Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was three in the morning and Cynthia was editing her latest political science paper. She needed to get an A on this paper to keep her scholarship, and the pressure was getting to her. If she wanted to, she could call her boyfriend Larry for support, he was probably up doing some reading for pre-law, but it'd just distract them both.

When she was done, Cynthia was probably more worried than before, because she didn't have anything to distract her. It was hard enough doing school now, if she lost her scholarship Cynthia would have to get a shitty job just to pay tuition and then she'd flunk cause she couldn't possibly put as much effort into the coursework and oh god she'd barely have enough money to eat and okay, she was officially freaking out.

But before she could begin panicking in earnest, Cynthia felt a churning in her stomach and she ran to the bathroom. She just barely made it to the toilet before throwing up everything she'd eaten that day. It wasn't much, to be fair, but when she was done she started thinking.

This was the third time this had happened recently, always during an early morning study session. Sometimes she was nauseous during her period, but… Oh. Fuck. She needed to talk to her boyfriend.

His dorm was just a few minutes’ walk away. She took deep breaths while walking, tried to focus on how cold it was instead of how fucked she was, because every time she thought about it in detail Cynthia started to shake. She had to empty her stomach again in a bush on the way, which only made her more tense.

When she got there, Cynthia frantically banged on the door because she needed him she needed him come on come on open up open up open up open - oh thank god.

When he finally opened the door, Larry was rubbing his eyes. Shit, maybe he hadn't been up. Oh well. Cynthia rushed into his room and sat on the bed, trying not to hyperventilate. She was failing.

Larry wrapped his arms around her and sat with her, helping her breathe like a normal person. Telling her how great she was doing. Holding her through her constant trembling. Kissing her head until she calmed down.

When she did, he said, “What's going on? Is it your scholarship?”

This froze her but she managed to get out a stilted, “I'm late.” And then she started dry heaving while Larry rubbed her back. But she still heard him gasp. She was so fucked.

His voice showed definite signs of anxiety. He kept running his hand through his hair and Cynthia couldn't blame him. “Okay, okay, I can… So this isn't amazing. But I think they said in Intro Psych freshman year that stress makes your body go nuts, so it could just be that, right? Oh shit, have you taken a test yet? Do you know?”

Cynthia shook her head. “I… I didn't think, I just came over here, should I have taken one? I should have, I'm probably worried over nothing, I'm sorry.”

“Okay. I'm gonna go out and get a couple tests for you. There's a twenty four hour drugstore just off campus, I'll be twenty minutes, can you wait here that long?”

She nodded and now there were tears. Larry said, “You're gonna be fine. I'd offer you a cigarette, but. Uh. Look, I’ll just go, but I love you and whatever happens, we're going to be alright. We'll figure it out, okay? Yeah.”

“Love you too,” Cynthia muttered, and then he was gone. Her rational mind started kicking in when she was alone and despite the absolutely stupid feeling of abandonment, she'd actually started to cool down properly. She'd take the test and go from there. Yes, there was a possibility that she was pregnant. Yes, if she was, Larry would probably break up with her which. Yeah, made sense. But she came closer to accepting it, and made a few contingency plans. Her stomach even started to settle.

Larry came back vacant with a bag in his hand. Cynthia set it down on the bed and held her boyfriend's hand, rubbing it, trying to bring him back. It wasn't helping, having an empty shell instead of support. She wanted him with her and not stuck in his head before she did anything else.

She kept the movement on his skin going, whispering how she needed him and please come back to her please. After a couple minutes of this, Larry was alert enough to move over to the bed and hand her a few boxes and a bottle of water.

There were a few different brands and fuck, this was real. This was… happening. Cynthia gulped the water down and took all the tests out of their containers.

“Hey, aren't you gonna read the instructions?” Larry said.

“How hard can it be? Piss on stick, ruin life, right?” Cynthia replied.

Without a word, Larry took the discarded boxes and started reading. It took a few moments, but then he seemed to relent. “Yeah, pretty much. But it's piss on stick, wait a few minutes, ruin life, so…”

Cynthia rolled her eyes and took the tests to the bathroom. Okay, she could do this. Okay. Okay. It wasn't that hard.

It took almost no time. It felt like an instant before she was drying the tests off and laying them down on Larry's desk. They both stared at them as Larry set a five minute timer on his watch.

If the actual stick-pissing took no time, the wait took forever. She was pretty sure she threw up again, or would have if she had anything to throw up, but honestly it was all a blur.

Wait, hold on. That was the timer. Come on, come on... All the tests were negative.

Cynthia’s chest loosened and everything relaxed. She sighed in relief, grinned and started laughing. Throwing her arms around her boyfriend's neck, she kissed him deeply.

When he pulled away, he took something she hadn't seen out of the drugstore bag and held it up to her. It was a ring pop. She looked at him quizzically before he started explaining.

“Okay, so, if it turned out positive I was gonna ask you to marry me with this, because… I don't know, I was raised Catholic. But on the way back, I started thinking. And I think I want to marry you anyway. Someday.”

“Wait, wait, is this a -”

“No! No, god no. Jesus. I wouldn't propose to you like this. Consider the ring pop a declaration of intent.”

Cynthia had to laugh. “Declaration of intent? Good lord, you're such a law student.” Seeing Larry's face turn from hopeful to disappointed, she quickly added, “But an adorable law student. And yeah. I don't think I'd mind marrying you someday either.”

Cynthia put the candy on her finger and started sucking. It was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

Chapter Text

When Cynthia and her husband - husband! - stumbled giddily into their hotel room, there was a ring pop on the pillow. Cynthia couldn't help but cackle.

“Oh, my god! You didn't. You can't have - oh, my god!”

Larry was still looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. Which, she supposed, was what she'd paid for. She walked, though it really felt more like floating, over to her suitcase and pulled out a little plastic circle, the remnants of the candy from years ago.

“You kept it. Jesus Christ. This is the best day of my life.”

Cynthia smiled at him coyly. “It wasn't already?”

Larry chuckled. “Shut up.”

Cynthia sat on the bed, took her shoes off, and practically moaned. She'd spent all day in these stupid fucking heels and as good as they looked, they were killing her. Occasionally letting out little grunts of pain, Cynthia started rubbing her feet.

Larry's brow furrowed. “You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, fine. I just want to murder the guy who invented high heels. Good God. I basically limped through our first dance.” She fell back on the bed, and her back sank into the blankets. It felt so good, and it had been such a long day, she was about ready to go straight to sleep.

There was a shifting beside her that told her Larry had sat down. Sitting back up, she said, “I need to get out of this dress,” with a sigh. “Can you… there's a ton of buttons and bows and stuff, I can't reach them. Get that for me?”

Larry took her waist and turned her so her back was to him. The way he was undoing everything was so delicate, as if she were made of porcelain. At his word, Cynthia grumbled and stood up. The dress fell around her, leaving her standing in her underwear in a pool of white fabric.

“Damn,” Larry said under his breath, and Cynthia blushed. She carefully stepped out of the dress and began the process of putting it back in its bag. It took a while, and feeling like she was sinking into the floor didn't help, but eventually the garment bag was hanging in the closet. Larry had just kind of been staring the whole time. It was actually kind of sweet.

“Nice view?”

“Yeah,” he said, but Cynthia could tell something was up. He almost looked scared. “Look, I love you, and I know it's our wedding night, but I’m so tired. I don't-”

Oh thank god. “Not up to it?” A slight shake of the head. “Yeah, me either. Who knew so many people would want to talk to us at the reception?” At that, Larry laughed, a little. Cynthia sat back down on the bed.

Larry pulled her in so she was leaning on his shoulder. “God, I have the best wife ever.”

“Yeah, you do. My husband isn't too shabby either.” Cynthia closed her eyes and sighed. “Now get out of that suit. I'm sleepy and I want to cuddle you before I pass out.”

Cynthia leant back to give her husband room to change his clothes, and her head bumped into the ring pop on the pillow. She quietly put it on his bedside table. It was his. She already had one.

Chapter Text

Cynthia came home and fell on the sofa with a sigh. It had been a long day, and she hadn't done anything that felt like it made a difference. She'd edited a couple of drafts for bills that would never pass, and organised a presentation that she wouldn't even be presenting. She felt like Chinese food and sleep.

Larry had a cellular phone nowadays, which was nice because calling the office to say “I'm not making dinner tonight” was getting awkward. She called him, asked what he wanted, and ordered the takeaway without thinking anything. It had been a boring, mind numbing day and it just needed to be over. Cynthia lay down on the sofa and put on some dumb sitcom before dozing off.

“Sleepyhead. Hey. I come bearing chow mein.”

Cynthia felt a light prodding on her shoulder and sluggishly raised her head. Larry looked ecstatic, but honestly she was more focused on the bag in his hand.

“Thanks for picking it up, I didn't want to move.”

“No problem.”

There was this huge smile on her husband's face and so, when they had gotten forks, Cynthia couldn't resist asking.

“What happened? You're, like, clearly excited about something.”

Larry cleared his throat. “You know that promotion Alan was hinting at?” He seemed to be waiting for a response, so Cynthia nodded. “So, it turns out I'm going to be the newest junior partner.”

Cynthia choked on her noodles. After she'd had a few sips of water, she said, “That's amazing! That's so… you're so young, that's insane, oh my god.”

Larry got this smug little grin on his face and said, “Yeah, I guess they were just impressed with how I handled the Campbell case. I don't know if I really deserve it.”

Cynthia smirked. “You've been working your ass off for them for years, and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments or I'll steal your dumplings.” She then stole one anyway, just because. “Mm. So, how much does it pay?”

Larry excused himself and left the room. What did that mean? He surely wasn't getting a pay cut. But it was a sudden place to leave the conversation. Surely he knew she didn't care how much he was making?

When he came back, Cynthia's face had become a lot more pensive than when he left. Larry's, on the other hand, looked like he was hiding something. His hands were behind his back, for Christ's sake. “Are you alright? You left pretty abruptly there,” Cynthia said.

“You asked about my new salary?”

“Yeah. Look, if it isn't as much as we thought-”

“More.” That one word had been filled with so much, but Cynthia wasn't sure what it was. Larry paused for a while, but then went on. “I… it pays way more than I thought it would. Like, the signing bonus alone is enough to buy a house. And there's room for advancement, I'll be working with the higher-ups so they'll get to know me. It's everything you want in a job.”

Cynthia's heart nearly exploded. Her husband's hands were still behind his back, but this was just fantastic news. They could… hold on. “Did you say house? I mean, you said a lot there but I could have sworn you said house.”

If she didn't know him better, she'd have said he was about to start a giggling fit. “Well, you see. With that raise, you wouldn't need to go to work every day. Or at all, if you don't want. And if we're going to have a house -”

“We're finally having kids?” She kissed him. It wasn't necessarily a good kiss, it tasted like sweet and sour sauce and she was smashed against his face, but she didn't care.

“Well, I was going to ask you, but…” As Larry said this, Cynthia rolled her eyes. He was the one who had imposed all these restrictions. He was the one who'd insisted that they needed a house and savings and Larry's income had to be enough to support them both on its own before even trying to have kids. It was all very practical, but boring as hell and Cynthia just wanted to hold their baby.

Larry's arms had moved to her waist, but there was something in his hand. Cynthia felt around before pulling away to get a proper look. It was a fucking ring pop. She took it, threw it on the sofa, and laughed. “Remember the first time you got me one of these? It was to celebrate me not being pregnant. God, neither of us were ready for a baby back then. Now…”

“Cynthia, I don't think anyone is ever ready for a baby.” God, he could be infuriating. He'd been putting this off and he had brought it up, so why was he spouting this - of course it would be work, but she couldn't just have this one thing. Of course they were ready, they'd done all the things he had said they needed to.

“I've been ready for years,” she said, just to spite him. It worked, but she couldn't help feeling just a little guilty.

“This isn't… we're not going to just dump your birth control down the toilet, Cyn, we've got to have some serious talks. This is bigger than marriage, okay, you don't get to throw yourself into it without thinking. I love you, and I'll love our baby. God, I'm excited just saying it. But there are things we need to straighten out first.”

Cynthia knew he was right. But she wanted a child now and she didn't want to admit he was right. So she pulled herself back into him and nodded against his chest. “I love you, too. I just. I've been waiting so long.”

“Hey, think of it like this. The longer we spend talking about stuff like college funds, the more you get to put off the actual being pregnant part.” At this, Cynthia looked up at him.

“I… this sounds so dumb, but Kathy at work - you know her, right? She's in her second trimester - threw up into a garbage can the other day and I was jealous. So I don't really want to put it off.” Larry laughed. He actually laughed. It sounded fond.

“I love you, but you will live to regret that,” he said. He pulled away slightly and looked around. “I'll reheat dinner, it's definitely not hot anymore, you get the champagne I bought on the way home. It's in the fridge.”

Cynthia smiled. She saw the ring pop lying there on the sofa and put it on her finger. “Hey, dessert’s on me.”

Larry glanced over at her and did a double take. "Jesus Christ, I thought I was supposed to make the stupid dad jokes.”

Cynthia sucked on the red ‘jewel’ and gave her husband a sticky strawberry kiss. It was pretty gross, but she didn't care.