LINK: Cars backfiring. Bad for soldiers' nerves.

LINK: Telling my folks that they're gonna be grandparents should never, EVER lead to my Mom showing my new wife my own baby photos.

Cameras should be illegal when you have kids.

[With doesntwaltz, a68whiskey, nevergonnamiss]

Rob was awed. And shocked, and ecstatic, and just plain dumbfounded. It was really difficult to navigate all of those emotions at once, and because of this, he was just walking around with this goofy smile on his face, eyes planted on the ultrasound photo as much as it could be. In fact, even now, as they walked up the hall of the Austin home, Rob had the photo held up to his face, same smile locked in place and proceeding to bang - hand - right into a cabinet filled with china, only just managing not to break anything when Leila, with her impressive reflexes, reached out and caught a teacup before it hit the polished wooden floor.

"It has a nose," Rob said in amazement when he paused and turned to look at her, the smile turning into yet another grin. They had opted on not finding out the sex. They had debated it, and even though the sonographer told them she could see what it was, they didn't want to know. It wasn't like they had long to wait to find out, was it? "Look." He held the photo up for her to see, as if she hadn't already seen it as much as he had. They had been wrestling it off each other since they left the clinic, and even ended up in a minor argument about who would drive, neither wanting to so they could hold the photo on the way home.

LINK: Rob knew it technically wasn't a miracle to make a baby, but when the doctor confirmed that Leila was not only pregnant, but eighteen weeks pregnant, all he could do was give a disbelieving laugh and gape at the screen with a strange sensation that someone was about to tell him it was all just a huge joke.


[picture link]

It was one of those days Rob just really didn't want to get out of bed. Not so much a bad day, but just a day he didn't really want to face anyone but his wife. He had them occasionally, where he was content to stick out the daylight hours in an oblivious coocoon just with Leila. They were still stopped at Mike's family home, and probably would be until he got back on his feet a little easier. Now that he was taking the prescribed medication, he seemed to be coping a bit better. But the post-deployment funk had set in a little, and it did have Rob wondering how Leila would feel if he suggested Mike, and maybe even Charlie too, tag along on their road trip. They could get a car and just convoy their way through the rest of the trip. It could be a lot of fun, and maybe what the doctors ordered.

Rob, however, had other things to think about that morning. He was maybe in just a small sulk that Leila still wasn't pregnant yet. No symptoms at all and he was starting to wonder if he was maybe not aiming right or something. Did you have to aim to hit the jackpot. He was still in bed under the mound of covers, the top of his head, one eye, and his nose the only thing visible from under them where he lay on his stomach. He watched Leila by the dresser digging around for something in her bag, perving on her bare butt but actually feeling just a tiny bit too tired for a fuck after going four rounds the night before. "Is it possible to out-fuck yourself?" he asked, the question muffled against the pillow. "I don't even have morning wood. I think something's wrong."

( Leila turned to smirk at him over her shoulder, wearing her glasses despite the fact she was still naked... )


Word Count | 2,802

[Follows THIS]

For as long as he could remember, Rob had been a light sleeper. A lot of it was probably born of being a soldier, but it never took much to wake him up. It had been a pain in the ass when he had been recuperating from the whole getting blown up thing. He had been a cranky bastard more often than not both from pain and lack of sleep, but again, he had been infinitely lucky to have Leila by his side putting up with it and learning how to handle him at his worst as well as his best. That was what marriage was all about at the end of the day, the vows just said it in a much more fancier way.

( Tonight, it was a strange noise out in the hallway that had him woken abruptly, ears straining to listen for what it was... )


Word Count | 3,548

[Follows THIS]

It was true that Rob had been a little distracted since Mike had fleetingly revealed that he had been shot in the leg. He wasn't brooding on it or anything, especially not since they had reached Texas and saw with their own eyes that Mike was as okay as someone who nearly had their foot blown off could be. It just seemed to tug them back down to reality a little again, and it was a reminder of how dangerous their job was. Mike, an army medic who didn't even fight on the frontline, had come home with a war injury. It didn't seem right. Their choice to bypass their current road trip route and go to Texas was a no-brainer. As soon as they knew Mike was heading home to see his folks to recuperate, they changed course immediately. It wasn't like they had anything specifically planned anyway. They were just rolling with it, taking each day, seeing where the road took them. They camped a lot, balancing it out with some nights in hotels or guest houses so they could get a long shower and a proper bed to sleep in. They had been gone a few weeks now and as far as Rob was concerned, they were just scratching the surface.

( But there was now another unexpected turn, and as they sat in the car park of the bus station that night, Rob drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, his blue eyes trawling back and forth over the scene beyond the car window... )


Word Count | 6,832

LINK: Stayin' Alive ain't a bad anthem.

[Follows all recent events posted @ sexyinscrubs, pullmysteth & randbyname]

The phone call came through around four o'clock, Luke delivering the news about Aiden and Patrick to Leila who had just paled as she listened, nodding, even if her cousin couldn't see her. The road trip had gone without a hitch until then, and they had taken their time, only making it to Maine so far but deciding to stick here for a few days when they found a gorgeous little camping place with cabins. They didn't need a cabin, though. They found a secluded place by the sprawling lake not far from a small fishing wharf and set the tent up there. There was a town close by for supplies if they needed it and the place just had an addictive tranquillity about it that they weren't ready to move on from yet.

( Rob found Leila sitting down on a soft grassy patch by the lake, watching the sun set over the water. He came up behind her and sat down quietly, wrapping his legs around each side of her and hugging his arms around her waist... )


Word Count | 7,949

LINK: Spending all day in training, sweating, with adrenaline-fueled combat anger and shooting things, Rob couldn't help but return to his apartment and take Fox hard and fast from behind, bent over the kitchen counter until there were inevitable bruises and hints of blood from that delicious mix of pleasure and pain.