Due Date Chapter One 'If you could just lift your top up, Mrs Elliot'? Said doctor Brandon looking down at my bump, 'I'm just going to apply some jell to your abdomen before we start the scan', 'Oh yes, absolutely' I replied. In just one minute me and Luke are going to see our baby for the first time, a tiny little scan of our child moving around in my belly. 'Would you like to know the sex of your baby Mrs Elliot'? She asked, I looked at Luke with a desperate look on my face, 'Jess I thought we were going to keep it a secret, we agreed it would be more of surprise if we didn't know' he said, 'Well ok then' I answered back. I grabbed Luke's hand as Doctor Brandon put the scanner across my belly, we gazed at the screen looking at our beautiful baby, that's my baby and its wonderful! 'These are the baby's legs and up hear is the baby's head and there are the arms too' she moved the scanner around as she pointed out the parts of the baby, it's beautiful it really is. He turned off the screen and left the room as I got changed, I looked into Luke's eyes as he looked into mine, it didn't seem real, just like one big fairytale, in a few months time me and Luke were going to be Mum and Dad. We left the Hospital and got into the car, as we drove home we had a little row about how I was to shop for the baby if I didn't know if it was a girl or a boy and what colour I was to paint the nursery, it ended with Luke telling me that we would leave the nursery white until the baby was born and to stick to white, yellow or beige. 'We could have just found out the sex today, it would have been easier' I said to brake the awkward silence, 'Jess, I know you want to find out but you will fine out on the day and it will be a wonderful surprise'! He replied. 'Well I don't think it's fair on me or the baby, I hate having to call the baby IT all the time, it sounds horrible IT IT IT, it's a baby Luke not at thing'! I argue back, after that I got no reply just a sigh and a little snigger. When we got home I got out of the car and walked into the front door deliberately shutting it in Luke's face, he just laughed as I walked away with my back turned. Later that afternoon Emma came over, we sat and talked about the baby and ate chocolate. 'Luke'! 'Hello, haven't seen you in a while how is the brother in law' she shouted in her high pitched squeaky voice, 'Hi Emma' laughed Luke with a rather scared look on his face, 'Whats this about you not letting my Jessie find out what the little tinker is'! She asked, 'Oh we decided we want a surprise that's all' he replied as he walked away into the kitchen 'Tea, Coffee, anything to drink'? He shouted, 'Oh no not for me I'm fine thank you' she shouted back. 'So Jessica, tell me what's my niece or nephew going to be called eh'? 'Ah I have no idea yet, I just don't know' I said back 'Well tell me when you decide ok'! Emma said as she got up and picked up her navy duffle and Gucci hand bag. 'Well I will have to get home to Justin and the children, Bye Hun' she shouted as she slammed the door behind her. Not long after Emma left, Luke left for work. Luke is a manager and editor at the New York Times. He has his own column on the 24th page just about his #life, I cut them all out and stick them into a book so I can go through them when I have nothing to do or when I want to look back at them all. My favourite one in Luke's column is; 18th May 2012, The house, the big dream house. Me and Jess went house hunting earlier this week. It's painful! House hunting. We must have looked at about a dozen of big places and we must have visited the same place about five times. In the end we didn't choose one of the houses we had visited but we put our deposit to a massively oversized house in Lynbrook. We made a list of what the house had to have; 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, office, large kitchen, dining room, a garden with grass, in a safe area. Instead we end up with a 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, big kitchen (marble top), dining room, a gigantic garden with loads of grass and stone lined planting area and even pillars by the big cherry oak front door. Our home to be in Lynbrook. So a year on we are living hear in our beautiful home in Lynbrook. Luke and I haven't started decorating the nursery yet but we are going to start soon. The house is filled with safety gates and most of our kitchen has been tidied away into high cupboards. Our home is now baby proof, my vision of the nursery will be a soft creamy colour with beige carpet, an old fashioned cot and a swing for the baby to play, and it will have loads of little toys and a lovely little closet and baby shoe rack! Having a baby is so exciting. Chapter Two Work. I'm working as a kindergarten teacher in Flower Hill Primary School, I love working with children but some days can be longer than others. This morning I walked in and sat down in my chair at the front of my classroom, then the children were called in and that's where it starts. Shouting and screaming, the noise. Then I do the register it takes five or ten minutes by the time I sort out all of the problems. Today Principle Fox sat in class and just stared at me and wrote about me, I felt intimidated and nervous, it was horrible. Then at recess the children were dismissed and I had yard duty which I hated. After break time the children are called back in and I we do circle time which I love because I read a story to the children while they sit on the carpet siping milk out of a carton and eating fruit, my classroom is never so silent. Then PE comes. PE is my worst lesson because I have to do exercise, and doing exercise whilst pregnant is so hard and tiring. Then the children have dinner time, that's the time I get some time alone in my classroom to eat my lunch. Then the children are once again called into class and we do activities like peg boards and building blocks and drawing and colouring. And then it's time for the children to get their coats on and they are picked up by their parents. Being responsible for a class of five and six year olds is hard. When I got home around half past three I walked in and Luke was sitting with Marcus. Marcus was Luke's best man at our wedding and he's a really close friend. 'Oh hi Marcus' I said as I closed the door behind me, 'Hello Jess how are you' he replied getting up to give me a hug, 'I'm good thanks, and yourself'? I said hugging him and giving Luke a confused look, 'I just popped around to give Luke his folder from work' he explained, 'Ohh right, hi Luke I say walking over to him' 'Hello darling, how was your day' asks Luke 'It was tiring so I'm just going to lie on the bed and put the TV on for a while, see you later Marcus nice to see you' I say waving to Marcus and heading upstairs. I lay and watched TV for about fifteen minutes and then got up and walked next door to the big spare room, soon going to be turned into a beautiful nursery. I just stand in the door way for a moment and look around picturing the room filled with the cutest little toys and a cot with my beautiful baby laying in it, it's like a dream, Me, Luke and our baby to be. I can't wait! I often think about what it's going to be like having a baby around. I've been married for just over two years now and when I found out I was pregnant me and Luke have got one hundred times closer. I always dreamt about being married with children and this baby is just making my dream come true. It hasn't quite sunk in that me and Luke are going to be Mum and Dad. I'm three months pregnant so my bump isn't to big but in another few months I'm going to be so big. When Emma had her first (my niece lily) she went from a size 10 clothing to a size 16. So far I have gone from a size 8 clothing to just into a size 10. If I get any bigger than a size 12 I'm hiding! At around eight thirty I got so hungry I thought I was going to starve to death so after Marcus had left, I went back downstairs to get some food. Luke was sitting on the big sofa watching a movie. 'Hi Hun I'm going to grab something to snack on, what you watching' I said 'Oh no Jess you sit down I will go get you something, what would you like' he replied and jumped up out of his seat, 'Ah thanks Luke I would love one of those cup soups out of the cupboard, thank you' I said as he stroked my arm as he walked past I sat on the sofa and started to watch whatever was on. 'Luke, quick come hear'! I shout, 'What, are you ok, what's happened' he came sprinting in panicking, I grabbed His hand and laid it on my belly, 'Do you feel it Luke, that's our baby, it's moving' I say with the biggest smile on my face, 'Oh god Jess it's so cute' he laughs, I look into his eyes 'Thats the first one, baby's first kick' 'It's wonderful Jess' he hugs me and kisses me on the cheek, 'I love you Jess' he says out of the blue, 'Ah Luke I love you too' I kiss him on the cheek and he gets up and walks back into the kitchen. Luke doesn't normally just tell me that he loves me, it gave me butterflies. Me and Luke snuggled on the couch and watched What To Expect When Expecting while I drank my soup, I don't think Luke really enjoyed the film but he hugged me and watched anyway. Chapter Three I woke up the next morning to a cup of tea and a letter from Luke, it said; Morning Jess, sorry if I woke you I had to leave early for work this morning there was some things I had to do before the boss came in. Have a lovely day and I will see you tonight when I get home from work I might be a little later but don't wait around for me, enjoy the tea! Love you, see you tonight From Luke The rest of my day at work went pretty well, the letter put me in a good mood this morning so I just decided to take it easy and have some fun. Having fun at work made my day go faster so it felt like it was over in about five minutes anyway. I got home and made chicken wraps with salsa and some salad and left some for Luke too, they were lovely. Then I decided to call Jasmine, my best friend I've know right from first grade. 'Hello' she said as soon as she picked up the phone, 'Hey Jasmine it's me, Jess' I said back, 'Oh hey Jess'! She sounded surprised, 'Hi I'm in just me and I got pretty bored and lonely so' I replied, 'Haha, well I just put the kids to bed so I'm all yours' she laughed, 'How are you and the kids' I asked, 'We are fine, how are you and baby' said Jasmine, 'Me and Luke felt the first kick last night it was so exciting' I explained, 'Oh Jess wow, so you will only have six months left now' she shouted down the phone sounding excited, 'yeah six months left and I'm already a size 10 clothes Jasmine'! I shout back, 'Haha Jess that's the least of you worries hun' she laughs, 'No Jasmine, Emma said she gained 32 pound because of pregnancy' I say sounding worried, 'Yeah it's totally normal, I gained 28 pound when I had Jake' she explains, 'Oh god what if I don't loose the weight afterwards' I wine, 'Jess stop worrying about the weight and worry more about yours and the baby's health'! She tells me, 'Ok we'll thanks Jasmine I'm going to go get some rest now' I say back, 'Alright then, bye Jess see you soon' replies Jasmine, 'Bye' I say and hang up. It's just gone quarter past ten and Luke still isn't home so I put on an episode of Neighbours I had taped from a few days ago, I got through about twenty minutes but then I must of fallen asleep because the next thing I know I'm being woken up by Luke. 'Hey Jess come on we are going to bed, it's almost twelve' he whispered, 'Ah Luke it's you, I tried to stay awake but it mustn't have worked' I say back in a soft tired voice, 'Come one' he said as he helped me off the couch and up the stairs and into bed. I woke up again around half past three in the morning because the baby was kicking so I went down stairs for some juice, it turns out having a little walk around helps the baby settle down. I went back to bed and just lay for a little while talking to my bump, 'Hello baby, my wonderful little baby' I whisper stroking my hand across my belly, 'Your a good little baby, your going to love it out hear' I say calmly 'Mummy and Daddy can't wait to see you'. The next time I woke up it was morning. It's Saturday so today me and Luke went to see Mum, it took about thirty minutes in the car. Mum lives in a little 3 bedroom house in a little village called Rockville. Rockville is a cute little village but not a place to live for raising a child because of schools and places to go. After thirty minutes we arrived at Mum and Dad's, we walked in and Mum came over and hugged me, Dad strolled over and gave Luke a manly hug and a pat on the back. 'Jessie darling, how are you'? Says Mum in an old shaky tone, 'Im fine Mum, how are you' I have to shout a little so she hears me, 'Hello Luke, has Jess been hard work'? Says dad laughing, 'Haha no Mr Monroe she's been fine' he laughs along with Dad, 'Luke my boy, how many times have I told you now, call me Derek' he tells him patting his arm, we all walk through to the sitting room and Rachel my other sister gets up out of the armchair. 'Jessie, hello'! She shouts, 'Rachel, what are you doing hear'? I ask hugging her, 'Well Mum said you were coming to visit so I thought I might just pop round to see you guys' she explains, 'Rachel a four hour drive isn't just a pop round' I say grinning and giving her another big hug. I haven't seen Rachel since Christmas, eight months ago, she lives in Grant Park four hours away from Lynbrook. She's the middle sister, Emma the oldest and me the youngest sister. We all sat down and had a cup of tee and coffee and talked mainly about baby shopping and Joe Rachel's new boyfriend. After tee me and Rachel went upstairs to our old bedroom we all shared when we were still living with Mum and Dad. 'Ah look the bunk bed's gone' she says, 'well yes Rachel that was years ago' I reply with a laugh, 'I know but our dressing table is still hear and look so is our toy chest' she points out, 'Oh yeah' I walk over to the dressing table and sit on the stool and Rachel sits on the new bed and opens the toy chest, 'Maybe Mum and Dad were saving these for when we grow up and have children like you and Emma' she says rummaging through the old box, 'Rachel, Mum and Dad really miss not having you around, we all do! Maybe you should come down more often or maybe think about moving closer' I explain, 'Yeah maybe I will but I've just met Joe and its looking good between us and I don't want to ruin that' she says back, 'Ah well, it was just a thought, maybe you could bring him next time you visit, we would love to meet him' I suggest, 'Yeah we have to see how it works out first' she laughs. We look through the toy chest laughing and giggling about what we used to do when we were little, but then Rachel went to see Emma so me and Luke said goodbye to Mum and Dad and left for home. Chapter Four When we got home me and Luke looked on the Internet at the Mother Care and the Mamas and Papas websites. There was a massive range of all sorts. We looked at this amazing stroller it was white and navy blue with a tray and padded seat I really liked that one but Luke said we were only looking for some ideas on what to buy. 'Look at that Luke' I said pointing at the computer screen it was a cot with a built in mobile and memory foam bottom, 'yeah that's a nice one isn't it' he said nodding and looking for details. We read through the details and we agreed this was the kind of cot we wanted for the baby, 'I can't wait to go shopping' I said to Luke in an exciting tone, 'yeah I beat you can't' he giggles. We didn't really do anything else for the rest of the night but sat and watched the first episode of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. We snuggled and talked all the way through it about Luke's Mum and Dad and when and if they were coming to visit. Luke hasn't been very close to his Mum and Dad since he moved from Florida, Luke's Mum thought I was trying to lead him away from her so she's never been in touch for years. Luke rang his Dad Michael and told him that we were expecting, he sounded happy but not really as excited we thought he would be. Luke explained to me that if they wanted to see us and the baby the they would come but not to get my hopes up about it. It is a little sad that our baby will only have one set of real grandparents but if that's how it is then it will just have to be that way. Next day and its Sunday, me and Luke decided to make a little Sunday dinner with vegetables, chicken and Yorkshire puddings. We sat on the deck in the garden in the sunshine and talked about work, after dinner I got up and fetched my scrap book of columns from the draw, we opened it up and read through the first few pages together. Luke took away the dishes and started to tidy up in the kitchen. I picked up the newest newspaper and flicked to Luke's column, it was about his Mum, Dad and the baby, it read; 14th August 2013 I never realised how hard it would be without my Mum and Dad here, I always thought that whenever it was my turn to grow up and get married and have children they would always be there you know, maybe it's just me or the timing might not be great but I always hoped that our baby would have all it's grandparents but it's not looking great. My Dad Michael is almost eighty five and my mother Judith has just turned eighty three but I haven't seen them in four years since I moved from Florida with Jessica. It would be a lot better with them both here but this is how it has to be. We just have to hope for the best in the future years to come. L. Elliot I ripped it out and stuck it into my scrapbook, I never knew Luke was so upset about his Mum and Dad because he's never talked about them, but I suppose I never really asked about how he feels either. I walked back in through the French doors and put the scrapbook onto the side board as I walked past into the kitchen, I snuck up to Luke and hugged him tight. 'Whats this for' he asked in a surprised voice, 'Your column, you didn't say anything about your Mum and Dad' I explained quietly, 'oh don't you worry about that Jess, it's fine, I'm fine, everything's fine' he rushed the words out not making sense, 'Ah Luke I'm sorry for not paying attention to things like this' I said squeezing him tight, 'No don't say sorry Jess, everything's fine' he replied resting his chin on my head. Chapter Five A few days passed of work but I couldn't stop thinking about Luke's column, what could I do to help, I have to do something to get Michael and Judith to come see us. Then it clicked. I get the column from my scrapbook, write a letter to Luke's parents explaining and send them the column. That way they would hopefully realise how much he needs them. Jessica Elliot what a great idea! I feel anxious, wondering if it will work but they need to know that Luke misses them and this is the perfect plan. I got home that evening and Luke wasn't home yet. I put my bag on hooks by the front door, I walked into the office and sat down at he desk I got what I needed from the draw and put pen to paper. Was I doing the right thing by trying to get Luke's Mum and Dad hear or was I making a big mistake and interfering in Luke's #life? Well Luke's #life is my #life so I guess nothing bad could happen. I wrote; Dear Michael and Judith It's Jessica, I'm writing to let you know about your son. Luke is finding it hard to get his head around the fact that you guys won't be here for the baby and you will not be like a grandma and grandad. I am currently three and a half months pregnant so I don't have long until delivery. I would love to meet you again and put the past behind us, it was so long ago now and I think it is a waste of time fighting and not being a family. My Mum and Dad would love to meet you guys one day too before the baby is born, Luke is getting a little upset about it at at minute and it would be wonderful if you could come and visit to even just give him a call. We miss you's both and really want to see you both again. Anyway, of you can write a letter back to me or give me a text or ring my mobile. Hope to see you soon Jessica x I slipped the column into the letter and sealed them in an envelope, on the front I wrote Michael & Judith Elliot and stuck a stamp in the corner. Suddenly the front door opened and a voice shouts 'Hi hun, I'm home' it's Luke! I clear the desk and shove the letter under the address book. That was so close. I walk out of the office and into the hall way Luke is standing by the door hanging up his coat and slipping off his shoes. 'Luke, how was your day' I say casually, 'Oh it was fine nothing exciting, how was yours'? He replies, 'Mine, yeah just the usual really' I explain trying to act totally normal, he came over to me hugged me and kissed me on the forehead, 'and how is baby today' he says in a hight pitched voice laying his hand on my small bump, I giggle and hug him tight. I think back to before me and Luke got married, that was almost three years ago now but I will never forget a thing. We first met six years ago in university, Luke was already in his third year when I joined, he was nineteen and I had just turned seventeen and now at twenty three and twenty six we are married and expecting our first child together. Later that night the phone started to ring I picked it up and girly voice said hello down the phone, it was Rachel 'hey, Jessica guess what' she says excitedly, 'Oh hi Rachel and what' I say giggling down the phone, 'I'm staying at mums for a bit and Joe's coming too' she said, I look and Luke and laugh, 'Rachel that's great'! I reply, 'I know, we are going to have some old friends around Mum and Dads next week for a catch up and Joe's coming on Saturday' she explains sounding like a child, 'Haha oh I can't wait, we will have to have a proper day out just me, you and Emma and then you will have to introduce Joe to Luke and Justin too'! I say as Luke glares at me with a cup of coffee in his hand, 'oh yeah good idea and we can go shopping for baby stuff too' she adds, 'Haha yeah we will have to do that too' I laugh, 'Alright then Jessie I've got to go, Mum's cooked dumplings for tea' she explains, I can hear Mum shouting her name in the background, 'ok then I will see you soon, tell Mum I will see her soon too, bye' I say but she's already hung up to hear the end of it. I put down the phone and walk over to Luke and sit on the sofa next to him, 'what was that all about' he asks, 'Oh it was Rachel she's staying at Mum and Dad's for a little longer' I explain as I kick my slippers off and swing my legs up onto the couch, 'I see, that will be fun' he laughs, 'yeah it will and Joe is coming on Saturday so you and Justin will have to make him welcome' I say raising my eyebrow at him, 'Who's Joe' Luke asks looking confused, 'You know Joe Miller, Rachel's new boyfriend they've been together almost six months now and she's going to let us meet him' I said, 'Ah right then yeah me and Justin will take care of him' he laughs, 'Shut up you' I giggle. For the rest of the night me and Luke looked through out photo box, we have a big wooden box filled with photo albums from when we were little till now. We started looking at the ones of us both together and we found a photo of, me, Luke, Mum, Dad and my grandparents, Grandad Peter and Grandma Jill. My grandparents died two years ago now but they both loved Luke, Grandad used to call him 'Milky' because of his really light blonde hair and Grandma always used to say 'my little Jessie'. There were quite a lot of pictures of me and Luke with Grandma and Grandad but then we came across our wedding photos, we looked at them all but my favourite was the bridal party photo, it has me and Luke sitting on white ribbon chairs in the middle and then my Mum and Dad standing behind me grinning and then Luke's sister Summer and his best man Marcus standing behind him, and then at the sides are Rachel and Emma my sisters and at the other side is Jackson and Noah Luke's brothers. I love this photo because it has almost everyone on it, and Summer is on it too. Summer is Luke's only sister, she's always been a my good friend since I met Luke but the she moved to Spain with her Spanish husband Alejandro in 2010 and since then she's had two children, one boy Sergio who is about seven and a little girl Lorena who is about to turn four. I've only ever seen the children once or twice but I'm sure they will come over to visit soon. They are they cutest little things but when Sergio try's to talk to me I never really understand unless Summer or Alejandro are there to tell me what he's trying to say. Chapter Six Today is Thursday, my day of work felt like it went on for about a year! It was terrible and I had loads to do. Karen Fox the head of the school made me take two classes in one today just because they couldn't get a substitute in to help, I had my kindergarten class and a class of grade ones all packed into my little classroom, it was an absolute nightmare. I had to assign half of the class one task and then come back and teach the other half! I was ready to quit by dinner time. By the time I had cleaned the classroom and put everything back where it belonged. When I got back home I opened the front door and stepped inside, Luke was standing at the bottom of the hall and walked towards me. Has he found the letter? What's he going to say? Oh god here it goes. 'Hello, how was work' he says giving me a hug, 'Oh you know, fine really tiring' I replied almost shaking with fear, 'Good you hungry'? He asks, 'Oh yeah' I reply, 'Good I've ordered pizza I'm going to go pick it up in about five minutes' he suggests, Then I had an idea! 'No you wait here and get some plates out and I will go get the pizzas, just a second' I say running down the hall into the office and slipping the letter into my pocket, 'ok then if your sure, I will get some drinks and plates out while your away' says Luke walking away into the kitchen. I walk out of the door and get into my car, I have the letter in my pocket ready to post. I drive five minutes down the road and get to the pizzeria and collect the pizzas, then I walked to the post box at the end of the road and slip the letter into the slit, I hope they get it and decide to visit, that's it all I can do is hope they read the letter and change their mind. When I got back home Luke had set the table and pored two glasses of apple juice, we plated up the pizza and sat down at the table. 'Oh my god this is so good' I say describing my pizza, 'I know right, we haven't had pizza together in ages' replies Luke sounding shocked, 'so what did you do today on your day off' I ask trying to make conversation, 'Well this morning I planted some hanging baskets to go in the garden and then I put a fresh coat of paint on the fence, it was looking a bit scruffy and then I just sat around really, I gave Jackson a ring and he's going to see Noah and the kids on Sunday for a few days too' he explains. After tea we cleared the table and I went straight to bed because it was already ten and I was really tired anyway, Luke stayed up and and did some work on his laptop. I sat in bed for a while texting Jasmine about the gathering next week but then must have fell asleep about half an hour later. I woke up at about five o'clock in the morning and Luke was lying next to me, I got up and went into the toilet and then went back to bed, I must have been trying for about fifteen minutes to get back to sleep but it just wasn't working, the baby was moving around and kicking which wasn't helping me get any sleep either so I just sat up and propped my back up with some cushions. I got my phone and texted Summer since it was already three in the afternoon in Spain. The conversation started with me saying; Me: hey Summer how are you? Summer: hi I'm great thanks, what are you doing awake isn't it like three in the morning there? Me: I know, it's five now actually and I can't sleep Luke is flat out and the baby is kicking Summer: oh no! How is the pregnancy so far? Me: it's fine actually, not to bad... Yet haha Summer: haha oh yeah you haven't reached the hard part yet, how far along are you now? Me: well I'm almost four months now everything's good so far! Summer: I'm happy your doing well! Have you found out what your having yet? Me: haha well I was going to at my last scan but Luke really didn't want to know so I just agreed to keep it a surprise so I just have to wait and see Summer: ah right, I had surprise when I was having Sergio and I was really nice when he came Me: yeah I know what you mean, I'm dying to find out! How's Alejandro and the children anyway? Summer: they are all doing well, I've been teaching Francisco to speak some English too but Lorena isn't quite old enough yet Me: ah that's great! What sort of things can he say? Summer: I've thought him to say the basics like hello, how are you, my name is, what are you doing, I like, I don't like, would you like. Things like that Me: that's really good! When you next visit I will be able to have a little conversation with him! When are you next visiting? Summer: well me and Alejandro were thinking of bringing the children in a few months time maybe around October, November time Me: that would be great! We could all get together sometime Summer: yeah! Me, you, Emma and Rachel. We could go shopping or something! Me: yeah shopping would be fun! Summer: yes it will be! Me: ok then, it was lovely talking to you Summer I'm going to try get some more sleep. Say hey to Alejandro and the children for me! Bye Summer: yeah nice speaking to you too! See you in a few months time! Chapter Seven Thank god it's Friday! Last day of work for two weeks now since its half team already! Work went quite quick today because it wasn't as bad as yesterday, I spent most of the day finishing reports to send out to parents and tidying things away then packing up the things I will need for the holidays. I can't wait to just have some time to relax and spend some time with family. So after I had cleared the classroom I was on my way out of the school and I was stopped by Karen, 'Jessica, hand on I just need to speak to you' she shouts after me, 'Oh Karen! Yeah what's up' I reply feeling slightly nervous, 'Well when we get back from the holiday I only have two weeks left and them I'm leaving to go work at the secondary school' she explained, 'Really! Wow already' I say back sounding shocked, 'Yes so I was just making a little list of who would like to take my place as head mistress to send to the school board and I was wondering if you wanted me to put your name down' she says, 'Oh yes please, I would love to' I say giving a smile, 'Ok then, well have a wonderful holiday anyway and I will see you when we get back'! She says giving my a little hug, 'Yeah see you in a couple weeks, bye'! I reply walking towards the doors with a smile on my face. Head teacher huh? How exciting. I got into my black Audi and drove home. I pulled up at our house and Mr and Mrs Taylor, our next door neighbours, were sitting in the garden. 'Hello Mr Taylor, hey Mrs Taylor' I shout over, 'Jessica darling, how are you'? Asks Mr Taylor, 'Im fine thank you, how are you'? I reply, 'We are grand'! He shouts back and waves as I turn away and open the front door. I walk inside and straight into the kitchen, Luke is standing poring a glass of juice, 'Luke'! I say slamming my things down on the bench and giving him a hug, 'hello you, how was your day'? He asks, 'My day wasn't too bad but I've got all of this marking that you could help me with over the holiday' I reply giving a little laugh, 'Haha yeah ok' he laughs picking up his cup of juice, 'How was your day, what have you been up to' I ask, 'Well this morning I went to the office to sort some things out with my boss and then I came home and chilled and then I got a phone call actually' he explains casually, 'A phone call? Really, off who'? Ask walking back down the hall to hang up my bag, 'Well it was actually of my Mum and Dad' he replies. Oh god no, I told them to ring my mobile not the house phone! I knew this was a bad idea, he's going to hate me! What the hell have I done? 'Ok listen Luke, It was me, I sent a letter to your Mum and Dad telling them that you missed them, I got in touch with them, it's all my fault and I know I had no right to do it but I just wanted everything to be perfect for the baby and I thought If your Mum and Dad got back in touch then everything would be fine and you would be happier. Luke I sorry, I'm so so sorry I didn't mean for anything bad to happen I just wanted to help' I say starting to cry and cover my eyes with my hands, I feel so bad, why did I have to go stick my nose in and interfere? 'Jess it's fine' he replies putting his hands on my shoulders, 'what? But I thought you were going to hate me' I say looking up at him, 'Jess I don't hate you, I love you and I'm already happy I don't need anything else just you and the baby hear and they have agreed to come and see us some time' he explains pulling my close and giving me a hug, 'they've agreed to come see you'? I say in surprise putting my arms around him, 'yeah, they apologised for never being hear and said they can't wait to meat your Mum and Dad and they are so excited to see us again' he said laughing, 'Thats great, oh god that's great' I say excitedly looking up at him and smiling. I can't explain how happy I am that Luke doesn't hate me for mailing his Mum and Dad and I'm so excited to meet them again after all this time. Later on Rachel rang up to tell us about what's happening next week, 'Hey Jessie, just ringing to tell you about the meet up' she said down the phone, 'hello Rachel and yeah what's going on with that'? I asked, 'Well Joe is arriving tomorrow afternoon to meet Mum and Dad and you if you want to come, and then on Tuesday we've planned the little party' explained Rachel, 'right ok got it, so what's going on with the party? Who have you invited' I ask knowing that she's probably invited the whole city and more, 'Well quite allot actually, we are going to get a buffet set up in the garden and get the tables and chairs out and then we have BBQ too' she replies sounding excited about the whole thing, 'haha oh right so just like everyone that you haven't seen in a while then' I laugh, 'Yeah basically like people we were close to in school and family I haven't seen in years, people like that' she explains, 'Ooo sound fun then'! I say sarcastically and giving a little chuckle, 'It does doesn't it! So are you and Luke coming up tomorrow to meet Joe because Emma Justin, Lily and Casper are coming' she said back, 'Oh ok then me and Luke will be at Mum and Dads around dinner time then, I haven't seen Lily and Casper in weeks now' I reply in a shocked tone, 'yeah I haven't seen them in at least a year' she says in a high pitched voice. Not long after and the conversation ends with us talking about Emma and her family. Emma has a wonderful little family, I always wished I would be just like her, a husband who loves her and two beautiful children and now I'm not far behind! Emma and Justin have a daughter, Lily, and a son, Casper. Lily is the eldest but she's only six so she's still in kindergarten, she's a lovely little girl and looks just like Emma however three year old Casper takes after his daddy, just like Justin he's a little trickster, he's a beautiful little boy but he can be a devil sometimes which is quite funny, but not always. Justin is a body guard for celebrity's when they need him, being a body guard means he hasn't got a lot of free time to go out with Emma or spend time with his children so Emma is alone a lot of the time looking after Lily and Casper alone. Mum and Dad like Justin but just not his job. I'm quite nervous for tomorrow, we are meeting Joe for the first time and I have no idea what he's going to be like. Rachel is obviously fond of him and she thinks it's going really well but what if he's a total dweeb and doesn't treat her right! God I hope he's a decent man. Me and Luke had an early night and went up to bed around nine, we lay in bed and chatted about his family, mostly about his parents and brothers and Summer. We chatted about Jackson and his girlfriend Sarah and how they were going to come and visit when the baby arrives. Sarah is super excited about the baby, she can't wait to have another baby in the family. Her and Jackson tried to have a baby but it came back that she couldn't have children because of the cancer she had when she was just a teenager. Noah and Louisa have two boys, Hayden and Zachary. Hayden just turned eleven last month he's the oldest and loves having a little brother, Zachary isn't even one yet I think he's around about ten months, Louisa had a lot of trouble when it came to giving birth to Zachary and was in hospital for ages, she had to have all kinds of surgery which also stopped her from having any more children. Luke is really close to his brothers and so am I, now we are married, I haven't seen them in a while because of everything going on with Louisa and Noah and then I became pregnant too so there was just so much happening, but when the baby is born I'm sure we will see a lot more people around. Chapter Eight I woke up about twice during the night, I think the first time I woke up was about 5am and then I woke up again at exactly 2am because I remember looking at the clock in the corridor, the first time I woke up the baby was kicking and was pushing on my bladder so I went to the toilet, went back to bed and fell straight back to sleep again but the second time was terrible, I woke up went down stairs to get a glass of water to take back to bed, woke Luke up, tried to get back to sleep but I really couldn't so I was tossing and turning for ages and it just wouldn't work so I went back downstairs and put the TV on, The Decoy Bride was just starting so I just lay on the sofa and watched that but I think I fell asleep before the end of it anyway, what a terrible night! So the next time I woke up was by Luke 'Jess what are you doing on the sofa' he whispered in my ear, I opened my eyes and replied, 'I woke up so I came to watch a film and fell asleep', 'Haha silly, are you ok'? He asked with a little giggle, 'Oh yeah I'm fine, what time is it'? I reply rubbing my eyes, 'Er it's half ten now, you've had a nice lie in' he laughed looking at his watch, 'What! Half ten already, we better get breakfast, get ready and get to make in time for Joe arriving, we've got two hours' I say slightly panicked, 'Ah right yeah, we better get a move on then' said Luke walking away into the kitchen. He made us some toast and cut up some strawberries too, we ate them on the sofa while we watched something on the news about a factory explosion in Texas, after breakfast we went back upstairs to get dressed, I picked something out for Luke while he washed the plates, I payed out his dark wash jeans with a white super dry T-shirt and his black and green puma plimsoles. Then I got dressed, I wore my Jayne Norman maternity top which has a lovely little bow on the front and I matched it with some special maternity skinny jeans and some brown dolly slippers too. We both put on our clothes, got washed and left at about 11:45am. Luke drove as I sipped a flask of coffee in the passenger side. After the thirty minute drive we arrived at Mum and Dads, we knocked at the front door and Mum came rushing to open it, 'Jessica, Luke hello darlings' she says loudly in her high pitched voice, 'Hello Mum' we both say giving her a hug. Mum closes the door behind us and follows up into the sitting room, Justin comes straight over and gives me a kiss on the cheek says hello but he's more excited to see Luke, 'Jess your hear' says Emma from the other side of the room, 'haha yes, and I see your here too'! I reply giggling, 'Yes, Rachel is in the garden with Joe playing with the children, he's a lovely man actually, good with Lily and Casper too' she explains giving me a hug, 'Oh great, I suppose I will go out and meet him then' I say walking towards the French doors at the side of the sitting room. I walk out and into the garden and Joe is running around with Casper and Rachel is standing on the grass holding Lily's hand, 'Jess, hey how are you'? Asks Rachel walking towards me with Lily by her side. Lily runs over and hugs my waist, 'Lily, hello darling! Well aren't you a big girl'! I say in my child friendly voice as she leaves go of Rachel's hand and instantly grabs hold of mine with a cute little giggle, 'and hello to you too Rachel'! I laugh wrapping my free arm around her and kissing her cheek, 'how are you and the baby getting on then'? She asks nodding at my bump, 'we are both doing well, I'm seventeen weeks now so four months' I explain smiling back at her, 'really! Wow second trimester already, it's so exciting'! She says grinning at me. A tall, dark haired man waring a blue shirt came walking towards us, 'oh hey baby, Jessica this is Joe, and Joe this is Jessica my little sister' she introduces us and he looks at me, 'Joe, hello nice to meet you' I say shaking his hand, 'yes lovely to meet you, Rachel never stops talking about you and Emma, congratulations on your pregnancy too'! He says on a soft welcoming voice, 'oh thank you, my husband Luke is just inside talking to Justin and Emma, he's the blonde one waring the white top, he would love to meet you' I explaining pointing out Luke, 'Ah I see, thank you, lovely to meet you'! He says as he waved his hand and walked away, I smile and raise my eyebrows at Rachel, Lily lets go of my hand and I go back inside to see what's going on, I was instantly stopped by a really pretty looking girl with wavy dark hair, 'Well if it isn't Jessie Monroe' she giggles and looks down at me swollen belly, 'oh my god Millie, how long has it been'! I sag grinning and hugging her, Mille was one of my best friends all through school, 'hey Jessie, omg your pregnant'! She shouts at the top of her voice, 'yes I'm pregnant'! I laugh, 'That is amazing, congrats aww I've seen a few other girls from school and they are all so different with kids and everything, I've seen and Lucy and I saw Madison too after all of these years'! She explains pointing out the girls from school, 'oh Millie I could stand and talk all day but I was just on my way to the toilet so I will see you later' I explain and rush away upstairs to the bathroom, when I was finished in the bathroom I walk back down stairs and into the kitchen to see Mum, 'Jessie darling, are you alright' she says poring a drink, 'Yes mum I'm fine thanks, it's boiling in here though' I explain putting my hands on my waist, 'oh that's just she start of it, the heat, the back ache, the weight gain...' She starts rhyming off all the bad things about pregnancy, 'ok mum! But hey at the end of it I get a beautiful little baby right'! I say giving a giggle and wresting my hands on her shoulders, 'Yes darling you sure do' she says as I leave the kitchen and find a seat in the garden. Me and Luke only got here about an hour and a half ago, its really great to see everyone but I'm already shattered and a little bit sick of the constant noise. I can't believe how many people have actually turned up, the majority of my class mates are here and I think Rachel has invited about her whole home room. Emma came and sat on the garden bench next to me, 'you ok Jess'? She asks, 'yeah I'm fine, just a little bit worn out you know' I explaining sighing, 'yeah, it's hard isn't it. The whole baby thing' she says putting her arm around me and wresting her hand on my shoulder, 'haha yeah, just a little bit, my bump isn't even big yet and my back is already staring to ache' I add stroking my pregnant belly, 'oh Jessie you have a while to go yet hun' she laughs, 'I know! It's so tiring, I'm always tired' I explain dropping my head, 'aww I know, it's hard isn't it' she gets up pats my head and runs off to talk to get Lily from Justin. I get up of the bench and follow her inside and walk into the kitchen where Luke is standing, 'hello' I say giving him a little hug, 'hello darling, would you like anything'? He asks, 'Well I would love a cold glass of lemonade' I say giving a little smile, 'Coming right up'! He laughs. Luke hands me a glass on lemonade and we walk through to the sitting room and sit on the sofa, we sit there and chat about Joe and Rachel for a little while and then Luke gets up to go talk to Dad, Emma and Rachel both come over together and stand looking at me, 'what'? I giggle, 'Jessica we have decided we are going to take you out shopping on Tuesday, don't make plans' they explain, 'But I'm nor put ready for the baby things yet' I reply looking up at them, 'No, not for baby stuff! Things for you, like clothes, make up, things like that'! They reply grinning, 'Oh ok, I would be stupid to say no to that wouldn't I'! I reply getting up off the sofa and hugging them both, Dad walks in and quickly snaps a picture of us giggling together, 'Dad'! We all shout running towards him and joining him in a big group hug, 'haha hello my darlings' he laughs, 'Dad I'm sure I remember you being taller, have you shrunk in your old age'? Says Rachel looking down at him, 'Hey! I'm not old, I'm still in you prime your just growing and growing' he jokes making us all laugh, 'Oh dad your squishing me' I say loosing breath, 'Whoops sorry Jessica pet, and you in there'! He replies bending down and pointing at my belly, 'Derek what are you doing to the poor girl' says Mum standing in the door way, 'calm down you, I was just giving her a cuddle' he says walking towards her, 'Be careful we don't want her getting any injuries do we'? She says smiling at me and whipping Dad with the tea towel. I can't wait to go shopping with Rachel and Emma, we were always together until we got older and met people and then started families, especially now that Rachel is living away, we used to always go out the three of us and go for meals and shopping and go stay with Mum and Dad for a few nights at a time. I miss all the time we used to spend together and it's a real shame that has had to change. Chapter Nine Me and Luke left the party at about half nine straight after Emma and Justin. Lily and Casper fell asleep at Mum's so they just stayed there with Rachel and Joe. Today was so fun but I'm glad to be going home to bed, I was so tired after that! I went straight to sleep and didn't wake up at all during the night. I woke up around half nine and felt really sick so I just lay on the couch in my pyjamas wrapped in a fluffy blanket and watched Jonny English Reborn, it has to be one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, in my opinion it's way better than the first one. The film was on till about eleven so I got dressed and washed and rang Jas, we talked about Rachel and Joe and I told her what I thought of him, 'well he seems nice enough but I didn't really talk to him for long, the main thing is that Rachel has found someone she wants to be with and who she really loves and you never know how far it's going to go but I think Rachel just wants to settle down now' explain with Jas agreeing with me, we gossiped about Luke and his parents and what had happened with the letter and the call. About five minutes later Jas had to go because of the children crying in the background, I walked down the hall to the study where Luke was sitting at his desk chair,