Forfeit (Original Edit)

Chapter Thirty-Three

For the fifth day in a row, I woke vowing never to drink again. Ever. I flashed back, mentally tasting the chardonnay I'd drunk the night before, and my stomach churned. I ran to the toilet, staring into it for several minutes before finally throwing up. OMG. I rinsed my mouth then flopped back onto the floor, not daring to leave the room. This wasn't fair. I'd drank the same as Xander and he wasn't vomming. Ugh.

'How much did I have to drink last night?' I asked Xander as he came in with tea. Tea? The clear brown liquid had no milk in and smelled suspiciously like herbal tea. I screwed up my face but Xander laughed so I relaxed. At least he didn't despise me for getting drunk again. I took a sip. The tea tasted pleasingly fresh. 'That's actually really nice. What the hell is it?'

Xander sat on the edge of the bath. 'Lemon and ginger tea.'

'God, please stop me if I suggest drinking tonight.'

Although I'd been obeying the seven o'clock rule, the amount of wine consumed after wine o'clock had been excessive of late. Excuses were in abundance: the Mill, Marcus, dinner for Robbie's birthday and last night, simply because Xander wasn't working today.

'Daze, I don't think you're hung-over. You didn't drink that much.' With his hands behind his head, he looked down at me. 'I think you might be pregnant.'

'What?' Don't be bloody ridiculous. But Xander nodded and his frown grew. Fuck. I ran downstairs to the calendar, trying to remember when my last period was. God, when was it? I rested my forehead against the calendar, taking deep steady breaths, and thought logically. I couldn't be pregnant. Hell, I couldn't get pregnant when I used the best bloody ovulation tests known to man. There was no way I could be pregnant.

'You're five days late,' Xander said.

'How the hell do you know?' I turned to where he sat on the kitchen table. He didn't look anywhere near as freaked out as me.

'You go a bit nuts for a couple of days each month. I pay attention so I know when to expect it.' He offered me the mug of lemon and ginger tea. 'This is what Vanessa drank to stop feeling sick. You'll have to do a test.'

'Not ready.' I put the kettle on. I needed tea, real tea, not that herbal stuff.

'Don't be childish.'

'You've just told me I might be pregnant. I'm having a coronary.'

'Me too. Do a test.'

'I need to get my head around this first.'

'I don't want to spend the whole fucking day wondering, Daisy.'

'The fact that we have lemon and ginger fucking tea in the house suggests you've been wondering about this for a day or two?' He stared at the slate flagstones. 'I haven't and it's a bit of a bloody shock. Just give me an hour or two. Don't you have to go to work?'

'Day off. We were ...'

Going climbing. I nearly laughed. All week I'd been dreaming up wild excuses to avoid potentially plummeting to my death in a Lake District beauty spot - now I had the perfect sick note. Hurrah. I picked up my cigarettes.

'But you're...' Xander's words trailed away under the ferocity of my glare.

'Not pregnant yet, sunshine.'

Until I was officially pregnant, I wasn't going to worry about a cigarette or two. Hell, I'd had about twenty yesterday so a few today weren't going to make things a whole lot worse. I headed to the garden, needing the fresh air.

Could I really be pregnant? A surprising smile whipped across my face. God, I hoped so - I honestly really did. I loved Xander, he loved me and we were married. My parents would be delighted - their first grandchild. And Oscar? I'd love to tell him. Yes, we'd go to Yorkshire to tell him and Andrea, and Cornwall to tell my parents - it's the least we could do after the wedding.