Saturday 14th December, 8am
Jonny was sitting on the pool steps with the water up to his neck, and Jac on his lap in her black bikini as they relaxed in the water after doing several lengths.
"Seeing as we're going home tomorrow... I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming to my Mum and Dad's graves again today?" Jonny asked nervously.
"Yeah, of course I will." Jac replied quietly as she gently kicked her legs in the water, imagining what it was like for her daughter in her uterus in the amniotic fluid.
"Thank you." Jonny gave her a small squeeze in appreciation as he carefully picked the weightless Jac up, spun her around so she was facing him, and straddled her legs around his waist so she was pressing her bump against his bare torso. Jac wrapped her arms around Jonny's neck as he slowly carried them to the deep end so they would both stay under the water to keep them warm. "What would you say, about taking our daughter to swimming lessons when she was a few months old?" Jonny queried.
"Really?" Jac moaned.
"Well look, it would be great for me and you to spend some time with her and babies love swimming in warm water, it reminds them of your womb. I've seen the classes before -'they have mums and dads in the water with your baby, and you slowly teach them to swim in the water." Jonny explained. "Please?"
"We'll see." Jac replied sheepishly.
"Is that a yes?" Jonny asked.
"No, it's a maybe." Jac stated. "And if we did, we'd go private." She added.
9am
"Right, we need Nutella." Mo stated as she, followed by Mr T with a basket had just entered the supermarket.
"And a muzzle for Jac." Mr T joked.
"That's not a bad idea, though you might lose a few fingers trying to put it on her." Mo laughed as they headed for a baking and spreads aisle. "Ooh, shall we annoy Jac and get some christmas cutters?" Mo suggested. "We can make some christmas trees, hearts, stars, stockings." She smiled.
"Definitely get a heart one, she'll love those." Mr T laughed. Mo picked up a heart shaped cutter, along with a christmas tree one too before they headed for the ingredients.
"Y'know, Jac must've eaten about 15 of those biscuits in 24 hours." Mo stated as she picked up a jar of Nutella.
"Well, if it keeps her happy, I'm not gonna complain." Mr T stated jokily.
10am
Zosia had just hobbled from her bedroom in a bikini wrapped in a towel when her father came out from nowhere.
"Where do you think you're going?" He raised an eyebrow.
"To play football." Zosia replied sarcastically.
"You'd better not be planning-"
"On kicking in the pool yes I know." Zosia interrupted. "I'm only gonna use my arms so I can get rid of my bingo wings." She joked.
"Zosia." Guy said sternly.
"Guy." Zosia mocked before she pushed past him and carried on towards the pool.
Jonny sat in his and Jac's bedroom whilst he knew his partner was watching TV, so he wouldn't be interrupted for a while whilst she complained about the amount of crap on TV despite them having hundreds of channels so he had settled down to write a letter to his parents. He wanted to talk to his parents at their graves, but he knew if he didn't have anything planned, he'd end up crying and he wouldn't be able to get the words out so instead, he decided to write what he wanted to say, and he would read that out when he went there.
"Y'know, you used to love playing with me in the pool when we went on holiday." Guy stated once Zosia had finished a length so she folded her arms across her chest and then leant back against the edge of the pool. "You begged me to put you on my shoulders and then launch you into the middle of the pool." He smirked.
"We haven't been on a family holiday in years..." Zosia mumbled.
"We could always organise one in the summer for me and you after your exams." Guy suggested and Zosia quickly shook her head.
"Not without Mama, it's too soon." She replied quietly and Guy nodded in understanding.
"Alright, but we will go on holiday together one last time before you properly grow up." Guy stated.
"I am grown up." Zosia argued.
"No, you're still my little girl." Guy stated.
"I'm 26!" Zosia protested.
"And? You're half my age, so you're my little girl."
"I'm your grown up daughter, end of. And stop distracting me, I'm trying to swim." Zosia stated before she took a deep breath and then began her lengths once again where she barely even used her injured foot.
"Right, this time, I think we should tidy up as we go along." Mr T stated seriously. He and Mo had just gotten out all the ingredients needed for the Nutella cookies requested by Jac, and they didn't want the kitchen to end up looking like a bomb site like last time.
"Hurry up." Jac shouted from the living room which caused both of them to smirk.
"Pregnancy has changed her so much." Mo laughed. "Well , actually, she's just as moody, she's just more of a comedian." She joked.
"I heard that." Jac shouted.
"So when you going on tour at the Apollo?" Mo shouted. They heard a groan and then Jac came padding into the kitchen.
"Will you shut up? There's nothing more irritating that you two attempting to flirt." Jac muttered as she got a glass of cream soda and then put the bottle back into the fridge.
"Do you want these cookies or not?" Mo joked.
"Ow." Jac gasped as she stepped back from the counter and placed her hands right under her bump.
"Oh don't tell me you're going into labour now." Mo moaned.
"No, no... She just, kicked me in the cervix, I think." Jac said questioningly as she picked her glass back up.
"Have you had a show yet?" Mo asked curiously.
"None of your business." Jac stated as she walked back out into the living room.
"They're still a bit hot." Mo stated as she came into the living room with a piece of kitchen roll wrapped up containing two freshly baked Nutella cookies and handed them to Jac who gladly took them and took a bite. "Where's Jonny?" Mo asked.
"In the bedroom." Jac replied bluntly.
"Doing what?" Mo asked.
"Don't know, don't care." Jac stated as she didn't even take her eyes off of he he TV screen, she just carried on nibbling at the cookies.
Guy's phone buzzed besides him on the sofa.
'Can you bring me an ice compress and bottle of water please?' - Zoshie Self
He sighed before he stood up and got the appropriate things from the kitchen, including another slice of their coffee cake from yesterday, and took them to their bedroom where she was resting her ankle in bed- something that was frustrating her and pushing her to the limit of breaking.
"I thought a slice of cake might cheer you up." He smiled as he handed Zosia the plate, put the bottle of water on her bedside, and then laid the wrapped bag of ice over Zosia's bruised ankle.
"That looks great, thank you." Zosia smiled as she used the teaspoon to break a little of the rich cake and then put it in her mouth.
"No worries. And um, I think for the benefit of you, and for my ear drums from Jac moaning, we'll get a taxi to the train station tomorrow rather than walk there." Guy stated.
"Sounds good to me." Zosia smiled.
"Um, don't forget about what you said; you're going into theatre once a day for the next fortnight." He stated.
"But I can't stand for that long; my ankle." Zosia pouted.
"So you can manage to be on your feet all day on the ward, but you can't manage an hour or two in theatre?" Guy raised an eyebrow. "Remember Zosia, I've gone vegan for a fortnight, you can try theatre for a fortnight, you never know, you might even like it." He stated.
Jonny and Jac were holding hands as they entered the cemetery that held the graves of his parents. Both wrapped up in their coats, hats, scarves and gloves, they slowly approached the two headstones. Jonny had began to write the letter to his parent countless times, telling them about the family, about his sisters and their children and more importantly, about him, Jac and their unborn daughter's nearing arrival, yet he could never finish it. And he felt stupid, because he didn't believe in life after death, so he knew his parents wouldn't read the letter, or listen to it.
Like before, Jac and Jonny arrived, and they stood facing the graves in silence. Jac remained quiet; she didn't speak, unless she needed to because she knew Jonny just wanted some time to think.
"I-I don't see how people speak on and on to a head stone... I just feel stupid." Jonny blurted out.
"Jonny, people remember loved ones in different ways, you don't have to speak, you don't have to do anything, just do what you want to do." Jac said softly.
"Can we stay here for a while again please?" He asked eventually as he sniffed- he was trying not to cry- he was a grown man and in his opinion he wasn't supposed to cry.
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere." Jac replied softly as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He smiled in acknowledgment before he turned his attention back to the two headstones.
It seemed like forever for Jac as she stood there. She was freezing cold with the December winds making her hair fly around, and her baby certainly didn't like the cold- she didn't move at all when her mummy was chilly. But Jac didn't complain, and she would stand there for hours for Jonny, because although she would joke about almost anything, the death of his parents was not one of them. They had been standing there for around fifteen minutes when Jac glanced at Jonny and saw tears rolling down his cheeks. Jac said nothing, but pulled him into a hug and soothingly rubbed her hands up and down his back as he tried not to sob.
Eventually, he pulled away from Jac and and sniffed after he wiped his tears away.
"Do y'know what would make me feel better?" Jonny forced a smile and Jac looked at him confusedly. "A nice hot chocolate, some Nutella cookies and a cuddle in bed with you and our little girl." Jonny explained.
"I like the sound of that." Jac smiled as she linked arms with Jonny and the pair slowly walked along the path as they made their way back to the lodge.
"Yeah, I thought you might; it involves food." Jonny muttered and Jac playfully elbowed him.
Zosia, who had been alone in her room, had decided to get up and get another bottle of water because she had been relying on him all day and she hated having no independence. But as soon as she swung her foot over the due of the bed and the blood supply returned to her bruised ankle, it became throbbing in pain. The twisted ankle was at it's peak of injury at that point because it had only just stopped bruising, leaving her ankle a purpley-grey, swollen mess.
She stumbled out of bed, and into the corridor towards the kitchen only she accidentally put more weight on her ankle than she could stand so she fell into the wall and hit her head on the wall. Seconds later, her vision became blurred and she felt dizzy, when everything when black, and she was no longer conscious...
"She's coming round." Guy announced.
"Huh?" Zosia mumbled. She blinked several times before she looked around her to see her Dad behind her checking her head, and Mo and Mr T were by her foot which was elevated by a few cushions.
"Zosia, what's my name?" Mo asked.
"Mo." Zosia replied sleepily as she slowly sat up.
"Can you remember what happened?" Guy asked worriedly sans he sat behind she and checked her lower skull.
"I got up... My foot was throbbing and, the pain just got too much." Zosia explained slowly. She knew that if they knew she'd hit her head then she'd have to go to the hospital for a scan, and she really didn't fancy that in a strange hospital in a Saturday evening when she knew that the chances were that she was fine, if anything she could possibly suffer from a minor concussion later on, but at that moment she felt okay- well as okay as you could feel after passing out.
"Did you hit your head when you fell or can't you remember?" Guy asked.
"No no... I think my head hit the carpet, I mean it doesn't hurt so I can't have hit it on something hard." Zosia concluded falsely.
"Right well, let's get you back to bed yeah?" Guy suggested as he took one of Zosia's arms and Mr T took the other. They both helped her up and then guided her back to bed, then Mr T left so it was just Guy and Zosia. "Now you get some rest, but let me know if you're not feeling well okay." Guy whispered and Zosia nodded before she buried herself under the covers.
As Jonny had wanted, Jac and Jonny laid in bed, snuggled up to each other. Once again, Jac was wearing Jonny's hoodie, but he didn't mind if it made her happy. They had both had a creamy galaxy hot chocolate, along with three cookies for Jac, and two for Jonny, and after that, they just kept each other warm. Jonny gently rubbed Jac's back, whilst she relaxed in his arms, and they both soon fell asleep.
Thanks for reading, please review and I'll hopefully update the final chapter today x
