Pregnancy
Shona awoke to David nudging her firmly with his foot. When she fully came to her senses, she realised that her alarm was blaring obnoxiously on the beside table. Sighing heavily with exhaustion, she turned over and grumpily silenced her alarm. As she lay still, she tried to muster all of the strength she had, to climb out of bed and get ready for work. She couldn't understand why she was so tired; she had woken up this early many times before and she had not had this much trouble.
Rubbing her eyes rigorously, she tried to shake her tiredness, as she slung her legs over the side of the bed. She immediately regretted this, as nausea rose in her throat and her head spun.
"You're taking your time, aren't you?" David questioned sleepily, as he rolled over to face her.
"What?" Shona asked, whilst keeping her back to him.
"I said…" David began again, before trailing off when he realised that Shona wasn't paying attention. "You okay?"
"Yeah", Shona answered, whilst pushing herself up from the bed. "I don't feel too good, but I'm sure I'll be alright."
David had pushed himself up on his elbow and was looking at his girlfriend, slightly concerned.
"You sure? I'm sure if you told Roy you weren't up to going in, he could get someone to cover for you."
Shona shook her head dismissively. "I probably just need to get something to eat" she said, before making her way wearily into the kitchen.
…
"You are eleven minutes late" Roy remarked, as Shona rushed into the café.
"I know", she sighed. "Sorry."
Accepting Shona's half-hearted apology, Roy told her to make a start on the day's special, fish pie, whilst he had some errands to run.
Whilst Shona cooked the pie, the smell of the fish made her stomach twist and her nausea grew increasingly hard to ignore. Virtually holding her breath for the rest of the duration of her cooking, Shona was immensely relieved when it was time to put the pie in the oven.
Just as she had finished clearing away, David strolled into the café and ordered a coffee for himself and one for Audrey, before he was due to make his own way to work.
"Smell this" Shona instructed him, whilst thrusting a carton of milk into his face.
Sniffing the milk uncertainty, David looked at Shona questionably.
"That doesn't smell off to you?" she asked.
"No. What's the date on it?"
Peering at the ink printed on the side of the carton, Shona furrowed her eyebrows, slightly confused. "It says it's in date until the beginning of next week."
"Well there's your answer then" David said, "it's not off."
Still not fully convinced, Shona set the milk down on the counter, before handing David both of the coffees.
"What, you not giving out change now?" he asked her, after handing her almost twice the amount that the two coffees cost.
"What? Oh!" Shona exclaimed, whilst trying to shake the veil of tiredness from her mind and passing David his change.
David's eyes suspiciously scanned Shona's face, before he questioned her if she definitely felt well enough to be working, as she looked unusually pale.
"I'm fine" she insisted. "I'm still exhausted, but I don't feel as sick, so that's a plus."
Accepting this, David made his way to the door, but not before making Shona promise to go home if she started to feel any worse.
Once Shona was stood alone behind the counter, her mind started to wonder to what could be making her feel so unwell. She began running through her list of symptoms in her head, before the possibility struck her. Snatching her phone out of her pocket, she began frantically researching if her symptoms added up.
After scanning the café to see if anyone was watching her, Shona gently pressed on her breasts and flinched uncomfortably at their tenderness. This and the fact that her period didn't show any signs of appearing for the second month in a row, caused alarm bells to start ringing in her head.
"Oh god", Shona whispered to herself, "I can't be."
…
Once Shona's shift was over, she rapidly hung up her apron and hurried out of the café, in the direction of the nearest pharmacy.
Her heart was pounding in her chest the whole way there and back and her nausea had only increased due to her anxiety.
On her way into the house, Shona pulled the box out of her bag, desperate to know the result as soon as possible. However, her frantic movements came to a sudden halt, when she saw David sprawled out on the couch watching television. He looked up curiously, at who was entering the house at such speed.
Pinning the box behind her back, Shona nervously spoke to him. "You're back early."
"Yeah. I didn't have any clients left, so Gran's holding the fort."
"Oh." Shona responded vaguely, before attempting to pass him without him seeing the box.
"What's wrong with you?" David asked her, before switching the television off and focussing his full attention on Shona. "Why are you acting so shifty?"
"I'm not." She answered quickly, avoiding his eyes.
David pulled himself to his feet and walked towards Shona. "What's that?" he asked her, nodding to the object that she held behind her back.
Attempting to think quickly on her feet, Shona answered: "Oh, it's a… a… card."
"A card?" David repeated disbelievingly. "For who?"
Shona opened her mouth, but her answer failed her, as no words came out.
"What is it?" David asked again, but more demandingly this time.
When Shona once again failed to answer and failed to look him in the eyes for more than two seconds, David held out his hand, awaiting the object.
Knowing that she couldn't keep it from him for much longer, she admitted defeat and dropped the box fearfully into his hand. Evident shock spread over his features and his eyes widened in surprise, when he looked down at the pregnancy testing kit that lay in his palm.
They stood in silence for a few seconds, before David spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, I don't even know for sure yet" she said, gesturing to the closed box, "I didn't want to make a fuss over something that could be a false alarm."
Nodding slowly, David handed the box back to Shona and looked her in the eyes. "Only one way to find out."
…
"Well?" David asked eagerly, as Shona returned from the bathroom.
"Don't know yet" she answered, sitting down on the couch and placing the test on the table in front of them. "We still have to wait a few minutes."
A nervous silence hung in the air around them and each second seemed to drag by. David looked up at Shona, who was anxiously chewing on her thumb nail and staring at the floor.
"Hey" he said, taking her hand from her mouth and holding it in his own, "it's going to be okay."
Shona smiled gently at him, before nodding in the direction of the test. "Do you reckon it's done yet?"
Squeezing Shona's hand, David leaned forward and grabbed the test with his free hand.
After looking at the test for a few seconds, to enable himself to process the result, he could feel Shona growing progressively tense, before he spoke to her.
"It looks like we're having a baby."
…
Shona stood staring out of the window, holding a glass of water shakily in her hand. She was pulled out of her thoughts, by the sound of David's voice, as he moved towards her.
"Shona, talk to me." He said, sitting down at the table and gesturing for Shona to take a seat as well.
As she sat down slowly, David grew increasingly worried. He had always known Shona for being strong and optimistic, but her sudden change of character had put him tremendously on edge.
After a second, Shona blurted her question out: "Do you even want to keep it?"
David was taken aback by the sudden brutality of her question. "Why, do you not?"
"I asked you first." She said, whilst looking him firmly in the eyes.
"Yeah" David nodded truthfully, "I mean, it came as a bit of a shock, but yeah. I do."
He swallowed hard, before continuing. "Do you?"
"Yeah…" she began.
"But?"
Sighing fearfully, she answered: "But, I'm not up to this though. Am I?"
"What do you mean, you're not up to this?"
"Well I'm hardly mother of the year, am I?" she said, beginning to raise her voice. "Just look at how my son turned out."
"Shona, we've been through all this" David began, "that wasn't your fault. In any way."
"Then why do I feel so guilty?" she asked, as her voice broke with tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"Because" David started adamantly, "you're a good person, with a good heart. And look at Max and Lily! They love you."
"Yeah, but you and Kylie raised them. Not me."
Determined for her to believe him, David carried on: "Shona, you are amazing with them and you're going to be an amazing mother to this little one." He said, glancing down at her stomach. "And I'll remind you of that everyday until you believe me, if you want."
Shona smirked slightly, in response. "I just don't want anything to go wrong. I can't go through something like that again." She finished, as a few stray tears made pathways down her cheeks.
"And it won't" David said, whilst standing up and holding his arms out towards Shona. "Come here."
Shona gratefully laid her head on David shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I'm just terrified" she whispered, exhausted.
"I know" he told her gently, whilst rubbing her back with his open palm and placing a kiss in her hair. "But it's all going to be alright. You'll see."
…
A week later, David and Shona climbed out of the car after getting back from their first hospital scan. The natural atmosphere surrounding them was filled with joy and excitement and every time they caught each others eye they couldn't help but smile. It was their secret, but not for much longer. On the way back from the hospital, they decided that when they got back they would split up and inform people of the baby. Shona would tell Billy and Eileen, and David would tell the rest of the Platts.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in a bit" Shona smiled at him, before crossing the road and heading towards Eileen's house.
Smiling back at her, David watched Shona enter the house and he felt his own excitement rise. He wasn't someone who liked to share his personal life, but right now all he wanted to do was tell anyone and everyone about the new member of their family.
…
"What do you think it is she wants to tell us?" Billy asked Eileen.
"I don't know. She just text saying for both of us to be here, because she's got something important to tell us."
"You don't think it's anything bad, do you?" Billy said, beginning so stress.
Just as Eileen opened her mouth, to express how much she hoped that wasn't the case, Shona came walking into the house with a clear air of purpose.
"Hey." She greeted them both cheerfully, "thanks for waiting for me."
"It's fine" Eileen smiled, before adding bluntly: "now cut to the chase. What's wrong?"
Shona was evidently taken aback for a second, before she let out a small laugh. "Nothing's wrong. You see, me and David have just got back from the hospital and… well I think it'll just be easier to show you" she said, rummaging in her bag before proudly presenting them with the image of her scan.
Billy and Eileen gasped in unison, as they realised what Shona was trying to tell them. Eileen seized hold of the picture, as Billy leaned eagerly over her shoulder, to get a closer look at the baby.
All three of them beamed at each other, before Billy asked curiously: "How many weeks?"
"Eight" Shona responded, before adding boastfully: "he or she's the size of a raspberry."
"Congratulations!" Eileen said, pulling Shona into a tight hug.
The two person hug quickly turned into three, when Billy decided to join in and all three of them felt like they couldn't be happier.
…
Over at the Platts, Audrey, Gail, Sarah and Bethany were also fretting, but this time it was over the content of David's text. When David walked into the house, all four of the women looked at him worriedly, whilst they waited for him to speak.
"I've got a bit of news…" he said, trying to stop himself from smiling. "Well, me and Shona have" he corrected himself.
"Well spit it out, David." Audrey demanded, in the hope of hurrying him up.
"Yeah, what is it?" Bethany added impatiently.
Unable to keep the smile from his face, he told them excitedly. "Shona's pregnant."
Sarah gasped audibly. "Oh my God! Really? How many weeks?"
"Eight."
"When did you find out?" Bethany chipped in.
"Last week. We've just got back from our first scan."
"Well show us the picture then" Audrey urged him, leaning slightly forward on the couch.
"I can't" David pouted, "Shona's got it."
"And where is Shona?" Audrey asked.
"She's over the street telling Billy and Eileen now" David smiled.
Everyone sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds, whilst the news of their new family member sunk in.
Then Sarah broke the silence. "You okay mum? You're being unusually quiet."
"I'm fine" Gail answered vaguely.
"Then why does your face look like a bulldog's when it's chewing on a wasp?" Interrogated David.
"I just don't know if this is such a good idea" Gail commented.
"What isn't?" David questioned defensively, "We're not getting rid of it, if that's what you mean."
"You said yourself, you only found out last week" Gail started, "You can't have thought it through properly."
David narrowed his eyes at her. "So what're you saying?"
"I just don't see what's wrong with the way things are now. After everything with Josh, things have only just got settled again and a baby is a lot of work."
"What and you don't think we know that?" David said, as he began to raise his voice at Gail.
"Now let's just calm down, shall we?" Audrey jumped in, before things began getting too heated.
"No, Gran" said David, stopping her, before he turned his attention back to Gail. "I don't get why you always have to look for the faults in everything."
"I'm your mother. I'm just looking out for you."
"No, you're not! Because if you were, then you'd see how this is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."
David took a breath, before continuing: "After everything that's happened over these past few years, with Kylie and with Josh, this is the first time that I feel like I have a purpose again. When I sat there this morning, holding the hand of the woman that I love and hearing our baby's heartbeat, I felt so happy. Like everything bad that's ever happened to me didn't matter anymore."
"I'm sorry, David" Gail began genuinely.
"Yeah!" David cut in, "You should be. Me and Shona want this baby. I love her and Max and Lily. And now, I love this little one as well. This baby is going to be a member of this family, whether you like it or not. So you can either get on board, or you can whistle. Your choice."
…
David was woken up by the sound of a vacuum humming noisily around the house. Agitated at being woken up in the middle of the night, he rolled over to see if Shona had also been woken by the noise. Only to discover that his girlfriend wasn't in bed beside him.
Drawing his eyebrows together in confusion, David crawled out of bed and shuffled through to the kitchen. He squinted painfully, as the bright light of the living room shone in his eyes.
"Sorry! Did I wake you?" Shona asked innocently, whilst switching off the vacuum, "I was trying to be quiet."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm cloning the dog." Shona joked, "What does it look like?"
David remained tiredly staring at Shona, with various unanswered questions floating around in his head.
"I couldn't sleep, could I?" Shona continued, when David failed to answer her.
"I can see that, but why couldn't you just listen to some music or something? Why did you have to start cleaning the whole house?" He asked her.
At that moment, Gail came trailing down the stairs and laughed slightly at the sight that greeted her. Shona was stood with her brown hair tied up in a messy ponytail and she was resting one of her arms on the recently used vacuum and the other on her protruding stomach. Whereas, David was simply stood watching her in confused disbelief.
"Someone's in full nesting mode." Gail smirked, stepping into the living room. "Not long to wait now, is it?"
"Twelve weeks." David and Shona told her simultaneously.
"Well, I'm going back to bed and I think you two should too" Gail smiled, before turning and making her way slowly back up the stairs.
Shona sighed suddenly. "I'm hungry. Here." She said, handing David the vacuum.
Quickly shoving the vacuum back into the cupboard, David tiredly threw himself down on the couch next to Shona, who was now happily eating a sausage roll.
"You think I'm insane, don't you?" she laughed.
"No more than usual." He told her, with a smile.
Suddenly, Shona grabbed David's hand and placed it on her stomach. A smile subconsciously expanded across his face, as he felt their child kicking gently against his palm.
David had felt their child kick many times before, but he never got tired of the feeling. He remembered the warmth that filled his heart the first time that he and Shona felt their baby. They were laid in bed early one morning, when Shona gasped in surprise and she had swiftly took hold of David's hand and placed it upon her stomach. Both of them had sat in an amazed silence - just feeling their baby move.
This moment was incredibly similar, as they both sat smiling at each other, whilst feeling their baby happily squirming under the gentle pressure of their hands. Whilst paying attention to the pure joy in Shona's eyes, David felt his love for her radiate throughout his entire body.
…
The hospital clock ticked comfortably, with each second that passed, as David sat in a relaxed state of tiredness, as he watched his girlfriend and their daughter sleeping soundly. Olivia had only been born a mere few hours earlier and David and Shona were elated to finally meet her. Unfortunately, her birth was not the smoothest, as Shona had had a caesarean section when she was thirteen, so her decision to try and give birth to their daughter without the help of a caesarean section, meant that her birth had taken longer than normal. This unsurprisingly left both mother and daughter completely exhausted.
Just as David shimmied further down into the chair and closed his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep, he heard Olivia wake up and begin to make a fuss. David quickly jumped up from the chair and made a beeline towards where Olivia lay in her hospital cot.
"Shhh…" David soothed his daughter, as he lifted her into his arms.
As he rocked her gently, David analysed the features of her face. David noted that she looked more like Shona than she did him, but her eyes which were initially blue when she was born, were already turning a similar shade of brown to his own. Her tiny hand gripped David's index finger, as she started to cry harder.
"Come on" David said, "Let's get you outside, so that you don't wake up mum, okay?"
David quietly and quickly exited the hospital room and he began pacing the corridor, in an attempt to lull his daughter back to sleep.
"Hiya!" Sarah exclaimed walking through the door, which was connected to the corridor.
David turned in surprise when he heard her voice and smiled when he saw that she had the entire family accompanying her: Audrey, Gail, Bethany, Max and Lily.
"Hey kids" David exclaimed, greeting Max and Lily. "Do you want to say hello to your sister Olivia?"
David bent down slowly, in the hope of not disrupting Olivia again and showed her to them. Max smiled at her and delicately stroked her sparse, brown hair with his fingers. Lily however, was less enthusiastic, as she kept a shy distance from her new sister.
The four women laughed, as they watched the interaction unfold.
"Can I have a hold?" Bethany begged, as she extended her arms for her new cousin.
Agreeing to Bethany's plea, David laid Olivia softly in her arms.
"Oh, she's beautiful." Sarah cooed, as all the women gathered around Bethany to get a closer look at the new baby.
After a few minutes of watching his new daughter being passed around - from Bethany, to Sarah, to Gail and then finally to Audrey – David realised that Max and Lily were no longer stood with them.
Initial panic struck him, as he quickly scanned the corridor for them. Thankfully, they had not gone far, as David peered into Shona's hospital room and saw Max and Lily laid on either side of Shona (who was now awake), as they giggled innocently at something Shona had said.
Yearning to join his family, David took Olivia from Audrey's arms and carried her back into the room. As he entered through the door, Shona looked up at him and smiled welcomingly, before holding out her arms for their daughter. David happily deposited Olivia into the arms of her mother. Then he leaned forward and gently kissed Shona on the mouth and forehead.
Afterwards, he took a few steps back and just simply observed his family.
Shona held their daughter protectively against her chest, whilst Max and Lily where cuddled up on either side of Shona, watching Olivia with pure fascination. Smiling sincerely, David pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly snapped a picture of his precious family.