Alex stood at the sinks. She bent over and clutched her stomach just as she vomited again. The door to the toilets opened and Alex glanced up to see who had entered.
"Mum, explain to me why morning sickness has to be so horrible. I've been here for the last twenty minutes and I haven't stopped throwing up since." Alex explained as Gina entered.
"Oh, is it really that bad?" She asked looking sympathetically at her daughter. She passed her some tissue to wipe her mouth with.
"I don't remember having morning sickness this bad with the other three. I've been up most of the night as well." Alex managed to say before being sick yet again. It had been a couple of days since they had found out.
Gina rubbed Alexs' back to try and comfort her. She knew how much Alex hated being sick.
"Out of curiosity, did you have morning sickness with me?" Alex asked as she stood up to look at her Mum.
Gina thought for a moment. "I didn't have it too badly. Late at night I would feel unwell but I wouldn't say I had it bad." Gina explained.
"Lucky cow." Alex said as she was sick once more.
"Why don't you go home? You look exhausted and you can't spend the rest of the shift in here, can you?" Gina said.
"I don't see why not. Just put the desk over there and a couple of filing cabinets in there and it will feel like home." She joked as she pointed round the room. "Besides, it usually stops by half one and it's half past twelve now." Alex said.
"Go home and get some rest. See how you feel in the morning." Gina persisted.
Alex looked at her in defeat. "You're lucky you're my Mum and I love you, otherwise I would fall out with you very quickly." She commented.
Gina smiled and shook her head. "You couldn't fall out with me; you'd have no one to keep up to in the pub." She said.
"That's when I can drink you mean." Alex replied.
Taking her Mums advice, Alex went home. She was starting to feel a little more like herself.
She decided to head out to the secondary school where Cara attended to pick her up. The night before Alex had told Cara and Molly she was pregnant. Molly was really excited but Cara was a little less happy about it.
As she sat outside the school she watched the other kids as they came out. Finally she saw Cara walking towards the car. Noticing her mum, Cara got in to the passengers side.
The atmosphere between them was very awkward. Alex didn't know quite what to do. She knew Cara was struggling with her Dads death in the lead up to Christmas.
After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, Alex asked Cara for the truth.
"Please tell me honestly how you feel about me, Smithy and this baby."
Cara looked at her Mum. She clearly wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to tell her.
"I won't be cross. I just need you to talk to me." Alex said.
"I'm really happy about you and Smithy. I'm glad that you've found someone who loves you as much as he does. I was a little shocked when you told us about the baby but I have gotten used to the idea." Cara explained.
"Ok, so what's on your mind?" Alex asked.
"Well, it's all happened so fast. I still haven't gotten used to the idea of Dad not being round." Cara explained solemnly.
"I can't do anything about the baby, but Smithy and I won't do anything that you're not happy with. He's asked me to marry him but if you're not happy then I won't. He doesn't even have to live with us if you're not comfortable with it." Alex said. She now felt really guilty. She had been so caught up in her own happiness that she had been totally blind to Cara.
"No, I want him to move in. I don't want you to split up with him just because of me. That would be really unfair to the baby. It should have a Dad and Smithy should be apart of its life. Would you really do that just because I wasn't happy?" Cara suddenly said.
"Course I would. Cara your happiness will always come before mine. I know that you've found your Dads death more than difficult, and I don't want you to think Smithy will replace him or that I'm trying to forget him. I can assure I'm not. I still haven't come to terms with what happened, don't think I ever will. I didn't plan for any of this to happen, in fact I never intended on seeing anybody after your Dad died." Alex said as a tear streaked down her face.
"I really want you and Smithy to be together and it might be really nice to have another little sister, or brother. I guess I'm just missing my Dad. Will Smithy be with us for Christmas?" She asked excitedly.
"I don't know, would you like him to be?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, well if he's living with us then he's going to have to be part of our family traditions, ain't he?" Cara said.
"What makes you think he'll be living with us by then?" Alex asked curiously.
"I want him to move in as soon as possible. I know it will be strange, but the sooner he moves in the better." Cara said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I know what I just said about Dad and stuff but I do want Smithy to be apart of our family." Cara explained.
"Fair enough. You should tell him this. I know he's a little worried about your reaction to me and him." Alex commented.
"Really, why's that then?" Cara asked.
"He knows how close you were to your Dad and he doesn't want you to think that he's trying to replace him." Alex added.
"I know he wouldn't try to take Dads place." Cara replied.
"Tell you what, since your Grandma is looking after your sisters, shall we get a hot chocolate round the corner?" Alex said as she stopped at some traffic lights.
"That sounds like a great idea. It will warm us up because it's really cold out there." Cara replied.
Alex smiled at her daughter and turned the car in the direction of the café that she quite often visted.