//Peter love on this one. Fluff, but of course it’s fluff.//

It had been one of those days. Crisis after crisis. The dog puked on the carpet, Audra somehow found Julian’’s markers and made a mural on the living room wall, and they had been fighting since Julian got home from school. To top it off, Peter called to let you know he’d be home late.  At 8:00 both kids had been bathed and tucked in to bed. You loved and adored your kids but some days, whew. 

 In the bathroom you dumped the contents of the box onto the counter. You didn’t know why you were bothering to take another test. Between the previous two tests being positive and your symptoms it was a moot point. Positive. Big surprise. 

 Sighing, you flopped back on the bed. How were you going to tell Peter? You thought back to when you found out about your pregnancies with Julian and Audra. He was ecstatic, but you had been trying. This little one wasn’t planned.

Placing your hands on your belly, you smiled. You loved being pregnant, and being a mom. You got lost in your thoughts and drifted off to sleep.

 The sound of Peter coming in the bedroom woke you. Fluttering your eyes open you glanced at the bedside clock-9:30pm. “Hey babe. You look beat.”

He leaned down and placed a kiss on your cheek. “Exhausted, actually. I just want to shower, eat and crawl in to bed with you.” He gave you a salacious grin. 

 You smiled back at him and bite your lip. Watching Peter undress was the highlight of your day. You leaned back, hands behind your head and marveled at his muscular body. The simple act of him loosening his tie as enough to turn you on.

 “Enjoying the show, kitten?” Before you could answer, he strolled into the bathroom to shower.

Pushing yourself up from the bed, you went to warm dinner up for Peter. You had just got the food in the microwave when Peter called to you, “Come here, please.”

You walked into the bathroom and froze. He was holding the pregnancy test in his hand. ‘Shit’ you said to yourself. How did you forget to throw it away. You mentally kicked yourself. 

 “Care to tell me what this is?“, Peter asks, mouth a thin line.

 “Well that is a pregnancy test. A ,uh, positive… pregnancy test… t-to be exact” you said in a small voice.

 “You’re pregnant.” He said his voice low.

 “So it would seem”, you replied, looking up trying to gauge his reaction. 

“How could you let this happen?”, his voice still low.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m pretty sure I didn’t get myself pregnant, Peter!.”, your voice raising.

 Peter brushed past you to the bedroom. “I need some air.” He threw on clothes. 

“Peter. I think-” but he interrupted you. 

 “I’ll be back be back later. I-I just…” He gave you an incredulous look before he stalked out of the bedroom. 

 You were left standing alone in your bedroom. “Well that didn’t go like I thought it would.” You sighed. “Like it’s all my fault. “ ‘how could you let this happen?’” , you looked around the room, “Why the hell am I talking to myself?” You shook your head, deciding to shower then have a cup of tea.

Feeling a fraction better after your shower, you wrapped yourself in your robe and went down to make a cup of tea. Looking out the kitchen window, you saw Peter sitting on the patio. He never left. Making two cup, you went out to join him.

He looked over at you when you sat next to him. You passed him his cup if tea. “Don’t worry I didn’t poison it, although I’d have very right to.” Peter’s face remained blank, but he accepted the tea.

“I’m afraid I’m turning into my father”, he confessed.

And there it was. His biggest fear. “Peter. Hey. You are not your father. You are present in your children’s lives. You love them, they know you do and they think you can walk on water.” 

He turned to face you, “Some days I feel like I am just keeping my head above water. Other days I’m bouyant. Today I was drowning. And when I saw that pregnancy test, it scared the hell out me”, his voice was shaky. 

You took your hand in yours, you looked him in the eyes, “Peter, the thing that separates you from your father is the fact that it bothers you not being home for dinner with us, to tuck the kids in, or read them a story. And this baby”, you placed his hand on your belly, “you will love just as much as Julian and Audra. There are days we’re going to feel like we’re drowning. When that happens, we’ll  toss the other a life preserver.” 

“You always have been able to talk me down”, he took a deep breath and slowly let it out, “so I’m gonna be a daddy again.” He nodded his head, “yeah, I like the sound of that.” He smiled big.

“Only one problem really”, you said,” We’re out numbered now.”