Epilogue of Project Love

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She ran her fingers through the soft fluff of the stuffed animal, smiling. She pictured a young child, nuzzling up against it at naptime, or dragging it by its beak during play hour. Her other hand reached down to stroke the curve of her prominent belly.

Ally chose the stuffed penguin delicately, placing it under her arm as she continued to waddle around the small boutique across from the Baby's R Us. She leaned against one of the tables, enjoying this small moment of peace.

Just moments ago, Dez had excitedly grabbed the nearest shopping cart and sat pretentiously inside, his long legs tucked up to his chest, as Trish pushed him through the large department store. Among the chaos of stroller decisions, Ally had quietly snuck back to the little baby refuge. The small place, which she happily recalled, had bought her stuffed giraffe. And to this day, the animal still has a lovely abode by her and Austin's bedside.

Ally's phone rang, and she glanced down. Her new assistant Janet had just sent her a finished case, complete with a smiley face at the end of the attachment. No, Ally didn't get promoted at Grimmer and Bank; Tilly did get the job and fortunately all of the work that accompanied it. Dez and Ally said their good byes, and started their own law firm, Dawson and Worthington.

And according to the tabloids, they were scoring pretty high on the charts. Along with Mr. Moon's newest single. Precisely one hundred and twelve million eight hundred and sixty six views via Youtube.

Ally kept track.

Ally tapped away a quick reply, and slipped her phone back into her purse. She let out deep breath, glancing around her. She couldn't believe how far it had all come. How far they had come.

"Ally you need to tell him." Dez placed his hands on the marble countertop, leaning forward in excitement. His eyebrows waggled at her.

"You know I'm with Dez on this one. He really should know." Trish rubbed Ally's back soothingly. Ally gratefully snuggled against her. Trish turned out to be one of the best friends she would ever discover. Like a mama bear to a gazelle.

"Will he freak out? Oh my gosh, how did this happen? Oh god, I'm gonna throw up." Ally moaned, she shoved her head into Trish's neck, praying the young Latina could make a phone call and everything would just go away. But even Trish didn't have the connections to get rid of a fetus.

"Did he not marry you? Did he not name his new single after you? He loves you Ally." Dez rose his arms into a jazz hand motion.

"That doesn't mean he wants to have a baby with me!" Ally's face flushed red.

"Why not? We used that dating app the other day. You too would have the cutest baby!" Dez crooned and Trish smacked him, continuing to hold Ally.

"What's going on?" Ally flipped her head, her eyes staring at Austin's. His eyebrows curved in concern, and he dropped his bags rushing towards her. Ally's eyes widened in disbelief. The one time she hopes to delay seeing him, he arrives home early from his trip. Great.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?" Austin spoke in hushed tones. He held her close, and Trish slowly migrated towards Dez.

Ally lifted her head. He wiped away her tears with the back of his hand, 'booping'' her nose in the process. Ally broke into a giggle, and a part of her instantly knew he would understand. The same part of her that willed her to take his hand in marriage.

"Austin?" She mumbled by his ear, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck in a hug.

"Yeah baby?"

"I'm pregnant." She whispered.

And then he had fainted.

Ally smiled at the memory and his ignorance to the fact that he fainted. In his manly words, he was 'comprehending the situation.' And then the other time, when her husband decided to study up.

"I didn't know you wear glasses." Ally stared at him, she waddled over to her side of the bed, panting as she huddled under the covers. She wasn't exactly first place in physical education and the baby load wasn't helping. Usually Austin would help her get up, but her boy seemed to have his nose tucked into a book, for once in his life. And Ally wasn't going to stop him.

"Only when I have to read." He muttered, adjusting his lenses. Ally opened her mouth for a humorous comment when he waved his hand at her, shushing her, while he stuck his head even deeper into the pregnancy book.

Ally closed her eyes, a small part of her knowing that Austin reading is never a good idea. She snuggled deeper into the covers, feeling herself drift away.

Only to be awakened by a panicked Austin.

"Ally! Ally! Allyyyy!" He poked her repeatedly and she opened her eyes, turning over to see a rumpled Austin. His hair stuck up from where his head was pressed up against the headboard.

"What?" She groaned, pushing herself up on her elbows.

"Do you feel sick?!"He asked urgently. His brown eyes were open wide in worry. Ally glanced down at his book, which was now covered in multicolored sticky notes.

'He's a pregnancy boy scout.' Ally thought to herself, mentally facepalming.

"What are you talking about?" Ally winced. The clock read three a.m. and she reached for the covers, pulling them towards her again.

"It says here," Austin flipped open his book, "That during the twelve week period, women are used to sickness." Ally looked at his highlighted sentence, and the little frowny face that Austin had drew in with his pen.

"Dear, it's morning sickness, and no I'm fine. Maybe cause it's not morning yet?" Ally sarcastically replied. She rubbed her eyes, not really caring for his feelings in the dead of night.

"Oh." He nodded, writing something in his book. Ally placed her head on the pillow, scooting closer to him. "Do you have to pee?"

"Austin!"

"It says here," He flipped to the yellow sticky, "That women should be drinking more water during pregnancy which makes them pee. Another reason for these many pee trips is a result of amount of blood in your body increasing. This means more fluid for your kidneys to process, and more fluid coming out as a result. Be sure to listen to. . ."

"That's great, honey." Ally closed her eyes, listening to him mumble on.

Ally smiled as she wandered around the little boutique, thankful that his studying phase was over. She really hated waking up in the middle of the night, to a frantic Austin concerned of her bladder schedule.

But then again the studying phase was better than the sexing phase.

Ally toddled around the kitchen, reaching for the uncooked noodles in the pantry. While she was taking time off of work, she felt she might as well learn to cook something. A baby can't live off of Chinese takeout. She leaned for a pot when she heard the door slam, and footsteps rush into the kitchen.

"Ally! Ally, they loved it! The record deal said they'd keep my original lyrics. Well, our lyrics, you helped me with most of it." He wrapped his arms around her, planting a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Congrats Austin, that's great! I told you they'd love it!" She snuggled in closer to him and suddenly it dawned on her how good he smelled. And how nice and firm his grasp was. And especially how long it had been since they had sex.

She reached up to kiss him again, hoping to make it heated. But he kissed her back sweetly and moved over to take off his jacket. He walked back over to her, "What'cha making?"

"Spaghetti?" Ally asked.

"Can you make spaghetti?" Austin raised his eyebrows. One of the girl's plusses was not her cooking.

"I think so. Just noodles and then sauce with meatballs." Ally recited from her recent cooking blog.

"Alright." Austin smiled at her. "I'll go get my tablet. We can play a game while you attempt to cook." He teased.

Ally watching him leave the room, gulping slightly when she noticed how beautiful he looked from his back.

'Oh god. That's it. I want sex.' She definitely stated, glancing down at her stomach, 'Well we want sex.' Ally turned off the stove, taking a seat on one of the barstools. Ally took out her ponytail, running her fingers through her hair, displaying it nicely over her shoulders. She shrugged out of her oversized shirt, revealing the sports bra beneath.

'Alright, lil' guy, let's get some!' Ally sent mental thoughts to the baby, clapping her hands in preparation.

Austin wandered back in, tapping around on his Ipad, smiling when the sound of coins falling came from the game. He glanced up to find Ally sitting there, her hand tucked under her chin.

"I thought you were cooking." Austin cocked his head, pointing to the stove.

"It was um early. We should uh play your game." Ally smiled, patting the seat next to her. She found this ridiculous, whenever he wanted sex, he could just say it and Ally would happily oblige. But ever since she'd became pregnant, all he ever did was hug and kiss her.

'Maybe being fat turns him off.' Ally pouted

"Um, well alright." Austin sat down next to her, noticing her bare tummy, "You got hot?" He kissed her belly, noticing the absence of clothing.

"Yeah. You know hotter than I already am." Ally giggled, hoping to lead him in the right direction.

"Heh cute." He laughed, turning the tablet towards her.

Ally sighed, playing with the animated birds on the screen as they attacked the pigs. She lazily tapped away, missing most of her aims on purpose.

"Oh look you win! Yay! Maybe we should play a new game." Ally scooted closer to him.

"Uh okay. You usually play better though." He lifted his hand to her forehead, "You're not sick right?"

"I'm fine. I just. . . I want to play a game, in uh bed." Ally hinted, her fingers went down to the hem of his shirt.

"Okay yeah we can play Angry Birds in bed. But if you're hot, lying in bed will make you warmer." Austin advised taking into account all the fluffy blankets.

"Oh my god, Austin, I want sex!" Ally burst out. She couldn't take it anymore. Austin raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh. Um. Well is there like a place? Or do we hire like a person?" Austin turned red, twiddling with his thumbs.

"What? What are you talking about? You! I want to have sex with you!" Ally grabbed him by his hand, tugging him into the bedroom.

"But I don't know how to have sex with a pregnant girl. What if I break it?!" Austin's eyes widened in worry.

"Austin, you can't break it. Nothing bad will happen." Ally lied down on the bed, taking off her sweats.

"You mean. . ." Austin's eyes widened, "We could have had sex this whole time! Ally, it's been two months!" Austin ranted out in the bedroom. He messed up his hair in exasperation.

"Would you just get in bed?" Ally rolled her eyes.

And then the insatiable Austin phase began.

Ally smiled in remembrance of all the memories. Austin was the sweetest most insane boy she had ever met. But she thanked her lucky stars every day that Dez chose that club to drag her to.

A pair of warm hands wrapped around her waist and she turned around, snuggling deeper into Austin's arms.

"You left Dez and Trish alone? You know they might buy the whole store for the little guy." Austin's hand splayed over her tummy. He still couldn't completely wrap his head around the idea that there was a little person inside of her. All throughout the sonogram, Austin couldn't help but quietly mutter 'mindblown' to himself.

"I liked this place better. Plus it was all so overwhelming inside." She let out a deep breath, glancing over at the baby monster house.

"So a penguin, huh?" Austin smiled down at her, acknowledging the stuffed beak sticking out from under her armpit.

"It'll be his first stuffed animal." Ally whispered, reaching out to feel Austin by her. He felt his warm grasp coat her all around. He was like a cloud that she could always float on, always covered and protected.

"Ally, I love you." He mumbled into her hair.

"Love you too, Austin." She pressed her lips against his.

He would always be her cloud nine.

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SOBBBBB IM DONEE… sorry it took some time, I really wanted it to be perfect, and just adorable.. and it's still not as amazing as I had planned it to be.. but it was finally good enough that I decided to post it.

I hope you guys enjoyed my story. I loved writing it and I cant wait til I wake up and desperately want to write another auslly fanfic... Thanks so much for some of you who have always been with me. I know I don't really respond individually to all of the reviewers, but trust me I know all of you in my heart, and I just want to thank you for it.