A/N I've decided to try and write another fic since the last one was pretty fun! I don't own any of the characters!
"Do we really have to go today Patrick? I know it was nice of Nurse Franklin to invite us, but I'm not sure they'll actually want us there." Shelagh sighed as she changed out of her nurse's uniform before they went for dinner at Nonnatus.
"Nurse Franklin wouldn't have invited us if they didn't want us there my love. You're just worried in case Sister Julienne doesn't want us there, and we still don't know why she's been acting so strange around us, or if she's acting strange around everyone. She could just still be grieving." Patrick replied trying desperately to keep his wife from getting upset, Shelagh had been particularly tired and emotional recently with everything that had been going on and Sister Julienne being short with her was definitely not helping.
"Well, I guess you could be right, I think we must have offended her with the pill more than we thought we would." Shelagh mused, "Sister Julienne's never anything but kind to me usually, but recently it's like she can't stand to be around me! I guess we'll just have to wait and see if anything changes." She smiled sadly to her husband as she left the room to see if her daughter had woken up from her nap. Patrick sighed, he hated seeing his wife upset and he wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to help the situation. Deciding that his usual routine of standing around thinking instead of getting ready, a habit that did not have a good effect on his wife's stress levels, was not going to work today, he set about finding an appropriate tie.
It was Trixie was answered the door at Nonnatus house upon the Turner's arrival.
"Shelagh! You've managed to get your husband somewhere on time! I'm impressed." She said teasingly, reaching out to take the youngest Turner in her arms for a cuddle, "We're just in the living room!" The Turners removed their coats and Shelagh briefly felt nauseas, as she had times over the past few weeks. Trying to ignore it she followed Trixie and Patrick through to the living room. Everyone, except for Sister Winifred and Barbara, was sat down busy watching the television, doing some sort of craft or talking, but everyone looked up and greeted them. Everyone except for Sister Julienne who looked up quickly before looking back down at her knitting. The Turners shared a quick look and hoped that the awkwardness wasn't as obvious to other people before going to sit down on the end of the sofa.
Dinner at Nonnatus was tense. Patrick and Sister Mary Cynthia had been called out minutes before dinner and had gone to assist Barbara at a birth. Everyone, apart from young Angela who was far too busy babbling away to Delia Busby about her new teddy, had noticed that Sister Julienne was acting uncomfortable around Shelagh. Now that Shelagh was sitting around the table with everyone she realised that Sister Julienne was acting completely normal around everyone else. Unfortunately Shelagh did not have time to dwell on this long, as soon as she had begun to eat an overwhelming wave of nausea hit her.
"Oh, um, please excuse me a moment!" She said as she quickly stood up and ran out of the room. Trixie got up and followed Shelagh out as everyone else turned to sister Julienne expecting her to follow too. Nobody knew exactly what was going on between them, but everyone knew that Shelagh and Sister Julienne had once had a very close relationship and they expected Sister Julienne to be concerned about Shelagh especially with the noises they could hear coming from the bathroom. Instead she just seemed to stare blankly back at them. After realising that Sister Julienne was not going to help Nurse Crane stood up and said, "I think I'll go and fetch Mrs Turner some water." before leaving the room.
Nurse Crane entered the bathroom to find Trixie trying to keep Shelagh's hair out of her face. It was a few more minutes before Shelagh managed to stop, leaning against Trixie as the nausea began to wear off. She gave a weak but grateful smile to Nurse Crane as she sipped her water slowly.
"How far along?" Nurse Crane asked gently.
"Pardon?" Came Shelagh's confused reply.
"Mrs Turner, you don't have to pretend with me, I have been a midwife long enough to recognise the symptoms! Don't worry, I'm sure Nurse Franklin and I can keep a secret if you would prefer it not to get around just yet." Nurse Crane said softly, becoming concerned as she noticed Shelagh's eyes begin to fill with tears.
"Nurse Crane, as I'm sure you have heard by now, either by someone here telling you outright or through the various stories that seem to go around poplar, I cannot have children." This time, Shelagh's reply had been almost instantaneous, she desperately wanted to stop Nurse Crane from saying any more on the subject which she knew would end up with her being far too emotional.
"These things can happen sometimes Shelagh, and it would explain a lot," Trixie tried to reason with her friend, "you've been tired, you've been emotional, you're clearly not feeling well and to be honest, your uniform has been looking a little snug."
"I've just been eating a lot of biscuits." Shelagh replied quietly, her mind struggling to take all of this in.
"Perhaps Nurse Franklin should take you upstairs to examine you and I'll go back and tell the others that you just need a bit of rest?" Nurse Crane said kindly as they helped Shelagh stand up.
Shelagh lay down in silence as Trixie performed her examination. Her head was spinning, it wasn't possible, was it? She looked down as Trixie placed the pinned onto her abdomen and felt shocked. The smile on Trixie's face said it all.
"Re..really?" Shelagh asked in disbelief as Trixie took her measurements.
"Yep! I'd say you're about 11 weeks so I'm guessing you want this to be kept quiet?" Trixie asked. Patrick burst into the room before Shelagh could answer.
"Shelagh, Nurse Mount said you weren't feeling well, are you alri… are you alright?" Patrick stopped suddenly and looked down at his wife. Shelagh blushed and pulled her blouse back down to cover her abdomen.
"Um, yes, I think I'm fine thank you Patrick. We need to talk when we get home though." Shelagh replied.
"Yes, of course. Why don't you go to the car and I'll go and get Angela from Nurse Busby and then we can talk?" Patrick asked, his eyes lighting up at the thought of what Shelagh might want to tell him. Shelagh nodded as Patrick turned to leave the room. She thanked Trixie and tucked in her blouse. As Shelagh left, she tried think about the wonderful things this could bring. Instead, her uneasy mind kept wandering back to all the difficulties this could cause.
Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll be updating soon and that chapter shouldn't contain quite so much dialogue!