Captain Martin Crieff sighed as he unlocked the door to his flat. He hadn't been home in three days and all he wanted was a real meal and a night of uninterrupted sleep with his wife tucked warmly up against him. It was only 7:30pm, so he figured there would at least be some leftovers in the fridge from whatever it was that Molly had had for dinner. She was probably curled up with a book or something, waiting for him to get back. She knew he was on his way home.

But when he unlocked the door to their flat and dragged his suitcase across the threshold, the apartment was silent. Only Toby the cat greeted him at the doorway.

"Hello?" he called.

Silence.

"Molly? Are you here, love?"

Still nothing.

With a frown he went to the bedroom to see if she was there. She wasn't, and neither was she in the bathroom. It was only upon entering the living room that he noticed his wife sprawled across the couch, completely passed out asleep.

He crouched down next to her and softly shook her shoulder.

"Molly, wake up love." She snored a bit and rubbed her face into the couch cushion she was using as a pillow.

"Mmmmmsleeping." She mumbled into the pillow.

"You sure are, darling. But don't you think you'd be a lot more comfortable in bed with me, rather than on the couch with no blanket?" Martin asked while he ran his fingers through her hair.

With great difficulty, Molly pushed herself up into a sitting position and blearily blinked at her husband. It seemed to take her a moment to fully process what he was saying to her.

"I think you've got a good point there, Martin." She said eventually before leaning forward and wrapping him in a big hug. "Welcome home. I missed you."

"I missed you too, Molls." He pressed his face into her shoulder. Just the smell of her made some of the tension from work leak out of his body. He pulled back and kissed her softly.

"What did you have for dinner?"

"I didn't have dinner. I wasn't hungry." Molly said.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead and cheeks, feeling for a fever. "It's not like you to skip dinner and then fall asleep so early, especially on the couch."

"Oh stop that, I'm fine." She pushed his hands away. "I've just been stressed at work lately. I probably need to relax and take some time for me, that's all."

He smiled at her, and smoothed her hair away from her face.

"If you say so." He kissed her again. "Come on, let's just go to bed then. I'm fairly knackered, myself."

As he lay in bed with his arms wrapped around Molly he realized she was already fast asleep again. Frowning, he wondered what could be going on at work that would make her so exhausted. But he was himself too exhausted to dwell on it much before he was asleep as well.


Martin woke up early, thanks to his early bedtime. Molly was still fast asleep, snoring softly on her side of the bed. He decided he would make a big breakfast and surprise her when she woke up.

After showering and shaving, he stood in front of the fridge, trying to find something suitable. He ended up settling for bacon and eggs.

Once he had two plates full of scrambled eggs and bacon, he decided he would be the best husband and serve it to her in bed and make her feel really special. As he entered the bedroom with the plates balanced on his arm, she rolled over towards him with a smile, her nose sniffing at the air.

"Martin, what's - Oh god!" she said, before bolting out of bed and into the bathroom, where he could hear her throwing up.

His heart dropped. His cooking wasn't that terrible, so he knew it wasn't the prospect of eating his breakfast that had her so sick. But he wished he could do something to make her feel better. There wasn't much he could do, but he put the plates down, and went into the bathroom where she was crouched on the floor in front of the toilet.

He held her sleep rumpled hair back out of her face and rubbed her back slowly as she heaved. Eventually it stopped, and she leaned back against Martin's chest.

"I'm sorry, Martin."

"Don't be. Nobody can help when they get sick."

"I know, but I've ruined your breakfast."

"Don't worry about it. It can still be salvaged. And besides, you're far more important than some bacon and eggs anyways." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple.

"I love you, Martin." Molly said thickly, some tears slipping down her face.

"Hey, what's this?" Martin asked, wiping the tears away.

"I don't know! I just feel like I'm breaking down. I have no idea what's going on." Molly said frustratedly, burying her head in his shoulder. "I think I'll go to the doctor today. Find out what's wrong with me."

"Do you want me to come?"

"No, no, I'll be fine. I'll get dressed and go to the doctor's, and when I come home, I just want to curl up with you on the couch and watch a movie, how does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect, Molly."

Martin sat on the couch fidgeting with the television remote while a show he wasn't paying attention to droned on. Molly had left for the walk-in clinic two hours ago. He knew that it could take a while, but he was anxious. He didn't like to see her feeling anything less than fantastic, especially when there was nothing he could do to help. Too anxious to stay sitting down, he began to pace around the living room, still mindlessly flipping the remote in his hand.

He heard the front door crack open, and he was in the foyer before he even thought about meeting Molly at the door. She had a bit of a shocked look on her face, as if she was still processing what she had learned.

"Well? What did he say? Molly?" Martin asked nervously, trying to prompt some information out of his still-silent wife.

She looked up at him and slowly a smile spread across her face.

"Martin, I'm fine. In fact I'm… I'm pregnant."

All of the air seemed to rush out of Martin's lungs. The world spun around him, and he found himself leaning against the wall so he wouldn't fall over.

"Martin! Martin calm down, here sit down." Molly said as she helped him slide down the wall to the floor. She waited for him to say something, but he just stared blankly at the wall opposite, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Martin, please say something." She asked a little desperately.

"We're really going to have a baby?"

"Yes. Probably in July, but that date isn't for sure yet."

"Not sure yet? What do you mean?" Martin was starting to wake up from his shock.

"Well we can't know exactly how far along I am until I get an ultrasound, which I have already scheduled for next month. But July is a safe bet."

"July…" Martin said slowly, as if he were trying to say it for the first time. "We're having a baby in July."

"Yes, we are. Martin say something, what are you thinking right now?" Molly asked

"I'm thinking we're going to need a bigger flat." Martin said, finally turning to look at Molly. She gaped at him for a second before bursting out into giggles.

"Yes, I think you're probably right. But we've got nine months to figure that out, so don't you worry." She said between giggles. Martin smiled and pulled her into his lap, wrapping her in a gentle hug.

"We're having a baby." He said incredulously into her hair. She smiled and kissed his neck. She'd hoped he would take it well.

"Yes love, we are." She cuddled into his embrace.