Saturday 11th July 2015

"Happy birthday!" Tom slowly opened his eyes to see that Sam was holding a tray with two bacon sandwiches, one cup of coffee and one glass of water on. And she was balancing the tray on her 32 week bump.

"Thank you.'" Tom croaked as he slowly sat up and he then realised that there was a gift bag and a card on his bedside table. Sam sat down on the bed on her side with the tray in her lap, and then Shadow sat by her feet.

"There you go." She smiled as she handed him his bacon sandwich and coffee.

"Did you put-"

"Brown sauce in there? Yep and the bread is only warmed up, not toasted." Sam stated smugly.

"Mm, I'm impressed." Tom smirked before he took a bite into it. "Didn't you want some orange juice or a cup of tea?" He queried as he wondered why she was having a glass of water with her breakfast.

"It's too hot for tea, and I can't have orange juice because it'll affect how my prenatal vitamins are absorbed into my bloodstream." Sam explained.

"Okay. What time is it?"

"9am. So you'd better get a move on."

"Why? We haven't got work." Tom replied confusedly.

"No, but you've got somewhere to go. And Fletch is coming around here at 10am." Sam stated bluntly.

"For what?" Tom demanded.

"You'll see once you've opened your presents but finish your breakfast first." Sam ordered and so he shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth at once before he picked up the red envelope on his bedside table. He opened it and took out a birthday card, only two bits of paper fell out. He picked them up out of his lap to find that they were Manchester United tickets. "Kick off is at 3pm, Fletch is coming at 10am and the train is about 3 hours roughly. Then that leaves you two with two hours to spend in the pub before the match and then after the match, you can spend as much time as you want either celebrating, or drowning your sorrows - depending on the result." Sam explained.

"What? And you're staying here?" Tom asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna try some birthing positions and breathing exercises without you laughing at me." Sam smiled. "And I don't want you to worry about me or the baby; you are allowed to go out every now and then and have a drink or twenty. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that you have to look after me 24/7." Sam stated.

"Thank you." Tom leant across and pecked Sam on the cheek before she continued eating her breakfast - she hadn't shoved it in her mouth like he had because she knew that there would be repercussions of either nausea or indigestion.

"You're welcome. Now open your presents or you won't be ready by the time Fletch gets here." Sam ordered and Tom eagerly grabbed the red gift bag. "And before you comment, no I couldn't be bothered to wrap anything up." Sam stated bluntly.

"It's alright, you were just thinking of our baby's future weren't you? Saving paper." Tom joked as he took out the CD that he had asked for. He went through the small gifts and then he was about to get out of bed when Sam stopped him.

"Wait, there is one more present." Sam announced as she reached under the bed.

"That sounds ominous." Tom quipped before Sam launched a box at him. He turned it over to read 'baby sling' and he chuckled.

"I can just imagine you walking around the ED with him in a sling now." Sam smiled. "Hey, at least I got you a blue one. I could've gotten a pink one, or a little ducky one."

"Thank you. Although it's not just my present; you'll be using it too won't you?"

"Yeah, all the time when I go out in public." Sam replied sarcastically.

Sam was leaning on the wall in the hallway with Shadow sitting on her feet and Fletch was standing by the door as they waited for Tom to get ready.

"Try and touch my bump." Sam ordered.

"What?" Fletch replied confusedly.

"Just try it." Sam repeated. "But I hope you've got quick reflexes." She added and Fletch just assumed she was in a funny mood, so he put his hand out, but within a second Shadow began growling and tried to bite Fletch's hand.

"Woah! Jesus Christ she's violent." Fletch protested as he backed off from Sam. "You ought to be careful." He warned.

"I don't need to be, she's protecting me and the baby. Sometimes she won't even let Tom touch my bump." Sam remarked as she smoothed her hands over her abdomen. "And we think she's pregnant." Sam added.

"Correction: you think she's pregnant." Tom shouted from the bedroom.

"Stop earwigging." Sam moaned.

"What? You think Shadow is pregnant?" Fletch queried.

"Yeah. She got a little bit too friendly with another border collie in the park and when I looked up I saw them both stuck with their bums to each other until the other dog ran off and Shadow looked really vulnerable." Sam explained.

"So what? You're saying that she was raped?" Fletch smirked.

"No, I'm just saying that we might be having puppies." Sam smiled.

"Right. I'm ready." Tom announced.

"Hallelujah." Sam sighed sarcastically.

"Anyone would think you're tryin' to get rid of me." Tom joked as he pecked Sam on the lips. "Right, I'll see you later, and let me know if you want me to come back or-"

"Tom I just want the day to myself so I can relax, so get out of here!" Sam ordered as she opened the front door after removing her feet from underneath Shadow.

"She must be such a loving wife to live with." Fletch joked as the two men left and Sam closed the door behind them.

As much as Sam loved the care and attention that Tom gave her, sometimes he was a little to protective and so she had decided that whilst he was gone, she was going to go swimming to relieve some of the pressure on her back. And so she was stood by the swimming pool in a bandeau black bikini that she wore before she was pregnant. But she had had to extend the ties on her waist quite a bit and the top was very tight. Thankfully, despite it being a Saturday afternoon, the swimming pool was almost empty so she got in, swam for an hour and then got out - she didn't count lengths because she didn't want to know how little she could do compared to before she was pregnant so she just timed it. And then she got her toiletry bag and towel from her locker and she jumped in a shower which wasn't hard because they were all empty.

"You're already swimming in there, aren't you?" Sam said softly and it wasn't until a few moments later that she realised that she was talking to her bump. She felt slightly stupid, but at the same time it felt so natural as long as no one else was listening. She let the water from the shower fall down onto her bump as she smoothed her hands over her skin whilst she could feel her child within her womb, moving about - not kicking, but he was certainly squirming about. At 32 weeks, he probably didn't have a lot of room left to twist and turn but he certainly didn't rest for very long when he did stop moving, which always reassured Sam that everything was okay.

"I've really gotta stop driving soon." Sam sighed as she was driving herself home from the leisure centre when she had an idea. "Seeing as daddy's not here, how about we have Thai food? Because we both know that he hates it but you like it, don't you?" Sam smiled as she stopped at the traffic lights and she placed her hands on her bump through her hoodie. "Now, we can either drive to the takeaway, or we can be lazy, go straight home, and then order it by phone." Sam concluded as she began driving once more. "Oh what a shame, I've missed the turning. Now we're gonna have to go home and order it." Sam smiled to herself. She safely made her way home, let Shadow out for a quick wee in the garden and then sat down to order her takeaway food. "Right, now it's free delivery on orders over £15 so unfortunately, you're gonna have to give my stomach a little bit more room tonight because I'm going to have to order three dishes to get free delivery." Sam stated as she picked up her phone and the menu. She smiled as she felt her child shuffling about inside of her. Almost as though he was listening to his mother and he was moving out of the way of her stomach. She rung up the restaurant and the ordered the food, before she decided to check the football score as the match would've finished by then. She scrolled through on her phone until she read that Manchester United had won 3-1; Tom would be ecstatic.

9:15pm

Tom opened the front door quietly to find Shadow standing guard and as soon as she recognised one of her owners, she backed down and padded back into the living room. Tom wasn't sure if Sam would be asleep or not, so he was silent as he entered the living room where he found Sam fast asleep in the armchair with her head hanging in front of her at an awkward angle. He also saw the three empty takeaway boxes on the side and the bag from the Thai shop and he couldn't help but smile.

"Sam... Hey come on sleepy head. Come and get into bed, you'll get a bad neck sleeping like that." Tom said softly as Sam slowly opened her eyes and then she put her hand to the back of her neck and grimaced as she lifted it. "I told you." He smirked.

"What time is it?" Sam croaked.

"Just gone past nine." Tom replied. "Have a nice dinner did we?" He smiled as he pulled her to her feet and let her stretch her back out.

"Mm, I was gonna clear away but I must've fallen asleep." Sam moaned before she went to pick the containers up.

"Ah ah, I'll clear up in a minute, let's get you to bed."

"Tom it's your birthday." Sam stated.

"Yeah and you're pregnant and tired." Tom stated bluntly as he put his hands on her hips, turned her around and guided her to their bedroom. "It'll only take a few minutes to clear up, just get ready for bed." He smiled before he left the room.

Sam slowly got changed into a pair of shorts and her black sports bra before she brushed her teeth, washed her face and laid down on the bed.

"Where's Shadow?" Sam asked as Tom entered the room alone, minutes after she had gotten comfortable.

"Er she was curled up in her bed just now." Tom stated before he striped down to his boxers and he carefully got onto the mattress without moving Sam too much.

"Happy birthday you old git." Sam smiled as she snuggled her face into his bare chest.

"Thanks. Hang on, your hair smells like chlorine." Tom stated and Sam frowned.

"Still?" She moaned.

"Did you go swimming?" He asked curiously.

"Yep." Sam replied before she got comfortable again, and the two laid in a silence as they relaxed for the evening. "I started talking to him today." Sam admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah and I kinda like it." Sam shrugged.

"You hear that mate? It only took you 31 weeks to make her go soft." Tom chuckled as he put on of his hands on the bottom of her bump.

"Be careful, my breasts are hurting again." Sam warned, and so Tom released his grip on her slightly as they laid facing each other. "I'm gonna go to sleep now alright?" Sam yawned.

"Yep. Night night." Tom whispered as he kissed Sam on the lips, and then because she was in a sports bra, he kissed her bump too. Sam couldn't help but smile, before she closed her eyes and soon drifted off into a snooze.

Sunday 26th July 2015

Sam and Tom were sitting in the waiting room at their local vets, awaiting the results of Shadow's blood test for a pregnancy. Sam was sitting at 34 weeks pregnant with Shadow obediently sitting on her feet as per usual.

"If she is pregnant, I know you're gonna want to keep her puppies but realistically we need to talk about this. Because I've looked it up and border collies can have litters of 4-8 puppies and there are some dogs that have had litters of 14 puppies." Tom explained quietly.

"Why can't we have 14 puppies?" Sam moaned jokily.

"Because we live in a one bedroom apartment, we've got a baby on the way and one hyper active border collie is enough." Tom laughed.

"Well we've already agreed that we're moving a few months after the baby is born." Sam said innocently.

"Yes but dog pregnancies last 9 weeks, if Shadow is pregnant, she's only got 6 weeks left until she gives birth and you've still got six weeks until you give birth too."

"Well if you had to set a limit, how many puppies would you allow Shadow to keep?" Sam asked curiously.

"It depends because if I say one number and Shadow has one more than that number then I might change my mind." Tom replied as the door next to them opened.

"Shadow?" Sarah, the vet, announced.

"Yep." Tom nodded as he got up and he helped Sam to stand before they dragged Shadow into the consult room - the poor dog hated the vet's room because the only time she had been in there was when she had had injections as a puppy, or when she had a blood sample taken just twenty minutes ago.

"Ok, if you just want to lift her up onto the table please." Sarah requested and Sam was obviously incapable of doing so so Tom bent down and carefully lifted Shadow onto the black examination table. "Okay, Shadow's blood shows that she does have relaxin in her blood which means that she is in fact pregnant." She stated and Sam's face lit up.

"How many?" Sam demanded.

"Unfortunately, you won't know exactly how many until she's around 45-50 days pregnant where we will give her an X-ray and we can determine how many puppies she is carrying. However at the moment, if you've got the dates right and she is around 23 days pregnant then she's already a third of the way there." Sarah explained. "Now I've got you this, it's just a folder giving you information about how to help Shadow through her pregnancy, and how to whelp her when she gives birth. And if you intend to sell the puppies, there's some information about being a responsible seller in there too." Sarah explained as she handed Tom a folder filled with leaflets. "Now dogs can vary when they're pregnant they can go from really clingy to their owners one minute to very isolated the next and they'll just want to be by themselves so you need to make sure that you respect her choice as to whether she wants interaction or not. But I am a little concerned that Shadow is only eleven months old and having puppies this young could result in her rejecting the puppies because she might be too young to become a mother."

"She's not." Sam interrupted quickly. "I mean, she's not gonna be a bad mum, she's already protective of my baby so surely she'd be even more protective over her own puppies." Sam argued as she put her hands over her bump and Shadow didn't like being on the table so she went over and began licking Sam's bump through her tshirt, proving Sam's point clearly.

"Well that's something you don't see everyday." Sarah smiled. "And I'm not saying Shadow is a bad mum, I'm just saying maybe she's a little young. But why don't I give her an ultrasound and we can get a rough estimate of how many puppies she's going to have? And I must warn you that ultrasounds on dogs aren't very accurate because it's like multiples in humans, they can be hiding behind their siblings." She explained as she wheeled over the machine.

"Sshh, it's alright." Sam whispered softly as Shadow began whining.

"Come on girl, lie down." Tom ordered quietly and with Sam and Tom's coaxing, they managed to get a Shadow to lie down and then roll onto her side.

"Okay, just hold her still for me please." Sarah requested before she placed the lubricated probe onto Shadow's lower belly whilst Sam and Tom kept the dog calm. "Right, it doesn't look like a very big litter." Sarah announced. "There looks to be around... Remember I said that this is rough, but I'd say there's around three or maybe four puppies in there. There's definitely three but I think there may be one or even two hiding behind the front three." Sarah explained and Sam glanced at Tom as she wondered if five was within his number to keep the puppies rather than sell them. But he just rolled his eyes at her before Sarah put the machine away whilst Sam wiped Shadow's belly with a paper towel.

Sam was laid out across the three seater sofa with Shadow clumsily curled up on her chest and shoulders, whilst Tom sat on the carpet in front of them with his hand resting on Sam's bump.

"Right. I've decided that there is no way that we are keeping more than five puppies. I will have a think about five, but six or more is a definite no no." Tom stated.

"I've been thinking, and... Well why don't we give a puppy to Fletch?" Sam suggested.

"What?"

"Well he said it himself when we got Shadow that he's always wanted to get the kids a puppy but they're like £500 plus for a cheap one. And you know that they've had money troubles in the past few months. If we gave them a puppy, all they'd need to pay for would be the food because we don't bother with pet insurance. And we could give them a starter pack with a few bowls and a lead etc. Don't you think that would cheer Natalie and the kids up? I mean, I definitely don't want to sell the puppies but I'd be okay with giving one to Fletch because we'd be able to see the puppy and we'd know that he or she would be going to a good home."

"Well we'll have to ask Fletch about it, but I don't see why not." Tom nodded. "It a good idea."

"I can't believe that she's pregnant." Sam admitted as she stroked Shadow.

"I can; it explains why she's been snappy just like you were in the first couple of months." Tom retorted.

"One: she's not snappy. And two: I wasn't snappy I was all over the place." Sam corrected.

"She is snappy, she's only just beginning to let me touch your bump!" Tom protested.

"Yeah and that's because she's trusting you, but she still wouldn't let Fletch anywhere near me this morning." Sam stated. "Anyway, we're going to bed, c'mon you big lump." Sam said as she encouraged shadow to get up and she slowly padded into the bedroom.

"Was you talking to me or the dog?" Tom joked as he held his hands out and helped Sam to her feet.

"Both." Sam groaned as she stretched her back out, before she waddled into the bedroom.

Coming up: Sam and Tom find out a more definite number of how many puppies Shadow is having. And Sam has a big change of heart on where she warns to give birth and who with.

Thanks for reading, please review :)

A/N Also, I know that the football season doesn't start until mid-August and this is set in July but I needed the dates to work out later.