14th November

8am
"Right, how do I look?" Tom asked as he arrived downstairs in the living room where Sam was breastfeeding two of the girls, and she had a Ellie on her lap too. Just seven days into her antibiotic course, Ellie was much better, though she still had sensitivity to bright lights and she did still require paracetamol sometimes when Sam could only assume she either had a headache or achey muscles because she was irritable and upset.
"There's a tiny bit of your shirt untucked." Sam stated. Tom looked down at his bluey-grey suit and tucked his shirt in properly. "Hang on, didn't you wear that for our wedding?" Sam queried.
"Maybe." Tom replied sheepishly. "C'mon, if I married you in this, it's got to be lucky."
"You don't need luck." Sam stated. "You'll get the consultants post, and you'll be the smuggest git on the ward." Sam smirked.
"Not with the outside candidates, and Ethan's going for it. And Guy Self is observing the interviews." Tom stated worriedly.
"Is he? Why?"
"I don't know, probably to make sure that Zoe is impartial. But that doesn't make my life any easier."
"Tom, just pretend that you hardly know Zoe when you go in, I've seen your presentation, and we've practiced questions, you'll be fine. And at the end of the day, if you don't get the job, nothing will be lost, you've still got a secure well paid job." Sam stated reassuringly. "Here, give Ellie a good luck cuddle because she's climbing all over me." Sam ordered.

"I'd rather not risk getting baby vomit on my suit." Tom stated.
"But-"
"I'm joking, come here princess." Tom launched Ellie into the air before he caught her and tickled her causing her to giggle which never failed to cheer Tom up. "Right, you be a good girl for mummy, and I'd better get going. Oh and make sure your brothers tidy their cot. They had a crazy night and there's blankets and milk bottles everywhere." Tom joked. "You need more nipples." He stated as he carefully laid Ellie on Sam's chest in between the two breastfeeding individuals.
"Okay, I'll order some online." Sam said sarcastically.
"Right, I'll see you later." Tom bent down and pecked Sam on the lips before he buttoned up his blazer.
"Good luck." Sam smiled.
"Thank you." Tom called before he shut the door behind him.

"Mr Kent." Zoe called down the corridor where he and a few other candidates were sitting on chairs waiting for their interview.
"Yep." Tom rubbed his hands together nervously before he made his way after his boss. He sat down at a large table, with six people including Guy Self, Zoe and Charlie and three members of the board sitting opposite him. The room was eerily silent as Tom waited for the questions to begin, but he remained sitting upright and put on a confident look because her didn't want to appear weak for a job that required a lot of independence.

"Okay, so first of all Tom, tell us about yourself." Zoe ordered clinically - they had both agreed to pretended that they barely knew each other for the sake of impartiality because Guy was there to observe, and Zoe wanted everything to appear above water.

"Well...

"And Tom, we see that you're currently a paediatric registrar, but before hand you haven't had any experience with other children, or more importantly newborns who could require neonatal care. We had 45 people apply for this job, why should we hire you over someone who had had rotations in a neonatal intensive care unit?" Zoe asked clinically, and internally Tom was jumping for joy as he knew that the question had been tailored for him.

"Well, you've probably heard in the news about octuplets, and I'm their dad." Tom stated bluntly, causing all of the adults except Zoe to appear shocked. "Our oldest spent 7 weeks in NICU, and our youngest spent 12 weeks in NICU. Me and my wife were vital parts of their care plans, so I feel that I have learnt a lot from the experience first hand, which is why I would be more suitable than other candidates because I have seen eight cases from conception, through pregnancy, to them growing up, rather than just dealing with infants case by case for a matter of hours - NICU and paeds are often back logged in this hospital, so if we were to have patients in the ED in need of care, I would be able to take charge of their care plan, rather than having to transfer them to another hospital which could possibly jeopardise their care." Tom explained confidently as he made eye contact with the interviewers.

"Okay. What do you think the challenges will be as a new consultant?" Guy asked.
"I believe that stepping up to a much larger work load will certainly be challenging at first, however I can easily adapt to change, and I am willing to put in 100% effort to ensure that none of my patients would suffer as a result of my promotion." Tom stated.

"And how would you improve the relationship between doctors and nurses in the ED because in today's day and age, we appear to have a clear hierarchy within roles in the unit." Charlie asked.
"Well, I don't believe in a hierarchy. The fact is is that if there were to be a nurse off sick, the ED would struggle just as much as we would if a doctor is off, if not more so, because every single member of the team is needed. Without a strong team, you cannot provide the best care for your patients, which is why it is vital that there is strong relationship between doctors and nurses. And I would improve that relationship by ensuring that everyone is treated equally, no matter what their pay or role." Tom stated.

"As consultant, you'd have authority over the registrars in the ED. Isn't your wife a registrar in the ED?" Guy asked and Tom felt a lump in his throat form.
"Yes, she is." Tom replied confidently.
"And what would you do, if your wife made a mistake or an error? Would you be able to punish or sanction her like you would another registrar?" Guy asked.
"I... Wouldn't trust myself to remain impartial, so I would pass the decision to Ms Hanna as clinical lead to ensure that she was dealt with fairly." Tom replied slowly.
"And you're certain that you would be able to hand over the decision, even if it could result in the loss of her job?" Guy queried.
"Yes. If she did something wrong, I wouldn't want there to be a weak link on the ward, whether I'm related or not." Tom stated, though he knew perfectly well if Sam made a mistake, he would cover for her. And in truth, Zoe knew that too, though Mr Self seemed convinced and that was what mattered to Tom.

"Very well. Thank you for your time, you're welcome to wait in the corridor for the decision later this afternoon." Guy stated.
"Thank you." Tom forced a smile before he escaped the room - he had never felt so claustrophobic in his life, despite the fact that the room was quite large.

Tom had been sitting on the chairs in the corridor, waiting for what seemed like forever, when it had only been an hour, with the other candidates, when Fletch came with two cups from the cafe.
"I thought you could do with a coffee mate." Fletch stated as he handed Tom one of the containers.
"Thanks." Tom smiled as he stood up, and they walked along the corridor and leant over the barrier looking down in reception to get away from the other candidates who were all obviously in it for themselves, and none of them looked friendly.
"So how'd the interview go?" He queried.
"Um... The questions were a bit more personal than I thought they'd be." Tom admitted. "Mr Self asked if I'd be able to punish Sam if she did something wrong because I'd have power over my wife."
"And what did you say?" Fletch queried curiously.
"I said I'd hand the decision over to Zoe, I wouldn't be able to be impartial." Tom stated.
"Good answer." Fletch said reassuringly.
"Maybe but I don't think I've got the job." Tom admitted.
"Why not?"
"Have you seen the other candidates? They didn't even bat an eyelid and I was a nervous wreck. Besides, I asked Zoe last week, she said she's seen the other candidates files, and most of them have been consultants before. I haven't. They're obviously going to prefer someone with experience over me." Tom stated. "Y'know what, I might as well just go home to Sam and the kids, at least then I can be somewhat helpful." Tom stated but Fletch stood in his way of the staircase.

"No, Tom. Look if you haven't got the job, at least accept it like a man. What's Guy going to think if you don't even stick around the for the verdict? He's going to think you're a coward." Fletch stated. "Just go and sit down." He ordered and Tom sighed before he went and sat down next to the other candidates once more, who gave him dirty looks as they had obviously caught on that Tom was an inside candidate as he knew the nurse.

4:30pm
Tom was absolutely knackered and he wanted nothing more than to go home and snuggled up in his bed with his children - they sometimes co-slept with some of them, and tonight that would be needed. But he wanted to stay for the end result, and finally, Zoe came out of the meeting room.
"Could we see Mr Read, Mr Clark, and Ms Leeson please." Zoe demanded as she held the office door open. There were twelve people in the corridor in total, and Tom could tell that they were beginning to tell people whether they got the job or not, he just had a little longer to wait. Three people got up and strode into the room with their heads held high, whilst Tom began touching each of his fingers to his thumb to occupy his time.

4:45pm
Tom had watched each and every one of the nine people's faces as they came out of the room, and none looked overjoyed to say the least. There was just him and a woman left on the chairs when Zoe came out.
"Can you two come in please?" She asked and the two eagerly got up and entered the meeting room. They stood by the table, no daring to sit because if they hadn't gotten the job, they wanted to exit as soon as possible. "Now you both gave brilliant interviews, and I would be delighted to have both of you on our team. But we don't have the budget. And so, we'd like to offer the job of Paediatric Specialist Consultant for the ED to Mr Kent." Zoe stated and Tom's face lit up like a child on christmas morning. "And as for you Ms Goodall, we'd like to offer you another position, which would be paediatric specialist registrar in the ED." Zoe stated, as that would be Tom's old job. "Now, you can have some time to think about it, but-"

"No, no. I'll take it." She said eagerly.
"Well then, I suppose a bottle of champagne is in order." Guy smiled as he picked up the green bottle with gold wrappings off of the table that was next to several empty champagne flutes.
"Um, I'd love to but I really should be getting home to my wife and kids, and I'm driving so..." Tom trailed off.
"Go on." Zoe said kindly. "And don't be late on Monday!" She shouted as Tom left the room.

Sam was sitting on the living room floor with the three baby boys in her lap, and the five girls all either leaning against Sam's legs to keep them sitting up or in their carrier seats, whilst Sam read a book to them. She had her phone on loud right next to her and had been waiting for news for ages, when she heard the front door open. Within seconds, Tom bounded into the living room with a bag from the Chinese takeaway and he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"I got the job!" Tom announced.
"Oh well done! I told you not to worry." Sam smiled. "And I would get up for a hug but..." She trailed off as she gestured the babies.
"Aw, are you reading to them?" Tom smiled back as he placed the bag on the coffee table.
"Yeah but we've just finished the book." Sam stated.
"Well I hope you haven't done anything for dinner because we're having Chinese." He stated as he began to lift the babies and sat them in a row on the sofa, leaning against the back of it to give them support. Once all eight of them were sitting on the three seater sofa, Sam and Tom sat on the floor besides them and began eating their dinner.

"I'm so proud of you. Well done." Sam said sincerely.
"Thanks, and hey, I've got my own office, so we can bring these lot to work sometimes when I've got to catch up on paperwork." Tom stated.
"Mm, I'm sure you'll get loads of work done with these lot to help you." Sam said sarcastically.
"I don't suppose they could have a tiny bit of prawn cracker to celebrate could they?" Tom queried.
"No. No solid food yet, and when they do, it'll be puréed fruit and things like that. Besides, if you put it on their tongue, they'd probably be frightened by the crackling." Sam joked and Tom smirked.

"True." Tom agreed. "So what have you been up to today?" He queried.
"Um, same old same old. Oh and Summer threw up one of her feeds, but I think she was just sucking too fast."
"That's what he said." Tom remarked.
"Tom!" Sam shrieked. "Don't say that in front of them!"
"What? They don't know what it means, look at them they're laughing and smiling." Tom stated and he was right as all eight of them were either giggling or giving a gummy smile. "And besides, you shouldn't be calling me the T word, it's daddy." Tom stated.
"Fine, daddy. Don't say things like that in front of them." Sam said sternly.
"Okay, I'll cover their ears next time. Oh wait, I'd need 16 hands to do that." Tom said sarcastically.

"Look, I was going to offer you this to cheer you up if you didn't get the job, but... Once we've put them to bed, as long as it's in the dark, we can have a bath together." Sam offered slowly. "And... It can go a bit further too when we get into bed." She added suggestively.
"You sure you're ready?" He queried.
"Mmhmm." Sam nodded. "Look I know my body isn't back to normal, but I'm getting there." Sam admitted.
"I know, and you're wearing your jeans that you wore before you were pregnant so you can't be far off what you were before. If I'm honest, with clothes on, you look exactly the same as you did before you were pregnant. And as I've told you before, I'm not with you for your looks, I'm with you for your money." Tom joked.
"Ooh, you do know how to charm a girl." Sam smirked.

After taking a while to settle, all eight babies were getting off to sleep and the bath was running warm soapy water in the ensuite.
"If we leave the blinds down, the lights off and the bathroom door open, is that dark enough for you?" Tom asked kindly and quietly as he began to strip. It was dark outside, but they were keeping a night light on in the bedroom near the cots, so they could see where they were going.
"Yeah." Sam said timidly as she began by pulling her leggings and underwear down - she was far more comfortable with her bottom half than her upper half. Tom laid down in the bubbly hot water and once Sam had undressed her saw her saggy stomach with stretch marks.

He pulled her on top of him, until she had her face buried in his chest and her head tucked under his chin.
"This is nice." Tom smiled as he slowly rubbed his hands up and down Sam's back under the water."
"Mm." Sam smiled as she smoothed her hands from his chest downwards and began teasing him.
"And that is even nicer." Tom smirked.
"Are you sure they're not going to know what's going on?"
"Of course they're not. Right now they don't know the different between a boy and a girl, let alone what we're going to do." Tom stated. "We can do it under the cover if it'll make you feel better. In fact, it's pretty cold now that I've turned the heating off so I'd rather do it under the duvet." Tom offered and he felt Sam melt into his embrace even further. "Wow, have you actually shaved your legs?" Tom remarked as he stroked his hand over her bum and down her thigh.

"No need to be patronising." Sam squinted her eyes at him. "It's winter, the only person that sees my legs is you." Sam stated.
"Oh so you don't care what I think of your legs?" Tom raised his eyebrows.
"C'mon we've both seen each other at our worst, it doesn't matter." Sam stated.
"When have I been at my worst?"
"When you were completely trollied when you came in one night before we were married, and you tried to force me into having sex with you because you were drunk." Sam stated sternly.
"Oh yeah... I ended up spending the rest of that week sleeping on the sofa." Tom remembered the after effects but not the actual night. "Sorry about that by the way." He smirked. "Hang on, if you're going along the lines of not caring what I think of you, then why have you been so shy about your body for months?" He protested.

"Well I've realised that I should be happy in my own body now, that's why I thought we could spend the night together." Sam stated.
"So from now on, you're not going to be shy anymore?"
"Pft, me? Shy? I think you've got the wrong woman." Sam smirked.
"Woman? You're having a laugh aren't you tomboy?" Tom joked.
"Um, I have two things which your hands are on that prove I'm a woman." Sam argued as Tom grasped her chest.
"These perfectly rounded breasts could be implants." Tom stated clinically.
"I don't have male genitalia." Sam stated.
"You could've had surgery to change that." Tom stated.
"I've had kids. Eight of them." Sam stated.
"Yeah, I'd say that proves you're a woman." Tom nodded.

"Great, so can we get out now because the water's getting cold and I-"
"Hate cold baths." Tom interrupted. "I know." He stated.
"Listen, make sure you go easy on me." Sam said awkwardly.
"I will, I promise." Tom kissed Sam on the lips, then he leant forward and pulled the plug out. "And I would get out so that I could wrap a towel around you romantically, but there's a big lump on me." Tom joked as Sam slowly got out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself.

"Y'know, I was going to do that to you, but thanks to that comment, I'm going to use your towel for my hair." Sam stated as she wrapped one towel around her body, and then wrapped the other towel in a turban on her head to keep her hair from dripping everywhere.
"Sam!" Tom protested.
"I'll be in the bedroom where you're ready." Sam smiled before she left the dark room. Tom huffed before he stepped onto the bath mat, and began drying himself with the tiny hand towel.

After five minutes, Tom entered the bedroom naked, where Sam was lying on the bed under the duvet, settling Ellie. Because she had been ill, Ellie had been temporarily put in a cot bed with three sides, right next to Sam's side of the bed, and Sam was holding the baby's limp hand as the infant drifted off into the land of dreams.
"I know I said they won't know what we're doing, but do you want to pull up the fourth side just in case?" Tom suggested because the cot as literally touching their mattress and he felt the bars would give them a little more privacy. Sam nodded as she pulled up the fourth side and clicked it into position.

He noticed a condom on his bedside table and smiled.
"Have you even started having your periods since the birth?" Tom asked curiously.
"No, but I don't want to take any chances." Sam admitted.
"Alright then, let the gentle magic begin." He winked as he grabbed the condom and slipped under the duvet with his naked wife.

Thanks for reading, please review :)