1st September 2018
Molly sat in the sun on the warm bench outside the hospital, basking in the warm rays that shone down on her. Totally comfortable in her cross-legged position, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, enjoying the sensation that currently fluttered deep in her abdomen.
She sought out the comfort of the bench when she first felt the sensation, almost like a swarm of butterflies taking flight in her stomach. At first she was overtaken by a sense of panic; this was different, something might be wrong. When she realised that everything was completely right, and that she was actually feeling the baby somersaulting inside of her, she had to sit down and appreciate the sensation, and marvel silently at the changes that were going on inside of her body.
As the early evening sun continued to warm her, and the sensation continued, she placed a hand on her stomach and grinned, whispering affectionately under her breath. "This is new. You're having a party in there."
"Talking to yourself now Dawesy are ya?" A voice interrupted her from behind. She whipped her head around, knowing exactly who it was, grinning widely with recognition at the familiar accent.
"You're back!"
"Yep. Just back. Thought I'd nab you to myself for a bit before the Bossman comes and finds ya."
She stayed silent, but couldn't keep the smile from her face. He moved to the front of the bench and nudged her shoulder with his own as he took a seat next to her.
"I'm guessing the reason he's had a shit eating grin on his face, as well as letting us lot away with murder for the last week is cos you two have finally made up?"
"You could say that" she tried not to be cryptic, but was unsure of how much to say without speaking to Charles first. They hadn't really agreed on a strategy for dealing with their relationship yet, and she didn't want to overstep the mark before they had.
She sighed at Brains' curious look, taking his arm in hers before she looked up nervously at him. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"
He sighed, knowing that she didn't have to ask the question. "You know fine well I won't. Haven't during the last four years have I?"
"True enough." She squeezed his arm tightly. "You're a proper mate, you know that?"
He chuckled lightly at the statement. "You weren't saying that in Newport!"
"Yeah well, things have changed since then."
"So I see" he observed, motioning his head towards her rounded stomach, trying not to look too shocked. Her uniform was no longer disguising her condition, her secret had been announced to her colleagues a few days ago now.
"I was wondering if you'd notice" she wrinkled her nose with amusement as he studied her bump with interest.
"Dawesy, you forget I've got two sisters and four nephews. Plus, I do have eyes and ears - you were talking to your belly when I spotted you from over there. Congratulations." He released his arm from her grasp, using it to pull her towards him in an affectionate hug, and she leaned her head on his shoulder gratefully. "What's he sayin' about it?"
"He's happy. It's a right old mess for us to try and work out, but he's happy."
"He fucking better be, else he'll have the rest of us to deal with."
"Alright soldier, stand down!" She laughed at the protective tone he adopted. She knew he would protect her until the day she died, and vice versa. The bonds which existed between her and the rest of the boys from 2 section couldn't be broken by time or distance. They didn't have to see each other or even speak regularly to know that was the case. Of the old section, only Molly and Charles, together with Brains, Fingers and Kinders remained in the army; Kinders stationed with a new company and currently on tour in Syria. Since the fateful day of Smurf's funeral, a new closeness existed between Molly and Brains. Neither would admit it, but they both drew comfort from the fact that the other made them feel closer in some way to their fallen colleague.
They sat in silence for some time, Molly's head still resting on his shoulder before he heard a light giggle erupt from her.
"What's so funny?"
"Just thinking. Julia's gonna be finished her shift soon. You should hang about, say hi."
"That'd be handy."
"Handy for what?"
"Cos when she knocks me out, I'll be right beside the hospital. Won't have to go far for a doctor."
Molly continued to laugh. "She is a bloody doctor! And she won't knock you out. Anyway, why are you so scared of her? You're a soldier, remember?"
"Yep, and I'd rather take on 20 Taliban than her."
Molly's grin lit up her face. "You like her. I can tell."
Brains screwed his face up with an attempt at indifference. "You can tell fuck all mate. Must be your hormones." His statement was rewarded with a punch on the arm, and he rubbed it theatrically.
"Oi, less of that. You do though. You go all shy when I mention her."
He continued to rub his arm while shaking his head at Molly's attempts to matchmake. "Yeah, that's cos me balls shrivel up with fright every time you mention her."
"You should ask her out."
"I don't have a death wish, cheers." He was quieter now, and Molly knew she had read the situation correctly.
"She likes you too."
"Really? I'd friggin hate to see how she acted if she couldn't stand me."
"She's a character."
"She's a bitch."
Molly shook her head with frustration. "You wouldn't say that if she was a fella. Then she'd be a boss. Cos she's a woman, she's just a bitch."
"I'd like to think we wouldn't be havin' this conversation if she was a fella!
"I suppose that's right enough."
They fell again into silence, enjoying the last of the warm sun before it fell. Neither noticed Charles standing behind them, watching, but not hearing their easy conversation as they sat together on the bench.
As he approached the two sitting figures, he tried his very hardest not to let the jealousy currently simmering within him develop into anything further. He knew that they were simply close; he knew there were no feelings involved beyond friendship, but it nevertheless rankled with him to see her so close to somebody else, both in physical, and emotional terms. Her head still rested on Brains' shoulder as they looked into the distance.
"He cleared his throat behind them as he crouched down, grabbing the back of the bench for support so that his head was level with Molly's.
"Room for another?" He enquired, trying not to let his possessiveness take hold.
She grinned widely on hearing his voice, but didn't yet spin round. Instead, Brains turned, and stood as soon as he recognised the look on his Boss' face. He knew when he was no longer needed. He pointed to his now vacant seat.
"I'll leave you two to it. Later Molls." He ruffled her hair as he departed. "Bossman" he greeted Charles as he began to walk away from the hospital grounds.
Before he was out of earshot, Molly yelled at his retreating form "You should go and do what I said. Nothing ventured and all that." She laughed as Brains turned around and looked at her, then shook his head, before he seemingly thought again and moved in the opposite direction, heading into the hospital.
"Should I ask?" Charles ventured.
"Julia. I might have stuck my oar in."
"Ah" he nodded in understanding before he pulled Molly into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. She sighed as she burrowed into his chest.
"Ain't this a bit public? Anyone could see us." She tried to look around to check there wasn't anybody that would recognise them, but he tipped her chin back towards his body. His response to her concern was simple and truthful. "I don't care. I missed you."
She protested despite feeling exactly the same. "I only saw you a few days ago!"
"Mm. A few days is a long time when you're not there." He brought his hand to her stomach, rubbing gently, as well as feeling how much she'd expanded in just under a week. "How are you?" He whispered into her hair, his nose reacquainting itself with the comforting scent of her shampoo.
"I'm good. I felt her move today. First time" She stated proudly. Charles pulled his head away to look at her, and felt his heart swell from the sheer pride painted on her face at that simple fact.
"Her?"
"Yeah. Well, I dunno for sure, but calling her 'it' feels weird."
"You think she's a girl?" He tightened his hold on her again, imagining a mini Molly to contend with. He would need to buy a shotgun for his daughter's teenage years, he realised with equal shades of amusement and horror. Having been a teenage boy himself, there was no way on god's earth he would let any of them near any daughter of his.
"I reckon she is."
He used his hand again to tip her chin towards his face, tracing her features with his index finger. She remained on his lap, running her fingers through the long curls on his head. They sat for a while, watching each other. Eventually, Molly could hold out no longer and turned around further in his lap as she began to drop light kisses along his jawline; soft, feather like kisses that made little impact on the skin, but were filled with plenty of promise.
"I've got a bit of a problem" she whispered in his ear.
He chuckled, with a feeling that he knew exactly what it was from the nature of her kisses. He wondered how he could read her like a book at times, yet at other moments she was a complete mass of contradictions to him. "What's the problem Dawesy?"
She gazed at him before she looked down, embarrassed for a brief moment by her forwardness.
"I need you. The last few days have been...difficult." She was talking about one thing only. He could tell by the way her pupils dilated when he stroked her stomach with his hands, then moved them round to rub her back and shoulders, and the way her breathing altered and her back arched as he did it. "I thought I'd never want to do it again when I was puking my guts up all day long. Now I can't concentrate on anything else."
He grinned, and it restored his face to the most carefree she had seen it in a long time. "That's not a problem. That's very far from a problem."
"Not when it's all I can think about! Think it's my hormones. I'm glad you're back, put it that way."
He bit back a smirk, knowing that he should treat this as a serious issue given her current capacity for mood swings. "Well then. I feel it's my duty to take care of your problem." He mock saluted before he stood from the bench with her still in his arms, carefully swinging her into a carry position.
She laughed uproariously as he marched her from their sitting place, keeping her in his arms, as though she was about to be carried over a threshold. "Where are you taking me?!" She breathed between giggles, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Home, you insatiable woman! I've got problems to solve!" He adopted the sternest of faces as he proceeded, causing her to erupt in even more laughter as they continued, both oblivious to the curious gazes of the scattered onlookers on the grounds of the hospital.
Later that night, with darkness long since filling the sky in place of the sun, they lay in Molly's bed, with her problem now more than resolved. They didn't sleep as they held each other in the dark, enjoying the fact that neither of them had any place to be except right there in each other's arms.
The moonlight streamed in the open window, with the unusually stifling late summer heat still evident despite the fact that night had fallen. The heat meant that only a thin sheet was needed to cover them. Charles lay behind Molly as he spooned her, tracing circles on the bare arm that lay closest to him before dropping a kiss on her shoulder. She laughed lightly at the tickling sensation, letting him know that she wasn't asleep. He took the opportunity and moved his hand forward, placing it firmly on her swollen stomach, fully intending to inch it lower and lower until he reached his destination. He was stopped in his tracks when he felt it at the same time as he heard her gasp in surprise; a rippling motion underneath her skin.
"There she is" Molly whispered.
Tears sprang to his eyes as he realised just what he was feeling, and he closed his eyes to try and stop them. He buried his head in her hair and kept his hand firmly in place, Molly's hand falling on top of it, linking their fingers as they felt the movements together. He felt the sad, despondent moments of the last few years begin to wash away as he silently thanked his lucky stars that he was here to appreciate this moment. It was magical to him. He had come so close to losing everything that mattered to him; Molly and Sam. It finally felt as though everything was falling into place.
The moment was cut short as the silence in the flat was suddenly shattered by the front door opening and slamming shut. Molly turned her head round to look at Charles, and whispered "Julia's back" by way of explanation.
He nodded with quiet understanding, and they relaxed back into their previous comfortable position, hands on her stomach, when they both heard the unmistakable noise of something clattering against the wall in the hallway, followed by giggling and staggering.
"Jesus, she must have been out on the piss." Molly muttered. It was only when they heard the second voice; a recognisable scouse accent that they both looked at each other in complete and utter amusement, trying not to laugh out loud. The amusement soon turned to dismay when they heard the passionate sounds which began to emanate from the hallway.
Molly buried her head in the pillow, mortified as she tried to ignore what was so obviously going on in her hallway. She lifted her head slowly, her and Charles looking at each other in horror when they heard grunting and panting as well as something hitting the wall regularly.
"Oh fuck. Should we say something, let them know we're here?" Charles said under his breath, only loud enough for Molly to hear.
"No!" She was insistent. "Then they'll know we heard everything!"
"They're doing it in the fucking hallway, they must have known it was a possibility." His whispers were more urgent now. They heard the noises tail off before Julia's bedroom door slammed shut, accompanied by the sound of laughter.
Molly and Charles looked at each other, the absurdity of the situation suddenly becoming clear. Tears streamed from Molly's eyes as she tried to laugh quietly, whilst Charles put a warning finger over her mouth to try and quieten her.
"Sshhhhhh. I'm his boss Molly. He can't know I'm here, listening to him shagging in a hallway in the middle of the night." With that statement, Charles too began to laugh, a deep rumbling that he couldn't contain, his shoulders shaking violently. It was utterly ridiculous, but when he was in Molly's arms, he couldn't find it within himself to take anything else seriously. She was what mattered to him; if she was happy then so was he. Somewhere deep down he registered just how dangerous it was to tie his emotions so intricately to somebody else, but he ignored it and carried on.
They both continued the struggle to contain their laughter to a low volume, with tears rolling down their cheeks. He buried his face in the soft skin of her back, before deciding to shut them both up using a new tactic. He turned her around and crashed his mouth to hers, ending the near hysterical laughter almost immediately as her body responded to him, arching towards his hands like a piece of metal to a magnet. He broke off the kiss as it became ever more heated, moving her so that she lay flat on the bed. He grinned as he issued his warning.
"You need to keep quiet" he threatened, before he began to kiss her neck, her collarbone, her breasts, moving down ever so slowly, enough to let her know where he was headed. She gasped with undisguised passion, also recognising at that particular moment that he was so much more than just the Captain that she had fallen for in her first tour and never got over. He was her best friend, her lover, and her other half. She had it so bad for this man that she didn't think she would recover if this was to end. She hoped to god she would never have to deal with losing him.
AN. Sorry it's been a while! I've been having a bit of a break from writing but a little inspiration popped up in my brain for the first time in a while this morning and wouldn't leave me alone! Hope this was ok, and thanks to the kind people who have been sending encouraging words via reviews, pm's and mumsnet - you are all very lovely. Thanks also to the ff writers, who have been feeding my OG obsession with their amazing stories. J xx
Song was Songbird, by Oasis