DIANNE'S POV ~
I woke up in Joe's arms as usual. I'm head over heels for him. I felt him start to wake up next to me. I hugged him tightly as he stirred before we started to get up. We spent the morning giggling and cuddling. I never want to leave his side. He started hugging me longingly as he always did: I always feel so secure when he does little things like that.
Suddenly, I felt a wave of sickness come over me and I had to run to the bathroom.
Joe held my hair back for me as I threw up. I hate being ill. I know it's nothing but a bug and that it'll pass but it's a horrible feeling nonetheless. He held me up as I was sick once more. I'd been feeling rough for the past couple of weeks. This was by far the worst day yet. I didn't move from the bathroom much that day.
"Dot.... what if you're pregnant?" Joe asked anxiously after a few minutes. "I mean you have been feeling nauseous for close to a month now. It's unlikely that it's just a sickness bug." Sudden looks of both fear and excitement flashed simultaneously across his face.
I don't think I'm ready for a baby yet. I still have my whole life ahead of me. Considering everything that has happened in the past; everything that I'd been through, I'd just accepted the fact that I was never going to be in a stable enough mindset, let alone happy enough in a relationship with someone to raise a child with them.
"No, I'm not. Joe don't be stupid. I can't be. No I'm not. I'm not pregnant. It's just a bug. There's no way. I can't be pregnant." I repeated over and over again.
Joe helped me back into bed.
"Dot, I'm just popping out to Boots. Do you want anything?"
"No I'm okay thanks."
"Okay. Call me if you need anything."
I listened to the sound of him closing the door behind him and I fell asleep almost instantaneously... the last few weeks of preparing for strictly whilst feeling like I wanted to throw up every two seconds had been incredibly testing and I was shattered.
JOE'S POV ~
I drove down to the nearest Boots - ten minutes down the road from our apartment and picked up a £5 meal deal for my trip to the office tomorrow. I also bagged some little bits for Dianne. Finally, I went down to the pharmacy aisle and slipped the most accurate pregnancy test I could find into my basket. I know Dianne was adamant that she wasn't pregnant but I just had to put my own mind at rest. The whole avoid being seen buying a pregnancy test for my girlfriend and any potential stories from breaking in the newspapers thing was harder than it sounded, but I managed to come back to my flat to find Di once again hurling.
"You okay gorgeous?" I ask.
"I will be," she replies. "It's just a bug. it'll pass"
DIANNE'S POV ~
Joe helped me back into bed and we cuddled for the next i-don't-know-how-long. With my head resting on his chest, I fell asleep.
I woke up again after maybe forty minutes. I noticed that Joe had managed to slip from under me and get out of the bed without waking me. I sat up and called him as I wasn't quite sure where he could be. There was no reply. Instead, he came up to our room with a cup of tea.
"Hey Dot." He said. "You feeling any better?"
"A little." I replied. He swept my hair out of my face while he handed me the cuppa.
"Here, I made you your favourite. Oh, and I also got you a little something from the shop earlier." He picked up the carrier bag and pulled out a little box of chocolates, some crisps and a bottle of water. "Thanks Joey." He gave me some time to take a few sips of my drink before taking one final thing out of the bag: a pregnancy test. I almost spat out the water in my mouth. "Dot, I know you're adamant that you're not, but I really think you should just take it. I can't put my mind at rest otherwise." Truth be told, I haven't stopped thinking about it either. The more I question it, the more I know in my head that I am ready for a baby. I'm so in love with Joe, there's no reason why I shouldn't be. "You really think we could be pregnant?" I asked.
I went to the bathroom and took the test, laid it face down, washed my hands and went straight out to Joe. We have to find out together. We both just looked at each other with smiles on our faces, knowing that this could potentially be the last few seconds of 'normality' we share together.
