A/N - Sorry it has taken me this long to update. I have been swamped with work recently. Gotta love being in year 11. I am currently writing this when I should be cramming for tomorrows maths exam but I don't actually care what grade I get as I already have an A in maths as I took it last year. I am sitting the WORLDS most pointless retake ever. Anyway on a happier note thank you all SO much for the lovely reviews. All of them were so lovely and I am really glad you are all loving the story.
As normal I don't own Waterloo Road or the characters!
I awoke slowly the next morning. Something felt different - odd even. I rolled over as I always do to cuddle up to Tom only to find that the bed was empty. I open my bleary eyes and realised that I was not in our room and most certainly not in our bed. My initial thought was that I had done something awful and cheated on Tom. Panicking slightly I looked under the covers to reveal, to my relief, that I was fully clothed but the clothes I were currently wearing were not mine. Then realisation washed over me like a wave. The memories of last night came flooding back like somebody had suddenly opened a gate. Kyle on the roof. Tom helping him. Tom laying on the floor. Me telling him about the baby. Tom looking so happy before taking his last breath. Him being taken away in a body bag. Christine comforting me and the hardest bit of all explaining to Josh that his father was dead. I remember then that Christine had offered to take me home and a bed for the night. I sit up against the head board and look around the room. I had been in too much of a state to take much notice of it last night. I had literally fallen into bed and cried myself to sleep. It was a medium sized room with a double bed that I was currently occupying in the middle. Two matching bedside tables either side. On one wall was a full length mirror. On the wall closest to the foot of the bed there was a large window currently covered by a closed blind which was stopping the morning sun light streaming through the window. On the wall next to me was a wardrobe and on the wall on which the headboard was resting was the door. After a quick stretch I climbed out of my duvet cocoon and walked over to the full length mirror. Christine had lent me a pair of pajama bottoms as well as tight fitting vest top to sleep in. I stood to the side and checked out my profile. My stomach really had filled out in the past week. Was I supposed to be this big this early? I stroked the small bump and gave it a small pat for reasons I don't know why. I decided that my next mission was to go and find some food. It was true what they say about eating for two! I open the white bedroom door slowly trying not to make too much noise in case Connor was still sleeping. He was a teenage boy after all. I walked across the landing past three closed doors. I walked down the carpeted stairs and heard moving around. I moved towards the noise hoping to find that the source of it was coming from the kitchen. I walked through an open door way to see Christine making two cups of tea on the kitchen counter. She must of heard me enter as she turned around to see who was standing there. She shoot me a sympathetic smile before speaking. "Hey. How'd you sleep?" I ran a hand through my hair. "Fine thank you. Think I may have cried myself into exhaustion." Christine shot me another sympathetic look and turned around to finish making the tea. "She gestured for me to come and take one. I walked over to her and took the tea from her nodding my thanks before taking a sip.
There was a long silence as both of us let the tea work it's magic on our tired bodies and minds. Christine was the one to break the silence. "Don't take this the wrong way but that is quite the bump you have for 10 weeks." I put one hand on my stomach and looked down. "I know. I don't think I am supposed to be this big this early on. Do you think there's something wrong with the baby. Oh god..." Nicki said her voice cracking. Christine placed down her now empty mug down and placed one hand on my shoulder and the other on my bump. "Nicki I am sure the baby is completely fine. OK. I'm sure you either got the dates mixed up or maybe you have just popped early. It happened to a lot of people." I nodded and Christine took her hands away from me. "Your right. I'm just worried I guess. I have already lost one loved one in the last 24 hours. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if anything happened to the baby. It's a part of Tom and I need it to be OK. " I shook my head tears visibly smarting in my eyes. Christine sighed. "Hey none of that Nicki. I know that this baby is going to be fine. She has to inherit some of you stubbornness! And I know you are going to be an excellent mother to this baby. Call it mothers intuition." We both laughed. I wiped away the few tears that I hadn't managed to stop from falling. I quickly downed the rest of my tea before looking at the clock on the wall behind me. 11 am. No wonder I was starting to get really hungry. "Christine would it be possible to have some breakfast." Christine nodded. "Sure. I'll put some toast on. Is that OK?" She asked be walking over to the bread bin. I nodded. "That's perfect thank you."
"Are you sure you going to be OK?" Christine asked as she parked the car on the drive way of Tom's house. I nodded. "I'll be fine honestly. I just need to keep busy." Christine nodded. "If your sure." I smiled. "I am. Thank you for everything Christine. I know we haven't exactly been best friends but I really appreciated all you have done for me these last 24 hours. I will email you with the details of the funeral nearer the time." I said opening the door and getting out of the car waving at Christine as I unlock the front door and step inside. I closed the door behind me and sighed. This was going to be much harder than expected. I took my coat of and hung it on the hook next to where Tom's coat should of been. I placed the keys on the sideboard by the door. I looked at my watch. 1 pm. Josh was going to be here in half an hour. I went a grabbed a clean set of sheets from the linen cupboard and walked upstairs into the spare room. 15 minutes later and I had tidied up and made the bed. I sat on the edge of the bed and fell into my own thoughts. The house was too quiet without Tom to talk to. Almost a spooky feel to the atmosphere. I sighed and stood up. I had to face the room sometime. I walked out of the spare room and closed the door behind me before walking over to the door which lead to our bedroom. I had been left ajar from when we had left in a rush yesterday morning. I took a deep breath my hand on the door handle calming myself before I pushed the door open. I was immediately hit with the smell of Tom's favourite aftershave. I looked around. A few of his shirts were sprawled across the floor from where he hadn't put them in the washing basket and ties flung haphazardly over the mirror where he couldn't decide which colour to go with. Something I was constantly moaning to him about. I looked over to the dresser where something caught my eye. I walked over and picked up the heavy silver photo frame. Inside was a photo of Tom and I a week after we had gotten together. We had taken a walk during our lunch hour and ended up sitting by the sea front. It was a windy day even for Scotland. A dog walker had seen us sitting there smiling broadly, my head rested on Tom's shoulder and offered to take a photo. We had decided to have it printed off and framed even though our noses were red and my hair was blowing in my face. A tear rolled down my cheek. We looked so happy, so in love. Just then I heard the door knock. I placed a kiss onto Tom's face and placed the photo back down pride of place on the dresser.
"So how are you holding up?" I asked Josh. He had arrived 15 minutes ago after greetings and making us both a cup of tea we had sat down in the living room. He shrugged his shoulders. "OK I guess. I just don't know how or what to feel. Is that wrong?" He looked at me worry clear on his face. I shook my head. "It's normal to feel numb Josh. You have just lost your father you are not going to know how you feel for a while. But I want you to know that I will be there for you. Your dad would want me to make sure that you were OK. You are and always will be his boy. He thought the world of you." I smiled remembering the many times he would talk about Josh and how proud of him he was all the time with that silly goofy grin plastered onto his face." Josh smiled too. "I know. I loved him so much even if he was a bit of a douche when I first lived with him. He loved you as well Nicki. And I mean seriously love you Nicki. I have never seen him so upset as when he was when you decided you weren't going to Scotland with Micheal. Anyone would of thought that his world had ended. When you turned up in Scotland and got together he rang me telling me how happy it was you were finally together." I smiled. I was overjoyed too. I had missed him so much when we were apart. He was part of the reason that I had even considered the job up in Scotland. I sighed. "So. The funeral. What would he want..." Josh said wanting to give Tom a proper send off. Something that he would be proud of.
Sorry if this wasn't as good as the first 5 parts. I am under a load of pressure recently and just wanted to give all you lovely people something else to read as you have been so complementary about my writing so far. As always leave as a review if you liked it and thank you for reading! I have also planned this story out and all going well it should have a total of 30 chapters. Providing you like it and I write it! :)
