As promised, the missing chapters on here. They have also been revised a little and some minor changes have been made. I hope you enjoy!
Quick information on the condition Elizabeth reveals she has so you understand it when reading the rest of this story - Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a condition in pregnancy that causes severe sickness (Kate Middleton had it amongst many other high profile celebrities.) It's worse than Morning Sickness, with expectant mothers reporting to have been sick up to 50 times a day. Obviously there is so much on Morning Sickness and pretty much everyone knows about it, and yes it is awful and can be really difficult on the mother. But Hyperemesis Gravidarum is such a unheard of condition that can severely affect anyone who is pregnant, so that's why I decided to put it into my story.
After a sleepless night from her stomach turning every time she drifted off, Elizabeth walked off the lift of the seventh floor of the State Department looking exhausted and pale. Blake, who had been standing by the elevator with a cup of green tea, and a pack of crackers replacing the usual morning coffee and bagels with something that he had read would ease the symptoms of Morning Sickness. He noticed how pale his boss looked as she approached him. Should she really be in? Considering how bad she looked, Blake guessed she felt as bad, if not worse.
"Morning Ma'am." He said as he handed her the tea and crackers. Elizabeth gave him as small smile as she took them and they began walking toward her office.
"Morning." She mumbled. As they walked Elizabeth took a sip of the drink. She knew it clearly wasn't coffee, otherwise she'd be running to her office bathroom right now. However the confusion only escalated when she had a taste of the warm beverage, her face scrunching up at the new taste. "What on earth have you gave me?" As her taste buds adjusted to the taste, Elizabeth began to like it and took another sip as they walked into her office.
Blake closed her office door before he began to speak, not risking anyone over hearing them. "It's green tea ma'am, I read it helps with morning sickness."
Elizabeth slumped down on the sofa, deciding she wanted to lay down. "You've been reading up about morning sickness? You really are the best assistant I could ever ask for. But unfortunately it's not morning sickness I have."
"You're not pregnant?" Blake looked at his boss confused.
"I'm pregnant. Henry got me another appointment with my doctor, after I got sent home for being so ill. Turns out I have Hyperemesis Gravidarum." Blake looked at her even more confused now, so Elizabeth continued to explain. "Basically really bad Pregnancy sickness. To the point where a sip of water can make me rush to the bathroom… under extreme circumstances."
Blake's mouth gaped open, getting quite concerned over how bad this condition could get. He thought for a moment, considering what he could do to help her. Completely unsure he decided to ask her. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Elizabeth groaned before she began to speak, just sitting down made her feel sick. "Like before just keep coffee and food away from me, unless of course it's plain. Reschedule meetings if I'm not feeling well enough, that will be a bit of an issue as you might not get a lot of notice, Nadine should be able to help with that though. And if anyone can change a schedule at the last minute, it's you." She explained. "Oh and I need a meeting with the President. Just tell Russell it is pregnancy related, he has been surprisingly helpful."
Blake nodded and just then there was a knock on the door. Blake gestured to the door, "May I?" He asked, his hand gesture silently asking if he should let the person or persons in and get on with what she had asked; to which Elizabeth nodded understanding him and agreeing. Her assistant then walked over to the door, opening it to reveal Daisy and Nadine, Nadine holding a cup of coffee in her hand "Go in. And maybe get rid of that." He said, pointing to the hot beverage in Nadine's hand before he walked off to his desk.
Elizabeth sat up as the two women walked into the room and closed the door. Elizabeth saw the cup of coffee and internally worried, the smell was already hitting her causing Elizabeth to swallow hard before she spoke. "Nadine, Blake needs to speak to you at some point." That's how Elizabeth welcomed the pair, they didn't like the whole 'Hi' thing. They had agreed not to use that as often as possible.
Nadine nodded at Elizabeth. "Is everything alright?"
"It's just to be prepared between you two for scheduling… So what can I do for you both?" She cleared her throat, the smell of the drink getting stronger. Nadine noticed Elizabeth's discomfort and what Blake had said, put it together and realised her boss couldn't stand the drink. She walked over to the door opened it and walked to Blake's desk, putting the cup on it.
"Look after this for me please." Blake who was focused on his computer, however still fully aware of the world around him, nodded. With that Nadine went back to the office and closed the door, however when walking in she noticed Elizabeth wasn't there and Daisy was standing there awkwardly. "Where's the secretary?" Nadine was obviously concerned.
"She uh… went to the bathroom to…" Daisy who was also suffering with normal morning sickness, struggling a little from hearing her boss just be sick, was cut off by Elizabeth as she walked back into the main office from the small bathroom within the office.
"Sorry." She walked to her desk this time, and sat down on the leather seat. "So I had a doctor's appointment. They diagnosed me with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I think it will be difficult to keep this under wraps, but I need it to be until the baby is in a safer zone." She knew this was going to be quite a job for Daisy, considering she was also pregnant. So Elizabeth then added. "Would you like to have someone to work with you?" Elizabeth asked. "Just to take any extra pressure off you."
Daisy shook her head. "I will be fine with it Ma'am. But I think it might be best for you to announce it, there have been other famous people who had your condition and normally it gets announced soon. It's better you tell them, then them finding out some other way. And then you can get all the help you need without having to use cover ups. It is up to you obviously, but from my research from other pregnant high profile people this would be the favourable option. But it is your choice." Daisy was making sure her boss knew that it was fully up to her on how to deal with the private conditions.
Taking a moment to think, she would have to ask Henry first. Ultimately when it came to her own body, Henry would support her with whatever she decided, but this was still their baby and Elizabeth knew he would want to be a part of her pregnancy as much as he could possibly be, he had been with their other kids and she could see that it was no different this time. If Henry could, he would be the carrier of the kids and take away all that was going on within her body. Or at least he would be there to comfort her whenever she was sick, he just wanted to do anything to help the woman he loves, Elizabeth knew it.
"I will talk to Henry, but get ready to set up a press conference." Elizabeth was about to reach for her phone, when she remembered. "You two wanted to talk to me about something?"
"It don't matter at the moment, we can talk about it later." Nadine smiled a little and Elizabeth nodded grabbing her phone to call Henry, she was going to ask him to come in. If they were doing this he would want to be with her. "Oh and we have briefing in ten." Nadine stated before glancing over at daisy, just as Elizabeth nodded once again and began to call Henry's number.
Nadine and Daisy took it as their cue to leave and made their way out of the office, just as Elizabeth got a notification from Blake. He had got her a meeting with Conrad in half hour. That would be plenty of time for their morning briefing, getting Henry there and getting to Dalton in time for the meeting.
Elizabeth called him and Henry agreed to be there within the next 5 minutes. Elizabeth made her way early to the briefing, telling her husband to wait in her office and she would meet her there.
The meeting was short and within minutes Elizabeth walked into her office, Henry already there.
Seeing Henry, Elizabeth turned and closed the door between the mini corridor and the office and turned back around, a gentle smile creeping across her features. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you." She spoke quietly, her voice sounded a little rough. Elizabeth began to stroll toward her husband. As she came to a stop, Henry encircled her in his arms, pulling the woman he loved into an embrace which mimicked the love he felt for her. Elizabeth raised her arms, moving them so her hands rested on his shoulder blades as they basked in the warmth of their bodies pressed together for a few moments, before reluctantly pulling away.
Looking into those deep blue eyes and Henry fell head over heels in love with the woman standing in front of him all over again. His hand moved up, and softly brushed her forehead with his fingers, removing the stray strand of blonde that was irritating Elizabeth's eye.
He then whispered to keep the comforting and rare peace of the moment. "So what's wrong?" Henry was referring to the phone call they had just 20 minutes ago, causing Elizabeth to widen her eyes in realisation, they had to be at the white house in 10 minutes. It took 5 minutes to get there, so they needed to hurry up.
Elizabeth let out a sigh and began to talk. "Nadine and Daisy thinks I should announce my pregnancy… publically, as soon as possible." She watched him, trying to find an indicator to what his reaction would be.
Henry was frowning as he processed the idea, he knew it would help her with people being so understanding but at the same time if anything happened to her or the baby and they had told the world. "I think it's too soon. 12 weeks is the safety point, or at least until we get a scan." Henry tried to reason. "We have one in a few days just to make sure everything is alright. Can we at least wait until then? It would make me a lot happier if we had confirmation that our baby is fine and healthy."
She was already nodding enthusiastically before Henry had even finished explaining his reasoning for waiting a few days. "No, no, I agree."
She rushed over to grab her coat from the closet before Blake came in telling her she was running late, her voice rising so Henry could hear her. "I will tell Daisy to postpone it for a few days. But first I need to get to the white house." She finished her words as she came out of the closet, getting her long coat on in the process and freeing her blonde locks from the inside the clothing. Henry wasn't surprised she was heading there now; he was actually going there for work and was going to try and be with her for the meeting.
"Hold on, what do you mean by postpone? I thought you'd have this press conference tomorrow? When you said as soon as possible I didn't think today, that would be way too soon even at 12 weeks. You need time." Elizabeth listened to Henry's words which were said in a rather annoyed tone, as she gathered her things and stuffed them all into a bag. Henry helping as he complained about what her team had requested she should do.
"I told Daisy to get ready for a press conference, I told her I needed to speak to you first." She gave Henry a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, we have the final say and we agree to wait a few days. So guess what? That's what we'll do. You ready?" Elizabeth turned to him and Henry held his hand out for her to take, which she did without hesitation, their fingers entwining with each other.
"Ready." And with that the couple walked out of her office.