Hijack My Heart

Sharp Scare

January 2020

On Christmas Day, Ben and Brianna shared the news of Brianna's pregnancy with Ben's family and Brianna's mum. All three parents are excited for their first grandchild and Michael for his first niece or nephew then on Boxing Day, they announced the news to the rest of their friends.

Despite revealing the news, their Christmas and New Year were mostly quiet. However, Ben's birthday wasn't a quiet one. With the knowledge that he will be a dad in a few months, Brianna insisted he go out for drinks with the lads and get as drunk as he wants.

He gets home during the early hours of the morning and once he's stripped off, he collapses into bed. With a hand on her bump, he ducks to the same level and speaks freely believing his wife to be fast asleep, "You are the best thing that's ever happened to us. I don't care what your mummy says, I'm certain you're a girl and I will treat you like a princess."

He kisses the bump then drops his head on his pillow pulling Brianna so she is flush against him. Brianna hides her smile behind her hair having heard every word, she won't tell him though, let that be his little secret.

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The Monday following his birthday Brianna went to work at her normal time of 9am, intending to be there most of the day so Ben is surprised when he hears the front door open and close a little after midday.

"Brianna?!" He turns down the radio, calling out her name to check it is her and not one of his parents. He's upstairs working on the nursery with the radio on so he could have easily missed a knock at the door.

"Yeah, it's just me," She replies her voice getting closer as she comes upstairs, Frankie on her heels. Since Christmas the beagle has been stuck to her side like Velcro, her midwife informed her that dogs can sense pregnancy due to a unique smell in hormone changes.

She leans against the door frame looking around the room at the progress he's made. He only made a start this morning and already he's moved out all the boxes and halfway through painting the walls in a light green. Hoping to use the nursery again in the future, they agreed to keep the colour palette natural.

Putting his paintbrush down, Ben moves to stand right in front of her, making her look up, "You okay?" He asks concerned something is wrong, "I thought you were going to be at work till late, you said 4pm before you left."

"I don't feel amazing, my morning sickness seems to have shifted to mid-morning, I keep getting sharp twinges here," She rubs the left side of her bump, "I'm also really tired."

He brings her into a hug, kissing her forehead letting her lean into him, "Well, I'm glad you saw sense and came home instead of trying to push through it. You think the twinges are something to worry about?"

"I rang Megan before I left work to see what she advised, she said the tiredness and sickness are normal and the twinges are mostly likely round ligament pains which are the muscles stretching to make room for the baby. She said she can give me something for the morning sickness and maybe put me on iron tablets if the tiredness becomes too much, but there's not much that can be down for the twinges except try a bath and keep an eye on them."

"And if the twinges are something more?" He guides her to their bedroom getting her to sit on the bed while he draws her a bath in their ensuite.

"If they should grow to pains instead of twinges then call her and go up to the hospital where they'll run some tests, but the likelihood is it's just ligament pains."

He nods coming back over to her, kissing her forehead again, "Have a bath and then have a nap. But you shout if you need me," He doesn't want a repeat of her cyst rupture.