All Yours Somehow

September 2013

“Hannah, you’ve got a visitor!” John called up the stairs.

“Urgh, who now?” I groaned quietly so only I heard. “Alright send them up!” I called back.

A few seconds later, Holly entered my bedroom with a grin on her face.

“Hey best friend!” she smiled, bounding over to the bed, where I was laying with Marius.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Well I brought you some presents,” she told me. “OK, first one, here,” she said, handing me a box.

“Desperate Housewives box set?”

“There’s eight seasons there, hopefully that should keep you entertained for a while,” she said. “Next one.”

“Ice cream, you know me too well,” I laughed.

“Actually I asked John what you were craving at the moment, so I kinda cheated on that one,” she smiled. “OK, last one, this one is the best one, but I’ve just got to get it.”

She disappeared out of my room but returned just seconds later with a dress bag in her hand.

“This is for you,” she instructed.

I sat up properly and unzipped the bag and pulled out a floor length purple dress.

“This is gorgeous, what’s this for?” I asked.

“This is your maid of honor dress,” she smiled. “I know that you were worried about being big on my wedding day, but I want you to know that you will be gorgeous, just as you always are and you are going to glow in six weeks time.”

“Thank you, Holly, it’s gorgeous, I love it,” I told her hanging it up. “It’s going to be a great day.”

“I hope so, I’m nervous yet so excited at the same time,” she smiled.

“I remember how that felt,” I laughed. “Don’t worry, it’ll pass.”

“Hey, I’m just going to be in the other room,” John said, poking his head round the door of our bedroom.

Holly and I spent the next few hours watching Desperate Housewives whilst eating ice cream, curled up on my bed with Marius. Every so often she’d start talking to my stomach and telling the babies inside me stories about us growing up.

“When you two are old enough, your Aunt Holly is going to tell you this stories again so that you can laugh at your mommy,” Holly said.

“I like the sound of that, ‘Aunt Holly’,” I smiled. “Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I said, sitting up and facing her. “I know they haven’t been born yet, but I want you to be their godmother. Whether they are boys, girls or one of each, I know you’ll be a great role model for them and they will love their Aunt Holly as much as I do.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking stunned. “I mean, thank you, I’d love to!”

“Oh good!” I laughed.

“You hear that babies? That means you’ve got to listen to me now,” she smiled, talking to my bump again.

Later that evening after Holly had left, John came into our room where I was still curled up with our dog watching countless episodes. He had a smile over his face which I knew meant he was up to something. He’d been spending a lot of days like today, in his den with the door shut. I knew by now not to ask what he was doing in there all the time.

“Han, I’ve got something to show you,” he half-smiled as he stood in the doorway.

“A surprise for me?” I asked excitedly.

“Sort of,” he shrugged.

“Is it something for the babies?!” I asked, getting more excited.

“Why don’t you just come look,” he suggested.

He came over and took my hand to help me off the bed and led me out of the room towards his den, where the door was shut. Once we got to the room, we stopped outside.

“We’ve stopped, why have we stopped?” I asked, confused.

“I just want you to know that I’ve been working in here on something special and if you don’t completely love it, tell me because I want it to be perfect,” John explained.

“OK, I will, but I know you and I’m sure whatever this is, it will be perfect,” I smiled. “Now show me!”

He turned the handle and opened the door to the room. I gasped as I saw the huge change inside. What had been his den for playing his guitar and the piano we had, where he’d built himself a mini studio, where his endless records and CDs lined the walls, was gone. The blue walls and wooden flooring had been replaced with cream walls and carpet. All his instruments and equipment had been changed to two cribs, a rocking chair and a few other bits of furniture. There were cuddly toys around the room and the walls had a border going around the middle made up of Disney characters.

“John, I love it, it’s amazing!” I said, as we stepped further into the room.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, in fact, it’s more than that,” I smiled. “It’s perfect.”

I walked over to one of the cribs and picked up one of the toys that were in it. It was a dog that looked just like Marius, which made me laugh.

“John when did you do all this?” I asked.

“When you were resting,” he told me. I walked over to him and put my arms around his shoulders as his wrapped around my back. “We have two miracles growing inside you and I just want everything to be great for when they arrive. I don’t want you to have to worry about anything over the next couple of months, although I know you will. We’re going to have a family soon and I cannot wait.”

“Me either,” I smiled at him. “Thank you for all of this, for everything. I sometimes wonder where I’d be without you, and truth is I don’t want to think about it, you are my life, John and I have you to thank for every great moment that has happened.”

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I woke to the smell of something delicious cooking filling the house. I looked to my right and noticed John wasn’t in the bed and smiled as I knew he was up to something. Today was September 22nd, mine and John’s first anniversary as a married couple.

“Oh you’re awake,” he said, walking back into the bedroom with a glass of orange juice in his hand.

“Only just,” I smiled. “Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary to you, my beautiful wife,” he smiled widely back. “This is for you, I’ll be back with more gifts for you in just a moment,” he said, handing me the orange juice.

A few minutes later, after I’d propped up pillows behind my back to ease the strain on my bump, John walked back into the room carrying a tray of food which he placed in front of me on the bed.

As we ate the breakfast, we talked and placed kisses on each others lips and cheeks. Life was so easy with John. He worked with the band, came home, looked after me and loved me and I returned it. There wasn’t a day that went by that I did love John with everything I had. Sure we had our hard times but it never met my love for him went away, even slightly. He was the one thing I knew would always be there for me and over this past year as husband and wife, our love for each other had only grown and the strength that he had shown while I was pregnant was just another quality I loved about him. We finished up the food he’d prepared and I noticed he was staring at me.

“What, do I have food on my face or something?” I asked.

“No, I was just thinking about how much I love you and how grateful I am that you’re are my wife and how amazing this last year has been,” he smiled.

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing,” I told him.

“I was going to wait until later to give you this, but I think you should have it now,” he said, leaning over to his bedside table and opening the drawer to pull out a long small box. “I bought this for you as an anniversary gift, but also something for you to fill in a couple of months time,” he explained as he handed it to me.

I opened up the box and pulled out a simple silver oval shaped Tiffany locket, twisting it through my fingers.

“John, it’s lovely,” I smiled.

“I thought that you could put a photo of each baby in either side,” he said.

“It’s perfect,” I told him. Just as I put the locket back into the box, I felt a kick to my stomach. Immediately placing a hand on my stomach, John’s eyes shot to the same area. “Woah, babies want to be involved too.”

“Our babies will always be involved, no doubt about that,” he laughed softly, placing his hand over mine as one of the babies continued to kick.

“Happy anniversary, O’Callaghan,” I smiled up at him.

“Happy anniversary, Hannah,” he smiled back before kissing my lips.