The Back Up Benefit

A Pretty Big Deal

Both of our families and the two of us were squashed around the dinning room table at Ricky's house for dinner. We'd decided to break the news about the baby during the meal. I was so nervous and Ricky could tell. If I found myself getting too stressed he seemed to sense it and put an arm around me and a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Don't get stressed. You'll make yourself ill and it might hurt our little baby." he'd whisper.

"I know. I'm just so nervous about telling everyone." I would reply.

When everyone was sat down and about to eat Ricky took my hand under the table and cleared his throat loudly. The gentle babble of chatter died down and everyone looked at him.

"Me and Lizzie want to tell you all something." he announced then looked to me for approval to continue. "We're going to have a baby."

There was a silence that seemed to last for hours. I could feel everyone's shock and confusion. My mum was the first to say anything when she got up to pad softly over to me and kiss me on the cheek.

"Congratulations darling. You'll be a great mummy." she said softly.

"Thanks mum." I muttered.

The others followed suit and then the inevitable questions and statements arose.

"That's a big surprise!"
"But you've only just started dating!"
"It's a bit rushed!"

They were all the kinds of things that almost made me burst into tears. I just looked down into my lap and tried not to get emotional.

"It's the 12 week scan next week to check everything's alright. We just thought we should tell you all seeing as you're all here. It was a shock to both of us and we'll be the first to admit that the timing isn't good but it's going to turn into something amazing." Ricky told everyone.

He was annoyingly good with words and I made the mistake of looking up at him. His bright blue eyes were pricked with tears too as he looked at me.

"Oh god, Rick! Don't say such beautiful things when I'm this hormonal!" I whimpered.

He wiped the tears that rolled down my cheeks and then kissed each cheek in turn. His cuteness just made me worse. I excused myself from the meal and went outside for some air. A few moments later Ricky joined me and put an arm around my waist. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, burying my face in his neck.

"You all right?" he asked.

"No. I will be but not right now." I replied.

"It's ok. You can take as long as you need." he told me as he rubbed my back soothingly.

"It feels more real now that we're telling people." I said.

"It's going to get more real the more stuff happens. The scan next week's a pretty big deal." he said.

"I know!" I sighed.

After we'd told our families the next big thing to worry about was the first scan. I knew it wouldn't hurt me or the baby but I was still worried. I worried about everything lately.

The day of the scan came around quicker than I expected. The appointment was late morning, just before lunch. I got up and got ready as usual but didn't have the appetite for breakfast. I nudged some cereal around the bowl and watched Percival hopping around my sitting room. I loved watching him and found bunny hops so cute. I heard Ricky come in the front door.

"You up?" he called.

"Yeah. Through here." I replied.

"Hey Percy Pants! You're so cute! You know I love bunny circles!" he grinned as Percival bounded over to greet him by running around his feet in circles. He looked over at me and smiled. "Struggling with food again?"

I nodded. "I don't feel sick or anything. I just don't really want food."

"You know you need to eat." he told me as he stepped over Percival and sat down next to me. "Not just for our baby but for yourself. I'm not having the woman I love waste away."

"Sorry mum!" I laughed a little.

"That's more like it. I love the twinkle in your eyes." he smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm an emotional old cow." I said quietly.

"It's completely understandable my love." he said softly and turned my face to his gently with the tips of his gorgeous fingers. "Besides, you're not grumpy with me. You're just adorable and I love you."

"I love you too darling." I smiled a little.

After we parked Ricky's Mini at the hospital we headed to the maternity department. Ricky held my hand the whole way, only letting go when I had to fill out a form with my details. I filled out the basics like name, date of birth, contact details while he played a game on his phone, occasionally making excited noises. I paused when I got to the next of kin section. Usually I would say that my mum was my next of kin but that was when I didn't have a serious boyfriend. Ricky was the father of the baby as well as my best friend and boyfriend so he would always be in my life but was this too big a label to put on us too soon? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I was pregnant, that was a bigger deal than emergency contact.

"You alright?" he asked.

I nodded and made a noise of agreement. He tapped his finger on the paper where I'd been lost in thought.

"Put my name as Charles if you must!" he sighed.

"Thanks Charles!" I giggled.

I finished filling out the form and handed it back to the lady at the desk. I looked around the room at the happy couples also waiting for their scans. Some women were in their early stages like me, some looked ready to deliver any day now. There were all sizes of bump and every woman had a partner with her. I wondered to myself how many had been trying for their baby and how many were surprise babies like ours. Either way, they all looked a lot happier to be pregnant than I was.