So you know how much I love my time jumps, right? Ready to take another one? :D Please enjoy and review :)
NINE MONTHS LATER
"You've got to be shitting me,"
Pete looked up at Lara from where she was perched on the edge of her desk, her head cocked slightly to one side as she studied the large box in his hands.
"What?" he frowned. "You don't think she'll like it?"
Sighing, Lara hopped off of the glass desk, her high heels clicking against the marble floor of her office as she did so. Flicking a strand of newly darkened auburn hair out of her delicate face, she smirked at the handsome blonde and nudged the box with her foot.
"I think if you prefer your testicles attached to your body then you'll refund this monstrosity and get her something else," she nodded.
Pete stared down at the aqua foot massager and rubbed the back of his head. Allie was nine months pregnant; all she did other than cry and eat was whinge about how sore her feet were. He was being thoughtful for once…weren't birds supposed to appreciate that shit?
"Her feet hurt her though," he reasoned. "I mean, it's not something she'd expect and it'll help her,"
"Fine," Lara nodded. "Then by all means give it to her, but if you still want to be married this time next year, you'll have to get her something else on top of it,"
"Fuck off!" Pete laughed. "This was £70!"
"Yeah and divorces are about 50 times that so listen to me," she stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You're forever harping on about how you need a phone charger for your car, right?"
"Yeah," Pete frowned, unsure of where this was going.
"Ok, so say Allie gets you that for Christmas," Lara shrugged. "Would you be happy?"
"Fuck no," Pete scoffed. "I want an X-Box,"
"See!" Lara slapped his chest. "There you go! Christmas is all about getting what you want, not what you need. Hence the reason no one likes their grandparents at this time of year. No one wants six pairs of woollen economy socks, Dunham."
"So you're saying that even though this will make her feel better and help her in the long run, I'd be better off getting her a pair of earrings or something?" he shook his head.
"Not just a pretty face, are you sweet cheeks?" Lara grinned, pinching his cheek. "Come on," she laughed. "I'll help you take it back and then we better head home before the human blimp finally bursts,"
Pete laughed and picked up the large box, tucking it under his arm as he followed Lara out through the over-decorated corridor down to the elevator where a girl with bright blonde hair smiled flirtatiously at him, looking him up and down before she opened her mouth to speak.
"Don't waste your time," Lara interrupted her. "He's gay,"
"Oh," the blonde pouted. "Whatever then, the hot ones always are, right?"
Turning on her heel, she whipped an expensive looking phone out of her dress pocket and headed for the stairwell.
"You bitch," Pete laughed, playfully grabbing Lara and tugging her into a headlock.
"Oh as if I was going to let that one slip by," she giggled, lightly punching his side as the doors opened and they shuffled awkwardly inside.
"Why gay though?" he asked, releasing her and shoving her playfully.
"Would you have preferred I told her you have herpes?" Lara asked him, her caramel coloured eyes wide and innocent. "Because I can totally go back and tell her,"
"Harry's a lucky bloke," Pete bit out sarcastically, smirking when he heard her gasp in outrage.
"Now who's the bitch, Dunham?" she demanded. "I'll have you know that I am something of a catch and had I been on the train that night all those years ago, I bet you would have had the dilemma of a lifetime choosing between me and goldilocks."
"You reckon?" Pete laughed, this being a running joke between the two of them.
"Hell no," Lara frowned. "Have you seen your wife? Dude, another six months of being single and I would have considered it,"
Pete laughed loudly and almost dropped the box he was carrying.
"I'm serious," she giggled. "I always said that Alyssa Harding was the only other girl aside from Angeline Jolie who had the ability to turn me,"
"I would love to see that," Pete laughed, shaking his head.
"I'm serious," Lara smirked.
"I know, so am I," Pete nodded. "I would fucking love to see that preferably on an HD TV with a nice cold beer in my hand,"
"You're sick," Lara wrinkled her nose. "I think I like it,"
The doors pinged open and Pete slung his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her out into the foyer with him.
"Come on, pervert," he told her with a wink. "Oxford Street is a trek and a half from 'ere so get a move on,"
"Uh, check the time pretty boy," Lara pointed up past the glowing chandelier to the huge antique looking clock on the wall of the foyer. "Oxford Street closed about an hour ago,"
"Fuck," Pete hissed.
Had he really been here that long? He'd come to the office to show Lara what he'd bought for Allie for Christmas and they'd ended up getting carried away chatting about complete and utter crap just as they always did. Pete knew how weird it had been for Allie having Lara move out but it had been odd for him too. Suddenly he had no one to talk to when he'd screwed up with Allie and needed a way to get back in her good books, he had no one to have Tekken marathons with now that Allie was pregnant and got tired too easily.
And most of all he had no one to rip the piss out of. Having never had a sister, Pete was sure that Lara Knight was a close as he would ever get.
"So I take it I can assume that's my present then?" she joked, popping the boot of her Mercedes open and gesturing for him to place the box inside.
"You probably need it more than she does," Pete frowned, looking down at the torture devices on her feet. "How the fuck do you walk in them things?"
"I don't," she shot back haughtily. "I glide like a swan,"
"Ponce," Pete laughed.
"Thug,"
"Snob,"
"Filthy hooligan,"
Pete ran his fingers along the top of the car, gathering some of the thick frost that had settled there and then flicked it at her, making her shriek as the icy water hit her face.
"Ugh, why the hell do I put up with you?" she wrinkled her nose. "Why should I be punished because my best friend was silly enough to offer some jumped up Hammers fan a sympathy shag a few years back?"
"Jealous you didn't get in there first?" Pete winked.
"You Dunham are what is wrong with the world," she stuck her tongue out. "Now get in the fucking car so I can go home and play the good housewife role,"
"How're you finding it?" Pete asked, buckling his seat belt and watching as she did the same.
"Weird," she laughed. "I mean if you'd told me a few years back that I'd be living with Harry of all bloody people..." she trailed off and shook her head.
"He's treating you alright though, ain't he?" Pete narrowed his eyes, only half joking.
"Yes dad," Lara rolled her eyes as she pulled out of the car park and onto the road, passing New Bond Street, the outside world as blaze of amber street lamps and brightly coloured Christmas lights.
"D'you reckon he'll pop the question then?" Pete teased her.
"How the hell should I know?" Lara laughed. "I never thought you would have gotten down on one knee so who's to say what'll happen?"
"You didn't think I'd marry Allie?" he blinked in surprise.
"No!" Lara giggled. "You seemed like more of a shag but don't get tagged kinda guy,"
"Cheers," Pete snorted.
"Oh come on, so I got you a little wrong," she reached out and slapped his shoulder before changing gears. "It's not as if you didn't think that me I was just a ditzy little rich girl with more shoes than brain cells when you first met me,"
"Nah, actually I didn't," Pete shook his head. "See I knew Allie at that point and I know how much she fuckin' hates those types of birds so…"
"Nice save," she told him, pulling out onto the bridge and crossing over to where Chelsea was illuminated, its reflection shimmering in the black water of the Thames.
"I try," he smirked.
The rest of the journey was filled with the usual banter, mostly surrounding how, when, where and most importantly if Harry was ever going to propose. Pete smirked as the redhead ranted on and on, pretending to know nothing about the fact that Harry Harding had cornered him in the pub a few weeks back and pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket, revealing the white gold ring that lay inside.
Being drunk, Pete had made some kind of joke about how he even though he was tempted he didn't think Allie would approve, earning himself a slap from the older Harding man.
The familiar iron gates came into view and Lara pulled through them, careful not to clip the sides of her car as she drove into the narrow entrance of Grenville House, the grand but warm looking black and white thatched house loomed out of the December mist.
"Have you put up the tree yet?" Lara smirked, remembering the grief Poppy had been giving Pete last time she was here.
"Don't even fuckin' joke about it," Pete shook his head. "That kid is going to be the death of me,"
Lara laughed and climbed out of the car, jingling the door key Allie had refused to let her hand in as she and Pete passed the now frozen fountain and came to a stop in front of the door.
Pete peered in through the window, frowning when he saw only a few of the lights on. Maybe Allie had gone out or something.
Lara pushed the front door open and peered into the darkness, reaching up blindly and flicking on the light, shouting out in shock when the lightly illuminated the girl sat on the stairs.
They both froze as Poppy stared back at them, her little face streaked with tears as she sat holding the phone in her hands, shaking as she looked at them.
"Poppy?" Pete frowned, taking a step towards her. "Baby, what's wrong?"
She stood up and dropped the phone onto the floor and for the first time he could see clearly that her red pinafore dress had something wet down the front of it. His stomach tensed when he realised it looked like vomit.
"Mummy's sick," she told him, her voice shaking as her bright blue eyes darted up to the landing.
Pete stopped breathing for a second and turned to Lara who was still behind him, the shock evident in her own eyes.
"Stay with her," he choked out before running past his daughter and up the stairs. He ran faster than he thought he knew how to, his lungs pumping air in and out, in and out trying to ease the strain on his heart.
"Allie!" he shouted, bursting into their bedroom and scanning the room quickly before carrying on through to the bathroom. "Allie!" he shouted again, his voice cracking slightly.
Fuck, fuck, fuck where was she?
Pushing through the slightly ajar bathroom door, Pete stopped, his heart ceasing all movement as he stared at her.
When he had left for work this morning she had been sat in the kitchen happily munching on the toast she had stolen from him, her green eyes twinkling mischievously as she bit into it and then offered him a buttery kiss, her swollen stomach getting in the way as he tried to hug her.
But the woman lying in front of him was nothing like her.
Allie say back against the side of the bath, her hair so saturated with sweat that it was sticking to her head, there was vomit down the front of her sweater and she was fighting to keep her eyes open.
"Allie," he whispered, dropping to his knees next to her and cupping her face in his hands. "Baby, look at me," he ordered her. "What's wrong?"
Her emerald coloured eyes focused on him slowly, she blinked a few times as though trying to asses if he was really there or not.
"Pete," she whispered brokenly.
"Yeah," he tried to smile but couldn't. "There's my gorgeous girl," he pushed some hair out of her face. "Baby, I just need to you keep your eyes open, ok?" his hands trembled as he fought to get his phone out of his pocket. "We'll get you to the hospital and it'll be alright."
"Oh God," she sobbed, leaning forward. "Pete…"
"Shhhh," he kissed her forehead. "It's ok, baby. It's ok,"
"He's not kicking," she sobbed harder, her hands steadying on her bump.
"What?" Pete looked at her, tears stinging his own eyes.
"I can't feel him moving," she began to breathe erratically and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "Why can't I feel him…oh God!" she screamed as another wave of pain hit her full force.
Pete almost dropped the phone as she suddenly lolled to the side, her body going slack as she vomited violently and then started to shut her eyes.
"No!" he shouted. "Oh no you don't," he lightly slapped her. "Look at me," he sobbed, shaking her. "Allie, open your fucking eyes and look at me,"
She managed it, her eyes barely holding onto his as he held her to him, ignoring the fact that he was kneeling in vomit. As if something like that mattered now.
Her body jerked and she snapped around to face him suddenly, grabbing onto the material of his shirt as she met his eyes.
"If it doesn't…" she moaned again as more pain hit her and fell forward onto him.
"Stop it," Pete told her, rubbing her cheek gently. "We're getting you out of here, alright sweetheart? I won't let anything happen to you, I swear,"
"Pete," she forced out, her breath sounding laboured and painful. "If they ask you…" she closed her eyes for a moment but then forced herself to open them again. "If they ask you to choose which one of us…"
"Shut up," Pete snapped. "Nothing's gonna happen, alright?" he looked over his shoulder and ignored the tears he could feel rolling down his face. "Lara!" he barked. "Lara! Fucking get up 'ere now!"
"If it does come down to that," Allie carried on, bringing his focus back to her. "You don't even think about it…" she shook her head weakly. "You choose him, alright?" she gripped the material of his shirt and met his eyes. "You choose the baby and don't you dare even think otherwise…"
Pete sobbed out loud when he realised what she was asking him to do.
If something really was wrong and it was either save Allie or save their son, she wanted him to choose the baby.
"Allie," he cried. "Please…I can't fuckin' do this…"
"It's ok," she whispered. "I trust you,"
Before he could tell her he loved her or that he knew this was a fucking ridiculous conversation because he knew that everything was going to be ok in the end, Allie screamed again only this time as she did so, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and all fight evaporated from her body as she fell into an unconscious heap next to him.
Pete paced the corridor of the radiology department where Allie had been rushed over an hour ago now and still no one had come out to speak to him. Every time the large doors swung open, he would crane his neck at what looked to Lara to be an impossible angle in hopes of seeing into the room.
"Auntie Lara,"
She blinked and looked down at the tiny blonde who was sporting a hospital gown which one of the nurses had given her seeing the state her own clothes were in. It was too big for her and the material seemed to be swallowing her, making her look even smaller than she was normally.
"Hey sweetie," Lara lowered her voice.
"When's mummy coming back?" Poppy asked, picking at a whole in one of the chairs, pulling out a piece of yellow stuffing and letting it float to the floor.
"We'll find out soon, honey," Lara told her, running a hand down her face. "Mummy's just not feeling too good right now so the doctors are going to give her some medicine and make her feel better,"
"What about my brother?" Poppy asked.
Lara swallowed hard and hated herself when she felt tears in her eyes. This was the last thing a 5 year old needed to see after their mum was just rushed to hospital…another grown up falling apart.
"Listen," Lara smiled, sniffing back her tears as she leant forward and took Poppy's hand. "Why don't we go and see what's on TV?" she gestured to the room down the hall. She knew that if she sat Poppy on her knee, she'd been asleep within two minutes.
"Ok," she nodded, shooting a look at her father and then looking back at Lara, her bottom lip trembling. "I'm scared," she whimpered.
"No," Lara shook her head. "Don't be scared sweetie, it'll be ok,"
Shut up! Her brain screamed at her, stop promising the kid things you can't even fathom out for yourself!
"Why don't you go give Daddy a hug and then we'll go watch TV, ok?" she kissed her nose and gave her a gently shove towards Pete who was still leaning against the wall.
"Daddy?"
Pete turned away from the door and looked down at his daughter, his eyes red and sore from crying, his fists still clenched painfully at his sides.
"Hey gorgeous," he choked out, his voice hoarse. Bending down, he crouched in front of her and took her hands, kissing the back of them. "You ok?" he asked her. "Are you warm enough?"
"Yeah," she nodded and then looked at him or through him really. She might only be five but she was far from stupid. "Don't cry, daddy," she told him. "Auntie Lara said it's going to be ok,"
"Yeah," Pete nodded. "I know it is,"
"Do you want a monster hug?" Poppy asked him and Pete choked out something half way between a laugh and a sob.
"Yeah," he told her as he fought back more tears. "You know what…I would bloody love a monster hug,"
Poppy grinned at him and then flung her podgy arms around his neck, hugging him as tight as her small body would let her. Pete stood up and pulled her with him, her little legs going around his waist as he held her there, clinging onto her for dear life. He gently stroked her hair, meeting Lara's eyes over the top of her head and seeing that she too was struggling to keep it together.
Walking over with Poppy still in his arms, he bent down and picked up his jacket, wrapping it around her tightly.
"Can you sit with her?" Pete whispered. "Make sure she gets some sleep?"
"'Course," Lara smiled weakly at him but as he moved to pass Poppy over to her, the blonde tightened her arms around his neck and shook her head into his shoulder.
"I want to stay with you," she mumbled.
Pete took a deep breath and sat down with her in his lap, shooting Lara a quick grateful glance as she strolled away and gave them some privacy.
"Oi," Pete pulled her back just far enough to meet her eyes. "You need to get some sleep," he tapped her nose. "It's already past your bedtime,"
"But I want to wait for mummy with you," she protested.
"I know," Pete told her. "But I'll come and get you as soon as she's back, ok?"
"Then we can go home," Poppy smiled at him.
"Yeah," he nodded, swallowing the sick feeling in his throat as he lied to his daughter. "Then we can go home,"
Seemingly happy with that answer, she hugged him again and yawned against him.
"Go on," he whispered, kissing her hair. "Go look after Lara for me,"
"Ok," Poppy slid off of his lap and turned back to face him, standing on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I love you, daddy,"
Pete stared at her and wondered how in the hell he had made something so sweet, so innocent and so perfect.
"I love you," he told her back. "Night, night monster,"
"Night daddy," Poppy kissed his cheek and then turned back to Lara who scooped her up and hugged her, pulling Pete's jacket around her little body to fight off the cold.
"Call me as soon as anything happens," Lara reached out with one hand and squeezed his hand.
He nodded at her, squeezing back before turning towards the door again, his hands pressed against the wall.
He didn't know how much time had passed in between listening to Lara's fading footsteps and the feel of someone touching his shoulder but as Pete turned to meet the ashen face of Richard Harding, he reckoned it must have been a long while.
"Pete," the old man trailed off, shaking his head with a heavy sigh before pulling his son in law into a fierce hug which Pete returned full force.
"What's going on?" he asked, pulling back and glancing down the hall where he could see Harry jogging down with a parking ticket in his hand.
"I don't know," Pete choked out. "I've been 'ere for over a fuckin' hour and no one's told me anything,"
The last word came out as a shout and without meaning to he slammed his fist hard into the wall, welcoming the pain that shot through him.
"Hey, hey, hey," Richard gently tugged him over to the chairs. "I always thought don't beat yourself up was just an expression," he smirked. "I don't think Allie will be too happy when she wakes up and sees you with a black eye and a broken hand."
Pete didn't laugh; he couldn't not right at that second.
"Richard," he breathed. "What if…" the words caught in his throat and he didn't finish the sentence, instead bending his head down and resting his head in his hands. "Fuck," he whispered brokenly, tears pouring down his face.
"Pete, come on mate, don't do this," Harry placed a hand on the younger man's back as he came to sit on the other side of him. "This is Allie we're talking about, I reckon give it an hour before she's up, strolling about and laughing her arse off at us lot for getting so upset,"
He rolled his eyes.
"Knowing her it's only a bloody tummy ache anyway," he smirked. "Anything to get out of doing her Christmas shopping,"
Pete looked up at him and saw the tears in his eyes which he was obviously trying so hard to fight off and he knew that this was Harry's way of dealing with it.
If he joked around enough he could almost ignore the fact that there was obviously something very wrong with his sister, something that might not only threaten her life but that of her unborn baby.
"Mr Dunham?"
All three men looked up as the short but bulky looking woman pushed through the swinging doors, her turquoise medical scrubs emphasising the paleness of her skin as she stared at him expectantly, her facial features oddly delicate given her robust figure.
"What's going on? Where's Allie? Can I see her?" Pete asked in a rush, standing up and moving over to her.
"I'm Dr Faulkner," she told him. "I'm the attending who has been treating your wife,"
"What's wrong with her?" Pete snapped, not giving a shit about introductions right at this moment.
"Allie is stable," she told him seeing the relief flood his handsome face. "She's been sedated and we've done a full body CT scan," she paused and looked at Pete seriously.
"Mr Dunham, your wife has suffered what's known as a placental abruption," she told him. "This is when through no fault of the mother, the placenta separates itself from the womb," she gestured for him to sit down but he remained standing. "This is a fairly rare condition but it is a serious one,"
"So what…what do you have to do? I mean, can I see 'er yet?" Pete folded his arms in an attempt to stop his hands shaking.
"We're taking her down to theatre now," Dr Faulkner told him. "We need to do a caesarean,"
"What?" Pete shook his head. "No fucking way, she ain't due for another two weeks,"
"Mr Dunham if we don't get that baby out now," she met his eyes. "There's a very real chance that both Allie and your baby won't survive."
Pete closed his eyes for a second and the image of himself burying his wife and son soon began to play behind his eyelids. His stomach lurched at the prospect and with the taste of bile in his mouth, he looked at the doctor and let out a strangled 'Do whatever you need to'.
Dr Faulkner nodded before turning on her heel, stopping only when he grabbed her arm. Even with tears in his eyes and shaking limbs, the man was almost devastatingly handsome, the fear in his eyes giving away the true extent of his youth.
"I want to see 'er," he whispered.
Dr Faulkner bit her lip, knowing that they didn't have much time.
"It'll literally have to be thirty seconds," she conceded. "And she's heavily sedated so she may not acknowledge you at all,"
Pete nodded and cast a glance back at Richard and Harry who nodded for him to go with her.
The walk to the prep room was shorter than he expected, though the sight that greeted him as he was ushered through the blue door was worse.
Allie lay motionlessly on the bed with an oxygen mask pulled over her face, her eyes opening and closing slowly as she stared at the ceiling. The distinct acidic stench of vomit lingered faintly in the room and Pete felt his breathing quicken.
"Mr Dunham?" Dr Faulkner looked at him urgently. "I'm sorry but we need to move quickly,"
Pete nodded mutely and stumbled towards the bed, grabbing onto the railing and staring down at his wife in horror. She was too pale, the faint sheen of sweat still covering her skin as she blinked once, twice and then stared at him drunkenly.
"Pete," she whispered.
"Hey," he forced a smile, picking up her hand and kissing the back of it. "There's my girl," he bent down so his face was closer to hers.
"…hurts…" Allie mumbled.
"I know," Pete gulped and gently stroked her hair. "I know it does baby, but it'll all be over soon, alright? They're gonna take you down to theatre and make it better,"
She squeezed her eyes shut and cried out, tears leaking down the side of her face and into the pillow. Looking up, Pete watched as a young man on the other side of the bed shoved a huge needle into Allie's arm and wiggled it around slightly.
"Oi," Pete barked. "You wanna watch what you're doin' son?"
"We have to get an IV line in," he replied, not even looking up.
"Yeah, well you're hurting my wife," he growled dangerously. "So you'd best fuckin' watch what you're doin',"
"Mr Dunham," Dr Faulkner snapped. "I understand that this is a delicate situation but I will remove you from this room if I have to,"
Ignoring her, Pete turned his attention back to Allie and noted she was staring back at him, her green eyes slightly more open, the fear in them so intense that his own fear doubled.
"St…" she gulped painfully. "Stay…"
It was a plea not a request.
"You'll need to get scrubbed in," Dr Faulkner told him, coming to stand at the head of the bed and raising the bars. "We're moving her now, Dr Grantham will take you down to surgery and you can get ready, we'll meet you in there,"
Pete nodded and bent down, pressing his lips to Allie's forehead and then leaning against her.
"I love you," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Not nearly as much as I love you," Pete told her back, kissing her temple. Now, shut up with all the gooey shit, because you're gonna be fine, you hear me?" he whispered. "I'm gonna meet you in there and we'll get this sorted,"
He had no idea how he sounded so confident when inside he was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Allie, look at me," he told her, gently cupping her chin in his hand. "You're gonna be alright," he glanced down. "Both of you," he kissed her once more. "I love you. We'll be home soon and we can laugh about all this bollocks," he smirked. "You, me, Poppy and our boy," he grinned at her but it shattered when she cried out in pain again.
"Right we need to get her moving," Dr Faulkner called loudly, shoving Pete unceremoniously out of the way as she and the rest of the doctors began wheeling Allie out into the hall.
"Fuck," Pete laced his hands behind his head, watching as they practically ran down the hallway with her.
He jogged along behind her, barely listening to the generic words of comfort being offered to him by the young girl next to him.
How the fuck did she know how he was feeling exactly?
That was his wife, the only woman he had ever loved , his best mate being carried off, her life as well as that of their sons hanging in the balance. And all it would take was one tiny thing to tip the scales to one side and Pete Dunham would lose everything that mattered to him.
And it was in that moment that he knew that if Allie didn't come out of this alive, then neither would he.
Cliffhanger!! Mwah-hahahaha! I promised you a death, didn't I? But is it Allie? Is it the baby? Is it all one big ass red herring to throw you off track? ...Guess you'll have to wait till Monday to find out... ;)