Accidental Love

A New Hope...

"LUUUUUUKKKEEE!! Get your arse out here NOW!" Becky stood in the hall and yelled into the kitchen. She clutched the doorpost and doubled over, face contorted in pain. "Oh God" mumbled, "This is it. Tom, wherever you are love, I hope you know I love you."

Luke had arrived at 6am, in response to a call from Becky telling him she had begun to get contractions. She'd been awake since four, niggling back pain the first indicator. The one she had ignored. If she ignored it, it wasn't happening. The baby, however, told her in no uncertain terms that was NOT an option.

The last six months had flown in, ever since Tom left, they had held out hope he would be back for this day. Now, that hope was dashed. All they had left, was to hope he would see his son - Becky had been right - at all.

She'd called the maternity unit and they'd said wait. First babies were highly unpredictable. If the contractions weren't that strong or regular it could be hours, if not days, she would be more comfortable at home. That had made Becky snort. Comfortable? How was someone so small, capable of booting her in the abdomen with the force of a rugby team, supposed the be comfortable?

Now, a couple of hours later, it had felt less rugby team, more entire platoon of squaddies marching. There was no way this could be described as 'minor contractions'. Luke appeared from the kitchen clutching the coffee he had just been making. "Time to go then eh?" he grinned and she shot him a glance of pure murder.

"Yes, it's FUCKING - owwww - time to go! Part of her wanted to laugh, he was so cute and so excited, but part of her wanted to rip him limb from limb so he could feel a quarter of the pain she now did. Good Pain? Whoever said it was a "good pain" needed their head seen to.

Grabbing the bag that had lain in the hallway for the last two weeks, they made their way to the car and then to the hospital. "If you continue to drive like my maiden aunt, I swear to God Luke I'll kill you where you sit" she hissed between gritted teeth. "Get a BLOODY MOVE ON!"

She reclined the seat slightly and panted. Maybe trying to ignore it, trying to pretend it wasn't happening this morning hadn't been her best decision....

In the first few weeks - no make that months, after Tom and his colleagues had gone missing, there had been headlines. And reporters. And speculation. And a hell of a lot of mis-information. Sarah had done her job fantastically well in the end, fielding all the questions, removing the reporters from the doorstep and generally protecting Becky, Diana and Luke from the worst of the attention. They'd done a press conference where Becky sat silent and white, Diana spoke briefly of her confidence that Tom would return and Luke had asked for privacy while they navigated the minefield that was now their daily lives.

Slowly, though, the interest waned. There was no million dollar ransom demand, no dramatic You-Tube video demanding something. It became, quite frankly, like he never existed. Only the families of the fellow captives remained in touch. Alistair's mum and dad came and visited a few times, but other than that? Becky was a widow before she was a wife. And a mother.

The police and the foreign office kept up the search but it was, as they said, without demands, without any clues like looking for a needle in a jungle. As time wore on, Becky never gave up. Every night she spoke to both the baby and it's dad just as if they were there with her. Every night she went to sleep wondering if this was the last night she would be alone.

Every morning, until that fateful morning, it wasn't.

Now, on their way to the maternity unit, Becky looked across at where Tom should have been - by her side. Luke drove, face set into determined lines, glancing over every now and again looking every inch the expectant Godfather. A mixture of excitement and fear plastered on his face.

"It's going to be ok - isn't it?" she said quietly in a moment between moments. Luke nodded and smiled.

"Yes Becks. It's all going to be ok. I promise." there was no laughter, there were no jokes, this time he was quiet and serious. Even he knew the time for joking was past. "Tom WILL come home Becks, he will come home and see his son and his wife to be and things will be ok."

"Thanks Luke, for everything, for not giving up." she reached over and put a shaking hand on his arm. Luke drew into a space at the hospital and turned the car engine off. He turned to her, this time, his eyes filled with tears.

"Becks, no matter what happens, today, tomorrow or a decade from now, I will always be here for you. I promise." he looked at her and in that moment she knew. He would never leave her, never betray her but most of all, he would never betray Tom. She smiled and nodded. There was nothing to say other than,

"I know. Thank you."

There was a moment of silence, of companionship, of love on a level that wasn't based on any kind of physical desire. It was simply that the two of them needed each other to survive what was about to unleash.

"Come on then Fairy Godfather, let's do this. Ohhhhhh you little SHIIIIIIT!" and the moment was gone.

Five hours, lots and LOTS of swearing later, William Luke Hiddleston screamed his way into the world. As Becky looked down at her son, she thought her heart would burst. She loved Tom beyond question, but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming tsunami she felt for this mewling, wriggling, pink, blotchy and frankly beautiful little bundle.

She turned to Luke, sitting at her head and smiled. "He's perfect." was all she could say through the tears.

"Yes Becks he is. Perfect." Luke smiled "Well done. You're so clever and so brave. Tom would have been so proud of you - he WILL be so proud of you." he kissed her forehead. "Now, I think I have some calls to make don't you?" he stood and delicately kissed the newborn.

"Daddy is coming home little man, I promise. Wherever he is his heart, like ours, is yours."

With that, Luke ran his hand gently over her head and left. The nurses came in to take Billy to clean and care for him and to let Becky get sorted out. She lay back on the pillow and broke her heart. This was the best and the worst day of her entire life.