SEQUEL TO 'CAMPING'
Joel and Calla are beginning their journey together as a couple, but no journey comes without its bumps and emergency stops along the way...
DISCLAIMER: THERE MAY BE STRONG LANGUAGE.
I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE PEOPLE MENTIONED ONLY...
A/N: It's a wee bit short but I quite like having shorter chapters, easier to write and easier to read :) It's been an intense few days and I needed to wind down, so wrote you all a cute and fluffy chapter.
Enjoy, :3
I pass Ola the test not knowing whether I'm happy or disappointed.
She grins, hugging me tight and kissing my cheek. "Honey! You're pregnant!"
I nod weakly.
Her expression turns sour. "You're unhappy?"
I shrug before taking another three tests just be sure the result is consistent.
Yup. Definitely pregnant.
"I'm not unhappy." I admit, remembering my feelings towards motherhood, how excited I've always been about finally having children of my very own. "But Joel will be." I sob, head in hands, collapsing onto the wooden floorboards and crying out loudly and snivelling.
"You don't know that," Ola soothes, bending down and rubbing my arm, "he did say in the jungle that he can't wait to have kids."
I nod and let Ola wipe my eyes dry and helps me up and into the kitchen, where she pops the kettle on and starts to prepare two cups of tea.
"But it's too soon!" I let my arms flail out like a crazy person. "We haven't been going out for long and my career-"
Ola gingerly places her hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes sternly. "You can still have your career. Just because you're a soon-to-be mother does not mean you have to give up on your profession. Yes?"
"Yes." I agree, inhaling deeply and exhaling shakily.
"It's not too soon, you're both young but not really young, this is the perfect time for you both."
She's right, it is prime time. I'm nearly thirty and Joel is turning thirty two pretty soon. We've got time but now is the right time.
Maybe physically but not mentally...
"So, what are you going to do?" Ola queries, handing me a cup of green tea with a reassuring and friendly smile.
"I'll need to talk to Joel first." I'm going to tell him straight away, none of this funny business like in books where the female lead waits for months to tell the father of her child that he is indeed the father. That's just excruciating and boring and unfair on the man. No, I'll tell him when he gets home, he should be in a good mood after a fun night on the telly, and he also promised me that he would not drink tonight.
I know straight away that I won't abort the foetus. Not that I'm against abortion in any way, I just feel like this is right and good and the positive emotions are definitely outweighing the negative ones right now, despite me being a little stressed and tetchy, that's just hormones.
We spend the rest of the day watching crappy American satires and talking about random bollocks and drama, before Ola has to leave.
She picks up her overnight bag and hugs me tight, whispering, "Tell him." sternly into my right ear before walking out of my flat and leaving me to face the music on my own.
:-:-:-:
I pull on my pyjamas and clamber into my- our bed. It's a cold evening and I'm still wearing my thick sheepskin slippers and one of Joel's woollen sweaters to keep myself warm.
"Calla?" A soft voice speaks from the hallway.
Joel's back.
He raps on the bedroom door before letting himself in, and I'm glad to see that he's sober. "How are you feeling?" He sounds concerned as he casually undresses and puts on a pair of pyjamas trousers to cover his toned legs.
"Still a little queasy, but okay." I admit, feeling woozy from all the paracetamol Ola dosed me up on.
Now I'm pregnant I can't take hardcore medication, much to my dismay, what will I do when I get a killer migraine!?
Joel nods and yawns, slipping into the bed beside me and turning to face me on his side. "You sure? You look very pale."
"I'm always pale." I chuckle weakly as he tucks my hair behind my ear.
Joel looks at me for a few moments before saying, "Did you watch me?"
"I did, you were brilliant." I grin, kissing his cheek fondly before beginning to stress about how to tell him my news.
"Are you positive you're okay? You seem very distant?" Joel pulls me out from my daydream with a smile.
I nod, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling- "Joel, I've got something to tell you..."
Joel awaits for me to continue eagerly, but I can't get the words out. No matter how hard I try, I cannot speak, my throat has closed up, mouth clamped shut. Damn.
Instead, I open up my bedside table drawer and pull out the pregnancy test and hand it to him.
He blinks at the test, confused, flipping it over in his nimble fingers.
"Two lines means positive." I whisper.
Joel counts the lines.
I can't read his expression, one second he looks confused, the next happy, an endless cycle of emotions, until he looks at me with excitement, "You're not." He gushes.
I feel my cheeks rouge and I nod, "I am."
"Aahhh! I'm going to be a dad!" Joel cries out, crushing me into his chest and kissing me all over, his lips eager and shaking with excitement.
"Hey, calm down, I'm still a little weak." I push him away with good nature and kiss his cheek lightly.
"Sorry, I'm just so shocked! This is why you've been feeling ill!" He waves the test around.
I breathe a huge sigh of relief, feeling stupid for worrying so much about what he would think and feel, and now I know that he's just as excited as I am, and that's a truly beautiful thing.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
@joeldommett: waking up next to this one each morning is always such a surprise. 1/10 days she looks all angelic and peaceful (see above), and the other 9/10 days she is practically attacking me with all four limbs and snoring in my face. #sorrynotsorry @callatheokayactress
@callatheokayactress: I can't decide whether this is sweet or creepy.
