[hockeypreg2]

Zach smiled politely and shook her hand. "I'm pleased to meet you. Noah is very excited to be starting school." He wanted to refocus her attention on Noah, not on him. "This is Caleb, Noah's other father and my husband. He's going to be the one bringing Noah and picking him up most of the time."

Zach knelt down to look at Noah. "This is Ms. Rebecca, your teacher. Can you give me, Vannah, and Daddy a hug before you go find your desk and meet your new classmates?"

[Sam260]

Noah nodded and hugged Savannah and Zach tightly, giving a kiss to each of their cheeks "I love you papa, and I love you Vannah. No having fun without me today! Save it all for after I get home!" Noah warned sternly, he then made his way over to Caleb.

Caleb slowly lowered himself into a crouch, despite knowing that Zach would have to hoist him back up. He pulled Noah close to his chest and kissed the five-year-old repeatedly on the forehead and cheeks "I love you, so much Noah. You make daddy proud today and listen to Ms. Rebecca. Charm all these other kids and make the best of friends." Caleb said quietly, tears steadily streaming down his cheeks.

Noah pulled back and pressed a kiss to Caleb's nose, tapping the wet tracks on Caleb's face - even Noah had tears running down his cheeks "I'll be okay, Daddy. It's only for a little while, and then when I get home... We can read together and snuggle on the couch with Leo.. Okay?"

Caleb nodded and sniffled, pressing one last kiss to Noah's forehead before letting his little boy go to run off with his friends. Caleb pressed his forehead to the doorframe and sighed, trying to regain control of his erratic emotions as he watched Noah start talking animatedly to several kids already. The little boy was charming, just like his Papa, and could entertain an audience for hours on end.

[hockeypreg2]

Zach helped Caleb back to his feet, putting an arm around his waist and letting Caleb lean against him. Savannah waved to Noah and tried to grab at Leo who was leaning against Caleb. She was strapped in tightly so she wasn't going anywhere but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

"Daddy," Savannah pouted. "Doggy."

Zach shook his head and guided Caleb out of the classroom, letting Caleb cry as much as he needed to. "You can play with Leo at home. You can have him all to yourself until Noah gets back from school."

[Sam260]

They got out of the school rather quickly now that foot-traffic had died down, and Caleb immediately went over to the stone benches on either side of the walkway. He sat down slowly and placed his head in his hands, running his fingers through his long hair and messing it up completely. Tears were draining down his cheeks and splashing onto the cement of the ground below him "I didn't think that letting him go would be so difficult, Zach..." Caleb said quietly.

Still though, his neck and cheeks were red, which meant he was still rather pissed off about the teacher who was so obviously trying to flirt with Zach, despite the fact that his husband had his entire family there. Normally it was just the two of them and Caleb wasn't pregnant or so obviously pregnant and they were often mistaken for little brother and big brother, but this time was very obvious and that was probably what was making Caleb so upset in the first place.

"What was with that teacher anyway?!" Caleb suddenly snapped, red-rimmed eyes snapping up to glare at Zach, even though it wasn't his fault "Oh I'm your biggest fan! I've seen all your movies!" he imitated her voice almost perfectly, even the Canadian accent and high-pitched squeak that her female voice carried with it "Bullshit... No one is as big a fan as Zach Martin as I am - She probably doesn't even know that you have movies out there that are only viewable online because of how old and Indie they are..."

[hockeypreg2]

"Does that really matter?" asked Zach mildly. He sat next to Caleb and rubbed his back lightly. "You know that happens when people first meet me. She'll get used to me and the fascination of meeting 'Zach Martin' will pass. As long as she's a good teacher for Noah, that's all that matters. Right?"

Savannah leaned over as far as she could in her carrier and placed a wet kiss on Caleb's cheek, smiling at him. "Daddy!"

[Sam260]

Caleb snorted, not entirely convinced that this teacher will let her infatuation pass without several attempts at flirting with Zach. "Sure, we'll see just how long it takes for her to get over her crush on you..." Caleb said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he looked heavenward. Pregnancy mood swings, still one of the worst symptoms for an already highly emotional man. "I never got over my crush on you..." he muttered.

A smile did come across his face though when Savannah tried cheering him up. He leaned his head down and nuzzled close to her chubby little cheeks "Hi my princess." Caleb said softly "Do you want daddy to carry you back to the car?"

[hockeypreg2]

"I'm glad you never got over your crush on me," Zach said easily. "I still have a crush on you too."

Savannah held her arms out, trying to get to him. She looked back at Zach, frowning. "Papa! Daddy. Go."

Zach unhooked the carrier, holding her close. "Okay if you're carrying her, I am keeping my arm around you the whole time and I'm holding Leo's leash. Just in case."

[Sam260]

Caleb greedily took Savannah into his arms "That's fine." Caleb said and used Zach as a crutch to get back up onto his feet again. He balanced Savannah on his expanded hip easily and passed Leo's leash over to Zach.

They headed back to the car and Caleb glanced back at the small elementary school, a frown on his lips as he looked into the classroom windows where Noah was located "I can't believe he didn't cry more than what he did... I remember my first day of Kindergarten... I didn't even want to let my mother go... Noah was more than happy to run off and meet new friends... What does that say about me?"

[hockeypreg2]

"It says we've raised a well-adjusted kid who is excited for new experiences," Zach said easily. "I'm sad that he's growing up but I'm happy that he's so excited for school. It's a good thing."

Zach opened the car door and let Leo jump in the back with Savannah instead of in the cargo area. He took Savannah from Caleb and began the process of getting her into the carseat. Without Noah to occupy her it took longer this time and she was definitely mad when he was done.

"Well," Zach said, helping Caleb into the car. "She's mad now. She hates that thing. I wish we could turn her around to face forward."

[Sam260]

Caleb huffed as he slowly adjusted himself in the seat himself, leaning back against the leather upholstery and closing his eyes "Another year and she'll be turned around..." Caleb said slightly breathlessly, hands idly rubbing his stomach to calm the wave of dizziness that always accompanied longer walks than normal "As much as I love being pregnant... This breathlessness is just not attractive."

Caleb pouted as he slowly pulled the seatbelt across his expanded waist, struggling to click the belt into place. He started growing frustrated, growling and slapping the metal of the belt against the clip, "God... fuck!" Caleb shouted, releasing the seatbelt and grasping his head tightly as he rocked back and forth - everything seeming to crawl on his nerves like little bugs today; it wasn't uncommon, actually more so this pregnancy than his last, for just little things to get on Caleb's nerves and send him cursing up a storm which was very rare for Caleb.

[hockeypreg2]

Zach put his arms around Caleb, holding him close and rubbing his back soothingly. "Hey, it's okay. It's just a seat belt. Just take a few deep breaths and relax. We're not going anywhere."

It took a few minutes for Caleb's frustration to calm enough for Zach to pull back and look at him. Caleb looked so worn out from everything - the walk, the early wake up, the emotional morning. "Oh baby. Let's get you home. I think you need a nap."

[Sam260]

Caleb pouted and pulled the seatbelt across his waist again, giving it to Zach so he could click him into place "I don't really want to take a nap. I just want things to stop bothering me so much!" Caleb stated, arms crossing over his stomach as he leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping to keep himself calm.

"I was never this easily agitated when I was pregnant with Noah, so what gives this time?" Caleb asked, cracking one eye open to look over at Zach as his husband started driving toward their temporary home once again "I'm sick of it, every time I get frustrated I feel like a million ants are crawling all over me and it's just... Ugh! I can't take it."

[hockeypreg2]

"There is a lot more going on this time. You have two kids and we just moved to another country for the remainder of your pregnancy so you're not somewhere you are comfortable right now. Noah is starting school, I'm going to start filming in three days, and you're going to be taking care of Savannah full time for the first time since she was born. It's a lot of change. Plus you are at the stage where you do your most growing so everything is physically just much harder."

Zach hoped that logic wasn't going to piss Caleb off more right now. It could happen sometimes but hopefully he would listen to what Zach was trying to tell him.

[Sam260]

Caleb sighed loudly in frustration, fingers running through his hair and tangling slightly in knots that he had created in it earlier "You're right. A lot of things are different this time around, but that doesn't negate the fact that my first pregnancy wasn't just as stressful." Caleb said as he looked over at his husband, eyes narrowed slightly "I was twenty-two years old, still in college, no family to speak of and knocked up by a guy who I barely even knew except for on the big screen."

Caleb hated being so emotionally vulnerable, but he was also quite pissed; everything piling down on top of his shoulders and making things extremely difficult for the twenty-seven-year old. And he was still angry over the teacher, even though he really had no reason to be "I'm just... I'm tired of crap piling on top of me, Zach... Why can't I just have one *normal* pregnancy?" Caleb asked, a hint of longing in his voice - he was extremely jealous of his husband's smooth-sailing pregnancy, where there were minimal problems "Why can't I just have a pregnancy like you had? Easy, uncomplicated, stress-free."

[hockeypreg2]

"Stress-free? Did you miss the part where I had death threats and people wishing that my baby would die all because I decided not to hide that I was pregnant?" Zach was actually mad that Caleb would even suggest that he had a stress-free pregnancy. "I lost my career in a few days, lost films I had been signed up to do for two years, lost a *franchise* because I had a baby. I worked my ass off for years to get where I was and lost everything to have Savannah. So don't sit there and tell me I had an easy pregnancy just because I can handle it better physically than you."

Zach parked the car and got out, slamming the door behind him. He was so angry right now. He let Leo out and got Savannah but left Caleb to fend for himself, stalking into the house with Savannah in his arms. Leo stayed behind, looking confused at Caleb still sitting in the car.

[Sam260]

Caleb blinked in surprise at how quickly Zach got mad at him; he didn't mean to upset Zach. Their pregnancies were different, and Caleb wasn't talking about the day-to-day stress factors, he knew that Zach's pregnancy had been difficult because of what he went through with publically stating he was pregnant - it wasn't about that! He meant their bodies, and now... Well now Caleb was in a rather sticky predicament.

Unsteadily and shakily he fought with the seatbelt and hot tears streaking down his cheeks; it took a while but he did manage to get himself unhooked from the safety contraption, but now he was faced with a bigger challenge - getting out of the lifted SUV and getting inside safely. Caleb pushed the door open slowly and smiled sadly as Leo nosed it open even further for him, but the dog could only do so much for him at this point.

Caleb stared at the driveway, he felt like he was standing on top of a mountain, rather than just sitting forty inches off of the ground. Caleb wiped at the tears staining his cheeks and took a shaky breath as he grasped onto the oh-shit handle and the doorframe, slowly making his way across the leather seat. He knew he couldn't do this, not without Zach there. A lone sob escaped him and he took one more breath before he took that leap of faith.

Unsteady feet landed on the pavement of the driveway and he wobbled heavily, Leo pushing against him to keep him upright, but that helped little to none. He landed wrong on his ankle and he still fell, thankfully only onto the carpeted floorboards of the SUV, but unfortunately he was now in an even tougher situation. He couldn't possibly get out of this and walk on what he suspected was a twisted ankle, Caleb looked toward the house, biting on his bottom lip - Zach wasn't coming back, and that only made the tears fall harder and faster down his cheek.

[hockeypreg2]

Zach heard Leo barking as he settled Savannah in the living room. He had planned to go back put for Caleb as soon as he got Savannah settled down and he calmed down slightly. He didn't like getting angry at him like that. Nothing good came from Zach losing his temper. He only hoped Caleb hadn't tried to get out of the SUV by himself.

He headed back out front and saw Caleb sitting on the floor of the passenger seat crying, Leo barking and dancing around. "I'm here, Leo. You can stop now. What are you doing down here? I was coming ri and hit back out to get you once I put Savannah inside."

[Sam260]

Caleb shook his head and reached up, trying to wipe away the constant stream of tears on his cheeks; his ankle already swelling from having twisted it "I... I didn't... You didn't say... and..." Caleb hiccupped through his words and tried calming himself down by taking steady breaths. Once he was sure he could speak properly again, he looked up at Zach, eyes red-rimmed and face a mess of tears and snot "You didn't say you would be back... So, I... I tried getting down myself, and... I landed wrong... I fell, but thankfully... Leo was pushing me backwards so I fell into the car, instead of on the driveway."

Caleb sniffled loudly and held his arms out to Zach, tears once again trickling down his cheeks "I... I'm sorry... I... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings... I know you had a difficult time when you were pregnant with Savannah... I just... I forget it sometimes, and... and I wasn't meaning the day-to-day troubles that either of us had when we were pregnant... I... I meant... Our bodies, and... how they handled the pregnancies... I've never had luck with it, and your body seemed... perfect for it..."

[hockeypreg2]

"Oh Caleb," Zach sighed softly, leaning down to lift him up. He picked him up bridal style and hip checked the door shut. "I would never leave you to get out of this car yourself from the passenger side. I told you that when we got it. The steps should be on both sides, not just the driver's side. Seems stupid to me."

He carried him inside, Leo following closely behind, putting Caleb on the couch. "I know I had an easier pregnancy then you. I spent a lot of time doing yoga to try and keep it that way. The stress from everything made me feel terrible and I needed that to keep me calm and centered so I could have a good pregnancy. I can show you some of what I did to help you."

[Sam260]

Caleb shook his head and sat up just enough to look at his ankle. It was a difficult task and Zach had to practically push him and hold him in the upright position "I don't think yoga will help me, Zach. I'm off-balance, and not in just a mental way... I can hardly stand without wobbling one direction or the other. Yoga would just... Make it worse." Caleb said quietly, turning his ankle this way and that and pouting.

"I don't think it's broken, but I definitely won't be doing much walking on it for the next couple of days." Caleb said quietly, huffing as he dropped backwards against Zach's chest once again and closing his eyes "I feel like I'm once again being a burden on you... I can't do anything for myself, and then, once I do... I end up hurting myself, or others..."