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rebelliousstories · 2 days

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Ain’t That A Pretty Sight

Relationship: Cooper Howard x Reader

Fandom: Fallout

Request: No

Warnings: Fluff, Brief Angst, Brief Suggestive Themes, Drinking, Pregnancy

Word Count: 3,265

Main Masterlist: Here

Fallout Masterlist: Here

Summary: This is the story of how Cooper fell in love with his wife again, Janey is really excited, and Barb makes this about her.

“Honey, I’m home!” There was silence as she stepped inside. The entire time that she had been living with the enigma of a man known as Cooper Howard, the house had never been silent. Setting down the bags of groceries in the kitchen, she left them in favor of looking for her husband. He was nowhere to be found on the first floor, even though the T.V. was still playing in the den. Moving up the stairs, she heard a noise, but could not confirm who was making it.

Checking in their room, she was disappointed to see it empty. But then she heard that same noise again, coming from the room across from theirs. Janey’s room. She made her way to her stepdaughter’s bedroom and pushed open the cracked door. Lying down on the floor with the young girl, was her husband. And in his hands, was a doll. It warmed her heart to see Cooper playing with his daughter, doing different voices for the dolls and what not. They were in their own little world for a while as she continued to watch them, but Janey looked up and caught her.

“Honey!” The young girl jumped up and ran to tackle the woman in a hug. Rolling, Cooper just watched his girls for a moment before he decided to get up. While honey was not the woman’s name, Janey still called her that after watching her dad do it so often.

“Have you been having fun, miss Janey?” She asked of her stepdaughter, not quite wanting to let the girl go yet. Janey was the first to pull away and nodded vigorously.

“Daddy has been playing with me the whole afternoon. It’s been fun.” Cooper finally made his way over to his wife to pull her in close. As Janey went back to her dolls, the Howard’s shared a loving kiss as they wrapped up each other in their arms.

“Hey honey. Was everything okay at the doctors?” He ran his hand up and down her back as he kept her close.

“Yeah. Just a little something I gotta discuss with you. But it can wait.” She reassured him, even though that look on his face said otherwise.

“I got to put the groceries away. Just wanted to see where you were.” Reluctantly, Cooper let us wife go back downstairs to do what she was doing, and went back to his daughter. His mind raced as he tried to think about what she could possibly be waiting to tell him.

Meanwhile downstairs, Mrs. Cooper was busy making dinner for that night. She was making enough for all three of them, even though she did not know when her husband’s ex-wife would be stopping by to pick up their daughter. Still, she wanted Janey to have enough to eat if she was going to be late. There was a full spread out on the table within the hour, and she was calling out for her husband and stepdaughter to join her in the dining room.

Eagerly, Janey began talking about her day with her dad. Becuase she had her doctor’s appointment and a few other errands to run, Cooper had thankfully taken the day off from work. It made everything a lot easier to flow throughout her day, especially the appointment. As they ate, her hand drifted over to Cooper’s as her nerves started to show. The later it got, the more she grew nervous.

A knock at the front door broke all of them out of their conversation. Cooper dismissed himself from the table, and went over to the door while she began to reengage Janey in the conversation. Hushed, clipped voices were heard from the front of the home, and footsteps followed shortly afterwards.

“Janey, your momma’s here.” Both girls at the table turned to where Cooper had reemerged with Barb next to him. Janey shot up out of her chair, much like she did earlier, and went to go hug her mom.

“Hi Barb.” She greeted, standing from her seat.

“Hello.” Barb’s voice was clipped as she spoke to the woman, which was not unusual for them. No matter how many times she tried to get along with Barb, for everybody’s sake, the woman refused to so much as give her a polite smile.

She sent a tight lipped grin to her husband, before beginning to clear the table. Plates were placed in the kitchen sink to take care of, as she heard the three other people in the house talking. Her hands and mind were kept occupied by the mundane task of cleaning the dishes from dinner as she did not want to intrude on their conversation. Small footsteps made their way into the kitchen and she turned to face Janey.

“Bye Honey.” The child said innocently, wrapping her arms around the woman sweetly.

“Oh, goodbye sugar cube. I’ll see you next week, okay?” She reassured, and only let go when Janey did. The girl left and went to her mom once more, who only stared at the woman still crouched with disdain.

Rising up, she waved them off while Cooper walked them out. Turning back to the dishes, she kept going about her routine while trying not to think too hard about Barb and her nature towards her. Finally she was able to place the dishes on the drying rack while hearing heavy footsteps grow closer. Arms wrapped around her waist while she was placing the last dish down.

“Now, ain’t that a gorgeous sight.” Cooper drawled, pressing himself against her back and resting his head on her shoulder.

“You’re just being partial.” She retorted, wiping her hands off and resting them on top of her husband’s.

“Want dessert?” She turned in his arms to face him with a smirk.

“Whatcha giving me?”

“Gin martini.”

“Well, then yes. I’d love dessert. Although I’d love it more if you were paired with the martini.” A husky whisper was placed in her ear right as she went to go leave.

“Mr. Howard!” She exclaimed, turning and looking at her husband with a shocked look on her face at his words. He just smiled innocently at her in return.

“What?” Cooper’s tone was so innocent, she was almost able to think that he did not mean anything by that comment. But the little smirk he gave her was enough to tell her that he knew exactly what he meant. Chuckling, she went over to their mini bar in the living room while Cooper made his way to the sofa. He patted his thighs as she neared with only one drink in hand.

“Thank you dalrin’. But where’s yours?” Cooper inquired while taking a sip of the drink his wife made for him.

“Not in the mood for a drink tonight.” She shrugged offhandedly. Cooper was confused and set the glass down on the table to wrap abound his wife.

“Alright now,” he started, “you told me earlier that you had something that could wait to talk about. You’re not having a drink even though I just bought a new thing of that grenadine that you love so much. So what’s going on?”

“Well, I wanted to tell you alone because I wasn’t sure how Janey would take it. Let me go grab something.” She pressed a kiss to his head as she hopped off of his lap. Rummaging around in her bag, she pulled out a little white envelope that held a very important piece of paper inside. Making her way back over, she sat in her husband’s lap once more, and gave the envelope to him. Cooper looked at the item in his hands with a skeptical glance before looking at his wife.

“Go on. Open it.” Her excited expression prompted the man to follow suit. His hands retracted the rest in between them and began to tear through the paper envelope. There was another piece of paper in the envelope that Cooper pulled out. He glanced at his wife before beginning to read the paper in his hands.

Her nail found its way to her mouth as she tried not to bite down nervously on her freshly done manicure. The longer she waited, the more doubt crept into her. What if he was upset? What if this forever changed them and they would never recover? Cooper’s jaw fell as he neared the edge of the page, and he finally looked at his wife. His knuckles were white as they gripped the paper.

“Is this real?” He whispered, eyes focused solely on hers. She nodded, and that was when life became a blur.

Cooper disregarded the sheet of paper and picked her up in his arms as he stood. The pure laughter that left his body as he held her close made her also laugh out of reflex. He spun them around, unable to contain his excitement over the news. Setting her down gently, Cooper grabbed his wife’s waist and pulled her in close to kiss her senseless. The only reason they separated was the lack of oxygen, and she was utterly stunned by the reaction from her husband.

“So, you’re happy?” She asked timidly. Her hands began to play with his shirt buttons while she dipped her head down. Gentle fingertips brought them back up, and now she was face to face with him again.

“I’m over the moon, darling. You’ve given me the most perfect gift I could have ever asked for. How far along?” Cooper ran his hands all over her midsection, unable to help himself.

“Eleven weeks. I want to wait before telling anyone else. I mean, if you want to tell Janey when we get her next week, we can. But everyone else can wait.” She patted his chest, and leaned in for a kiss. He greatly appreciated it, but pulled away fast.

“We’ve gotta set up a nursery.” Cooper suddenly proclaimed. She giggled at the eagerness of her husband and they spent the night talking about everyone for their little baby.

Almost two months later, it was once again their week with Janey. Telling the girl that she was going to become a big sister felt like a relief, and she was so excited. Janey had helped her dad put together the crib, paint the walls, and decorate the area. They still had yet to get a changing table in, but she was only four months along; they had plenty of time.

Hooves clomping and chatter from outside in the pasture became louder and louder, prompting her to poke her head outside. The Howard duo had just returned from another function, and they were eagerly talking about it. As soon as they came inside, Janey gave a quick hug and hello to her stepmother, and little sibling, before running up the stairs to go wash up. Cooper, however, was a little more nonchalant about washing up for dinner.

“Uh uh. No sir, Mr. Howard. You are going to wash before I vomit and ruin my appetite.” Mrs. Howard pushed her husband away who tried to come in for a hug and a kiss.

“Mr. Howard, huh? We back to using last names, darling?” He teased, trying again to step forward and give her affection. But she just pushed him away and to the stairs.

“You want me to use your first name, then you better go wash. I’m serious, Coop. The smell.” She complained, but was relieved when her husband obliged and left for their room upstairs.

Several minutes went by before Janey returned. It was clear that she had only washed her hands and face, as well as changing into new clothes, but it was a big improvement on the smell of horses and sweat that bothered her. The girl was helping place food and plates on the table, when the doorbell rang.

“Have your daddy finish when he gets out here. I’ll go get the door.” The woman instructed, and made her way over to the front door. Pulling it open, she was a little surprised to see Janey’s mom here this early in the evening. She called out for the little girl to come to the door, who greeted her mother warmly. Soon she was taking off for her room to grab her things that she would be bringing to her mom’s house. Which left the two women there awkwardly.

“How are you doing today, Barb?” She tried to start, but the woman was not having it.

“How far along are you?” Barb quipped, her tone sharp and clipped.

“Um, just made it to eighteen weeks. We go in soon to find out the gender.” Her tone was happy, as compared to Barb’s. But for some reason, the joy was not shared.

“Is it Coop’s?” There was the reason. Taken aback by the invasive and offensive question, she was not quite sure how to respond to that.

“I’m- I’m sorry?” She stuttered, gripping the side of the door to control herself.

“And are you sure that Cooper is ready for another kid? At his age? He’s done with that part of his life. He already has Janey. And Janey, how is she going to feel once you have the baby and aren’t showing her as much attention. Besides, if you two don’t have godparents for the child, they’ll end up growing up alone if something happens to you two.” Stunned was all she felt. There was a sense of numb that washed over her body as she took in the woman’s words. Barb said all of that with such confidence that it almost made her second guess this whole pregnancy.

“Barb, what are you doing here so early?” Cooper came up behind his wife and placed an arm around her waist so that his hand rested on her stomach.

“Picking up Janey and discovering this… situation. You never told me.” She spoke smoothly, while the current Mrs. Howard was panicking inside.

“Well, we just didn’t want anything to happen and have us say something too soon. But, yes Barb, we’re expecting a baby in a few more months. Janey is really excited about being a big sister.” He reassured the woman, rubbing soothing circles into the side of his wife’s belly.

“Oh, Janey knows already?” The shock on Barb’s face was almost enough to make her feel good.

“Yep. She’s super excited. I think she may be more excited than us to have this baby.” Cooper joked, pressing a kiss to his wife’s temple as she was starting to come out of her stupor.

“Is this really the best thing for you, Coop?” There it was again.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He countered, not willing to back down to his ex-wife.

“Well, with your age and already having an older child, is this really the best course?” Barb shifted her weight from foot to foot while crossing her arms.

“Barb, I was in my early fourties’ when Janey was born, and a lot of people think that’s too old. I like being a dad, and I can’t wait to have another baby.” At that moment, Janey came running down the stairs with all her stuff ready to go. The adults did not talk much after that, choosing to focus on the child instead of anything else. She said a quick goodbye to her father, stepmother and baby sibling before going along with her mom to where her car waited.

As soon as Barb left, she felt like she could breathe again. Making her way into the kitchen, she finished setting the table and began dishing out food before any more conversation could come up. Of course, Cooper noticed the odd way his wife was acting throughout dinner, but he figured that she would come to him when she was ready.

After dinner, the woman hurriedly collected the plates and dishes to clean them, leaving Cooper at the table confused. This went beyond normal pregnancy hormones being out of balance. He waited a moment, before getting up and going to the kitchen where she stood over the sink full of dishes. She was busy scrubbing away, and flinched when her husband’s hands wrapped around her middle and pulled her close.

“Ain’t this a pretty sight.” He drawled, peppering kisses down her neck and shoulders; wherever he could reach.

“What, Coop?” She retorted, not pausing her task in spite of the affection.

“Well, just my beautiful wife being all domestic. Washing dishes after she made her husband a scrumptious meal, round with my child. It does something to a man.” Cooper’s voice dropped down low and gravely, which she knew he knew that was her weakness. Anytime his voice got like that, she was not able to think clearly anymore.

“What’s got you so bothered tonight, momma?” He rested his head against her shoulders, and felt how tense they were.

“It’s nothing. Just stuff Barb said.” When she tried to resume her dishes, Cooper took them out of her hands and spun her around. Her back to the sink, and her eyes downcast as she was unable to look at him in the eyes. But gentle fingertips fixed that real quick.

“Now what could she say that would get you this bummed?” He was super concerned for his wife’s wellbeing; normally she would not put any validity into the words that woman said.

“She asked me if the baby was yours, and then went on a spiel about how you probably didn’t want another kid. Or how Janey was going to feel left out with a baby in the house. And even how she would not care what happens to the baby if something were to happen to us. I mean, who makes a pregnancy not related to them about them.” Tears began to well up inside hers eyes as she let her mind race with thoughts that she was voicing out loud.

“Oh, darling. Come here.” Cooper pulled her in close and pushed her face into his chest. She cried hard, and all he could do was keep consoling her. He let her get out everything that was bothering her in that moment, and never once tried to rush her. It took several minutes for her sobs to die down enough that she could be intelligible.

“Now, I want you to listen and listen well, darling,” Cooper spoke softly as he held her close. “I don’t want you to listen to a thing that woman says. She’s just bitter. I know that baby’s mine because I know that you would never do that to me. You know that Janey might be more excited than us to have a new member of the family, and you know damn sure that we’ll figure out a contingency plan for our child when we get there. You’re only five moths along, just over halfway. You still got some cookin’ to do for that little bun.”

She giggled lightly as his southern accent came forth more and more the longer he talked. Taking this as a good sign, he pulled away just enough to see her face. Keeping one hand around her body, he brought the other to wipe at her face, drying the remaining tears.

“I love you so much, darling. And this little bundle we’re gonna have in our arms in a few months? I’m gonna fall in love with you even more.” Cooper pressed a kiss to her lips, and wrapped her back up in his arms. once they pulled away again, she smiled genuinely since before dinner.

“Ain’t that a pretty sight.”