CHAPTER 46
Two weeks later…
I creep into the bedroom with Maisie at my side. She is making an elaborate display of being quiet although she does keep letting out small giggles.
We walk up to the bed where Gideon is sleeping peacefully and I look at Maisie.
"1… 2… 3" I whisper and hold up my fingers as I count. After the number three has left my mouth Maisie leaps on the bed shrieking loudly.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!" She yells and my own greeting is lost as I watch as Gideon jolts awake in a rush.
He stares around him in shock as he tries to regain his senses and slowly he realises what has happened and a huge grin fills his face, while I am helplessly laughing at the sight in front of me.
"Happy birthday daddy!" Maisie repeats slightly quieter this time and she flings her arms around him.
"Thank you" he mumbles as he is bombarded with hugs and kisses.
I manage to pull myself together and I sit down on the bed and lean towards him, "Happy Birthday" I whisper in his ear and I press a kiss to his cheek. He reaches for my hand and squeezes it.
"Thank you Angel" he replies before returning his attention back to Maisie.
"Well that was the best greeting I have ever had on my birthday" he says after a moment, "But will you let me get up now Maisie?" he adds.
Maisie nods and untangles herself and slides off the bed. "You need to hurry up though" she states firmly and Gideon nods and promises he will.
As soon as Maisie has gone he turns his attention to me, "So, as it's my birthday…" he begins as he pushes the sheet down and he looks down meaningfully at the growing tent in his boxers.
I roll my eyes, "Since when has it being your birthday been an excuse – you are like that every morning" I say as I reach down and slide my hand inside the waistband of his boxers. He moans and thrusts his hips upwards into my hand.
"Oh fuck Eva" he hisses and I know from that he is more than ready to do whatever I want.
I move closer and carefully straddling him I tug at his boxers. He helps and eagerly shuffles out of them. I remove my underwear and hover over him. I am so ready and desperate for this. My sex drive is totally out of control. I assumed as I got bigger that things would calm down but I seem to have got worse instead and I just can't get enough of him, I need him and am ready for him all the time. I am huge and clumsy now and we are limited to which positions we can actually come together in but I give him no alternative this morning as I lower myself down on to his waiting erection.
"Oh god Eva" he moans as he slides inside me, I slowly start to move and he places his hands on my hips and begins to thrust upwards, meeting my movements.
"Are you ok?" he asks as he thrusts and I smile. He is always mindful of hurting me, and since I have got huge, he is even more careful with me. I long for him just to fuck me hard but I know that won't be happening this side of me giving birth.
"I'm fine, I just need you" I whisper and I continue to move. I also know that time is limited in a morning. I have to go to work soon and Gideon has to get Maisie to school before joining me at Cross industries, but we always make time to be intimate, no matter how much of a quickie it is. I'm also confident that we won't be disturbed as Maisie will be downstairs eating her breakfast which I had previously prepared for her.
Our pace increases as we both feel our orgasms building. We are so in tune with each other now that we both know the little signs of our impending release.
"Oh fuck" I moan as I feel myself tightening around him. He runs his hands over my breasts which are so full and heavy now. We continue to move and then it happens I feel the warmth, the sensation of pure ecstasy as I come around him. He thrusts a couple more times and then I feel him release himself inside me. The heat from him coming deep inside me pushes me over the edge and I grip him like a vice and milk him taking every last drop of him.
I lower my head and rest it on his shoulder as he just holds me. The baby is moving around like she always does when we have sex and his hand moves to my bump and he strokes it.
"Happy birthday" I whisper and I feel his smile and hear him give a little snigger. He doesn't reply though he just holds me tighter.
After we have cleaned ourselves up, we head downstairs to where Maisie is waiting in the kitchen. She is eating her breakfast and I glance at the clock. I still have time before I have to leave, now I am driving it is so easy to get to work in a morning.
As soon as we walk in Maisie points to the cards and gifts on the table.
"Open them" she demands and Gideon grins as he sits down in front of the pile of cards and presents.
I watch him carefully as he opens the cards, giving me a running commentary of who each one is from. Then he turns his attention to the presents. Maisie is getting more and more excited as she points at a small one which she had chosen personally. "Open that one first" she demands and Gideon grins at her.
"Is this from you Maisie?" he asks and she nods as she impatiently watches him.
I wait and watch as he opens it, discarding the paper to reveal a small box, he opens it and pulls out a mug. Maisie had seen it and immediately said she wanted to buy it for Gideon for his birthday. I watch his reaction and see him blink rapidly as he reads it. It is a mug, with the words 'World's Best Daddy' emblazoned on it. Maisie waits looking at Gideon expectantly and I see him swallow hard.
"Wow, this is so great" he says eventually, "Thank you so much Maisie, I will take that to work and use it for my coffee, and then every day I will be reminded of what a brilliant daughter I have" he says. Maisie grins widely and slides off her seat and hugs him tightly.
"I bought it because it's the truth" she says simply, "You are the world's best daddy so I had to buy it for you, didn't I?" she says.
Gideon swallows hard and then nods, "Of course you did, and I thank you because you did" he says, but the way he says it tells me he is more thankful that she thinks that about him.
I wait as he opens the one from me next. This one was hard work to get and I had commandeered Kyle to help me. I wanted a photograph of the three of us, but not a staged posed one. I wanted something candid… and us. Kyle had been more than up for the challenge and he had delivered big time. The photograph he eventually took was stunning. We are at grans house; Gideon is sitting with Maisie on his knee and I am sitting at his side. He has his arm slung casually around me and Maisie is leaning towards me and has her hands on my bump. We are all looking at each other and laughing as the baby had just kicked Maisie and she had felt it. I'd had two copies of the photograph done, a small one in a frame for him to put on his desk at work as that is where the idea had come from as he had mentioned several times he wanted a photo of all of us to go on his desk, and I'd also had a large canvass one done as well as it was such a gorgeous photo, to put up here at home.
Gideon gasps as he looks at the picture, "Angel" he mutters and I smile, I know by the look on his face that he loves it. Everyone else has seen it and they all love it, gran cried when she saw it. Kyle had taken a number of others which are similar and everyone else has copies of them. But this one was the best and as such it is just for Gideon.
"Do you like it?" I ask although I am certain he loves it.
He nods, "Angel it's stunning, I had no idea Kyle took this… I am assuming it was his handywork?" he says and I nod.
"I asked him for a family portrait of us, but nothing staged I wanted natural and candid and I think he more than fulfilled the brief" I say.
"He did… this is totally amazing, and this is going on my desk at work" he adds as he places it almost reverently next to his prized mug.
I stand up reluctantly and wrap my arms around him, "Well I'm sorry but I have to go now" I say as I press a kiss to his cheek. He looks down at the remaining gifts.
"Just wait while I unwrap these" he says and I glance at my watch and nod.
"Ok" I reply.
Gideon quickly unwraps the gifts from my mum and Vic, from Gran and Granddad, and also the ones from his mum and his dad and grandmother. He looks slightly sad as he opens them and I try and supress the grin. He has no idea they are here right now and are, as we speak camped out at the Premier Inn. He thinks he won't be seeing them all till the weekend and they had even posted his card and gift to him to help set up that ruse.
"Gran has organised a family tea for you tonight" I say and I watch as the sadness vanishes and he grins widely.
"We will head out as soon as you get back" I say and he nods.
"As it's my birthday I am finishing early this afternoon, I'm going to call it a day when you finish at five" he says with a grin.
"Alright then, but I really do have to go now" I add. He stands and kisses me passionately, "Thank you Angel" he whispers, "This is the best birthday I have ever had" he says.
oooOOOooo
By the end of the day I am so ready to go home. I have been feeling odd for most of the day. My back has been aching and also quite oddly the tops of my legs have been aching. If it wasn't Gideon's birthday and the surprise we have planned at my grans, I would just want to get into my PJ's and curl up in front of the telly.
As I am leaving the picking area, I rub my back and as I do so Gideon rounds the corner and sees me. He frowns slightly and walks over.
"Are you ok Angel?" he asks and I smile and nod.
"I'm fine, my back is aching a bit that's all. I only have another four weeks though till my due date so it will soon be over" I say.
Gideon wraps his arm protectively around me as he leads me out of the depot. "Are you sure you want to go to your grans tonight? We can just stay at home if you don't feel like going?" he asks anxiously.
I shake my head, "No honestly, I'm fine" I insist and he doesn't say anything more as we climb into the car.
We had taken my car home at lunchtime as he was finishing early tonight and we may've also used the opportunity to indulge once we got back to the house, before we returned to work. Now that I think about it the back ache started after we had been intimate at lunchtime so I guess I must've pulled something while we were making love.
We go straight to Grans house and the front door opens as we pull up. I spot Gideon's dads range rover parked over near my mum's house and I hold my breath praying he doesn't notice it and recognise it.
Thankfully he is too concerned with fussing over me to spot his dad's car and we make our way to the house. Gran is standing there beaming at us and she engulfs Gideon in a warm hug.
"Happy birthday Gideon" she says, and I watch as my husband returns the hug and closes his eyes as he savours the affection. I glance at my gran and she discreetly nods as she steps aside to let us in. Moments later my mum and Vic appear and greet Gideon warmly with their own wishes of happy birthday. Granddad is next to appear and he comes armed with a bottle of Stella which he thrusts at Gideon after giving him a manly hug.
We are shepherded to the living room and Gideon walks in the door and freezes as we hear Maisie shout.
"SURPRISE!" she yells, and then I hear a chorus of voices wishing Gideon a happy birthday and then I hear Geoff's voice.
"Hello son… happy birthday" he says.
We eventually make our way into the living room and I see Gideon standing there with Maisie bouncing around him, telling him that it's a surprise while he stares in bewilderment at his mum, dad and grandmother. Declan is running around like a lunatic as usual while Reece and Kyle are standing with Christopher and Ricky and they are all grinning widely at Gideon's obvious shock. Ireland pushes her way through the boys and throws herself at Gideon and wishes him a happy birthday and he stares around at everyone stupidly, his mouth just hanging open.
I wrap my arm around his waist and standing on my tip toes I press a kiss to his cheek, "Happy birthday, do you like your surprise then?" I ask.
Gideon turns towards me still shell shocked by the fact his family are all here, "You did this?" he says and I grin at him and nod.
"I wasn't about to keep you all to myself, not on this birthday" I whisper as I glance at Gideon's mum who looks as though she is about to burst into tears.
We all take a step back as we see Ursula stand and walk towards Gideon. She stops in front of him and smiles before holding open her arms.
"Happy birthday Gideon" she says quite properly and Gideon smiles as he accepts the hug and then bending he politely kisses her cheek.
"Thank you grandma, and thank you for coming" he says.
I have to say it always feels quite odd seeing Geoff and Ursula here in my grans living room. But the fact they made the effort to come to be here for Gideon says just how much this family have changed and are desperately trying to right the wrongs of the past.
Gran has outdone herself, the spread she has put on is amazing and while I know mums staff discount at Tesco helped I also pitched in and helped out with the cost, much to Grans disgust. But Gran is the one who has put everything together and it all looks fantastic.
I walk over to her and wrap my arm around her, "Thanks for this Gran" I say quietly and she grins at me.
"No problem, you know I enjoy doing it and well… there isn't much I wouldn't do for that young man after the way he has given you a new life and with how happy he has made you" she says and then she turns and grins at me. "We had some money left with what you gave me and so we got him a cake, with candles and everything" she adds as she nods towards the kitchen.
"Thanks gran" I say sincerely.
The evening goes really well, everyone is mingling nicely and nobody looks awkward or feels out of place. As the table is cleared, I go out into the kitchen where I see my mum placing the candles on the cake. I am shocked as it isn't the usual birthday cake she gets; it appears she went all out and got a customised cake with Gideon's name written on it. I see the candles in the shape of a number two and a number five which she lights and winks at me.
"Thanks mum" I say as she goes out into the other room and dims the lights.
A moment later I walk through the door with the cake and everyone bursts into a chorus of happy birthday. I feel an odd tightening sensation in my stomach as I bend to place the cake on the table. I put the cake down and then I gasp and reaching out I grip the table while my other hand moves to my bump.
I look up into the worried eyes of Gideon who is now at my side. "Angel?" he says anxiously.
I take a deep breath and place my hands on his chest, "I'm fine, it's just a twinge" I say calmly.
"Are you sure?" he asks and I can hear the rising panic in his voice.
I nod and point at the cake, "I'm positive" I say firmly.
Gideon shakes his head and turns towards the cake as everyone starts fussing around me. As I wave them away, I feel another tightening and I realise that I am having contractions and I grip the table once more, as Gideon dutifully blows out his candles. I glance at my watch as that was rather close to the last one, but I don't say anything.
Gran is watching me closely as is Elizabeth and I know they are probably thinking the same thing I am, that it's too soon. I am trying to stay calm so that I don't panic Gideon any more than he already obviously is, but inside I am feeling scared that this shouldn't be happening yet. I sit down and try and relax and it seems to work although I do get a sense everyone is now watching my every move.
A few moments later and another contraction hits me and I reach out and touch Gideon's arm. "I'm thinking that it wasn't just a twinge and we might need to go to the hospital now" I say as I try and stay calm about it.
Gideon nods and stands holding out his hand to me. As I straighten up I feel wet and another tightening sensation grips me.
"Shit" I gasp as I look down and realise my waters have broken.
I look helplessly at Gran, "Shit, I'm sorry Gran but my waters have broken" I say but she waves her hand dismissively and calmly starts ordering everyone around as they all seem to have gone into a blind panic, whilst helping me get myself cleaned up along with the mess I have made.
Everyone follows grans orders and swoops into action, whilst I continue to apologise profusely for spoiling Gideon's party to which everyone tells me to stop talking stupid. I see Gideon talking to Maisie and explaining to her that we are going to the hospital as it's time for me to have the baby.
Gideon leads me to the car as another contraction hits and I can see by his worried expression that he is thinking this shouldn't be happening yet. He helps me sit down on the towel which someone has thoughtfully placed on the car seat.
"Tell me what to do" he says as he climbs in beside me.
I try and gather together my scattered thoughts and process everything that is happening, "The contractions are coming every 10 minutes and they are bloody strong, so I don't think that this is going to be a long labour. I need you with me Gideon, I don't want to do this alone again" I say and he reaches for me and grips my hand tightly.
"Not going to happen, I am not moving from your side" he says firmly.
I nod and I try and think what I need to do, "Ok, I don't have my bag sorted yet as…" I pause and look at Gideon and although the words aren't spoken he knows what I was going to say.
"Because it's too soon" he finishes and I nod.
"But I do have a list on the notice board in the kitchen, so you need to call gran to get someone to go to our house and tell her about the list and she will do the rest" I say.
We pull away from the kerb and Gideon puts his phone on the hands free and makes the call to my gran and outlines everything I have just said. She assures us that it will be done and tells us not to worry.
When we arrive at the hospital the contractions are coming thick, fast and constant and I grip Gideon tightly as he leads me inside. After we are booked in, we are shown straight to the delivery suite and a midwife comes in to see us.
"Hello there, Mrs Cross… so how are we doing?!" she says brightly and at this moment I really want to punch her for her bubbly overly bright demeanour, but I just grunt as another pain hits me.
"Do you have your paperwork?" the midwife says and I point at my bag. Gideon immediately reaches for it and looks inside. He sees the maternity folder and pulls it out and hands it to the midwife before dropping my bag back down and reaching for me once more.
"Ok then, we need to have a little look at how things are progressing, your waters have broken and you are getting contractions regularly?" she asks and I nod.
"They were coming every ten minutes right from a few minutes before my waters broke but now it almost feels constant and I feel like I really need to push" I say through gritted teeth.
The midwife's eyes widen and she immediately moves between my legs. I feel my wet knickers being removed and the midwife examines me and she lets out a small gasp.
"Oh… ok, well it appears baby Cross is already in the birth canal and you need to start pushing" she says.
I look up at Gideon who looks panic stricken, "It's too soon, she isn't due till the middle of next month" he blurts out and the midwife smiles and tries to reassure him.
"It's fine, we are aware and the neonatal unit is on standby" she says.
"Look I really need to push" I state as another pain hits me and the pressure is building.
Gideon grips my hand and pushes my hair back off my face, "I'm right here Angel and you are not doing this alone" he says but I feel him trembling and his voice cracks with emotion as he says it and I know he is worried.
I look up at him, "Looks like you'll be sharing your birthday with your daughter" I say before I bear down and push hard.
The midwife looks up and smiles, "Today is your birthday?" she asks and Gideon nods. "Well happy birthday, and what a lovely gift your wife is giving you" she says and then she returns her attention back to the business end.
I continue to push and memories of giving birth to Maisie fill my mind. It's all coming back to me now, the pain, the pushing but then the over whelming joy as I held Maisie in my arms for the first time. It all hits me in a rush and it gives me the strength to keep pushing.
I vaguely hear Gideon encouraging me, he keeps telling me how proud he is of me and how well I am doing. He is now practically on the bed with me as I single-mindedly continue to push and get this done.
"The baby's head is crowning" the midwife says. Just as she says this the door opens and a few more people come in pushing an incubator and a tall woman struts into the room.
I try and ignore them as I continue to push and then I feel the searing pain as my daughter is born. I scream out loudly and ignore the directions of the midwife as I continue to push. I fall backwards as I feel the baby slide from me and Gideon holds me tightly although he is shaking like a leaf.
"Is she ok?" I gasp as I try to look.
"She's fucking perfect" Gideon stammers and I look up to see tears falling down his cheeks.
"Congratulations Mrs Cross" the midwife says and before I realise what is happening, I feel my baby on my chest.
My arms instinctively go around her and the first thing I notice is she is big, I was expecting a tiny little thing but she doesn't look that much smaller than I remember Maisie being when she was born and she went to term. I glance at the midwife and the doctor who is smiling widely.
"Hello I'm Dr Patrick, I'm a paediatrician from the neonatal unit your daughter may be four weeks early but she is certainly holding her own. We gave her an injection to mature her lungs but she is breathing quite happily by herself but we will be able to establish if she needs any time in the neo natal unit after we have checked her over".
I nod and look down at my daughter who is wriggling in my arms. She has a shock of dark hair and for a second her eyes open and they are a startling blue. All babies have blue eyes to begin with but Maisie's were never that blue. She ended up with brown eyes like Nathan but I am certain this little girl also has her father's eyes.
A moment later the baby is taken from me and I realise that during that time the placenta had been delivered, but I wasn't really paying any attention to that.
Gideon follows the midwife and the doctor across the room and watches them closely as they examine our daughter.
"Well, she is 5 pounds exactly. There are some babies who don't weigh that much at full term, so you are lucky she came when she did as she would've been huge had she gone to term. She is breathing well on her own, and her oxygen levels are very good".
The doctor continues with her examination and checks her heart and continues to give a running commentary that she is in rude health. Then she wraps her in a towel and hands her to Gideon. I smile as I see the pride and joy on his face as he wraps his arms protectively around his baby daughter. The midwife attaches little bands on her wrist and ankle with her name, date of birth and my name on it.
Gideon is crying freely the tears are just pouring unchecked down his cheeks as he walks back towards me and sits down at my side.
"Thank you, Angel" he whispers hoarsely.
A moment later the door opens and a young nurse comes in carrying a bag. "Mrs Cross?" she says and I nod.
"Your grandmother brought this in for you" she says and she drops the bag at the side of my bed.
"Thank you" I say, "Is my gran still here?" I ask.
The nurse nods, "She is" she says with a smile.
Gideon hands Lily to me, "Let me go and let her know everything is good" he says, then he pauses and pulling his phone from his pocket he snaps a number of photographs of me and Lily and of Lily alone. He hesitates a moment and then sitting close he holds up his phone and takes a selfie of the three of us.
As he moves away, I reach for him. "If Maisie is here, bring her in" I say and he nods.
I feel Lily start to fret a little and I automatically open my shirt and offer my breast to her. She roots around for a few moments and the midwife hovers in case she is needed to offer help, but I've done this before and know what I am doing.
I encourage Lily and eventually with a little perseverance she latches on and begins to suckle and I smile as I see and hear her.
"That's not the first time you have done that" the midwife says with a smile and I shake my head.
"No, I already have a daughter" I say.
"Well, we would like to keep you in overnight just for observation as she is premature, although indications are that she is absolutely fine and so you should be discharged in the morning".
I nod and am pleased to hear that as I just want to make entirely sure that everything is ok.
"We've found you a bed on the ward and as soon as your husband reappears, we'll move you down there" she says.
"Thank you" I say.
I look down at Lily as she is suckling happily at my breast, I can't believe that at nearly a month early she weighs 5lbs. I was right she didn't look that much smaller than Maisie because she wasn't, Maisie weighed in at 6lb 4oz and she went to term. As I look at her though I see her long legs and sturdy body and I know that this little girl is going to be tall, just like her father whereas Maisie is petite like me.
A moment later Gideon reappears and grins at me, "Your grandmother was in tears when she saw the pictures, she has gone now but said she'll be back tomorrow" he explains. "Maisie wasn't here" he adds.
I nod slightly disappointed but also relieved by that as it is quite late now. "The midwife said they are moving me to a ward and keeping me in overnight just because she is early, but they said if everything is ok we should be discharged tomorrow".
Gideon's eyes widen at that, "Really that soon?" he asks and I nod.
"If there is no reason to stay, they don't keep you here longer than necessary" I say.
We are moved to the ward and I look around as the bed is slid into place. I manoeuvre Lily into the cot at the side of me. Then I reach for my own phone and snap a number of photographs of her. I look around the ward and see the mums who are asleep and the mums who are awake with their babies. I smile as I know being here means I won't get a lot of rest, even if Lily is good there are other babies here who will be awake. I settle down and close my eyes. I am just drifting off when I feel Gideon press a kiss to my head.
"They are throwing me out" he whispers and I grin at him.
"Ok, I'll see you in the morning" I say. He leans down and kisses me once more before gently stroking Lily's head.
"I don't want to leave you" he whispers and I reach for him and squeeze his hand.
"I know, but we'll be fine and we'll be right here in the morning, go home and get some sleep" I say.
Gideon kisses me again, "Thank you for the best birthday present ever" he whispers.
"Thank you for giving me a whole new life" I reply.
"I love you Angel" Gideon says as he tries to put off the moment where he has to leave.
"I love you too, with all my heart… now go!" I say.