Chapter 14 Two Lines
The Secret in the Bathroom
Riley had been tired for several days.
At first, he didn't think much of it.
His work at the art center had become busier, and his plans for the creative therapy studio were taking more of his attention. He was spending evenings researching locations, reviewing budgets, answering messages, and adjusting the floor plan for what he hoped would eventually become his own space.
There was plenty of reason to be exhausted.
That was what he told himself.
The nausea was harder to explain.
It had started one morning when Riley opened the refrigerator and immediately closed it again.
The smell of leftover food had suddenly become unbearable.
He stood in the kitchen, confused.
Adrian looked up from his coffee.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"You look pale."
"I'm fine."
Adrian studied him.
Riley smiled.
"I think I just need breakfast."
Adrian stood.
"I'll make something."
"No."
Riley quickly stopped him.
"I'll do it."
Adrian frowned.
"Riley."
"I'm okay."
He reached for a piece of toast.
The smell made his stomach turn again.
He put it down.
Adrian watched him carefully.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Riley knew that look.
Adrian was already thinking medically.
Riley didn't want to encourage him.
"I've been working too much."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"Maybe."
Riley smiled.
"See?"
But the exhaustion continued.
Some afternoons, Riley would come home from the art center and fall asleep on the sofa before dinner.
He became more emotional too.
A child's drawing could make him tear up.
A commercial could make him laugh.
A sentimental song could leave him staring out the window for several minutes.
Adrian noticed.
He didn't say much.
He simply became more attentive.
One evening, Riley was reviewing plans for his studio when Adrian placed a cup of tea beside him.
"You need a break."
"I know."
"You've been working for three hours."
Riley looked at the clock.
"I didn't realize."
Adrian kissed his forehead.
"Come to bed."
"In a few minutes."
Adrian gave him a look.
Riley laughed.
"I promise."
Adrian walked away.
Riley smiled.
He loved being cared for.
But something about his body felt different.
He couldn't explain it.
The next morning, he woke before sunrise.
His stomach felt unsettled.
He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for the feeling to pass.
It didn't.
He quietly got up and walked into the bathroom.
After several minutes, he returned to bed.
Adrian was still asleep.
Riley looked at him.
The thought came suddenly.
It was almost impossible.
Yet once it entered his mind, he couldn't make it leave.
He looked at the calendar.
Then at the dates they had been tracking.
His heart began beating faster.
No.
It was probably stress.
Maybe exhaustion.
Maybe nothing.
But Riley knew he needed an answer.
He dressed quietly.
Before Adrian woke, Riley drove to a nearby pharmacy.
He stood in front of the pregnancy tests for several minutes.
His hands felt strangely cold.
He chose one.
Then another.
He didn't know why he bought two.
Maybe because he was afraid the first result would be wrong.
Maybe because he was afraid it would be right.
He returned home.
Adrian had already left for the hospital.
There was a note on the kitchen counter.
Long morning. I'll call later. Love you.
Riley touched the note.
His heart tightened.
He took the tests into the bathroom.
For several minutes, he simply stood there.
He didn't want to do it.
He did.
Then he waited.
The seconds felt impossibly long.
Riley stared at the test.
One line appeared.
He held his breath.
Then another.
His mind went completely blank.
He blinked.
Looked again.
Two lines.
Riley sat down on the closed toilet lid.
He stared at the test in his hand.
Positive.
He couldn't move.
His first emotion was disbelief.
Then happiness rushed through him so quickly that it almost hurt.
He covered his mouth.
A laugh escaped.
Then a sob.
He pressed his hand against his chest.
"Oh my God."
His voice trembled.
They were going to have a baby.
Their baby.
The future they had talked about was no longer something they were simply imagining.
It was happening.
Riley looked down at the test again.
Two lines.
He laughed through his tears.
Then fear followed.
What if something went wrong?
What if he couldn't do this?
What if the pregnancy wasn't healthy?
What if the dream disappeared?
He closed his eyes.
He had spent weeks learning that he couldn't control the future.
Now the lesson was being tested.
Riley took a deep breath.
He placed one hand over his stomach.
Nothing felt different.
Yet everything was different.
There was a life beginning inside him.
He was going to become a father.
The thought made him cry again.
He sat there for several minutes.
He didn't call Adrian immediately.
He wanted to tell him properly.
Not through a phone call.
Not through a hurried message between surgeries.
He wanted to see his face.
He wanted to hold his hands.
He wanted to watch the moment Adrian understood.
Riley carefully wrapped the pregnancy test in tissue.
Then he walked into the study.
The affirmation card box sat on the shelf.
He opened it.
Inside were all the messages he had given Adrian.
Each one represented a moment when he had reminded Adrian that he was allowed to rest.
Allowed to ask for help.
Allowed to be cared for.
Riley lifted one card.
You are allowed to be cared for.
He smiled through his tears.
Then he placed the positive pregnancy test beside it.
The contrast was almost too perfect.
The card represented the beginning of their relationship.
The test represented the beginning of their family.
Riley stared at them together.
He had once given Adrian a simple reminder that he deserved care.
Now they were preparing to care for someone else.
Their family was beginning.
Riley sat down in the study.
He looked at the two objects again.
The positive test.
The affirmation card.
Two small things that somehow contained their entire story.
He imagined Adrian seeing them.
He imagined the shock on his face.
The silence.
The questions.
Then the joy.
Riley smiled.
He touched the test gently.
"You're real," he whispered.
The words sounded strange.
He wasn't sure whether he was speaking to the baby or himself.
Maybe both.
He looked around the apartment.
Their home.
The paintings.
The books.
The photographs.
The box of cards.
The empty room they had begun discussing as a nursery.
It was no longer empty in his imagination.
He could see a crib there.
A rocking chair.
Books.
Soft blankets.
Tiny clothes.
Adrian reading bedtime stories.
Riley painting something for the nursery.
A child growing up surrounded by everything they had promised each other.
Warmth.
Creativity.
Safety.
Love.
His hand moved instinctively back to his stomach.
There was no visible change yet.
No movement.
No outward sign.
But Riley knew.
Something had changed.
He was no longer waiting for the future.
The future had arrived.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Adrian.
Heading into surgery. I'll call when I'm done. Love you.
Riley stared at the message.
His eyes filled with tears.
He typed a response.
Then deleted it.
He tried again.
Deleted that too.
Finally, he sent only:
Okay. Be safe. I love you too.
He placed the phone down.
He would tell him tonight.
Face to face.
Riley returned to the study and looked at the test again.
He carefully placed it beside Adrian's treasured affirmation card.
For a moment, he simply sat there.
The man he loved had once needed to be reminded that he deserved care.
Now Riley was carrying the child they had both dreamed of.
Their future was no longer a picture in a notebook.
It was no longer a conversation whispered across the sofa.
It was no longer a possibility they were afraid to name.
It was real.
Riley smiled through his tears.
Their carefully imagined future had suddenly become real.
And soon, he would get to watch Adrian discover that everything they had hoped for had already begun.
We're Having a Baby
Riley spent the rest of the day trying to act normal.
It was nearly impossible.
Every ordinary thing suddenly felt extraordinary.
He made breakfast.
He answered messages from the art center.
He reviewed the latest plans for his studio.
He even cleaned the kitchen, although he couldn't remember why he had started.
His mind kept returning to the same thought.
We're having a baby.
Sometimes he smiled without realizing it.
Other times, fear crept in and made him pause.
He would place a hand over his stomach and breathe slowly until the fear settled.
There would be time for appointments.
Questions.
Planning.
Worrying.
For now, he wanted one moment.
He wanted to tell Adrian in a way they would remember forever.
Riley returned to the study and looked at the affirmation card beside the pregnancy test.
An idea came to him.
He took out his paints.
For the next hour, he worked carefully.
He painted a small card with two tiny hands holding a larger heart.
Underneath, he wrote:
You are already loved more than you know.
Riley stared at the words.
They felt right.
He let the paint dry.
Then he placed the card inside a small envelope.
Next, he went to the store.
He stood in the children's section for several minutes before finding what he wanted.
Tiny baby shoes.
They were impossibly small.
Riley held them in his hands and smiled.
He imagined little feet inside them.
He imagined Adrian seeing them.
His heart raced.
He bought them.
Back home, he placed the shoes inside a small gift box and added the card.
Then he took everything out again.
It wasn't right.
He rearranged it.
Then changed it again.
Eventually, he laughed at himself.
"You've lost your mind."
He looked at the shoes.
"I think you're allowed."
The afternoon passed slowly.
Adrian sent a message around four.
Leaving soon.
Riley's heart jumped.
He stared at the screen.
He wanted to tell him immediately.
Instead, he typed:
Drive safely.
Then he put the phone down.
The waiting was unbearable.
By the time Adrian's key turned in the lock, Riley was standing in the living room with the gift box in his hands.
Adrian walked inside.
He looked tired.