"Nick wake up..." I am suddenly alerted by Carla shaking me. "Something hurts."

"Ey?" I sit up suddenly, turning the light on. I see her sat with her head tilted forward, clearly in agony. "Hey, hey." I place my hand gently on her tummy.

"I don't know what it is." She panics. "Help."

"Ok, calm down alright?" I soothe, stroking her hair. I check the clock; two am. But I wasn't running any risks. "Carla can you move?"

"I don't know." She shakes her head and then looks at me, her cheeks were tear stained. "This isn't it right? Nick, it can't be it's way too early. She's not ready yet."

"It's alright." I tell her. "Stress isn't good, breathe ok? Right darling, we need to get to the hospital-"

"I can't go to the hospital." She buries her head in her hands, which are now shaking vigorously. "Oh my God this hurts like hell."

I don't delay waiting any longer, I pull on a pair of tracksuit bottoms and trainers before placing a hand behind her back and one under her legs, scooping her up. She was heavy, much heavier than what I was used to. But I suppose I was lifting two people.

"Pillow." I point to it and she reaches to pick it up, laying it by her chest. "Keys, wallet, phone." I check my pockets mentally and then progress to leaving the flat. I have to slam the door with my foot which I'm hoping is shut properly. I take my time going down the stairs so I wasn't careless with her but practically rush out of the building, struggling to unlock and open the car door whilst holding her. I lay her gently into the passenger seat and she throws the pillow down on the floor.

"Ugh." She mutters, tipping her head forward again.

"Carla put the pillow on your lap." I tell her and she doesn't move so I do it for her, placing it so she can rest her head on it.

"Oh my God this is worse than when I jumped off the balcony in Underworld." She moans as I start the engine.

"Look at me. Carla, look at me." I tilt her head slightly. "It's going to be ok. You got that?"

"Just go Nick." She orders. "Drive now."

4:20am

"...I wish they would hurry up." Carla mutters, reaching out her hand for mine. They had given her a scan as soon as we had arrived but the pain had begun to subside by this point. Now they had put her in a bed until they could confirm the results. "It's been about an hour."

"Try and get some rest." I sigh and squeeze her hand tightly as she tilts her head to look at me.

"Don't leave me." She whispers.

"Why would I do that?" I force a laugh.

"Because I have a stupid womb..." She pokes herself and then suddenly jumps.

"What?" I stress. "Shall I get the nurse?"

"No! No, it's kicking, she's kicking." It's the most relieved she has ever looked. "That's got to be a good sign. That is a good sign isn't it?"

"Oh thank God." I rest a hand gently on her tummy and feel the ripples from beneath.

"Stay moving." She talks to her and I study Carla carefully, the doubt laced in her expression.

"I would never leave you." I whisper and she looks at me again, trying to remember what we were talking about. "Don't ever say that again."

"Mrs Connor?" A midwife walks in, luckily she was looking fairly chirpy so I was hoping it was good news. "We've got the results of your scan. Everything is perfectly normal I am happy to tell you."

"Perfectly normal?" Carla virtually spits. "I thought I was in labour or having a miscarriage or something."

"It's called Braxton Hicks contractions." She informs us. "You may have heard of it."

"Yeah, that's what we were reading about a few weeks ago." I nudge Carla. "Remember?"

"They're minor contractions which can occur when you are in your third trimester." She continues. "It's perfectly normal and nothing to worry about but you did the right thing bringing her in."

"Minor contractions?" Carla splutters. "Minor? Tell me have you ever had these brax... Thingy's?"

"Carla." I scold her. "Sorry, go on."

"We'd like to keep you in for a few more hours if that's ok?" The nurse states. "Just to check your blood pressure is alright."

"Thank you." I smile and she walks off. "That was rude, she was only trying to reassure us that it was ok."

"I thought my uterus was going to implode." She hisses. "She tells me they're minor? What's the real thing gonna be like?"

"Ok, that doesn't matter right now." I cut her off. "What's more important is that the baby is safe and you're alright."

"...Sorry." She mumbles and I kiss her.

"Don't be." I sigh, squeezing her hand again.

8:17am

I wonder what she is dreaming about, if she is dreaming. Whether she is scared or confused or relieved. I trace by finger gently over her cheekbones. Her beautiful cheekbones, her thick eyelashes that rest on a bed of their neighbours as she sleeps. Her soft lips, a pale pink colour, the lips that I cherish.

"Mmm!" Her eyes suddenly flutter open, a look of panic on her face.

"Hey." I smile. "It's ok."

"Oh..." She croaks, her eyes darting around the room. "Oh yeah... Is she ok?"

"She's fine." I assure her and she places a hand on her tummy.

"You scared me..." She whispers to the bump. I push a lock of hair out of her face, softly moving it behind her ear. "I hate hospitals... Spend half my life in them. They may as well be my second home."

"I spent half a year in one once." I point out.

"You win." She smiles, weakly. "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier."

"Will you stop apologising?" I sigh, finding her hand and linking her fingers with mine.

"When can we go home?" She mumbles.

"They discharged you whilst you were asleep." I tell her. "So whenever, but there's no rush if you're tired."

"I'd much rather sleep in my own bed." She says, sitting herself up as I offer her a glass of water. "What's this?"

"Oh, that's a monitor." I indicate to the band on her arm. "They put that on you too. It measures the baby's heart beat."

"Stylish." She mutters, un-clipping it and putting it on the side table before moving to sit on the side of the bed, fiddling with her fingers. "...Can I have a hug?" She asks and I chuckle slightly before moving to sit next to her, pulling her close as my arms wrap around her frame.

"You have nothing to worry about ok?" I whisper into her hair as she leans against my chest. "I'm going to look after you... And Ella. I promise."

8:48am

"Here we are." I open the door to the flat and she peers round cautiously. "Do you want to go back to bed?"

"...I'm supposed to be in work today." She frowns at the clock on the wall.

"Yeah well you're not." I tell her, passing the pillow over. "Back to bed, and take that with you."

I watch her go, the door is left ajar, the sound of her climbing onto the bed, then silence. I place my elbows on the counter and my head falls into my hands. I let out a long sigh, a combination of shock and panic and relief and fatigue. I was shattered, but no way was I going back to sleep when this had just happened.

3:21pm

"Nick?" I hear Carla's voice from the living room and panic surged through me again. I leave the spare room to see that she is perfectly ok, standing in her dressing gown looking for me.

"She rises." I smile.

"Didn't you come to bed?" She asks. "You look shattered baby."

"I wanted to be awake in case..." I trail off, knowing she would hate that response. "I wouldn't have slept."

"Go and get some sleep." She points to the bedroom and I shake my head, taking her hand.

"Look what I've been doing." I put my hands over her eyes and she stops in her place.

"What's going on?" She questions.

"Shut up and let me show you." I laugh, guiding her towards the spare room. "Surprise!" I lift my hands from her eyes and she stands, staring in shock at the newly decorated room. We had been out to buy the furniture to add to the decor a few days back but hadn't got round to setting it up. I had placed a white wooden crib in the centre of the room, that is underneath a brown and white mobile, swinging gently. There was a large white wooden wardrobe in the corner which I had hung all the baby grows and clothes we currently had in. There was a play mat in the opposing corner which I had laid the toys out on and I had nailed the shelves on the wall with the wallpaper which held the rest of the toys. A new canvas with the latest sonogram photo hung on the wall next to the patterned curtains that I had put up, which had the same pattern on as the wallpaper.

"Oh my God..." She whispers, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh my... Nick... I don't believe... It's beautiful."

"Oh good, I thought you were going to flip out because I'd done it without you." I breathe a sigh of relief as she moves forward to touch the rocking horse that was against the back wall.

"You've done all this today?" I can hear the emotion in her voice. Seeing the room was making her believe it.

"Yeah." I try to hide the pride in my tone. She finally turns to look at me, tears glistening in her eyes. Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she tries to figure out what to say.

"...I love you so much." She whispers and I reach out my arms.

"Come here silly." I chuckle and she walks into them, wrapping her arms around me. We stand there for ages, holding each other. Just her, me and our baby girl. In the room that was our future.