Many thanks for your lovely reviews. Glad you seem to be enjoying this, it's been a lot of fun to write. Still a way to go before Baby James comes into the world - for now though some 'pillow talk'. Hope you like it. (Natalie - Charles' family will be putting in an appearance in a couple of chapters' time. Stay with me!)

Saturday 12 May 2018 4pm

19 weeks pregnant and counting

Molly and Charles lay snuggled up together in bed, sated from their afternoon's entertainment. It had been a miserable, dull day, weather wise; the rain having hammered down off and on for much of it. Charles had been secretly relieved when Molly had suggested that they abandon their planned shopping trip into town. His relief turning to delight when she'd suggested that perhaps the afternoon could be better spent doing something they both enjoyed instead, especially as they still had some catching up to do.

She was now curled up in the foetal position, her back to him. He was propped up on his side, one hand supporting his head, the other toying with her hair. His mind began to wander, recalling their first Christmas together with his family in Bath. He remembered how Molly had cuddled his brother's baby daughter and how he'd dared hope that they'd have their own baby one day. Molly had clocked him looking at her, guessing what he'd been thinking and had told him he'd have a long wait out. Funny that, he now surmised, the time they'd been together had flown by and in five months or thereabouts, if Lady Luck continued to shine on him, he'd be a father again and Sam would have a sibling at long last. He sighed happily, crossing his fingers, and she tilted her head up to look at him.

"What you thinkin' about?"

"Our first Christmas together."

"What about it?" she asked, turning her body around so that she was facing him. She looked at him intrigued.

"You cuddling Lucy on the sofa, Christmas night. I knew then, that I couldn't wait for you to have my baby and now you are."

"Mmm, I remember. You denied it though at the time."

"Yeah well. I didn't want to come on too strong," he began to wrap the thick strand of hair he'd been playing with around his finger, anything to avoid looking at her.

She began to chuckle.

"What?" he demanded, his tone somewhat stroppy, as he meet her gaze at last.

"Coming on too strong...Charles please, you proposed the next night!"

He felt himself flush with embarrassment and he looked away again, "Yeah, well it seemed like a good idea at the time and anyway I seem to recall you accepting my proposal without hesitation Mrs James - so it must have been!"

"Mmm well, you did give me the most beautiful diamond ring Charles. I wasn't gonna wait out to have this rock on my finger now was I?" She waved her left hand in front of him.

He adjusted her position so that she was lying alongside him and reached out to stroke her neat bump, before resting his cheek lightly on her hard stomach. "Do you hear that Baby James? Your mum only accepted my proposal because of the ring I gave her. Great hey!"

Molly began to giggle again, "Now that's not quite true Charles James. There was another reason."

He moved himself up towards her face. "Oh really, what was the other reason then?"

"You're bloody good in bed."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Molly James - you've got a cheek after what you said a couple of weeks ago. I should be throwing my toys out of the pram right now."

"Yeah well I've got an excuse, I'm hormonal Charles James." She moved to kiss him, but he backed away from her, frowning slightly, mulling over what she'd just said.

"What?"

"Only bloody good Molly?" He muttered, under his breath, sulking just a little.

"Okay, okay, bloody brilliant Charles."

He leaned in, his lips close enough to hers, that she could feel his warm breath on her face, "Now that I can live with, Mrs James."

He was about to kiss her, when her hand flew to her stomach. A look of complete surprise flashed across her face.

"What Molls?"

"That's weird, it feels like there's butterflies fluttering around in my stomach."

He grinned down at her, "that'll be Baby James, Molly."

"Oh... really?" she said, panicking a little - not completely convinced, "You sure?"

"Yes Molls. You know what Dawesy, for a medic, sometimes you're surprisingly dense about this whole pregnancy thing," the words were out before he could stop them. He steeled himself for the inevitable back lash.

Luckily for him, on this occasion it didn't come. She didn't seem to register his comment, too engrossed in what she was feeling inside of her. He was about to place a hand on her bump when she threw the covers off and clambered out of the bed. Walking to the full length mirror near the chest of drawers, she stood in front of it, her head slightly cocked, her eyes fixated on the reflection of her stomach, her hand on her bare abdomen. Her embarrassment over her naked body, having disappeared.

She turned around to look at him. "It happened again Charles, see if you can feel it too."

He didn't need asking twice and came and stood behind her, placing his hands on her stomach waiting patiently for any movement. She moved his hand slightly, pressing firmly and in a split second, murmured, "There, right there, did you feel it?" His heart swelled and he nodded, unable to speak, filled with the emotion of the moment. His eyes meet hers in the mirror and they smiled broadly at each other; their happiness bubbling over. Eventually, she rested her head against his shoulder and spoke, "Told a white lie, just now, Charles."

"Oh?"

"The ring wasn't the reason I accepted your proposal. I said yes because I knew that I loved you and would do so for always and wanted you to be the father of my children," her voice was a soft whisper.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her round to face him.

"Children as in plural?"

"Yes" she said simply, looking up at him, to gauge his reaction. He grinned then hugged her to him, delighting in the feel of their baby between them.

"You know before I met you, I wasn't sure if I wanted any, watching mum chained to the kitchen sink an' that all those years. But that's all changed and anyway with you it just feels right."

"Well I'm really glad you changed your mind Molly," he murmured into her hair, as he kissed the top of her head.

"So do you have a number in mind Molls?" he enquired, it having just dawned on him that they had never talked 'figures' before, just about having a baby.

"Well not as many as me mum and dad obviously. Dunno really. Maybe four - reckon your brother and Ellie have got it right. That way there'll always be someone around to play with. What d'you think?" She felt him gulp in surprise or shock, she wasn't sure which, and took pity on him, "That includes Sam of course."

He laughed in relief, "That's ok then."

She added as an afterthought, "Though just so you know, I'm not giving up work. Mum's managed working right enough as a TA."

"Molly, I get it and I wouldn't want you to."

He scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her down gently. He switched off the bedside light and pulled her close. She snuggled into him, resting her head on his chest and feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

"You know the next scan's a week away?" She titled her head, to look at him.

He nodded.

"Well, I've been thinking Charles."

He couldn't help it, teasing her gently, just as he had all those years ago at the FOB, "Oh dear that does sound dangerous Dawes."

She reached across him, flicking the bedside light back on. "It's James not Dawes." She pouted, glaring at him.

"Sorry Daw...James. Go on, what were you thinking?"

"Maybe we should find out the sex?"

"I thought we'd agreed we wanted it to be a surprise Molls?"

"Yeah, well, Sam's desperate to know and it will give him a chance to get over any disappointment if it's not what he's hoping for."

This was news to Charles. "What's he hoping for Molly?"

"A brother, I think."

"You think?"

Molly shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah well, he ain't exactly said so, but he keeps saying how cool it will be to have a brother to play nerf guns with 'an that."

Charles started to laugh. "Molls, he'll have a long wait out for that and besides I don't think he'll be disappointed either way. He only told me last weekend that it would be cool if he had a baby sister so that he could be the big protective older brother like his dad."

"Really? In what way exactly?"

"Vetting potential boyfriends when the time comes. He knows that's what I did for Emma."

She was intrigued; he looked like he had a story to share and she loved hearing tales from his youth. "Go on," she urged.

"Well... one Sunday afternoon, this spotty, hormonal-driven teen knocked for Em. She invited him in, took him into the kitchen and poured him a drink. I'd been upstairs revising and I came down to see who it was. Unluckily for him, he kissed her and put his hand on her chest just as I walked into the kitchen."

"What did you do Charles?"

"Well Tom was at med school by then, and Mum and Dad were out. I was 17 and the man of the house; Em was only 13 and this kid was 15. Did what any self-respecting older brother would do in the circumstances."

"Charles?"

"I punched him of course. Only problem was he fell and hit his head on the stone floor; he was out for the count. I broke his bloody nose in the process and trust me it was very bloody." He sniggered briefly at his own joke, before continuing. "In fact, the blood splattered up mum's then new drapes in the kitchen. She wasn't amused. Neither was Dad come to think of it. The kid was the headmaster's son of the grammar school I went to. I was in the first year of my A levels and Dad had a lot of begging to do. I think some money may have changed hands to stop me being excluded. There's certainly a dedication to my dad on the new science block they had built." Charles was laughing now, as much at the memory as the look of surprise on Molly's face.

"Shit. What happened to the boy?"

"Well, Em called an ambulance and they took him off to hospital, where they patched him up. He never came back to the house after that, never went near Emma again and studiously avoided me at school. Em wouldn't speak to me for weeks afterwards and I had to give dad my earnings from my Saturday job for months afterwards. I was grounded for six weeks. Missed the county's under 18s rugby semis and finals. Do you know what the worst of it was though?"

Molly shook her head, in disbelief, as much as anything.

"Mum and Dad made me write him a letter of apology!"

Molly was vaguely horrified by the whole confession, and even more so by his last remark. "Charles!" Her mind was working overtime and she looked down at her bump. "Let's hope it's a boy then. Sam's so like you, Rebecca will be mortified if he ends up flooring his sister's boyfriends."

Charles shook his head, sniggering yet again. "Nah. Rebecca would understand. Her older brother decked some equally spotty, hormonal-driven teen once, for being over friendly with her. Didn't put the boy off though."

"Really, who was that then?"

"Me!" Charles doubled up with laughter this time and she shook her head in mock outrage.

Once he'd composed himself, Charles placed a hand protectively on Molly's stomach and began trailing circles across her baby bump. He bent his head and began to bestow sweet, soft kisses all over her abdomen. A soft moan escaped her lips, at the exquisite sensations he was creating inside her. Pausing briefly, he looked up at Molly, a smirk on his face, "Anyway Molls, if this little one turns out to be a girl, Sam won't be the one flooring spotty teens..."

Molly knew what was coming next and murmured, "Mmm, that'll be you again, I take it."

"Absolutely," he breath against her skin, returning to the task in hand again, this time his mouth edging south.