I've got ideas for a few more chapters, but if there's anything you'd like to see I'd love to know :) As always reviews are very much appreciated!
Kim sank into the chair beside Izzie, sighing loudly and tearing Izzie's attention away from the window. The two women had fallen into this Thursday afternoon routine easily after that first week. Kim made tea, Izzie drank it. One of them talked and the other listened. A friendship began to bloom, where before they had just been colleagues. Izzie was grateful for a friend. Kim couldn't ever replace her, but she was doing a damn good job of filling the void Lorna had left behind.
Handing her a steaming mug, Kim nodded towards Izzie's bump, "Not enough estrogen in your house already?"
"God Sakes," Izzie huffed as she tried to hide a smile, "He can't even let me tell my own friends!"
"Don't be hard on him, he was so excited" Kim nudged her, "Made me look at the scan pictures too"
"Oh, so he's beat me to that as well!" Izzie rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her mug.
"Congratulations, by the way!" Kim leaned in closer to her friend, "and good luck!" she whispered. The women made eye contact, both letting out a small laugh. Izzie beamed towards Tom through the window catching his eye and he gave a small wave back at her.
"Not that he looks like he needs it!" Kim said, nodding towards Tom as he turned away.
"Parenting and teaching are two very different things Kim," Izzie drained the last of her tea. She rocked back and forward a couple of times, gaining momentum to rise from the low chair. "Ooof," she heaved herself up on her third attempt. She ran her fingers across the top of her bump and bit her lip.
"What's up?" Kim was by her side before Izzie had even realised that she'd dropped her guard. One look into Kim's concerned eyes and Izzie broke.
"I can't feel her moving anymore," Izzie's eyes glistened. She wasn't supposed to be the one who fell apart at the tiniest thing. The smallest nudge, or lack thereof, had pushed her over the edge.
The solicitor's stamp in the corner confirmed the contents before Tom opened the envelope. Confirmation of the divorce. He unfolded the decree certificate, her signature next to his. He wanted to crumple it, throw it out; he no longer wanted to be this detatched from her. His hands trembled. Bright red light engulfed him, as he pressed his thumbs into his eyes. Staying married wouldn't have kept her here, this wasn't punishment for putting his own happiness first. Tom heard Kim's voice echoing in his head. She'd been so understanding, so supportive, when he fell apart in her office a few days previously. He'd been tempted to tell her. So instead he'd pulled out the scan picture, telling Izzie's best friend news that was only half his.
He crossed the room to the wardrobe, reaching a hand up the side. Feeling along the edge until his fingers hit something, something that you wouldn't know was hidden there unless you were looking for it. At least that's what Tom hoped. He breathed out relief, pulling the small black box into the palm of his hand. He'd been given it so many years before, but it had been on the top of their shared wardrobe for months now. Waiting until he was sure. Reading the solicitors letter had made him sure of two things. His mother had known. On her deathbed, she'd handed him the box, and she had known. He should never have married Lorna, not when it was, and always had been, Izzie Redpath.
Tom looked back at the letter still in his hand, and his thoughts turned briefly to who would be opening hers. He shook his head, rubbing his thumb over the soft black velvet of the box in his palm. He tucked it carefully into his trouser pocket. "Chlo," he called, turning towards the landing, "Mika," he flicked the bedroom light off, "I need to ask you both something."
Kim had called round to collect her at around 10am. Town, she'd said in the doorway. Baby shopping and lunch. Izzie had kissed his cheek, told him she loved him. The last moments with her before his lungs were crushed with the weight of it all. As it turned out, the whole morning had been a lie, and there had been no easy way for Kim to tell him. She'd made Izzie make the appointment on Thursday afternoon, tried to convince her to tell Tom, too. But Izzie had insisted that Tom worried too much, that he didn't need something else to fuss about. Despite both of their attempts to convince her that she was no longer alone, Izzie had proven once again that she was fiercely independent.
Now she lay in a hospital bed, attached to various beeping machines, silently praying that she hadn't messed it all up again. Izzie had asked Kim to phone him, to explain. "Izzie hadn't felt her move in a couple of days, it can be a sign of, well," Kim didn't need to say it, the air rushed from Tom's lungs. "But she's fine, they're fine" She tried to make her voice reassuring, "They want to keep her in overnight to monitor the baby." She held Izzie's hand, trying to be the glue that would keep them together, that would get the pair of them through this.
Izzie heard his voice before she could see him. Sitting up just as he raced around the corner, red faced. She blew hair from her tired eyes, reaching out a hand for him to take. Kim smiled at Tom, rising from her seat and leaving the couple to talk. "What the hell Izzie?" Tom started.
"I'm sorry," she squeaked, "I didn't, I thought I'd be wasting their time" her breath hitched.
Tom rested his palm on her stomach, "You are important, she is important, Iz. There has to be a time where you let us in, where you let someone, anyone, in" his eyes flicking towards the door, knowing Kim was sitting just the other side of it. Izzie placed her hand over his.
"I'm sorry, I promise to try," The couple made eye contact, "Doctor gave me this earlier," Izzie handed him what looked like a set of earbuds, "so we can hear her." He put one earbud in and the sound of her heartbeat pulsed through the wire, "She's okay Tom." He looked at Izzie with watery eyes, leaning to kiss the top of her head.
Tom closed his eyes and listened to the heartbeat of his unborn daughter. He thought about his mother and the promise he'd made her. He thought about Izzie's girls and the question he'd asked them. He thought about how his life was turning into a story he'd only dreamed about. He thought about the velvet box, back on top of their shared wardrobe, and how he had never been more sure in his life.