"I look ridiculous." Luke said with a frown as he stood in front of the mirror.

"I'm sure you don't... oh my." Echo said, bursting out into laughter as soon as she caught a glimpse of him. "I'm sorry... I'm..."

Luke rolled his eyes, walking back to his side of the closet.

"That's it, I'm changing." He said but Echo ran over to him, grabbing on to his arm.

"No, the deal was you wear that." She said, "Remember?"

Luke stared down at her, angry at the little woman he adored, but also wanting to please her. She had said this would make her happy- how could he refuse?

"Besides, if anyone looks ridiculous... it's me." She said, turning back to the mirror and trying not to vomit at how very sweet and very dumb she looked.

"You do not look ridiculous." He said, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands on the belly that had finally decided to swell. Echo had taken her time getting pregnant, and she'd taken her time before showing too.

"Why don't they make any maternity clothes that don't make you look like a pastry?" She said, making him laugh.

"My sexy little cupcake." He said, earning an elbow to the ribs. "Oww..."

Two years. They'd been married for two amazing, glorious, wonderful years and just now, they were expecting their first child. He couldn't look at her without feeling so immensely proud. There couldn't be anything better in the world than to know that Echo was carrying his baby.

Well, maybe if she'd at least let them find out if it was a boy or a girl. Not much had changed between Luke and Echo, they were still very much in love but they were still always arguing about something. Any time Luke tried to be bossy, Echo would set her foot down and put him in his place. Nowadays, anything that Echo said was law. There was no way around it. He just couldn't say no to her- not when she was six months pregnant and waddling around like a penguin. It was hilarious.

But when she'd insisted they should wait until the baby was born to know the gender... it drove him crazy. Still, there was no way he was going to start a fight over it. There was nothing scarier than Echo angry, hungry, and pregnant.

"So... are you gonna help me?" She said as he watched her trying, and failing, at getting her shoes on.

"I'm going." he said, scowling as he saw himself in the mirror. "Oh come on, Echo, really? Do I really have to wear this?"

"You can't be santa in your black suit." She said firmly.

"I don't see why I have to be Santa." Luke said, "You're pushing me too far"

"You're Santa because the Santa we hired cancelled last minute and it will do you good to do this." She said with a nod, taking a seat on the bench. "Put yourself out there, do something that makes you uncomfortable."

She almost laughed as she repeated the words that had been said to her so often before.

"Adelia is going to love it." Echo said and Luke grunted as he helped her with her shoes.

"That brat. She gets worse all the time. Do you realize how many calls I got about her this year?" He asked. Adelia had become particularly rebellious, sneaking out of school and breaking curfew. She was 17 and already hard to control, he had no idea what he would do when she turned 18.

"She's still teenager. I'm sure she'll grow out of it." She replied. "Besides, her grades are really good and I think she wants to go to State University next year."

"They can have her!" Luke said but Echo knew he was joking.

He'd mentioned on more than one occasion that he'd like to have her home full time. Echo had said over and over again that she should be living at home, not some boarding school, but Luke wanted to give her the best chances at a good college. It warmed her heart when he talked about it, it wasn't just that she would get a more comprehensive education at the boarding school than at the high school nearby, it was that he wanted to give her a chance to experience life outside of North Town... outside of the family.

"That's the wrong foot." She said after the seemed to be struggling with the same shoe. Luke frowned, looking down.

"No... it's just the wrong shoe." He said, reaching for the other one and making her roll her eyes.

"Whatever." She said as he finally accomplished the task. She felt so... awkward. She couldn't even put her shoes on by herself, no matter how much she tried. She'd blown up in the last month and her mother had warned her that she was probably going to get even bigger.

HOW WOULD THAT WORK? Even now as Luke helped her back up to her feet and she stared at herself in the mirror, she wondered hopelessly how she was going to manage to squeeze out this baby. What if it was impossible? What if she had to have a c section?

Luke had been ready to make as many babies as possible since day one. It had sort of surprised her that he was so ready and eager to be a father, even going so far as to declare that they had to beat her parent's record. Echo, on the other hand, had a lot of fear and anxiety around the prospect of giving birth.

Pregnancy was not an easy thing. There was so much to consider- your cholesterol, glucose test, UTI's, vaginal tears, perineal lacerations... Ever heard of diastasis recti? Not to mention the obvious, swollen feet, weight gain, lactation, stretch marks and the very dreaded, very real possibility of evacuating your bowels during childbirth. Yes, it was disgusting. Being pregnant was not as pretty as in the movies or ads. It was literal torture on the woman's body and Echo being Echo, she was convinced anything and everything that could go wrong would go wrong.

So how had she ever agreed to do this? Simple- Echo wanted to be a mother and so it really was worth it. Or it would be, once this baby got here. But these had been the slowest six months of her life. They just dragged on and on and on. She was fortunate to have Luke, who, as always, was a source of support and reassurance. He'd been patient with her- giving her space and time to make up her own mind before having a baby. He'd listened to all her concerns, and understood the very real fact that it was her that was going to have to do this process. He committed himself to softening the process for her as much as possible, made sure she had emotional support when she freaked out and reminded her of all the great things they would get to do once the baby was here.

Now she turned to him as he stared at himself in the ridiculous santa suit once again. God, he was handsome. Even though he had turned out to be a big softy, at least when it came to her, he hadn't lost his arrogant flair and he still had the type of confidence that buckled her knees. She watched him pull the pillow out from under the shirt he was wearing and shook his head. She would have laughed at how silly he looked but once she caught a glimpse of the muscles that rippled perfectly underneath that shirt it was other ideas that took control...

She stared with her mouth parted, drool practically gathering at the corners. This whole pregnancy thing was also messing with her hormones. As it was, she was extremely attracted to her husband but now, with a baby on the way, she was ashamed to admit that most of the time it was Luke on her brain. He'd teased her about being forgetful, about getting confused or loosing things- baby brain, right? WRONG. It was Luke. Luke on her brain constantly.

"Something wrong?" He asked, finally noticing that she was staring. Echo shook her head but she moved towards him anyway, pretending to dust something off his shoulders just so she could have a chance to touch him.

"It's... I'm fine." She said, clearing her throat and keeping her hands to their imaginary work. Luke raised his brow and reached for one of her hands, noticing how warm she was.

"Are you sure?" He asked, concerned. "You're burning up."

Luke reached another hand to her face and saw how she closed her eyes.

"Mhmmm." She said, enjoying the contact. Slowly, a smile spread over his face as he understood and deeply appreciated what it was that was currently ailing Echo.

"Maybe you should lay down." He suggested, taking her hands and guiding her back into the bedroom. Echo shook her head but still, she followed him and took a seat on the bed.

"There's still so much to do... my family will start arriving soon." She said, her eyes closed as Luke knelt in front of her and brought his hands up to massage her ear lobes.

"Shhh... it's fine. There's plenty of time." He said, leaning in and placing a kiss at her collarbone. Except for the part where he could feel their baby kick, this had to be his absolute favorite part of pregnancy.

Echo leaned back on her hands, a big smile on her face as she enjoyed the feel of Luke's lips. This. This had to be what people meant when they said "marital bliss".

Too bad the sound of the doorbell interrupted before they got to the good part.

Luke raised his head with a sigh before walking to the door.

"Someone else will answer." Echo said before she could stop the words. She turned bright red at the suggestion, especially when she saw Luke's grin. He stopped, crossing his arms and leaning against their bedroom door.

"I like your thinking." He said, ready to move towards her again but the doorbell rang again, this time followed by knocking.

"Damn it, how many people work in this house?" He said, shaking his head and turning to open the door just a bit.

There was the sound of steps in the hall, followed by the sound of voices and loud laughter. They were here.

"It's them." Echo said, trying to sit up in the bed. Luke closed the door, the sound from the foyer now completely muffled and turned to Echo.

"You invited them." He teased, noticing now what she was doing. "Oh lord."

He shook his head and laughed as he watched her try and try again to sit up. Usually she could use the headboard, or prop herself up with a few pillows but right now, she was out of reach of either.

"I hate you." She said in frustration at the sound of laughter as she tried to sit.

"That's a shame." He said, reaching out and pulling her to her feet gently. "Would you like me to file for divorce on Monday?"

Echo glared at him.

"Don't tempt me." She said, waddling back into the closet and reappearing within a few seconds. "And don't forget this."

"Do I really have to go out there like this?" He asked and Echo smiled.

"Absolutely, we need a Santa for the pictures." She replied.

"No, we don't." He insisted.

"I think we do." She said, turning to him. "It'll be adorable."

"I'm not supposed to be adorable." He said with a frown.

"And yet you do it so well." She said, placing a kiss on his cheek as she moved to the bedroom door. "Come on. It's just family."

"That's what worries me." He said trailing behind her.

This was the first time that the family would spend Christmas at their house, Luke had insisted on it. Usually, everyone gathered at the Reid home but because Luke had also decided to host a soup kitchen in the town, it was easier to have them all come here. In fact, Echo's parents and siblings all loved the idea of running the kitchen themselves and so, tonight, they were all going down there together to serve meals.

Unfortunately for Luke, the Santa he'd hired to take photos both with the family and at the kitchen had flaked out and finding a replacement on Christmas Eve was nearly impossible. Leave it to Echo to come up with the most obvious solution.

"Hey!"

The cries came as Echo came into the foyer with a big smile, hugs and kisses, and pats to the belly following as everyone took off their coats. Considering that the family had grown quite a bit, they had to get creative as to where they would fit everyone.

"Where's..." Ben began to say as he hugged Echo before stopping at staring in the distance. "Wow."

Everyone turned, wondering what had caught Ben's attention and froze as Luke walked towards them.

"Hi." He said lamely, trying not to be too self conscious.

More silence.

Then, out of all people in the room, it was the ever stoic and cool Romy who broke through.

"Oh my god." The words escaped Romy's lips as she brought her hands up to her mouth and turned away, trying to stifle the laughter.

This was immediately followed by the rest of the family bursting out in laughter so intense, there were tears involved. Echo shook her head, trying to bite her lip to keep the laughter in check as she moved to stand next to Luke. He frowned, watching as she shuddered quietly, obviously trying to contain herself.

"I can't... I can't... " The cries were coming from Romy as she tried to look at him and again was unable to contain it.

Luke stood perfectly still, shaking his head.

"You know what? I think I'll take the divorce." He muttered to Echo, who burst out laughing as soon as he said it.

----

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I wrote this part last night as a bonus since I was getting so much positive feedback and responses over Echo's story. I appreciate everyone taking the time to comment and like, and just read it. I'm not the best writer out there, my grammar is horrible but I really, really wanted to try it. I have severe social anxiety and BPD. Writing a character with mental health issues was important to me but I didn't want that to be the main focus of a story. Because of Echo's innocence, I kept this story pretty tame. Other stories may not be. Who knows?

Don't forget: Vera's story is being released. The first three chapters are up and I will release more this weekend. Unlike Echo's story, which I finished writing way before I released it, Vera's is still in process so It will be a slower update.

Although I have for the most part planned all the sister's stories, I'm open to suggestions and ideas. Please make sure to follow me if you haven't, message me, comment, like. Y'all make my day.

Thanks again. Muchas Gracias, Paz y la pura buena onda.

-LA