Chapter 7

A few hours later...

Zoe stood at the pharmacy at the end of shift, staring at the packet that she'd just purchased. A Clearblue pregnancy test, to be exact. Zoe thought that she may as well get the best that they had, just to be certain.

She'd felt a little nervous buying the test-memories of Nick and the IVF treatment had haunted her all afternoon. Of course, the consultant would love to be pregnant-she was just scared of being let down yet again.

The consultant shoved the offending item in her bag, and marched off to find her husband.

"Zoe?" Max asked when he saw his wife. He was waiting by the car, and had texted her numerous times telling her to get a move on, but to no avail.

"We need to talk. I'm sorry that I was late." Zoe frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Well Ruhma said that I could be pregnant. What with the flu like symptoms, vomiting, and the fact that I've been quite hormonal."

Max's eyes widened. "Oh my- she could be right."

Zoe nodded. "She is a midwife, after all." She chuckled. "Anyway, we'll talk about this later- Mia will be wondering where we are!"

A while later...

"So, did you get a test or anything?" Max questioned when the family were having their tea.

"What test? What's a test?" Mia piped up.

Zoe shook her head ever so slightly at Max- it wasn't the right time.

Max realised that he was in trouble and stared at his almost empty plate of spaghetti bolognaise.

Zoe glared at her husband for a second longer and turned to Mia. "Nothing, sweetheart. Eat up."

The family finished their meal, and Mia ran upstairs to wait for her mum or dad to run her bath.

"So?" Max asked.

"Yes, I have got a test. Three, to be exact. Just to be sure."

"So, are you going to do one tonight?"

"Okay." Zoe nodded. "I'll be up in a sec."

Max went upstairs to start preparing Mia for her bath, and Zoe nipped to the downstairs loo to do the pregnancy test.

90 seconds. 90 seconds and her life could be once again turned upside down.

Zoe watched the hands on her watch, deliberately blocking her view of the little white stick.

90 seconds came and went. Zoe closed her eyes and reached out for the test.

She felt the cool plastic in between her fingers, which were shaking with nerves.

Slowly, Zoe opened her eyes to gaze at the result. As soon as she saw it, she began to cry.

The consultant did another two tests just to make sure that the result was for certain. She then sorted herself out and made her way upstairs.

She heard Mia giggling and splashing in the bath-Max was singing "row, row, row your boat" to her. The consultant decided to wait a little longer before sharing her news.

Max finished bathing Mia, and looked at his watch. Zoe had been 20 minutes downstairs, he didn't know where she'd got to.

"Daddy!" Said Mia, bringing him back to the present.

"Sorry, trouble. Let's get you out of the bath, shall we?"

Max helped Mia to get dried off and helped her to get dressed into her pyjamas.

"Where's mummy?" Mia asked as she got her pink dressing gown on.

"That's what I was thinking! How about you go into the big bedroom and see if she's there whilst I tidy up here?"

Mia ran into the master bedroom, where Zoe was sat on the bed.

"Mummy?" Mia asked nervously.

"Hello, chicken." Zoe smiled, holding her arms out. "Come here."

Mia cuddled into her Mummy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, more than. Where's your Daddy?"

"Okay, I'll go and get him. I've got something to tell you both."

Zoe made her way to the bathroom.

Max was there, tidying up the last of Mia's bath toys.

"Ahem." Zoe cleared her throat.

"Zoe." Max smiled, standing up. "So?"

"So..." Said Zoe, reaching for her husband's hand. "I've got something to tell you." She continued, leading Max into their bed room where Mia was waiting patiently.

Mia gazed at her parents, picking up on the fact that something was up. "Tell me and daddy!" She demanded.

"Okay." Said Zoe, sitting down next to Mia. "Do you remember when Susie's mummy had a baby in her tummy?"

The little girl nodded. "He's called Ethan."

"Well, I found out just now that I've got a baby in my tummy. Although at the moment it's very tiny."

Max, who was sat on the other side of Mia, gasped. "Really?" he grinned.

"Yeah." Said Zoe. "I'm pregnant."