Try

My Baby Girl

Connie stood up and turned in the direction she went. "Grace!" Jacob stopped her from going anywhere as Alicia rounded the desk. "Let me..."

Alicia ran off after Grace as Jacob enveloped Connie into a hug. Not exactly the surprise return she'd planned. They turned and began to say brief hello's before Jacob took Connie's hand and wandered into her office.

"What have I done Jacob? I could have just lost my baby girl-" "You haven't lost her sweet cheeks, it'll just take some getting used to. She's probably worried."

Connie looked across to him as they both sat on the sofa. "Worried?" Jacob nodded as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Think of it this way. She's just got her Mum back again, to find out she's going to be losing her attention to another child. She's probably scared about losing you again."

What he said made sense but Connie could never understand that. Grace would always be her little girl and she would never stop caring for her. Jacob pulled her into his side as a few tears escaped her eyes. Involuntarily Connie let a hand fall to her stomach where it stayed protectively.

Alicia had continued to run after Grace before stopping as she sat down on the bench. "Hey, why'd you run from your Mum like that? I thought you'd be happy to see her." Alicia noticed the tears in the little girls eyes as she took a seat beside her.

"She didn't come back for me-" "Of course she did. Grace your Mum loves you so much." "Then why is she having another baby? She came back because she's pregnant not because she wants to see me again."

Alicia sighed at Connie's timing. No wonder she'd reacted this way after her day at school. Grace cried as she rest her head against Alicia. "I know that your Mum loves you more than anything else, and she can love two of you just the same-" "But when the baby's here it will be all about them and she'll forget about me. I'll just be in the way all the time."

Grace sat away from Alicia before she pulled her onto her lap. "Are you kidding? Your Mums going to need you more than she's ever needed you before!" Grace frowned looking down at the ground. "Why?"

"Because your Mum is going to be so scared. Scared about working too much. Scared about not seeing you or Jacob enough. Scared about shouting at Jacob because she'll be stressed. Scared about losing you, her little girl. Scared about raising another child, she'll need your help more than ever."

Alicia stroked the hair from Grace's face. "Anyway that baby's going to look up to you and love you like mad... You need to be there for them."  Grace thought about it. She'd always wanted to have a brother or sister.  "I wish I had a big sister who could help me all the time and give me advice."  Grace nodded across to Alicia. "You'd be an amazing big sister Alicia-" "And you're going to be too."

Grace wrapped her arms around Alicia and hugged her tightly. "Thank you-" "It's alright, and if you ever need a break from baby brains than a girls night is always an option at mine."  Alicia winked as she lifted Grace off of her lap and took her hand. "For now I think someone else needs to know you'll be there."

Connie was sat at her desk as Zoe leant against the door frame. "What bought you back, I didn't think you were coming for another few months?"  Jacob smiled across at Connie who cut in before he could talk.

"I was missing Grace too much. I just figured it was a good time to stop and return to whatever normal life is."  Jacob forced a smile realising Connie obviously wanted to keep it a secret for now, not that he totally understood why.

Alicia knocked at the door and slipped in quietly still holding Grace's hand. "Someone here wants to see you..."  Zoe smiled and backed out of the office as Grace walked round and put her arms around Connie's neck. "I'm sorry Mum." "It's okay baby, you don't need to apologise."

Grace pulled back with a smile. "You should really stop calling me that now."  Connie laughed as she rest her hands on Grace's cheeks. "You're okay?"  Grace glanced to Alicia who smiled at her encouragingly. "I want to be a big sister, I'm just scared you won't have time for me-" "Sweetheart I will always have time for you. You're my little girl and ALWAYS will be, no buts."

Grace smiled again as she sat up on Connie's lap with a smile. "Alicia said that I could always go round if I need to."  "Did she? I hope you thanked her for all of this."  Grace nodded as she smiled across at her. "It's no problem really, is it? She's become like a little sister, anyway I'll let you get on with it."

Jacob jumped up and stepped out of the office with her closing the door as the girls inside laughed. "Is she really okay?"  Alicia smiled nodding. "Just worried about losing Connie's attention.  Congratulations by the way, Grace is looking forward to it." 

Connie looked down at Grace who had moved from her lap. She reached a hand to her stomach. "So my little brother or sister is in there?"  Connie placed a hand on top of Grace's with a smile. "Yeah... Yeah they are. I love you Grace."

When Jacob came back inside Grace was sitting on her lap again. He sat on the sofa and watched them. "So then, how does a movie night with my three favourite girls sound?"  Both of them looked across at Jacob, an identical expression on their faces. "I know maths isn't your strong point Jacob but it's not hard..."

Grace laughed as she spoke again. "You can't seriously be trying to guess-" "I can feel it... Daddy's princess is in there."  Grace continued to smile while Connie raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

He got off the sofa and walked towards Grace and Connie. "Daddy's second princess who has got the bestest sister in the world."  He wrapped his arms around Grace as he picked her up causing her to laugh. She wrapped her arms around him just as she had when he arrived earlier. "I love you Dad..."  He was quiet for a moment before smiling. "I love you too Grace."

Connie stood up and Jacob wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. He took her hand as they wandered out of the office and for their home for the first time in almost a year. His perfect family causing a smile to never leave his face.