"I no sorry cause it no my fault!" Three year old Charlie screamed at his dad as he had had an accident in his pants, and it wasn't a wee.

"Charlie, calm down." Tom ordered exasperatingly.
"No you tell me off but I do nuffin wrong!" He shouted by which point Sam had come into the room.
"Charlie, your sisters are asleep." Sam snapped and it was then that Charlie had had enough and he began crying and running away. He had started in his bedroom, and he had only gotten to the top of the stairs when he felt two hands under his arms and they picked him up. "Look I'm sorry I snapped at you, but you're not behaving very well today are you?" Sam said as she carefully carried him to his bedroom to clean him up. "Daddy's not mad at you for having an accident, these things happen." Sam said softly as she began to get him out another pair of pyjama bottoms. Oddly, Charlie was the only octuplet who was happy for his parent of the opposite gender to see them naked - the girls only let Sam change and bathe them and Aaron and Jonny only let Tom change and bathe them.
"But you no understand... I... I problem no fault." Was all Sam could make out as the tears rolled down his reddened cheeks.

"Accidents aren't anyone's fault Charlie, me and daddy know that." Sam said softly as she began to changed him but he was old enough to wipe himself clean so she handed him the wipes and he did so slowly and put the dirty ones in the bins. And it was only then that after months of him having accidents since he had come out of nappies, that she realised what the problem might be. "Tell you what, how about me and you go and see Mr Solis tomorrow eh? Because I think you're due a check up." Sam lied.

"Just me and you?" He questioned as he rubbed his eyes dry with his elbow.
"Just me and you." Sam nodded. She finished cleaning Charlie and then kissed him goodnight, before she went to join Tom in their bed.

After changing into her pyjamas and brushing her teeth, Sam slipped into bed and glanced at her tensed husband.
"I know you haven't shouted at him, but he's picking up on your anger." Sam stated.
"I know... It's just really annoying and frustrating." Tom sighed. "Aaron and Jonny are fine, but he just can't do it."
"Listen, I think I know why Charlie's having problems." Sam admitted and Tom looked at her and prompted for her to continue. "Well Charlie had the spina bifida corrective sugery, and he hadn't had any further problems, but Mr Solis said that the operation wouldn't fix any underlying problems such as bladder or bowel incontinence. Maybe he's got bowel incontinence." Sam aired aloud.
"Why didn't I think of that?!" Tom said angrily as he kicked the footboard of the bed.

"Calm down Tom. I've only just thought of it myself." Sam said reassuringly. "Look, I said to him that I'm going to take him to see Mr Solis tomorrow, and he kind of made it clear that he only wanted me with him." Sam explained.
"Of course, my son hates me." Tom concluded.
"What is the matter with you today?"
"Nothing!"
"Yes it is, you're snappy and moody and quite frankly I don't understand why." Sam argued.
"Well of course you wouldn't because all you think about is yourself." Tom snapped.
"Y'know what, I don't understand you anymore. Why are you being like this?"
"Being like what? You're the one who snapped at Charlie just now. Let me guess, you're on your period so that excuses your behaviour as per usual." Tom moaned.

"I give up." Sam mumbled to herself as she slid out of bed. He had had mood swings before and she knew it was no use in trying to argue with him.
"Where are you going?" Tom demanded.
"To sleep in Charlie's bed because then I'll know I'm in the same bed as someone who loves me." Sam replied and she had to quickly wipe away a tear that had escaped her eye. "And for the record, I'm not on my period, I'm late." Sam snapped before she left the room leaving Tom to wonder whether she was being truthful, or whether she just wanted him to worry...

"Bella." Ellie whispered as she nudged her sisters shoulder. Bella turned around to see her sister standing there in her pyjamas looking upset. "Why mummy and daddy shouting?" She asked and her bottom lip quivered as she clutched her teddy bear tightly in her hand for comfort.
"I don't know." Bella admitted. "Come here." She whispered and Ellie clambered into her sister's bed and under the duvet.
"What if it my fault?" Ellie mumbled.
"Go to sleep." Bella ordered sleepily and reluctantly, Ellie settled down, but both had thoughts running wildly through their mind as to why their parents were fighting.

Sunday 8am
It was the next day and Fletch and Robyn were in the ED staffroom looking after Ellie, Bella, Megan, Summer, Leah, Jonny and Aaron whilst Sam had taken Charlie to see Mr Solis. She had left Tom in bed and left the house early to avoid having to speak to him as she didn't know why her marriage was falling apart.
"Hello Charlie." Mr Solis smiled as Sam lifted him up onto the patient's bed, and then Sam sat on the chair besides him.
"Hello." The boy replied simply.
"So, what can I do for you?" He queried.
"Um, Charlie's had some accidents with potty training, I mean he's very good at telling us when he needs a wee, but he has problems with bowel movements and I was thinking that because of the spina bifida, maybe it's bowel incontinence." Sam explained.
"Right. Well, it's certainly possible." Mr Solis nodded. "Now I'm afraid to be diagnosed, I will need to give an internal exam, and possibly an ultrasound to see if it is the sphincter muscles in his anal passage that are weakened."

Charlie glanced worriedly at Sam, but she gave a reassuring smile in return.
"Charlie, we think you might have a problem around your bum which is what's causing your accidents." Sam said softly. "But you need to let Mr Solis give you a quick examination otherwise he can't treat you."
"But you always say my body is mine and no one except me, you or daddy is allowed to see it and that I should never let anyone touch me like that." Charlie whined as he stood up on the bed and Sam had to pick him up before he fell off of it.
"Yes, but Mr Solis is a doctor, just like me and daddy, and he wants to help you. I promise, Mr Solis is allowed to and I can wait outside if you want."
"No, I want you." Charlie pleaded.
"Okay, okay. I'll stay with you." Sam smiled.

Tom burst into the ED staffroom where Zoe, Robyn and Fletch were playing with his children, but Sam and Charlie were no where in sight.
"You alright Tom?" Fletch asked with a hint of concern. He had merely woken up to an empty house and the family minivan had gone to he had jumped into his car and raced to the hospital.
"Yeah, yeah." Tom replied as he caught his breath back - he had thought she had left him for good. But the last two words that Sam had said to him the previous night were still playing on his mind - 'I'm late'.
"Sam's just taken Charlie to Mr Solis." Fletch explained.
"Right." Tom nodded. "And is Sam alright? Has she said anything?"
"About?" Robyn asked curiously.

"Nothing in particular." Tom replied briefly as he sat down on the carpet to play with Jonny.

Sam carried Charlie out of the hospital room as he was worried sick. He had just been told that he needed an operation to fix him and he didn't like the sound of it one bit. So, he had his head buried under his mother's chin, and his arms wrapped around her neck as she carried him down to the ED staffroom.
"You were a really good boy Charlie, I'm really proud of you." Sam said softly as she placed him down on the floor, only she rolled her eyes once she had realised that Tom was sitting on the sofa.
"Can we have a word?" Tom asked.
"I'm listening." Sam said bluntly and it didn't take a genius to pick up on the tension between them.
"In private?"
"Well what can't you say in front of these lot?" Sam frowned.
"Don't do this." Tom pleaded quietly.

"Fine." Sam muttered. "Fletch, are you alright to stay here for a little longer?" Sam asked.
"Yeah sure." He nodded so Sam left the room with Tom in tow. He didn't know where they were going until she entered a store room where he expected that they were going to talk in private, only she didn't stop - she merely grabbed a pregnancy test from the shelf, put it in her pocket and then headed to the toilets where Tom followed her.

"I'm pretty sure this is the ladies toilets." Sam remarked as she paused outside a cubicle.
"Sam, I need to know." Tom stated.
"What, so that you can book me a termination appointment?" Sam grumbled as she couldn't even bare to make eye contact with him.
"No of course not." Tom protested as Sam entered the cubicle. It seemed like forever whilst he stood outside the cubicle, hoping that he wouldn't get caught, and he listened tentatively as Sam urinated on the stick, and then came out and washed her hands. "Well?"
"It'll take a few minutes if you don't remember from last time." Sam stated as she dried her hands. She then took the test out of her pocket, took a deep breath and looked at it. "Negative." She announced quietly and Tom was sure he saw a hint of relief in her face. "Go on, you can go now. You've got what you wanted."

"What? Look Sam, I need to apologise I don't know why I was like that last night I just... Please, can we start over?" He begged and it took several minutes whilst he watched his wife contemplate her answer carefully.
"I'll think about it." Sam stated quietly, before she dumped the test in the bin and left the room.

Tom had been at home for ages, waiting for his wife and children to come home because he didn't know where they were - maybe they'd gone shopping or to the park, but he couldn't be sure. But finally, he heard the front door open and his kids came bursting in the front door.
"Right, can you lot go to the play room and I'll be in there in a minute." Sam ordered and the kids happily obeyed, but Charlie slowly toddled behind as he was still concerned about his upcoming operation. Eventually, it was just Sam and Tom left in the hallway, ready to talk.

"Sam-"
"No, let me speak." Sam ordered. "I saw a married couple in the ED today, and Connie diagnosed the man with something so I think I know what's wrong with us - or rather, what's wrong with you. And I know that you're going to deny it, because that's one of the symptoms. As well as withdrawal, aggression, violence, mood swings... It's called irritable man syndrome, and not a lot of people know about it. It's basically the male version of menopause and I think your case has been brought on by stress, and your testosterone levels are probably really low. The stress of our jobs and bringing these lot up is probably what's making me late too." Sam explained. "Look, I've got you these hormone replacement tablets that you can take one in the morning and one at night." Sam stated as she handed him a small brown bottle filled with pills. "But if I'm wrong and these tablets don't make you better, then I don't know what's going to happen with us Tom, because I can't live like this and I can't let the kids grow up in an environment like this." She admitted and she couldn't help but let tears pool in her eyes. "Say something." She pleaded as she watched him evaluate the bottle in his hands.

Tom opened the bottle and swallowed a tablet dry before he closed the bottle and put it in his pocket. When Tom finally looked up, he saw a tear escape from Sam's eye and roll down her cheek. But before it dripped off of her face, Tom brushed his thumb across her skin and wiped it away.
"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry." He apologised as he pulled Sam into a hug and soothingly rubbed his hand up and down her back. They remained holding each other for several minutes until Sam felt tugging at her trousers. Both Sam and Tom pulled apart and looked down to see Charlie and they both knew what the look on his face meant.
"One second." Sam said before she poked her head around the playroom where the kids were happily playing with each other. "Guys, just stay in here okay, I'm going to put dinner on."
"Yes mummy." Sam received lots of so she went back out into the hallway. "Right, Tom come with me, you come as well because we need to have a talk." Sam said as she held Charlie's hand and walked up the stairs with him and Tom behind them. Sam changed Charlie's clothes and because of the recent diagnosis, he had to wear nappies once again - but he still had to tell Sam or Tom when he needed a wee - it was only for accidents until his surgery. "Right," Sam began as she sat Charlie down on his bed and Sam and Tom squatted down in front of him. "Charlie, your operation is not next week, but the week after on Monday, and I've taken the whole week off of work to look after you okay." Sam smiled and the boy timidly nodded. "I've already checked but daddy can't get time off of work but he can still see you during his breaks. And basically what's going to happen, is I'll take you to the hospital on Monday morning, you'll be admitted and then you'll have a little nap. And once you wake up, you'll have had the operation and you should hopefully have control over when you poo, so there won't be as many accidents. You'll need to stay in hospital for a night or two and get plenty of rest, but there's nothing to worry about." Sam explained for the benefit of both of them.

"Will it hurt?" Charlie asked.
"You might have a little bit of pain when you wake up, but we can get you some medicine to make you feel better right away." Sam replied.
"Are you two fighting becuase of me?" Charlie asked.
"What? No, of course not. Why would you think that?" Tom asked.
"Because you were shouting last night and then mummy came and slept in my bed." Charlie replied innocently.
"Look me and daddy just had a little argument, but I wanted to come and sleep with you and make sure you were okay. We're fine now, aren't we daddy?"
"Yeah, we love each other so much." Tom smiled as he leant forward and kissed Sam on the lips.
"Ew!" Charlie grimaced in disgust.
"Come here you little rascal." Tom smirked as he lifted Charlie up and balanced him on his hip. "Shall we go and cook dinner for mummy and your brothers and sisters?" He suggested.
"Okay." Charlie nodded so Sam and Tom began to make their way downstairs.

Sam was in the ensuite bathroom brushing her teeth when Tom entered and wrapped his arms around her.
"Y'know, I think that testosterone is having side effects because I'm as horny as hell." Tom stated quickly as he pushed his crotch against her bum and tucked his chin on her shoulder. Sam spat out her toothpaste and rinsed her mouth out before she turned around.
"Very funny." Sam said sarcastically.
"I'm being deadly serious!" Tom laughed. "And I really want to thank you because that irritable man syndrome adds up. I looked it up and it would explain a lot of things." He admitted. "Including why we've barely done anything in bed recently so when you're ready..." He hinted as he slid his hands around her and rested them on her bum.
"And what if I come on?" Sam remarked.
"You haven't." Tom protested.
"You don't know that." Sam said smugly.
"Sam, I'm not joking if you don't get in our bed now, then in going to carry you myself." Tom stated.
"And I'm not joking, if you don't stop going on about sex right now, I'm going to punch you into tomorrow." Sam threatened.

"Woah, okay now I get the point, you're not in the mood." Tom said as he quickly released his wife and put his hands up in mock surrender. "Just out of curiosity, how late are you?"
"Nine days, nearly ten." Sam admitted as they both went back into the bedroom.
"Jesus, you are stressed." Tom concluded.
"Tell me about it. But anyway, I've got not next week, but the week after off to look after Charlie so I'll get some time to relax then." Sam replied as she slid into bed.
"What operation are they actually doing then? On charlie?" Tom asked curiously.
"A sphincteroplasty." Sam stated.

"Ouch." Tom grimaced.
"Don't, because if he hears you saying that he'll get scared." Sam warned.
"Alright, nighty night." Tom whispered as he switched the light off and then wrapped his arms around Sam.
"Off." She warned.
"Are you sure you're not on your period now?" Tom smirked.
"Off." She repeated so Tom let go of her and laid on the mattress besides her. They had just settled down when she heard little footsteps.

"Mummy." She heard and she opened her eyes to see Ellie standing there twiddling her thumbs. "I need a wee." She whispered.
"Okay." Sam replied as she switched the bedside lamp on and went into the ensuite without closing the door properly. Ellie was the smallest of all of the octuplets, so now that they had moved on to use the grown up toilet, she preferred to have someone with her incase she fell in. Sam was leaning against the sink whilst Ellie sat on the toilet, when she heard her daughter gasp and she pointed at her mum.
"Mummy you're bleeding!" She squealed and Sam looked down at her grey pyjama bottoms to see a bright red stain between her legs. Within seconds Tom burst into the room but he let out a sigh of relief when he realised where the blood was as he thought by the squeal that it was something serious. "Daddy!" Ellie moaned as she used both hands to cover herself up.

"It's alright, I'm not looking at you Ellie." Tom stated as he glanced at Sam.
"Don't you dare say I told you so." Sam squinted her eyes at him.
"I won't." Tom smirked.
"Mummy you need a plaster." Ellie stated as she stood up off of the toilet onto the little foot stool and pulled her pyjama bottoms up.
"No, you need to wash your hands and then daddy's going to put you to bed." Sam replied firmly as the girl pushed the foot stool across to the sink and then got on it to wash her hands.
"Are you okay?" Ellie asked worriedly.
"I'm fine Ellie. Just had a little accident." Sam forced a smile as her daughter dried her hands on the towel.
"Right c'mon princess, let's go and tuck you into bed." Tom said as he guided Ellie out of the bathroom giving Sam some privacy to clean up.

Five minutes later, Tom returned to his bedroom where the lights were already off and Sam was tucked up in bed.
"You alright?" He asked kindly.
"Just dandy." Sam replied sarcastically and sleepily.
"Come here my beautiful hormonal wife." Tom joked halfheartedly as he pulled her on top of him so that they were chest to chest and she was resting her head on his neck.
"I am not hormonal. You are." Sam stated.
"Yeah well I might need a couple of days to get used to them because I feel like a teenage boy and I have an unusually strong urge to watch porn." He admitted quietly.
"Don't you dare, not in this house." Sam said sternly.
"I'm joking, I've got all the footage I need right on top of me." Tom stated seductivley.
"Will you just go to bed." Sam huffed.
"Yes your highness. But if I wake up with blood stains on my boxers I will not be happy." He smirked - and Sam rolled her eyes. Obviously the extra testosterone had been a shock to his system and it was making him rather hyper.

Thanks for reading, please review :)