Lydia

Ten months later.

"Oh my! It's a girl!" I grinned at Jake, and he tightened his grip on my hand. He was as proud as punch, and his eyes shone with joy. Pure joy.

I was eighteen weeks into my pregnancy and we had just discovered the gender of our baby during an ultrasound appointment. This was definitely a moment of excitement for us.

The nurse was all smiles and explained that the little one was developing just fine. When she asked us if we wanted to know the baby's gender, we both eagerly nodded our heads. Jake's hand squeezed mine.

"You have a healthy little girl," she said.

Our angel. I felt her move as the nurse circulated the transducer over the cold gel on my exposed, growing belly. My eyes watered with tears of happiness when I watched the display screen, which showed our baby moving inside my womb.

"She just kicked," I said, looking over to Jake as I felt a little spark inside my womb.

"She's going to play soccer and score goals," he replied. His eyes were soft and tender, and I could see that he was emotionally touched.

"Maybe. Or be a karate expert," I said. I giggled and kissed his hand.

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A few months earlier.

I did not get pregnant instantly after we started trying, but it eventually happened.

It was Jake who suspected my pregnancy at an early stage.

"What's up, babe?" He held my hand as we were walking through Hyde Park.

"I feel strange. My taste buds have gone off, and things smell funny," I said.

Jake sat there and stared at me. His eyebrows then furrowed.

"Your tits seem a bit bigger. Rounder," he pointed out.

"They're super sensitive. Probably because I'm getting my period soon. It's usually late," I said.

"I think you're pregnant," he declared, smiling at me.

"Shall we find out?" I beamed.

Jake rolled his head back slightly, then laughed.

"C'mon, Missy. We're going to the pharmacy."

Two hours later, after a trip to the pharmacy, we were back in our apartment.

"Go pee," Jake ordered me.

Nicely said, Jake. How romantic! I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm nervous," I said.

"I'm here with you." He held my hand.

I marched to the bathroom, looked at the pregnancy kit, and sighed.

Okay, here we go, I thought.

Five minutes later, I went back into the bathroom and checked the results. I looked at the window of the pregnancy stick. One line was supposed to mean Not Pregnant. Two lines meant...

"Oh, sweet heavens above! Jake!" I shouted.

I ran out of the bathroom and handed the stick to him, and his eyes shot up, like fireworks in the sky.

"Lydia! You're amazing! I knew it!"

Jake grabbed me and hugged me tight, lifting me off my feet. He kissed me deeply and then grabbed my face with the palms of his hands.

"I'm going to be a dad," he blurted out excitedly and happily.

We were in on this together.

Our family and friends were super thrilled when Jake and I broke the news. My mom, my closest friends (Kath and Carrie) and I exchanged messages and called each other. Even though they were far away, hearing from them was enough to bring back the feeling of closeness.

Saph and I also remained close. She shared her pregnancy experiences with me, which helped me deal with the challenges of expecting a baby.

---

After the high point of finding out we were expecting, I was faced with the lows of terrible morning sickness, hormonal mood swings, and tiredness.

I smelled everything around me. Jake said I was like a bloodhound, as my sense of smell heightened. I could not stand the smell of garlic or onions during my pregnancy, so poor Jake had to tread carefully with what he ate.

One early morning, after a night out with some office colleagues, he came home smelling like a putrid mix of stale beer, garlic and onions. He couldn't help himself and had dived into some exotic curry at the restaurant. After that, they had gone to the pub to drink a few beers.

He came home at around two a.m. that weekend, smelling like a brewery that was hit by a garlic-infusion bomb.

I was really ill, and all it took was a strong smell to trigger the nausea and vomiting. Poor Jake couch surfed that night to spare me the pain. The next day, even after he showered and brushed his teeth, I still smelled the brewed air of garlic and beer on his breath.

During that horrid first trimester, I kept an old, trusty blue bucket by my bedside-morning sickness was not just in the morning. It happened any time throughout the day, including the evenings and late nights.

At one point, I was admitted to hospital to get an IV drip of fluids into my body, as I couldn't keep anything down. Jake was worried for both the baby and me. He sported dark circles under his eyes, and his face was strained with stress-the stress of the demands of his work tied with the tolls of our path as parents-to-be.

Eventually, the severity of the morning sickness eased off. Pregnancy was not a joyful bliss, as depicted in some of the romance novels I read. It was not rosy. It was, for me, difficult and long.

---

Third trimester.

My last trimester was a time for me to wind down. I stopped working at the bookstore a few weeks before I was due. I focused on preparing for the baby and slowed down, as the aches and pains crept up my spine and pelvis.

Jake and I took pregnancy yoga classes for couples. During one session, where the partners were supposed to practice breathing, I noticed some of the partners looked uncomfortable.

Jake snickered and let slip a dirty comment.

"Cut it out, Jake!" I hissed.

"C'mon, Missy, lighten up."

"Tell yourself that when I'm about to give birth!" I rolled my eyes.

I missed home as my due date approached. I dreamed of having my mom and dad, Jake's parents and our close friends around after the baby was born. The UK was too far away from home and flights were expensive.

Jake's mom was planning to visit when the baby was born, so we were really looking forward to it. It didn't stop me from missing my family and friends, our old neighborhood, and, of course, my favorite food-my mom's cooking.

One day on a weekend when I was feeling blue, Jake took me for a walk around Hyde Park. We walked past the Speakers' Corner, when he suddenly stopped.

"Honey, what are we doing?" I suspected he was up to something when I saw a mischievous grin on his face.

His eyes were fixed on a Free Hug campaigner standing a few feet away from us.

"Oh, no! Don't you dare, Jake!" I started to resist, as he pulled me toward the hugger.

His pull was too strong, and I was too tired to resist.

"C'mon, Missy, I think you need a free hug."

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A/N: Please vote and/or comment if you like this chapter. ⭐️