Love Letter

Silence

Their choice of road would come as part of a whirlwind few weeks that neither could have anticipated or realised they had the strength to deal with.

Strength that began with the strongest cramps Ali had ever felt in her life. She was standing in the bathroom, brushing her teeth when she almost bit the toothbrush in two.

"Fuck me!" She winced, eyes screwed up. Clutching the toothbrush in one hand and the edge of the basin in the other, she waited. The cramps receded, and she straightened again. "Whoa, that was a strong one." She shook her head and, putting her brush on to charge, left the bathroom.

Walking down to the kitchen, Tom was reading his emails on his phone, absentmindedly stirring his coffee with the other hand. He looked up from his seat, and she kissed his forehead on the way by.

"You ok? You look a bit pale, love?" He said as he watched her put some bread in the toaster. She nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, just another reminder what we're - I'm - in for next month. Bean decided to show me what Braxton Hicks was like while I was brushing my teeth. Nearly swallowed the bloody brush!" She grinned, and Tom bit his lip.

"Sorry, love!" He shrugged and made his cute 'sorry for being me' face. "Guess that's partly my fault!" Ali put the toasted bread on a plate, and as she began to load it with peanut butter, she shook her head.

"Oh no love, not partly your fault!" She turned, knife in hand and wicked smile on her face, "ALL your fault! Especially once I've been heaving and sweating for several hours!"

Tom nodded sheepishly, "ok, I'll take it for the team." He stood and put his mug in the sink, kissing her softly on the way by. "Just going through to the office to make a couple of calls, enjoy your breakfast.." he scooped a little peanut butter onto his finger and looked like he was going to taste it. At the last second, he smooshed it onto the tip of her nose with an evil cackle and walked away.

"Thomas Hiddleston...." she laughed at her 5 year old husband. "What would I do if you were normal, eh?" She put the knife down and picked up a half slice from the plate. She wandered over to the sink, munching as she went. Picking up a mug from rhe drainer, she looked out of the window. Her attention was drawn to a couple of crows, fighting over a crisp bag as if it were the crown jewels.

Entranced by the drama, she stood staring at them, half eaten toast in one hand, mug in the other.

Suddenly, she dropped both, toast falling onto the worktop, mug onto the tiled floor, instantly smashing to a thousand pieces. A shard of china bounced up and cut her ankle, drawing blood.

That wasn't the problem. The problem was the blinding pain now gripping her. Blinding pain that came from only one place.

She screamed.

"TOM!!!!!"......

"So when the baby comes, I'm happy to do interviews from home, over Zoom or whatever, but I'd want to be here for the first few weeks. Know what I mean?" Tom was sitting in the office, feet up on the desk, leaning back. He was talking to Luke on the phone, flicking through a script that had landed on his desk a couple of days before. For the first time in a long time, he felt relaxed, secure in the love of his wife, and the joy of their baby to come.

"Absolutely no problem, I'll clear your calendar completely for a month, and we can take it case by case after that." Luke replied with genuine warmth. "So, how's Dad to Be then? Shitting bricks yet?" He laughed, Tom was to the public, the epitome of refined calmness. He knew the truth. A sweating, shaking mess who was terrified of putting a foot wrong and letting his universe aka his wife, down.

"Oh, you know, just little half ones. Be full-blown boulders in a month's time.
Ali's just amazing. Taken everything in her stride. She's a natural. Bean had been an angel. We can't wait to...."