+++

"I don't know what's goin' on." Lottie sighs, looking over another negative pregnancy test. "Maybe we're doin' somethin' wrong."

"Y'all aren't doing anything wrong." Caleigh says, giving her hand a squeeze. "Sometimes it just doesn't take."

"You're probably right." Lottie drops the test into the trash. "We could go see a doctor."

"Yeah, run some tests. Getting advice from a medical professional is the way to go."

"I'll call my doctor." She nods. "Get an appointment set."

"Hey baby!" Riley shouts from the kitchen. "I'm home!"

"That's my cue." Caleigh says, picking up her purse. "I told Michael I'd be back an hour ago." She laughs to herself. "Let me know how things go, okay?"

"For sure. Thanks Cal." She gives her a hug then sends her on her way.

"What we're you girls up to?" Riley asks, setting a twelve pack of beer on the granite kitchen counter top.

"We need to talk."

Uh-oh.

"What's up?" He asks, his heart beating in his throat.

"I think we should go see a doctor."

"For?"

"Why the fuck I'm not pregnant yet." She huffs. "See if it's the medication I'm on or if there's somethin' up with you and your guys or if I just... can't do it."

"Sure." He nods. "That sounds like a plan." Lottie kisses his cheek then picks up her phone to set an appointment.

They've been banging like bunnies for the past few months and she still hasn't gotten a positive test yet. Either something is wrong with the tests she bought or something is wrong with her and her husband.

+++

"Low sperm count?" Riley asks, his cheeks heating up. "What- What does that mean?"

"It just means that-"

"It's my fault she can't get pregnant?"

"Well, no-"

"Then what the hell is it!?"

"Ri." Lottie says in a quiet yet sharp voice. "Let her talk."

"Sorry." He sighs shakily, his elbows on his knees.

"It's genetic." The doctor says. "One in three couples struggle to conceive because of low sperm count; it's nothing too, too serious. Pregnancy is going to be more difficult, yes, but not impossible." She states. "So just keep doing what y'all're doin'."

"Thanks, Doc." Lottie sighs, standing.

Riley silently follows her back out to the parking lot to her SUV.

"I'm sorry." He whispers, looking down at his hands as he fidgets with his wedding ring.

"Ri, it's no big deal, okay?"

"No big deal?" He repeats. "Serious- no, it is a big deal! I can fuck you- You can't- shit." He's too worked up to get his thoughts straight.

"She said it isn't impossible, just more difficult." Lottie says softly.

She really has no idea what to say to make him feel better. It's a slap in the face; low sperm count is. He had no idea that was a thing. Sex-Ed didn't teach him anything like this, just about STDs and condoms.

To be told that you basically suck at getting your wife pregnant is such an ego bruiser.

Lottie is optimistic, though.

This just means they get to have sex more often. She smiles at that thought. "C'mon, I'll make you a sandwich." She says when she parks in the garage, Riley forces himself out of the passenger seat.

He kicks his boots off then heads to their bedroom, flopping back on the neatly made bed, his legs hanging over the side. He covers his face with his hands, hiding the tears that form in his eyes. He feels like a loser, honestly, frustrated.

Lottie pokes her head into the bedroom and her heart breaks when she sees him crying. "Hey." She whispers, kneeling on the bed next to him. "Look at me." He doesn't budge. She gently takes him by his wrists and moves his hands. She cups his cheek, brushing tears away with her thumb and she smiles.

"Why are you smilin'?"

"Because," She lays on her belly, her feet kicked up behind her. "When we do have a baby, it's gonna be one kick ass kid." He chuckles weakly. "One drop dead gorgeous child." She runs her fingertips through his beard. "And when the time is right, the time is right. We just got married so we shouldn't really be in a rush to have kids, right? I mean, let's enjoy bein' newlyweds before we become parents."

His eyes are bloodshot but he smiles up at her. "When the time is right, the time is right." He repeats, giving her hand a squeeze. "When it happens, it happens."

"That's right. So, let's just have, y'know, casual sex instead of makin' it some kind of mission, I guess." She chuckles at her choice of words. "Come on, let's get some food."

+++

Lottie sighs heavily as she paces around the bathroom. It's been a couple months since that doctor's appointment and they've still been trying for a baby but just less often.

Riley's at the studio working on a couple new songs and Lottie's home by herself. She refuses to look at that white stick when the timer goes off.

Instead of looking, she calls Caleigh.

Caleigh is there in a heartbeat.

The two sit on the bathroom floor with the test between them, neither have looked yet.

"It's killing me, Lottie." Caleigh says, her manicured fingers tapping against the wood floor. "I'm looking." Lottie squeezes her eyes shut as her best friend looks at the test. Her expression says it all. "You should take another one."

Lottie cracks an eye open. "Huh?"

"It's positive." Caleigh smiles. "Just take another one just in case it's a false positive."

Lottie snags another test.

"Riley was so heart broken when he learned what the problem was." Lottie mumbles, picking at her arm hair. "It probably still hurts him."

"Yeah, I don't think he's gonna be hurting anymore." Caleigh says, looking up at her from her spot on the floor. "They're both positive."

"What?" Lottie stands from her spot on the edge of the tub. "Holy fuck." Tears form in her eyes. "Holy fuck!" She looks at Caleigh. "We gotta get to Planned Parenthood."

"Why- Why Planned Parenthood?"

"I don't have to make an appointment for a pregnancy test. Plus, it's right around the corner from Big Machine." She pulls a pair of jeans on then steps into her boots. "Come on!"

With the pregnancy tests in hand, the girls are heading down to Lottie's car then to Nashville for a pee test.

+++

She can't contain her excitement.

Lottie starts down the street to Big Machine with the biggest fucking smile on her face. Her and Caleigh parted ways so she could go see the guys at Big Loud.

Lottie has her nose stuck in the sonogram in her hands, not paying any attention to where's she's going. "Shit- Sorry!" She laughs, stumbling back slightly. "Oh, hey."

"Hey Lottie." Morgan says, a baseball glove on one hand and a ball in the other. "What's goin' on?"

"A whole lotta nothin'." She smiles, tucking the picture and tests away in her flannel pocket. "Hey." She waves to the guy at the other end of the lot with a glove on his hand.

"What's up, Lottie?" Ernest says politely. "Been missin' you and your brains."

She laughs again. "'Fraid I ain't been too active with music recently."

"Why's that?" He asks, tucking his glove under his arm.

"Life's been crazy." She looks between her two old coworkers. "Got hitched and got a baby on the way."

"Get outta here!" Ernest wraps her in a sweaty hug. "Congrats!"

"Who'd- Who'd you marry?"

"Riley Green, I told you, man!" Ern says, slightly unaware of their rather messy relationship. "Oh, I'm excited for y'all."

"Thanks." She smiles, looking down. "I gotta get goin'." She starts down the sidewalk, ignoring hushed whispering from behind her.

"Hey!" Morgan shouts. "Congrats, Lottie. I'm happy for you."

She feels her lips tug at a smile. "Thank you." Lottie exhales heavily, feeling a weight being lifted from her shoulders.

Somehow, that little conversation she had with Morgan feels like closure.

That pretty smile of hers doesn't leave her face for a second as she swings the front doors of Big Machine open. She makes her way down the clean, carpeted hallway to the studio her husband frequents.

She sits herself on the couch, listening to him sing his heart out. She pulls the sonogram and tests from her pocket and looks down at them, her hand going to her ever-so-slightly showing bump. She's going to be a mom.

"What're you doin' here?" Riley asks, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Can you take a quick break? We gotta talk."

Riley looks down at the guy sitting in front of the soundboard. He nods Riley off.

He takes her hand and pulls her out to the hallway. "What's up? Everythin' okay?"

"So I went to the doctors," She starts, chewing on her lip. "And she saw somethin' pretty interestin'."

"Interestin' good or interestin' bad?"

Lottie hands him the tests and the sonogram. His brows furrow under his hat then his face splits into a grin that gives the Joker's a run for his money. "Are you- is this- y'ain't fuckin' with me, are you?"

"That's a cruel joke, Riley Green." She responds. "No, I'm not. I'm pregnant."

He squeals- fucking squeals. He squeezes her in such a tight hug that she has to clench her thighs together so she doesn't pee herself. Lottie has never seen Riley this excited before and it makes tears jerk in her throat.

He sets her on her feet then kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you too."