Moments Easily Missed highlights those subtle moments that happen between or beyond the dialogue — those moments you can easily miss if you don’t look closely enough.

We Are Having A Baby

Episode 4×13 Spilled Milk has some incredible writing, and this small little detail that will likely slip by most people: The episode begins and ends on the exact same line of dialogue by Shaun. “We are having a baby.”

The first time Shaun says it, he and Lea are lying in bed, Shaun is watching Lea sleep and wakes her up with an eager, “We are having a baby.” At the time, he’s excited at the prospect of a new chapter in his life, something to be happy about, a son or daughter he can share and love together with Lea. This is Shaun at his joyful, unbridled enthusiasm best.

And then all sorts of unexpected things happen. Lea’s hormones go haywire. She’s nauseous, short-tempered, ill-humoured and stressed. And Shaun is out of his depth, because he had not expected that. Lea is going through all these changes, and for him nothing has changed–he feels confused and disconnected.

Lea feels equally alone and detached from Shaun because he doesn’t understand her connection to the tiny human growing inside of her, and perceives the baby as a biological specimen that goes through different growth stages. It causes friction between the two of them, and crumples the beautiful fabric of their relationship.

It’s with Dr. Glassman’s help that Shaun learns to understand the journey of what the different stages of pregnancy mean, and that he needs to embrace the changes that a pregancy brings, both for him and the expecting mother.

At the end of episode, Shaun joins Lea for her OB-GYN appointment, and they hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time — together. “We’re having a baby,” is Shaun’s realisation. He finally understands that Lea is carrying a new life within her that both of them made, that will grow into their child that he’ll love and care for.

And it’s beautiful.

Those who really paid attention will have noticed that this is also one of the last lines of 4×12 Teeny Blue Eyes. Lea and Shaun decide together that they don’t want an abortion, and Lea says, “Are we really doing this?” Shaun meets her eyes, his voice soft and happy. “We… are having a baby.”