Still at thirteen weeks pregnant, Sam was all Tom could think about. His thoughts were mainly about their meeting with the Goodbye magazine editor that would take place later that day because he just kept on wondering if they would end up in their dream home - money had been a worry for them since they'd found out about the octuplets because they were perfectly capable of raising and spoiling a single child with the money that they had, but eight they weren't so sure about. He also kept on thinking about when he would first feel his babies kick because it felt odd that Sam was so large, yet they hadn't moved yet because it was far too early.

"Fletch, have you seen Sam? I haven't seen her for a while." Tom asked.
"Um, yeah she was going to the store room; she took my keys." Fletch replied.
"Alright, thanks." Tom smiled before he jogged out of cubicles and down the corridor to the store room. He slowly opened the door and saw Sam putting something in her scrub pocket on her top. "What's that?" He asked curiously and Sam jumped out of her skin as she noticed that her husband was there; she thought that she was alone.
"Oh um, just something for a patient." Sam lied convincingly but Tom could see right through her. He approached her, and gently slipped his hand into her pocket and took out the box - Sam allowed the action because she knew he wouldn't let it go unless he found out.

"Stool softeners." Tom read off of the box with a hint of confusion.
"Mmhmm." Sam mumbled embarrassingly.
"Have you spoken to Mr T about taking these?" He asked because he knew that Mr T was the head of Sam's vast medical team - there was expected to be a few dozen people there at the birth to care for Sam and the little ones.
"I don't need to. Look my internal organs are being crushed so they're not fully functioning and it says on the box safe for pregnancy and I... I need them." Sam admitted as she avoided eye contact.
"When did you last go?" Tom asked.
"It doesn't matter Tom."
"No, when?"
"Please, just leave it." Sam pleaded as she watched him hold the box in his hands.
"Okay. But it is less than a week right?"
"Yes." She sighed.
"Fine, but you've got to tell Mr T that you're taking them at our next appointment. Okay?"
"I suppose so..." Sam muttered and Tom handed her back the box.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look?" Tom smiled as he put his hands on Sam's sides and slowly stroked her ever growing bump that was pressing against his abdomen.
"Mm. Have I told you how much weight I've gained? A lot." Sam replied bluntly.
"Yeah well it's still not enough because you still aren't eating 4400 calories a day. If you ate more, maybe you wouldn't feel so tired." Tom suggested. "C'mon, I'd give anything to eat that much all day and not have to worry about getting fat." He smirked.
"I am hungry now actually." Sam admitted as she patted her bump.
"Well then why don't I go across the street to subway and get your lunch for you?" He suggested. "And you can have a footlong, a drink and a cookie." He stated.
"And a bag of crisps to put in the sub." Sam added and Tom smirked. "What!? Baby A wants it." She protested - from the ultrasounds, they had had to call each baby a letter from A to H to identify them.

"And what? You're gonna have eight different cravings and blame them on each baby?" Tom joked but he regretted it as Sam grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "Sam I was joking." Tom stated.
"Chicken and bacon with lettuce, tomato and red onion, chocolate chip cookie, diet coke and ready salted crisps please." Sam smiled, sweetly.
"And will you be paying by cash or card?" Tom raised his eyebrows.
"You will be paying however you want." Sam smiled as she walked past him out of the store room followed by her husband where she met Zoe. "It's not what you think." Sam protested immediately and Zoe smiled.

"I didn't think of that but now that you mention it you two have been off of the ward for a while." She remarked.
"Honestly, Sam was just getting something." Tom stated but unfortunately, Zoe's eyes fell upon the square box that could be seen through Sam's scrub pocket on the side of her bump.
"Getting what?" Zoe asked because she didn't feel comfortable to take the box herself because it was touching Sam's bump. "Sam." Zoe said sternly. Reluctantly, Sam pulled the top part of the box out of the pocket so that Zoe could catch a glance of the contents of the box, before she put it back in her pocket once more. "Alright, go on off you go." She said softly and Sam quickly waddled away and Tom and Zoe walked slightly behind her.

"I love it when she waddles." Tom smiled.
"Shut up." Sam ordered as she tried to walk a little more normal, only it exerted too much energy and within a few steps she was back to waddling again. "And if my lunch isn't in front of me within ten minutes, you'll be in trouble." She threatened.
"See you later Zoe." Tom muttered before he quickly sprinted towards the hospital main entrance because he knew that Sam was being serious.

Sam and Tom were on their way to the magazine deal meeting after having a quick appointment with Mr T. He had spoken to them about Sam's maternity leave because her entire medical team had agreed that because of the risk of premature labour, they'd want her to stop working sooner rather than later. And they had also stated that they were to admit Sam to the hospital and put her on moderate bed rest from week 24.
"Can we just agree that we're not going to say yes to anything unless we talk about it." Tom suggested.
"Yeah, of course." Sam nodded as she switched on the indicator to turn into the car park at Goodbye magazine's offices which were thankfully only a twenty minute drive from their flat.
"Can we also agree that you're going to stop driving by the end of today?" Tom asked cautiously as he watched his wife behind the wheel - her driving capability wasn't hindered at all he just didn't want her to be under any stress whatsoever but she had insisted that she was driving them there because of his awful navigational skills.

"End of today?" Sam moaned.
"Please? For me? I did get you lunch today." He smiled.
"But..." Sam trailed off but she couldn't think of an excuse.
"Look, we both work the same shifts so I can drive you to and from work, I always come with you to your appointments, and whenever else you go out, I'm pretty much always with you." Tom stated and Sam rolled her eyes. "Great. That's settled then." He smiled smugly.

"Wonderful to meet you both." The man smiled as he shook both of their hands and then they sat on chairs by his desk in his office. "I'm George Murray, head editor of goodbye magazine and I'm delighted that you've considered this offer." He stated. "You're looking very well Mrs Kent." He smiled warmly.
"Thanks, but call me Sam."
"Okay then, Sam. Right, what do you think of the house?" He asked cheerily, he hadn't broken his smile since they'd entered the room which was beginning to annoy Tom.
"It's amazing." Sam stated. "It's quite the offer, though we have had similar ones." Sam lied and Tom had to refrain from bursting out laughing as his wife was trying to haggle.
"Right well, I suppose I'd better just run through what the first interview and photo shoots would entail when you'll be around 18 weeks gone. Basically, it would be me and a photographer and we would come to your current home and get various pictures of you and your husband. Some of which we would like of you without your bump being covered if possible."
"That's fine." Sam nodded as she entwined her fingers with Tom's besides her.
"And the interview would just be me asking you some questions and I'll record the answers on a tape recorder, nothing formal at all, just in your home and then we'll make it into an article and for the second interview we will be wanting to make an entire magazine dedicated to the story of the octuplets and mum and dad."

"Not that we're not optimistic but, you are aware of the risks of having eight babies and the track record of their history right?" Sam asked. "There's only one set of octuplets in history that all eight have survived."
"Of course." George nodded in understanding. "So any questions about the interviews or photo shoots?" He asked and Sam shook her head.
"There is just one thing, if we agree to this, we'll want to see a copy of the magazine before it's published so that if we have any issues with it, we can raise them." Tom stated.
"Ah, yes I have actually written that in the contract for you." George stated as he began clicking through his laptop, brought up a word document, highlighted a few sentences and showed them to Tom.
"That's sorted then." Tom sighed after reading it as he leant back in his seat.

"Now then, for all of this to work, this would have to be an exclusive and we wouldn't want you to do any other interviews or give any photos to other magazines or newspapers throughout your pregnancy. This is also written in your contract. So, I think it's time to discuss your part of the deal." He stated as he sat forward in his chair. "If you were to agree and sign the contract, you'll have full ownership of the minivan and the 9 bedroom house without a mortgage and we will give you our an interior designer to help with your home. Now she's our employee, so we'll give her a company credit card and she'll know how much she can spend but you'll go out shopping with her and buy furniture etc for the house, and then we'll also pay for carpenters, painters etc until your house is up to standards for you. And then of course, you'll have the £10,000 paid into your bank account." He explained.

"Now as I said, we have had similar offers," Sam began.
"And?" George queried curiously because he knew that the couple would be after more and he had spoken to his boss about how much more he could give them.
"And, we'll agree to the contract, if, the money is raised to £30,000." Sam stated, in her opinion it was worth a try and they would need the money to raise eight babies.

"Right, I'm going to tell you something but you can't repeat it okay?" George said quietly and Sam and Tom sat forward to hear. "I've got kids of my own so I know money is difficult, but I've been told by my boss to go no higher than £25,000. Now I can raise the money to that, and I'll tell him that you two were very stubborn and threatened to give an exclusive to other magazines unless I raised the money. How's that for you?" He smiled.
"Can me and my wife have a moment to talk about it please?" Tom asked.
"Yes of course. I'll be back in a moment. Would you like a tea or coffee?" He asked as he stood up from his desk.
"No thanks." Tom replied.
"No thank you." Sam smiled so the man left and closed his office door behind him.

"Why is this a lot easier than I thought it'd be?" Tom laughed as he spun his chair and faced his wife. He took both of her hands in his.
"I don't know but this is just... I can't believe this is happening!" She said excitedly. "That home looked amazing, and I cannot wait to go out shopping for it. I've always wanted to just go out and go yep, I'll have two of them, ten of them blah blah blah." She squealed.
"You sure you're happy about having to show your bump when you'll be around 18 weeks? I mean, millions of people are going to see it." Tom asked.
"Yeah, I want the pictures to remember the pregnancy by. And it don't care if people see it... What's happening to my body is natural and if I show people my body and that I don't care, it might inspire others that they don't have to be so self conscious." Sam concluded.

"The next mother Theresa." Tom joked. "But seriously, you're definitely happy with all of this yes?" He asked.
"Yeah, course I am. You?"
"Of course." Tom nodded.

8pm
Sam and Tom were sitting on the sofa after having their dinner. Sam obviously had to eat a lot more calories than Tom (almost double his daily intake actually) so she a had had a full plate filled with roast potatoes, two lean chicken breasts and vegetables along with a large slice of Black Forest gateaux with a handful of raspberries and blackberries, while Tom had eaten a much smaller portion with just one chicken breast instead of two. They had happily signed the contract and had agreed on several dates including the day that they would go to visit their new home where it would be empty, a day to go out shopping with the interior designer, a day for the 18 week interview and a day for development to begin for their new home.

"Y'know, Zoe asked me to speak to you about maternity leave again." Tom stated softly becuase he knew his wife was getting sleepy; she usually did around between 8 and 9 in the evening because of the strain her body was being put under. And she was usually more lenient when she was tired because she didn't have the energy to argue.
"I know... And I know how high the risk of premature labour is for me - well that's why they're putting me on bed rest at 24 weeks, but I want to keep them in me as long as I possibly can, because then they can get stronger... So I'm going to take things easy from now on, I promise. And I'm going to do everything I can to keep them inside me for now so I'm not gonna swim loads of lengths anymore, or go for the occasional jog. And I've decided, I'm going on maternity leave at 20 weeks." Sam explained slowly.

"That sounds like a brilliant plan to me." Tom agreed as he slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Why don't you go and get into bed and I'll make us a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a few biscuits?" Tom suggested because he did everything he could to keep Sam eating - without his encouragement she wouldn't be eating nearly as many calories as she was and she was only just meeting her recommended allowance of 4400 calories a day.
"I was going to have a bath to relax a bit before I go to bed." Sam stated.
"Alright, I'll make your hot chocolate and run you a bath." Tom smiled as he got up and headed to the ensuite bathroom to turn the taps on.

Tom entered the bathroom and placed the packet of biscuits and two mugs on the side. Sam was wrapped in a fluffy white towel so he took it off of her and helped her into the bath before he watched her relax under the bubbles in the warm soapy water.
"Here you go." He said as he handed her the mug which she wrapped her hands around to keep her hands warm whilst they were out of the water.
"Thanks."
"So, what on earth are you going to do while your on bed rest on maternity?" He asked curioisly. "I mean, I'll have to talk to Zoe about my paternity leave but I don't think I'll be allowed any leave before the birth." Tom stated. From their meeting with Sam's vast medical team, they knew that Sam's 'Moderate Bed Rest' meant that she had to stay in bed most of the day, but she allowed to get up to go to the toilet, to have a bath but no showers and to go for a walk once or twice a day. Other than that, she didn't have much choice and sexual intercourse had also been limited to only foreplay.

"Um... I could research childcare and nurseries. I want to get some parenting books on newborns and premies so I can read them... I've been writing an essay about octuplet pregnancy," Sam admitted, "but I haven't had much time recently so I can catch up on that." Sam stated.
"An essay?" Tom queried.
"Yeah, I mean octuplet pregnancies are so rare and because there's so little data on them, I thought it would be better for a doctor who's experiencing everything first hand to write a paper on it." Sam explained. "I'll probably finish it a month or two after the birth and then I can submit it to the BMJ and see what they think."
"That sounds like a good idea." Tom smiled before he took a sip of his hot chocolate.
"Tom..."
"Yeah?"
"What if... I mean when I have the c-section and they'll all be taken to NICU... I want you to go with them as soon as the last one is born. Don't stay with me, they'll need you more." Sam stated as tears pooled in her eyes.
"Oi, don't cry." Tom ordered as he leant over the bath and pecked her on the forehead. "We've got the best possible team of about 46 medical professionals focusing on you and our babies. In fact, we've got an entire neonatal intensive care unit just for our babies because the capacity for each unit is eight Sam." Tom laughed softly. "We've got specialists coming from America, and from all over the country to ensure that every single on of our babies survives and although I can't give you a guarantee, whatever happens, we're in this together." Tom explained.

"Are you finished with the crappy pep talk yet?" Sam joked as she sniffed and then took a sip of her drink.
"Not yet." Tom said before he cleared his throat. "Finally, not only have we got the best healthcare team, but they've got the best possible mother-"
"Don't even bother with that one." Sam laughed.
"No, listen to me. I mean it. You've been eating the healthiest diet you can for them so they'll be getting all the right nutrients. And if you think about it, your body is the best for octuplets because you're not overweight or underweight, you're young, fit, healthy and you've got the best attitude to be their mum because you're giving up the job that you love just for our babies Sam. Honestly, they couldn't have a better mum." Tom stated.

Thanks for reading, please review :)