Chapter 5 – The Upshot

I guess I spent most of the day in a daze. Poor Morwenner. She was still pretty sick when I left her at the Doc's but she texted me later telling me she was feeling a lot better. Louisa's cracker treatment worked a treat. She ought to know having had a baby.

But the shock of knowing that it was real? It took my breath away, while Morwenna sat in front of the Doc, all open-mouthed at the news.

The Doc looked at us intently. "Now, you'll be starting on a regime of prenatal vitamins, I have pamphlets to give you about prenatal nutrition, exercise, as well as self-care, as well as long list of activities, such as drinking or drugging to avoid."

Morwenna nodded. "Okay." She turned her head and glanced at me. "Right, Al?"

"Uhm, yeah." I took her hand which grabbed mine desperately. "Mor', you alright?"

"A bit of a shock is all."

The Doc cleared his throat. "From your dates I think you are six weeks pregnant, but that's only an estimate. Ultrasound, that's where I beam ultrasound…"

"" I get it," Mor' said.

"Yes, then we can get an actual measurement of the foetal size."

"So, when's the baby due, Doc?" I asked.

Martin took a calendar off the wall and flipped through it. "Six weeks… to here. That day." He pointed to a day in mid-July; next Summer. "Roughly. Of course, this is based on a normal gestation of 38 to 40 weeks, including the time from your last menses." He looked at me. "Do you understand?"

I nodded.

Morwenna gave me a little smile. "Hello, dad."

"Yeah, sure. Right." I sighed. "Wow. Are you okay?"

Mor' smiled for me, but then she rushed over to the sink and heaved her guts up.

The Doc wrinkled his nose. "Typically, morning-sickness, which can also happen in the evening, subsides in a few weeks." He looked over at Morwenna. "Do you feel fit to work today?"

She wiped her mouth on a towel, binned that, then washed her hands thourghly, and binned that towel after drying them. "Sure. We'll need the money."

"God, what do we know about having a baby?" I muttered, but Dad was hanging about and heard me.

"What's that boy?"

"Oh nothin'."

Dad had come into the pub for a bite of lunch, but I think he really wanted to get away from Caitlin for a while. I don't think she worked him very hard up at the market, but from what he's said she'd like to be lot more than just his boss. Oh well, you make your bed you have to lie in it.

Speaking of that, Morwenna asked me not to tell anybody, so I bit my tongue. Just our little secret until we got used to the idea, and that things were cooking along okay with the baby. No Al, it's not a dish, it's a child – yours and Morwenna's – I reminded myself. The thought of the awesome, and unplanned, event to come put a fright into me. I wonder how she was. She'd said she was fine, but who really knew?

Dad came over to where I was polishing the bar top. "So, son, tell me."

"Tell you what?"

He looked around slyly, but the room was empty but for us. "You and your girl, you been thinking about moving on to the next step?"

"Uh, what would that be, Dad?"

"Oh, I don't know… nuptials perhaps?" he winked. "Birds and bees, boy. Men and women, you know?"

"We… we haven't really… uhm… talked about a wedding." But it was an idea – a good idea.

"Just saying boy, Morwenna's a looker, and a nice girl, and don't you go bollixing things up with her like you did with Pauline and Elaine!" His fist hit the bar. "You gotta strike while the iron's hot, if you know what I mean," he laughed.

Pauline and Elaine, oh my. Elaine would never give me the time of day – her and her Greg – and Pauline went away for nurses training and just faded off into the distance. "Ancient history, Dad."

"And that's another thing, boy, you're not getting any older, and neither is she." He winked. "Tick, tock. That's a clock that ain't gonna run forever. Am I right?"

"Right." I bit my tongue to not tell him that clock had stopped, like say for the next 7 ½ months, or so.

"Why do you look so glum, chum?" Dad asked. "S, as I was sayin'…"

I held up my hand. "I get it Dad. Now if you don't mind? Finish your ham sandwich and shift it? I got things to do."

He shook his head sadly. "Only free advice, boy." He finished his meal in a few bites. "Best be getting back up to the..." he threw his thumb over his shoulder. "The old ball and chain."

"Caitlin treat you that badly?"

His face went white. "No, no, but she can get a little… well, how to say it? Close if you know what I mean." He sighed. "And getting' closer and closer all the time."

Dad left the pub and I thought about what he'd said. Dad was right, for once in his life.

Time was a waistin' and the upshot was that I'd better ask Morwenna to marry me; make an honest woman of her. For people will talk. But before that happened, I'd start out with flowers.