Alright, so this one is kinda short but also kinda necessary. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up within a few days so hopefully that makes up for it. I'm not overly chuffed with how this one came out but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. I promise future chapters will be better and longer. Enjoy! x
"Urghhh!" Bernie is in the en suite bathroom when she hears Serena's groan, and re-enters the bedroom to see the woman tugging off a red blouse which she throws to the side where it lands among a sea of other discarded clothes. She circles round behind the other woman, placing her hands on top of her shoulders and gently kissing her neck, allowing Serena to lean back into the other woman's embrace.
"What's the matter chuck?" Bernie asks sweetly, wrapping her arms around Serena's topless body. Serena sighs and places her hands on her stomach where there is an ever expanding bump.
"I have nothing to wear! Nothing fits over the bump anymore." As she says this her eyes glisten with emotion, "oh and why the heck am I crying over this?" She huffs and sits on the bed, folding her arms above her stomach. Bernie smiles and sits next to her, gently rubbing her back.
"You're ok" she reassures her gently, "it's just hormones, and this is good, it just means our baby's growing well." Serena feels her breath catch in her throat and turns to face Bernie, her face portraying shock. Bernie is suddenly confused and worried that she's said something wrong, which wouldn't be unusual given the recent hormonal outbursts. Serena takes both of the other woman's hands in hers,
"You said our" she explains, and Bernie's eyes widen in realisation. "Our baby" Serena repeats, her smile almost reaching her ears. The blonde blushes a little before she wraps her arms tightly around the other woman, burying her face in fluffy brown hair. "I think we should tell people." Serena announces after a few minutes, and both women lean back to look at each other.
"Yeah?" Bernie questions, needing conformation to check she heard right. Serena nods and keeps smiling,
"Yeah. I'm obviously not going to be able to hide for much longer" she states, gesturing to the pile of discarded shirts and blouses on the floor in front of them, "I think I'm ready for people to know." Bernie smiles yet again and can barely control the feeling of pride that is near bursting from her chest.
The two women walk on to AAU, both feeling the ever growing excitement in their souls with the secret they will soon get to share. Serena eventually settled on a floral blouse which was always slightly too big for her, but still doesn't completely conceal the secret. She keeps her coat on, wrapped around herself as the pair walk over to the nurses station and gather the current staff.
"Everyone, can we just have your attention for a moment, it won't take long." Bernie calls out, standing close to her girlfriend. As the nurses and doctors all gather Serena feels a knot form in her stomach; she is worried about what everyone will think. It's not often the middle aged, newly proclaimed lesbian announces she's pregnant. However, she looks up at her Bernie stood next to her so protectively, and feels a rush of confidence. As everyone stands around and stares at the pair, Serena simply removes her coat, handing it to Bernie, and says,
"I'm pregnant." There is a surge of gasps and whispering as she continues to explain, "I'm due in about 4 and a half months, and although she's not biologically related I hope that Bernie's going to be a big part of the baby's life." She stops for a moment to smile up again at the other woman before adding, "Oh yeah, and drinks at Albie's later to celebrate!" There is a brief round of applause before everyone begins to get back to work, and there are a number of people who come up to say congratulations as they go. Serena breathes a sigh of relief and sits down at the nurses station before Fletch comes up to her with open arms and great big smile.
"Congratulations!" he beams, squeezing her in a hug, "I'm really really happy for you Serena. You did have me worried for a minute there though, I thought you were going to tell me that our Bernie is actually a Bernard and he'd got you up the duff!" He adds, earning himself a pretty big elbow to the ribs from the aforementioned Major. Serena laughs out loud and says,
"Well man or no man she's still got bigger balls than you Fletch, and either way she's going to be a much better dad than Robbie ever would have been." Fletch laughs and then smiles sympathetically,
"I assume he doesn't want to be involved?" Serena replies with a shake of her head and shrugs her shoulders,
"I don't really mind, it's probably easier this way." Before standing up from her seat and stating "Anyway, I best go and get some work done. Can't sit around here talking babies all day. Shall we see you in the pub later?" to which Fletch replies with a nod.
Serena sits down at her desk, as does Bernie at her own, and opens up her calendar.
"Oh!" she exclaims, suddenly remembering, "I have an appointment with Mr T in ten minutes, I almost forgot!" Bernie suddenly looks concerned, before the other woman explains, "nothing to worry about, just routine blood tests" and then heads out the office, but not before planting a kiss in Bernie's unruly blonde curls.
The rest of the day goes by without much excitement. Serena trades in her normal scrubs for a pair of maternity size ones and actually finds that they're much more comfortable and resigns to living in them for the next few months. One of their elderly patients who overheard Serena's announcement sits knitting all day and eventually presents Serena with a beautiful woollen hat in different pastel coloured stripes. She also gets a visit from Raf at lunch time, who has obviously heard the news from Fletch, and once he starts crying she does too and then they can't stop. The end of the shift comes and they head across the road to Albie's where Serena secures a table big enough for the group, and heads up to the bar to order two pints of orange juice for the pair, and a bottle of wine for the table – because after all it is a celebration. Morvern, Fletch, and Raf are the first ones to arrive, all greeting the pair with hugs and sitting down to chat and share stories of their day. Sacha, Essie and Dom turn up next, congratulating Serena and joining in with the chat. Sacha then begins to relive some of the stories of his children which Bernie contributes to with the few stories she has of Cameron and Charlotte from when she wasn't on tour. Zosia and Ollie arrive with messages of congratulations from Darwin, and even Ric turns up from wherever he's been all day. He tells Serena that there's already a bet going around the hospital about whether he's the father and Bernie almost snorts her drink out of her nose at the thought. A couple of hours later and everyone is high on the good news and the buzz of alcohol. Serena feels a light vibration in her coat pocket and pulls her phone out to see the caller ID. She quickly excuses herself and pops outside to take the call. Ten minutes later Serena is still outside so Bernie decides to go and check on her. She heads out into the beer garden where she finds the other woman sitting in the cold on a bench with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hey" she greets her softly, trying to keep the worry from her voice. Serena turns to look at her and tries to swallow the sob that eventually escapes from her throat. Bernie wraps her arms around the other woman, afraid to find out what on earth that phone call was about. After a few minutes of breathless, gasping sobs she softly asks, "Serena, can you tell me what's going on?" The brunette takes a moment to slow her breathing and sniffles before explaining, in a voice that is barely audible.
"That was Mr T. He's had the results of my blood test and he's booked me in for an urgent scan tomorrow."