My life-coronation street fan fiction

Grief

It had been six weeks since Charlie's death. The boys were back at school and Bella was back at nursery. For the most part, things were returning to normal. I mean things were never going to be the way they used to be, because I was never the only one bringing up three children. My Mum had been amazing and so had Michelle. Harry took a while to get used to things but was now back at work and enjoying life a bit more. All of us were getting better at talking more openly about Charlie. 

I was still grieving over Charlie and that wasn't helped by the fact that I was 8 months pregnant. The twins could come at any time, so I was under strict instructions to take things easy. Mum would do as much as she could for me, but I didn't want being pregnant to get in the way of my relationship with my children. They were doing a lot better. Theo was becoming more and more settled, at school and at home. Ollie was enjoying school more and had a favourite teaching assistant at school who was always there if he wanted to talk to someone. And Bella was thriving, as if all of her grief was put into the things she does on a regular basis. She reads and writes and adds, it tires her out but she enjoys her life so much because she is proud of herself.

It was Monday morning. I got the kids up and dressed for school and pre-school. While they got dressed I went downstairs and prepared their breakfast. They came down and ate, while I did Bella's hair. The kids then played for a bit before putting on their coats and shoes, and we walked to school. I took the boys first and dropped them at the gate before dropping Bella at pre-school on the way home. It was then at the door of her pre-school that I felt a twinge, a familiar twinge in my stomach. Bella didn't realise and by the time I said goodbye the twinge had passed. I walked home and nothing happened again. 

I opened the front door to the pub to find Mum and Michelle stood behind the bar, cleaning glasses. It was then that I felt a second twinge. I held onto the bar with one hand while I clutching my stomach with the other.

"Isla, you alright babe?" Michelle asked from across the room. I nodded, humming slightly. "You don't look alright, are you sure?" She said, coming over and rubbing my back slightly. The twinge passed and I was able to stand up again.

"Isla, are you alright?" Mum asked as she and Michelle stood next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think I'm just having early labour pains." I told them.

"What? Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I said as I nodded. Mum and Michelle both looked at each other and smiled. 

"Do we need to get you in now? Shall I go and get the car?" Mum asked. I sat down on the bar stool.

"Have you not given birth, you don't need to rush me in yet. They'll need to be a lot closer together. I will call my midwife to let her know. I might need to go in, it depends how fast things go, so just be on standby." I said before getting my phone out my pocket and calling my midwife. Michelle and Mum stood continuing to clean glasses as I spoke to her on the phone.

She said that there was nothing to worry about at the moment and even though I was going into labour slightly early, that was normal for twins. She said to keep an eye on things and to call the hospital when I was on my way. I put my phone down on the bar and told them what my midwife had said.

"Right you need to take it easy then, is there anything I can get you? Tea? Water?" Mum asked me as she lent on the bar in front of me.

"No, I'm fine at the moment. I'm gonna go upstairs and sort out my last few things for my hospital bag." I told her before getting off the bar stool and going out the back and up the stairs. The majority of my bag was packed, but I put in a few extra sleep suits for the twins, my phone charger, my maternity notes as well as my favourite slippers. As I packed then showered and changed, I had small contractions and twinges. They were not very frequent but I could feel them getting stronger.