Of boxers and late night hunger (Java)

[jack edward riley]

It hit him as soon as he walked in the door. He closed the bar down tonight for the second night this week. It wasn't a bad thing, but one look at the clock would confirm it was already past three in the morning and it was officially saturday. He ate before he left the diner but that had been earlier in the day. He quietly made his way through the dark home by the light from his cell phone. He grabbed a pair of boxers from the top drawer of his and his wife's bedroom and headed into the bathroom so not to wake her. He changed quickly into his dark blue boxers and left his ankle socks. He left his jeans and stuff folded up in the hamper they kept in the small room and shut the light off. He made his way back to the kitchen and kept the light off as he padded over to the fridge. He yawned and rubbed the back of his neck as he searched through the contents, man they needed to go food shopping.

[ava louise riley]

Ava stirred in the bed at the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway. It was late, she knew that much by the dark room, lit only by the moon. Curious, she rolled over to see that Jack wasn't there, or at least, in bed yet. Then, she looked at the clock. Three? She groaned, but it didn't last long..there was another noise and this time she was alert enough to be afraid. "Jack?" she called in a whisper that was impossible for him to hear. She looked from the and tried to peek into the hall, but it didn't work.

"Okay...there is nothing to be afraid of.." she said to herself as she crept out of bed and grabbed her robe from the end of the bed before putting it over her nightgown. She started out of the room and into the kitchen slowly.

[jack edward riley]

There wasnt much left but there was chinese food that had been from earlier in the week..should still be good. It was his more healthier brown rice and chicken with veggies that was left behind, dumplings to but you could never trust cold dumplings.He put the containers slowly and quietly on the counter and pulled out a gatorade from the bottom of the fridge pack that they picked up at costco. He slid that on the counter and dropped it. He cursed under his breath as he reached to grab the rolling bottle and let go of the door which began to close and hit into his side. The bottles on the door rattled quietly as the cold plastic hit his warm skin and gave me a shiver up his side. He shut it slowly and moved to the drawer to grab himself a fork when he heard a sound from the hall and stopped. He didn't hear it again so he continued with his task.

[ava louise riley]

Halfway down the hallway, Ava wondered if she should've brought something to protect herself. She looked around her and saw nothing, so instead of turning back, she continued. Remind me never to watch another horror movie..

Finally, she reached the dark kitchen and felt along the wall until she found the light switch. "Gotcha!" she called as the light turned on, but as soon as it did, she saw Jack standing there. She breathed a sigh of relief and moved one hand to her stomach, the other to her forehead. "Hey.." she said to him. "You're home late.."

[jack edward riley]

"Good Jesus you scared me!" He said with a hand over his own chest, holding the dumplings. He sighed and shook his head with a small smile as his eyes adjusted to the light difference. He put the dumplings down and pushed up to sit on the counter, a bad habit of his. " I closed the bar tonight and didn't get a chance to really eat..i'm sorry I woke you." He told her as he scratched his arm and grabbed a piece of paper towel from the holder on the countertop. He forked one of the dumplings and took a bite with a strange look on his face even though he continued to chew, " You want" He asked holding the container out to her.

[ava louise riley]

Ava shook her head. "No, it's okay..." she assured him. "I was having trouble sleeping, anyways.." she explained. She had had a lot on her mind the past few days. She hadn't even noticed the dumplings until he offered them to her and a wave of nausea came again. She shook her head again, trying not to let him see her cringe a little, though it was unlike her to pass on dumplings. Now just didn't feel like the right time to tell him...maybe it was fear he'd run or something. His track record was on her side. "So how was it tonight?" she asked, leaning against the counter herself, facing him.

[jack edward riley]

He furrowed a brow at her protest of cold Chinese food, turning down food in general was okay but dumplings, really? He finished the one on his fork before swallowing the lump down hard. He washed it down with some Gatorade before answering her question. " It was pretty busy, there was a rush around the time the boxing match was on but between Sam and I it was pretty under control. Cleaning up was a bitch, I let Sam go a bit early. I never realized how bad it could get in there." He told her as he rubbed his hands, from washing down the counter tops, glasses and such he thought his hands would be water logged forever. "You okay?" He asked as he realized she was a bit paler than usual.

[ava louise riley]

"Right....the boxing match..yeah...." she said, trying her best to listen and swallow back the urge to vomit until finally it passed. For now. "What? Oh, yeah..fine.." she said with a nod and a weak smile as she started to the fridge and took out the orange juice. She closed the fridge again and poured some, then sat the juice on the counter. She wondered if he believed her..probably not. She was a horrible liar. She took a sip from her glass, then set it down and looked at him. "Actually no..I mean, yes, I am, but...no." She was confusing him and herself too. She shook her head and diverted her eyes so they settled on the counter. Should she...? Like lies, she was also horrible with secrets. She hated being an honest person, sometimes.

[jack edward riley]

He opened the chicken and brown rice as she spoke and ate some of the cold vegetables. He swallowed and looked across at her as she spoke, not making much sense he picked up that something must be wrong and the first thing that came to mind was himself. " Is it me? I mean I'm sorry I haven't been around lately as much as i'd want to, and I never got to take you anywhere after the wedding but I mean with the diner and the pub I just am trying to settle down with everything so I can spend more time home." He told her as he dranks some of the Gatorade and pushed himself off the counter so he could lean back against it.

[ava louise riley]

Ava looked over at him, shaking her head again. "No, it's not you..." she said, then started to ramble again. "Well it is....it's me and..." she took another drink as if it was high on alcohol and not sugar content before looking at him again. "You know how when they say things are ninety-nine percent effective, there is still a chance they won't be? Like a one in a hundred chance, right? Well..I think with our luck we should try the lottery because...Apparently, we're one in a hundred." Unable to read his expression, she assumed he was confused so she continued. "I'm pregnant."

[jack edward riley]

He tried to keep up with her rambling about..something and folded her arms across his chest with a confused look upon his face until she summed it up. Pregnant. She was pregnant and he did it. He closed his eyes before looking out into the space in front of him trying to collect his thoughts. He had been in this situtation before but never from this step. His first thought was about the night Adam passed before it jumped back to the kitchen and her last sentence. "Pregnant as in bun in the oven, booster seat please..baby?" He said as he his mind ran in different directions to different senarios before looking over at his wife.

[ava louise riley]

Okay, so it hadn't been as bad as she'd hoped...at least not saying it, now all she had to do was wait for a response. Which seemed to take an eternity. But he needed time to process it..she got that. Hell, she was still processing it herself. She'd wanted kids, sure, someday, but she hadn't planned anytime soon. She was a senior in college about to start her career, a career she'd been working towards her whole life. She wasn't sure she could just give that all up... "Pregnant as in..yeah." she said with a nod, looking at him. She went to take another drink but the glass was empty and she put it down again. It had been more to keep busy than anything else. "Please talk." she pleaded with him. "Because if you don't say something, anything, than I'm going to go crazy and my mind will start wandering back to the zillions of scenarios that I'd played this out as...none of which happen to be very good, so I would hate to have to do that.." Again, a nervous ramble.

[jack edward riley]

He turned to her and tried to silence her with a kiss. He lingered for a moment before resting back against the counter once again with his hands behind him on the countertop. He took a deep breath before speaking, "Well I dont want your mind to explode." He said with a small nod, " I mean its not fully processed right now but it's not a bad thing. I mean I wouldn't want to go through this with anyone else but you, and uh I know this umm isn't something that we planned right now but this is..good right?" He asked trying to get her opinion before he jumbled his own.

[ava louise riley]

She was going to say more when she felt his lips touch hers and she couldn't help but smile into the kiss..and then, quiet. She listened as he spoke, relieved. Even happy at what he was saying. "I wouldn't want this with anyone but you, either." she said honestly, nodding. "And I know the timing is..completely awful, but...we can make it work, right? I mean, things at the diner and the Orchid are good and I'm almost done with school and..." She was looking him in the eye now. "I'm scared." she admitted, honestly to him. She had barely any experience with kids aside from Rachel's sister, Lily and she didn't know the first thing about being a mom since hers had barely been around.

[jack edward riley]

"Me too." He said with a small nod. He was scared of screwing up again, he hadn't even known Adam long enough to be a father before he was taken. He was scared that with two buisnesses he would be to busy and not get a chance to do everything he should. " Everythings gonna be fine, I can work around the scheduling with work and do whatever we need to do to you know do this right." He said as he ran his hand over the back of hers, "This is good." He said with a reassuring smile on his face.