It was late and the Ormerod household lay quite apart from the classical music the radio was playing in the living room. Gordon sat in his armchair asleep; a scattering of paperwork surrounded him. It was a Friday evening and the poor chap had worked hard all week, as well as taking care of their three children. His wife lay on the sofa a Doctor's magazine in her hands.
'Gordon...' called Jill before repeating herself as her husband came round from his deep sleep. 'Gordon...'
'Yes?' He responded sleepily, sitting himself upright in his chair. Gordon let his eyes to the dim lighting as he looked at him wife
'Right well I don't want to alarm you but I think it's safe to say that it's started'
'What's started?' he paused taking the information in 'You mean the baby? When?'
'About half an hour ago'
'Right well, too early to do anything yet then' remarked Gordon, completely unphased by the news as he settled himself back to sleep.
'Alright for some hey!' his wife joked. Gordon briefly smiled and then his face fell motionless again as he slept. Jill too settled herself down for a bit of sleep, goodness knows she'd need it.
In bed
With each contraction that hit Jill the pain intensified making sleeping impossible. Gordon lay beside her talking, trying to distract her for the pain she was having to deal with.
Looking at the clock Gordon excitedly announced his thoughts 'I reckon we'll have Ormerod junior with us by erm...lunch time'
'I'll hold you to that!' his wife grunted 'If it drags out any longer I'll murder you'
'Murder me?' he teased 'What have I done wrong now?'
'You Gordon Ormerod got me into this situation'
'It takes two to tango' Gordon remarked. That shut his wife up; Jill didn't have the energy to argue especially when she knew that he was right. 'Anyway I better ring my dearest mum on alert to look after the children' he uttered as he dashed down the stairs to the telephone and dialled his mum's number.
After several moments she answered wearily 'Ah mum, sorry to have woken you...yes I know it's two in the morning but your grandchild's on its way... Yes, it started late evening... We're going to get ready to head to the hospital. The children are fast asleep in bed oblivious to anything...Okay we'll see you in half an hour. Bye' Gordon dropped the receiver back onto the base and headed back up the stairs. Unlike Gordon his parents had had their son fairly early on in their adult lives, meaning even now his mum wasn't too old to cope with the demands of her beloved son's family.
'Mum's on her way. She wasn't best pleased about being woken at this hour but as soon as I told her why she was fine' babbled the middle aged man as he rushed around the bedroom getting dress. 'I'll put your bag in the car, check on the children and then come and get you' It may be his fourth child but Gordon was still as ecstatic as with the previous three times.