"Sorry I'm late, there was an attack and we had a lot of patients," said Lily. She was ten minutes late for her appointment.
"I know, I was called away to it. I turned it down," said James stiffly. This was exactly what had ended their marriage; they put their jobs above everything else. James knew this and he wasn't going to make the same mistake he had made with Lily with their baby. Apparently, Lily wasn't willing to do the same.
"I'm sorry," said Lily. "Come on."
"Just one thing Lils," James said seriously. "I just want you to know that I am taking this seriously, I will be here for anything the baby or you needs. I know I made mistakes with you and I'm not doing that with our baby, so I'm not putting my job before you both. I hope you can do the same, because you need to start slowing down a little, it's not good for you or the baby. That's all I wanted to say."
"Right… okay," said Lily. She had not been expecting him to say that, and she felt awful, like she was failing her baby before it was even born. She had put her job before her marriage, and she didn't even realise that she was about to do the same with her baby.
"Okay then."
-------------------------------------------------
"Well how did it go? Did you get a picture?" Gloria gushed as Lily and James came out of the exam room.
"Gloria, what are you doing here?" asked Lily, allowing her to pull her into a hug.
"What did the healer say?" she demanded. Gloria had almost given up hope of getting a grandchild, especially when Lily and James broke up, so she was ecstatic to say the least about Lily's pregnancy.
"The baby is perfectly healthy," said James. "And I told you I would come over tonight and tell you how it went."
"I know but I was passing by," lied Gloria.
"It's fine, I know how much you want a grandchild," laughed Lily. "Here is the picture."
"Ohhh look… there he is!" she squealed.
"He?" asked James. He and Lily had agreed not to find out the sex of the baby until they were born.
"Oh yes, it's a boy," Gloria insisted. "I can tell, I knew James was a boy straight away."
"Well alright then," laughed Lily. "I should go and book our next appointment."
"I'll come with you," said James.
-----------------------------------------
James and Gloria were in the hospital coffee shop, as Lily had gone back to work.
"So what are you going to do once the baby is born?" asked Gloria. She had been meaning to talk to James about this since he told her Lily was pregnant.
"What do you mean Mum?" asked James, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was going to be.
"I mean, are you going to get back together?"
"No," said James simply.
"Why not? A child should have both parents…"
"The baby will have both parents," James interrupted.
"I just meant a stable family environment…" said Gloria, knowing her son was getting annoyed.
"It will have a stable family, just not a traditional one. Lily and I will raise this child our way," said James, his eyes narrowing when he saw Lily and Calvin coming into the coffee shop laughing with each other.
"Fine and I should stop interfering, right?" said Gloria.
"Right."
"Give me back my coffee right now!" Lily demanded. Gloria looked over and saw her trying to grab a coffee cup out of Calvin's hand, who was holding it above his head.
"Decaf only. You know the rules," laughed Calvin.
"I hate you," pouted Lily, who stopped struggling when she noticed James and Gloria watching them. She walked over to them, Calvin automatically following her.
"Hi, what are you two still doing here? I thought you would have gone home," said Lily. She glanced at Calvin, who widened his eyes, telling her to introduce him. "Oh, this is my friend Calvin."
"Hi James, I've heard a lot about you, and you must be the infamous mother-in-law," said Calvin, shaking James' hand.
"Call me Gloria," said Gloria, eyeing Calvin suspiciously.
"Alright then Gloria," said Calvin, feeling a little put out by the way she was looking at him.
"Lily, were you trying to sneak coffee?" said James, sternly to her.
"Yes, I was," said Lily, crossing her arms immaturely. "I want coffee, I like coffee."
"Caffeine isn't good for the baby," said James.
"I know, but coffee is very good for me."
"You can have decaf or try drinking tea," suggested James.
"Oh don't even mention tea," chuckled Calvin.
"Don't!" snapped Lily at Calvin.
"Why? What's going on?" asked James, not liking that Calvin knew something about Lily that he didn't.
"Do you want to tell him or should I?" smirked Calvin.
"Neither," hissed Lily.
"Tell me what?" demanded James.
"Lily had her first pregnant hormonal tantrum this morning," Calvin said, causing Lily to glare at him.
"It wasn't a tantrum… I was just venting," said Lily.
"You threw a box of tampons at me," Calvin said, allowing a little smile to appear on his face.
"I asked you to get one thing and you came with that… gunk," said Lily, getting riled again.
"I'm sorry what exactly happened?" said James, feeling his mood darken further by the intimate way Lily and Calvin interacted.
"It doesn't matter, it is horrifically mortifying and irrelevant," said Lily.
"She called me at seven in the morning, she had a craving for a certain tea she had tried yesterday. Anyway, the coffee shop was out so I got her another kind. Then she lost it, threw the tampons and…"
"Stubbed my toe on the fridge," finished Lily darkly.
"Oh dear," said Gloria. "The mood swings will only get worse, if you're anything like I was when I was carrying James."
"Worse? Oh god," Lily groaned.
"Well don't worry at least you have someone to turn to," said James, scraping his chair back and walking out.
"I… uh have to check on patients," said Calvin awkwardly, then he left.
"What was that?" asked Lily, sitting down on James' vacant seat.
"I think James is feeling a little pushed out," said Gloria.
"Why?" asked Lily, confused.
"You had a pregnancy craving and a tantrum and he missed it," explained Gloria.
"I'm sure most people would say he got off easy."
"James wouldn't. He sees it as he is missing out and if he's missing out on the pregnancy stuff, he might be pushed out of the baby stuff."
"What? That would never happen," gasped Lily, suddenly understanding.
"That is not the way he sees it… he thinks that Calvin will replace him in more ways than one."
"I'll talk to him," said Lily, feeling awful.
I got 13 reviews for the last chapter so here is your update as promised. Another 10 reviews for this chapter and the next will be up tomorrow