Author's Note: Sorry the update is slightly delayed! This chapter was supposed to be much longer but the announcement party sort of morphed into this crazy thing that slowly turned into a whole chapter.

Thanks so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming :)

As usual, I don't own or have anything to do with Skins.

Chapter 17: Telling the Family

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

"Em! Where did you put the hummus and vegetables I cut up earlier?" I called out as I frantically searched through our fridge. Today was the day of Effy's and my joint pregnancy announcement party. Naturally, Emily was off getting ready at the last minute since she had spent all day long worrying about how her mother was going to react to the news, and I was left alone in the kitchen to fend for myself. I was currently frantically searching for a plate of vegetables and dip that we'd prepared earlier. It was the last thing I needed to put on the food table, which was already pretty full of hors d'oeuvres and a few other things Emily had prepared earlier.

We had invited absolutely everyone over, save for Anthea, who was off in Italy somewhere. Jenna, Rob, and James, my mum and Kieran, Cook, Pandora and Thomas, and even JJ, his wife Lara and their two sons were coming. Everybody that was coming over thought we were just hosting a quick get together to catch up with everyone. We put the huge table that held all the food in the middle of the living room, which was also where everybody was going to sit for drinks and snacks. We weren't doing a full dinner, but we'd prepared enough food for everyone to have at least two helpings. We moved the couches off to one side of the room to clear space for the large table. Libby had been confusedly staring at the living room for about two hours now, as though she was waiting for us to ask if she approved of the set up.

It was still a bit risky for Emily and I to be announcing the pregnancy since I was still only nine weeks. Effy was twelve weeks, just heading into her second trimester, and Emily and I were just too excited to wait any longer to announce the pregnancy. We hadn't even found the time to make an appointment with a midwife yet, but we already knew that we were going to use the same midwife as Katie and Effy, who wouldn't stop singing her praises. We had sat Katie down to dinner about two days after I told Effy about the pregnancy and broke the news to her. She was so ecstatic she started to cry and wouldn't stop hugging Emily and I, much to my surprise. Katie rarely showed me any affection, and most of the time I was trying to figure out whether she even liked me. I had never seen her as happy as she was that night.

Katie and Effy were the first people to arrive. They were both so ridiculously excited, which just made Emily and I even more excited than we already were. Effy and I went out earlier in the week to buy our first maternity clothes together, which we were proudly sporting tonight. Effy was wearing maternity skinny jeans that actually looked good on her, and a distressed grey jumper. Since Effy was so tiny already, her bump was actually pretty obvious. I was wearing a black maxi dress that apparently showcased my breasts, as Emily helpfully pointed out while I was getting dressed. My boobs had grown even larger, making me a 36D, which meant that Emily was borderline obsessed with my breasts. I wasn't that bothered with them, honestly. I was showing already, even if it was just a little bit. My bump was definitely much less obvious than Effy's. But that little bit of baby bump meant I no longer fit into my normal jeans. Buying my first pair of maternity jeans was probably one of the scariest moments of my life, to be honest. I really don't understand why. All I know is that Effy had to talk me down from a panic attack as soon as I put them on. It could be because they were absolutely hideous and made my butt look like a massive rectangle. When I got home from the shopping trip and showed them to Emily she frowned and returned them for me the next day. She ordered me a much nicer (and much more expensive pair) from online, which thankfully made my butt look good.

"Well, look at this fancy system you've got here," Katie said as she pointed out our brand new alarm system. Emily and I had bought it just after we found out about John and his little episode in the park. It made us feel just a bit safer, which we both found very important at the moment. "Bet that cost you two a pretty penny."

Katie smiled and winked at us. To both Emily's and my surprise, Katie wasn't jealous when we told her about the inheritance money. She seemed to have really grown over the time I'd known her, and I couldn't help but think that Effy had quite a lot to do with that change.

"Yeah, well, it was a purchase we had to make. With Naomi working from home all day, I wasn't going to let her feel unsafe now that John apparently knows where we live, even if he is going to be in prison for quite some time," Emily replied as she poured Effy and I a glass of mango juice. She handed the glasses to us with a smile and kissed me on the cheek.

Emily's lawyer had phoned her the other day to let her know that John was sentenced to one year in prison for violating the terms of his probation and breaking the restraining order. It provided us with only a little comfort since we both knew just how unjust the justice system could be. It was likely that John would get out of prison early yet again, but Emily and I really couldn't dwell on that thought. We had to try and move on from all the John Foster bullshit and we definitely couldn't live our lives in fear any longer.

Emily's parents and her brother were the next guests to arrive, quickly followed by my mother and Kieran. JJ, his wife Lara, and their two sons, Albert and Gregory showed up mere minutes before Cook. Albert was completely fascinated with Libby and wouldn't leave her side. Libby was just happy to have a playmate. Gregory, however, was still breastfeeding and as soon as he took one look at me, he immediately wanted to come over to me. He wouldn't stop staring at my boobs and touching them, much to Lara and JJ's embarrassment.

"I'm so so sorry!" Lara said as she tried to pry Gregory from my arms. Gregory was having absolutely none of that, and held onto the strap of my bra for dear life. Emily laughed along with Cook and basically everybody else who couldn't help but notice my expanding bra size.

"I know, Gregory, I like those quite a lot too," Emily said, walking over to Greg and I as Greg happily giggled and slapped my chest. Gregory didn't leave my side the whole night, save for when he actually needed to be fed and when he finally fell asleep.

Pandora and Thomas arrived slightly late. Pandora said she was jealous of me because my "bazookas" (as Pandora happily nicknamed them) stole all of baby Greg's attention and she wanted to play with him. I tried to hand him to her at least five times before I eventually gave up. Greg simply was not having any of that.

Once everybody was settled down and had a drink in their hands, Effy and I went into the office where we'd prepared gift bags to give to Jenna and my mum. Jenna was getting two bags and my mum was getting one. We placed the proper bags in front of each of the women and then sat back down in our seats. Emily grabbed my hand tightly and I felt so nervous I felt as though I was going to pass out.

"Mum, wait to open your bag until Jenna's about to open the second bag," I instructed with a smile. My mum smiled back and shrugged. I think she knew what was coming, considering I'd confided in her a few months ago that Emily and I were trying for a baby. Cook looked so excited he was practically bouncing in his seat.

Jenna opened the first gift bag and pulled out a white onesie that had writing on the front. She screamed and ran over to hug Katie and Effy. Rob curiously grabbed the onesie and read out what was written on it.

"Baby Fitch-Stonem, due March 4th, 2014," He said with a proud smile as he turned the onesie so everybody could see. There was a picture of Effy proudly showing off her baby bump, with Katie standing behind her, placing a delicate hand on the bump. Cook cheered and almost woke Gregory up, Lara and JJ offered their congratulations, Pandora and Thomas started doing a happy dance in the middle of the living room, and Kieran looked awkward and uncomfortable. Kieran generally looked awkward and uncomfortable, though.

"Mum," Emily said tentatively, interrupting Jenna's happy tears and squeals as she hugged Effy senseless. "Don't forget about the other bag. Gina's waiting for you."

My mum had a knowing smile on her face as both she and Jenna started to open the second bag. My mum practically flew across the table to hug me while Jenna screamed and squealed and borderline suffocated both Emily and I. Rob read out the writing on the second onesie as well.

"Baby Fitch-Campbell, due April 7th, 2014," He said with yet another proud smile. He turned the onesie around again and showed the picture of me holding up my shirt and showing off my baby bump while Emily leant down to kiss it. Cook got up to join Pandora and Thomas while they were doing their happy dance, Kieran offered me a wide smile and many congratulations, and JJ and Lara finally seemed to understand why Gregory had been so fascinated by my breasts.

"Babies are a most wonderful thing and our group is being doubly blessed!" Thomas said as he walked over to hug Effy and I.

Pandora offered to babysit, which I found slightly scary, but I found myself promising that I would keep her offer in mind. JJ had a quiet moment with Emily and hugged me, while Lara was busy telling me about all her pregnancy horrors. The most worrying thing she told me was that my boobs were only going to get bigger.

"Seriously, Naomi, they're not even that big yet," Lara said, giving me a wide eyed glance. "You just wait till the baby comes. I felt like I had watermelons on my chest. Watermelons, Naomi."

After Lara was finished scaring the crap out of me, everybody started to trickle on home, save for Katie, Effy, Jenna, Rob, James, and Gina. Kieran left, claiming he had to have an early night since he had work the next day.

Emily went into the kitchen to make everyone a cup of tea. Jenna and Rob were sat next to each other, each with positively huge grins on their faces. James had wandered off a few hours earlier to watch a movie in the office, though he did give his congratulations to both Effy and Katie and Emily and I.

"I can't believe I'm gonna be a grandma twice over," Jenna beamed. Effy smiled and Katie gave an unsure look to her mum.

"I can't believe how well you're handling this," Katie said, always the one to voice her opinion. Jenna's reaction, though a relief, definitely was surprising. "I mean, you nearly passed out when you found out about Effy and I. I didn't think this was going to be much different."

Jenna shrugged and smiled. "As I've been getting older, I've started to realize that the things I once thought were important aren't actually important at all. I don't care whether you're committed to a man or a woman, Katiekins, as long as you're happy, I'm happy. Of course, the same goes for Emily. Seeing you girls as happy as you've been over the past few years has really opened my eyes. It's the same happiness I felt when I first met your father, the same happiness I felt when I first had you girls," Jenna smiled, looking down at her wedding rings and then at Rob. "I'm so happy you're both going to be able to experience having a family."

Gina smiled at Jenna, and then turned to me. "You know I'm so happy and proud of you, Naoms. You've finally pulled your shit together," My mum said, making both of us laugh. "I'm just happy to see you happy, love. Remember, love, happiness doesn't always come to you in the people or places you expect. I'm quite certain that if I had told you five years ago that right now you'd be settled down, married and expecting your first child with your wife, you would have laughed in my face and told me what a fucking cow I was."

Mum smiled at me and reached over the table, grabbing my hand and holding it tightly. "I'm so happy for you...all of you!"

Effy and Katie laughed. Emily brought the mugs of tea in on a very full tray, almost spilling tea on Libby.

"Gina – milk with two sugars, Dad – one sugar, Mum – black, Katie – milk only, and Naomi and Effy get water because they're not allowed caffeine!" Emily said proudly as she handed out the mugs to everybody.

Effy and I looked at each other at the same time and sighed. I missed tea. At least Emily was kind enough not to drink it in front of me, though I knew she was still drinking it at work.

Eventually, everybody slowly trickled out of the apartment, leaving Emily, Libby and I in our usual peace and quiet.

"Well, that went well," Emily said as she locked the door behind her parents and James, who were the last to leave. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, dropping a kiss on her shoulder.

"Yeah, who knew Jenna Fitch was actually a great big softie at heart?" I said. Emily shrugged and laughed.

"I suppose she just wants the best for her kids. Hopefully she'll make a good grandmother."

I nodded against Emily's shoulder. "I wonder what type of grandmother my mum will be."

Emily looked at me with complete shock in her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Your mum will be the stereotypical save-the-earth grandma who teaches our kids how to recycle and plant a vegetable garden."

I laughed at the image of my mum teaching our children how to garden and recycle, and probably educating them about the issues of coal and telling them about how Greenpeace started. Typical Gina, really. Saving the world one lentil at a time.

"What kind of mums do you think we'll be?" I murmured. Emily shrugged and sighed.

"Good ones, I hope."

And with that, we followed each other to our bedroom, shutting off the lights in the flat that remained. As I lay in bed that night, fighting yet another bought of nausea, I couldn't help but imagine exactly what I would have said 5 years ago to the idea of getting married and having kids. I looked over at the woman beside me and smiled. She'd changed me, and it was one hundred percent for the better. I laid my hand over my small baby bump and sighed heavily. I started to do my positive visualization again, imagining the baby that was growing inside me. But this time, I saw more than I usually did.

I saw a gorgeous baby with blonde hair and blue eyes. The baby had the widest, most gorgeous smile in the universe. I watched as the baby cried out in the middle of the night, waking both Em and I. It was Emily who reached over into the crib to calm and quiet our child – I was far too busy catching up on sleep to even wake up.

I realized at that moment that even though this child was not Emily's biologically, they would bond together just like I would bond with our baby. I hadn't even realized that I was worried about how Emily would bond with our baby, but the image I had playing before my eyes told me that I had nothing to worry about. Emily would be a wonderful mother to our child.

Emily rolled over onto her side at that moment and draped her arm protectively across my baby bump.

"Love you guys," She mumbled, already half-asleep.

"We love you back," I replied, leaning down to kiss her gently.

Author's Note: Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought! I reply to each review I get :)