Two Chapters today as I'm not sure when I will be able to post over the holidays

The New Year saw Steve and Kate finally finish unpacking their new home and start to feel settled. A consideration they hadn't had to think about before was Bonnie and what they would do with her whilst they were at work. The vet had called and informed them she looked healthy based on the blood work that they had taken before Christmas so they started making plans.

Getting a dog walker or attending Doggy Day Care seemed to be the most sensible options as both Steve and Kate worked long hours and it wouldn't be fair to leave her alone for such long periods of time. The vet had discussed getting her spayed which they thought a sensible option. If Bonnie was going to mix with other dogs then they didn't want to have to deal with a surprise litter of puppies.

An appointment was duly booked for the surgery. Bonnie quickly cottoned on to the fact that something unusual would be happening that day as she wasn't given any breakfast, even when she deployed the best sad eyes she could muster. Steve felt incredibly guilty when he left her at the vets. She had managed to give him such a pitiful look and sad whine as he said goodbye.

Kate had the job of picking her up the next day and immediately understood what Steve had been talking about the previous day. She felt so sorry for the dog who had had a large area of her fur shaved with a visible wound in the middle of it. The lampshade-like collar disorientated her and she kept banging in to furniture as she walked around. Kate could tell that Bonnie was unimpressed with her owners and what they had let happen to her. It took a couple of dog treats at home before Bonnie was able to forgive her with a lick to her face.

Steve was on night duty that evening and the two girls rested together on the sofa. Since the dog treats, Bonnie had been Kate's shadow and Kate enjoyed her company, even if it wasn't of the human kind. She was laid out along the length of the sofa, absentmindedly stroking Bonnie who was beside her with her head resting on Kate's lower abdomen. She had a look of bliss on her face as she lapped up the attention that Kate was bestowing on her. Scratches under her chin were her favourite.

"Am I forgiven now, Bonnie?" Kate asked her dog. She couldn't answer but the look on her face certainly seemed to imply Kate was. "It's the trials and tribulations of being a female I'm afraid," Kate continued. "Once you get over this you'll be fine, you'll see," she said as she continued her scratches. Kate couldn't help but be slightly jealous. Now she'd been spayed she wouldn't have to worry about her cycle. Unlike Kate. She was premenstrual and due her period any day. For Kate it couldn't come soon enough.

Her water retention was particularly bad this month as she felt far more bloated than usual and her breasts were constantly swollen and tender. The tiredness was quite extreme as well. Speaking of which. "Maybe it's bedtime?" she suggested to the dog. The TV wasn't holding her interest and she was shattered.

Kate slowly got off the sofa and headed to the kitchen. Bonnie swiftly followed. Whilst she had a little time in the back garden to do her business, Kate got her evening meal ready. She'd been given some pain killers by the vet and hid a tablet in the middle before refreshing the water bowl. To Kates relief, Bonnie ate all the food easily, tablet included so there wouldn't be any wrestling and force feeding of tablets occurring.

With a final walk around the house checking all the doors and windows were locked, Kate ascended the stairs to her bed. Bonnie decided to join Kate that night rather sleep in her own bed and trailed her up the stairs. Her surgery scar slowing her down a little bit.

"You spending the night with me Bonnie?" Kate asked. It was usually just Josh that she shared a bed with but Kate presumed she wanted some company after her surgery.

Bonnie jumped on to the bed and walked over to Steve's side, where she plopped down to await Kate joining her. It wasn't long before Kate crawled under the covers. She didn't turn the light out immediately, instead she read for a little while. She was in the middle of a thriller and wanted to take advantage of not being interrupted by Steve to get a few chapters out the way. Bonnie once again moved to lie beside her with her head in her lower abdomen as she had done on the sofa.

It happened again when Kate turned the light off and tried to go to sleep. Bonnie instantly went to put her head on Kate's lower abdomen and was quite persistent in trying to do so. "What are you doing Bonnie?" Kate asked, a little mystified at her behaviour. The dog was not normally this clingy.

It was going to be impossible to sleep like this so Kate tried to push her away without success. She wondered if she should be worried about Bonnie's change of behaviour. Maybe she should text Steve to see what he thought? No, he'd just tell her she was being silly.

The bedside light was flicked back on and Kate reached for her phone to check what Google had to say about clingy dogs. Stress. Anxiety. Change of routine. Well that all made perfect sense thought Kate. Bonnie was just reacting to her trip to the vet. She sighed in relief. Problem solved. A little TLC tonight and Bonnie would hopefully be back to normal soon.

Human pregnancy. That caught Kate's interest and she read a bit about the topic. Apparently dogs could detect a change in smell that occured in pregnancy, even in its early stages. Behaviour changes could include following the person around and seeking attention.

Kate stared at Bonnie. Was her dog trying to tell her something or was it the surgery thing? Telling herself she was being stupid, Kate turned the light off again and lay back down. Bonnie once again rested her head on her abdomen.

Lying there in the dark, Kate's mind went in to overdrive. Maybe she wasn't premenstrual. There had been those three days away at Steve's parents when she and Steve had had unprotected sex. She was going to have to take a trip tomorrow morning to buy herself a test so she knew for sure. There seemed to be a possibility that Steve's request had already been granted.

Predictably sleep was hard to come by and Kate was glad when her bedside clock read 08:00. She had decided she was going to go to the local express supermarket. Steve would be back soon and as per usual after a night shift would try and grab a couple of hours of sleep before emerging at lunchtime. She would have a nice Saturday brunch prepared for him for when he did. It would also be a chance to buy a pregnancy test kit.

"Fancy a walk Bonnie?" Kate asked her bed companion as she got out of bed and changed before heading down the stairs.

Bonnie had followed so Kate took that as meaning she did want some exercise. Picking up her handbag and slinging it across her body, Kate attached the lead to the dog and they left the house.

Bonnie was back to her inquisitive self and upon being outside instantly stretched the lead to the maximum as she sniffed and explored the exciting new smells of nature whilst Kate walked to the shops.

"Won't be long," Kate said to the dog as she tied her to a post outside the supermarket before going inside, picking up a basket as she did. First stop was the bakery, enticing her over to the counter with smells of freshly baked bread and pastries. Kate selected a loaf and a couple of croissants to enjoy with Steve. Bacon, eggs, beans and hash browns soon joined the bread in Kate's basket before she headed to the pharmacy aisle. A selection of kits were available and Kate spent a bit of time reading the information on the back of them before selecting one and ignoring the price. That one item cost more than the rest of her shopping.

There weren't many people using the tills at that time of the morning so Kate and Bonnie were soon heading back to their home. Steve's car was on the driveway when they returned so Kate was as quiet as possible as she entered the house.

She headed to the kitchen to put the fresh food in the fridge before giving Bonnie her breakfast with added pain relief tablet before padding up the stairs to the bedroom.

Kate quietly poked her head round the door and found Steve in bed but awake. "Hi," she greeted.

"Where have you been?" he asked. He had been surprised to find an empty house when he had got back.

"Went to the supermarket to get something for brunch," Kate replied as she entered the room and went over to give Steve a kiss. The pregnancy test was in her back pocket, hidden from sight.

"Sounds good," Steve said through a yawn.

"Busy night?".

"Yeah,".

"I'll leave you to get some sleep," Kate said before heading to the en-suite.

"Bonnie ok?" Steve asked her receding figure.

"Yes. She was unimpressed with us when I first collected her but I think we've been forgiven now. Well I have anyway," Kate said from the bathroom.

"I'll make a fuss of her later," Steve mentioned as he rolled over and tried to get some sleep.

Trying not to create too much noise, Kate carefully unwrapped the test kit. She read the instructions on what she had to do and then went to the toilet. This particular kit had promised her a result within 1 minute so by the time she had washed and dried her hands it was nearly ready.

Pregnant. 3+. The test also gave her an estimate of how many weeks she was pregnant. There it was in black and white. She stared at the result as she tried to come to terms with it. "Steve?".

"Yeah," came his mumbled reply from the bedroom.

"I'm pregnant," she said matter-of-factly.

"OK," he replied sleepily. There was a bit of a delay as his brain started to process what Kate had just told him. She saw him appear in the doorway of the en-suite where she was still stood, rooted to the spot. He was in his boxer briefs looking a mixture of tired and confused. "Did you just say...," he started to say before Kate thrust the stick she was holding in her hand at him.

"Yes," she interrupted.

Steve looked at the result that Kate had read a hundred times over in the last minute. Kate was pregnant. With his child. "What do we do now?"

Six weeks later

Kate and Steve were sat in the maternity ultrasound department awaiting to be called for their scan. After finding out Kate was pregnant they had had many talks and decided to proceed with the pregnancy. Today they would find out if it was progressing ok and get a better estimate of when Kate was due.

Because the first trimester was a tricky time, they hadn't told anyone their news. If everything was ok, that would change so today was a fairly important time for them.

Kate sat quietly trying not to feel anxious. She felt more positive about this pregnancy that she had thought she would but there would still be times of self doubt when she thought herself not up to the job. Today would be the first real test. She hoped she had done a good job of looking after her child so far.

"Kate Fleming," an ultrasonographer called from her room. Kate and Steve stood and made their way over to the woman.

"Hello Kate. I'm Pat," she said as she showed them in to a dimly lit room. There was a couch with a chair to one side and a machine and stool the other. "You must be dad?" she said to Steve.

"Steve," Steve announced as he offer his hand.

"Nice to meet you both," Pat said. "If you take a seat there," she directed Steve, "and Kate if you can pop up on the couch for me we can get started,".

Kate handed Steve her bag before he helped her on to the examination table.

"Right so todays scan is to check everything is progressing well," Pat said once they were in place. "It should take about twenty minutes or so. I'll be tapping away on the machine for a bit taking measurements and things. Just bear with me," she informed the parents-to-be. "Ok Kate, it you can lie back for me and lift your top up to expose your tummy," Kate did as instructed. "Some cold jelly," Pat said as she squirted a tube of lubricant over Kate's lower abdomen.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Kate. It was freezing. Pat smiled. It took nearly every woman by surprise.

"It's the worst bit," Pat informed them as she pressed a wand to Kate's skin and started her scan.

Whilst Pat concentrated on her work, Steve sat there holding Kate's hand for reassurance. They knew each other so well they were able to have a silent conversation with just a couple of looks and not interrupt the sonographer who was busy concentrating on her screen.

"I'm going to have to press a bit harder on your tummy, Kate," Pat announced.

"Everything ok?" Kate asked, suddenly concerned.

"Everything's fine," Pat soothed. "We just have a very active baby here who is not co-operating with this scan at all!".

Kate looked at Steve. He was the one that misbehaved out of the two of them. This was obviously a trait their child had inherited from him.

Eventually all the measurements were done and Pat was able to complete the scan. "Everything looks good," she told Kate and Steve. "Baby is growing well and is matching up with your dates so you are 12 weeks and 3 days today giving you a due date of...," Pat reached for some sort of wheel device and turned some discs around, ".. September 25th,". Kate and Steve smiled at each other at the news, Kate feeling some relief that she was doing a good job at motherhood so far. "Would you like to see baby?" Pat asked. She received two eager nods in reply so she turned the screen so Kate and Steve could see.

Pat pressed her wand to Kate's abdomen and suddenly their child appeared on the screen. They watched as it did a somersault and something resembling a wave. Steve smiled. This tiny thing was 50% him and 50% Kate. The perfect combination. Pat pressed a button and the room filled with the sound of their baby's heart beat. It sounded nice and strong.

"Would you like a picture?".

"Please," they said in unison. Pat pressed a button and a strip of four black and white grainy photos appeared. She handed them to Steve.

"So we're done. You'll receive a letter through the post about booking your 20 week scan," Pat said as she cleaned the gel off Kate's stomach and replaced her top.

"Thanks," said Kate as Steve helped her back off the couch.

"No problem. See you in a couple of months," Pat said as she opened the door to the room and escorted the couple out.

Steve and Kate made their way to their car where they sat and looked at the ultra sound photos once more.

"So I guess we are doing this then," Steve said.

"Yeah," Kate agreed with a smile. "Time to start telling people our news,".