One night, it was just one night, but the white stick she held in her shaking hands told her it was one night that was going to change her whole life. Jac Naylor was pregnant, and there was no doubt in her mind that she was keeping the baby. The baby was the innocent party in all of this, no, Jac shook her head, it was her fault she was pregnant, and she would simply have to put up the inconvenience the baby would cause. The decision to keep her baby made, all Jac had to do now was tell the father.
That seemed to be easier said than done, her body nearly gave the secret away though, her inability to keep down anything but the blandest of meals, almost lead to her breakfast making an appearance over an open chest cavity. Joseph soon guessed that she was pregnant, but he seemed so happy with Faye that Jac was reluctant to burst his bubble, instead choosing to deny the fact she was pregnant. And anyway, Jac knew people would say she only did it to trap him, to break him and Faye up, but she didn't, hand on heart she could honestly say that this baby was in no way planned.
A lock down in theatre saw Joseph growing weaker and weaker before her eyes, they spoke, heart to heart, openly for the first time in months. She listened, her own breaths taking more effort, as she heard the father of her unborn child talk about how she'd broken his heart, and how much he loved Faye, and she knew, that she loved him so much she'd never be able to drop the baby bombshell, she'd never be able to break up him and Faye.
She went to her 12 week scan alone, and was shocked to feel her eyes welling up with tears as she saw her tiny baby appear on the screen, without thinking she asked for two copies of the scan, one she stuck to the fridge, the other she placed in her diary, the sight of the picture could bring a smile to her face after the hardest of days.
Linden's clumsiness, or more his quest for the truth uncovered the scan picture, he immediately thought it was Jac's way of tricking Joseph into thinking she was pregnant. Her quick thinking developed a story of how she was soon to be a godmother, luckily for her he believed it and seemed to let the subject drop.
As Jac's 20 week scan grew closer, she noticed her stomach rapidly increase in size, to the point where it was getting hard to disguise it, and she knew her time had come to leave Holby. She handed in her notice and packed a bag, heading to the cost for a few weeks, needing time to clear her head. The months passed, and she returned to Holby, busying herself in turning her spare bedroom into a nursery for her unborn child, she decided she'd leave finding a job until after the child was born, instead finding a new interest in finding curtains to match the carpet, fretting over whether nurseries were better than nannies, and whether cloth nappies had an advantage over disposable.
She was 34 weeks, 6 weeks away from meeting her baby when she realised she'd not felt any movement for a few days. She quickly rung a taxi and spent the 20 minute drive to the hospital with her arms wrapped tightly round her stomach as she begged her baby to be alive, to still be there, hanging on, when the obstetrician did the scan. She had never felt relief like it when she saw the tiny heartbeat on the screen, she even managed a smile at the doctors comment that she had a 'lazy one' on her hands, and she left the hospital feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
The weight was quickly dropped back on her shoulders as she walked through reception, her left hand rubbing her bump, her baby once again dancing in her stomach. She quickly walked into the coffee bar as she saw Joseph and Faye, stepping hand and hand out of the lift, but it was too late, she was waiting for her cappuccino when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and a concerned "Jac". She slowly turned around, her left hand still resting on her bump. She watched as his eyes fell from her face to her heavily swollen stomach. "I, I, erm." He was unsurprisingly lost for words. Pregnancy had softened Jac, and without saying a word, she took Joseph's hand in hers, placing it firmly to the spot on her stomach that her baby was kicking, before looking him in the eye for the first time and whispering two words that would change his life forever, "It's yours". She watched as the colour drained from his face, and he sat clumsily in the chair behind him, "How long?" "34 weeks" she said slowly. She looked over to where Faye was waiting for Joseph by the lifts, "Look, I better..." Jac trailed off as she picked her cappuccino from the counter. "Jac" Joseph called after her, She paused, turning to face him, "Can I, can I ring you?" Jac nodded, "yeah" she whispered, turning and walking away, nodding in acknowledgement as she passed Faye.
"Is she. . ." Faye asked as Joseph walked over to her, "Yeah" he nodded, "34 weeks". "Did she say who the father was?" Joseph shook his head, "no, no she didn't". Faye shook her head and linked her arm through Joseph's, "Poor kid" she sniped as they walked to the car.