Baby on Board

12

I was hoping that once I was out of the first trimester and safely in the second, that the morning sickness, the fatigue and the mood swings would subside but so far, none of that was happening. Yes, the sickness had lessened, coming and going whenever a smell overwhelmed me, and I was finally able to focus more at work and to an extent, I wasn't bursting into tears over really stupid stuff, yet I didn't feel entirely like my old self. Then again, I don't think I'd ever feel like that again because now I was a completely different person. 

My protruding stomach is evidence enough of that. For twelve weeks, I was waiting for the most obvious sign of my pregnancy to develop, constantly checking my side profile in the mirror and patting my abdomen to check for any changes. Nothing. Then suddenly, my belly popped and I finally had a bump to show off. 

This did, however, present me with a slight problem. As I hadn't gained much weight during the first twelve weeks, I had remained a svelte size eight and could still fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes. Now, however, my skinny jeans were a little too skinny and barely stretched over my stomach. 

Observing this at seven in the morning, I simply took my jeans off and set them aside, preferring to wear a dress that skimmed over my bump. Admiring my new figure, I patted a hand over my abdomen and beamed at my reflection, proud of how nature was taking its course.

"You look happy," my youngest waitress at La Petite Pâtisserie, Aimee, noted within a few minutes of my eventual arrival at the shop. She stopped her duties to really look at me and frowned. "You're glowing. Oh, my God! Did you have sex? Is this the post-sex glow?"

I shake my head in amusement at how animated she is, knowing full well that she'll be even more excited once she knows the truth. "Funny," I couldn't help but mutter as I rolled my eyes. Taking a look around the shop, I see that it's rather quiet now that the morning rush hour is over and knowing that we were working with a full team today, I decided now would be the perfect time to call a brief staff meeting. "Aimee, call everyone into the kitchen. I need to speak with you all."

Now that all my family knew of my pregnancy and we were passed the twelve-week stage, Isaac and I decided that we'd start telling other friends and colleagues about the baby, as well as Isaac having to prepare to tell his family. 

I'd asked when he'd do this but Isaac just shook his shoulder and then started to talk about how he and the other men in my family- namely Dad, Lucas, and my two brother-in-laws- had arranged a boys weekend away so that they could all get to know each other. My first instinct upon hearing that was that the weekend away was not going to be a get-to-know-each-other holiday but rather a hazing for Isaac. He should have known that from what the guys did to Daniel on his second stag party, but that was neither here nor there. 

Secondly, what struck me most about Isaac's evasion was his lack of forthcoming over his family. Apart from the fact that I knew Isaac has a daughter, Martha, and that I'd met his younger sister, Alice, at Daniel and Sophie's wedding, I knew very little about Isaac's family. His mother was English, I think, and his father is Australian but I knew nothing else about them. Were they still married? Were they still alive, even? Did he have any more siblings? What about his grandparents? If I was right and his mother is English, then did he have any family in this country? He must do.