All Yours Somehow

I woke up to an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed and I didn’t like it. I lifted my head slightly and looked around more. I saw John sat in a chair to the right of my bed. His eyes were shut and he was breathing softly while his head was tilted back but I knew he wasn’t asleep because it was very rare that he slept with his mouth shut.

Slowly turning my head to the left, I saw the machines that the wires coming from my body were attached to. I frowned and turned away again. I didn’t know what time it was, what day it was or what state I was in and the machines didn’t make me feel any better.

“So what’s the bad news?” I croaked out. John’s eyes flickered open and his head moved so he could look at me properly.

“Hannah,” he breathed, getting up and leaning over to kiss my forehead.

“Is everything OK?” I asked, my voice still croaking.

“For now, yes,” he told me. I could hear the concern in his voice though. “They’re waiting to do a few more tests because of something they found. I’ll get the doctor so he can explain.”

As he left the room, I looked down at my bump and placed my hand softly over it. I took a few deep breaths as I tired to keep the tears building in my eyes from spilling down my face.

Within a few seconds of him leaving, John was back in the room with a doctor following his steps.

“Mrs O’Callaghan, so glad to see you awake. I’m Dr Hibbs,” the man smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” I groaned.

“That’s perfectly normal, due to the medication,” he said.

“What about my baby?” I asked. It was, after all, my main concern.

“What you experienced was the early stage of Pelvic Girdle Pain, or PGP,” he explained. “Essentially, it is the mobility of pelvic joints that are effected and usually areas become tender. Explanations for the cause of PGP are the baby changing its position, strenuous activity, a change in pelvic muscle activity, amongst other. Your husband said that you felt the pain during movement in your home,” he continued, as I nodded slowly, taking it all in. “It is common that PGP can come on suddenly after strains to the joints, which may be the most likely cause for your case.”

“So what does all this mean?” I asked.

“Your baby is fine,” Dr Hibbs reassured. “But we want to do one more test but first we’d like to to get you in a for a scan.”

“Why?” I questioned, looking from the doctor to John with wide eyes. John had a slight smile on his face.

“Mrs O’Callaghan, has your doctor mentioned anything to you about multiple births?” Dr Hibbs asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Another explanation for the cause of pelvic girdle pain is the occurrence of a twin pregnancy,” he told me.

“Twins?” I stuttered, my eyes flickering between John and Dr Hibbs repeatedly.

“It’s a possibility,” the doctor explained. “So we’d like to take you in for a scan so we know what we’re dealing with.”

I physically felt my mouth drop open as it hit me. I was possibly expecting twins. Not one baby, but two.

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“The doctor said you need to get plenty of rest, so I don’t want you to worry about a thing, I am here for whatever you need,” John said, as we walked in our house. “I think you should probably head to bed.”

“But I don’t want to,” I whined.

“Hannah,” John said, sternly.

“John,” I mimicked back. “I feel like a kid in trouble being sent to their room,” I said, my tone going back to normal.

“Well, get used to it,” John laughed softly.

“I can’t believe he signed me off work already, what am I supposed to do for the next five or so months?”

“Rest,” he instructed. “Dr Hibbs said we were lucky that they detected the PGP so early but we don’t want any more complications so it’s best to not take any risk.”

“I know, but it’s a long time to just sit around here,” I said, as I made my way to the stairs.

“Hannah,” John called, causing me to turn around. “I just want you to know that everything is going to be OK and I am going to do everything I can to make sure you and I and our two babies are perfect.”

I smiled at him widely as I realised how much we’d grown over the past few years. I’d never had anyone in my life like John and I was so thankful for him.

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“Are you sure you’re up to this?” John asked as he park the car and we began to get out.

“The doctor said two weeks full rest and after that no strenuous activity,” I said. “I don’t think walking round a grocery store counts as strenuous activity.”

“OK, well if you feel anything just let me know, alright?”

“Yes, babe,” I sighed, as we made our way to the entrance.

I’d been stuck in our house for the past two and a half weeks now and even though I’d had a lot of visitors, staring at the same four walls all the time was beginning to drive crazy and I needed to get out, even if was only to the store.

We strolled up and down the aisles slowly with John pushing the cart as we picked up items and threw them in. As we walked around, I smiled to myself how nice it was to be out of the house and see faces that weren’t my family or friends. That is, I was happy about the about the strangers faces I saw, except one.

“Hey, I’m going to get some juice,” I said to John as he headed towards the last couple of aisles. It was pathetic really, it had been years since I’d even seen his face, let alone spoken to him, so I didn’t know why it had bothered me to see him here. Maybe it was the fact that I wasn’t the same girl I used to be, I was older now, a married woman about to become a mother. Maybe that’s exactly what it was. I wasn’t the same and yet as far as I could tell, he hadn’t changed at all and I already felt like I had to protect my unborn children.

I grabbed a couple of cartons of juice and walked back to John hoping that it was clear now.

“Well, well,” I heard his voice say from behind me. “Hannah Frazier.”

I sighed before turning around. “It’s O’Callaghan now,” I told him.

“Yeah I heard about that,” he smirked. “Congratulations, I guess and congratulations on the baby too,” he said, indicating to my bump.

He stood there just looking at me for a few seconds before he realised what he was doing and shook his head.

“What do you want, Stephen?” I asked.

“Nothing, I just haven’t seen you in forever,” he said.

“Alright well, see you around,” I told him and turned back to walk down the last aisle.

“Wait, Hannah,” he called so I turned back around again. “Look, I just want to say that I’m sorry for being such a jerk all those years, you never deserved any of it and I honestly don’t know why I acted like it.”

“Stephen, you don’t have to,” I sighed.

“No, I do,” he continued. “I guess I never liked the idea of you moving on before but I was still just a kid I suppose. So, I’m sorry for everything.”

“Stephen?” a petite blonde called walking behind him.

“Hey,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “Hannah, this is my girlfriend June, June this is Hannah, an old friend.”

“Nice to meet you, June,” I smiled at her.

“You too,” she smiled back.

“Alright, well, I’ll let you go, good to see you,” Stephen said to me.

“And you,” I nodded, before walking back to find John.

The one person I never thought would change finally did and it felt good to know that he had. Everyone had to grow up eventually.