All Yours Somehow

June 2013

My eyes fluttered open as I laid on the couch, curled up with a blanket over me. My arm rested over the ever-increasing bump I had and as I looked down, I saw another hand resting there too. John was crouching on the floor of our living room, smiling at me as my eyes focused on him.

“Hey sleepy,” he grinned, brushing hair out of my face. “How’s my baby?”

“Good,” I mumbled.

“And how about our baby?” he asked, moving his hand back to my bump.

“He or she is good too,” I smiled. “How was writing?”

“It was somewhat successful,” he nodded. “Do you need me to get you anything?”

“No, I’m alright, right now, thank you,” I told him. “I’ll tell you what though, next time I’m pregnant, we’re moving somewhere that isn’t so freaking hot all the freaking time!”

“Next time?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes, John,” I sighed. “I mean you grew up with two brothers, I grew up with a sister, could you imagine being an only child?”

“I get that, but let’s get this pregnancy out of the way first before we start thinking about the next one, hey?”

“Alright, daddy,” I teased. “By the way, speaking of my sister, she wants us to go round later for dinner. I told her we would, if that’s OK?”

“Of course, does she know what she’s gotten herself into though, cooking for the fussiest pregnant woman ever?”

“I am not!” I said, as my phone began to ring. I picked it up to see that Holly was calling me. “Hello?”

“Hi! Guess what!” she said down the line.

“What?”

“I’ve set a date for the wedding!”

“Really? When?” I asked.

“October 12th,” she told me.

“As in this year? Holly, I’m going be 7 and a half months pregnant by then!” I whined. “Do you realise how fat I’m going to be?”

“Shut up, you will not be fat, it’ll be fine,” she said. “Anyways, gotta go, just wanted to let you know.”

“Alright thanks, bye!” I said, ending the call. “So looks like we’ve got a wedding to attend,” I smiled at John.

“Halvo and Holly set a date?” he asked.

“Yeah, and I’m still going to be pregnant, those photos are going to be horrible,” I sighed, shifting my body so I was able to get up from the couch easier.

“Where are you going? I can get anything for you,” John said, jumping up.

“I know you love looking after me, O’Callaghan,” I smiled. “But I told Summer we’d go round in about an hour, so mama needs to find herself something to wear out into this ridiculous heat.”

“Well-”

“Don’t even say whatever is about to come out of your mouth,” I laughed as I interrupted him.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” he protested.

“Oh I think I can guess,” I told him. “And it was probably something about me going naked or in my underwear, and let me tell you, no one wants to see that right now, especially not my sister and her boyfriend,” I finished, before walking out into the hall.

“Damn she’s good,” I heard John say as I walked away.

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We were sat around the table at my sister’s apartment with her and Joel as we all enjoyed the meal Summer had prepared. We all chatted as we ate, as we always did whenever the four of us were together. I liked that John and Joel were already friends because it made hanging out as two couples easier.

“Oh, Han, I bought the cutest thing for my niece or nephew earlier,” Summer said.

“Oh, here we go,” Joel sighed. “You should have heard her when she found it at the store earlier.”

“It’s just so cute!” she laughed. “Excuse me while I go get it.”

“It’s not that great really,” Joel smirked.

“I get it, man,” John laughed. “You should have seen Hannah going crazy over the idea of getting to decorate a baby room.”

“Hey, it’s exciting,” I told them.

“Hannah, look how cute this is!” Summer said, coming back to the table. She was holding up a baby onesie that said ‘my Daddy’s a rockstar’ across the front. “It’s cute because it’s true!”

“Oh that is so sweet!” I smiled as she handed it to me.

“OK, I admit that is pretty awesome,” John commented, as we looked at it.

“Well, since you’re not finding out the sex, I thought this would be perfect for either a boy or a girl,” she explained.

Conversation continued as Summer and I talked more about the pregnancy and John and Joel rolled their eyes at each other.

“So we should hit the road together again soon, man,” John said, starting his own conversation with Joel.

“We definitely should! It’s been too long,” Joel continued.

“Hey, are you stealing my man, O’Callaghan?” Summer asked, refilling her glass.

“Get used to it,” I laughed.

“Once the baby is here, I’m not going anywhere for a while,” John told me, leaning over and kissing my head.

“Damn right!” I smiled.

“I still can’t believe you guys are going to be parents,” Joel said. “I mean, I can see you as a mom, Hannah, but John? Not so much.”

“Hey, what are you trying to say?” John frowned.

“Nothing, just that I’ve known you years and I don’t think any of us imagined you’d be this first one to have kids.”

“Yeah but when the time comes and you’re with the right person, you know it’s what you want,” John smiled over at me. “You’ll get there one day.”

As John said this, I saw Joel and Summer look at each other and smile. It was weird to think that when I was my sister’s age, I was already engaged to John. Although, seeing Summer with Joel, everyone could tell that it wouldn’t be long before they took things further. The way Joel looked at her, you could see how hopelessly in love with her he was. They had been together around nine months now and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my sister as happy as she had been in those months, and I wasn’t the only one who thought it.

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“Tonight was fun,” John said, as we walked into our house later that evening.

“Yeah, it was,” I smiled. “Although, next time don’t let me eat so much.”

“Babe, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” John laughed, softly. “Hi there, Marius,” he said, bending down to stroke our dog’s head.

I put my bag on the counter in the kitchen and went to check that e ad enough food and water. As I went to open the cupboard we kept the dog food in, I suddenly felt a pain shoot across my stomach. I gripped the counter in from of me as the pain continued, bending forward and biting my lip to try to keep myself from screaming out in pain.

After around a minute, the pain vanished and I took a few deep breaths before standing up properly again. I ran my hand over my bump and sighed.

“What are you doing to me, baby?” I said, quietly, looking down at the bump.

“Everything alright?” John asked, walking into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I smiled as I lied. I didn’t want John to worry if what had just happened was nothing. The pain came and went so briefly that I didn’t want to think about it too much. I went back to put a few biscuits in Marius’ bowl and walked back over to where I’d left my bag. John reached into the fridge and grabbed two bottle of water, as I felt the pain come back to my stomach. Only this time, it was much worse.

“Oh my god, JOHN!” I yelled, as my legs gave way beneath me. I held my hand to the baby as I felt myself fall to the floor.

“HANNAH!” John yelled, dropping the water bottles and falling to his knees in front of me. “Hannah, what’s happened? What’s going on?” he asked, his voice laced in worry. “Come on, come on,” he mumbled, whilst placing his arm around my back to steady me.

“Something isn’t right, John,” I said, as tears began to fill my eyes.

“Come on, baby, I’m taking you to the hospital,” he said, shifting his body.

“John” I breathed out, putting a hand on his chest. “I don’t want to lose the baby,” I cried out.

“You’re not going to,” he frowned as he picked me up bridal style. “We’re not going to.”