Wednesday 9th September, 5:30am

Sam woke up with an unusual feeling. She wasn't tired as she had gone to bed early, but surely she wouldn't have woken up that early unless there was a reason for it, would she? She felt almost as though she was about to come on her period, only she had not had one for over nine months, in fact she hadn't had a period for 40 weeks and 3 days because she was overdue and she was beginning to get sick of it. Then it clicked in her mind that period pains could be a sign of early labour. She smiled to herself that it could finally be the day that her son was born, but she decided that because it was so early, and it could still be a false alarm that she wouldn't wake Tom up just yet. She just laid on her side with her hands on her bump, because she had a feeling that in less than 24 hours, she would no longer have her baby inside of her...

6am

Tom's alarm for him to get ready for work went off and immediately he turned it off as every morning that week he had tried not to wake Sam up because there was no need for her to be up that early, but as he turned over, he noticed that she was already out of bed and then he heard the toilet flush. A minute later, she entered the bedroom and leant in the doorway in her shorts and vest.

"You're not going into work today." Sam said sheepishly.

"Why?" Tom demanded.

"I think he's finally decided he wants to come out." Sam shrugged happily and Tom just grinned like a child on Christmas Day. Most parents would panic, but not these two because they had everything that they could've possibly done for the arrival of their son ready. There was nothing more that they could do, and most of all, Sam and Tom were fully prepared for their unassisted home birth.

"Have you had your show?" Tom asked.

"Nope. But I did kind of have a loose bowel movement just now which I think is my body emptying for birth." Sam admitted. "I haven't had any contractions but I've had period pains and he's dropped overnight. Look, can you tell?" Sam asked curiously as she turned side on so that Tom could see her figure.

"Er... Well... Honestly? I can't tell the differnece." Tom admitted.

"It's fine. But he's definitely dropped because there's more pressure on my bladder and look, you can feel his head; it's engaged." Sam stated and Tom got up and let Sam place his hand on her lower abdomen. "Well push down a bit then, it's not gonna hurt him." Sam smiled and Tom did so, and he felt a large solid object within his wife's uterus at the bottom of her bump which caused him to smile.

"Right. From now on then, everything is down to you. So what do you want to do?"

"I want you to call Zoe and tell her that you're not going to be in at work today." Sam remarked and Tom rolled his eyes before he grabbed the home phone.

"I'm sure she's going to appreciate being rung at this hour." Tom joked before he made the phone call to tell his boss that Sam was in the early stages of labour, and that he wasn't going to make it into work that morning. "Right, now would you like some breakfast? It'll keep your energy levels up." He offered.

"I'll have... Some toast with marmite please. And a banana yogurt." Sam requested.

"Coming right up my beautiful wife." Tom smiled as he pecked Sam on the cheek - he could tell that it was going to be a good day. "This explains why you were tidying the bedroom yesterday - again." Tom shouted from the kitchen.

"No it doesn't! I was tidying the bedroom because it was a pigsty!" Sam protested as she waddled into the living room so that she could check on the dogs. "Right, c'mon you. You need to go out." Sam ordered and reluctantly, Shadow followed Sam's pointing finger through the kitchen towards the back door, leaving her puppies who were fast asleep in the box. Shadow hadn't been further than the back garden since the puppies' birth almost a week ago, but Sam understood why she didn't want to leave them and quite frankly, she couldn't be bothered to walk her anyway. Sam reached the back door and was about to let Shadow out when there was a loud rip of thunder across the grey sky and it was torrential raining. Shadow, like most dogs, hated thunder so she ran back to her bed to protect her offspring. "Great, that means she isn't going to go out for the entire day." Sam concluded sarcastically as she leant against the kitchen counter.

"No but it does mean that she's going to be preoccupied all day and staying in her box so that means that we won't get interrupted when we're in the thick of it." Tom replied as he buttered their toast.

"Don't tell anyone else yet please. I don't really want people to know because then they'll be wanting an update every five minutes. I might tell Fletch and you can tell one other person if you want but that's it."

"Okay, my one person is going to be Robyn then." Tom joked and Sam frowned. "Joking, we can just tell Fletch. Though I would like to be the one who announces when our son had been born on Facebook with an adorable picture of mum and baby." He admitted quirkily.

"You can get an adorable picture of our baby, not of me though; I bet I'll look dreadful." Sam remarked as she pinched a bit of toast from the plate and began eating. "And please don't start talking like an idiot when you say stupid things like 'mum, baby is almost here'. My name is Sam, and just call him the baby not baby." Sam ordered.

"Of course." Tom nodded as he took a bit of toast and leant against the counter opposite her so that he was facing her.

"I think I'm gonna go for a shower in a little while."

"Why don't you just step outside?" Tom joked as he looked out the window where the rain was pouring down. "Make sure you don't lock the door." He said sternly.

"We never look the door - as you said when you first moved in, 'this home has an open door policy on the bathroom.'" Sam said mockingly.

"Just making sure."

They were both eating their toast in silence until Sam began to make noises.

"Ow. Ow, that hurts. Oooowwww." She moaned as she rubbed her bump. The pain wasn't crippling - yet - so it wasn't too bad but she certainly wasn't expecting it. Tom couldn't help but chuckle at her pain management methods but he reached forward to feel her bump, and unlike it's usual soft texture, it was firmer - she had just had her first noticeable contraction.

"This is it; no going back now." Tom stated.

"No going back now." Sam nodded as she took his hand in hers for support. "Tom... What do we normally do when we've got spare time?"

"Is this a trick question?" Tom asked confusedly.

"No, seriously."

"We make love?" He questioned.

"Yep. And considering my waters haven't broken yet, and we're just waiting, I'd consider this free time wouldn't you?"

"So you want sex?"

"Maybe." Sam admitted sheepishly. "But only gentle, and I'm not moving." Sam stated as she folded her arms across her chest and rested them on her bump.

"So you want me to do all of the work." Tom concluded smugly to which, Sam gave a cheeky smile. "As long as there's no chance of pregnancy." He joked. "Come on, your wish is my command." He smirked as he took her hand in his and lead her through to their bedroom.

"Ah stop. Tom stop." Sam ordered quickly and instantly, Tom froze behind her as they both laid on their sides on the bed. Tom slid his arms around Sam and felt that she was having a contraction again. She screwed her eyes shut as she waited and within seconds, the pain faded way.

"You wanna give it a rest now?" Tom asked kindly to which, Sam nodded so he gently pulled out of her and then got off of the bed and pulled his boxer shorts on.

"Right, I'm gonna go for a shower." Sam announced as she sat up in nothing but her sports bra and then she pulled on her underwear and pyjama shorts.

"I could run you a bath if that's what you'd prefer." Tom offered.

"No thanks, I'd rather just have a quick shower by myself." Sam replied as she knew that it would possibly be the last time that she could be alone and speak to her bump without feeling stupid because Tom wouldn't be around.

"Tom, go and check on the dogs." Sam ordered as she kept the beach towel wrapped around her body. She had taken a shower by herself and she knew that Tom had been pacing outside of the door, listening for any signs of trouble.

"What? Sam they'll be fine."

'No please, just go and check on them so I can get changed in peace." Sam ordered.

"I'm gonna see a lot more than you getting changed when you get more progressed." Tom joked.

"I know but just make sure that Shadow is alright, you know she doesn't like storms." Sam stated as it had been raining cats and dogs outside along with the occasional rumbler of thunder or flash of lightening.

"Alright." Tom nodded reluctantly. "Do you want me to bring the whelping box into here and I can put it next to the wardrobe or something? If it'll keep you a little more relaxed I don't mind having the mongrels in here." Tom offered cheekily.

"No it's fine, she'll only distract me. Now let me get changed!" Sam ordered and Tom grinned before he walked out of the room and left Sam alone.

"I know you want to keep active to keep things moving, but this is a little extreme, isn't it?" Tom smirked as the pair were playing a game of tennis against each other on the Wii.

"Well I could be outside in the torrential rain going for a run." Sam retorted.

"No you couldn't, you haven't been able to run properly for about two or three months." Tom laughed. He grunted as he swung the Wii remote to hit the virtual ball causing Sam to laugh as every time he made a different sound.

"Stop making me laugh or I'm gonna wet myself!" Sam protested but she went quiet once she remembered the event that had happened only a few nights ago.

"Shall we make this the last game?" Tom suggested to change the subject.

"Yeah I-" Sam doubled over so Tom dropped his remote and jumped to her assistance, only she had been fooling him as she stood up properly and delivered the final blow - she had beaten Tom.

"You absolute cow." Tom moaned.

"And the fat pregnant woman beats the old git!" Sam announced proudly as she collapsed back onto the sofa and took a swig from her bottle of water.

"It's not fair, this is technically two against one." Tom protested.

"So? I-"

"I'm not falling for it again." Tom huffed as Sam had bent over only she groaned in pain for real this time and immediately Tom got onto his knees in front of her and took one of her hands in his. "Crap, you're not kidding, are you?" He said softly. It took a couple of moments of deep breathing before she sat up a little straighter and gave him evils. "The boy who cried wolf comes to mind." Tom commented quietly. "Has it gone?"

"Yep." Sam nodded slowly. "Come and sit down, I wanna watch the news." Sam said as she switched the TV to the Sky box rather than the Wii, and then she put it on BBC news.

"...River Severn has burst it's banks and areas within two miles of the river are up to four feet underwater. Emergency services are working at full capacity to rescue people who are affected by this terrible weather and Holby City Hospital, and St James' are having to send non emergency patients to Bath Hospital to deal with the crisis. We will be back with more after this short break."

"Good job you chose a home birth. Can you imagine trying to get a hospital bed now?" Tom laughed. "We'd probably end up in Bath Hospital. And even if you did get a bed, I doubt that you'd be in a comfortable room; you'd be in the middle of a ward with one midwife per twenty women." He added.

"And our baby is coming at a perfect timing because it means that you don't have to be in the ED at the moment. Can you imagine how busy it is?"

"And I reckon the only reason you went into labour was because of what we did last night so you should be thanking my sperm for softening your cervix." Tom said jokily.

"Oi, the only reason that you're not working your socks off in the ED at the moment is because of my body so cut me some slack and stop with the terrible jokes." Sam ordered. "I hope you've got your comedian act together becuase I'm relying on you to help me laugh through the pain." She said sternly.

"No no no, I was hoping that I'd be the one laughing at the stupid things you say on gas and air." Tom protested. "By the way, we've only got one canister of entonox so don't go gasping it, only use it when you need it."

"One canister will be plenty, I have a much higher pain threshold than you give me credit for."

"I know you have a high pain threshold, I'm just worried that once you get a lungful of the stuff, you won't stop." Tom laughed.

"I feel sick." Sam stated as she closed her eyes and put her hands on her bump whilst she sat on the sofa.

"I'll go and get the sick bowls-"

"No, I'm not puking in some cardboard thing just help me up." Sam ordered and so Tom gently pulled her up and then she began waddling to the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the bath waiting, whilst Tom sat besides her and thankfully she already had her hair tied back in a ponytail. But after a few minutes, Sam knew she didn't have long left so she went to get onto her knees in front of the toilet bowl.

"Wait, you'll get a bad back on the hard floor." Tom warned as he quickly slid onto his knees on the floor, a foot away from the toilet and then he patted his thighs. "Come on, you can't be that heavy." He joked and reluctantly, Sam knelt down with her bum on Tom's thighs and then faced the toilet. Tom decided against giving her a back rub in case it made her feel worse so he just left her to it and within a few minutes she sat up a little more and hung her head over the toilet. Tom knew she was probably going to be sick so he just grabbed her ponytail and held it behind her back. He was right; seconds later she vomited into the toilet bowl. "If you didn't like my toast, you should've just said." Tom remarked as he rubbed her back.

"That's not funny." Sam sighed as she sunk back into Tom's chest so he wrapped his arms around her bump.

"Then why're you smiling then?" Tom smirked and Sam couldn't help but widen her smile slightly. "Well done, you want to go and get into bed now?" He asked and Sam nodded so Tom helped her up and guided her back to bed.

"But don't tell me 'well done' for throwing up, it just sounds weird." Sam scoffed.

"Okay. You want something to eat? Or a massage of any part of your body?" Tom offered as Sam sat on the edge of their bed and she had a sip of water from the bottle on her bedside table.

"No. I just wanna get everything into place now." Sam stated.

"Okay, if you want to get changed into whatever you want to wear, I'll put the pads over the bed." Tom stated and so Sam grabbed what she wanted and went to the bathroom whilst Tom took the duvet off of the bed and laid out the large square disposable pads on the mattress that midwives used for home births to prevent a mess. He had just finished using all four of their pillows to make it comfortable for Sam to be propped up when she entered the bedroom wearing a supportive, black, halter neck bikini top and a beach towel around the underneath of her bump leaving it out in the open for Tom to see. "You going swimming?" Tom joked.

"Considering I haven't got anything on my bottom half," Sam began and Tom chuckled as he helped her onto the middle of the bed where Tom had positioned the pillows so she had plenty of room to move about. She sat almost upright with a thin white sheet over her split legs until it would be time, and Tom got the gas and air mouthpiece ready to use.

"Right. Now I suppose all we have to do is wait." Tom concluded as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind Sam's ear. Sam forced a smile and a nod in return as they awaited the arrival of their child.

"Tom!" Sam shouted from the bathroom and of course, Tom had been waiting outside for her whilst she emptied her bladder so he quickly burst in to find Sam standing by the sink with straw coloured fluid dripping down her bare legs and creating a small puddle around her feet.

"Jesus Christ don't do that! I thought you were in trouble or something!" Tom exclaimed as he clutched his chest with one hand. But then Tom looked at how vulnerable Sam looked as she watched the pool of liquid slowly grow between her feet. "You okay?"

"That felt weird." Sam announced finally.

"Well I wouldn't have thought that you're used to ruining our bathroom floor." Tom remarked. "Here, you get dried up and I'll clean the floor." Tom smiled as he put the hand towel on the floor to absorb the liquid.

"I can't; it's still coming out." Sam admitted as she could still feel the liquid slowly trickling down her legs.

"Alright, we'll just wait then." Tom chuckled as he leant in the doorway.

3pm

"You're doing really, really well Sam. Don't worry about the gas and air, you've got plenty left." Tom said reassuringly as Sam crushed his hand during a contraction. Sam took one final breath of the entonox before she put the mouthpiece on the bed and she began to relax a little bit as the pain passed. She took deeper breaths and slowly released Tom's hand too.

"I think I'm ready to push on the next one." Sam stated. They had both agreed that Tom wasn't going to look until the baby was crowning or almost crowning because Sam saw no need for him to check as she certainly wasn't going to let him check her dilation.

"Right, okay. You do whatever your body tells you to." Tom nodded.

"But I wanna lean on the exercise ball for a while on the floor." Sam admitted.

"Okay, I'll just put another pad on the floor." Tom stated as he grabbed one out of the pack -he had gotten many to be prepared - and he laid it on the floor before he rolled the big blue birthing ball over.

"Thank you, for doing all of this. I really appreciate it." Sam said gratefully as she got off of the bed in just her bikini top and took the sheet with her.

"Hey, you're giving me a son. I should be the one thanking you, not the other way around." Tom said softly as he helped her onto her knees. She knelt on the pad and put her arms on the ball to support he weight whilst Tom laid the white sheet over her backside to give her some privacy. "I googled a few labour jokes earlier by the way."

"Come on then, let's hear them." Sam ordered .

"What's the difference between a model, and a nine month pregnant woman?" He asked and Sam shrugged. "Nothing if I know what's good for me." Tom joked and Sam looked unimpressed.

"That was terrible." Sam commented.

"I know."

"Can you put the playlist called 'Birth 1' on, on my iPad please?" Sam requested.

"Yeah sure." Tom got up and did as Sam wanted, and the soft sounds of James Blunt - Bonfire Heart filled the room. "You decided to avoid the heavy metal for the birth of our child then?" Tom smiled as he sat adjacent to Sam whilst she rested her cheek on the birthing ball and she slowly rocked back and forth a little bit.

"Yeah, I didn't really want our son to come out screeching a bit of Metallica." Sam retorted. "Despite the pain, I'm enjoying this much more than I thought I would." Sam admitted. "With you at work these last few days, we haven't spent much time together and I like it now with just you, me and him."

"I like this too." Tom grinned. "Ooh, I forgot the gas and air." He stated as he went to get up but Sam grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Leave it, I need to take a break from that for a while or I'm gonna be high for the birth of our child." Sam joked.

"When he's born, what do you want to happen? I mean I know you want him straight on your chest but do you want to keep your bikini top on? Or take it off? And when do you want to try breastfeeding? Because it's best to start within half an hour of birth but it's completely up to you." Tom asked softly and Sam took a few moments to think about it before she replied.

"I want skin to skin contact straight after the birth and I'll try feeding fairly soon after the birth to speed up the delivery of placenta."

"Sounds like a plan." Tom nodded.

"I give you permission to look now, I must be crowning." Sam panted between contractions that were only a few minutes apart. After rocking on the birth ball, she had resumed her position of being propped up by pillows on the bed with her legs split and a sheet over her bottom half. But now Sam had decided that Tom was allowed to check on whether their son was visible or not.

"Alright." Tom smiled as he moved from her side and knelt down on the bed between her legs. He pulled the sheet out of the way but he saw no sign of their baby. "Give it another few contractions and I'm sure he's on his way." Tom said reassuringly.

"That means that you can't see anything." Sam concluded exhaustedly as she let her head hit the pillow.

"Hey, you're doing really well. You've only been pushing for about twenty minutes, some women can take up to two hours." Tom stated. "He'll be here soon. Just you wait." Tom whispered.

Coming up: Baby Kent is born and Sam is overwhelmed with becoming a new mum. But what will they decide to call their son?

Thanks for reading, please review :) I will try and update again later today, some nice reviews might persuade me to do so ;)