled loudly, the bout of sickness finally calming down. She looked up at him.
“Oh. Hey,” she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
He put out a hand to help her up, but she batted it away and used the sink to lift herself up. Jayce presumed that this kind of thing would be reoccurring for a while - Mel refusing Jayce’s help, trying to hold onto some dignity and independence even if she was struggling. She swiped her hand over the automatic toilet flush, then proceeded to wash her hands and face thoroughly. Her eyes were heavy and there was a slight greyness to her entire face. Sweat beaded on her forehead - this was a kind of look Jayce had never seen on Mel. Quite frankly, Jayce wished he could go back in time and wear a condom or three, just to prevent all this suffering.
“Um.. why are you here?” she asked, not intending to be rude, as she tried to fix up her appearance.
“I just- sorry this probably isn’t helpful right now…I brought you some food that might be easier to…handle.”
The thought of food really did make her feel worse but Mel wasn’t going to be ungrateful.
“It’s fine. Thank you.”
They headed to her kitchen where Jayce unpacked the food. There was lots of it, which made Mel upset as she feared she wouldn’t possibly be able to eat it all before it spoiled. She couldn’t even stomach one meal a day, but she hoped things would get better soon.
“Want me to make you something?” asked Jayce casually. Mel wondered if he cooked often.
“No, definitely not. Please don’t, actually.”
She was hungry, but the sickness was pervasive, a stronger feeling. She didn’t want to throw up again, especially not with Jayce here. She would take the risk and eat later.
Jayce scoffed in fake offence.
“What- you think I can’t cook?”
Mel laughed weakly. She wanted to provide some witty comeback but couldn’t think of one. Jayce walked over smiling and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Mel wanted to pull him closer and kiss him on the lips, but realised that would be a little disgusting in her state.
“Do you want to go lie down or something?” he asked.
“I’d.. love that actually…” she replied, “Thanks again my love.”
My love?
Both of them were taken aback by this.
She had never called Jayce anything like that before. Somehow, it felt to him like it meant that their relationship was actually serious. Well, it would kind of have to be if they were to raise a child together. But there was to be a long few months before that, and the couple were both still a little confused about what they really meant to eachother. A redness rushed to his cheeks and he turned away. Mel found this very amusing.
“I’d.. better leave you alone, then.” he said, a noticeable but not purposeful hint of disappointment in his voice.
“Stay? If you want.” Mel said against her better judgement. Now she worried that she may be sick again and the embarrassment of it all began catching up to her. She hoped that it would all be over soon, as afternoon was approaching. Maybe she would be able to nap in peace. Having Jayce by her side would be very comforting… so maybe it wasn’t the worst idea in the world?

He stayed. Of course he stayed.