❤️ So this is probably the update you've been waiting for! Ladyjenny13 this is for you! ❤️

I feel like I'm being ripped in half. The pain of childbirth is excruciating and nothing I did was helping, not even the breathing techniques that I tried to master was going to be of any use to me in this state. The only way I was getting out of this alive was if someone put me into a coma or if I was drugged up to my eyeballs. 

"Isaac, this isn't funny anymore," I cried through the tears of pain. Another contraction had just passed and as exhausted as I felt, I wasn't in any place to savour this calm. My contractions were very close together and unfortunately, I was too dilated to receive an epidural. I begged for it, pleading with the midwife to give me anything and everything to ease this pain, going so far as to bribe her into giving me the drugs. She refused, laughing as she told me that it wasn't in my birth plan. "I am going to kill that hippy. She said that I didn't need drugs, that my body was a wonderful machine, that I could do this just like all those women did back in the dark ages when there was no thing as gas and air! She lied to me, Isaac."

For his part, my amazing birth partner- and partner in general- gave me a sympathetic smile and placed his forehead against mine. His lips brushed between my eyebrows and he whispered that I was going to be ok. As much as I wanted to believe him, I genuinely believe that I won't make it to see my baby being born. This was horrendous. 

"Isaac, I need the drugs," I tell him. My voice had become eerily calm as I stared him dead in the eye. I gripped his t-shirt while my other hand clenched one of his. When he shook his head, a solemn frown on his features. Sighing, I ask, "Fancy trading places? I'll hold your hand and you can push a watermelon out of your vagina."

My waters broke in the middle of the night, taking us all by surprise. I wasn't due for another fortnight. Martha had returned from her trip to Ibiza yesterday afternoon and we had spent most of the night listening to her stories about what she and her friends had got up to while away. There was nothing salacious about her trip but it was endearing that she would want to tell us all about it. Isaac was glad to have her back and wouldn't stop giving her hugs and saying that she wasn't allowed out of his sight again. I think he was just feeling protective of her; ever since Martha turned eighteen, he's been at a loss of what to do. Until Nugget arrives, he feels childless. It's complete crap but he won't listen to sense. 

Anyhow, when I went to bed, I never thought for a second that I'd be awake a few hours later, having a mild panic that I had just started labour. Yes, I'd experienced some discomfort earlier during dinner but when you're that heavily pregnant, you just think that the pain is linked to the fact that the baby is now pressing on a nerve or your bladder. I was awake for about an hour before I woke Isaac up and as soon as I told him what was going on, he freaked out. He shot out of bed, dressed, ran downstairs while shouting THE BABY IS COMING and disappeared somewhere. I think he ran out the door as he returned shortly after, screaming and asking where I was. 

Confirming that he had left the house without me and my hospital bag, I assured him that he had time to fetch Martha to see if she fancied coming with us to the hospital. Luckily, the daughter was calmer than the dad and she was excited at the prospect of being at the hospital when Nugget was born. She sat in the back seat with me, holding my hand and helped me into the hospital while Isaac continued to run around like a headless chicken. I could only hope then that he would calm the heck down by the time labour really kicked in. 

He was on a tight schedule as Nugget was in no mood to be late. The earlier his or her entrance, the better. My contractions sped up as soon as I made it onto the maternity ward of the hospital and I haven't let Isaac leave my side since. My hold on him was crushing his hand but I think that was a small price to pay considering I was giving birth to his child. 

A knock on the suite door echoed through the room before it opened and Martha popped her head around. "Hey, I know I said that I'd wait outside and I totally will because this is really putting me off having kids in the future, but I thought you'd like to know that your family is here," she reveals. Her gaze is fixed on my face as her rigid body hides behind the door. I assume she didn't want to look south because then she definitely wouldn't be having babies. I groaned when I processed her words and threw my head back against the pillow. "Shall I send them home or something?"

Too distracted by the wave of the next contraction, I screamed from the pain and decided to curse the world. This was it; I am never having sex again. Honestly, back in the day, it used to be my favourite hobby but now that I know what the consequences are, I am ready to give it up. I shall become a nun. Or celibate. I should talk to Father McGuire about this. After Nugget is born, obviously. 

Oh, God, why am I even thinking about this right now? My body is on fire and everything is being torn from the inside out. I have better things to think about, like breathing. 

"Just breathe, Lottie," Isaac instructs me. 

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing?" I yell at him as I ride out the wave of intense pain. When it subsides and I'm writhing in the aftermath, with tears down my cheeks, I turn to Isaac. "Sorry."

Thankfully, he accepts my apology just as a midwife enters the room. She asks me a ton of stupid questions and then she looks at the chart, updating it as she goes. She speaks to Isaac more than she speaks to me, almost as if she doesn't realise that I'm here. As if she could miss me. I'm the woman who is about to give birth, the whole reason she is in this room. I am the patient, not Isaac. 

"Ok, I'll just check your partner's blood pressure," she tells Isaac. Picking up the strap, she places it around my upper arm and starts to monitor my BP. She nods when she sees that it's 'normal under the circumstances' and then starts to check on Nugget's vital signs. A frown works its way onto her face. "I'll just be back shortly."

Hearing that made me sit up in bed, glaring at the door as I watched the blonde leave. I was surrounded by people that I wasn't familiar with and it hiked up my anxiety to surreal levels. My doctor wasn't here, my midwife wasn't here, my baby's doctor wasn't here. The only person I have is Isaac and to be fair, unless he's wielding pain killers, he's pretty bloody useless under the circumstances.

"It's nothing to worry about, Lottie," Isaac tries to soothe me but the worry in his voice creates a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. Normally, Isaac is my rock and when it comes to the baby and all the medical problems we've experienced, he knows exactly what's happening. Only right now, he hadn't got a clue what's going on. "I'm sure she'll be back soon with good news."

She didn't return with good news. In fact, she didn't come back at all. Instead, a doctor came waltzing in, silently looked through my charts, scanned the same information as the midwife had earlier and then asked if he could speak to Isaac outside, in private. 

I could tell Isaac didn't want to leave my side but I gave him to go ahead to speak to the doctor. Naturally, as soon as Isaac was gone from my side, another person took his place. Martha's hand slid into mine and she squeezed it reassuringly. Her smile was tight, a sign that she didn't really want to be in here, and she was harping on and on about some bar she'd visited in Ibiza as if it was something that would interest me right now. 

It didn't. 

The only thing that I was focused on was the small window in the suite door. From where I was lying on the bed, I could see Isaac nodding along to the doctor's words before he shook and bowed his head. He kept shaking his head and started to pace, his face visible in brief spurts, the colour in his cheeks become redder and redder. A loud bang came from outside, followed but some swear word that was distorted by a heavy Australian accent. 

"Oh, shit," I grumbled. "Something's wrong."

My senses proved correct when Isaac re-entered the room and walked to my side. He declared that we were having a family meeting. "Charlotte-" Never a good way to begin a family meeting. "-Nugget's heart rate had dipped and the doctors are a little worried. To be honest, this isn't a surprise because Nugget's heart isn't the strongest. Still, I've given Ben a call and he and Bob are on their way over. They want to do an unplanned caesarean section. They're going to come in to prepare you for theatre and by the time you're prepped, Ben and Bob will be here. I'm going to be with you every step of the way, alright? I will hold your hand right up until I hold our little baby. Got it?"

"But Nugget's going to be alright?" I check for confirmation. I really couldn't care what happens to me because there was someone more important to me than myself and that would be my baby. I just needed someone to guarantee that Nugget would be safe. "Promise me that the baby will be ok!"

"Charlotte, they're going to take good care of you both," Isaac tells me, cupping my face between his hands. He leans forwards and kisses me like his life depends on it. "In less than an hour, we're going to be a family of four. You, me, Martha and Nugget, alright. We're still agreed on the name, yes?"

I nod. "Yes."

"Then just hold on to that," Isaac smiles at me. "Let's do this. Let's be a family."

Just as I'd been told, porters came into the suite and wheeled me out into the hallway where my family waited. Mum and Dad both kissed me while my siblings and their partners held back. Sam was also here, his arm wrapped around Martha, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. 

I was prepped for the procedure, receiving an epidural, had a catheter fitted, cleaned my abdomen where they were going to make the cut, and various people made sure that I wasn't at risk of clots. By the time Isaac waltzed into the room in a pair of blue scrubs, I was hooked up to machines and being monitored by a doctor while a nurse placed a screen around me to hide my lower body from my view. 

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" Isaac asked, his words muffled by the mask that covered his face. Hot on his heels were Ben and Bob, both dressed in the same coloured scrubs as Isaac. They each smiled at me before going to discuss matters with the doctor already in the room while Isaac sat on a stool at my side. His hand gripped mine. "Comfortable?"

"I don't know," I admit. I force a smile onto my lips. "They gave me wonderful drugs. Do you know what that means? It means that mean midwife lied to me earlier."

Isaac laughed. "Maybe."

"Hey, Charlotte?" Ben's voice made me turn my head in his direction. He hovered over me and was the only person who took the time to talk to me. From his eyes, I could see that he was smiling and I had to assume that he was one of those strange people who got a kick out of being in an operating room. The term theatre to describe this was most fitting for him. "Right now, Bob had made the first incision. You can't feel it because of those wonderful drugs. While he's taking care of business, how about you and I have a catch-up. So, did you decorate the nursery?"

I answered all the questions Ben asked, laughing along with some random stories he decided to tell me. Isaac joined in, probably as glad as I was for the distraction, and he was as oblivious to everything as I was. It wasn't until Bob requested Isaac that I finally tuned back in to what was really happening. 

"Just a thought, son," Bob said. "You may want to come and cut the umbilical cord. And then you can take the bouncing baby to see Mummy, make the first introduction, yes?"

Less than a minute later, I heard my baby take its first breath, a small scream filling the room. Immediately, I wanted to simultaneously burst into tears and reach out to hold my baby. I needn't have waited long because just as soon as the crying started, I felt something wriggly and slimy and tiny lay on my chest, eyelids fluttering open for the first time. As soon as the baby saw me, the crying stopped. 

"Hi, baby," I greeted my newborn. "You are so perfect and beautiful and loved. Mummy loves you very much, darling. Very, very much."

"So does Daddy," Isaac chimed in before handing the baby to Ben, who took the bundle away. I watched as Ben did some checks, looking at the skin colour and checking the baby's breathing, while Isaac kissed my cheek. "Thank you, Lottie."

The words and the sincerity held within them tug at my heart. "For what?"

"For giving me a family," Isaac replied. "I love you, Lottie. And I love both my children. I cannot thank you enough for making me this happy."

Ben gave Isaac a thumbs up gesture that I caught from the corner of my eye. He said something about needing to take the baby away to monitor for a short period- a second Apgar score was mentioned- and made arrangements with the rest of the team to bring the baby back to Isaac and me after I'd been moved to recovery. 

The doctors went about their business, stitching me up once the placenta had been delivered, and not even thirty minutes after the procedure started was I being transferred into the recovery room where Isaac paced the floor, waiting for Ben to reappear with our baby. 

When the door creaked open, he stopped abruptly, a large smile on his face lighting up his features. It dimmed slightly when he realised that it was just Martha but he still motioned for her to come in and sit with us to wait. She asked if everything had gone ok (yes, it had), checked that I would make a good recovery (it would take a few days of discomfort and about six to eight weeks before I was fully back up and running but I was fine), and was impatiently waiting for her sibling to return to us (like father, like daughter). 

"Knock, knock," Ben's voice called from the door. Walking into the room, he was followed by a midwife who pushed in a plastic cot, our baby safely tucked up inside. "I've checked the heart rate and breathing and so far, everything looks ok for now. I'll continue to monitor things every few hours and we may need a transfer to GOSH but right now, this bundle of joy is all yours. Enjoy."

The midwife wheeled the cot to the bedside and left when Isaac pushed her out of the way. He took the baby from the cot and placed the sleeping newborn in my arms, the skin-to-skin contact helping to soothe the baby's restlessness. 

"Hello, Nugget," I can't help but coo over my child. Feeling completely ridiculous for using the nickname Isaac had for the baby, I blush and look to Isaac for the go-ahead to tell Martha the name of our latest addition. When he nodded with approval, I beam. "Martha, we would like to introduce you to your little sister, Seraphina Eve Fletcher. Say 'hi', Seraphina!"

 When the coin lands on heads, it's a girl. ❤️#NuggetsAGirl  

To be fair, most of you guessed this from the start but then you all changed your minds and I have no idea why! Like, what happened? Why did you all go for a boy? 👧👦⁉️

Anyway, you're probably all wondering where the clue was in the past three updates (34, Isaac and Nugget) and I can finally tell you where the clue was hidden! Here goes-

Please go back and check the previous update- Nugget. Have a look at the first letter of each paragraph. Write each letter down. 

What you should get is this: S-E-R-A-P-H-I-N-A-E-V-E-F-L-E-T-C-H-E-R (If I did it right, that's what you should get.)

And that was my BIG giveaway! 😁

*cue everyone going back to check!*

And for those of you freaking out about the whole umbilical cord line from Nugget's update, that was just a random line! Nothing to worry about. Chill.

Anyway, Ladyjenny13 guessed the name back on August 17th (I think- the Ostrich update) so this one is for you. 

Honourable shout out to YanieSicard. You can breathe easy now and we all get 2 additional full-length stories for Martha and Mick! Whoop!

I'm sure some of you will be disappointed that Nugget is a girl. But fear not- I also asked you all to guess how many children Charlotte and Isaac would have in total, Martha included. I can now confirm that they will have 5 children and the next three will all be boys, and there will be a set of twins. Here's the proof!

Therefore, we'll have Martha, Seraphina, Joseph, Owen and Levi Fletcher! By the time we get back to my planned story 'Speak Now,' all the Fletcher children will have been born. 

So, that's all I have to say on the matter, really. Sorry for being so secretive. If any of you screamed and scared a family member/friend/random stranger while reading this update, I apologise to them too. 

You can all leave your comments here.

Did you like it? 🙂☹️😐

Were you expecting Nugget to be a girl?✔️✖️

Happy that they'll end up with 3 boys? 👦👦👦

What do we make of the name Seraphina? 👍👎

And Joseph, Owen and Levi? 🥇🥈🥉

Who's excited for some Isaac and Seraphina bonding on Wednesday? 💯

If you have any questions about the story so far, write them along here and I'll put together a Q&A. AMA to do with this story and I'll try and answer as best as possible!

Have a great Sunday and an epic start to your week! See you midweek, my peeps!

Sarah, xx (🏴󐁧󐁢󐁷󐁬󐁳󐁿 My flag is back!!!)

(We'll also have a new cover by then!)