"Wakey! Wakey! Rise and Shine!" I heard Grandma Dot's upbeat voice as light beamed through the window as Dot had drawn back the curtains, making my eyes squint as I awoke from a deep sleep. I realised I was laying on something hard, but soft. How does that work? I transported my eyes downwards to find a pink nipple imbedded on a delicate body. It was Jay's chest. I looked up at Jay who still had his eyes closed but seemed to be awakening from the darkness.
"What time is it?" I asked my step grandmother as I slowly began to sit up.
"7 'o' clock dear," Dot says. "Up you get! Busy day today…" Then, she noticed that Jay was still asleep. She began to raise her voice: "Up you get Jay or I'll throw cold water over you!" With that outburst, Dot walked out of the room. I looked at Jay smirking as he fluttered his eyes open in utter panic.
"She wouldn't actually would she?" Jay started to panic.
I burst out laughing, "Grandma Dot wouldn't touch a fly!"
Jay sighed with relief. That was when I felt vomit rise from my oesophagus. Oh shit! I jumped out of bed, "Abs!" I heard Jay call out softly, I felt his eyes watching me as I paced out of the room, in hope that the bathroom would be vacant. It was. To be honest, it usually was at this time of the morning. Poppy would have been up an hour ago, plus Fatboy would still be in bed. He doesn't care if he has cold water thrown at him!
Jay and I have stayed at Dot's for four days now and it's been lovely. Very warm, comforting and welcoming. Poppy and Fats have been great to have around the house. Poppy's right- it's nice to spend time with people around the house in your own generation! Poppy started to feel like an older cousin to me…
I flung myself towards the toilet as vomit poured out of my mouth, filling up the toilet bowl. God, how much I hate this! And every morning we've been here, while I was puking my guts up due to this tiny baby growing inside me, I always felt a hand on my back, rubbing it while the other hand was pulling my hair back. Jay. While I was staying with Dot's, I would never have to go through morning sickness on my own.
Within an hour, the whole household was sitting round the kitchen table. I started to have some weird obsession for Dot's strawberry jam. It was sooo sweet and tasty. Divine! It was spread on toast. I inhaled all the conversation round the table whilst munching silently on my jam on toast. Until, a knocking erupted from the front door.
"Ooohh," Dot exclaimed, astonished. "I didn't expect to have visitors this early!"
She beamed as she got out of her seat and began to stagger over to the front door. We all sat in silence to see who had decided to interrupt our breakfast club.
"Ooohh Kirsty," Dot greeted her.
Kirsty?! What does she want?!
If she's come to drag me back home then she definitely has another thing coming! I was talking to Lauren yesterday and apparently the other day, she went to see dad in prison and when she got home, she was acting strangely.
I watched as Dot led Kirsty through the hallway and into the kitchen. Kirsty had her normal appearance. Her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, wearing a white blouse, black trousers and heels with her big black bag in tow. Did I ever mention that she has huge lips? Seriously. You could easily mistake her for a fish.
Kirsty edged herself closer to the table, her dark smudged eyes prodding at me. I raised my eyebrow at her, not giving her the satisfaction.
"What do you want?!" Nan retorted.
Kirsty spun her head which made her ponytail dance in the light. "I've come to see Abi."
"Well, what do you want?" I snapped.
Kirsty turned back to me, "Your dad wants to see you this afternoon, at 2." With that, Kirsty scrambles through her bag pulling out a beige document. I glanced at it before looking back up at Kirsty. She stretched her arm out towards me and I clenched the letter, holding it in the palm of my hand, pressing the document down with my four fingers. I unfolded the document, scanning it briefly. My eyes shot back up when Kirsty glared at Jay and announced "He wants you to bring lover boy too."
I bite my tongue as I glared at her, "Thanks for telling us, now go!" I command, "I don't want to see your face!"
Kirsty raised her bushy eyebrow at me before turning on her heel and heading out the front door, without breathing a single word.
"Anyway," I rose to my feet, and began to head towards my bag full of my college books needed for the day. "I better head to college! I'll ring you on my break Jay." I told my loving boyfriend as I slung my bag over my shoulder, walking over to him as he tilted his head back waiting for me to kiss his lips. That's what I did. We shared a soft kiss for a few moments, after we pulled away; he touched my still flat belly. I smiled as I put my hand on top of his, until he removed it. Yes, my belly may still look flat but I do feel pregnant. 100% pregnant with my true love's baby.
Everyone bided me farewell as I departed the house, heading through the Square gardens.
"Abi," someone called from behind me.
I turned around and saw Alice in a denim skirt, white pumps and covering her top half in a white floral top. She was running towards me, I paused and greeted her with a smile as she came towards me.
"You alright," she wondered.
"I'm fine," I reassured with a smile.
"I heard that you're pregnant, I haven't had the chance to talk to you," she says, in a concerned tone. "Are you sure about keeping it?"
I rolled my eyes. Ugh!
"Positive," I told her sternly. "It's Jay's baby. Me and him have a future together so why wouldn't I keep it? Yes, I'm young and so is Jay but we're sure about this."
A smile tugged at Alice's lips, "You and Jay are written in the stars! To be honest, if I had a relationship like you and Jay have and I found out I was pregnant, I'd keep it too!"
I smiled at her, "Thanks Alice! Anyway, I better go. I'll be late for my English Literature class!" Alice said goodbye as she left the Square gardens whereas I turned on my heel and headed through the market to wait at the bus stop.
"Just in time Abi," Hayley Smith- my English Literature teacher told me as she looked at her watch. She had black hair that was cut into a bob; she always wore deep red nail polish and fake eyelashes. She had a light trace of brown eyeliner on the rim of the eyes. Considering, she always wore fake eyelashes, she did look natural. She was wearing a baby blue long sleeved shirt with black trousers and boots.
I rolled my eyes as I took my seat next to Bernadette, "The bus arrived late." I excused.
Hayley just looked at me and carried on lecturing the class.
"Did you do the essay?" Bernadette whispered in my ear. Shit!
I bit my lip and turned to face my best friend slowly shaking my head. Bernadette wasn't my best friend throughout Walford High but since Year 11 and through our college days, we were actually really close.
Bernadette smirked and tutted, "You've turned into a right rebel lately Abs! Something you're not telling me?"
Actually there is…
"Bernadette!" Hayley bellowed, gritting her teeth in our direction. "If I hear you talking while I am one more time, you'll be doing your work outside! Understood?!"
If you were a normal student, you would nod or respond with 'yes'. But not Bernadette- she just slouched back into her chair raising her eyebrow at Hayley. They seemed to be having some sort of staring competition until Hayley announced, as she turned to the class: "Right, let's see who's done their homework!"
With that, Hayley sat on the surface of her messy desk with a register resting on her lap. This will be the second piece of homework that I have not done for Hayley. God, I'm slacking!
"Abi Branning," she called out my name on the register as she turned towards me.
I gulped, "I'll post it through your pigeon hole tomorrow? I've been so busy lately, I just haven't got round to doing it!" I started to get stressed out.
"Every evening, I have to do tons of work as well as marking homework, I'm lucky that I get my weekend free!" She argued, "All this college asks is to take an hour out of your week at a time for each subject yet you fail to do so? I've looked at all your subjects on the system and lately you've seemed to be handing in homework late in every subject!"
"Yeah, well maybe you're not pregnant," I blurted out. Fuck! None of the college knows. I was going to tell my close friends here during the week or maybe next week. Too late. Now that the class knows, it's going to go round the whole of college.
"Abi," Bernadette began softly. "You're pregnant hun?"
I turned to Bernadette as I felt tears begin to burn my pupils, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I was going to tell you but it's too late…"
I turned to Hayley, rising to my feet in defence. "That's right Hayley, I'm pregnant! I'm carrying my boyfriend's baby; I'm going to be a mum! Yes, I'm staying here, I'm going to get my grades and go to university but I'm still having this baby! My dad's in prison, my step mum thinks she owns me, she's trying to take over the role of my mum so don't try telling me how hard your week is and how you get your weekends free when in a way I have it much worse! I don't get a break, not even on weekends!"
By the time I had finished my lecture, tears were streaming down my face. I grabbed my bag and ran out the classroom. I kept running until I was at the bus stop. Thank god I was on my own at the bus stop. I literally broke down.
I really didn't want to get the bus, so I rang Jay up, waiting for him to answer after dialling in his number. I continued to cry as I waited for him to pick up. It wasn't long before I heard the voice that always made my stomach perform gymnastics. He greeted me by saying: "Alright babe." He had obviously heard me sniffle, "Babe, what's wrong?"
"Can you come pick me up? I'm at the bus stop!" I cried.
"Yeah sure, let me just confirm that," he told me, sympathetically. I could sense his weak smile through the other end of the line. I heard the chat between him and Dexter confirming that he can borrow a car to come pick me up as I'm upset. I heard Lola in the background saying how she's going to cheer me up by having a girly morning while the boys work!
I was in my own world just listening in to the conversation at the Arches on the other end of the line, but I got interrupted by the constant calling from Jay of my name, "Abs, Abs, babe you there? Abs."
I shook my head, "Sorry, yeah?"
"Stay at the bus stop," he told me. "I'm on my way!"
Lola laughed as we sat round her gaff on the sofa. It was just me, her and little Lexi. Lexi was sitting beside Lola while she played with her soft baby toys, babbling away.
"Abi Branning, who would of thought it eh?!" Lola giggled.
"I can't believe I did it," I exclaimed. "It just felt right at the time for me to speak up cos Hayley was saying how she finds it hard! Now everyone in the college will know!" I put my head in my hands. I felt Lola rub at my arm.
"Don't worry Abs; I was like that all the time with Lexi! It's your hormones babe." She convinced me.
I looked up at Lola, clutching a cushion on my lap. "Well they're out of control!" I lightly throwed the cushion at Lola, in which she moved her face back to avoid it hitting her in the face. She kept giggling.
"That's what it's like girl! You better get used to it. What did Jay say when you told him?"
"He just laughed saying, 'Good on ya babe!' and 'That's my girl!' and 'That's my little one talking!' However, he did say to me that the college were going to find out eventually, and if I get hate and threats or whatever, they have him to answer to. He said how far he'd go to protect me and the baby."
Lola smiled warmly, "You've got a gooden there Abs!"
I nodded in agreement smiling. Yes, he may have had a tough life and he may seem like a bad boy in some people's eyes but he's really not. He's sweet and sensitive and charming and loving, I couldn't wish for a better man to spend my life with.
Jay pulled the car up outside the prison that afternoon. I just gazed at the window, in my own world. The insides of my body were trembling. Jay squeezed my knee and I turned to him as he smiled reassuringly at me. I gave him a weak smile before saying, "Let's get this over and done with then!"
With that, I got out the car with Jay and we walked hand in hand into the building. I went over to the reception, where an officer scanned my document, taking it in before allowing us access into the visiting room.
Jay and I sat in the visiting room together, holding hands under the table, waiting anxiously for dad to appear from behind the silver, rusty, metal gates. Within about five minutes, the gates to the reception got closed as the prisoners on the other side of the room, got released to see their friends and relatives. Blimey, there were some rough ones. I was looking around the room, viewing all the reunions until Jay nudged me. I looked at him as he gestured in front of us and that's when I saw him. My dad.
He came over to us wearing a black long sleeved top and grey joggers. He had a yellow band round him.
"Abs," he said softly as he sat down holding my hand, he looked over at Jay and nodded, "Jay."
"Hello Mr Branning," Jay says, politely, although I could tell he was nervous.
"Dad," I said softly. "Are you alright?"
Dad shook his head, "Don't worry about me babe- just worry about yourself and your own little family."
I raised my eyebrow, "I would have thought that you would persuade me to abort the baby." I let out a nervous laugh.
He shook his head smiling and began to gesture his surrounding, "In here, I've realised that you really aren't my little princess anymore, daddy's little girl. You're 18 next year, you're all grown up, ready to face the world, make your own decisions in life. I can't stop your
"If you fell pregnant through a one night stand, I would have persuaded you to abort it, yes, as your life would be ruined. I'll always be looking after you then won't I!" He admitted, but his last sentence he said in a joking way. "However, you and Jay have been together now, what? Nearly three years now? He really does love you and I would love you to get married…"
"So you're arranging for us to get married now?" I interrupted him, smirking.
Dad chuckled, "Not just yet, but in the future. He looks after you really well, I think I can now let go and let Jay take over." With that, Dad took the hand of mine that he was holding and gave it to Jay. "Jay, I may never saw eye to eye with you but…you're a nice lad and you really love my little girl, you've always been there for her. I know this will always remain that way. I can feel it. You can sense these sorts of things in this place!" Dad looked up at the ceiling then looked back at Jay, "Continue what you're doing, make sure you give everything you have to the baby like you do with Abi then trust me mate, you'll be brilliant!"
I started to well up; I wiped a few tears dripping from my eyes before they starting to sprint down my face. Never in a million years that I thought my own dad would say something to Jay like that!
"Of course I'll look after her Mr Branning," Jay promised. "I won't let you down. I'll cherish your daughter until the day I die and even when the time does come, I'll be cherishing her from above!"
Dad smiled warmly, "I know you won't let me down Jay. And please, call me Max?"
"Max," Jay smiled.
The three of us spent half an hour talking around our small desk. I found out that Dad broke up with Kirsty as he thinks that none of this would have happened if he just let Kirsty leave after Christmas and then we'd still be a family and mum and Oscar would still be leaving here, in Walford. However, we can't go back and change that.
Dad instructed Lauren and I to kick Kirsty out of the house and to offer to pay the first week of her stop at the B&B until she can make her own ways. I really doubt she would though. The best part is that Dad insisted for Jay to move in with us until we get a place of our own before the baby is born. Dad promised us that he'd be out of prison to be there for his first grandchild. Kindly, Dad trusted us enough to give us his debit card number which has thousands of pounds on to get our own place and all the stuff needed for us and the baby! This was all get sooo exciting!
When it was time to go, Dad and I shared an embrace before him and Jay shook hands, but after Dad pulled him into a manly hug.
"We'll come see you soon dad, or I will!" I promised him.
Dad nodded at me smiling, before Jay took my hand as Dad walked through the gates back to his prison cell. Jay and I left the prison building. I thought I would be upset when I had to leave dad, but I wasn't. I was sooo overjoyed, it was unreal! I have the best dad ever and he's helping Jay and I get our happily ever after! I just had this instinct that Dad will be home soon. With his family, where he belongs…
A/N: I apologise that you had to wait over a week for this chapter! However, I will start making a start to the next chapter as we speak! Please review. Ciao!