Not sure about how I feel with this chapter but hopefully next weeks one will make up for it! I hope you enjoy this update anyway and thank you again for your lovely thoughts on this so far, it means a lot :)
"Yes I know it's all so sudden," Jack chuckled down the phone. "I don't want to go into all the details right now but it's next Sunday and I just hope that my best friend would like to be there."
"You would not be able to stop me from coming," Clarissa replied. "Even if you tried."
"That's what I wanted to ask you actually," Jack started, glancing over to Nikki who was still wrapped up in all the blankets on their bed. "I was wondering, and I know it's short notice, if you would like to be my best man. Or best woman whatever you want to call it."
"I'd thought you'd never ask," he could almost hear her grinning.
"Well I'll leave you to start writing your speech," he teased. "It better be a good one though, none of this soppy nonsense."
He imagined that he was probably rolling her eyes at him as she told him to "shut up" before she hung up. His eyes travelled back to Nikki who was smiling up at him. Edging forward, he crawled onto the bed so that he was now above her, peering down. His eyes searched hers for a moment before leaning closer to her, his lips capturing hers. Pulling away from her, his lips twitched.
"One week to go until you're officially Mrs Hodgson," he winked.
Nikki beamed as her hand snaked around to the back of his neck so she could bring him closer to her once again, their lips colliding in the middle. The moan escaped from the back of her throat as the kiss deepened and she could feel Jack's hand travelling between their bodies. But she was quick to stop him with a hand on his wrist.
His mouth left hers and he was frowning at her.
"We've got to get to work," she reminded him. "Unless you want us to be late again."
Jack sighed, pushing himself away from her and off the bed. They were soon getting dressed and were making their way to work. Once back in the Lyell Jack finished up on the work he had started the other day. He had only gone into work for half an hour before he had to take his da' to the hospital. Nikki had told him that it was pointless but he was adamant on wrapping up the case he had been working on. A case that hadn't involved Nikki so she was struggling to find something to do.
She had tried to get on with some paperwork but there had been a thought niggling at the back of her mind all week, but she couldn't be sure. Some of the symptoms were starting to happen but she had only really experienced this once before and she'd got it wrong then so she couldn't be totally sure this time around.
Wanting to get a female's perspective on her worries she headed towards Sam's office. She stood in the doorway, gently knocking on the glass of the door to get Sam's attention.
Sam flicked her head up, "Nikki," she smiled softly, before dropping, picking up on the worry in Nikki's face. "What's up?"
Nikki shrugged, walking further into the room so she could sit down on the chair opposite Sam's desk. Sam opened her mouth to speak but she was quickly interrupted by Jack popping his head into the room.
"I've got to take my da' to his appointment, I'll try not to be too long," he announced.
"Of course, don't worry about it," Sam answered. "Good luck."
Nikki looked over her shoulder at him, giving him a reassuring smile before he was disappearing again. She waited until she was sure that he had gone before turning back to Sam.
"Well?"
Nikki could feel her heart racing. It had been on her mind but she was yet to actually say it out loud to herself. She took a deep breath to steady herself, trying to find the best way to phrase what she was about to say. She could see that Sam was watching her, trying her best to work out what it was that she was going to come out with.
"I think I might be pregnant," she spoke quickly. She was surprised that Sam had even understood what she'd said but judging by the shocked look on her face she knew exactly what was going on.
"Right," Sam started. "Well I can't say that I was expecting that. I assume you haven't taken a test yet?"
Nikki shook her head, "I feel like everything is moving so fast. First the wedding and now there's this. I thought we would've had more time in the middle. Just to be us, on our own, you know?"
Sam nodded, "I know I've been telling you this whole time that you're probably moving too fast but I think what's happened in the past couple of weeks has shown just how well you and Jack work together. I think most people this soon in a relationship would've taken a break but you've stuck together and you're closer now than you've ever been before. And I know I'm going to sound like a hypocrite but I do believe in things happening for a reason and if all of this is being piled on you right now, then I think that it's for a reason. Maybe the universe knows that you finally deserve to be happy. And with everything that you and Jack have been through in the past couple of years, if there's anyone who deserves happiness in this world then it's the two of you."
Nikki listened closely, digesting everything Sam was saying. She supposed that she was right. From losing Leo to the whole fiasco of Mexico and then losing Thomas, and that's not including all the stuff in between. Maybe now was the time that herself and Jack deserved some joy - although she wasn't sure how much of that would last with Jack's dad being in and out of hospital all the time now. But maybe they just had to cling on to these little rays of hopes.
She couldn't find the right words to say for the tears quickly forming in her eyes. The lump in her throat grew bigger as the tear slipped down her cheek. Sam had pulled out a box of tissues and had started handing them to Nikki who accepted them gladly, drying her cheeks.
"Have you and Jack spoken about having children before?" she queried. "I assume it's a question that's come up in conversation before now."
"We've both said that we want to have children at some point in the future but we both agreed that it would be too soon if anything happened now," Nikki breathed. "And with everything that's going on at the moment I don't want to pile more stuff on top of him."
"I'm sure that he won't feel that way," Sam comforted her, standing up so that she can walk around to the other side of her desk. She perched on the edge, reaching out to take hold of Nikki's hand, squeezing it gently. "If anything, something like this would probably cheer him up right about now."
"Do you think?"
Sam nodded, smiling, "Take a test. Tell him. It's of course up to you whether you tell him before or after the wedding but take one just to be sure and so you can settle your mind."
Nikki took the next hour to calm herself, she was going to buy herself a test later. She had debated on whether or not just to go now but had decided against it. She needed to have a level head and she'd already worked herself up a lot that morning.
It had just gone midday when Jack's name was popping up on her phone. Worrying that it may have something to do with his dad, she had quickly swiped to answer the call. She had let a sigh of relief out when it was just Jack asking if she'd wanted to join him and his da' for lunch. He had timed it perfectly somehow as her stomach was starting to grumble. She had walked into Sam's office to okay it with her first but she had said yes before she could finish asking her the question.
She was soon pulling up in a space not far away from the small cafe and she had spotted Jack and his da' straight away. Not that it was ever a struggle for her. Their irish accents always stood out in a crowd to her and when they were together the level of their voices always seemed to increase slightly. It wasn't that noticeable and she often wondered if they'd always been like that, when Jack was younger. He was never like around her or even in the time that she'd known him and she'd only realised it when he was around his dad.
She could feel her stomach flutter as Jack's eyes connected with hers. That feeling was never going to go away - or at least that's what she hoped. He was already pulling a chair out for her before she was anyway near them and she couldn't help the smile that was spreading across her face.
As she sat down next to Jack, his arm had quickly wrapped around her waist and he was pulling her in for a kiss.
"I know you're getting married next week but can you not put her down for five minutes son," Conor scoffed, looking away from the pair. Although the small smirk appearing on his face didn't go unnoticed by the two of them. "So come on, Jack's been quiet about all your plans so far. Said that he doesn't want to tell me without you being here."
Nikki glanced over at Jack rolling her eyes at him, "Well there's not much to tell really, it's going to be a fairly small affair. It's only going to be you, Sam, Clarissa and Max there. And well I imagine that it will be over pretty quickly but we were thinking about going to the pub afterwards, just for a few drinks."
"It's going to be very lowkey," Jack reiterated, the hand resting on her waist tightening. The goosebumps erupted on Nikki's skin. She smiled to herself.
"What time?" Conor asked.
"About two o'clock," Jack spoke. "But we'll pick you up on the way so you won't have to worry about all that."
Just as Conor was about to speak the waiter was coming out with three plates of food. Nikki's head snapped to face Jack but he had simply replied with "I knew what you would order so I went ahead and got it for you." She just chuckled at him, a glint in her eye.
Although the food that he had ordered for her looked delicious, she could only bring herself to eat a couple of mouthfuls. Jack eyed her plate before looking back up at her. She was on the pale side and if he really thought about it she hadn't been acting totally like herself, as much as she was trying to. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She was probably just stressed, this wasn't exactly the ideal situation right now. And he had been so focused on his da' he hadn't taken a moment to ask if she was okay. Or at least if she was okay within herself.
They were soon finishing up on their food and were heading back to their cars. Stopping as they reached Nikki's car first. Jack drawed her into a hug, embracing her tightly and planting a kiss on the top of her head.
"Are you okay Niks?" he asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as they pulled away from each other. "I know it's all so hectic at the moment but if there was anything you wanted to talk to me about, I'm still here."
"I'm fine Jack," she reassured him. "I'm just tired that's all. I haven't been sleeping well with everything on my mind. Once this wedding's over I'll be okay, I promise."
"I love you," his lips twitched fondly. "Don't forget that."
"I love you too," she reached up, her lips connecting with his. "Now go on, take your dad home and I'll meet you back at work."
"I still think you would've made a good boss," he winked. "Especially with that attitude." And with that he was gone, making his way back to his own car.
Nikki watched after him, waiting for him to leave so he didn't see that she was going to head in the direction of town instead of going in her car. She didn't even realise that her hand had travelled to rest on her stomach. It felt as though her heart had skipped a beat. She really hoped that she hadn't got it wrong this time around.
She already felt different from how she had felt before. But that could've been down to the fact that then she was with Matt and now she was with Jack and there was a different sense of love between the two situations. But she couldn't pinpoint it. Shaking her head, she started making her way to the supermarket.
Walking in she could feel her heart racing already and she wasn't even in the right part of the shop yet. Looking up at the signs she quickly found the direction she was meant to be going in and it wasn't long before she was standing in the right aisle. Her eyes scanned over all the different brands, who knew there were so many. She couldn't even remember the one she had bought last time, she hadn't even thought about it properly when she picked one up then. But this time around, she was finding it difficult.
She knew she was spending way too long staring at the boxes in front of her and she was definitely getting some funny looks of people. Closing her eyes, she reached out and picked one. Letting out a breath she headed back towards the counter so she could pay for it and go back to work as soon as possible. Luckily there wasn't that much of a queue so she was in and out like a shot.
When she had finally got back to her car, she let out the sigh that she had been holding in. She twirled the box around in her hand before placing it on the passenger side and starting the car to drive back to work. As she pulled up in her regular spot, she realised that Jack wasn't back yet and she couldn't be more grateful.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, she picked up the box and stuffed it into her pocket. Leaving the car she made her way through the entrance and headed for the bathroom straight away. She paced outside the stall for a moment, suddenly feeling very nervous and that was the last thing she needed to be right now. Once she felt as though she had calmed down she opened the door, locking herself in and set about taking the test.
Now all that there was left to do was wait for the result. The instruction manual had said she had to wait at least three minutes for an accurate result and she just knew that it was going to be the longest three minutes of her life. She tried to pass the time by counting down the seconds but that seemed to make it worse.
Her mind had wandered to Jack, she knew that he had said that he'd wanted children but what if he was just saying that to make her happy because she had said that she'd wanted children. But then she thought back to the conversation that they'd had when she had that scare with Matt and he had said even then that he wanted children but he just hadn't found the right woman yet. Well, hopefully he had found the right woman now. She smiled at that. He had been waiting for her this whole time. If only she'd realised sooner, who knows what their lives would be like now. Although in a way she was glad that they had waited, it made everything feel that little bit more special somehow.
With her mind occupied with him, the time had passed pretty quickly. The adrenaline surged through her veins as she held the white stick in her hand. She closed her eyes, too scared to look at it but she knew she was going to have to sooner or later. Sam had seen her coming in and she would start to question why she had been gone so long.
She lifted the stick up so she could see it better. Her eyes settled on the small screen and she felt her heart drop.
