Time Warp: Plastic (Tristan)

[Faye LaBeau]

The two week old pregnancy test starred back at her disappointed. She hadn't told him yet... she knew she should tell him but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. He'd understand, she knew that, but she'd done this before and even though her ex husband was ancient history... she couldn't go through it again. She didn't want to hear about how he wasn't ready to be a father or how she should get rid of the baby... and then what if he wanted it? Then she had a history of miscarrying and even though women who miscarried once were less likely to do it again... she couldn't imagine going through that disappointment again, that guilt, and she wasn't sure if it'd be better or worse at that point if he wanted it. If he didn't, she was alone again but she'd survived it once and Faye was pretty sure that she could do it again. If he did want it and she lost it that'd be so much worse, then he'd have to go through that pain and disappointment too... and she couldn't do that to him.

The whole morning had been spent at the toilet. She'd avoided morning sickness during her first pregnancy almost entirely, and at first she thought this one would be the same until two days before. The flu she'd told Tristan, she'd also told him to stay out in fear of infecting him, and it'd worked, for a few hours before he was on his way over with God knows what witchcraft from Walgreens.

How did she get here? Well she knew how but how'd she do that with Tristan of all people? Sure he'd changed over the years but she couldn't help but laugh looking back, they once hated each other. They still had their moments but it turned into something entirely different than what she'd ever predicted. Sure they still weren't the typical couple, Faye was never one to over use the word Love towards a person and even now when she told Tristan she loved him it was usually through other less traditional ways.

Faye groaned as she felt her stomach twist and ran for the toilet, abandoning the plastic stick on the coffee table in exchange for her new porcelain best friend. That was when she heard the key go into the door and the rustling of the plastic bag. "I hope there's breath mints in there." She called as she flushed the toilet and went to the sink to rinse her face. She looked like absolute hell.

[Tristan Baker]

Three years later and Tristan Baker was actually in a relationship. Not just a relationship, but a relatively serious relationship at that. And an unlikely relationship. He'd never dreamed of ending up where he was. Not with Faye. Not with Olivia. Not with his own family. He always imagined that he would end up a grumpy old man that lived alone and yelled at children to get off his lawn. He was only thirty of course so he wasn't old yet, but he definitely hadn't been prepared to be in this position he was in.

He and Faye had a rough start to say the least, then again anyone who knew Tristan usually didn't have a very good first impression of him. He'd been a total jerk to her though because he didn't like that she was taking his sister's side. This was also the point in his life that he'd been uncomfortable around Olivia and was jealous as hell of her. Luckily things weren't so strained between them anymore because he'd promptly removed the stick from his ass and was learning to play it cool. His OCD hadn't subsided at all, so he couldn't quite change everything, but he wasn't so uptight anymore and he was done trying to win his parents over with everything he was doing. Instead, he was doing what he wanted to because it made him happy, luckily that still meant being an anthropologist.

When Faye told him she had the stomach flu, his OCD won out over the desire to make her feel better. Hygienic OCD also made him rather germaphobic and he had no intention of getting sick. Still, he didn't like the idea of her all alone, trying to care for herself while she wasn't feeling well. What kind of boyfriend would he be if he just let that happen? A terrible one. He was trying to do better. Be a better person.

So on his way home from work, with a bag of random medication that ranged from TUMS to something that was just supposed to help with stomach cramps and breath mints, lots of breath mints. He didn't really know what to get because he wasn't the kind of person that took care of people when they were sick, so he more or less grabbed everything that said stomach on it. Upon arriving, he opened the door, set the bag down and set out to find her. When he heard her voice coming from the bathroom, he made his way to the wash room and leaned against the door way, "There are. Have you eaten anything or is that what's making you get sick?" There was genuine concern in his voice as he spoke to her and his eyes showed it too, no longer emotionless like they had once been.

[Faye LaBeau]

She shook her head, "No not really... honestly the very idea of food is completely nauseating right now." She admitted as she pulled her blonde waves into a bun on top of her head. She couldn't remember the last time he saw her like this, yoga pants and a sweatshirt, no makeup and acne. God, her skin was starting to flare up like crazy thanks to the hormones. "Thank's for coming over." She said as she went to the bag and popped a few mints in her mouth.

Her eyes glanced over to the otherside of the table where the offending stick sat, all innocent with a pink smily face as if to say "aren't you soooo happy you're an idiot and left me out?" Her heart stopped. He hadn't seen it yet though, she was still safe, she just had to get it out of site. "Hmm.. what else did you buy?" She asked as she spilled the contents of the bag onto the table, sending the tums off it, knocking the pregnancy test onto the floor with it. She quickly went to her knees and grabbed both things from under the table, sticking the test in her sweatshirt pocket before coming back up. Swift... she hoped at least. He'd never find it there, not while she was sick.

"You look nice did you just come from work?" Small talk, perfect. Actually, small talk had been a lot of what they'd been talking about lately, she'd managed to shut down as far as deeper emotions went. She drifted over towards the tv and picked up a couple old DVDs that she'd ordered off Amazon. "Feel like watching something?" She asked putting on a smile. 

[Tristan Baker]

Tristan's eyebrows pulled together and he pursed his lips. If she didn't eat, she at least had to drink something. Water, water was good for being sick like that right? Or maybe he was thinking of nursing a hangover. This was the problem when he didn't know how to take care of anyone besides himself, but even then he hardly ever got sick because of his impeccable hygiene. He looked her over and frowned faintly, she was still beautiful of course, but she didn't look well. Tristan wished he could get over his selfishness and distaste of germs. And in a way he was already doing well for himself because he was there instead of keeping a long distance between them. "Of course," He said with the smallest hint of a smile. "Now, have you been drinking water?"

With that he walked over to the sink and got her a cold glass of water and walked back to hand it to her. When she asked what else he bought, he glanced over at the bag before she dumped the contents out. Tristan didn't even see the test, but he did see something fall and before he could even go to grab it, she was already standing back up and he could tell that she was hiding something from him. Tristan's job was to know human behavior. And she had a terrible poker face.

He ignored it for the moment as she asked him if he came from work, "I did, and no thank you." Tristan narrowed his eyes at her and folded his arms across his chest. If she didn't want to tell him what was going on, he was just going to stand there and be all brooding which was probably just as irritating to her as it was to him that she was keeping something from him. Two could play at that game.

[Faye LaBeau]

The tension loomed in the room, as it often seemed to do when germs were around Tristan. She was used to that, but there was an extra layer of to it and she knew he knew something was up. Granted, she was doing a God awful job at hiding it. The whole guilt thing wasn't helping and was making her sloppier than usual. But this entire situation didn't sit well with her, she'd done this before and she didn't want to go down the same road as last time. Of course if it went that way this time there'd at least be less paperwork thank the lord.

"You sure?" She asked, but could tell he wasn't going to budge. She sighed and slid onto the couch, nursing her water, glancing over back at him. She could feel a knot building in her stomach. She really didn't want to tell him. She could get away with not telling him for a while still, she wouldn't be showing for at least another month.

"How's Liv?" She asked purely to get him to talk about something that she could talk about too. She also knew that his sister used to at least shake him up a bit, hopefully she'd done something absolutely stupid recently to get him to go on a tangent and throw his scent off.

[Tristan Baker]

Tristan couldn't really focus on much else outside of Faye and the way she was acting. He didn't like when she kept things from him. He didn't like it when anyone did and that seemed to be a thing that everyone did around him. Not that he blamed them, he had a bit of a temper problem so certain things were best left unsaid. But with Faye, she had to know he'd never truly be angry with her. He cared very much for her in a way he hadn't cared for any girl before. Olivia told him it was love, he just hadn't been able to really say it to her yet. After all, he hardly said it to his own sister or family, this was a woman he'd known a short while comparatively.

"I'm sure, thank you," He was back to a formality with her, the way he had been back when they first met. It bothered him to do it, but he couldn't help it. The more she pushed the problem away, the more shut off he made himself. He just couldn't understand what was so bad that she couldn't tell him of. The more she kept from him, the worse the situations in his head got. Maybe she was cheating on him....

Her attempt of throwing him was met with a solemn expression, void of much else. Back to his old Tristan ways. "She's fine, I suppose," And he let the subject drop. She could try to get him talking about something else, but he wasn't going to go about it willingly. Two people could be stubborn and he just happened to be one of the most stubborn people out there.

[Faye LaBeau]

Damn it. She let out a big sigh and took the stupid stick out of her sweatshirt pocket. He knew something was up and if this was just an inkling of how pissy he'd be when he finally found out, and she knew he would eventually find out then she'd better just fucking tell him. Her flip floppyness of course was being dictated by the ridiculous amount of hormones coursing through her blood stream. She couldn't even keep her mind straight for more then 10 minutes and waiting for the "perfect" time obviously wouldn't work if he was already mad.

"Fine." She said and tossed him the test. "I don't have the flu." Hopefully now he'd stop acting so damn stoic. She looked at him, watching for his reaction her heart racing. She could feel her heart pounding, her breath becoming short, damn it why was she so damn irritated by him? He seemed to always break her downa nd get his way the second he started acting like that and it seriously drove her nuts. She used to have a little thing called a backbone, of course Tristan was now the exception to that rule. Possibly because she REALLY REALLY REALLY liked him... some might even use anothe L word but she didn't like that word... yet... but... she wouldn't say it first damn it!

[Tristan Baker]

Tristan tried hiding his smirk because just like always when they did this little dance, he came out on top. It wasn't fair of him to pull the stoic card, but that was his secret weapon that always seemed to work on her. However, he wasn't expecting the sass behind the way she threw, whatever it was, at him. And her statement about not having the flu confused him further than he thought was possible. If she didn't have the flu, then why would she be throwing up and so sickly. Unless it was food-poisoning of some sort, but he couldn't imagine what that could have been if it had been going on for a period of time such as this.

Finally, he decided to look down at what was in his hands and his mind was blown.

On the little stick that he held in his hand, was a little, pink smiley face that stared back at him. He knew what it was now. He knew what was making her sick. He just didn't know how it was possible. Tristan was so sure they had been careful. He had been sure of it. Or maybe in the heat of the moment...his control slipped. It was possible of course, but he didn't like the idea of having been out of control. That would make this his fault and a bad thing. It wasn't bad though, at least, not in the fact that they were going to have a baby.

Tristan, harsh and cruel as he was, really did want to be a father at some point in his life. He'd just wanted to be stabilized and sure of the woman he was with. Now that he thought about it, he was stable and he knew that Faye would make an amazing mother. But he also knew the reason she kept it from him and that was what kept his face relaxed and his expression soft as he looked back up at her. "You mean...you're...we're gonna have a baby?" His eyes lit up a bit when he said the words out loud and he broke into a smile, a genuine Tristan Baker smile.

[Faye LaBeau]

Part of her wanted to blurt out the fact that she hadn't washed the stick and she had indeed peed on that. She was afraid to, like it'd alter it in some way, but that was besides the point. The point was she knew how much of a germaphobe Tristan was and that little plastic stick had little pee particles on it so in some way she was winning right now. Even if he didn't know it.

His reaction surprised her, she could see the wheels turning as he figured out just what he was holding and what it meant for him. She hugged the yellow couch throw pillow so tight, holding her breath. But then something extrodinary happened, Tristan Baker, the moodiest man of all, smiled. What? Her jaw dropped. 

"Uhm... Yeah.... I'm... Pregnant." She squeaked out, she hadn't said it out loud yet. "Like... six weeks... about." She had a feeling she knew what night it happened, she frankly hadn't been as careful with her birth control and picked up her prescription a day late... she didn't know how sensitive she was, hell she'd been on her birth control for a couple years and it normally took woman months after coming off of it to get pregnant. 

"Is... that ok?" She asked genuinely nervous. "I want to keep it." She said quickly before he could even suggest otherwise. 

[Tristan Baker]

Tristan was not new to the technology that was a pregnancy test. He knew how the results were made, and he knew what he was holding. But seriously, he'd had sex with her. It wasn't like he hadn't dealt with worse. So, poor Faye, she just couldn't win a battle against him no matter how hard she tried. Tristan was a pain in the ass like that, but hey, she put up with him for some strange reason.

"Six weeks? Wow," He said a little dazed. He was going to be a father. She was pregnant and she looked terrified. Part of him wondered if it was because he was the father. He knew that he hadn't always been the most loving person in the world, but in a way, he'd just been keeping it back for fear of letting anyone get close. He never had paid much attention to relationships, or the L word, but now, with Faye he had. And she was afraid....

Tristan's eyebrows pulled together and he looked at her in disbelief, "Why wouldn't it be okay? Of course I want you to keep it. Faye...w-why were you planning on keeping it from me..?" He asked solemnly, with a hint of pain hidden in his grayish-blue eyes. For his thoughts to be a reality, he wasn't sure how well he'd take it, but he hoped that she didn't think he was really that much of a monster.

[Faye LaBeau]

The pain behind Tristan's eyes took her back... she hadn't expected that... she hadn't expected any of how he was reacting. She'd rehearsed telling him, and prepared for the best and the worst... but expected the worst... Tristan was a planner, this baby wasn't planned and last time that happened she ended up fighting so much with her Ex that... she ended up killing the baby. That was another thing that scared her... this baby... she could miscarry again.. and it could be her fault for letting her abilities get the best of her.

"I'm sorry." She said getting up off the couch and going to him, needing to feel close to him right now. "I just... I was scared Tristan... I just... you know what happened last time I was pregnant and I've really wanted a baby for so long and I Lo-ike you so much" She explained with a heavy sigh. "I'm scared of me too... I'm scared of actually being a mom and my family is so far away out in California and..." Her head was reeling "Now all these kids have fucking peanut allergies... what if our kid has a peanut allergy? Or a gluten allergy? Or is born with a second penis like that guy on the internet"

She slinked her arms up around him burying her face into his chest. "Why are babies so terrifying?"

[Tristan Baker]

Tristan reached for her hands as she walked over to him and he laced their fingers together, "Faye...you know me now better than a lot of people, but you still don't know all of me." He stroked her cheek as she talked and nodded because he did know what happened and he knew her fears and understood them.

"You're going to be a great mom, and if you need me to, we can fly your family out when you're close to having it," He said in a soothing tone as his fingers slid through her hair. "As for the thousands of allergy possibilities, we'll take it as it comes and learn to handle it. That's what they have doctors for," He twirled her hair around his finger and laughed at the non-allergy statement. "If he has a second penis, we'll teach him to handle that, too. Babe, we're going to be fine. Between the two of us, I know we have more than enough experience to get through this."

Tristan wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head, "They're only terrifying if you make them terrifying. Or if they look like aliens, but ours will be the most attractive baby out there." He tilted her chin up and looked down at her, "Trust me, for every fear you have, I'll be there to diffuse it. We balance each other out. You're going to be a wonderful mother, love." He smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth.

[Faye LaBeau]

Faye cuddled into him as he talked, soothing her thoughts and making her feel like she wasn't in this alone. "I wasn't expecting this Tristan." She said feeling her eyes start to sting as tears tried to escape from behind them. "I mean..." She sighed pulling herself back a little so she could look at him, her face was already a bit red from being sick and now it was getting worse as her thoughts went from bouncing around like 10000 super balls in a stairwell to actually being still, having someone else there to sooth every worry in a matter of sentences. 

The smile started small, but she realized something that I turned into a we and she actually felt comfortable saying "We're having a baby." Her voice was so small, and the tears started to come but they were different then the sobs she'd had in the weeks prior to this moment. "Tristan we're having a baby." Genuine excitement started to fill her. "I can't believe it."

[Tristan Baker]

Tristan looked down at her and brushed his fingertips along her cheekbone. Despite the red face, the sickness, she was still gorgeous to him. He really did love her and he had meant all that he said. It was rare that he got sentimental, that he showed just how much some things mattered to him, but when he did, it was whole-heartedly. The only person he ever had felt comfortable opening up to was Faye. Granted he and Olivia had worked out a lot of their problems, he still wasn't comfortable opening up to her because he was the older one. He was the one that had to be strong for her.

When he saw her smile, his own smile grew and he kissed her forehead, "Yes we are." He hugged her close and kissed her temple. "I can't either," He whispered. Tristan pulled back and looked down at her, "Tell me, would you want to know the sex of the baby beforehand? Or want it to be a secret?" Because now he was in full planner mode and couldn't help himself with the way his eyes got all wide and crazy-looking.

[Faye LaBeau]

His tenderness made Faye uncomfortable. This wasn't their relationship, their relationship was much more brash and hard than the tender touches of his fingertips. It felt foreign, not like Tristan. He was usually so much more calculated and moments like this were limited. They weren't touchy people, they weren't the people who said "I love you" or tried to spend every moment together. They did love each other, probably, but it'd never been said and she wasn't so sure that a baby was what she wanted to bring that out. Did she love him? Yes. She loved him more than anyone but that didn't change that this was weird as fuck to her and she found herself pulling away from his hug. 

Faye's brows furrowed when he started with the questions. "I don't know... I haven't thought about it." She'd been far too consumed with the fact that she was pregnant and terrified of delivering another fetus frozen by ice. 

"You look insane." She laughed watching his eyes grow in size. "Sorry." She ran her hands through her hair taking a seat feeling the sickness coming over her again. "I wasn't ready to tell you today and this is all just a lot... I don't really want to start planning for the baby until it's farther along.... Actually... Can we ignore it? Like not the health things but like telling people and all?"