Friday 27th February 2015
Sam and Tom were sat in a waiting room on the maternity ward, just a floor above their workplace, as they waited for their first antenatal appointment for twelve weeks gestation.
"So you we're definitely going to tell everyone after this, yeah?"
"Yeah. I think we've kept it a secret for long enough." Sam nodded. She had become paranoid at work that people could tell because of her expanding figure. And so whenever she needed something from a top shelf, Fletch or Tom always helped her out because she didn't want her scrub shirt to come up. However, her bump had only just began to look like a bump, rather than excess weight on her abdomen in the recent week or two.
"How do you want to tell them?" He asked curiously as he placed a hand on her thigh to keep her relaxed for her appointment that he knew she was slightly nervous for.
"At the end of the shift in the staff room. That way, they'll have the weekend to get used to the news and then they won't treat me any differently." Sam replied confidently - she had thoroughly thought it through. "But I want you to say it, not me." She added.
"Yeah, I want me to say it too." Tom smiled and and sam couldn't help but smirk. "Is there anything in particular that you want me to say?"
"Don't say that I'm 12 weeks, I want to see how far people think I'm gone."
"Okay." He nodded. "You looking forward to tomorrow?" He asked as he remembered their plan to go to London for the day.
"I'm looking forward to getting this over and done with so that I can go to the toilet." Sam stared as she uncrossed her legs, and then recrossed them the other way around.
"So you don't feel sick at all?" Tom queried as she had been nauseous, every morning for weeks. But fortunately, it had appeared to have stopped on the morning of her first scan.
"No, I feel fine." Sam smiled.
"Mrs Kent? I'm Sandra and I'll be your midwife for today. If you'd like to follow me please." A middle aged woman in pale blue scrubs smiled before Sam and Tom followed her to a small consult room.
After extensive questions about Sam, and any family history that she could give - which wasn't much - she had gotten onto the examination bed, and Tom sat besides her as they prepared to see their baby on ultrasound for the first time. It had taken a lot of will power from Sam not to give herself an ultrasound at work, but because none of her colleagues knew that she was pregnant except for Fletch and Zoe, she had decided that it was too risky in case she was caught.
"Okay, can you roll your top up for me please?" Sandra asked. Slowly, Sam unzipped her dark blue hoodie, and then rolled up her white vest top revealing her perfectly rounded tiny bump of flawless, clear skin without any sign of a single stretch mark - not yet anyway. "And just tuck this tissue in your trousers to keep them clean. Lovely. Now this might be a bit cold." She warned before she gently placed the transducer covered in a lubricant on Sam's abdomen. "Wow, that's a really clear picture." She said reassuringly as she kept the probe still, and looked at the screen before she turned it at an angle so that Sam and Tom could see it. "Right, this is the amniotic sac, and-"
"We know, we're both doctors." Sam stated softly as she couldn't take her eyes off of the screen.
"Oi right. Do you work in this hospital?" She asked curiously. She waited for answer but Sam seemed mesmerised by the screen where she could see the couple of pixels that were flickering inside of her baby, that she knew was her baby's beating heart.
"We work down in the ED." Tom replied.
"Oh right. That must be a stressful job."
"It's more... Exciting, than stressful." Tom replied and he couldn't help but smile as Sam was still staring at the screen. Unfortunately, it was too early to determine gender because the genitals would be swollen from Sam's hormones but she still couldn't stop looking at the image of her baby. "It's amazing, isn't it?" Tom said softly as he took Sam's hand in hers. "Wow, you're not speechless, are you?" He joked.
"No I just, don't know what to say." Sam admitted.
"So you're speechless." Tom concluded.
"Would you like a copy of the scan?" Sandra asked quietly.
"Yeah, two please." Tom replied as he wanted to have a back up image of something that he would never see again - his first child's scan.
"Okay, I'll get that sorted for you."
"Zoe, what's all this about? We wanna go home, it's Friday night." Fletch moaned as the entire ED staff had gathered in the staff room for a meeting.
"Oi, don't be so rude. And it's only gonna be quick so I'm going to hand over to Sam and Tom." Zoe stated and everyone turned around to face the couple, leaving Fletch to feel regretful for moaning as he realised what they were staying behind for.
"Okay um, well I don't want to keep you waiting, so I'm just going to get to the point." Tom began. "My beautiful wife is pregnant." He announced which caused Sam to blush and shy away so he put his arms around her from behind and kept her facing the group.
"That's so exciting!" Robyn squealed.
"Congratulations." Tess smiled.
"How far gone are you?" Robyn demanded happily.
"How far do you think I am?" Sam asked curiously as she unzipped her hoodie to show her tight white vest top. "And I promise I won't get upset, I just want to know what you think, be honest." She added.
"Um... Eight weeks?" Robyn guessed.
"Yeah I'd say eight weeks." Rita smiled.
"Nah, I'd say she's full term, look at her." Max joked which caused Sam to throw a cushion from the sofa at him which he caught.
"I'm 12 weeks." Sam stated.
"Already? Wow, you're small for 12 weeks Sam." Dixie stated.
"Thanks." Sam said sheepishly.
"Congratulations!" Robyn smiled as she went to hug Sam but Sam ducked her head under Tom's chin, turned around and buried her head in his chest as she grimaced at the thought of being hugged to death.
"Sorry, she's not a hug kind of person." Tom chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Sam and rubbed her back.
"Right c'mon you lot, let's go and wet the baby's head." Fletch joked.
"Er, we're going up to London tomorrow and we aren't drinking anyway so we'll give it a miss." Tom stated and Sam silently let out a sigh of relief as she turned around and slipped out of Tom's hold.
"Alright, well have a good weekend yeah?" Fletch said as he pulled his coat on and everyone began to leave the crowded room.
"Yeah, we will do." Tom smiled. "Oh um, that reminds me, would you be able to pop around our place tomorrow during the day and let Shadow out for a wee?"
"Yeah sure. No problem." Fletch nodded.
"Brilliant. C'mon then sleepy head, I think someone needs an early night." Tom said as he put his arm around Sam's shoulder and then began to leave the building.
"What do you want for dinner?" Tom asked as Sam went straight through to the living room and planked herself down on the sofa.
"Um... Just something small please."
"Hey." Tom said softly as he squatted down in front of her so that she was looking down at him. "You're eating for two now and you can't have eaten the amount of calories that you should've today."
"I'm not really hungry to be honest, I just feel sluggish." Sam muttered before she ran her hands over her face and tucked her hair behind her ears.
"Loss of appetite?" He queried and Sam slowly nodded. "Alright, how about you tell me what meal you would kill for right now, have a little nap, and by the time you wake up, I'll have cooked it for us. Yeah?" He suggested.
"Honestly Tom, you don't have to-"
"No but I want to." Tom said clearly. "You're the one who's carrying our baby, so I am here for you. Whatever you want, I'll do my best to make you happy okay? So just tell me what you really want to eat."
"Um... Please, I'd just be happy with a bowl of cereals later on, and then I'll probably pig out tomorrow when we go to London." Sam stated.
"Shadow, tell Sam that she needs to eat." Tom ordered and the dog came bounding in before she curled up next to Sam on the sofa.
"Tom please. Just... I really don't want to eat, and you don't understand how I'm feeling so you can't just try and make me eat. I know you're only trying to be nice to me but I'm not hungry." Sam explained.
"Okay. Alright, and I'll never try to make you eat, I'm just being persuasive." Tom said sheepishly before Sam yawned. "Wow, pregnancy is really wearing you out isn't it?" He said softly as he placed his hands on her thighs. "Why don't we postpone the trip to London? It doesn't matter and we can go in a couple of weeks."
"No, I'm looking forward to it. I'll be fine if I have an early night tonight."
8pm
Tom was sitting by himself, watching the TV after he had tucked Sam into bed two hours ago. Only he was sure that he had heard something in the kitchen, before Sam came and sat next to him on the sofa with a bowl of museli. And as per usual, Shadow had been in bed with Sam, and the dog had followed her and sat next to her on the sofa.
"That dog doesn't stop following you." Tom joked quietly, whilst Sam began eating. "You feeling any better?"
"Yes, thanks. But I'm only going to eat this and then I'm gonna go back to bed." She admitted.
"Okay, I'll come with you; I want to be fully rested for our day out tomorrow."
"I'm sorry if I'm grumpy or snappy with you. I only realise what I've done or said, after it's happened." Sam admitted.
"Don't be sorry. Your hormones are a complete mess at the moment. And even if there wasn't the hormone problem, I'd still accept you being moody because your body is under so much stress right now, and I can't pretend to understand what you're going through. But I can certainly try to make your life as easy as possible."
"And thank you for being there for me. Even little things like offering to make dinner for me, I do appreciate it."
"Isn't this the part of our emotional conversation where you start crying on my shoulder?" Tom joked.
"I haven't cried in my pregnancy so far, and I'm not going to cry throughout my entire pregnancy." Sam said sternly.
"Yeah right." Tom laughed.
"I won't! From conception to birth, I won't cry." She repeated.
"We'll see." Tom smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder. Slowly, Sam finished her bowl of museli, before the pair of them went and got into bed. And immediately after they had settled down, Shadow came and curled up between Sam and Tom's feet at the bottoms of the bed, as usual.
Coming up: Sam and Tom go to London together to get some shopping done.
Thanks for reading, please review :)