Colder than ice

'You put love in my hand'

          

Wednesday 25th April 2038

'Do you think we did the right thing?' The woman questions the man, 'Not telling them that I was pregnant when Zoe came up?' The taller figure stands up, shrugging.

'I wouldn't even tell them now, it's none of their business.' She smirks, her mind flicking back to the fact that when she was pregnant with Ruby, no one knew until she was 20 weeks gone. She didn't have a bump and they were able to disguise it. Even with Theo, they were able to hide it until she was 18-weeks-gone. It's not that they wanted to hide it, but Joe and Dianne were worried about what their parents were going to say. At the point of Matilda's conception, they didn't care. They told the kids first, it was different telling two kids. Far different to when Ruby found out about Theo, not that they thought she understood what it meant. By the time Maddie came along, Ruby was a lot older, she was much more involved in helping prepare for the baby.

This was different, they hadn't actually known about the baby for the whole of the first trimester. And then with everything else, they had decided not to tell Joe's family when they last came up, just as well they hadn't given the state that the kids ended up in. Dianne is dragged out of her thoughts, as her daughter comes into the room, falling down in the seat next to her mum, letting out a sigh. 'I don't want to go.' She mutters to her mum, resting her head on her shoulder. 'Can I pretend to be ill?' Joe laughs at this, being met with a look from his wife.

'No, you can't. And for the love of God, please don't start a fight with Ella. I know you won't say what happened, but I really don't need you to kick off.' She grabs her hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand. 'We are telling everyone about the baby.'

'Are you?' The girl questions, slightly surprised. 'I thought dad phoned them last week, like you told nan and grandad.' She shakes her red hair, they had told her family last week, but Joe chickened out at the last moment, deciding that their annual Easter dinner would be the appropriate time to tell the whole family. This scared Dianne, she loved the Sugg family. Except, so much had happened in the last year, so much had changed, and she wasn't sure how they would take the news. 'Anyway, I won't start shit with Ella, or Ava.' She promises. 'What time are we meeting them?'

'7.' Her dad tells her, he looks down at his watch. 'You have an hour and a half before we need to leave.' She nods, standing up and turning around.

'I'm gonna shower.' She tells them, walking off in the direction of her room. The woman stands up, rubbing the small bump.

'I'm nervous.' She confesses, he takes her hand like he used to do when they were younger. 'What if they don't agree with the pregnancy going ahead?' He shakes his head, pulling her in close. He inhales her perfume, over time it's changed. At the moment, it's Daisy by Marc Jacobs. She's had this one for a while, and it's probably his favourite scent.

'They are going to be happy for her.' He promises. 'This baby is a miracle.' She nods in agreement. 'And they are going to be happy for us.' They are interrupted again, this time by their son.

'Can I stay at Louis on Friday?' He asks, 'Or are you gonna make me go to church?' The pair of them smirk, as a joke last year they told their kids that they were going to make them go to church at Easter. For days they had moaning and tantrums, until they figured that they had actually been pranked by their parents and they were even more reluctant to go to mass than them.

'I think I'll give it a miss.' He teases his son. 'But you are going to come out with all of us tonight.' He warns his son, who nods slowly. 'And you are going to behave because I don't think your mum and I could take any more stress.' The boy turns to leave the room, 'Oh and Theo what was the fight about last time Ella was here?' He rolls his eyes, he cottoned on to his parents trying to get it out of him in new, sly ways.

'It was something and nothing.' He lets out, ready to tease his parents.

'They ended up in a and e.'

'It was something and nothing, and it just got out of hand.' The door shuts quietly behind him, as Joe pouts.

'Why aren't our kid's bigger gossips?' Dianne laughs, grabbing a banana out of the bowl.

'Ruby was the worst.' She grins. 'Maddie and Theo weren't very big gossips.'

They are the last ones to arrive, Zoe laughing at them that they don't have very far to go, in fact the restaurant is the closest to them, they live in Bath. They shrug, laughing it off. Joe watches as his kids strategically place themselves around the table, Theo moving next to Ella and Maddie the other side of her grandad.

'Anything new?' His dad asks any of them, trying to break the tension between the kids. 'Ella was telling me that she wants to go to university.' He looks at his granddaughter, who looking at her phone.

'Ella.' Zoe hisses, 'Give me that phone.' She rolls her eyes, handing the device over more or less without a fuss. 'Ava, you too.' The youngest teenager pouts, still she hands it over. Joe gives his kids the same look, they pass theirs silently towards their dad.

'What do you want to study at uni?' Dianne asks her niece, who shrugs.

'English, I think.' She nods, 'Maybe media.'

'Did you decide where you wanted to study Theo?' Alfie asks, he shrugs.

'King's I think.' He bites his lip, 'It's between Kings and Bristol.' They nod, very conscious of the fact that he was being mindful of his parents, knowing how hard it will be for them if he moves away. At least if he's in Bristol, he's near his house. Over the last few days, he had lots of serious chats with his parents who told him that he should go for the one he wants, not the one he thinks they want. Ruby had he choice, and so should he.

'What about you Maddie?' She pulls away from her conversation with Ava.

'We'll see how I do in my exams.' She tells them coyly. 'Then I'll decide.'

'Alfie got a new job.' Zoe tells them, taking time to describe the new job in detail to the rest of the table, all of the trying to pretend that they are interested. Not that any of them are, all zoning out, until Joe and Dianne are pulled out of their thought's by Alfie.

'Joe, Dianne anything new?' Dianne shrugs, as Joe nods. 'Oh?' He questions.

 

'We are having another baby.'

 

A/N Thoughts?