"I hate this," Ruth said waddling around her kitchen. She was nearly nine months pregnant and Harry had insisted that she stay at home. Ruth had agreed in the end, given the size of her stomach and the fact that she knew Harry wouldn't work at all if she was there.

"You are not going to work," Harry replied. They had this argument every morning before he left for the grid. Now it had become a habit more than anything else. She sat down on a kitchen chair and screwed her face up slightly.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked worried.

"Hm," she said nodding. "The baby is kicking really hard." Harry put his hands on her stomach and he could feel the massive movements of their baby. "Oh!" Ruth gasped loudly after a huge kick.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked after the baby stopped moving.

"Yes," she said happily. "You should go. Terrorist to catch. Bombs to find. Beth, Dimitri and Tariq to order around."

"Yes," Harry said. He kissed her passionately before leaving the house. Ruth watched him drive away from her window and then started talking to her stomach.

"You've had enough haven't you?" she asked rubbing her hands over her taut skin. "You want to come out now? Okay then." Her due date wasn't for a week more but she could tell something wasn't right. "Well, your daddy isn't here so its just you and me. Do I need to go to the hospital or are you going to stay put for a while longer?" The baby didn't move at all and Ruth decided to stay put until she got another indication.


An hour later, Ruth knew it was time. She called a taxi to take her to the hospital. She didn't want to call an ambulance because she felt it was selfish of her when someone else might really need one. She didn't want to bother Harry until she was sure that the baby was coming. Until a doctor told her what she already knew.

She was checked into the hospital quickly and settled into the hospital bed. Soon a doctor examined her and confirmed what she suspected.

"Yes, this little one is on its way," she said with a smile.

"Okay," Ruth said. She waited until she was alone and pulled her mobile phone out. She called straight through to Harry's office. She was shocked when Beth answered.

"Beth? I thought I called Harry," Ruth said checking her phone to see which number she'd dialled.

"Yes, you did," Beth said.

"What's wrong?" Ruth asked, knowing that for someone else to be answering Harry's office phone they were in trouble.

"Um…"

"Just tell me," Ruth said, screwing her face up as she felt a contraction go through her.

"He told me not to tell you if you called," Beth said chewing her lip. She didn't like lying to Ruth.

"Beth, where is my husband?" Ruth asked shortly.

"He's gone to meet an Al Qaeda asset," Beth said sighing.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because the asset demanded a high officer and if he wasn't obliged he was going to order his snipers to shoot whoever turned up."

"Is that meant to be comforting?" Ruth asked feeling the fear grip her.

"That's why he told me to lie to you," Beth said. "Are you okay? Do you need Harry?"

"I'm fine," she lied. "Can you get him to call my mobile when he gets back on the grid?"

"Yeah," Beth said. "It might be a while though."

"Okay," Ruth said biting her lip trying to remain quiet as she felt another contraction. "I need to know he's alright."

"He will call you, I promise," Beth said.

"Can you ring if… If anything goes wrong?" Ruth asked.

"Ruth…"

"I need to know," she replied firmly.

"Okay. I'll call," Beth said. "But he will be fine. He's come through much worse than this."

"Yeah. Bye Beth." Ruth threw her phone in her bag, worrying like crazy. A strange doctor came in her room.

"Hi, I'm doctor Stevens," she said, standing next to Ruth. "You can call me Angela. Are you ready to become a mother?"

"Sort of," Ruth said, trying to stop worrying about Harry.

"Do you need to call the father?" Angela asked.

"He's busy," Ruth said.

"Too busy to drop whatever he's doing and support his wife who's giving birth to his child?" Angela asked with raised eyebrows.

"Apparently," Ruth said, not wanting to talk about Harry. Angela clearly didn't approve but she kept her mouth shut for which Ruth felt grateful.


An hour passed and Ruth was in a lot of pain as it became apparent this baby didn't want to hang around. It was coming quickly. Ruth picked up her phone when the doctor left her alone for a minute. Beth picked up again making Ruth's heart drop like a stone.

"He's not back yet," Beth said straight away.

"Should he be?" Ruth said breathing heavily. "Should I start panicking?"

"Ruth, are you alright? You sound terrible," Beth said concerned.

"Actually, I'm in quite a lot of pain and I need to talk to Harry," Ruth said, fighting the pain of another contraction. "Where is he?"

"Okay, he should have been back by now but don't worry," Beth said. "We're on it and he will be fine. Now, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm in labour," Ruth said bluntly.

"But you're not due for another week," Beth replied.

"Well tell that to my daughter because she doesn't seem inclined to wait another seven days," Ruth said bluntly. "Look, I need Harry," Ruth said, breathing heavily. "I need to know he's alive and not been shot by a terrorist. So if you could tell him to come to the hospital when he gets back onto the grid, I'd appreciate it." Ruth hung up throwing her phone angrily onto her bed. The anger was coming from fear, because she didn't know how she would be able to cope if anything happened to him. She groaned as she felt another wave of pain go through her.


One more chapter to go. If you have time, reviews make my day, xxx