"Jayne can me and Chris do this lift?" Karen asked her friend as Jayne was trying to demonstrate what Chris was trying to explain to her, but she didn't get what he meant at all. Karen however did.
"Are you sure? I mean sure you can do it if you like" Jayne said landing gracefully back on the ice the left blade after the right and gliding away from Chris a bit so they were standing a couple of meters apart.
"Yeah what's the worst that can happen" Karen said confidently looking at Chris.
"Well just be careful okay I don't want you or that baby getting injured" Jayne instructed.
"I'll be fine don't worry" Karen said as Chris lifted Karen carefully onto his shoulder a little bit nervous about the baby and whether it was a good idea. Even with the big baby bump Karen still looked graceful wrapping herself around Chris with her legs in the air exactly how he had pictured the lift. Once Jayne had took in Karen's body position Chris gently put Karen back on the ice, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
"I'm not that heavy am I" Karen said laughing as she pulled her top down that had slightly rose up over her tummy.
"You are with him inside you" Chris laughed pretending to be worn out by doing the lift with Karen, she playfully hit him on the arm as if to tell him off, meanwhile Jayne was still standing there trying to work out how to get her body into the exact position and shape that Karen had just demonstrated. She thought it was just stupid that she couldn't do it and Karen could while with child and a massive bump in the way!
"Karen I'm sorry do you think you could do that again I just don't know how you did it" Jayne said still confused a few minutes later when Karen and Chris were still messing around with each other playing around.
"Yeah course, just watch me more carefully this time because I won't be doing it again I'll tell you that much" Karen said getting herself ready to do the lift again, putting her hands on her back to soothe the ache a little before she went for it again throwing herself into Chris's arms and getting into the position which was almost upside down.
"Chris I'm slipping" Karen said with a bit of panic in her voice as she felt herself falling from his shoulder her hands were not in the correct position and the baby had started kicking her as if he knew something wasn't right. She hoped Chris could save her from falling but wasn't sure he would be able to the more she thought about it in the short space of time it was only a few seconds but butterflies came into her stomach and she was getting a bit of a headache suddenly. Jayne could do nothing except watch the strain in Chris's face as he tried to save it and the worry and panic in Karen's as at first one leg slipped down Chris's back and she realised she was falling backwards and Chris's weight was being brought backwards by gravity. It was almost happening in slow motion but the next few seconds after that went in a flash as Karen tumbled backwards onto the ice coming extremely close to banging her head on the ice as her spine smacked against the frozen surface. Chris fell on her wrist bending it backwards and she let out a small scream of agony and felt the bone crunch beneath Chris's bodyweight.
She lay flat with her eyes closed for a few minutes wincing through the shooting pains that were going through her back, wrist and head all at the same time it was a lot to comprehend and cope with in that period of time. Chris lay next to her with his eyes open wincing at pains through his left ankle and knee, which had both twisted as he had fallen and lost control of the lift.
Jayne quickly sprung into action making sure they were both okay and luckily no one was unconscious, she ran to get the paramedics that were thankfully always on site. Jayne was petrified the damage that both of them could have done especially Karen in her condition, she felt bad asking her to do the lift again immediately putting all the blame on herself.
The paramedics were easy to find as Karen, Chris and Jayne were the only ones at the rink as it was nearly 10pm and they had hired it out especially. Gary, the one who Jayne had managed to find came quickly with his mate Steve with a couple of stretchers for both Karen and Chris, but by the time they had got there Chris had got himself up again insisting it was just a bump, however Karen was still lying motionless, neither conscious or unconscious, in a strange state between the two. She could hear everything and everyone around her but couldn't respond with speech in any way she tried. She wanted to make sure Chris knew she was partially okay, that she could hear him, but she just couldn't. Gary knelt down on the ice next to her and listened to check her breathing which seemed to be slightly irregular and increased in speed.
"She's breathing" he announced as he felt her pulse in her wrist before carefully manoeuvring Karen onto the stretcher with a bit of Chris's help and then Gary and Steve both carried her off the ice and into the ambulance which had been called and there already quicker than ever. Jayne was nearly crying and Chris wasn't in a good state either, they both quickly got their shoes on and grabbed their bags before joining Karen in the back of the ambulance. Seeing her in a state like that was horrible for both of them, struggling for breath with an oxygen mask strapped to her face. Chris sat as close as he could get to her, running his fingers through her hair and stroking her forehead, while another paramedic was fussing over Chris's own injuries after much insisting on his part.
Jayne just sat and tried to comfort both of them but she was shocked herself. She rang Laura and Emma on her mobile hoping they'd both pick up. At first she didn't know whether to bother and worry them or not, but she couldn't just leave it.
"Laura?!"
"Jayne? Is that you? What's wrong?"
"It's your mum" Jayne said a silent tear spilling over down her cheek, earning her a sympathetic rub on the back from Chris that just made things worse.
"What's happened!?" Laura was now panicked too and Jayne could hear her breathing getting faster down the phone line.
"She's...had a fall... we're in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, I'm sure she'll be fine but I just had to let you know so you knew what was happening, I'll ring you again later okay, try not to worry too much" Jayne realised how ridiculous her words sounded, it was going to be impossible for Laura not to worry.
"I'll go and ring Emma and we'll be straight up there, thanks for the call Jayne"
"Okay ring me when you get near and I'll let you know as soon as we know anything" Jayne sighed before hanging up the phone and setting her concentration back to Karen, who was now becoming conscious again, her breathing was steadying but it was still far too much effort for her to move or open her eyes. Chris was wincing through his own pain but he didn't complain or say anything as he just sat comforting his fiancé.
An hour later Karen was in critical care ward her breathing was irregular and Chris and Jayne had been shooed outside in the waiting room while they ran tests. They were both total emotional wrecks as they waited for any news. Jayne's phone rang breaking the silence, making them both jump. It was Laura, her and Emma had got to the hospital much faster than they had expected to so Jayne regrettably left Chris in the room by himself in case anything came through while she went to go and get the girls, the much easier option than trying to explain where they were.
"It's not good girls, she's been moved to critical care but they won't tell us anything until all the tests come through and we're not allowed in the room..." Jayne explained to two emotional girls as she lead the way to where they were waiting. Just as they walked in the nurse was just about to talk to Chris and tell him what they had found out. She paused as Jayne, Emma and Laura came through the door and waited for them to sit down before continuing with what she was going to say.
"There's still tests to come through, but so far we can see that Ms Barber has fractured her wrist, bruised her spine and badly bruised some of the bones in her foot"
"What about the baby?" Chris just about got out in a worried voice.
"We're still waiting to hear," replied the nurse's soft, kind voice. "there's a chance she may have lost the baby but we are doing our best to find out as quickly as we can so that we can act upon it fast," she tried to explain the situation to the four faces that were staring at her.
"Thank you.." Jayne choked. "When will we be able to see her?"
"You can go and see her now but I recommend you go two at a time please," the nurse directed before leaving the room, just the clip-clop sound of her high heels could be heard down the dimly lit corridor, it was now almost midnight.
"Chris I think you should take one of the girls in first to see her, and then I'll go, which one of you wants to go with Chris?"
"Laura you can go I need to text Josh," Emma said sitting back in the chair rubbing her stomach as her own baby girl kicked, sensing the situation of the outside world.
Laura never did sit down, she was still standing so she made her way for the door, holding it open for Chris and then the two of them making their way down the corridor which seemed to go on forever before they got the ward that Karen was in. Being Critical Care it was very quiet, there was only two other patients beside Karen, and she was right at the end of the ward on a big water bed with a few pipes coming out of her.
Laura's breath was slightly taken away from her as she saw her mother in a weak state and rushed over to the side of the bed, kissing her pale cheek, Chris did the same on the other side.
"What are you like eh.. you've got us all sick to death worrying" Laura said taking hold of her mum's right hand and sitting down in the chair beside the bed. Karen could feel the presence of both of them and wanted so badly to acknowledge them but she was struggling. She managed to open her eyes and turned her head to look at Chris and her daughter who were stood on either sides of the bed and gazing at her with tears in their eyes, however much Chris was trying to be strong. Karen managed a weak smile at them both and mouthed 'thank you' to them, but it was horrible for both Chris and Laura. They stayed for about 15 minutes before Laura went to get Jayne and Emma, Chris stayed with her until they got there, he didn't want Karen to feel like they had left her.
Karen seemed like she was making a recovery since she had been on there, since Chris and Laura's presence her heartbeat had steadied she was a lot calmer and she now lay with her eyes opened, but she was emotionally and physically drained, with no colour in her face.
"Hello beautiful..." Jayne said as she walked over to the bed. Emma couldn't quite speak but she kissed her mum gently on the forehead, sweeping her hair away and took hold of her hand squeezing it tightly. Jayne failed at keeping strong and tears rolled down her cheeks, making Emma go too. Emma's baby kicking, she put Karen's hand against her stomach so she could feel the playful kicks.
"It's a baby girl twins... I found out today" Emma told her mum hoping she could hear.
"Twins?" Karen said surprised, smiling at her pregnant daughter. Since she'd been in that bed she hadn't once thought about her own baby, she didn't have the energy to, but now she did and realised she might not have it any more, becoming more and more conscious by the second brightening up at the company of her best friends. The three of them sat for a while, Jayne and Emma just talked to her soothingly telling her about their days, calming her down.
"Jayne!" Karen suddenly let out in the middle of their conversation, her eyes were welling up with tears as a pain shot through her stomach, the same as what had happened earlier and her heartbeat went up. "I think I'm bleeding" she said panicked and you could see it on her face as Emma quickly went to go and get the nurse who was conveniently just on her way over.
"What's wrong?" the nurse asked seeing the panicked atmosphere, Emma stayed at the end of the bed as the nurse made her way to stand close next to Karen and locate the problem. She had the test results from the ultrasound in her hand and it explained the bleeding and sudden panic. "Karen calm down please... I need you to try and breathe steadily for me..." she said attaching the nebuliser.
"What's happening?" Emma asked worriedly feeling panicked and a little dizzy herself.
"Karen you've had a miscarriage... I'm so sorry" the nurse said still trying to calm Karen down and get her breathing back to normal and stabalised. Tears spilled over all three girl's faces as they heard the sad news.
Lol gran had one when she was in hospital that's where I got it from lol, it's basically like a blow up bed but instead of air inside its water and they're really comfy x
Karen felt awful and she was almost unaware of what was happening around her. Her vision became slightly blurred yet her hearing was fine and she could hear everything. She knew what was happening but she didn’t. Everything was just a huge rush, but it was too late.
“I’m so sorry” the nurse said again, she could see Karen was in a very vulnerable state with no clear real reaction, tears were pouring down her face but part of her looked angry. “We discussed the situation over and over and the baby would have been three months premature if we had delivered it just then on a c section, but it really wasn’t worth it, the baby was incredibly weak after you fell, probably just by the shock of it all” she explained kindly. “Obviously we would have done everything we could to try and help, but there was just nothing we could have done to prevent the miscarriage at that point” the nurse was still holding the nebuliser to Karen’s face trying to stabalise her breathing back to normality but her heart rate was still increased.
“Emma go and get Chris” Jayne instructed pointing towards the door as tears rolled down her cheeks but she didn’t want to leave Karen’s side, she didn’t want to let go of her hand at any point. Emma just silently nodded and headed towards the door and back into the waiting room. Her own face was now red and blotchy and her babies were kicking her more than normal. Chris practically jumped out of his seat when he saw Emma come in the room in that state.
"Emma!? What's wrong??" he asked clearly panicked.
"Mum... she had...a miscarriage" came the sobs as she sat down next to her sister who put a comforting arm around her as she heard the news. Chris was shocked and his own eyes welled up as he thought about the loss of his unborn child.
"Am I allowed in?" he asked Emma, and received no vocal answer but just a small nod.
"She'll be okay you know" Laura reassured her sister.
"The baby..." Emma stammered, struggling to get any words out, "he was only 6 months... they were going to deliver him prematurely but it was too late..." she sobbed into Laura's shoulder.
"She'll be fine don't you worry..."
Meanwhile Chris was suddenly at Karen's bedside, the nurse had gone now and Karen was in kind of a neutral state, still not really aware what was happened but she acknowledged that Chris was beside her as he kissed her forehead and took hold of her hand, kissing that too. He hated to see her like that it was awful, but he tried to stay strong for her sake.
"Jayne could we have a moment?" Chris asked looking into Jayne's teary eyes.
"Of course" she said wiping the tears from her face and leaving the ward. She went to go and get a coffee from the cafe on the floor below before returning to the waiting room with the girls.
"I'm sorry about the baby" Karen whimpered weakly as soon as they were both alone.
"No no no don't be sorry it's not your fault baby... and listen we can try again as soon as you're ready eh? Just let's focus on getting you better first," he said calmly.
"Okay..." Karen said squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she blinked so more tears spilled out, and Chris reached over with a tissue wiping them away from her delicate, still pale face. "I think it's going to take a while to get over though" she admitted.
"I know baby... but we will get through this together okay, I promise... and I'm sorry we shouldn't have done that lift I knew there was a risk and I still took the chance..."
"Don't blame yourself... it was me who wanted to do it" Silence filled the room around them for a few minutes before anyone spoke again. "Chris... when will I get out of here" Karen asked in a small voice.
"I don't know darling honestly I don't... it won't be long though will it, just until you're well enough to come back home... and they'll be no skating for you for a while either" he instructed her. After a while Karen drifted off a bit getting some much needed rest while Chris just sat by the edge of the bed and watched her tired features rest, and listening to the almost hypnotic bleeping sound of all the machines and monitors that whirled around the air.
Jayne was just taking a moment to compose herself sipping the hot chocolate that she'd eventually opted for from the cafe which was handily open 24 hours, though she did feel sorry for anyone doing a night shift in there and she ended up having a bit of a natter with the young lady behind the counter while the hot chocolate was being made.
Emma and Laura were sitting in the silence of the waiting room, the lights were turned down and the moonlight came shining through the window on the two girls leaning against each other, the only sound that could be heard was the distant beeping of the machines all around the hospital. All two quickly a strange feeling went through Emma's stomach and she didn't know what it was but it worried her, despite this she left it the first time she felt it, thinking maybe it was just an irregular stomach rumbling. About 10 minutes later though she felt it again, making her sit bolt upright and her hand flew to where the discomfort was.
"What's wrong?" Laura asked, alarmed.
"Nothing.. Well I don't know, it's just something in my stomach" Emma lay back again but a few seconds later the feeling came back again, this time she stood up to see if she could stretch it out, but as she did a small puddle of water formed at her feet. Both girls stared at each other they didn't know what to do, they didn't know where Jayne was or anything.
"Are the babies coming?!"
"I don't know... I think so... oh my god Laura why is this happening now it can't be happening now I still have another three months! What's happening?"
"I don't know I'm hardly any baby expert am I... well you couldn't have picked a better place could you, come on let's go and find someone!" Laura stood up putting one arm around her sister and and the other holding her hand as they walked out the door of the waiting room, conveniently bumping into Jayne on their way down the corridor looking for anyone that would be able to help.
"Girls? what's happening?"
"The babies are coming!" Laura said looking at Emma and then at Jayne.
"Babies? I thought it was a little girl!"
"No its identical twins... help me find someone please Jayne" Emma sounded desperately worried as she had no clue why it was all happening so quickly and so soon, there seemed to be no one about and the one person she wanted she couldn't have - her mum.
"Good god..." Jayne said frantically looking around for someone, stopping a female nurse in her tracks who was just hurrying down the corridor in the opposite direction. "Excuse me? My friend here has just gone into labour unexpectedly" she explained pleading the nurse to come and help. She grabbed one of the wheelchairs that were lined up along the edge of the wall and pushed Emma into one, then leading them all to the lift at the end of the corridor, they had to go down two floors to get to the maternity ward. While they were in there the nurse quickly took in some details, not picking up on the fact that Emma was only 6 months pregnant. They soon found an empty bed which Emma got into still panicking like mad as she changed into the night gown.
"What's happening? Why is this happening so soon?" Emma asked with a worried expression painted on her face as the nurse got some equipment ready to see how dilated Emma was.
"What do you mean why is it happening so soon?" the nurse was confused, not realising she hadn't checked when Emma's baby was due.
"I'm only 6 months along with identical twins, I found out it was twins today when I went for my 6 month scan, so why are they coming now?" As Emma was now quite large as she was carrying two babies, the nurse had just assumed she was 9 months and pregnant with one child.
"I'm so sorry I should have checked all this... let me just check a few things and I'll get back to you" came the nurse's small innocent voice before she rushed off to get one of her colleges.
"Well she's a lot of bloody use isn't she she's not got a clue what she's going on about" Jayne tutted and shook her head. "The chances are Emma its just a false alarm and your babies will be fine, I'll be surprised if you do have them now..." Jayne explained to her, trying to be as comforting as possible. "It happens to a lot of people, I'm sure your mum had about 5 false alarms when she was pregnant with you" she laughed as she remembered taking Karen up to the hospital quite a few times only to find out it was nothing. While Jayne chatted to Emma to calm her down Laura was just pacing up and down just as worried as anyone else, she didn't know what to do with herself. "Laura will you sit down honey... you're making me nervous" Jayne said laughing, getting up to physically move Laura to the chair trying to calm both of them down at the same time. "They do an half take their time don't they" she said looking around 15 minutes later to see if they had just been abandoned.
Eventually a bloke came wondering down who must have been about 40, but already just by a first impression he looked like he had a lot more experience than the young girl they'd started with. "I'm sorry about that... Sarah doesn't exactly specialise in this unit I'm afraid as you probably found out... I however do and I've been working here in this unit for almost 20 years if you include the time I was on the ward for prematurely born babies too... anyway enough about me let's see the situation"
10 minutes later they had come to the conclusion that Emma had just simply had a false alarm just as Jayne had suspected, and after running a few tests they discovered the babies were absolutely fine and settled, and that it was probably just the stress from Karen's miscarriage that they had sensed the tension in Emma.
"You should be totally fine to go whenever you like now," the male doctor told her before hurrying off to wherever he'd come from.
"Well that's a relief isn't it..." Jayne sighed as the three of them walked back up to the critical care ward. Laura went in to see Karen to find both Karen and Chris fast asleep, Chris's head was gently resting on the edge of Karen's pillow and he still had a hold of her hand tightly in his, so she went out again leaving them to rest.
"They're both asleep bless... I won't wake them" Laura said to Jayne and Emma who were now chatting away about babies, pregnancy and people they knew that were pregnant. Laura sank down into the chair in the corner, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them, yawning loudly. "What's the time?"
Jayne looked down at her watch yawning herself before answering with a shocked expression on her face with raised eyebrows, "3am..."
"Bloody hell" Emma said. They were absolutely shattered it had definitely been a long night so far filled with lots of drama, but there was no way they could sleep then and probably couldn't anyway.
"Well at least they're getting some sleep... we'd better stay here for a few more hours until Chris wakes up because he won't want to leave her... we'll wait to see when she can get home and then I'll take the both of you back how's that" Jayne said yawning a few times through the sentence. A little while later the three of them were also asleep, Laura was spread out over one row of chairs on one side of the small room and Jayne and Emma were both sat on the chairs with their heads tilted to the side.
None of them were really asleep but more in such a tired state that it was hard to keep their eyes open any longer. Chris ended up staying by Karen's bed the whole night, the nurses in there didn't really approve and normally wouldn't be allowed but given the circumstances they didn't object, Chris looked so peaceful with his eyes closed poised in the arm chair next to the bed, and Karen was sleeping finally, it seemed she was in such a better condition when in Chris's presence, at any moment he left the room her heart rate would go up and she would need the nebuliser.
The first thing they did in the morning was run more tests on Karen and strap her injuries up, she ended up with her left leg in a cast, her right wrist strapped up and her lower back wrapped up tightly to give it more support. Chris was forced to leave the room while this was done despite both his and Karen’s insistence, but he had to go and wait with the girls who were sitting in silence again in opposite corners, no one really knowing what to say. Jayne would occasionally open her mouth as if to speak but nothing would come out. Emma just sat staring at her phone, she hadn’t told Josh about the baby scare yet and she didn’t know whether she should or not, besides it was still early.
“Hello my angels” Chris said as her entered the room rubbing his eyes and one hand on his back which had stiffened up from sitting on that chair all night long.
“Hi…” Jayne mumbled waking up a bit when she saw Chris come in. “How is she?” she asked positively, putting her phone back in her bag.
“She’s okay… they’re just strapping her up and whatnot, that’s why they chucked me out” Chris answered.
“I’m surprised they let you stay in there that long, especially all night they’re normally really quite strict on rules in there” Jayne said. “When my mum was in here they only let me in for half an hour at a time, it was awful because she just wanted someone with her all the time” Jayne told at the memory of her lovely mother who had sadly passed away five years ago in the exact same ward that Karen was in.
“I know I remember…” Chris said going to sit next to Jayne and putting an arm around her.
“Karen’ll be fine I know she will… she’s tough she’ll get through anything” Jayne said smiling.
“I’m going to go in a while, Josh is coming to pick me up,” Emma told the others just coming off the phone. “I’ll come back later though, just to see how she’s going, it’s a bit of a waste of time sitting here if they’re not letting anyone in”
“Okay well I’ll stay just in case with Chris and Jayne” Laura said not fancying going back home by herself.
“Are you sure? You can come back with us if you want” Emma offered.
“No it’s fine I’ll stay here, I’ve got nothing else to be doing anyway so I may as well stay” “Emma before you go I think you should wait until your mum’s been sorted out and then you can go and tell her you’re going, because she was asking for you earlier – she’ll get upset if she finds out you’ve gone without letting her know” Chris said.
“Okay”
A couple of hours later the four of them were still sitting there, now joined by a few other family relatives from other patients along the ward. There was a large Asian family of about 6 or 7 that were all crammed down one side of the waiting room, chatting loudly. Another middle-aged woman sat in the corner by the door quietly reading a newspaper with a pile of magazines next to her, as if she was expecting to be there a long time. Jayne, Chris, Laura and Emma were sitting in the corner more squished up now that they didn’t have the place to themselves, talking about anything that came to mind. The girls talked to Jayne about shoes and make up for a good portion of the time and Chris got incredibly bored, eventually resulting in him taking out his iPhone and finding some games to play which kept him amused for a while, until he thought he’d better stop before he ran the battery totally down. After that he just sat staring into space aimlessly glancing around, twiddling his thumbs, suddenly picking up endless little annoying habits.
“Will you stop fidgeting?” Jayne said giving him a good nudge eventually because he was sitting very close to her and all she could feel was either Chris’s feet or legs twitching against her.
“Sorry but I’m bored!”
“Well join in the conversation then!” The girls giggled as they imagined Chris joining in their conversation making his own comments about which make up brand was the best.
“As if, that’s probably more boring than what I’m doing now”
“Well if you carry on I think I’m going to have to kick you out in the hallway it’s driving me mad” Jayne laughed.
“How long does it bloody take to put a few bandages on and get a few drugs down her anyway”
“It was probably just an excuse to get you out of there…” Jayne mused.
“Hmmm”
Finally after god knows how long after the nurse came in and said it would be okay to go in again, and sorry for the delay but they were trying to get some food into Karen’s system. Emma and Laura went in first quickly this time so Emma could say goodbye and she’d be back later. She told Karen all about the baby situation how she’d thought her waters had broken and thought she was going to have the baby, but she wasn’t sure her mum could hear all the words and whether it made any sense to her at all. Nevertheless she continued to talk away just to keep her mum company, and every now and then Laura would add in the odd comment, but Emma was definitely the more talkative, normally it was Laura.
“Do you know when she’ll be allowed home?” Emma asked on the way out.
“We’re hoping to move your mum to a normal ward on the floor below very soon, in theory it should happen in the next few hours the way she’s going at the moment, and if she carries on making all this good progress then she should be back home in a few days” the nurse explained kindly to both the girls, she was very reassuring and sounded positive.
The girls went past the waiting room and Laura contemplated going back home with Emma but she didn’t because she’d already promised her mother that she’d stay, so she just went back into to sit with Jayne and Chris. As soon as Chris saw Laura walked back into the room he jumped at the chance to escape the ‘chamber of boredom’ as he now referred to it. Jayne was a little hesitant to go and see Karen again because she hated to see her like that and didn’t think she could see her like it again, she tried to delay it as much as possible and just let Chris go by himself, insisting she was fine and she just wanted to keep Laura company and didn’t like to leave her by herself in the room.
“It kills me seeing your mum like this…” Jayne confessed to Laura as soon as Chris had left the room. The Asian family were still crowded round the one side of the waiting room but the middle-aged woman with the magazines had left. “She’s normally so strong willed, never anything negative in her mind” Jayne was welling up with tears but she didn’t really know why, just the fact that they had been in the hospital for nearly 24 hours was getting to her.
“I know me too… she looks awful, so small and frail… it’s just not her” Laura said back, leaning in to hug a discomforted Jayne tightly, resting her head on Jayne’s shoulder. “Everything will be okay soon…” Jayne attempted to make the atmosphere a bit more positive as now both of them were in tears, they’d been strong for too long.
“I hope so…”
“She’s being moved into the Victoria Ward on the floor below us, they’re just making sure everything is stable and then wheeling the bed down there and we’re allowed to just follow along so we know where she is” Chris said coming back into the room beckoning the two women to go with him. Laura turned to look at Jayne before they both got up sharing a hopeful expression on their faces, hooked their bags over their shoulders and went through the door that Chris was kindly holding open for them.
When they got down to the regular ward Karen was settled down in the corner of the ward, there were 2 other beds opposite Karen’s and one on the left side of it, but only two of them had people in them. One was an old lady of about 80 years old, she was thin as anything and asleep when they arrived. The other was in the bed next to Karen’s, about 40 and she threw Karen a welcoming smile as she was wheeled into the ward. Once all the nurses and staff had gone the lady came over to introduce herself to Karen, her name was Kelly and just wanted someone to talk to, reassuring Karen that she just wanted to make friends, and hoped they’d be able to have a bit of chat when Karen was up to it. Karen liked the idea because she was always chatting to anyone she passed about totally random subjects but she loved meeting new people and making friends.
Karen’s health continued to improve over the next couple of days, she had quite a few visitors mainly from the Dancing on Ice crew that had been scared to death about her when they heard what had happened. By her third day in the hospital the bed was surrounded with bright colourful flowers and cards which lightened the place up a lot. Jayne hadn’t been back to visit Karen at all she was scared to, she didn’t know why but she was, she just couldn’t bring herself to go and see her injured friend. “I think you’re ready to go home Karen,” the nurse said when she came back with some paper work and had finished checking her over. It was 4pm and Chris had just about dozed off in the chair by the window, he was there by himself. He’d barely left the hospital the whole time Karen had been in there and when he did go home he found himself unable to sleep at all.
“Really?” Karen sounded surprised but her face had lit up at the news she’d been waiting to hear, though she didn’t think she would have heard it quite so soon. Although it felt as if she’d been in the hospital for ages and ages she knew she hadn’t and she had prepared herself not to get her hopes up about getting out early.
“Yes, you’ll have to be very careful though you realise that yes? And there will be no skating for a while either, just take it easy.” By this time Chris had now woken up and was listening carefully to every word that came out the woman’s mouth. “And make sure you get some good food down her too, fatten her up a bit!” the nurse laughed but Karen’s weight was the only issue left to deal with, she was starting to resemble a twig because she had totally refused to consume anything except a few glasses of water in the time that she’d spent there.
“Let’s get you home then?!” he said to her as soon as the nurse had gone and left them to it, he was already packing up Karen’s things that were stored in the cupboard next to the bed. Karen carefully sat herself up and Chris helped her change into her own clothes, he’d picked out a nice simple dress for her that was knee length, it was a lot easier to get on than say a pair of jeans anyway. For October it was still very mild outside and teamed with a white cardigan Karen was just the right temperature, not too cold and not too hot. With his own bag, Karen’s handbag and Karen’s other bigger bag slinged over his arms/shoulders they were ready to go. They walked out of the hospital closely, Chris had his free arms around Karen’s waist as he tried not to get in the way of the crutches or her bad arm and shoulder.
The feeling when they walked through the front door together was brilliant, Karen was so pleased to be home and Chris was ecstatic to have her back, it wasn’t the same living without her and there was certainly an eerie kind of atmosphere lingering while she hadn’t been in the house. Chris had spent all the morning cleaning the house just in case Karen was allowed home and it smelt good too, due to just the cleanliness of the place, everything was in the right place and all neat and tidy.
“Have you been tidying up again” Karen laughed as she walked through the door, carefully lowering herself to sit on the sofa, swivelling around lying the crutches on the floor and putting her legs up in order to keep them elevated.
“course I have you know me, if I don’t do it who will…and I wanted to make everything look extra good for your homecoming” he said.
“But how did you know I was coming home”
“I’ve just been tidying up like this every morning in hope that you might, even though there really isn’t much mess when its just me by myself and most of the time I’ve been at the hospital with you…it’s mainly just to give myself something to do I guess” he admitted before for the first time since the accident he leaned in for a proper, romantic kiss on Karen’s noticeably now chapped lips. He expected her to kiss him back like she meant it because they’d both missed each other, and Chris hated to see Karen in the state that she was. Instead she quickly pulled away before Chris’s lips could touch her own, a feeling just passed over her making her draw back.
“What’s the matter baby?” asked Chris, disappointed.
“I don’t want you on me like that” Karen flinched, her attitude had suddenly changed from her happy mood she’d been in before.
“I’m sorry” he mumbled before sitting next to her rubbing her feet.
“I thought I said get off me” she snapped.
“Karen what’s wrong? Is something bothering you because you weren’t like this a moment ago”
“I’m fine just shut up and get off me like I said”
“fine” Chris walked away from Karen deciding that was the best thing to do, and went to make them both a cup of coffee which Karen also declined. She stayed silent for ages not saying a word and not even making any kind of contact with Chris who had been forced to sit on the other side of the room in the arm chair, he amused himself on his iPad and left Karen to come around in her own time.
Neither Karen or Chris spoke to each other for the whole evening, Karen was asleep for the most part of it, she was absolutely shattered and her injuries really weren't helping anything. Chris cooked them both a delicious smelling meal that he loved making, a tuna pasta bake with a home-made sauce he'd got from his mother. He didn't cook often and wasn't very experienced in the kitchen however this was the one thing he could do well. He hoped that it might bring Karen around a bit from her mood and cheer her up so when it was cooked and the cheese was sizzling on top just how they both liked it, he brought them both out on trays with a glass of sparkling water on the side carefully balanced. Karen took her tray from Chris without saying a word, and he didn't even attempt to try and sit next to her, he returned to the chair he was sitting in before. Karen just stared at her bowl of pasta bake with the folk in her hand but she didn’t do anything with it, and looked like she had no intention of eating it. Chris dug in straight away, evaluating his own ability during the first few mouthfuls, then after that he carried on eating with his eye line raised so he could just about see what Karen was doing without making it obvious he was looking directly at her.
“Karen honey what’s wrong, you normally like this dinner” Chris said as he stood up to take his own spotless bowl into the kitchen.
“I don’t want it”
“Why not”
“Because I’m not hungry…”
“Please at least try and eat some of it for me?” Chris begged as if he was talking to a young child like one of his boys, or a time when he’d been in charge of Jayne’s kids who never seemed to behave for him, yet acted like complete little angels when Karen was around, luckily he hadn’t been left with them by himself many times at all.
“No I really don’t want it Chris…” she insisted still not looking at him. “In fact I think I’m going to go up to bed, it’s much more comfortable than lying here like this”
“Okay baby if that’s what you want for now then, I’ll come and join you in a while then, you get some rest”
“Don’t rush up”
“Do you want me to help you up there”
“No thank you”
And with that Karen went up the stairs as quickly as she could, relying heavily on the crutches. She could have done with Chris’s help but she refused to take his offer, she was determined to take care of herself and do everything herself without asking for any assistance. Chris could see there was definitely still getting to Karen because normally she would have done anything to have Chris do things for her.
Chris got easily bored by himself not having much luck with finding anything he could watch on the television, he eventually just gave in, quickly washed up the couple of plates and glasses, locked up the house and went to join Karen in bed, even though it was only 9pm. He was pretty tired himself from all the travelling to the hospital and he thought he would find it a lot easier to sleep now that Karen was back at home with him. He couldn't have been more wrong. When he entered the room Karen was facing the wall away from Chris, on his side of the bed. As soon as she heard him enter she pretended to be asleep but Chris could hear her soft, quiet sobs coming from underneath the duvet.
"Karen talk to me please... what's wrong" Chris climbed into bed behind her and put his arms around her, this time she let him because it was much more effort to just leave it.
"I'm scared..." she wept. "I lost our baby... what if we can't try again"
"Karen you don't have to worry about any of that right now... we won't try again unless you are ready to okay baby? And it's not your fault at all, it's no ones fault, it could have happened to anyone so don't go blaming yourself please" Chris talked softly into her ear moving her body closer into his own and she let him. "We don't want to move on too quickly now do we? Let's get over this first, get you back to your usual self and then we will see what happens next yeah?" Chris's words some how comforted Karen in a way they hadn't before and she felt loved with his arms wrapped around her, like nothing else mattered.
"Chris I love you... so so much...." "and it was stupid of me to think that you'd want to me to move on from this so quickly, I'm just getting everything in my head all muddled up and stressing out..."
"Karen I would never push you to do something like that and you know it... I want you better and put some weight on too before we even thinking about trying again do you hear me? And you've got to get yourself back on your feet"
"Okay... I'm sorry Chris"
"Why are you sorry, don't apologise you haven't done anything wrong darling"
"I'm sorry... for just... just doubting you at all, and sorry for all this" she mumbled not yet daring to face proper eye contact.
"Look, how many times do I have to tell you that it is not your fault Karen I-" He couldn't finish reassuring her any more because she'd already got the message, turned herself over not caring that her bad wrist was now trapped underneath her, or that her back was throbbing because she was twisted round, she forgot about all that and for the first time in a week kissed Chris properly, passionately, and intensely. Chris kissed her back, carefully moving his hand sliding it underneath Karen's bony body and resting it on her back. "Well someone's cheered up" Chris giggled as Karen slowly released the kiss and adjusted her position which had become incredibly painful. She smiled flirtatiously at Chris who smiled cheekily back at her, he could tell she was already coming back to her normal self - all it took was a sentimental heart to heart chat to let her feelings out.
"We can't even take this any further... I'm a cripple, this isn't going to me much fun is it" Karen said sounding disappointed with herself.
"Well you'll just have to lie there won't you and let me have some fun..." Chris said cheekily winking at Karen. "Not so tired any more are we?"
"Ohhhh but that's not fair..." said Karen giggling at Chris who had spontaneously climbed on top of Karen kissing her tenderly moving the kisses down her body that was dressed in a silky short nightdress that he had bought her.
By the morning there was still a positive atmosphere around the both of them even though Karen couldn't move much and was still in agony taking a lot of pain killers put now she'd expressed her feelings to Chris and knew that their was no pressure on her. She was still grieving over the loss of their baby and Chris seemed to deal with it in different ways, Karen still wasn't eating properly but Chris was doing his best to make her eat more. Both of them were missed back at the rink but everyone was making good progress with Jayne and the other coaches.
"Chris will you ask Jayne to come round"
"Of course baby" Jayne hadn't plucked up the courage to see Karen again since the first couple of days she was in critical care, it was too difficult for her and she hated the condition Karen was in. Chris went to go and ring Jayne while Karen got dressed, attempting to hide her weight loss in a pair of baggy trackies and a big jumper she hadn't worn in years. She didn't bother with any make up but she ran a brush through the scraggly hair before she went downstairs and got Chris to re-bandage up her wrist and put the specialist cream on her back that had been given to her on prescription at the hospital.
On the other end of the phone was still a nervous Jayne, the thought of a skinny looking Karen still haunted her however much she wanted to see her best friend. Chris did his best to reassure everything would be fine so eventually she agreed to come by the house at about 3pm when she was done with the celebrities she had lined up to work with her at the rink.
"Jayne!! I feel like I haven't seen you in about a year" Karen exclaimed when Chris opened the door to let her in. She wanted to run up to Jayne and give her a big hug but that proved impossible so Jayne came to her where she was spread out across the sofa. She moved her legs out in front of and put the recliner up so there was space for Jayne to sit down. Jayne thought it would be awkward but she needn't have worried it was absolutely fine and they had a good catch up, Karen got all the latest gossip from everyone at the rink, and Jayne gave Karen a huge card which had a skater drawn on the front, and a little message from everyone from work, reducing her to tears knowing that so many people cared about her so much.
"Its beautiful, make you sure you thank them all tomorrow and tell them I love it won't you" Karen said hugging Jayne again tightly as she tried not to notice how thin Karen had got.
"Don't worry I will" she laughed.
"And don't forget in a couple of weeks I want to go wedding shopping again, the dress I got will be no good now" There was a sense of sadness in Karen's voice as she said this but she didn't cry, she was brave and held back the tears as she knew she'd have to move on and she still wanted a fabulous fun wedding that was great for everyone, she was still excited about it but Chris didn't dare bring the subject up with her yet, he thought Karen wouldn't want to talk about it.
"Yes, yes we will, everything will be wonderful if we can get you another perfect dress, you're going to look beautiful, I know you are"
It was now nearing the end of November and Karen had returned back to her normal cheery, happy self again, she’d put on the weight she’d lost and was feeling so much better, her wrist was almost heeled but she was still having problems with the back and leg, having been back to the hospital numerous times to try and get everything sorted out, and a lot of serious physio, especially on her back. She’d been up to the rink a couple of times with Chris’s assistance and sat at the side watching the progress that had been made while she’d been off. Jayne had sat down with her one afternoon and the both of them had searched everywhere on the internet for the most fabulous wedding dress, and they’d got lucky. It was very similar to the maternity dress Karen had originally bought and just as stunning. She was having it especially made, all you had to do was email across all the appropriate measurements and it was guaranteed to be with you within 2 weeks of the order – a genius idea because Karen was unable to walk very far or very long at all, so it wouldn’t have been a very good shopping trip if the pair of them had gone into town to get the dress.
“Chris I’m just popping over to the shop” Karen said pulling on her shoes and grabbing her coat from the peg.
“Okay baby are you sure you want to go by yourself?”
“Yes I won’t be long, I need to stretch my legs as well”
10 minutes later Karen returned to the house with a bag hooked over the same arm that was holding her one crutch that she now had. Chris was in the little room where he kept his apple mac so Karen kicked off her shoes, hung her jacket up and went straight to the bathroom.
“Karen is that you?” Chris said hearing the bathroom door shut behind her.
“Yes baby, I won’t be a minute”
Karen quickly did the pregnancy test and carried it out to where Chris was, she clutched it nervously in her hands, they’d been trying for another baby for nearly a month and this was Karen’s first test since then.
“That’s what you went for… well?” Chris said going to stand behind her peering over Karen’s shoulder and wrapping his hands around her waist.
“It’s negative… I don’t understand, we’ve tried everything to maximise the chances!” Karen sounded incredibly disappointed, she wanted that baby so badly.
“Well don’t worry baby… we will just try again won’t we? And again and again, until that test shows positive” he said kissing the top of her head.
“But I was so sure I was pregnant…”
“Karen it’s only been a month, you can’t have been that sure, don’t give up hope alright?” Karen nodded silently, she wasn’t sure but she agreed anyway, she wasn’t going to give in any time sure that’s one thing certain.
The next test Karen took was on Christmas eve but she was just left devastated again, with no sign of any baby and Chris just reassured her they would just keep trying until she got pregnant again.
“Its all very well you saying this Chris but we’re not getting any younger”
“Just calm down you’re getting yourself worked up baby… if we’re still not pregnant after the new year then we will pop down the doctors and see what’s going on alright?”
“Merry Christmas baby!!” Karen said excitedly as she woke early on the 25th December, immediately kissing her handsome fiancé on the lips to wake him up, shaking his shoulders. When it came to Christmas she was definitely worse than the kids, she still got mega excited even at 50. As she looked out of the bedroom window there was a light dusting of snow on the ground outside but it wasn’t going to last long, the sky had already gone back to a bright blue colour and the sun was shining in the cold air. There was a layer of condensation on the bottom of the window she noticed. The weather didn’t distract her for long as Chris opened his eyes.
“Morning honey… Happy Christmas” he said placing a kiss on her lips and then pulling her back down into the bed capturing her in his arms making her giggle.
“I can’t believe we are getting married in three days” Chris said staring at the ceiling with his chin resting on top of Karen’s head.
“Me neither… I wish you could have seen me try the dress on I think it’s even better than the other one you know,” Karen said thinking of how the dress fitted like a glove when she had tried it on at Jayne’s the week before, and how soft it was against her skin.
“I wish I could see you in it too, Jayne was practically in tears when she was on the phone to me after” Chris said laughing.
“Was she!?” They both lay in the quiet for a while, snuggling and kissing, keeping each other warm from the frosty temperatures outside. “So when can I give you your present…” Chris whispered into her ear.
“whenever you like… whenever I can give you yours”
“Wait right here”
Karen got out of bed putting on her silky hot pink dressing gown and pulling on her fluffy slipper boots over her small feet. She then hurried into the spare bedroom next door and crouched down on the floor and slid her hand under the bed to pull out the gift bag with Chris’s presents in. Meanwhile Chris was rummaging around at the bottom of his wardrobe for Karen’s presents and eventually found them buried under the unusually large (for a man) shoe collection, pulling them all out one by one creating a small pile in the middle of the bed, by which time Karen returned with the gift bag in her hands. She climbed back onto the bed and sat under the covers cross legged as she handed Chris the bag of presents which had been carefully selected with Jayne.
“Wow Kaz I feel very spoilt” he said peering into the bag, taking out the top present and shaking it around a bit to see if he could guess what was underneath the gold glittery wrapping paper which looked too special to just rip off and throw away.
“So do I.. I actually have no idea what any of this is”
“I think I did pretty well this year don’t you?” Chris laughed at Karen’s facial expression as both of them remembered the previous Christmas where Karen had bought most of her own presents and given them to Chris to wrap up.
“Yes, yes you certainly did…” Karen leant over and kissed his forehead as she opened the small red velvet box and pulled out a studded ring which she slipped onto her right thumb, lifting it up above her head watching it sparkle in the light. “It’s lovely Chris”
“I know I think so too… I did have a bit of help from Jayne though with that one she said you’d been after one of those for a while”
“You’re not supposed to tell me you had help… you’re supposed to say that you picked it all by yourself” Karen giggled patting Chris’s leg.
“Karen! This must have cost you a fortune!” Chris gasped as he pulled out an incredibly high tech camera from its medium sized box and peered through the lense, investigating all the different buttons on it, it was clearly a top of the range piece.
“Now that I picked myself… I was looking through your bookmarks on the computer and found lots of camera links…”
“This one just happened to be my favourite too” he said still examining the dimensions of the camera which looked incredibly confusing to Karen. “Say cheese” he said pointing it towards Karen and clicking the button.
“Oi! I don’t really wish to have my picture taken at this time of morning thank you” Karen said laughing as she stole the camera from Chris to cheekily delete the photo without him knowing.
They both finished opening their presents quite quickly and were then surrounded by ripped up wrapping paper and expensive gifts. Then they both took a steamy shower together seeing as Karen had not long had the cast of her leg. They both took their time getting ready, Karen wore a bright ruby red dress that Chris had bought her, it came down to her knee and clinched in her tiny waist, it was long sleeved but had a low scoop back and a boat cut neckline. She slipped on a pair of shimmery black tights and the silver heart locket that Chris had also bought her, with a few sprays of the perfume Jayne helped Chris pick out because it was Karen’s favourite and had been for a long time. Her hair was natural with a few extra curls put in so that it sat on her shoulders. Chris wore his new straight leg jeans and a black shirt with the top couple of buttons undone, and wore some of the aftershave Karen picked out for him.
“What time is Jayne coming” Chris asked as he sat on the bed watching Karen do her smokey eyed make up and apply her bright red lipstick.
“About 2ish I think, so the kids get time to play with all their presents and stuff” Karen answered glancing at Chris in the mirror.
“Oh god our house is going to be invaded isn’t it” Chris said laughing as he pictured all the toys everywhere.
“Well I’m sure Keiron will want you to play with him with some of his presents… I think Jayne has bought him some Harry Potter Lego building thing he might want some help with”
“And how did I get myself nominated for that job” Chris wondered.
“Because you’re his favourite uncle apparently” Karen replied laughing as she finished the finishing touches of her look, just putting a tiny bit of blusher on her cheek bones.
“Oh am I now…”
“According to Jayne”
“and what will you be doing with little Jess”
“She’ll be quite entertained just by looking in my wardrobe I think” Karen laughed.
“Oh yes that’s right she hasn’t been here since how long? You must have tonnes more she can try on by now”
“The last time she came was when you went to America the first time yourself” Karen recalled.
“That seems like donkey’s years ago… so basically you and Jayne sit here having a good old natter and gossip and leave poor little Jess to do whatever she likes”
“yep you got the idea… she loves it! Anyway that’s basically all you and Phil do to be honest, you sit there having a catch up with a pint of beer in your hand”
“men don’t have ‘catch ups’ as you call them”
“Well whatever you do… you know what I mean” Both of them giggled and Karen went and sat on the bed next to Chris giving him a romantic kiss slightly staining his lips in the process.
“Don’t you think we better get the dinner on” Chris asked looking at the clock on the wall reading 10:30am.
“Yep we had… otherwise it will never be ready when they get here”
“Its never ready for the time you say its going to be anyway” Chris chuckled following Karen down the stairs into the kitchen.
Chris stood leaning against the kitchen counter while Karen prepared the veg and got the turkey in the oven, it was all done and cooking by 11:00am, with a bit of luck it would be ready by at least 3:00pm. While they were waiting for Jayne, Phil, Jessica and Keiron to arrive Karen and Chris just snuggled up on the sofa together as close as they could get, holding hands.
“Here they are” Chris said hearing Jessica’s multiple knocks on the door.
“Hello gorgeous” Karen said going up to the door and picking up little Jessica giving her a big chirstmas kiss on her cheek.
“Karen be careful you shouldn’t be picking her up!” Jayne said taking Jess of Karen and carrying her into the room sitting her on the other sofa to take her shoes and coat off. Keiron and Phil followed the girls in and Chris got the drinks, a glass of wine for Karen and Jayne, a larger for him and Phil and a plastic cup of orange squash for both Jess and Keiron.
“Uncle Chris… will you help me with this please” just as Karen had predicted Keiron was carrying a box of Lego as he stood in front of Chris. He took it into the conservatory and they both tried to work it out together with Phil too, Chris absolutely adamant that he didn’t need the instructions even after an hour of trying to fit the pieces together in the right way.
“How’s it going then boys” Jayne stood at the door with little Jess at her side and a glass of wine in her left hand as she leant against the door frame.
“He won’t let me help” Phil laughed, who was just watching Keiron fiddle around with little pieces that no one had any clue about, and Chris was sitting there with a very focused concentrating look on his face which made Jayne crack up.
“Ah well I’ve got a certain little girl here who would like to see what you’re up to” Jayne carried on leading Jess through holding her hand. “Go and sit with daddy Jessie” she said before laughing again and leaving them to it and going back to gossiping with Karen in the lounge, in between both of them keeping an eye on the dinner, and they’d nearly polished off a whole bottle of wine between them.
keep the comments coming because the more comments there are the more I feel like I should update more!:)
thanks for the comments, even just 'more please' makes it all better, because i know you're all liking it! there will be more tomorrow i think when i'm back from the hairdressers;)
"Jayne... can I ask you something..." Karen started nervously as they both turned quiet as they thought of something else to talk about.
"Of course, anything Karen you must know that by now..." Jayne said with a friendly smile spread across her face, her hand gently patted Karen's shoulder to comfort her.
"I'm... I'm worried that I won't be able to get pregnant again... I thought I would be by now we've been trying nearly two months but nothing, and I can't help thinking the fall or the miscarriage has damaged something... I'm so scared... I think part of the reason I wanted to get pregnant so quickly after was because I just wanted it to almost be like nothing had happened... you know?" Karen wasn't quite crying but she was thinking heavily about the miscarriage and everything that had happened. She'd been so positive about it over the past few weeks and it had almost been at the back of her mind, but she had to tell someone and Jayne was that person she felt like she could just tell anything.
"Karen... come here" she said first, putting her glass on the table and putting both arms around Karen giving her the biggest, warming cuddle. "It's okay... just... well first of all, it's unusual for anyone to get pregnant so soon after something like this, there's probably a certain amount of time that has to pass to let your body fully recover and things like that... the nurse probably told you? So you can't just judge things and jump to conclusions like saying you won't ever be able to have children again," Jayne reassured her looking straight into her innocent shining eyes. "Just wait a few more months, yeah? You still have good chances Karen. And there's no real age for people to get pregnant any more, you can still conceive when you're almost 60!" Jayne told her.
A weak smile came onto Karen's face while Jayne explained all this to her. "How do you know all that anyway..."
"Well you just remember I've been through it all... two miscarriages I had after that accident, they told me after that I was just probably trying to conceive again, but it was too late by then because we had already decided to adopt Keiron and then a little while later Jess, and although I then realised I could have had my own babies naturally, it was the best feeling in the world I can tell you that, to take those beautiful children off the poor lady that just couldn't handle it, she just wasn't ready to raise them by herself. I'm not so sure I could it myself though, what she did, she got in touch with us a few months after we adopted Keiron and she got pregnant again but with a surrogacy business, because she said the looks on mine and Phil's faces when we had her baby was magical, she eventually wanted to do it again, to give someone else the joy of having children who couldn't do it naturally themselves," Jayne went on explaining the confusing process to Karen who was listening intently.
They continued talking about the different options of pregnancy and adoption for a while before they realised the dinner was nearly burning, and had to quickly rush to get everything out, crispy potatoes and yorkshire puddings, and incredibly soft almost mushy brocolli was the result.
"Dinner's ready!" Jayne shouted to the rest of them next door, calling them into the kitchen while Karen dished up and put the plates carefully in the centre of each mat.
Chris, Phil, Keiron and Jess came wondering through and sat down at their places, Jess and Keiron tucking straight in while the men waiting for Jayne and Karen to sit down, who were now getting every one a drink.
"Would you just sit down baby" Chris said to Karen pulling out the chair beside him beckoning her over, she was now just moving different pots and pans around rearranging them in the sink for no reason whatsoever.
"Yes I will hang on but there's barely any room to move at the moment I'm just sorting this out" she said relatively calmly.
"Well you don't need to do it now do you" he said getting up out of his seat and putting his hands around her waist from behind, gently pulling her over, making her giggle and eventually come over.
"There we go, now this is perfect now every one is together, lovely isn't it?" Chris said as he finally got Karen to sit down, by which time Jess and Keiron had almost finished.
Chris and Karen were on one side of the table with Jess on Karen's right side, and Jayne, Phil, and Kerion were on the opposite side.
"This is lovely Karen thank you" Jayne said complimenting the food as she took a few first mouthfuls.
"Does Auntie Karen have any crackers to pull" Keiron shyly whispered into his mum's ear.
"Oohh Karen we forgot the crackers! Thanks for reminding us Keiron, we do have some don't we I remember us getting them the other day" Jayne laughed going to get up out of her seat.
"Well he can wait a minute can't he until everyone has finished, just eat up first," Phil said pulling her back down.
Once everyone finished Jayne got up and took a few plates to find a space for on the side and then went into the cupboard to find the crackers, handing them all one each. They then spent the next few minutes pulling them with whoever they were sat next to and pulled out the hats that were too big for all of them and putting them on their heads, reading out the stupid jokes that were never funny but Keiron laughed hysterically at every one of them, making everyone else laugh.
"Right, we'll do the dishes won't we" Phil said to Chris getting up out of his seat.
"Yep" Chris agreed.
"Is there any pudding?" Keiron asked Jayne.
"Yes I'm sure there will be, just be patient, you never stop do you" Jayne laughed ruffling his dark blonde hair.
"Can I get down mummy" Jess asked innocently across the table, she was getting very fidgety waiting.
"You'd better ask Auntie Karen hadn't you... Say thank you for your dinner as well please"
Jess's little face turned to look up at Karen beside her before she said, "Thank you for my dinner Auntie Karen please can I go and play"
"Of course you can beautiful! And you're welcome Jess" Karen replied looking down at her and then pulling the chair out to help her get down from the table.
About half an hour later Phil and Chris were done with the washing up and Keiron had ran excitedly to the table again the first there, waiting for his pudding. Karen ran through a rather long list of all the sweet desserts she'd bought and Keiron unsurprisingly asked for a bit of everything. "I don't know where you put it all I really don't" Karen laughed cutting him a slice of three different cakes/tarts and a bit of jelly and ice cream on the side, passing it to Jayne to pass to Keiron. He soon polished it all off licking the bowl at the end and was off again. Jess ate hers slowly as if she was enjoying each mouthful and then ran off to find her brother, leaving just the adults at the table.
"The girls are coming over later, and Josh" Karen said getting up to re fill her and Jayne's wine glasses. "I'm not entirely sure what time though" she said sitting down again.
They soon moved into the lounge spread out across two sofas just chatting about random things with the music channel playing a christmas chart in the background. A now heavily pregnant Emma came through the door a bit later on and Jayne and Phil moved up a bit to one side so her and Josh could sit down on the other side of the sofa, and Laura followed a bit later, who had spent the past few hours at her friend's new apartment. When Jess heard the girl's voices she came running in to give them big kisses, she loved both of them, they both did her hair when they saw her and sometimes make up too, and the small child was also obsessed with the fact that Emma was pregnant, she loved talking to babies.
"Jess did you know I'm having twins?" Emma asked her enthusiastically. "That means you'll have two new little friends won't you, lucky girl" she laughed. At this Jess gave Emma's baby bump another hug and kissed it right in the middle which made them all laugh.
