The Night That Changed It All

Early Again

"Hey." Liam murmured close to my ear as he rapped his arms around my waist, resting them on my bump and nuzzling my neck affectionately. I'd been about to go collect Lily Ann from school and had just gotten my coat from the press when Liam sneaked up on me.

"Hey. You wanna come get Lily Ann with me? We could have a family bonding day instead of going straight home." I suggested, turning slowly in his arms with a smile before rapping my arms around his neck.

"I've got a better idea." Liam whispered, kissing just under my ear lightly and resting his hand on my swollen stomach lightly. Glancing at the clock on the wall in the kitchen that I could just about see from where we stood, I saw that it was almost time to go. If I didn't want to be late then I'd have to leave in a few minutes.

"Yeah? Well, come on, then; you can tell me in the car. Lily Ann's getting out soon and if we don't leave now we'll be late." I laughed, starting to pull out of Liam's embrace but stopping when Liam tightened his hold on my hips.

"I thought we should have a night to ourselves before Cathal arrives. Lord knows we won't get another chance for a long time after he's born." Liam explained with a smile as he gently pulling me into the sitting room.

"But what about Lily Ann?" I asked quizzically as I let Liam push me down onto the settee. Liam was usually pretty angst-y about getting to things on time, especially when it came to Lily Ann, who was definitely Daddy's little girl.

"Zayn's gonna pick her up from school and take her with him to some art gallery in London that they've been talking about going to for a while. You know how they are about their art." Liam answered, laughing lightly and shaking his head at Lily Ann and Zayn's artistic appreciation. He'd never really understood the draw for them, but was more than happy to 'oh' and 'aw' at all the right moments whenever Lily Ann dragged us to some artsy gathering. 

"Oh. Alright then. What did you have in mind?" I asked, relaxing back into the settee with a contented sigh and laughing when Liam grinned happily. It had actually been a while since we'd done anything just the two of us and as much as I loved Lily Ann, it was nice to have a couple's night every once in a while.

"Let's make pasta!" He exclaimed with a laugh, before he took my hand and lead me into the kitchen, where I watched from a bar stool as Liam tried to make pasta, which took a lot longer than it should have because he forgot to boil the water before adding the pasta.

"You know; you'd think you'd have figured out by now that the pasta goes in after-" Cutting myself off in the middle of a sentence, I doubled over, clutching my stomach as Liam rushed over; still holding the fork he'd been using to check on the progress of the pasta.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" He asked frantically, dropping the fork with a clatter and helping me to sit up straight again. When I looked up at Liam, he appeared almost afraid, so I flashed him a quick smile and squeezed his hand lightly.

"No; it's fine. I'm fine, now. I think it was just as cramp." I assured, before motioning to the pot that was slowly starting to bubble over. "You should get back to your pasta before it burns and sticks to the bottom of the pot."

"Are you sure? You don't want to go to the doctor and get it checked out?" Liam worried, still not moving despite the fact there was now more water bubbling out over the side of the pot than there was inside of the pot.

"Li, I'm fine: everything's fine. Trust me; I think I would know if anything was wrong." I laughed, pushing his shoulder lightly to get him to get back to the pasta. Five minutes later, though, I wasn't so sure. I'd gotten six more sharp pains in my lower abdomen, all of which I'd successfully hidden from Liam, and they were getting closer together.