[C] Shit Day

Mads let himself into Nicola's apartment (a perfectly regular event nowadays) and slammed the door behind him. Not so much of a regular event.

He dropped his bag on the floor and kicked it aside as he passed. He'd kicked it with too much force, and it skidded across the floor and hit the wall with a thud.

"She's a bitch She is such a fucking-" He gave a frustrated yell and threw himself down on the couch.

Nicola was sat on the couch, barely paying attention of a rerun of Italia's Next Top Model, biting on the tip of her pinky. 

She jumped when the door was slammed and watched as Mads stormed in. Ah.

Not great timing.

"Ass-sucking cunt?" She provided.

He buried his face in his hands.

"She's back on bamba. I just- She promised me that last time was the last fucking time. She knows how much I hate that shit. She knows!"

He let out a frustrated growl.

She closed her eyes.

His mum. It had to be his mum.

Selfishly, she felt mad at the cunt for all the wrong reasons. 

Nicola scooted up and placed a hand on his shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't really empathize what it was like going through life with a crack-head mother. She squeezed his shoulder.

"Want a drink?"

"I should not be drinking right now."

He leaned into her comforting hand.

Mads gave a deep sigh. "We argued about it. She kicked me out of her apartment." He ran a frustrated hand through his long hair, pushing it back out of his face.

"She's giving me the week to move out. A kindness."

Not his mother. Willow.

"Didn't have to be alcoholic."

Her arm wrapped right around his shoulders as he leaned into her.

Her eyebrows shot up at the realisation that he wasn't pissed at his mother. It was Willow.

"... Shit."

You think you know someone.

She squeezed his shoulder.

"You can stay around here, at least until you figure something out," she didn't even deliberate about that offer. Although, he might not want to take her up on that if he found out when she knew. "And I'm sure if you message Ciro he will let you stay there while he's away. Or at least let you store your stuff there."

He slumped further into her embrace.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

He was lucky he'd found a friend in Ciro, and ended up meeting Nicola. It was perhaps one of the best things that had happened to him. They were good people.

"I'll try to figure shit out quick. I don't want to fuck shit up for you."

"Nothing at all except being yourself." Cheesy as fuck, but she supposed he needs it. She wrapped both her arms around him and kissed the top of his forehead.

"No rush. As I said, as long as you want, but, um, you need to know..."

She pulled back, so he was facing her.

Fuck, she couldn't say it. Was it even a good time? He was obviously emotional and going through a shit time. But when would it ever be a good time? There would always be something from stopping her saying it.

She took in a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant."

There.

It was out there.

No going back.

He grinned, tilting his head back to steal a sweet kiss to her lips when she smooched his forehead.

When she pulled back and fretted, he straightened up some, immediately worried for her. Mads didn't like it when she was upset in any measure.

He blinked when the two words left her lips.

Then blinked.

"You are?"

His lips quirked upwards with the barest bit of surprised hope.

He'd understood right away what the implication was. Nicola wasn't exactly a slut, and as far as he knew he was the only one that she'd slept with in a while.

He was a pop.

She was so ready for... something. Yelling. An argument. Some tears.

Not that. Not a tiny smile.

She nodded, small and frantic movements.

"Yeah."

She still had the piss sticks to prove it.

She looked nervous, almost scared.

His smile dropped. "Are you planning to...?"

Was she planning to keep it? Or...? He didn't want to think too much on the other option, even though he could see why she would if she did choose to.

She nodded again.

"I'm keeping it." She placed a hand on her stomach. "I thought it over and if you want to opt out, you can. I'm- I'm not going to trap you."

He let out a big breath. "Thank fuck."

She didn't want to get rid of it. He- He was gonna be a pop!

His stomach rolled. Oh shit. He was gonna be a pop. And he'd just been kicked out of his apartment. Fuck.

"Trapped? You're stuck with me. I'm not leaving Mads Jr."

He could figure it out.

He pushed forward to press a kiss to her lips, hand finding hers, resting on her stomach.

They could figure it out.

"When did you find out? How did you figure it out?"

He lips twitched up and she made a noise of amusement. 

"Could be a Nicola Jr."

This was surreal, having Mad's overjoyed and holding her stomach like this. Not once had she ever considered or fantasised about this. 

"A week ago. I needed time to think." She squeezed Mads hand. "It's a generic surprise pregnancy story. Missed my period, didn't think too much of it." She was never heavy or frequent. "Boobs started hurting like fuck, then I was sick one day so I thought, you know, needed to be sure. Three times, in fact." She sniffed. "Fuckin' pill."

"I'll compromise with Jesse Jr. Who wants a kid named Nicola?" he teased.

He rubbed at her stomach gently, thumb rubbing over the back of her hand. She'd kept it to herself for a week.

"I really do need to get my shit together, huh?"

He neede to get his life back on track.

"Hey."

She swatted him on the thigh before giving him a reassuring smile.

"One step at a time."

She looked around her apartment.

"But I suppose I do too. This isn't exactly kid friendly."

It was a health and safety hazard; glass tables, sharp corners, precariously placed vases. There was a spare bedroom that needed to be to convert into a nursery, too, but with Mads moving in for the time being...

They had at least, what? Eight months to sort it out.

Mads turned his gaze over the room.

Yeah, he could count at least a dozen ways a kid could hurt themselves in here without even trying.

"We've got time to sort shit."

They could figure it out.

His gaze found Nicola again and he smirked. "Feel old yet, Mami?"

"Oh fuck off."

She leaned forward and kissed him, thankful. Thankful that this was the best possible outcome. 

"This Mami is still young, beautiful and ready to party in appropriate amounts."

"Until she gets tired and crabby, or someone busts out the alcohol," he jibed.

"Though I can't protest the young and beautiful comment."

He gave her a lop-sided grin, blue eyes sparkling.

"I will be living vicariously through you."

She kissed him again, laughing. 

"How are you feeling though, truthfully? I know it wasn't the best timing to drop that on you."

"I'm gonna get alcohol poisoning," he groaned.

But he sobered up pretty quickly at her questions. "I'm... I'm feeling pretty great. Nervous. Shit scared, but great. I never had a pop, and I barely had a mom, so this is all going to be new to me."

He shifted in his seat.

He just hoped he wouldn't fuck it up.

She cupped his face.

"You'll do great. Hey, you know what not to do."

But that reminded her, she still needed to tell her own folks. They have been on her back about finding someone and settling down, so they may be a bit surprised to find out she skipped the first couple of steps and went straight to the baby part.

"We can go to those baby classes and scandalised all those sweet, conservative couples."

"I'll be doing a better job than them if I just show up sober. Anything else is a bonus," he murmured, hands finding her stomach again. It was still so flat. He could hardly believe that he had a kid in there.

"Oh, what are they going to think? A tatteed up street rat as a dad." He shook his head.

He could hear the whispers now. None of them were very pleasant.

"And a slut for a mum. Yet there are going to bite our dust when we ace everything."

One trait that she recognised in both of them was dedication and hard work. Neither of them were slackers. 

"The other mom's are going to be super jealous seeing you pull your own weight, then wank about it when they get home."

"A slut that's confident that I'm he dad 'cause she hasn't had sex with anyone else for months." Mads arched a challenging brow.

Just because they had a friends-with-benefits relationship, that had made a rather dramatic shift in the past five minutes, didn't make Nicola a slut.

Mads' nose wrinkled. "Yeah, 'cause I love the idea of being spank bank material for anyone but you."