Chapter 3

"I'm…so…sorry." Martha wept, sitting beside the toilet.
"It's okay." Jack smiled, rubbing her back. "Everyone has their off days." he said, trying to make her feel better. Martha took another sip of water.
"Yea, that's what it is." She mumbled to herself.
"What?" Jack asked, picking up on her last sentence. Martha looked up surprised. She hadn't expected him to hear that.
"Oh, nothing. Just me talking to myself." She said, covering her lying face by raising the glass of water up to her mouth. Jack nodded, not entirely convinced.
"You feeling better now?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"No. Not really." She sighed; resting back against the bath.
"No, you don't look it either." He commented.
"Thanks for the boost of confidence, Jack." She said sarcastically. Jack laughed.

"Martha, you can sleep in our room tonight. The one with the ensuite." Tasha suggested through the locked door.
"Hey, I don't want her chucking up in my bed!" Robbie exclaimed. Jack and Martha laughed at the sound of Robbie being winded, they assumed by Tasha's elbow.
"That'd be great, thanks." Martha answered. Jack looked at his watch.
"Well, I best be getting off too, it's 2 o'clock!" Jack said, reading his watch. "You've been chucking up for an hour. Well done Martha!" He joked, patting her on the back.
"I'm sorry." She apologized, again. Jack laughed.
"Don't be silly, it's not your fault!" He smiled. Martha watched as he stood up.
"Do you have to go?" She blurted out. She didn't know why she said it, she was just as shocked as Jack at her outburst, but she knew that she wouldn't take it back, even if she could. Jack bent back down.
"You want me to stay?" He asked, crouched beside her. Martha smiled.
"Yea. You've made me smile, and I really thought that was impossible whilst being sick…" She joked. Jack stood up and poked his head out through the door behind him.
"Hey, Tash, is it okay if I sleep on the sofa tonight?" Jack asked.
"Yea, sure. I'll set it up, then we're going off to bed." She smiled.
"Thanks Tash. Night!" He said, closing the door slowly.
"Thank you!" Martha called out. Jack sat next to her, leaning against the bath. He brought his knees near his chest and sighed.
"Looks like we're all having a sleepover." Jack laughed. Martha smiled.
"Jack, thank you for sitting with me like this, for staying. I know it can't be the nicest job ever." Martha said.
"Why do you want me to stay anyway? Not that I don't want to or anything. Sitting by you throwing up is right up there my list of 'most fun things to do.'" They laughed.
"I don't know. I guess you make it almost bearable." She smiled. "It's been so hard doing this on my own; there's no one around to hold my hair back, or rub my back, or pass me the water, or to try and make me feel better." Martha smiled, but Jack didn't return the expression.
"What? You're normally sick?" He asked, worried. Martha froze. She hadn't meant to let that out.
"I.. um… well…" She began, stuttering as she thought of whatever she could to get her way out of this. She began to panic as she saw Jack was getting more convinced by the second that something was wrong with her.
"Are you being sick regularly Mac?" He asked, placing his hand on her knee. She continued to stutter until she felt queasy. She dived for the toilet, luckily avoiding anymore of Jack's questions.

"You just shout if you need me, okay?" Jack asked, rubbing his hand up and down Martha's arm. She nodded slowly.
"Thanks Jack." She said. Her eyes began to fill with tears. If only she had stayed with him, then he could have been there just like he was tonight, by her side whilst she was suffering. He might have been able to make everything a little bit better, a little bit easier.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked, reacting to her watery eyes. She couldn't speak; all she could do was reach out and hug him. She closed her eyes as she held on tight, finally getting the support that she needed, the help that she needed, and the love that she needed. Jack didn't want to let go of her; he'd done it before and she'd run away from him, leaving him to believe that she'd never return. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared to make a fool out of himself, and allowed her to pull away and leave to go to her room for the night.
"Good night." She said as she forced a smile, and slowly closed the bedroom door.
"Night." He replied smiling. He watched the door click shut, and then he allowed himself to release the confusion, tension and happiness that had built up inside of him. He snuggled down on the sofa, heading for an uncomfortable night.

The next morning, Jack, Tasha and Robbie were in the kitchen, together, talking about the previous night. Robbie was making breakfast, and Tasha was feeding Michelle.
"Was it just me, or was Martha acting a bit… strange?" Robbie eventually spoke up, saying what everyone else was thinking.
"Yea." Jack and Tasha said in unison.
"When I first hugged her, she almost protected her stomach, and then when she saw Michelle she started to rub it too." Tasha said.
"Wow, she did act weird when she saw Michelle though, didn't she? At first she looked fine with her, but then she said something, and mid way through she got a bit upset and ran off to the loo!" Robbie said. "Didn't she say something like 'When I have a baby I…'?" Jack looked up from the fork he'd been fiddling with.
"Yea! That was it!" He said. "She said something strange to me in the bathroom too, she made it sound as if last night wasn't the first time she'd been sick recently. Like it happens regularly now." Jack said. Tasha stared at Michelle for a moment.
"I hope she's okay." Tasha muttered. Robbie and Jack both nodded.
"Yea, me too." Robbie agreed. Just then, they heard the sound of Martha opening and slamming the ensuite door. Jack stood up and got a glass out the cupboard. He filled the glass with water and began to walk to Tasha and Robbie's bedroom, but before he got to the door, he heard Martha shout: "Don't come in! I'm fine!" Jack obeyed her orders and sat back down at the table; puzzled by her decline of help after everything she had said last night.
"Sounds just like Tasha when she was suffering morning sickness." Robbie teased. However, the idea of a simple joke escalated, giving Tasha an idea.
"Oh my God. Could she be pregnant?" This grabbed both Jack and Robbie's attention.
"What?" Jack exclaimed.
"She left us all suddenly, because she's pregnant! That's got to be the reason!" Tasha said loudly.
"Hang on, why has it got to be the reason?" Robbie asked, abandoning the breakfast.
"Well, say she found out she was pregnant, and thought that Jack wouldn't want the baby just yet. So, she leaves, unable to bring herself to tell anyone, thinking it's best for Jack, and tries to find a way to bring the baby up by herself. But then Jack sees her at the hospital-"
"Oh my God she was in the mother ward! Where the ultrasounds are done! She was looking at the babies, and looked really upset!" Jack burst out. Tasha nodded.
"Right, so when she comes back here, and I jump on her, she's going to be worried about her baby's safety, so tries to stop me from hanging all over her, just in case I knock her belly or something. Then when Michelle came out it'd remind her of her baby, and then she might have just automatically touched her belly, without thinking. I bet it's really scary having to prepare yourself for being a single mother. So she'll be really worried about it. So worried, that she's making herself sick over it! Then this morning, she's got morning sickness - something that comes every morning!" Tasha exclaimed! Jack and Robbie sat in utter silence.
"You must have noticed her clothes; they're very baggy. I wouldn't know if she had a bump under there or not, would you?" Tasha asked. Robbie and Jack slowly shook their heads.
"Oh my God Tasha. You're right." He said, getting up and storming over to the room where Martha was.

"I can't believe you!" Jack shouted at Martha, who was now curled up in bed.
"What? Didn't I tell you not to come in?" She reminded him, but he ignored her.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant?" He demanded. Martha looked up at him, shocked and confused. She began to cry, tears silently slipping down her cheek. "Why the hell are you crying? Because I've found out? Don't you think that I'd like to have something to do with my kid?" Jack shouted. Tasha and Robbie ran in, and automatically tried to calm Jack down. He leant against the wall, where they'd ushered him. Robbie stood next to Jack, talking to him, trying to keep his anger down, whilst Tasha sat on the bed, next to a tearful Martha. Jack stared at Martha as she hugged Tasha, her tears rolling onto Tasha's top. "It's not mine- is it?" He asked, Martha let go of Tasha and looked up at Jack's hurt face. "You cheated on me. That's why you left. That's why you suddenly fell out of love with me. You'd found someone else." He pushed himself away from Robbie and the wall. "Who is he then? Where is he now? Has he left you now he knocked you up?" Jack shouted angrily. Martha didn't answer; she just had streams of tears leaving track marks down her face. He stared at her for a moment, his heart breaking as he thought of her betrayal. He really loved her, and she'd cheated on him! He'd been thinking of her the last few months, missing her, wondering what he'd done wrong, when it was her who killed the relationship. He couldn't stand being in the same room as her anymore, it was not only building up his fury but also forcing him to invent questions that he didn't want to think of, so he spun around and stormed out the door.

"Is it true?" Robbie asked a shocked and hurt Martha.
"Can you get Jack please?" Martha asked, ignoring his question, but Robbie stood persistent.
"Did you cheat on Jack? Are you pregnant?" Robbie repeated, raising his voice. Martha winced at the word pregnant, it sent shivers up her spine to her brain, and then to her eyes, filling them with tears.
"NOW ROBBIE!" She screamed. Robbie nodded as he stepped backwards towards the door, clearly scared from her outburst. Martha sighed as she wiped away another couple of tears. 'I'm going to have to tell them all now.' The realisation hit her.

Preview - Martha finally shares the details of the reason for why she left the bay. How will everyone react?