Late...

Elizabeth was waiting in her and Nick's room on the cruise they had booked. She was sitting on the bed trying to ignore her queasiness. Convincing herself that it was probably because she was hungry, causing her to be more susceptible for the light swaying of the boat. Though she had been on multiple different boats since a young age and had never experience nausea like this, making her throw up twice already, she was stubbornly holding onto any other explanation that she could think of other than the one that she had supressed at the back of her mind. She might not have done the math but an unexplainable nausea for a girl in a relationship quickly makes the mind go in a certain direction. A direction she wasn't willing to head into. Not right now.

The reason she wasn't willing to let her mind wander in that direction was because Nick was finally returning to her side fulltime and their lives would finally be returning to something that she could consider normal. So, she wasn't ready to acknowledge the possibility for another big change in their lives. Though she knew she wouldn't be able to ignore it for long, she wanted to at least enjoy this honeymoon as if nothing was about to disrupt the live she had planned out in her mind. So, when Nick stepped out of the shower, she put on a smile, acting like nothing was wrong. With that same smile on her face, she followed him to the dining hall where they would be served breakfast.

Sadly, the last thing a person with morning sickness will be able to enjoy or handle, is a rushing of all kinds of smells. This would prove to be the Achilles heel of her "nothing's wrong" act and would force her to final face reality after almost a week of denial. When they stepped inside the well lit room, Elizabeth fought the urge to head straight out. After finally being able to settle her queasiness, she was now faced with full blown nausea. When they were about to take their seats, Elizabeth's face had already turned pale from fighting back her urge to throw up. Before the waiter had the chance to pull Elizabeth's seat out for her and before Nick had the chance to notice her pale complexion, she said, "Sorry. I can't do this." and rushed out the door.

The confused Nick, who had just sat down and placed his napkin on his lap, quickly pushed his chair back and stood up to go after her. Dropping his white napkin on the floor in the process. Leaving only the even more confused waiter behind to clean up the small mess left behind.

Nick caught up to Elizabeth on the deck of the boat, where Elizabeth had ran to for fresh air the moment she had escaped the sensory attack of the dining hall. Here the sounds of the dining hall had been drowned out and replaced by the sound of the small waves crashing against the large boat. Despite it being a more quiet environment, Elizabeth had been so lost in her feelings and thoughts, that she did not hear him calling out her name. When he was close enough to reach her, he grabbed hold of her wrist. This caused Elizabeth to turn around and she the worried expression on Nick's face. Making her feel a bit guilty for rushing out and for keeping a secret she wasn't sure yet was a secret she needed to keep or if her symptoms had been caused by something else.

"What's wrong Liz? Why did you run out of there like that?" Elizabeth looked at him in silence for brief moment. Contemplating what to tell him. Whether she should tell him about the worry she had or not. If she did, he would surely make her take a pregnancy test to be sure. Once that turned out positive there was no denying it anymore. But she also knew that she couldn't keep it from him for much longer and he had a right to know. So, after taking a deep breath she gathered her courage to tell him the words that made all men understand what was going on without using the actual word 'pregnancy'. "I'm late." Nick looked at Elizabeth's anxious eyes and the meaning of her words hit him like a brick. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat and with a sense of nervousness he asked, "Late...As in pregnant late?"

When Elizabeth nodded his whole world was turned upside down. He fell silent as all kinds of thoughts rushed in his mind. Including those that Elizabeth had just moments before in their room and for the past couple of days since her suspicions began. But it was quickly replaced by determination and decisiveness. He grabbed her hand once more and pulled her along the deck to the in-cruise mall. Heading to do exactly what Elizabeth had predicted he would do. When Elizabeth asked him where they were headed, he answered her only in a short two-word sentence saying "Drug store." With a tight grip on Elizabeth's hand and a clenched jaw, Nick made his way to his destination.

When they entered the shop, Nick didn't stop to look or greet anyone. Leaving Elizabeth, who was still being pulled along by him, as the person responsible to greet the shop owner who looked at them with a perplexed look on his face. A face she greeted with a slightly awkward smile of her own, while trying to keep up with Nick and his goal-fixated mind.