C H A M P E R S
noun [sham-perz]

Champagne.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You stepped into the restaurant with your husband by your side, holding your hand tightly. At the front desk he stated his name for the reservation he had made last week. You were having dinner with another couple, one of your husband's friends from back home who is visiting.

"Isn't this place too fancy?" You leaned towards him and whispered, making him chuckle.

"No I don't think so-"

"I feel under dressed," You expressed, glancing down at the plain black pants and white dress shirt tucked in, and frowned.

James stopped and turned to look at you deeply. "You look lovely," He kissed your cheek, "Just relax, it'll be alright. Your nervousness is transferring onto me."

You walked towards an empty table with four seats and as you were about to sit down, you heard someone call out yours and your husband's names.

You turned to look and found that the other couple was making their way towards the table.

"Hi James! Hey [y/n]!" The woman, Hilary greeted and you smiled softly. Walking up to her and she gave you a tight hug, which caused you to grimace. Your body ached.

You then stepped to her husband Howard and greeted him. The group of four walked to the table and took their seats, each couple sitting opposite of each other.

*****

Even though you were having a good time socialising with the other people present at the table, you felt uncomfortable. You were a little under the weather and you didn't feel like eating anything, even though everything looked extremely tempting. Your stomach wasn't giving you an easy time.

You rubbed your forehead then poured yourself a glass of water to settle your queasiness.

"So what plans do the two of your have for the near future?" Howard asked and James raises his eyebrows, swallowing the piece of meat that he was chewing in his mouth.

"Well my agent has hooked me up with two roles that are completely different from each other. Personally, I want to try to do roles that are diverse and avoid repetitiveness," James explains, "You've got something new too..."

Their voices faded away slowly from the centre of your attention. You suddenly felt a wave of sickness flood through your body and you clenched the side of the chair you were seated-

"What about you [y/n]?" Hilary questioned and your attention diverted back to the conversation at the table from your body.

"Wh-What..." You glanced to James with confusion.

Hilary raised an eyebrow and asked, "How's work going [y/n]."

"Work is... g-good. Nothing much happ-"

You got up all of a sudden and excused yourself from the table. You rushed to the washroom and entered into a stall, locking the door behind you.

*****

James drank the entire glass of red wine in one large gulp, feeling nerves kick within him for some odd reason. He cleared his throat quietly then got up from the table slowly.

"I'm going to check on [y/n]. She's been away for quite a while now," James expressed and walks over to the washrooms.

Standing outside the woman's, he knocks on the door and says, "Honey? Are you alright?"

The sound of a hand dryer follows and James furrows his eyebrows. Moments later the door swings open and you step outside, wiping your mouth with a tissue.

"Hey, you okay?" James asked and you clenched your jaw, "Are you sick?"

"N-Not that much but..." You mumbled and he gave you a quick side hug and a kiss on the head.

You held his hand tightly as you walked back to the table to join the other couple. "I know what will make you feel better," James smirked as he sat down and grabbed the bottle of champagne on the table that his friends had ordered, "It's some new concoction, this restaurant's speciality."

"I'm fine James, thanks."

"Oh come on, it tastes good!" He looked over to Howard who nods as he picks up his glass.

"I'm alright, really I'm-"

"Just have a small sip," James insisted as he moved the bottle closer to your glass and tipped it over.

"James I don't want any-"

"It's special!"

"Jamie..."

"... kind of sparkling actually."

"James stop-"

As he poured into your glass, he said, "It's a limited time thing-"

"JAMES I said I don't want it!" You forced out rather loudly and looked at him with rage.

He stated at you with utter surprise and bewilderment, unable to comprehend the reaction you just responded with.

You say straight in your seat and continued to finish your meal in complete silence, refusing to say another word. James furrowed his eyebrows and continued tinlook at you for a prolonged moment before returning to his meal as well.

Howard and Hilary looked at each other awkwardly and tension continued to fill the air of the interaction.

*****

An hour and a half later...

You sat in the passenger seat with your arms on your lap and your head against the window. James' hands were clenched on the steering wheel from feeling tensed.

You had barely talked to him after you had yelled... the rest of the dinner went pretty uncomfortably.

"You know you can talk to me, I will never push you away," James told all of a sudden, breaking the deafening silence, "I'm here for you sweetheart."

"James... I'm sorry I-"

"Did I anger you? Did I say something wrong?" He said with heart break clearly audible in his tone of voice, "I just wanted you to feel better, to have a drink and enjoy the-"

"I'm pregnant James."

SCREEECH!

The car cane to an abrupt and skidding halt in the middle of the deserted suburban road. You turned back and looked with panic.

"Oh my Lord James, we're in the middle-"

"What?!" He turned to face you and raised an eyebrow.

You sucked in a sharp breath then sighed,  holding your forehead and looking at him with hopelessness. "I already told you, I'm... p-pregnant?" You bit your lip and you noticed him tighten his fists.

"When?" He asked flatly.

"What do you-"

"When did you find out?" He said seriously although displaying a sense of calmness on his face.

"I u-uh... around a week ago? You were out for some office meeting when I took a test and-"

He leaned towards you and kissed you on the lips passionately. Tears formed in your eyes, a weight of stress was taken off your shoulders after telling him the news.

He pulled away and smiled widely, "Why did you tell me before?! I wouldn't have forced a drink on you!"

You looked to your lap and shrugged your shoulders, "I didn't know how to tell you... I didn't know if you'd be happy about it. We didn't really talk about our life plans and-"

"How could I not be happy?" He chuckled and you smiled softly, "I'm going to be a-"

HONK HONK HONNNK!

A car swerved passed you and you jerked in sudden fear. You both took a moment to steady your breathing then you looked back at him.

"I think we should talk about this at home," You pursed your lips and he nodded his head, returning his attention to the road ahead and driving the car.