"I'm pregnant"
Silence.
"You're pregnant?" Charles asked, making sure that he didn't hear her wrong.
"Yeah" Molly sighed, tears beginning to form in her eyes again, "I'm sorry Charles I don't know what to do" she wept, beginning to panic again. Her breathing became short gasps for breath.
"Calm down, Molly, don't panic" Charles worried, realising his silence may have suggested negativity towards their situation.
"But you don't want more kids, I'm sorry I didn't want you to-" Molly cried out before Charles stopped her.
"What do you mean I don't want more kids? Molly, this is the best news I have heard since you said yes to marry me" Charles smiled, kissing her passionately.
"But-" Molly spoke with confusion in her voice. She didn't know what to think. Charles wanted more children? What about Sam? Would Sam be ok with having a younger brother or sister? Molly had always wanted to have children of her own, but the fact that it was less than 9 months away terrified her.
"There is nothing to worry about Molly. I am here for you, trust me. I can't wait for this little one to be born" Charles smiled, looking down at the nonexistent bump in awe.
"I'm gonna get so fat though" Molly laughed, wiping the tears off her face.
"You'll look beautiful anyway"
"There is your baby"
Charles and Molly looked in fascination at the small figure on screen, their baby. It was so small, innocent, fragile. It was perfect.
"Do you want to know the sex?" They were asked but they very quickly said no. They would much rather have it be a surprise.
Charles could not have been happier in this moment in time, everything was perfect for him. He was with the perfect girl with them expecting their first child together, his second child. He was yet to tell Sam about the pregnancy, but they were still to tell both their families and friends. Only they knew what was going on currently and couldn't wait to tell everyone. They were waiting till they had the first scan and now that they had pictures it was time to tell everyone.
"You ready for this?" Charles asked Molly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They were outside Molly's parents about to go in for 'dinner' but had planned to tell them the great news throughout the meal.
"Molly!" her younger siblings screamed as they walked through the door, running to her and hugging her all at once. Charles could only laugh at the situation his wife was in until the kids found it fitting to attack him as well (Molly had given them the idea during their last visit). Molly was glad to see Charles interacting well with her siblings, it made her even more confident that he was going to be an amazing father, although she already knew this the way he was with Sam.
"So Molly what's the big news then?" Her mother asked after the children had got bored and went upstairs to play.
"What makes you think there is big news mum?" Molly laughed, looking at Charles, thinking he had maybe told her mum something before they arrived.
"Why on earth would you be so eager to have dinner if there wasn't something important to tell us about? You were exactly the same when you were desperate to tell us about Charles proposing" her mother laughed.
"What is it then Molls?" her father smirked, already having an idea of what the news was going to be.
"Well, meet your soon to be grandchild" Charles announced as he passed the picture of the scan over to Molly's parents.
Belinda practically screamed in excitement before grabbing her daughter and holding her as tightly as possible before grabbing Charles and doing the same to him. Dave hugged Molly, proud of what his daughter had achieved and happy knowing that she had the perfect future set ahead of her. With Charles, Dave simply shook his hand and congratulated the couple. Molly and Charles told Molly's siblings who all appeared excited for the two of them. The Dawes family were all happy for the two of them and couldn't wait for the newest addition to the family to enter the world.
Charles' parents had reacted the same way, his mother extremely excited about the fact that she was soon to become a grandma. Charles had told Rebecca the news, mainly so that when he told Sam, Rebecca would be there for him depending on how he took it.
Sam and Molly were great with each other, having a laugh and taking every opportunity to pull pranks on Charles. Sam understood the relationship his dad now had with Molly and loved being the ring bearer at the wedding. Charles was nervous though; he had no clue how Sam would react to having a younger brother/sister. They decided to tell Sam out with any household to make the environment more neutral. During a day trip in London, Charles carefully broke the news.
"Sam, would you ever want a younger brother or sister?" Charles questioned his son who was preoccupied eating his ice cream cone. Molly noticed Charles ask the question, but was also too interested in her ice cream.
"My friend Nicola has a little brother and she seems to love it, I guess it would be pretty cool. Would I get to tell them what to do?" Sam sounded excited about bossing someone around which made Charles and Molly laugh. Charles bent down to be face to face with his son.
"Depends. If I told you that Molly and I were expecting to have a baby would you be happy with that?" Charles asked, hoping that Sam would be excited.
"That would be awesome!" Sam cheered as he finished his ice cream and then hugged his dad.
"Glad you are happy" Molly laughed before Charles dragged her into the now group hug.
The last people they had to tell were their old section, and that would certainly be interesting. Charles had told them that Molly was home due to ill health, but none of them had figured out that 'ill health' literally meant morning sickness. They had invited the whole section to their house to tell them the news and show them the picture of their soon to be new addition to the family.
"Congratulations Dawesy" they all shouted, still calling her by her army name although she was now a 'James'.
Everyone was happy for the couple and everyone was excited to meet the new addition to the world once he/she was born.
The next challenge for the couple: get ready for the arrival of Baby Captain Dawesy.