Chapter 34
From the bathroom window, Nina looked out over the rooftops of Lovely Bay and watched as a low-flying plane crossed a twilight sky while she waited for the third pregnancy test to work. She didn’t really know why she was doing it because as soon as she had driven home and assessed how she felt, she was more than sure that she was pregnant. It all made sense as far as she was concerned. Not that she had any notable symptoms, more that she just felt as if some kind of sixth sense was telling her that, yes, indeed, she was pregnant. The two expired tests had said it, and she now just knew it, too. Stranger things had happened at sea.
She watched the water in the harbour as dappled light glinted on and off its top, and the wind whistled through the trees as she flicked her eyes over towards the rooftops of Lovely Bay. She just stood there, gazing at the lighthouse reaching up into the middle of the sky, unsure what to think about what was going on in her body, as if a miracle had occurred. It whirled around her brain. Pregnant. Having a baby. Being a mum.
In a flash, she was back with Andrew. They were sitting in a little restaurant in the hills just outside a little Greek town in the middle of July. Nina had a glass of wine in her hand and there was a plate of olives between them. Andrew was pouring from a carafe. Tanned and laughing. Oh, so happy. Sunnies. Smiling. They were talking about what they would call their children. Andrew had always been adamant about a classic name, whereas Nina had fancied something a little bit different. Andrew poured from the carafe and shook his head as she’d conjured up a ridiculous name.
Nina shook her head quickly to rid it of the images. Another time, another life. She looked down at the stick and smiled. There was no way that three of them could be wrong. A window on a plastic stick told her what she already knew. Sleepless nights here I come.
With the stick in her hand, Nina closed her eyes and nodded. Part of her wanted to keep the news to herself for a bit. Almost as if wanted to cherish it, hug it to herself and not let anybody else know, not even Robby. She felt as if she might quite like to just walk around for a few weeks on air with the little secret strapped to her chest.
She wasn’t going to do that. Mostly because she knew that Robby was going to be over the moon. Despite attempting to pull the wool over her eyes that he was fairly laid-back about the whole situation, she knew that deep down he was not. So not. It had been very obvious to Nina, once they’d started discussing it, that it was very important to him.
Finding herself googling ”how to tell someone you are pregnant”, she decided she was going to make it a bit of an event rather than just blurt it out while they were having their dinner. She looked down the reams of websites that had come up on the search page and started to tap and read as she went downstairs. Curling herself up on the sofa, she read through all sorts. Most of it made her go cold. She wasn’t really up for telling Robby he was going to be a dad by way of a message in his lunchbox at work or spelling it out in pepperoni on a pizza. Wrapping up a tiny pair of shoes. Just no.
Going back upstairs to the bathroom, she decided she’d just come out with it and tell him. She picked up the stick, took it downstairs, walked into the kitchen area and smiled.
‘You okay? How are you feeling?’
‘Really, really, good.’ Nina beamed.
‘Oh, right. Going back to work obviously suits you, then. You did say you were bored.’
‘I don’t think it’s that.’
Robby frowned. ‘Oh, why not?’
‘Close your eyes.’
‘What?’
‘Go on. Just do it.’
Robby closed his eyes.
‘Hold out your hand.’
Robby held out his hand and Nina put the test in it. ‘Now open.’
Robby opened his eyes and looked down at the test. He screwed up his face. ‘What? Oh, well, never mind. I didn’t think you were… It’s not like we’ve been trying much.’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘What?’
‘You have the wrong end of the stick. Literally.’
Robby looked down again and then up. As the realisation dawned on his face, he frowned and shook his head. ‘Sorry. What do you mean? What does this mean?’
Nina smiled. ‘This means... what do you think it means?’
‘Oh my god, are you pregnant?’ Robby swore.
‘Yes, I am. We are.’
‘Bloody hell! Sorry, how do you know?’
‘Ha! That, of course!’ Nina laughed.
‘I can’t believe it!’
‘Well, I’ve done three tests, and all of them are positive, so I’m taking that as a win for the team.’
‘Oh my God,’ Robby said again. ‘I’m absolutely gobsmacked!’
‘Me too.’ Nina laughed and giggled. ‘I’m so happy!’
‘Sorry, I didn’t even think that we were actively thinking about this since you’ve been unwell. How did it happen?’
‘Umm, I thought you knew that bit. I didn’t do it on my own. You played a part in it.’ Nina laughed. ‘That’s the way it works.’
‘Sorry, I’m saying really stupid things.’
‘You are.’
‘I know it’s a bit overwhelming. We”ve been thinking about it for so long, and then it happens out of the blue.’
Nina nodded. ‘Don’t they say that’s what happens, anyway?’
‘Yes, yes, I knew it. I knew this was going to happen.’ Robby said. ‘Wow!’
‘Yeah, I know. You kept saying that.’
‘So, when did you find out?’
‘Today. There were loads of them in the bathroom cabinet at the house I was in. Remember I told you how bad it was when I did the quote. There were loads of them. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d done one, not expecting to find what I did, of course. And then I did another one, and that one was the same.’
‘Weird.’ Robby shook his head over and over again.
‘I know. But I still wasn’t sure because they’d expired. So then I did another one, and it was the same result.’
‘I can’t believe it!’
‘I know, but three of them must be correct. Then there’s the exhaustion. It all makes sense.’
‘I thought the tiredness was because of the flu. Remember, we even wondered if it was some sort of new strain of Covid because of the tiredness?’ Robby wondered.
‘I know. People say that they’ve been tired for like six months or so with Covid, but now this adds up.’
Robby frowned. ‘But what about all the other things we read about, like being sick in the morning and all that stuff?’
‘Yeah, nothing so far. Not to say that won’t happen.’
Robby hugged Nina tighter than he ever had. ‘I can’t believe it, it’s amazing. I’m so happy.’
‘I know, I am too. I’m a bit shocked.’
‘This is the best, best, best! Thank you, Neens. I love you so much.’
‘I love you, too.’