Girl in a Hoodie: Where the Future Lies

Chapter 35

Riley's POV:

The next couple of days after the wedding is spent moving a bunch of boxes from one house to the new house we're renting a couple of minutes away from Deborah's. The money is currently coming from the monthly income Deborah has fixated on sending through to us onto mine and James's bank accounts and with the pay James is currently earning a month which is equal to around 28.8k a year and the current finance I'm retrieving is enough for us to pay for gas and electric and bills, etc.

James was currently at his parents to get the spare things we had yet to bring over whilst I stayed at the house and unpacked, although it took a lot of work for me to convince him that I'd be fine on my own. 

The house has an adequate amount of space, I'd say. The kitchen is adjacent with the living room in the same area which measures about 20 foot in length and the width being around 14 foot for the kitchen before it reaches the sitting room where the space expands and leads to the front door and backyard. There's a downstairs toilet and then upstairs are the two bedrooms, one being a nursery room and then mine and James's bedroom having a cot inside of it with an en suite bathroom with both a shower and a bathtub. 

We've decided to design the nursery by putting in a request to have the ceiling painted a light lilac colour with fading crescent shapes indulged in it. And then once Ellie is born we're hoping to be able to take pictures to put in photo frames to plaster them on the walls which is currently a smooth white and we're thinking of keeping it that colour, not wanting the room to be too enclosed by being much too colourful.

As I was in mine and James's bedroom, I was unpacking a suitcase which was full of clothes for baby girls, kneeling on the carpeting on my knees and taking it out, admiring each outfit for a few moments before folding it into a neat pile. I come across one Piper had chosen which was a small grey top with the words 'Daddy's Little Dreamer' in black calligraphy with a silver, shimmery outline.

I carefully lay it out on the bed and then fold the sleeves inwards before folding it into two and then placing it on top of the pile I had created a while ago. I continue the process up until I hear the sounds of a car pulling up outside, knowing it was no doubt James and so I don't bother getting up to check, instead I stay sat on the floor. 

Once the front door opens, I could suddenly hear chatter from down the stairs up until I'm able to acknowledge it was just Piper and she must have been helping James with fun of the things. As they obviously walk closer into the living room and the door of the bedroom I was currently in was open, I was able to comprehend a slight bit of what they were talking about as Piper was asking him where she'd sleep if she ever wanted to stay over seeing as she has a tendency to get sick and tired of her siblings - but then again, who doesn't? 

I vaguely hear his response of how the furniture will be arriving tomorrow and that the sofa extends into a bed so she'll be fine and she somewhat groans a little. I laugh at their conversation a little till I hear his familiar loud footsteps come up the stairs. I listened as he walked into the nursery first which happened to be the first room before checking the playroom, which was temporarily a storage room for the time being, and is when I'm able to tell he was looking for me.

"I'm in here, babe," I call through the landing, tilting my head to the side to look at the door until he enters.

"Oh, hey, Ri. How's it going?" he asks me. He walks over and sits on the foot of the bed beside the net pile I had made and I watch as his eyes draw to the current baby grow I had held in my hands.

"Okay. I've unpacked mine and yours's clothes and put them in the wardrobe so I'm just going through Ellie's." He nods and leans forward to kiss my lips quickly and then he runs two of his fingers through a couple strands of my hair. "Did you get everything from your mum's?"

"Yeah, I did. The boxes are downstairs. Do you want me to bring them up, or...?"

"No, it's fine. I'll be down in a few and then we can go through them. Is Piper going to be staying long or are you going to drop her off?"

"Well, Dad's got a hospital appointment, I think it finishes at around 12:30, and then he's going to pick her up on his way back." I look at the clock on the wall behind me and see that it was now 11:50. "Did you take the antibiotics?" he asks me.

"Yeah, don't worry," I smile. His eyes drift away from mine and into the box of baby clothes and then he carefully picks one out.

"Now this... is what you call adorable," he says, holding up a lilac skirt with a black hem and waistband. I smirk at him. "What? It is! Where did you get it from?" He begins to stretch it out, playing around with the fabric and I roll my eyes at him.

"Your sister got it. As in Rose. She went out with Piper and I and then she came across it and was acting as if we were buying it for her or something..." I say, my voice fading out as an increasing pain spirals in my stomach. "Oh my god," I mutter. I clench the duvet in my palms as it doesn't seem to stop and a leakage begins to spoil the bedsheets as it all seems to be happening again, just like when we were in school four months ago.

"Ri?" he asks. I look at him, gulping, which makes him look downwards and he instantly sees the stains. "Your water just broke," he mumbles like I didn't know that already so I nod vigorously. "Okay, um, can you stand up?" He holds my hands as I try my hardest to do so but the furthest I get to is lifting up by a few inches then falling back down.

"I can't, James. It hurts too much," I moan, wincing as the long ache strives through my lower abdomen. "James!" He looks into my eyes when I begin to gasp for air and then he swiftly lets go of my hands to go and open the window before sitting down beside me and I lean into his side whilst he takes his phone out.

"I'm calling the ambulance, okay?" he tells me. I nod as best I can but bite my lip in excruciating pain to the point where I can probably taste my own blood and he kisses the top of my head, rubbing my arm up and down.

"Hey, what are you two-" Piper questions, walking into the room. I look up at her and then she gathers everything together. "Oh my gosh! Shall I call Mum?" she asks, beginning to rush over. James puts a hand out as a way of asking her to give me space and then she obliges, still standing in front of us to which James puts a thumbs-up sign to her.

I whine again, placing my hand over my bump and then force myself to take long deep breaths.

"It's okay, babe. I'm here." I nod again which seems to be the only thing I'm actually capable of doing as I grab hold of his spare hand when he removes it from the touch of my arm. He doesn't mind when I squeeze it, instead he squeezes mine in return.