I was thinking about all your sweet Ilia moments of like taking care of the reader and stuff. So could you do one where he’s taking care of his pregnant girlfriend. She’s 14 weeks or something and still nauseous and stuff and he takes care of her, doc appointments, belly rubs, reading to the stomach. A first kick would be cute too☺️☺️
The first few weeks after they found out were terrifying.
He remembered sitting on the bathroom floor at two in the morning while she held the positive test with shaky hands and laughed through tears. Meanwhile, he looked like someone had just informed him he had to land six quads back to
back with no warmup and sing the his abc’s backwards.
“A baby?” he’d whispered.
She’d blinked at him nervously. “That bad?”
“No…no, not bad.” He grabbed her face instantly. “Just… holy crap.”
He was 17 when he first started imagining what kind of father he’d be someday, usually late at night after competitions when he’d think about his own parents sacrificing everything for him. But imagining it someday and hearing you’re going to be a dad at 21 were two very different things.
For the first week, he barely slept.
He researched strollers at 3 a.m. He read parenting forums between practice sessions. He panicked because he didn’t know how to hold newborns properly other than his little sister but he barely remembered that. He worried he traveled too much. Worried he’d mess her up. Worried he’d mess the baby up.
Then one morning, around 9 weeks, she got sick halfway through brushing her teeth.
Everything shifted after that.
By 14 weeks, nausea still hit her constantly.
Some mornings she’d wake up pale and miserable, curled into his chest while he rubbed slow circles into her back.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled one morning after throwing up for the second time before breakfast.
His head snapped up so fast it almost offended her.
“You are literally growing my child.”
She gave him a tired little smile.
“You are the least gross person alive.”
He kissed her forehead carefully before guiding her back against the pillows.
“Stay there. I’ll get crackers.”
“You’ve become weirdly domestic.”
“You’re not the pregnant one.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m emotionally pregnant.”
She laughed so hard she immediately groaned and held her stomach.
“Don’t make me laugh. I’ll puke again.”
“Okay, okay.” He crawled beside her with the crackers anyway, one hand resting over her tiny bump that was only barely beginning to show. “Eat, mama.”
The word made her cheeks pink every single time.
He went to every doctor appointment unless he physically couldn’t.
Even after exhausting practices.
He sat in those little examination rooms like they were finals.
The first time they heard the heartbeat, he cried.
Not graceful movie tears either.
Actual silent tears sliding down his face while he stared at the monitor like the world had stopped moving.
She squeezed his hand. “You okay?”
“No,” he whispered shakily. “I’m obsessed with her already.”
“I don’t know.” He laughed wetly. “I just feel like it’s a girl.”
At 17 weeks, they found out he was right.
The ultrasound tech smiled knowingly while moving the wand gently across her stomach.
Ilia looked seconds away from passing out.
“What?” he asked immediately.
“You’re having a daughter.”
His entire face crumpled.
She started laughing as tears filled his eyes instantly.
“A girl?” he repeated softly.
And suddenly he was covering his mouth with both hands, staring at the screen like it held the universe itself.
“A little girl,” he whispered.
The drive home was chaos.
“She’s gonna have your eyes.”
“What if she hates skating?”
“What if she likes hockey instead?”
“She’s gonna have me wrapped around her finger, isn’t she?”
That night he laid with his head against her stomach for nearly an hour.
“She can hear us now, right?”
Then immediately started talking to her.
“Hi, princess. This is your papa. Your mama says you’re the size of an avocado right now, which is kinda crazy…”
“She cannot understand avocado comparisons.”
He started reading to the baby after that.
Sometimes children’s books.
Sometimes random things from his phone.
Once, after a long practice, she walked into the living room and sat next to him. He then proceeded to grab his phone and talk to her stomach, reading skating articles aloud in a dramatic voice.
“…and the component score reflected…”
“You’re reading ISU scoring breakdowns to our unborn child.”
“She’s gonna be a genius.”
Another night he rested both hands on her belly while she lay between his legs on the couch.
“You know,” he murmured quietly, “you’re gonna be the best mom.”
She looked up from where she rested against his chest. “You think?”
He kissed her temple softly.
“You’re patient. You’re sweet. You already love her so much.”
Tears filled her eyes almost instantly thanks to hormones.
“Oh no,” he said immediately. “Was that too much?”
“No.” She laughed shakily. “You’re just being nice and now I’m emotional.”
“Well then.” He kissed her again. “You’re beautiful too.”
He looked down at her stomach with complete wonder.
“You’re making a person. Honestly, you’ve never looked more beautiful to me.”
Two weeks later, he came home exhausted.
Practice had gone horribly.
He’d fallen on a jump combination three times, his dad kept correcting him, and he was frustrated enough that he barely spoke when he walked through the apartment door.
She was sitting on the couch under a blanket.
The second she saw him, her eyes widened.
“Oh my God…come here quick.”
Everything about him changed instantly.
He practically dove onto the couch beside her while she grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand against her stomach.
“There,” she whispered excitedly.
The baby immediately stopped moving.
His face fell so dramatically she almost laughed.
“No, no, baby girl, don’t do this to me.”
“She was literally kicking nonstop two seconds ago.”
He kept his hand there carefully, afraid to press too hard.
“Let her know you’re here.”
He looked nervous suddenly, like this somehow mattered too much.
Then quietly, gently, he leaned closer to her stomach.
“Hey, princess,” he whispered. “It’s papa.”
Sharp enough both of them gasped.
He looked like he’d just won the whole world.
She burst into laughter as tears filled his eyes again.
“She literally knows my voice.”
Another tiny kick hit his palm and he just stared at her stomach in complete disbelief.
“Hi, baby,” he whispered, smiling so hard it hurt. “Hi.”
Then he bent down and kissed her belly softly before kissing her lips right after.
“I love you both so much,” he murmured.
And later that night, long after she fell asleep curled against him, Ilia stayed awake with one hand resting protectively over her stomach.
Still smiling every time the baby moved against his palm.