April Fools?

A Familiar Face to the Rescue

It was nearing five o'clock in the afternoon when an unfamiliar silver Mini pulled up outside the McPartlin house. Hearing the crunch of gravel, the front door opened and Ant stood on the threshold, ready to greet their guest.

A younger woman - perhaps in her mid thirties - stepped out of the car and was greeted enthusiastically by a bounding Hurley and an excitedly barking Rocky. She smiled indulgently and bent down to pat both of the dogs, laughing as they fought for her attention.

Straightening up, she smiled at Ant, who quickly invited her inside the house. Shrugging off her coat and shaking the tiny droplets of rain out of her dark red hair, the two shared a quick embrace before Ant pulled back and pointed at the woman's swollen stomach.

"You've grown a bit" he observed, grinning as he heard Lisa laugh at his bluntness from where she was in the kitchen sorting out tonight's dinner.

Green eyes twinkled back at him as the woman joined in with Lisa's laughter.

"That tends to happen when you're six months pregnant, Anthony" Karen teased, pulling her top down over her proudly swollen belly.

Ant's eyes widened a bit, "Six months? Bloody hell; time sure does fly, hey?"

Karen nodded in agreement, shaking her head fondly as she followed him into the living room, where she caught sight of Lisa stirring something in a giant pot on the stove.

"Evening Lise" she greeted with a smile, raising a hand in a friendly wave as her friend turned and smiled happily back at her.

"Good to see you, Karen" she greeted back warmly, "How're things?"

Karen eased herself into a chair and took the cup of hot tea that Ant passed her.

"Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Boss is nagging me for when I'm going to go on leave, husband's nagging me for when I'm going on leave, and this one-" she gestured to her stomach "-is just constantly nagging me for something or nothing" she replied, sharing in the laughter that escaped her friends.

Silence soon fell in the room, and Karen quietly sipped her tea. It wasn't the first time she had been over to Ant and Lisa's house in the last few months - they had actually, along with Dec and Ali, become quite good friends since their last professional meeting back in January. And since she had found out she was pregnant, Ali and Lisa had spent many hours chattering excitedly with her about all things baby - even both going as far as to insist on helping out with her baby shower next month.

Such a turnaround, considering that just last Christmas, she would never have expected to have become such good friends with any of them.

"So, what's the story with our favourite trouble magnet?" She asked now, putting her mug on the counter, eyes flickering curiously between Ant and Lisa.

They both explained what had been going on over the last twenty four hours, with Karen listening intently, her doctor's mind already ticking away with potential diagnoses and treatments.

When Ant had finished, she hummed quietly in thought before shifting off the seat and looking up at him questioningly.

"Where is he?" She asked, and Ant gestured for her to follow him down the hall.

Walking into the guest room, Karen's nose was immediately accosted by the smell of sickness - once you'd smelt it once, you never forgot it she'd say - and as her eyes quickly adjusted to the low light of the room, they quickly sought out their patient.

She wasn't surprised to see that Dec was asleep, but it looked anything but comfortable as he twitched and tossed weakly under the blankets, dim light shining off the sweat on his face.