Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.
It had been six weeks since they were at the cemetery. Five weeks since the doctor had confirmed the pregnancy. Four weeks since Mia had found out that she could expect the long awaited sibling in six months. Three and a half weeks since Christmas. Three weeks since Nick had pulled Allie close to him in bed and covered her softly swelling belly. Two and a half weeks since Desiree Kingston had returned to Sydney. One and a half weeks since Desiree had returned to Melbourne and bought a house nearby. And one week since Allie had woken up everything morning with a dash to the bathroom to be sick.
It was just after 7am this morning when Allie stumbled into the kitchen with a scowl, bone tired. She was not a morning person, but with morning sickness her new alarm clock, she'd found herself getting up earlier and earlier.
Nick was usually the only person awake at this hour – and indeed, there he sat at the kitchen table now, a coffee in one hand, the newspaper spread out on the table before him – as he waited for the ladies of the house to arise. But for the past week, she had joined him, seeing as after upending her stomach, she refused to go back to bed only to fall asleep and then have her blasted alarm clock blaring in her ear for real.
Feeling out of sorts, the beginning of a headache building, she slipped into her husband's lap. Well used to it by now, Nick's eyes never left the paper as he slipped one hand around her form, pressed a kiss to her cheek and slipping his hand around to rest on her abdomen, a natural action now. Even at four months pregnant, there was a noticeable bump forming.
Propping her head up on her hand propped up on Nick's shoulder, she sighed. "I'm fed up with being sick."
"Mm-hmm," confirmed Nick vaguely.
Allie yawned. "And I'm just so blasted tired." Running her fingers through Nick's hair, she yawned again as she rested her head on the broad shoulder of her husband. She'd gotten in late last night, checked Mia was asleep and then hit the sack, taking a precious moment to wrap herself around the warm body of her man before her head hit the pillow. She'd closed her eyes, and then after what felt like less than a minute, opened them and ran to the bathroom to be sick.
Their quiet morning of solitude was interrupted when a mobile phone rang. Allie didn't move from her position as Nick reached out and picked up his mobile phone, raising it to his ear, answering with a curt "Buchanan".
All Allie heard was "Mm-hmm", "Where?" and "I'll meet you there". When the call ended, she pressed her lips to Nick's as she slid from his lap. As he buttoned up his shirt and left the room for his shoes, Allie noticed the time with a sigh. Time to get Mia up, ready and then head into work herself.
Rubbing at her forehead, pain back with a vengeance, she left the kitchen, mouth puckered in distaste as she visualised the large stack of paperwork with her name on it at work, courtesy of the numerous interviews she'd undertaken for the past three days as their team chased down a high-profile businessman ripping off unsuspecting customers, struggling to connect a trail of bodies and money.
Sitting on the edge of Mia's bed, she recalled that she also had a meeting with her mother in her lunch break today to show her the ultrasound photos from their appointment two days ago. Shaking her daughter's shoulder, Mia decidedly stubborn this morning, she felt her muscles tense at the prospect of seeing her mother. Whilst they had made some little progress, their relationship was still strained.
"C'mon baby," muttered Allie as she coaxed her daughter into wakefulness. The room was suddenly flooded with sunlight as the curtains were thrown open.
"Up and at 'em squirt," ordered Nick, tapping Mia on her bottom. When the six year old rolled onto her back and bunched her eyes together in an attempt to look like she was still sleeping, both parents exchanged a look. They knew she was awake.
When Nick threatened to become a tickle monster, Mia flew out of the bed instantly, attacking her father. Nick easily picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. After a few minutes of fun, he kissed Mia goodbye, dropped her to the floor – whereby the now fully awake girl dashed for the toilet – and leaned down to kiss Allie goodbye.
As he left, and she heard the front door open and close, Allie still remained sitting. For the life of her, she couldn't find the energy to move. After several orders to herself to stand up, she finally braced her arms on the bed and rose gingerly. The anticipated light-headedness faded after a second and she made for the kitchen.
A headache now fully formed and pounding mercilessly, Allie was not in the mood for the energetic child that faced her this morning. Every spoonful of cereal that Mia took was followed by a question. "Do you reckon I'm getting a brother?" Gulp. "Or maybe it's a sister?" Slurp. "Can we find out?" Spill. "The baby's coming on the 13th of June right?" Double gulp. "Maybe we could call the baby Lacey, cos that's what the baby in the book at school is called." Sip. "Or what about..."
"Mia!" snapped Allied, feeling as if she had reached the end of her tether. "Just eat."
Mia pouted, pushed her bowl away and stood up. "I'm not hungry anymore." As her daughter left the room still in her pyjamas, Allie pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. "No TV in the morning Mia," she called. "Go and get ready for school."
"Mum..." came the whine.
"I mean it," she shouted, her voice louder than expected. Noting the time herself, she swore under her breath.
Somehow, both mother and daughter were almost ready when a knock sounded on the door. Following her daughter down the hallway as she tied the last hair tie at the end of a plait, Allie then snagged the lunchbox, thankful, not for the first time, that her husband was so organised. Mia opened the door to expose Aleisha Cummings, the mother of Mia's classmate Beau, as Allie zipped up the school bag.
As Mia slipped her arms into the shoulder straps and prepared to go out the door, Allie knelt down and tugged her bag backward. "Sorry for shouting baby," said Allie, her face at the schoolgirl's level. "Mummy's in a funny mood this morning."
"It's okay," said Mia magnamously, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. "I still love you."
"Love you too squirt," replied Allie with a firm hug of her own, her headache not pounding so much now.
Watching Mia skip down the path to the car, she pressed her hands to her knees and pushed herself upright, thanking Aleisha. Shutting the front door, she turned in the hall. Cursing her speed at doing so when her vision blurred, she had other things to worry about when a sudden pain ripped across her abdomen.
Reacting instinctively, she bent over and wrapped her arms around her waist. Holding her breath in the next few seconds, she began to hope when the pain faded. Straightening herself gingerly, she reached out for the table in the hall. Firmly gripping the bevelled edge, drawing strength from its sturdiness, she took deep breaths in and out.
She ventured an uneasy step forward. Then another. And then another. Standing in the doorframe to her bedroom, she placed a hand on her swollen abdomen and, defying her atheism, sent up a prayer to whichever God was on duty that everything was okay.
It wasn't.
And this wasn't any old pain that returned. It was cramps. Spotting her phone on her bedside table, she stumbled toward it, her body bent over as the pain didn't let up. Snatching up the mobile, looking blearily at the screen, her thumb automatically pressed speed dial number 1. Breathing heavily, and in a sudden moment of clarity, she stopped herself.
She couldn't call Nick. She couldn't do that to him yet. Not until she knew whatever there was to know.
Gasping out loud when another pain flared and her stomach cramped, Allie struggled to search her list of contacts in her mobile, cursing her own stubbornness to not add this number to speed dial. Doubled over, fear coursing through her veins, she pressed the call button at last. The line rang. Tears were running down her face when the person answered.
"Mummy..."
Next chapter:
Fear.