Baby on the Brain

This chapter has been prompted by sdic with the request After celebrating his daughter's second birthday, Ziggy comes to a realisation.

"I think it's time for someone to go to bed," Ruby cooed softly as she moved off the couch and towards the little girl, who's head kept drooping forward every other minute, startling herself out of her nap when she went to far forward, ringlets flying back as she snapped her head up. Picking up her daughter with a small shushing, Ruby gently peeled away a strip of errant wrapping paper that had found itself stuck to the little girl's dress, before beginning to maneuver through the living room, trying not to step on any birthday presents which littered every inch of the floor.

"You could help you know?" she chided, though her voice held no heat as she glared at her husband who was sprawled on the sofa, polishing off his third slice of birthday cake.

"I'm helping to clear away!" Ziggy replied easily as he lifted another forkful of sponge to his mouth, winking cheekily at Ruby as she only huffed.

"It's a good thing I love you Ziggy Roscoe!" Ruby cried over her shoulder as she chose to leave the room instead of starting an endless bickering with the mechanic, like they so often did.

"That's what all the ladies say!" Ziggy called back, though he received no answer, either because Ruby was now out of earshot and couldn't him, but their apartment was too small for that, so it was just more likely that she didn't want to wake up Ellie by raising her voice.

Chuckling to himself at the momentary victory, Ziggy scraped the plate clean of the last bit of icing before pulling himself off the sofa and towards the kitchen. After all the plates wouldn't clean themselves up, and he'd much rather get it over and done with; Ruby could nag like the best of them when she tried.

As the water started to fill up the sink, bubbles growing and filling the air with a tangy, clean smell, Ziggy couldn't stop his mind from wandering, reflecting on just how much his life had changed in the two years since Ellie had been born.

He'd definitely grown up a lot, that was a given. No longer did he find enjoyment in going out, getting drunk and finding himself in bed with a random girl, and it wasn't like he hadn't tried. When Ruby had first told him she was pregnant, Ziggy had gone off the rails, trying to avoid any and all responsibility, praying that if he ignored the problem, ignored Ruby, it would all go away and he wouldn't actually become a father.

But that hadn't worked, instead Ziggy found himself getting more and more frustrated, and his feelings and confusion did nothing for his infamous womanising ways. The mechanic couldn't help but remember one particularly grim weekend in February when he failed to get with anyone, no matter how high he turned on the charm.

And how as the night was coming to a close, a girl at the same club with the brightest red hair Ziggy had ever seen had taken pity on him and pulled him into a snog. And although the stranger would never know it, the Roscoe had never been so grateful, because that kiss made him realise just how much he missed Ruby, and how he was ready to have a family, as long as she would be by his side.

The next few months hadn't been easy, neither Ruby nor the Osbourne family were feeling particularly forgiving, but Ziggy had proven them all wrong, especially after Ellie was born, going well and truly beyond what people expected of him.

He remembered the day that Ruby took him back startlingly well, Ellie had just turned six months and the then-single-mum was picking her up from the Roscoe home. They had just been talking, sorting out when Ellie would come round next when Ruby leant over and kissed him.

And since then things had only been going up.

Ruby had moved into the Roscoe house after four months together.

At six months they found their own place to call home.

After a year they got married.

Everyday it felt like Ziggy was in a dreamland. He had the perfect wife, the perfect daughter, and he was surrounded by people who loved and cared for him. A little voice in the back of his head kept asking when would it all change? When would it all go wrong, when would life go back to being absolutely crap like it had been before?

But whenever it spoke up, Ziggy shook it off, making special effort to remember one his Dad's favourite things to say.

"We create our own futures son. Our decisions, mindset and actions shape our lives, and as long as you keep positive and in control, then nothing bad will ever truly happen to you. Sure, you may not be completely happy with your lot all of the time, but it's up to you to face problems head on, they'll only make you a better person ultimately."

And Ziggy was going to keep control. These past couple of years had turned him into a better person, a stronger and wiser one, and no matter what, he wasn't going to run scared of anyone. In fact, ideas and novelties that once had him quaking in his boots were now something he yearned for, more than air itself.

"What's got you so deep in thought?" Ruby's question shook Ziggy out of his musings and he startled to realise that he had been so distracted he'd almost finished washing the dishes, a task he normally hated with a passion, and therefore one that took him almost hours to complete.

"I was just thinking," Ziggy said, unable to stop the smile as Ruby frowned in amused sense of confusion.

"Oh yeah? About what?"

"About us," Ziggy replied without thinking, hastening on to continue when he saw the flicker of worry in Ruby's eyes. "On how good we are together. And how this past year and a half has been the best of my life. In fact..."

"Go on babe," Ruby said, the curiosity that was written all over her face deepening as her husband trailed off, debating whether he wanted to share this latest bit of information with her. It had been something he'd been thinking about for a good while, but he didn't know if Ruby felt the same way, and if she didn't, well Ziggy wasn't sure how he'd cope.

"In fact, I want to have this all and more. I want to have another baby with you. To give Ellie a little brother or sister, to create a proper family." Ziggy couldn't deny that he felt a lot better after telling Ruby what had been troubling him for the past few weeks, but nervousness quickly consumed the temporary joy and relief when Ruby gave him no reply. "Say something babe."

"Are you serious about that Zig?" Ruby only asked, trying to keep calm, though her voice shook over her words, showing she wasn't nearly as confident as she was trying to be.

"I've never been so serious about something before in my life," Ziggy replied solemly. "So, what do you s-"

His question was cut off as Ruby pulled him into a passionate embrace. "I say we better get trying then. Don't want the age gap being too much for Ellie."

I'm so sorry about the wait for this chapter, and I feel so bad about not updating as regularly as I once did. I've had a couple of reviews recently asking if I've finished with the story and the answer to this is no. As long as people are still reading this, and hell maybe even when they're not, I'll still be continuing with this story!

Due to school and those pesky little A-levels I can't promise to update as regularly as I once did. At the moment I have very little free time, and when I do I'm just too tired to write anything of quality, and that won't change anytime soon unfortunately.

I hopefully have something of a solution in the form of a study timetable, because I've actually given myself a bit of allotted time to actually sit down and get writing! I can't promise it'll help a lot, but it may do something.

Thank you all for your patience

Next chapter - Joe starts having frequent hallucinations of his late father Alan and Sandy fears for his mental well-being – prompted by Jaymie and jostle