Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Gabe

The seasons were beginning to change in Kenya, meaning as the days switched from summer to the long rainy season, more and more people were beginning to fall ill. Local natives were coming to the MTC to seek treatment, and naturally, the MTC treated them. The MTC hadn't been so busy in quite some time, in fact, some members of the Medical Team had fallen ill--including Ella. 

The past few weeks Ella had been throwing up a lot--sometimes she'd run out of bed just to throw up. I speculated that she had gotten a stomach bug from a patient, but she assured me that it wasn't anything like that. She was stubborn, refusing to admit that she was sick. 

That morning I was awakened around 5 am by Ella getting up abruptly and running outside to throw up again. I followed her out into the rain and held her hair back, worried about why this bug had been lasting for so long, "El, are you okay?"

She stood upright and nodded, wiping her mouth, "I'm okay, just a little thirsty."

"You go inside and dry off," I told her. "I'll go grab you a water bottle, okay?"

She shook her head, "I have one inside."

I nodded and helped her inside, where I sat her down on the bed and grabbed a towel for her, ordering her to take off her clothes. She did and I wrapped a dry towel around her, making sure she was warm. I helped her slide into a sweater and pulled the blanket over her. "Go back to sleep, love."

I stroked her wet hair as she fell asleep and checked the time. It was almost 6, so I decided to get up for good. I stood up and being as quiet as possible, I got up and shut the door behind me as I left. I stepped out into the rain and jogged to the barracks, greeting Private James as I arrived at the barracks, crawling with drowsy soldiers. "Spent the night with your girl again?"

"Yeah," I yawned. "Beats sleeping by your smelly ass."

Private James grinned, "I'm the one who actually took a shower this morning."

I rolled my eyes, "You're running extr--"

"You look great even with bed-head, Sir!"

~oOo~

Around 16:30, I finally had time to drop by the MTC to visit Ella. I came in and saw her sitting with Private Morgan and Nurse Lee outside Amani's room. Amani was napping inside, and Ella kept tossing looks over to make sure he was still asleep. The three women whispered urgently, and I approached, the only word I was positive I heard was 'pregnant.'

"Holy fuck, you're pregnan--" Whitney quickly stopped mid-sentence as she saw me approaching. "H-hi Sergeant Whit!" She awkwardly saluted.

"Hey, babe!" Ella greeted squeakily. I raised an eyebrow, she only called me babe when she was nervous.

"So...who's pregnant?" I asked casually.

Ella quickly cracked her knuckles in one consecutive craaaack as Whitney sharply inhaled. Private Morgan spoke up swiftly, looking me dead in the eye, "I am." She placed her hand on her stomach. "I'm two months along."

Ella gave her a look as my jaw dropped, "J-Jesus Christ--does James know?"

"Yes. I told him last night."

Now that I thought about it, Captain Cooper had been oddly happy that morning--he had been whistling as he left the bathroom. "Congratulations! Especially to James for getting so--"

Ella smacked my arm, "Yeah, Ericka, congrats!" She turned to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me away. "So what's up? Do you need something?"

"No," I poked her nose. "Do I need a reason to see my fiancee?"

"You have a fiancee? She must be crazy to want to marry you," she teased.

"She's actually quite beautiful," I added quickly as Ella began to blush. "Although her hands are freakishly small."

"I will strangle you!"

"If your hands can fit around my throat!"

"Go bald, you bastard!"

~oOo~

Captain Cooper and I stood, observing the unit as they went about their daily activities. Captain Cooper seemed to be in a good mood, and even talked to me about the way the breeze felt on his forehead. I awkwardly began, "So, Private Morgan told me..."

"--That I'm going to be a father?"

"Yeah," I lightly pushed him. "Congrats man."

"My sperm is quite remarkable."

"You would think I would get used to those kinds of comments, but I never do--"

"--pregnancy has been popular recently."

I glanced at him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Ericka is pregnant with my child, and Nurse Anderson with yours."

My jaw dropped as I turned to him, "D-Did Ella tell you that?"

He shook his head, "It's kind of obvious. Her breasts are swollen, she's been eating more lately, she's also been getting bigger."

My mouth suddenly felt incredibly dry, "You're fucking with me."

"No," Captain Cooper held eye contact with me. "Obviously, Nurse Anderson was fucking with you."

"I have to talk to her. I shouldn't get my hopes up. Maybe she's just getting fa--not that Ella is fat, she's beautiful. Breathtaking, actually," I rambled, not sure what I was thinking. 

Captain Cooper patted my shoulder, grinning, "Congratulations, Daddy."

"Please don't call me 'daddy.' That is incredibly wrong, Sir."

"But you call me 'sir' and that is arguably kinkier."

"James..." I stared at him incredulously. "That's not the same."

~oOo~

Ella and I sat in her room, both in our sweats. Ella was eating pickled celery while sitting on the ground with her legs crossed in front of her. I smiled, seeing her with her glasses and sweatpants with her curly hair wrapped in a towel was incredibly adorable.

"So Whit got super excited and wanted to take us out for drinks, but I had to remind her that Ericka was pregnant," Ella giggled as she munched on her pickled celery. "Anyway, tell me about your day, sweetie?"

I scratched the back on my neck as I sat on the edge of her bed, looking down at her, "Captain Cooper and I had a nice conversation."

"About?" 

"Well you know, kinky titles and how you're pregnant."

"What? I'm pregnant? How do you know?"

"Oh, my God," I got onto the floor, sitting across from her. "He was right. You are pregnant! For how long?"

"I was gonna tell you, I swear! I just--I found out yesterday for sure and I didn't know how you would react because we aren't married yet and--"

I pressed my lips against hers, pulling her close. I placed my hand on her stomach and smiled at her, "Baby, this is amazing! I'm gonna be a dad!" 

She nodded tearfully and patted her belly, "We made a baby. We're a family!"

I pulled her into my chest, kissing her hair and her face, just anything I could reach. Today was the start of our family. Today was the start of our new life, and I was so excited.

"I love you," I whispered into her hair. "and I love you, new baby."