This chapter is when everything goes wrong for Connie very quickly, she realises that she has to change elements of her life in order for her to be able to keep her child. She is 15 weeks pregnant in this chapter.

Chapter 7

Connie woke up still feeling tired, but she knew that she only had to work 2 more shifts until Grace's visit. Her 16 week pregnancy scan was booked for next week, whilst Grace was staying over, but she hoped to break the news to her daughter before then.

Connie's phone started ringing, which annoyed her as she had only just woken up. She picked up her mobile from its place on her bedside table before seeing that it was an unknown number. She wanted to ignore the call but at this early in the morning she knew that it could be important.

"Hello?" Connie said groggily, her body still full of sleep.


Connie walked into work as moody as ever, which was obvious to the rest of the staff. Connie made a beeline for her office where she could hide from the rest of the world for the day. Connie had skipped breakfast that morning, only having a glass of milk to sustain her until lunchtime, as she wasn't feeling up to eating.

The clinical lead sat in her office undisturbed, as people had noticed her bad mood as she entered the ED that morning, so that she could fill in paperwork that she had to do.

She had been sat in the office for 3 hours when she heard the first knock of the day. Connie did not want to know who was behind the door, or their reason for knocking, but she called the in anyway.

Charlie, the only person that Connie was semi-pleased to see walk into her office, came in and sat down on the seat opposite her desk.

"Connie, is everything okay?" Charlie questioned, knowing that Connie's usual bad moods were nothing in comparison to what he had seen from her that morning.

"I don't want to talk about it. Please close the door on your way out." Connie said, trying not to show any emotion.

"Connie, you know that you can trust me." Charlie pressed, knowing that Connie would give in sooner or later.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Connie asked, looking up from her paperwork to make eye contact with Charlie.

"Yes, I promise not to tell." Charlie replied, his voice full of sincerity.

"I got a phone call this morning from social services. They know that I'm pregnant and they want to investigate and run an assessment on me because of what happened with Grace." Connie replied, spilling everything to Charlie.

"Oh, from when they were worried that you weren't caring for Grace properly?" Charlie asked.

Connie only nodded in reply as she looked down at the paperwork on her desk. Charlie sensed that she wasn't in the mood to talk to him, or anyone else, at the moment so he left silently.

She sat and thought about the future of her child, as she was unsure about whether social services would see her as a fit mother. She knew that they were just making sure that Connie was a safe parent but she still had her doubts.

She opened her e-mails, reading one from Grace, as she thought about the social services visit later on that evening, after her shift at work. Connie knew that she'd poured all of her alcohol down the sink when she first found out about the pregnancy as well as decreasing the amount of caffeine she had, especially first thing on a morning.

The e-mail from Grace expressed her excitement about the visit; as she was due to arrive in just 2 days' time. Connie had been looking forward to Grace visiting and hoped that social services would not get in the way of the visit as she didn't want to ruin the relationship between her and her daughter after it had just been repaired.

She replied to the e-mail quickly, knowing that she could think of what she would say to Grace over the course of the next couple of days. Then Connie checked, read, and replied to more e-mails, most of them regarding work.


The end of the shift had arrived before Connie had even realized it, and she knew that she hadn't eaten all day. She decided that she could get a pasta salad on the way home and eat it before the social worker came round.

The clinical lead locked her office, after being sat in there all day due to the lack of major injuries that needed her skills, and left the department straight away, as people knew that disturbing the doctor could have serious consequences.

She sat in her care and put her bag on the passenger's side, realizing that she'd need a booster seat for Grace's visit. There were a lot of things that would change about Connie's life and house whilst Grace visited and as she prepared for her baby to be born. Connie wanted Grace to be involved in the baby preparation process but she knew that Grace could still hate the idea of a child if she felt that she was being replaced.

Driving to a local Tesco's Connie got out and quickly went inside to buy a pasta salad for her dinner knowing that she had to be home soon for the social services visit. Connie decided on a small pot of pasta with cheese sauce and sweetcorn to fill her up, as well as a bottle of water.

After paying she went out to her car and sat down, taking a sip of the water before driving back to her house.


Connie was in the kitchen, putting the rubbish from her pasta salad in the bin when she heard a knock at the door. Connie smoothed down the clothes that she had been wearing for work, even though she would usually have changed into pyjamas before going to answer the door.

"Connie Beauchamp?" The woman questioned. Connie presumed this was the social worker as she was as smartly dressed as Connie and held a notebook and some files in her hand.

"Yes, come in." Connie stepped to the side to let the social worker in, although she didn't particularly want to.

"Hello, I'm Lorraine. I'm here to run the initial assessment of you and your home to ensure that a child would be safe and well-cared for." The woman answered, barely pausing to take a break.

"Hello. Would you like a drink? Tea or Coffee?" Connie asked, knowing that she had to be as polite as possible, despite how she was feeling. She knew deep down that this particular social worker was not to blame for the assessment; she was just here to assess the house and take notes.

"Not right now, thank you." Lorraine answered. "Could I have a tour of the house?"

"Yes of course." Connie replied, showing the social worker through to the living room and explaining how she would make it safer for a young child if she needed to when the baby arrived.

Then Connie showed the social worker through to the kitchen, explaining that a baby gate could be put on the door from the living room to prevent the child from being injured in the kitchen if Connie's back was turned.

Lorraine kept making notes and nodding as Connie explained how she was willing to change the house to make it safe for a child.


After finishing the tour of the house Connie put the kettle on to make herself a cup of tea and to make the social worker a cup of coffee. The two women sat down in the living room whilst the kettle boiled and Lorraine explained the process and that she'd need to ask Connie a few questions before she left.

Connie excused herself for a moment as the kettle boiled, and returned a minute later with 2 hot cups, placing them both on the table.

"So, you need to ask some questions?" Connie asked, after taking a sip of her tea.

"Yes." Lorraine answered, placing her cup back on the table. "How would you plan to change your shifts at work to fit in with the baby?"

"I would take maternity leave, probably for 6 months after the baby has been born, and then change my shift times so that I was here at night. I'd probably be looking at shorter shifts as well." Connie replied, hoping that it was the model answer.

"If it came to it, would you step down from your role as clinical lead to take care of your child?" The social worker asked, making notes in her notebook again.

"Yes, of course. I would do anything for my child." Connie replied, not being able to think of a situation with her child that would cause her to have to stop being clinical lead.

The social worker kept making notes and asking a lot of questions, most which Connie didn't wish to answer.


After a while the social worker stood up and told Connie that she'd be in touch by the end of next week. This made Connie feel relieved as the social worker showed herself out, knowing that Grace's visit would be uninterrupted. Connie realised that she hadn't mentioned Grace's visit to the social worker, but knew that it didn't make much of a difference if they wouldn't be in touch until after Grace left.

Connie knew that a pasta salad was not enough food for one day so she decided to make herself a sandwich before she settled down for the night. It was only 9pm but Connie was exhausted and she was undernourished.

She went back into the kitchen, glancing at the clock on the wall so that she could make a note of the time, and made herself a ham sandwich to keep her blood sugar up so that she wouldn't get ill.

Connie then ate the second dinner for herself then put her plate back next to the sink so that she could wash it up in a bit.

She went upstairs to get changed into her pyjamas so that she could go to bed when she was ready, instead of having to get changed later when she was feeling too tired.

I hope you liked that chapter, I actually almost forgot to write it but I was 'ill' on Friday so I took the day off school. Next week's chapter will focus on Grace's visit, then I'll be breaking up for the school holidays so I may be able to upload more frequently.

Please leave a review if you have chance.

Thanks for reading.