Friday 3rd May 2019

Tom watched his wife from afar as she leant on the nurses station filling out some forms. She had been so quiet ever since Zoe had been put down and Tom knew that at 9 weeks pregnant, Sam was still feeling nauseous because it was only 9am, but she was managing to work through it. And he was just so worried about Sam losing the baby through stress because during her pregnancy so far, she had had to endure her son being diagnosed with atrial septal defect and then having a heart operation and not long after that she had had the fright of her life when Daniel was nearly bulldozed down by that irresponsible owner's dog in the park, and then she had been kicking and screaming when they came to take Zoe away and Tom had to restrain her.

That was a lot of stress that had all occurred in just a few short weeks. And not one bit of it was doing any good for their unborn child.

"Ah!" Tom gasped quietly as he grabbed his abdomen where there was a sharp, stabbing sensation but it went almost as fast as it came so he presumed it was just a muscle cramp, nothing to worry about. He gave Sam one last glance before he went to see his next patient.

Midday

Fletch was on his way to the men's toilets to look for a missing patient and after he checked the first few cubicles, it appeared that he had had no luck. But the last cubicle, the disabled one in the corner, had a locked door.

"Mr Davidson? Mr Davidson are you in there?" Fletch asked.

"Fletch." He heard whispered.

"Mr Davidson?" That didn't sound like Mr Davidson to Fletch so he went into the cubicle next to it, stood on the toilet and saw on the floor, was a collapsed doctor. "Jesus Christ! Tom? Tom can you open the door for me please?" Fletch demanded as he got down and stood outside the door. He fiddled with the lock as much as he could but after a few more seconds, the door was unlocked from the inside and, being a disabled toilet, the door swung outwards not inwards. Tom was leaning against the wall, slightly sat up with his legs out in front of him. He had sweat patches under his arm and a small line of moisture down his chest too. Hs face appeared clammy, and his hands were clutching his lower abdomen. "Tom what's going on? What's wrong?" Fletch asked and when he knelt down besides the doctor, he noticed that there was vomit in the toilet bowl. "Was that you? Tom, answer me, was that you?" Fletch demanded.

"Don't... Don't get Sam please... We can't... We can't lose the baby." Tom pleaded through his pants as he tried to desk with the agonising pain.

"What baby? Is she pregnant again?" Fletch asked worriedly.

"Dammit... I thought she'd... Already told you." Tom muttered, he knew how much Sam wanted to tell Fletch and see his reaction and that might've cheered her up a bit.

"Okay well Sam's not my main concern at the moment Tom. I need to get a trolley for you-"

No! No, you- you can't. If Sam sees me-"

"Tom you're burning up, you've vomited and you're in excruciating pain on your lower right hand side, it doesn't take a doctor to work out what's wrong with you." Fletch stated bluntly.

"Appendicitis? I don't know I... I did an ultrasound and..."

"And what did it show?"

"I couldn't find my appendix. It must be behind my liver." Tom muttered. "I did a urine test too but it was clear so it's... It's not a UTI."

"Tom I need to get you out of here and you don't want me to get you a trolley. What do you want me to do?" Fletch asked exasperatedly. "Hang on. How about I ring Robyn and ask her to take Sam to the cafe?" Fletch suggested. "Even in a mood, Robyn's too nice for anyone to say no to and that way, Sam'll be out of the way and we can get another doctor to look at you."

"Right, that's Sam out of the way." Fletch stated he put his phone in his pocket. "Let's get you a trolley-"

"No. Fletch, I can walk. Just give me a hand up." Tom ordered and Fletch reluctantly put Tom's sweaty arm around his shoulders and he pulled him up. "Why now? This is the worst possible time to be ill." Tom groaned as he stumbled through the toilets towards the door.

"Well, it's not your fault so don't blame yourself."

"I wasn't." Tom replied bluntly.

"Any preference on doctor?" Fletch asked as he paused at the door.

"Zoe. I hate Connie and Ash has got a cold which I don't particularly want at the moment. I think I'm suffering enough."

"Why do you hate Connie? I thought she helped Daniel with the ASD."

"Yeah, she did but she's trying to take Zoe's job and I don't think that there's anybody except Guy Self, who wants her in charge."

"Zoe, I need to to take a look at something." Fletch said quietly.

"What is it Fletch? If you haven't noticed I'm quite busy at the moment."

"We've got a doctor down." Fletch said delicately; he was trying to keep Tom's case low key to prevent Sam from finding out which was why Tom was currently in a curtained cubicle after Fletch had given him some pain relief.

"Right." Zoe said questioningly as she followed the nurse and he pulled the curtain aside a little bit so that Zoe could walk in. "Tom?"

"It's appendicitis. He's got a fever of 38.6°C, severe abdominal pain, he's nauseous and he's been sick a couple of times in the last few hours." Fletch explained.

"Okay Tom, can I palpate your abdomen?" Zoe asked.

"You won't be able to feel it." Tom muttered. "I did an ultrasound already, I think my appendix is behind my liver." Tom stated and Zoe nodded.

"Well that's not terribly uncommon. I think the best thing to do is transfer him up to Keller." Zoe said to Fletch. "And er, where's Sam? Do you want me to page her?"

"No!" Tom said immediately. "No, you can't. She doesn't need any more stress. Please you can't tell her." Tom pleaded.

"Why not? Tom you're probably going to need an operation sooner rather than later, Sam's bound to find out." Zoe stated.

"I know but I just want to wait until I'm not as sweaty and the pain relief kicks in because I don't want to worry her." Tom stated. He had already told Fletch about the baby without Sam's permission, he didn't want to tell Zoe too.

"Alright well, I'll get the transfer sorted out." Zoe nodded confusedly before she left the cubicle.

5pm

"Sam, just before you go and get Daniel, can you come with me quickly?" Fletch asked as he found the wearied doctor in the staffroom and she had just pulled her coat on.

"Well it depends if you've seen Tom or not because I can't find him and his phone goes straight to voicemail." Sam replied.

"Just trust me." Fletch said as he grabbed Sam's handbag from the locker and took Sam's hand as he guided her out of the staffroom.

"What's going on? Why are you holding my bag for me? You haven't been this... This helpful since I was pregnant with Daniel." Sam stated confusedly. "Tom told you didn't he?"

"It might've slipped out his lips, yeah." Fletch grinned as he took Sam into the lift. "Congratulations though, I'm really happy for you two." Fletch smiled as he gave Sam a quick hug and then pushed the button to go up. "So how far gone are you?"

"Eight weeks."

"That far already? Wow, you don't look any different. Except for the smile of course. Come on, where's your lovely smile?" Fletch asked but Sam squinted her eyes at him, before she wondered why they were on Keller, an elective surgery ward.

"What's going on?"

"Why don't you ask Tom?" Fletch suggested as he opened the double doors and pointed to a familiar face and Sam noticed her husband sitting up in a bed in a hospital gown. She ran over, narrowly avoided a nurse with a bed pan and then immediately gave Tom a hug.

"Why are you up here? What's wrong?" Sam asked worriedly before she pulled apart and she noticed Tom grimacing where she had hugged him too tightly.

"Don't worry. I've got appendicitis and they've booked me into theatre for 8am tomorrow morning." Tom explained softly and slowly, as he held her hand.

"But what happened? Have you been up here all day? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"He collapsed in the men's toilets, I told Zoe and Zoe referred him up here. He's only been up here for about fifteen minutes or so." Fletch explained as he placed Sam's handbag on the end of Tom's bed. "Listen, I'd better get going but I'll pop up tomorrow morning and see how you're doing." Fletch stated.

"Alright, thanks mate." Tom said gratefully.

"I... I don't know what to say." Sam sighed as she sat down in the chair besides his bed.

"Listen um, there is a little bit more bad news. I've had an MRI and it turns out that I was right earlier, my appendix is tucked right behind my liver. So they can't do the operation by keyhole, it's open surgery... And that means that I might be in here for about a week until I'm discharged." Tom admitted.

"That's fine." Sam said eventually. "We can make it work. Tomorrow and Sunday we can come and see you during the day, and then on weekdays I can pop Daniel up here every morning before he goes to the crèche to come and see you, and then we can spend some time here after work until he gets tired or something. Don't worry Tom, you just focus on getting better." Sam ordered as she squeezed his hand tightly.

"Thanks. So, how're you and the baby?" Tom asked quietly.

"Yeah, thanks for telling Fletch about that by the way." Sam said sarcastically.

"I had to. I'm sorry but I didn't want you seeing me when I'd collapsed because I didn't want you under any more stress and Fletch didn't understand why I wanted you to avoid stress and I had to tell him." Tom explained. "Anyway, how was your trip to the cafe with Robyn?" Tom smirked.

"How do you know about that?"

"Fletch sent her so that he could get me into a cubicle without you seeing." Tom admitted and Sam glared at him.

"I swear sometimes she just doesn't understands how much she rambles on." Sam complained and Tom chuckled. "Right. I'd better go and get Daniel." Sam stated as she stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'll take him home, cook him dinner and pack you a bag then I'll come back in an hour or two so you can spend some time together alright?"

"Yeah, thanks. And could you possibly bring me some food to stash in my bag because I don't think I can survive on hospital food for a week." Tom requested.

"I'll see what I can do. See you later." Sam pecked Tom on the forehead before she got the lift downstairs and jogged to the crèche. The crèche knew Sam and Tom often got caught back at work so they, and Daniel, knew that mummy and daddy would be coming to pick him up anywhere between 5-5:30pm.

"Ah, Mrs Kent." The receptionist smiled. "I'll just go and get Daniel now."

Sam was waiting for a few moments when Daniel came out of a door with one of the staff in a colourful apron behind him carrying his blue rucksack.

"Hello rascal." Sam smiled as she squatted down and gave him a hug.

"Where's daddy?" Daniel asked curiously whilst Sam took his rucksack. "Mummy and Daddy always pick me up together."

"I'll explain everything to you on the way home Daniel. Thanks Claire." Sam said to the carer before she held Daniel's hand, walked him out to the car and strapped him in his car seat. It felt odd for Sam to be driving with no passenger and Daniel in the back but nevertheless, she was determined to make the situation work. "Right. At work today, daddy felt a bit ill. And he was sick. But just like you, daddy's got to have an operation to make him better. Do you remember when you had to go into that big bright room with dad and you had doctors around you?"

"Yes." Sam saw him nod in the mirror.

"Okay well daddy's got to have an operation tomorrow morning. But he's going to be staying in hospital for a few days to get better because daddy's so old and he needs longer to recover." In reality it was because Tom was having open surgery and Daniel had had only an incision in his thigh but she didn't have the patience to explain that to Daniel at that moment because he would ask so many questions and Sam was pretty exhausted. "So we're going to have dinner, and then go and see daddy at the hospital. But he's going to sleep overnight in the hospital for a few nights so it'll just be you and me at home tonight." Sam explained.

"Does that mean that, I can sleep in daddy's bed tonight?"

"Only if you don't tell daddy." Sam smiled.

As soon as the lift doors on Keller opened and Sam opened the big double doors, Daniel caught sight of his father in one of the first few beds on the left. He ran straight over and Sam smiled as she strolled over with a black holdall that had Tom's things in it.

"Be gentle Daniel." Sam warned as Daniel used the chair to climb onto the bed and then he gave his dad a hug.

"He's alright. I'm high on morphine at the moment." Tom smiled. "Alright mate? What've you been up to?" Tom asked as he sat Daniel on his lap and Sam sat down on the chair besides them.

"Me and mummy made our own pizzas for dinner!" Daniel said excitedly.

"Did you? That sounds really nice."

"What did you have?" Sam asked curiously.

"Macaroni cheese slop with salad, tapioca pudding and cheese and biscuits." Tom grimaced. "Y'know I thought those sorts of things were just stereotypical but they're actually on the menu here."

"Well there's a few bits in your bag to eat if you get hungry but I'm assuming your nil by mouth soon. But after the op you can eat it and I can always bring some more things in if you want me to." Sam replied.

"Okay, thanks."

"Ew!" Daniel squealed as he covered his eyes whilst Sam and Tom shared a kiss.

"Anyway, how's my little kidney bean?" Tom asked.

"It's not kidney bean anymore, it's grape." Daniel corrected.

"Sorry. How's my little grape?" Tom asked.

"Um- oh dammit. That reminds me I've got my booking appointment tomorrow. Oh well, I'll have to reschedule it-" Booking appointments were usually the first contact between a pregnant woman and her maternity team and it wouldn't require a scan because Sam knew exactly how far gone she was. It would just involve far too many questions that Sam would have to answer.

"No, dont. I can still come with you. It just might be in a wheelchair."

"Tom you probably won't be allowed."

"Well going for walks is encouraged after an operation to prevent blood clots. And I'll be going down to maternity with a doctor taking me. What could possibly go wrong?"

Saturday 4th May 2019

It was the day of Tom's operation and Sam was waiting eagerly for news in the chair in his cubicle, but of course there wasn't a bed there. His bed was in recovery, ready for Tom to come out of theatre. Daniel was sitting on Sam's lap reading a book with just one sentence per page though he referred to just look at the pictures and he wasn't nervous at all, because he was certain that his daddy would be coming back soon. Sam presumed that Tom would be brought back soon because she had been keeping an eye on the clock and she knew that the operation would've finished by now, unless there were complications a which she would've been made aware of.

"Mrs Kent?" A kind nurse enquired.

"Yes."

"I've just been informed that your husband's surgery went very well. There were no problems at all and he's currently in recovery. Now unfortunately, relatives can't go to recovery but as soon as your husband wakes up and his stats are improving, we'll bring him back onto the ward. Okay?"

"Yeah, that's great thanks." Sam smiled as she let out a sigh of relief.

"Is daddy okay then?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, daddy's going to be just fine." Sam said reassuringly whilst the nurse walked away.

At 9 weeks pregnant, Sam's clothes were already tight on her abdomen - people certainly showed quicker with their second pregnancy. But it wasn't obvious as long as Sam chose her clothes appropriately, and she hadn't yet told people at work about the baby because she wanted to keep it a secret for just a little bit longer.

"Daniel, mummy's got an appointment this afternoon about Grape, but it's going to be really boring so are you going to be alright if I take you to the crèche and you stay there for about an hour? I'll come and pick you up and then you can say goodbye to daddy before we go home and have some dinner."

"No. I want to stay with you and daddy." Daniel whined. "Please? I promise I'll behave."

"Okay, if that's what you want." Sam nodded. She knew he would get bored, but at the same time, she wanted Tom and Daniel to spend as much time together over the weekend because during weekdays when Tom was still in hospital, Daniel would hardly see his father until he was discharged.

10am

"Daddy!' Daniel squealed excitedly as Tom was wheeled back onto the ward. The little boy was standing on the chair whilst Sam stood besides him to prevent any falls and Tom was laying flat on his bed in his hospital gown.

"Sshh. I told you to keep it down." Sam warned but she couldn't help but smile.

"What do you think of these new boob implants?" Tom joked sleepily but Daniel appeared confused - Tom had stuffed two upside down cups under his thin sheet on his chest. He had tried to lighten the slightly depressing atmosphere and it had certainly worked. Sam rolled her eyes as he pulled them out.

"How're you feeling?" Sam asked as she tried not to laugh.

"Um, yeah I'm still a bit groggy but not too bad." Tom replied.

"What's groggy?" Daniel asked.

"Groggy basically means sleepy." Sam replied.

"Everything's looking great." Dr Barton smiled as he put Tom's obs file into the holder at the end of his bed. "We are looking at getting Tom onto his feet in the next hour or so and once he is up we can take his catheter out. But the most important thing at the moment is rest."

"Okay, thank you. Listen, I've got my first prenatal appointment down on maternity at 4 o'clock this afternoon. I'm a doctor myself and so is Tom so would it be possible for me to take him down in a wheelchair just so he can attend the appointment with me?" Sam asked optimistically.

"I'm afraid not. I don't want Tom leaving this ward; there's no need for him too." Dr Barton replied.

"But he won't be doing anything strenuous, he'll literally just have to sit in a wheelchair and listen." Sam argued.

"I'm sorry Mrs Kent. But it's too soon after surgery."

4pm

"You're going to miss your appointment." Tom warned. He was being propped up by pillows on his bed whilst Daniel sat in between Tom's feet at the end of it rolling a soft ball gently back and forth between them on top of the cover.

"No I'm not." Sam said smugly.

"Why? Did you reschedule the appointment?" Tom asked curiously.

"Nope. Y'know um, Tess used to be a midwife?"

"Yeah." Tom replied slowly.

"Well she's agreed to come up here and do the booking appointment in this cubicle right here so you won't miss anything. She's going to get my file and my notes from maternity from last time, and then she'll perform the appointment for us. And I've already done a urine and blood test." Sam stated so she pulled a ziplock bag out of her hand bag to show him the two vials, one of pale yellow liquid, the other of bright red liquid.

"When?"

"Er about 4- oh, that's now. I said I'd meet her by the lift so I'll be back in a minute."

Sam hadn't actually told Tess she was pregnant until she spoke to the ex-midwife on the phone earlier that day so Tess had congratulated Sam as she met by the lift on Keller before they headed for Tom's cubicle.

"How's Tom doing?" Tess asked curiously.

"Um. He's not too bad. He's in a bit more pain than I'd like and I'm pretty sure he's hiding it." Sam replied. "But he's certainly looking better than he was yesterday."

"You mean I'm more handsome." Tom corrected cheekily as Sam and Tess entered his cubicle.

"Yeah, you wish." Sam quipped as she sat on the end of his bed and Tess sat on the chair and organised Sam's file and the forms that she had to fill out.

"Right. I'm going to run through the questions. Some of them might seem like I already know the answer because I know you but just answer them anyway just in case." Tess smiled.

"Thank you for doing this by the way." Tom said gratefully.

"No worries. We wouldn't want you to miss your second baby's first appointment now would we? Now first of all, you might think that some of this is a bit silly to repeat it all because you've already done all of this when you were pregnant with Daniel, but I'm afraid we have to repeat it just to make sure that everything is up to date. I think we'll start with your family history Sam-"

"There's nothing on either of our family histories. I left home when I was 16 and Tom never knew his real parents so don't bother with all of those questions."

"Oh right. Okay, well then ignoring that, is there anything about your personal health Sam, that I need to know?" Tess asked.

"Nope."

"And the same for you Tom?"

"Nothing except the appendicitis now, but just add on there that Daniel had an atrial septal defect so we want that to be checked for during later scans." Tom stated and Sam gave a nod in agreement so Tess jotted it down.

"Okay. Now this is a very sensitive topic, have you ever had any miscarriages, abortions or births apart from Daniel?" Tess asked softly.

"No, nothing." Sam shook her head.

"And how was Daniel's birth? Were there any complications?"

"None."

"Alright. This is going to be very straight forward by the sounds of it." Tess gave a small smile. "Now enough about the past, let's focus on this baby now. When was the first day of your last period Sam?"

"1st March."

"Okay. That would make you..."

"Nine weeks. I'll be ten next Friday." Sam stated.

"Alright. Now do you smoke or drink alcohol?"

"I've never smoked, and before I was pregnant I'd only drink maybe one glass of wine a month if we went out for a meal or something and now I don't drink at all."

"Very good. Do you want to attend antenatal classes?"

"Definitely not." Sam replied instantly.

"I thought that would be your response." Tess smiled.

"Really? I was expecting a 'hell no' or 'are you having a laugh?'" Tom smirked.

"And where, if there are no complications, do you plan on giving birth?"

"Ah. Now this is the complicated part. Basically, when I gave birth to Daniel, I gave birth at home with Tom and no midwives, because that's the way I wanted it. And I want to do that again, but as you know the NHS frown upon that so it's best to just put on there that I intend to give birth in maternity downstairs, and then when the baby is born, I'll say we couldn't make it to the hospital."

"You gave birth with just you and Tom?" Tess queried.

"Yep. And it went better than I ever could've imagined." Sam smiled.

"Well I suppose it is relatively safe with both of you being doctors. I'll put down hospital birth. Now, do you want me to explain to you about healthy eating, safe exercise and supplements or do you already know?"

"I've got it covered thanks."

"And I probably already know the answer to this one because I remember you in the staff room with Daniel, but his do you intend to feed your baby when they're born?"

"Breastfeed." Sam stated.

"Okay. Now the physical side of things, did you say you'll do a blood and urine sample for me?"

"Yeah, it's just in... Here." Sam replied as she took out the two sample pots and handed them to Tess.

"Thank you. Now I just need to take your blood pressure-"

"110/80." Sam interrupted. "I took it earlier." Sam admitted.

"Right. Well that's us all done then."

"Mummy, I need a wee." Daniel admitted shyly, almost in a whisper to hide it from Tess who, to him, was a stranger.

"Come on then, I'll take you." Sam smiled as she lifted Daniel down onto the floor and pulled the curtain back.

"Right, I wish you a speedy recovery Tom, and I'll see you at work on Monday Sam." Tess said as she stood up and held the wad of paper in her arms.

"Thanks Tess, bye."

"Can I go in the boys toilets?" Daniel asked as he held Sam's hand.

"No way. You're far too young besides, need help pulling your jeans down and mummy needs to hold you up so that you can reach the sink don't I?" Daniel didn't reply, he just huffed as Sam opened the door for him and then she followed him into a cubicle and closed the door behind him.

"Alright, if you can pull your trousers down, go to the toilet without making a mess or clean up after you if you do, flush the toilet and then pull your trousers and underwear back on properly, I might consider letting you go into a cubicle by yourself from now on." Sam said sternly, though she knew it would never happen and she just had to hope that he would fail because there was no way that she was letting him go by himself for a long time because she knew that he had the tendency to crawl under the toilet stalls and she didn't want him disappearing because he did that one time too many.

"Okay." Daniel nodded eagerly as he lifted his shirt up and tucked it under his chin before he began to fiddle with his belt that he had insisted on wearing becuase it was a blue Thomas the tank engine one. He was there for quite a while whilst Sam smiled to herself as she leant against the door because she knew he couldn't undo that belt; in fact, he couldn't undo any belt, they were all too fiddly and tricky for his little hands. But Sam hadn't expected Daniel to start crying and he folded his arms across his chest.

"Hey, Daniel it's okay. It's not the end of the world if you can't do something. You'll learn how to do it when you're older." Sam said softly as she stood behind him and undid his belt and the top button of his jeans before she stepped back again.

"Thank you." He mumbled as he pulled his clothes down, and Sam always found it funny that Tom would just undo his zipper to go to the toilet, whereas Daniel had to pull his trousers and his underwear all the way down to his ankles before he would even consider going to the toilet.

"Ah ah, wipe the toilet seat clean first, for the next person to use it." Sam ordered once Daniel had gone to reach for the flush handle.

"But Daddy doesn't do it." Daniel protested as he reached up and got some toilet roll. For Daniel to learn how to use the toilet, he had had to go in the toilet at home with Tom.

"I know Daddy doesn't do it." Sam said sternly as she was forever cleaning the toilet seat at home in their ensuite bathroom. "But why don't you wash your hands, and then you can go and tell daddy that he has to wipe the seat clean too?" Sam suggested. "But don't announce it to the whole ward, use your indoor voice." Sam added as she knew he was likely to run in there and shout something silly.

Friday 10th May 2019

Finally, after a week of spending every single hour of each day in hospital, Tom was going home and Daniel was extremely excited. In fact, he was far more excited than Tom had expected but he was happy that his son had missed him.

"I'll take your bags." Sam said sternly as she stopped Tom from opening the boot.

"I'm not an invalid." Tom protested.

"Really? The five inch row of stitches on your abdomen begs to differ." Sam remarked as she took out the two bags belonging to Tom and then she met Daniel and Tom at the front door because she had the keys. "Please just don't push yourself too hard." Sam pleaded.

"I could say the same for you Mrs Pregnant." Tom smirked. "How is grape by the way?"

"It's not grape daddy, it's prune now."

"Since when?" Tom protested.

"Since this morning. I'm 10 weeks today." Sam stated as she opened the door and immediately, Daniel zoomed into the living room.

"Daddy quick, come in here!"

"I'm coming son." Tom shouted. "Are you sure you're alright with carrying those bags upstairs?"

"Yes I'm fine. Now go in there because he's spent a lot of time on this." Sam ordered and Tom frowned before he walked into the living room where the three dogs were wearing silly cone shaped party hats and across the wall were several sheets of paper roughly cellotaped together and across them said 'Welcome home Daddy!'.

"Wow! Daniel did you paint that all by yourself?" Tom pretended to be blown away by the boys skills despite it being wobbly with blobs of paint everywhere and clear pencil lines that Sam had probably drawn to help him spell the words properly. But the fact that Daniel had done it for him, no matter how messy, was heartwarming.

"Mummy helped but only a little bit, I did most of it. And me and mummy made strawberry jelly and we made some football cakes." Daniel explained proudly.

"That sounds brilliant Daniel, thank you."

"I haven't tucked my son into bed for a whole week... I forgot how much I enjoyed it." Tom smiled as he carefully got into bed and then Sam stood besides him whilst he let her check his dissolvable stitches on the right side of his abdomen.

"I haven't tucked him in his bed for a week either." Sam stated and Tom's head shot off of his pillow as he looked worriedly at his wife. "Calm down. I said 'his' bed. I told him as long as he didn't tell daddy, he could sleep next to me in my bed and he slept next to me every night you were gone." Sam explained.

"Well I missed sleeping in the same bed as you. As much as I enjoyed not having to fight for the covers in the hospital bed, I did miss being able to sleep with my hands just centimetres away from our unborn child with you in my arms." Tom said as he lifted his hand and placed it on Sam's rounded bump that could be seen clearly in her tight vest that she was wearing to bed. "Having a second baby just seems unreal." Tom smiled.

"It was far too real for me when I spent most of my morning leaning over a toilet bowl." Sam retorted. "But thankfully, I think the morning sickness is beginning to pass. I haven't been sick in the past few days." Sam stated as she placed her hand on top of his on her stomach. "You're stitches are fine." Sam whispered before she went around her side of the bed and got in.

"Listen, I know I said I missed cuddling you but it's far more comfortable for me to sleep on my back rather than my side at the moment so-"

"Tom, it's fine. I understand." Sam said as she flicked the light off. Tom then closed his eyes whilst he felt Sam lay on her side right next to him and she put one arm across his chest, high above his stitches so she didn't hurt him.

"Goodnight Sam." Tom whispered.

"Night night Tom."

Coming up: Sam, Tom and Daniel attend the 12 week scan.

Thanks for reading, please review :)