The Way Your Heart Sounds

Lauren wasn’t lucky enough to get Christmas Day off from work this year. Jimmy was, of course, a bit upset, but he decided to come up with a compromise. Normally, he would spend Christmas Eve with the guys and Christmas day with his family, but this year all of them would be together on Christmas Eve instead. He invited all the guys, along with their girlfriends, to his parent’s house. Jimmy and Lauren were already there, admiring the abundant Christmas decorations his mother put up, when Matt and Val arrived together.
Mrs. Sullivan hugged Matt and Val tight enough to snap them in half, and complained about how she hadn’t seen them in a few weeks.

“Your mom is going to freak out later,” Matt commented to Jimmy casually once she had left the room.

“How come?” Jimmy asked.

“I got news to share. I want to wait for everyone to get here, though,” he smiled.

“Oh boy, look at those dimples, this is gonna be something huge,” Jimmy chirped and pinched Matt’s cheeks, which earned him a punch in the side.

The rest of the guys slowly started to trickle into the Sullivan household, greeting Jimmy’s parents like they’d greet their own.

“I see you’re the only one without a lady still,” Barbara commented to Zacky, who tagged along with Brian and Michelle. She nudged him in the shoulder to show she was playing with him. He smiled.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” he shrugged.

“Good for you,” Jimmy’s dad joked.

The rest of the night was very relaxing, the group ate dinner together and then lounged around in the den for a while. Jimmy kept tapping Matt on the shoulder, seemingly very impatient to hear whatever news he mentioned before.

“Guess now is a good time. Hey everyone, I have an announcement,” Matt called out, grabbing everyone’s attention. He took Val’s hand and smiled.

“Val’s pregnant! I’m going to be a dad!”

Matt was immediately attacked by Jimmy with a hug, followed by everyone else in the house.

“I’m so happy! You guys are going to have the cutest fucking baby,” Jimmy sang, squeezing Val.

“How far along are you?” Jimmy’s mom asked.

“Only three months. I just found out a few weeks ago,” Val answered.

“A few weeks ago?! And I just found out now?!” Jimmy hollered, bouncing out of his seat. Matt started hysterically laughing, and told Jimmy to take a chill pill.

“This is such wonderful news for Christmas Eve!” Barbara smiled.

Once the night came to a close, Jimmy and Lauren finally decided to head home. They said goodbye to everyone, and they were off. They left a little earlier than they wanted to because Lauren needed to get some sleep for work tomorrow.

“You know, as much as I hate you being at work on Christmas, I feel really bad for the people in the hospital. I mean, who the hell wants to be sick on Christmas?” he asked, as they walked up to the house.

“I feel bad for them too, which is why I don’t terribly mind going in that day. It’s nice to try and make them smile and forget that they’re there,” she shrugged.

“I should come in dressed as Santa.”

“As much as I’m sure the patients would like that, I’m not sure about the hospital,” she laughed. They walked into the bedroom and she started to get undressed and into pajamas.

“You should ask them! I would totally do it,” Jimmy smiled. Lauren smiled at him.

“You're too cute, babe. Are you excited to be an uncle?” She asked him. He flopped down onto the bed and sat with his legs crossed.

“Hell yeah I’m excited. It’s about time those two had a baby, they’ve only been dating since high school,” he snorted. Lauren finished getting undressed and climbed into bed next to Jimmy, who was now wearing nothing but boxers. As she reached over to turn off the bedside lamp, she looked over at him, and something caught her attention. He furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed her staring at him.

"Your pupils look smaller than usual," he said, moving closer to stare into his eyes.

"Is that bad?" he asked, blinking.

"No, just unusual considering it's kind of dark in here," she shrugged and turned the lamp off before getting comfortable in bed. “Hey, do you want to have kids someday?” she asked him. He turned on his side to face her and adjusted the pillow under his head.

“I think so. I mean, I like kids. I dunno,” he shrugged and rested his head on her shoulder. He didn’t seem very decisive about the decision, but then again, neither was Lauren.

“I feel similar. I like kids, but I don’t feel like I’m ready for them anytime soon. I still feel like a kid myself,” she chuckled, using one of her hands to play with Jimmy’s hair. He nodded in agreement.

“One day we’ll have kids, and they’ll be gorgeous, smart, and musically talented of course,” he smiled, leaning over to kiss her. "Now come here and kiss me," he added, reaching over to grab her and roll her on top of him. She giggled and started to place kisses all over his face and neck. He grabbed the side of her face with one of his large hands and pulled her in for a deep kiss that left her breathless.

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