Slipping Through My Fingers

Baby Elephant

Janette sat on the floor of her ensuite, leaning back onto the bath, closing her eyes, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. It was 7:10 am on a Saturday morning, Janette could hear her husband and their children chatting in the kitchen...it was the day of Janette's first scan, they were still yet to tell the kids about having a new brother or sister, they'd do it that day, after the scan. Janette sighed and climbed to her feet, gently rubbing her stomach and went downstairs where Aljaz was making breakfast....pancakes. All 3 children were sat at the table, watching their father intently as he flipped the pancakes, serving them up on their plates, warning them that they had to wait for them to cool down first. Sasa's little face lit up when she saw her mother waltz into the kitchen...her baby bump was pretty much              non-existent to a bystander. "Mummyyyy!" Sasa said with joy, a smile drawn across her face.        Amelia-Lily turned her head to her mother, "were you being sick again Mummy?" she asked, their eldest daughter had noticed the routine of her mother being sick every morning. Janette nodded, "a little...but I'm fine now and I'm starving," Janette said, a smile flickering over her face before turning to Aljaz to ask for pancakes. Aljaz smiled and served the next 2 up in a plate coated with bananas and Nutella...Janette smiled, he knew her too well.

Leonardo and Sasa stood with their hands on their hips, looking down at their shoes discarded on the floor, refusing to put them on. "Come on guys...do you want to go see Auntie Karen and Uncle Kevin and Charlie?" Aljaz said, begging the twins to put on their shoes. The twins shook their heads simultaneously. Aljaz sighed, how could 2 people so small be so stubborn? "Sasa and Leonardo Skorjanec if you don't put your shoes on then you'll go without shoes and everyone will laugh at you," Janette said as she wrapped her scarf round her neck. The twins sighed and put their shoes on, they knew that their mother was serious about them going out without their shoes.

They bundled the kids in the car, dropping them off at Karen and Kevin's while they went for the scan, Karen and Kevin were still yet to find out...Karen had began to get slightly suspicious, it had been weeks, maybe even months, since Janette and Aljaz had specifically asked for babysitting....
As they walked into the hospital waiting room Aljaz could feel Janette's hand shaking, he could tell that she was nervous, he took her hand and kissed it, smiling at her he could see that she was almost instantly reassured...then someone that she didn't want to see walk into the waiting room....Jason...he was linked arms with Chloe, the same girl that he had cheated on Janette with. Chloe was wearing a pale pink crop top (in December!) with a tight black skirt, looking painfully thin, Janette guessed that she was pregnant, this was the maternity waiting room, not for someone with anorexia or something like that. Jason flashed Janette a glimpse of his shiny shark like teeth. Janette felt Aljaz tense up, he hated Jason more than anyone in the whole of existence. Janette squeezed his hand, attempting to reassure him. Aljaz put one arm round Janette, as if he were marking his territory. Alexandra, the midwife called out Janette's name and Janette and Aljaz almost leapt up, happy to be out of view from Jason and Chloe. Alexandra smiled at the couple, she had delivered Amelia-Lily and the twins so by now they were all comfortable in each other's company. Janette pulled her top up revealing her stomach. She compared the size of her bump to Chloe's. Janette felt like a baby elephant, Chloe's stomach was as flat as a pancake where Janette's had began to stick out a bit, not obviously...but obvious enough for Janette's liking. She was confused at Jason being with Chloe, he had always made his feelings on children pretty clear, and here he was with Chloe. Oh Janette shut up! She thought to herself. Chloe and Jason deserve each other, you have Aljaz, who is amazing and loves you, and you love him. Janette and Aljaz focuses on the grey computer screen, watching their baby appear on the screen, looking as if it was sucking its thumb...cute. Tears welled up in Aljaz and Janette's eyes, just like the previous times that they had been for the first scan...listening to their baby's heartbeat....bliss...

Janette and Aljaz walked out of the hospital room holding hands, the happiest couple in the world. Janette could feel Jason and Chloe's state follow her and Aljaz out of the hospital, but they didn't care, they were going to have another baby, another beautiful darling child to call their own...their own creation made through love.

Back at the house Aljaz begins making lunch. He puts a plate filled with a selection of Janette's favourite foods in front of her. Janette looks at it blankly, not daring to pick any of it up. Aljaz looks at her puzzled, what was wrong? She was never like this. "What's wrong princess? Why aren't you eating?" Aljaz asked, he guessed something was wrong, that was the only proper explanation, but what was wrong? Janette shrugged, "I can't eat...I need to lose weight...I'll get fat otherwise, I mean I'm already like a baby elephant, God knows what I'll be like if I keep eating, and then you won't want to be with me anymore, and then you'll leave me for someone really skinny...like...like Chloe," Janette said as tears begin to drop down her face smudging her mascara. Of course it would be something to do with Jason and Chloe, why couldn't they just leave Janette alone? Aljaz thought. "Janette, princess, you don't need to diet, you're perfect....and you're stomach may only get bigger because you've got another life growing inside of you, and that is the most amazing thing in the world. You're not a baby elephant, and if you were I wouldn't care because you'd be my baby elephant...and I would never leave you...who cares about Chloe and Jason, they are worthless and don't deserve the time of day...just please never try to change because you're perfect just the way you are," Aljaz said, kissing Janette on the cheek. Janette gave him a testy smile, "you really mean that bučko?" Janette asked brushing away the tears. Aljaz nodded, "really truly baby...really truly."