Connie rolled over in bed, smiling as she saw a 6 month pregnant Rita sprawled across the bed.
It had been nearly 4 months since the 2 women had 'outed' themselves to the rest of the ED. Both women had been completely overwhelmed by all of the support, congratulations and help they had received from everyone in the ED.
Even Cal had stopped trying to flirt with Connie, which she appreciated massively.
Connie wriggled closer to her girlfriend, blowing a stream of cool air on her face.
Rita scrunched up her nose, rubbing it gently before her big brown eyes fluttered open.
"Morning beautiful, morning bump…" Connie pushed herself in the bed slightly, enabling her to lean over and kiss Rita gently.
"Morning…" Rita yawned, rubbing her swollen stomach and grinning as she remembered the tiny life that was blossoming inside of her.
Rita had been graced with a relatively easy pregnancy.
She had had small bouts of morning sickness, but nothing compared to what Connie said that she had with Grace.
But the pregnancy left Rita feeling almost constantly tired, which also meant she was always grouchy, but Connie just teased her and told her she was even cuter when she was grumpy.
"How did you sleep?" Connie asked, Rita shrugging as she rubbed her eyes.
"I miss my morning coffee." She grumbled, finally summoning up the energy to sit up and make her way to the bathroom.
Connie smiled, Rita was a dedicated caffeine addict, much like herself, giving up coffee being one of the more difficult things to do.
Connie rolled out of bed, following Rita into the bathroom, where Connie proceeded to strip and climb into the shower.
"I'd ask you to join me… But your bump…" Connie teased, Rita being relatively small meant that as her bump grew outwards she looked much larger than she actually was.
"You insult me like this Beauchamp, and somehow I still love you!" Rita called over the noise of the spray, splashing some water over her face.
"CONNIE!" Rita suddenly screamed, Connie stumbling out of the shower, conditioner still in her hair and no clothes on.
"Are you ok? Is it the baby?" Connie asked, wiping the soap from her eyes and crossing her arms to see Rita smiling.
"It kicked! The baby kicked!" Rita exclaimed, holding her hand on her bump as she could feel the little baby kicking.
"Don't stand there like a goof, feel!" Rita pulled Connie's damp hand onto her now exposed stomach, Connie beaming from ear to ear as she felt the little foot make contact with her hand.
The two women eventually got over the shock of the baby's now more aggressive movements, Connie re-entering the shower and washing the suds from her body before joining Rita downstairs for breakfast.
Both women were now dressed, and Rita was sat at the table with one of Connie's cases in her hands.
Since turning 6 months pregnant Connie had banned her form resus, fearing that Rita could get injured herself or run herself to exhaustion, but this certainly did not stop the young Nurse form peering over her partner's cases ad trying to wriggle in on them.
"Thank you." Connie swiped the file, Rita pouting as Connie tidied up her stack of paperwork and ditched it into her bag.
"Those are not yours. So I was thinking, tonight, me, you, takeaway…" Connie stopped as Rita rolled her eyes, tutting as Connie back tracked and tried to think of whatever it was she had obviously forgotten. "And what exactly am I missing now..?" Connie asked tentatively.
"Tonight's my baby shower!" Rita huffed, seeing Connie's almost unreadable expression on her face.
Connie was still very socially awkward around a lot of people.
Since her and Rita had started dating she had become slightly more comfortable around the staff from the ED, but she still would prefer to either be their boss OR their friend, she found it hard to draw a line between the two.
Rita admired her ability to try anything that would make Rita happy, but Rita still understood that Connie liked being their tough Clinical Lead, rather than their friend's girlfriend.
"You don't have to come." Rita softened her voice as Connie brought her over a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice.
"I'm coming silly, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Connie grinned half-heartedly, placing a meaningful kiss on Rita's forehead. "I can't say I'll enjoy it, but as long as you are there…" Connie tried a bit harder to smile this time, Rita really appreciating her effort to join in with her busy social life.
"Well, I am the guest of honour!" Rita laughed, turning serious as Connie looked deep into her eyes. "I love you Constance…" Rita pursed her lips as Connie's cheeks turned a dark shade of red.
"I love you too, even if you do enjoy teasing me about my name…" Connie chuckled.
"I like you name…" Rita protested.
"I know, let's agree to disagree." Connie stopped the argument there, knowing there would be no winner to the pointless argument.
They were eventually ready for work, Connie in her infamous louboutins and Rita in her infinitely more comfortable converse.
They drove to work, sharing small talk about work.
"You know, they've got a bet on when the baby is born…" Rita smiled, Connie shaking her head, already in work mode, not enjoying the playful nature of her 'subordinates', which Rita pleaded her not to call them.
"That is unprofessional and…" Connie started her rant as the pulled onto the car park, Rita placing a hand on her knee to stop her.
"It's just a bit of fun Con, smile." Connie grimaced as Rita laughed at her pathetic attempt. "I love you."
"Love you too." Connie kissed Rita's lips, before exiting the car, the women entering the ED hand in hand.
They said another, less elaborate goodbye at Connie's office, Rita making headway for her own office.
Rita quickly got changed into her, now extremely large, scrubs.
But she decided that she need to crack on with her paperwork, as she had been desperately putting it off for the past few days and a giant mound had built up on her small desk.
Rita was part way through her fourth file when she heard a loud knock at the door.
"Hey squirt!" Dixie barged in, Rita smiling to see her best friend entering her office. "How are you? And little bump of course!" She smiled, sitting on the edge of Rita's desk.
"Yeah, we're ok actually. Although you know that bet you've got going on about when bump is going to make an appearance?" Rita asked, Dixie nodding, unsure as to where this was going. "Connie isn't too keen on it, surprise surprise, so just keep it on the down low, yeah?"
Dixie nodded, laughing at the ice queen's peculiar ways.
"So you all excited for tonight?!" Dixie asked, her, Jeff and Robyn had been chief organisers for Rita's baby shower.
"Of course, what time do you want me there?" Rita asked, not wanting to be there too early and make Connie partake in the small talk, which she found so painful and unnecessary.
"About 6ish? Most people should be there by then. Oh my God, I can't wait to give you my gift!" Dixie squealed, quietening down as she heard heels approaching behind her.
Dixie swiveled around to see Connie walking into the office, two packets of sandwiches in her hand, and two bottles of water.
"Mrs B." Dixie nodded her head, Connie managing a half smile as Dixie stood up, brushing down her jumpsuit. "I'll see you later Reets." She called, before leaving the office.
"You could at least say Hi?!" Rita sighed as her socially inept girlfriend sat beside her on a separate chair.
"Hi." Connie smirked, kissing Rita's lips.
"That is not what I meant and you know it!" Rita tried to be serious but she ended up laughing at Connie's scrunched up face and nose, Connie joining her until they both require breath and were forced to find something less amusing to think about.
