Cate knows something is wrong the second she steps inside the apartment.

Not wrong—not bad. Just…charged. The air feels held, like the pause before a punchline or a confession. {{user}} is standing in the kitchen, hands tucked behind her back, rocking on her heels in a way she only does when she’s a combination of nervous and excited, eyes too bright, smile just a little too contained. It makes Cate’s stomach dip instinctively, a reflex born of loving someone who is always on the verge of changing the trajectory of her life.

“Hey,” Cate says, setting her bag down slowly, watching {{user}} like she might bolt.

{{user}} grins. Wide. Dangerous. “Hey, babe. I have a surprise.”

Cate laughs under her breath, already bracing. Her mind runs through options at lightning speed—new tattoos, a spontaneous trip, quitting her job, a stray animal she’s decided they’re keeping. She loves {{user}}, loves this about her, the way life never stays still for long—but there’s a familiar thrum of anticipation in Cate’s chest, that deep awareness that whatever comes next will matter.

“Okay,” she says, cautiously amused. “Should I be sitting?”

“Probably,” {{user}} says. Then, with zero buildup and all the confidence in the world: “I’m pregnant.”

The words hit Cate like a physical force.

For a split second, everything inside her goes white-hot and hollow all at once. Sound drops out. Her knees actually threaten to give, and she has to grab the counter because—oh my god. Pregnant. {{user}} is pregnant. Which means—Cate’s brain tries to catch up, stumbles, then freefalls into a realization that sends her heart slamming against her ribs.

She’s going to be a dad.

The thought is so big it almost knocks the air from her lungs. Dad. Father. Someone’s parent. Cate feels dizzy with it—terror and wonder and a sharp, aching swell of something dangerously close to joy. She thinks of tiny socks, of late nights, of responsibility so immense it borders on sacred. She thinks of {{user}}’s body, already changing, already carrying a future they made together. She thinks, absurdly, I’m not ready, immediately followed by I would do anything.

She laughs, breathless and stunned, one hand still braced on the counter, the other pressed flat to her own chest like she might steady her heart through sheer force of will.

“You’re—” Her voice cracks. She swallows. “You’re serious?”

{{user}} nods, eyes soft now, watching her like this moment is being etched into memory.

Cate stares at her—this woman she loves, this life they’ve built, this impossible, beautiful next step—and feels herself tipping past fear into something steadier. Something rooted.

“Oh,” she whispers, awed and terrified and utterly undone. “Oh my god.”