** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1
Another Level 11/?
"Nicola sweetheart wake up." Ollie said quietly sitting on the end of the bed and gently resting his hand on her cheek as she seemed not to have heard him or even be aware of his presence. When he'd finally got her to rest properly he'd hoped this was the sort of sleep she'd go into, the sort that properly rejuvenated her mind and her body and the thought that having achieved that aim only to now have to undo it was almost unbearable. "I'm sorry Nicola you really need to get up Malcolm's just off the phone and…."
"You called him without waiting for me?" Nicola said suddenly, the panicked edge to her still sleep laden voice as her eyes sprang open like she'd been scalded making his chest tighten a little.
"Calm down, come on I know the situation right now is about as fucking stressful as it gets but you need to try not to get so het up honey think of yourself and the baby." He replied softly running his hand over her tummy as he spoke the tone of his voice seeming to calm her a little. "Yes I called him but he didn't pick up, when he called me back it turns out right now we have a bigger problem than telling him about us and that baby."
"What the hell could be bigger than that Ollie? Short of aliens having invaded and captured all of the cabinet leaving me as PM like something out of Doctor Who nothing is bigger than this." Nicola sighed sitting up in bed trying to clear the last of the sleepy fog from her mind and work out what the hell was going on.
"The Observer are going after us over your speech, saying it was racist, elitist and…."
"What fucking speech? I haven't given a speech since the beginning of last week…."
"That's the one they're going after." Ollie interrupted his heart aching just a little for her as he saw the same confusion cross her eyes that he had felt when he first heard.
"Why? It was a complete non-story when I gave the speech half the main news agencies didn't even send anyone to cover it." Nicola replied a wave of nausea washing over her as she tried to keep it under control not sure if it was a reaction to the news or just another bout of baby related sickness. "What have they said?"
"They have it on the cover, stating that we were attacking ethnic minorities and low income families who are doing their best to feed their families on a limited budget. They have a picture of Sam coming out of Waitrose with a trolley full of food and are going after you personally saying that it's easy for you to talk about childhood obesity and feeding your children properly you can afford it and basically don't have to do it yourself anyway the nanny covers it."
"Oh god….fucking bastards, why now Ollie? This whole thing is cursed this is just proof that it was a fucking terrible idea to think we could pull off anything or have any hope of getting me and the kids away from James and do the right thing for our baby I…oh god I'm going to be sick." Nicola rambled, jumping out of bed and rushing out of the room as Ollie followed fear consuming him as he heard her just reach the bathroom in time before almost throwing herself in the direction of the toilet as he knelt beside her. Gently rubbing her back as she lost what little there was in her stomach he quietly whispered that it was going to be ok, he was there and she would be fine, waiting until she seemed the have finished and sat back sinking against the wall for support.
"Honey this is going to be ok, it's a setback yeah I mean I completely agree they are a pack of bastards and Malcolm is ready to fucking kill if I was Roland Manning I'd make sure I stayed out of his way for at least a decade. It does mean that we have to put off talking to Malcolm about the baby but only for a few hours then once we get this under control it's back to plan A."
"We can never pull this off Ollie, not between now and the end of the week then James is going to be home and he's going to know right away that I'm pregnant and then he'll….."
"Ssssh I don't care what it takes I've told you already you and the kids will be out of that house before he comes back but I need you to be strong for me this morning. I promise you that I won't let anything happen to you, your children, and our baby. I will be with you every step of the way and we are going to make this work." Ollie said firmly helping her to her feet and pulling her into his arms. "Just a few hours Nicola, a few hours and we'll be back on track we can do this you know we can. You trust me don't you?"
"With my life you know that." Nicola sighed the intense hatred that she could feel at that moment for James, Malcolm, the press, actually the whole world of politics in general feeding her resolve as she took a step back staring up and Ollie and taking a deep breath. "OK what does Malcolm want us to do?"
"We have to go into the office he's meeting with Tom as we speak he was going to call you but I told him I'd call and I'd drive by your house and pick you up on the way in because Elvis wouldn't be on duty yet. He wants to draft a counter attack before any of the other broadsheets pick up on the story."
"Right well I'll have to go home and change pick me up there in half an hour."
"Are you sure you'll be ok to drive home? You're still upset I don't want anything happening because you…"
"Ollie stop it!" Nicola interrupted giving him a sad smile as she did. "I believe that you are here to protect me through all this and that you want to not let me out of your sight but you can't wrap me in cotton wool for nine months. In the grand scheme of things, taking into account everything we're going to have to face in the coming months driving myself home is probably the least dangerous and stressful thing I'll do for a long time. Just let me go get changed and try to look less like I could throw up again at any moment then come get me and we'll go see if we can stop my political career from imploding yet again."
"OK I'm sorry I love you and right now I wish I could just tell you to go get the kids and Sam and bring them here and we'll take it from there, I hate the thought of you going back into that house at all." Ollie replied kissing her a final time before following her out of the bathroom waiting for her to dress quickly before holding the door open as she left. Standing at the window waiting until he saw her car come out from the underground parking garage he watched her drive off in the direction of her home. At that moment the only thing he wanted the do, the one thing that was completely consuming him above all else, was to immediately get in his own car and follow her. He knew it would only be a short time until he was doing just that but something in the pit of his stomach told him that he should be with her now, he didn't believe in gut reactions or sixth senses but something was knotting his stomach tightly and he knew he had to dress as quickly as he could and go after her. He had to catch up with her and make sure she got to the house safely and everything was ok when she did because he really felt something massive hanging in the air and it didn't feel like it had anything to do with Malcolm or even James's reactions to their plans. It felt bigger than that, a lot bigger.