starchilde_lost | papa don't preach

Rachel didn't think she'd ever been so happy to have the flu in her life. Because it was the flu, hitting her hard after a week - almost two - of teasing with exhaustion and intermittent nausea, worrying enough to have her heading out to a drugstore for a pregnancy test. A test that had failed spectacularly, according to the test she'd had done later at the clinic which told her, definitively, that she was not pregnant. Nope, not in the least, despite the evil colored stick she'd ended up with at home. If there were an actual manufacturer she could sue for emotional stress, she might have done it, even in this ghost version of New York. False positive her ass, more like false nightmare-inducing panic attack.

But here she was, a couple days later, curled up on her couch with a heating pad, a mug of chamomile-ginger-something tea, and a remote control, flipping across TV channels while working her way through a third box of Kleenex. The apartment was a mess, there were take-out boxes everywhere, her entire body felt like it was in revolt, but for the moment, she was glad for it.

Because there was no way in hell she was ready to have that conversation with her boyfriend. Not now, and not ever.

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"Hey," he said, moving over to the couch and sitting down, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't worry about this. You're not pregnant, that's a very good thing."

It was. He knew that it was even if he didn't want to really believe it. This was something he needed to face and admit to whether he wanted to or not.

"You just rest and let me hold your hair back if you start to puke."

"Very good thing." A wonderful thing. A holy crap she should go out and party thing. Except for the flu thing which made her just sink into Aidan's arms like a fevered rag doll.

"Pretty sure the puking part's over, but then I haven't been eating much today so..."

"Once you're better, we'll go out and celebrate," he promised, pulling her closer to him and holding her close for the moment. This was a good thing. As unpleasant as the conversation was, it would have been worse had she actually been pregnant, he knew that.

"Drinking. Roller coasters. Smoke cigars. Paint a room. All the things you shouldn't do when pregnant."

Snuffling, she huddled even closer to him, probably not the wisest if she didn't want him sick, too, but she needed to be held. All the fear and frustration from the last few weeks had built up and she hadn't been able to do anything about it. And now, well, now she had another worry. No matter what Aidan said, she'd seen his face and while she couldn't read his mind she knew there was a piece of him, that piece that embraced everything about his newly returned humanity, that wanted a family someday.

And she was terrified that he'd either bury that for her sake and end up resenting her for it, or leave her because of it. Neither option made her happy. But denial and repression were part of her genes so she pushed it away.

"Where the hell are you going to find a roller coaster on the island, McCollin?"

"I don't know. Too bad we can't go to Coney Island," he said. That would actually have been a lot of fun, not that there wasn't a lot to do in New York still.

"But I think you at least deserve a day at the spa and a night out with your boyfriend that isn't about a dead body, drunkenness, or talks you'd rather not have."

"Mmmmm, spa. Mani-pedi. Full-body massage. Don't make promises like that, babe, I might move in there." She could make jokes. She could push it away and when he left she'd freak out again. She could do that.

"What, you don't think I wouldn't join you there?" he said, smiling at her as he kissed the top of her head again. They were definitely going to a spa when she was better if she was this excited about the idea of it.

"Feel the need for some pampering, babe?" Not that she was all that surprised, Aidan was having a crappy-ass month, too. Maybe she should skip New Year's and spend the night relaxing at a spa instead.

"I have to work to keep this flawless complexion now. It's rough being a human," he joked. He would gladly take any and all bodily limitations in exchange for his humanity. Part of that was what made humanity so beautiful.

"Tell me that when you get this flu." She reached for her kleenex and blew her nose for what felt like the five thousandth time. Something else that hurt, her nose. Her head, her stomach, her entire body...

"That's alright, you look plenty rough for the both of us," he told her, grinning just a bit. She was miserable, but he knew that she was glad it was just the flu and not anything else.

"Remind me to hit you when I have enough strength to." She snuggled closer and closed her eyes. At this point, if he didn't move soon, she might fall asleep on him. He was warm and... snuggly and she'd had her argument discussing thing and she wanted to forget it again as long as she could.

"I'll be sure to do that," he said, sighing happily at the feel of her pressing even closer to him. It was comforting, after the rough few moments that they'd had. He had no intention of moving for a while.

papa don't preach

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