For Better or Worse

That's a cute way to tell everyone about the pregnancy, but you know Henry is going to ask a lot of questions. I hope we get to listen in on that Birds and Bees talk because I'm sure Michael is going to be embarrassed.

Chris
 
Glad everything is starting to work out for the Vaughn's. But it does seem too easy. Hehe can't wait for the talk with Henry! OoO Can't wait for everyone to get their presents.
 
Chapter 12
The next day, for their belated Thanksgiving celebration, Sydney, Michael and Henry headed over to the elder Vaughn’s household. There, they would be meeting Sydney’s parents for the holiday. Ever since Sydney and Michael were engaged many years earlier, their families had been celebrating holidays together. Both Michael and Sydney were only children, so they had no other family to speak of. The Vaughn’s and Bristow’s agreed it would be silly for them to spend holidays apart, when they could be spent together. This concept was only reaffirmed after their first grandchild was born.

When the Vaughn family of three arrived at Michael’s house, Sydney’s parents had yet to arrive. As soon as Henry greeted both of his grandparents, he went straight to the TV and began playing the video game system there. A few months earlier, for his seventh birthday, that had been the gift he received, though both Sydney and Michael knew it was really a game for Michael’s father, even if he did not have the slightest clue how to play most of the games.

“Dad you gonna play with me?” Henry asked.

“In a minute, buddy; go ahead and start without me,” Michael told his son, before going into the kitchen to steal some food as it was being cooked.

Sydney glanced over at her son and shook her head slightly before saying to her mother-in-law, “We’re gonna have to pry him away from that thing again.”

“Well yes, but at least you don’t have one at your house,” Amelia pointed out with a smile. Sydney nodded with a slight laugh; that was definitely true. She did not want to spend half of her waking hours policing Henry to make sure he did not go near his video game for any more than his allotted time on it.

After just a few more minutes, Sydney’s parents arrived, and she greeted them both with warm hugs. Shortly after that, they all sat down to enjoy the wonderful Thanksgiving meal Amelia had prepared for them. As usual, their meal conversations were full of lots of laughter, mostly stemming from the things Henry said. Once the table was cleared, but before the desserts were brought out, Sydney and Michael began passing around their presents to everyone.

“What’s this?” Sydney’s father, Jack, asked, carefully looking down at the red package in his hand.

“We all get one?” Henry questioned as he took the package his father was handing him.

“Yep, you all need to open it at once, go ahead,” Sydney encouraged as she sat back down next to her husband.

Not surprisingly, Henry was the first to tear into the package he held with lightening speed. When he pulled out the frame, a grimace crossed his face. “What the heck is this thing?” he asked, confusion in his voice.

“Henry, language,” Sydney warned sharply.

“But what is it?!” he demanded.

Sydney’s mother, the next to reveal her gift, gasped loudly in answer to the question. “Oh they’re going to have a baby!” she squealed. This was met by many more cheers and congratulations, as each parent rushed to embrace their child in a warm hug. It was only after all the hugs were over that Sydney noticed Henry had yet to move from his spot at the table.

“What’s the matter, honey? Don’t you want to be a big brother?” Sydney asked him softly.

“Yeah, I guess. I’m just tryin’ to figure out what this thing is,” he pointed to the grainy picture in the frame.

“It’s a sonogram; a picture of the baby,” Michael told him.

Henry looked down at the photo with a look of utter bewilderment. “That’s not a baby! It’s a blob!”

Everyone laughed. “Well, that’s what the baby looks like right now,” Sydney told him. “It’s going to grow nice and big for the next few months; your little brother or sister won’t be here until June.”

“Whoa! It’s gonna be big by then!” Henry exclaimed. Sydney looked slightly wary while Michael laughed along with the rest of their family. “So where is it? Do you have it in you like Joey’s mom does?” Henry asked his mother.

“Yep, right here,” Sydney said, patting her lower belly.

Henry scrutinized the area Sydney was petting before circling his mother once, as though trying to figure out where she was holding a full size human underneath her black dress. “That’s weird,” he concluded, sitting back down at the table. “Can we have pie now?”

“Of course,” Michael said, patting his head.

The rest of the afternoon was consumed with baby excitement. As Sydney and Michael expected, their mothers demanded why they had waited so long to tell them about their pregnancy. The two of them answered in a very non-answer fashion, stating that they simply did without giving a reason at all. Of course, this perturbed the elder women slightly, but they were too excited about the new baby to be that angry.

Henry did not say much about the baby until they were in the car on the way home. Then, he voiced all his opinions and curiosities on the issue. “It think it’ll be nice to have a little brother; we can play and stuff,” Henry determined.

“What if it’s a girl?” Michael asked him.

“Yuck! Girls are gross! We can’t have one of them in the house,” Henry said with a scrunched up nose.

“But she’d be your sister and you would love her,” Sydney told him. Henry still grimaced.

“How’d the baby get inside you, Mom?” Henry asked a few moments later. Sydney and Michael briefly exchanged glances; this was the question line they had been dreading.

“Well all babies grow up inside mommies until they’re big enough to come out,” Sydney explained simply.

“But how did it get in there?” Henry asked.

“Well,” Michael began cautiously, taking over the explanation task as he knew Sydney wanted him to. “When Mommies and Daddies love each other and decide they want to have a baby, they put a little bit of each of themselves together and then that little bit goes into the Mommies for it to grow big and strong.”

“But how does it get in there? Does she eat it?” he asked.

“No sweetie, I don’t eat the baby,” Sydney said. “You’ll just have to understand it a bit better when you get a little older.”

“Okay,” Henry sighed exasperatedly. “But how’s it gonna get out? Is it gonna fall out?”

“Definitely not,” Sydney muttered under her breath.

“The baby won’t fall out, but if you really wanna see how it comes out you can watch him or her be born,” Michael said. Sydney shot her husband a horrified glare. It was bad enough that he and all the doctors had to be in the room, milling around in that general area; she was certainly not going to scar her seven-year-old son with it!

“Will it be gross?” Henry asked cautiously.

“Yep,” Michael told him honestly; Sydney fumed.

“Then I don’t wanna see!” Henry said adamantly. Michael flashed Sydney a proud smile only to see the glare she was giving him. Gulping slightly, Michael turned back to the road; he was definitely not looking forward to the conversation they would be having when they got home.
 
Henry's reaction about the new addition to the family is just like a 7 year old boy would express himself. especially when it's about boys having a little sister! I'm sure though that he will be fine... he might scrunch his nose a little further...

The only thing I'm worried about is that Sydney might reject Henry once her daughter is born (if it is a girl of course...) :thinking:
 
Adorable update. I was in the delivery room when my niece was born.. wonderful experience really.. not so much for a 7 year old boy tho.
 
Henry, watch the Discovery Channel or PBS, I'm sure you'd find out how babies get into their mother's stomachs. That saved me from having to come up with an embarrassing explanation. :blush:

Chris
 
Chapter 13
For Sydney and Michael, Christmas Eve always had extra special meaning to them. Of course they appreciated it as a holiday celebrating families and togetherness with loved ones, but for them, it represented a significant milestone in their romantic relationship.

Many years earlier, Sydney and Michael decided it would be nice for them to spend their first Christmas as a couple together. Since moving back to the same town and dating regularly, things had only become better for them. By Christmas, they were still going strong after over nine months. For their joint celebration, they had a sleep over at Michael’s apartment so they could share Christmas morning together. Then, they would part to spend Christmas with their respective families.

Sydney was particularly excited for that years Christmas, mostly because it would be her first with Michael. Even with that happiness, the holiday bought a certain amount of nerves since she intended on bringing up a rather taboo subject, which she was not very comfortable discussing. Back in the beginning of their relationship, neither of them brought up the topic of sex, mostly because it was impossible for them; they were two states apart. However, once moving to the same town, it was more of an issue. They only discussed it once, on their second real date and, at that time, they both agreed to wait until a later time before crossing that intimate threshold. Ever since then, the subject was not spoken about at all, mostly due to their mutual dread of the topic. But, since they had been together for over nine months, Sydney felt it was appropriate to bring up again.

Sydney vividly recalled just how uncertain she was on Christmas Eve. In fact, she was so preoccupied with their impending conversation, Michael consistently asked her what was wrong through the early evening until she finally confessed to the thoughts she was having. As soon as she stammered out the topic, Michael laughed it off, sounding very relieved. Apparently, he wished to bring it up as well, but was concerned for her reaction. Once they were assured they shared the same views on the subject, they retreated to Michael’s bedroom to have one of the best Christmas Eve’s ever.

Ever since that night fifteen years earlier, Sydney and Michael had always celebrated Christmas Eve in their own special way. Of course, that celebrating became very difficult once they had Henry, who, naturally, was so excited on Christmas Eve he never wanted to go to bed, but they still celebrated in some way, shape, or form.

That year, for some reason neither Sydney nor Michael understood, Henry was obsessed with going ice skating. He had been talking about it for weeks and was desperate to go try and skate since he had never been. Michael, a self-proclaimed klutz when it came to sports, had no interest in making a fool of himself while he tried to skate, knowing that his seven-year-old would most likely get the hang of it long before he did. While Sydney skated as a child, she had not been in many years, and did not want to risk falling on her pregnant belly, which was just beginning to show by that time. To remedy this situation, Sydney’s mother volunteered to take him since she enjoyed skating very much. This was perfectly fine with Henry’s parents; they wanted the time alone anyway.

During that lazy Christmas Eve afternoon, Michael and Sydney lay in bed, tangled up in their messy bed covers. As they lay there in silence, Michael continually stroked Sydney’s lower belly, where a bump was beginning to form since she was almost through her fourth month of pregnancy. “Mm you know, we’re really getting too old for this,” Sydney pointed out rather sadly.

“For what?” Michael questioned, curious as to what she was referring to.

“Spending entire afternoons in bed,” she said with a laugh. “We’re not in our twenties anymore…”

“So?” he insisted. What did it matter how old they were? Spending a relaxing afternoon in the arms of a loved one was a good thing at any age. “I have a feeling we’re going to be doing this very often in the coming months.”

“Oh are we?” she asked with a curious eyebrow raised.

Michael nodded. “Yep, you’re gonna start to get really horny soon-”

“Michael!” Sydney cut him off with a screech.

“What?” he laughed. “It’s true! Remember when you were pregnant with Henry? Around your fifth month you, my dear, were insatiable. Not that I was complaining, of course,” he grinned wickedly.

“Michael,” she groaned that time, elbowing him lightly. “I was not insatiable I was just…,” she paused, trying to find the right term, “a bit more interested than usual.”

“Yeah, okay,” Michael snorted, indicating clearly that she thought she was understating her attitude to an extreme degree.

“Shut up Michael,” she grumbled at him.

“Sorry, it’s just funny,” he laughed. “I’m looking forward to it actually.”

“I’ll bet you are,” she rolled her eyes before sliding out from his embrace. At this, he whined and gave her a pouting face. “Our son will be home soon, do you want him to find us like this?” she said, gesturing towards their equally undressed states.

“Well, no, that could be a little awkward,” he said with a slight laugh. Luckily, they had managed to make it through seven years without Henry catching them in such a state. Not that they hadn’t had a few close calls, of course. Most notably the time Henry walked into the bathroom while Sydney and Michael were both in the shower. He was only four-years-old at the time, and it was very early in the morning. The bathroom he usually used was broken at the time, so he was forced to use the one his parents typically inhabited. Shortly after Michael jumped in on his wife in the shower, they heard the door creak open. Michael poked his head out of he shower and saw his son sleepily rubbing his eyes. At that point, Sydney and Michael froze, hardly breathing at all until, thankfully, their son left the room none the wiser.

“Hey speaking of awkward moments – you got Henry that train set thing, right?” Sydney asked, remembering the momentous holiday that would be arriving in just a few short hours.

Michael turned a shade paler. “What train set thing…?”

“The train set thing that I told you to get months ago. The one that I circled in the Toys-R-Us catalog in yellow highlighter and specifically told you to get. The one that I left you sickie note reminders about inside your wallet,” Sydney said, her tone growing increasingly more annoyed with each sentence.

“Ohhh that - yea I got it,” he smiled proudly.

Sydney grumbled and threw a pair of socks at him. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry I really forgot what you were talking about it, but no worries. Christmas is not ruined,” he said.

“Thank god,” she nodded.
 
Back
Top