“Karen you are the most amazing person I’ve ever met… and not just in bed!” he joked, but he was serious at the same time through his giggles. It was like a repeat of earlier that same day, they were laying naked in each other’s arms again, but this time neither of them had any intention of running off for any reason.
“we’re really going to do this then?” Karen whispered as she snuggled closer into Chris’s warm, muscular body.
“looks like it… why can’t we tell anyone though?”
“well… we told the girls I wasn’t going to be in a relationship with you didn’t we? So I just think we should let Christmas pass and get settled a bit more… before we, you know, make any big decisions?” she said, running her fingertips across his skin.
“Does that mean I’m going to have to go home…?” he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. Karen thought about the question for a little bit before responding.
“Oh but I don’t want you to go… I want to spend every night with you, right here…”
“How are you planning on sorting that one out then…?”
“oh I don’t know… I really think we should wait until after Christmas though until we tell the world…”
“Well we don’t have to tell the world yet do we? We just have to tell your two beautiful daughters, because otherwise it’s really not going to go well is it?”
“No I suppose not…. I think you’re going to have to go home… you can still come over, any time you like though, and I’ll come to yours, it won’t be like we don’t see each other will it? We’ll make it work, we can say we need to do work, because Jayne won‘t be coming back for a while will she”
“and what about Christmas…?”
“You can stay a few nights over Christmas, the girls will understand that one. Even if you have to stay on the sofa… we’ll work something out, so we can spend Christmas together. I think I’ve just got my parents coming, so it’ll be fine. They won’t mind, we might have to go through the story about how you and Jayne a few times though…”
“okay baby… I don’t mind either way, as long as I get to be with you,” he said. “I never thought I’d ever be able to move on from Jayne, when she ran out of that church, I just thought, oh god… my marriage hasn’t even started and its over, I’m going to die alone. But even when I saw you, sitting on the roadside that day, crying with your head in your hands, I felt attracted to you. You’ve been a fantastic friend the whole time Karen, all this time, when I’ve had no one else to go to” he said, the whole time Karen was just innocently looking up at him, listening carefully to every word as it left Chris’s mouth.
“You’re amazing too… I can’t believe we’re here, together, right now…” Karen mused, kissing Chris attentively again.
“Me neither…”
“Crap! That’s Emma home!” Karen said jumping off of Chris quickly as she heard the front door bang and her daughter shout up the stairs to see if anyone was home.
“I’ll be down in a minute honey!” she called, hoping like mad she wouldn’t come up. “right… you get in… there! Get in there!” Karen said to Chris in a desperate whisper, getting up off the bed, wrapping her dressing gown around her quickly and opening the door to the en suite bathroom in Karen’s room.
“how long?” Chris said giggling as he quickly made his way in, doing as he was told.
“hey put these on!” Karen said tossing him his clothes that were dumped at the bottom of the bed. “and I don’t know how long… just don’t move until I come and get you okay?” Karen said, closing the door and then hurrying downstairs to her daughter.
“Sorry baby I was just having a quick shower” Karen lied, pulling her hair back into a pony tail, just so it was out of her face.
“I’ve just got back from the clinic, I’ve got an appointment next week to get this cast off” Emma said sitting herself down relaxing on the sofa.
“ah that’s good honey, I bet you’re itching to see your leg again! Just in time for Christmas too eh?”
“what are we actually doing for Christmas this year?”
“not much really, you can have whoever you like over, its just nanny and granddad coming over for a bit of dinner, and Chris is going to stay a few days too because he doesn’t fancy it alone… I hope you don’t mind baby” Karen said, she’d now sat down next to Emma and was tapping her thigh sympathetically.
“No not at all… erm listen mum… there’s not anything, y’know… going on, between you and Chris is there?” it was the question Karen had been dreading that she’d be asked, especially by her own daughter and she felt awful lying about it.
“No honey… we’re just really good friends and I’m just helping him out okay? I promise…” she hoped that Emma wouldn’t be able to tell her voice was trembling a little, she hated lying and she hated herself for doing it but she just didn’t want them to find out yet, they had no reason too, she thought.
“Right I’m going to finish getting ready then I’ve got to get to the rink for an evening session in a while… what are you doing?” Karen said, hoping that Emma would have her own plans to go out with her friends or something so she could either get Chris out the house unseen or spend more time with him before he really did have to go.
“Erm nothing really… I’m just going to get myself a cuppa and go have it my room, just watch a bit of tv” she said getting her one shoe off and chucking it out in the hallway.
“Okay honey,” Karen said quickly running up the stairs into her bedroom again. She opened the bathroom door to Chris and poked her head around.
“Can I come out now?” Chris said far too excited about getting out of there, he was just perched on the edge of the bath twiddling his thumbs.
“Erm not long now I promise…. Emma’s just getting herself some tea and then she’s coming up to her room, so then you can sneak out and we can go to yours for a bit hopefully unnoticed, I told her I had to go to the rink so that’s that covered, we’ve just got to get you out the house before she sees you… or hears you” as Karen explained this to him in a hushed voice she suddenly heard Emma coming up the stairs, promptly shutting the bathroom door and wondering over to her bedside drawer and pretending to get something out. Emma just popped into the main bathroom and was back downstairs within a couple of minutes, in which time Karen just sat on the edge of her bed brushing over her hair, the same section over and over. She couldn’t have looked more awkward if she tried, but she couldn’t help it, she was absolutely paranoid one of her daughters would find out about her and Chris’s secret relationship, Emma clearly already suspected something and she thought Laura did too! Emma didn’t even notice Karen sitting there though, she just went straight back downstairs to finish making her tea. Another 2 minutes later and she returned back up the stairs with her tea in her hands she was clutching it tightly with one hand as she used the other one to hold herself up on the banister. As soon as Karen heard music coming from her daughter’s room she breathed a sigh of relief, now hoping it would be safe for Chris to come out.
“Chris…” she said, still in a hushed tone, just to be sure as she made her way over to the bathroom door. “I think it’s safe now… come on” she said walking in there and kissing him gently on the lips. “Did you clear up in here?” she said with a bit of surprise in her voice, as she glanced around the room.
“I got bored okay!” he said putting his arms around her. “Look now all these bottles of potions and whatever else they contain are all on the shelf in height order, facing the front so you can actually see what they all are…. And all the towels are neatly folded into piles according to their size in the rack…” he said pointing to different areas of the room. Karen just laughed sweetly, knowing that it would never in a million years stay looking like Chris had arranged everything.
“Okay right let’s go?” Karen said taking his hand and pulling him up off the side of the bath as if to leave, but before they’d left Karen’s room they heard the front door slam again. “Oh god there’s the other one now… get back in there I’ll try and get rid of her as quickly as possible”
“surely it would be easier if-” but Chris couldn’t finish what he was saying because he was cut off by Karen shutting the bathroom door and going down the stairs.
“Hi Laura baby… had a good day?”
“Not really… you?”
“Yeah not been up to much… I’ve got to be out again soon though, late training session its so hectic without Jayne here it’s a nightmare actually…” Karen said pretending to be mega stressed out, not noticing her distressed daughter that had just come through the door. Her cheeks were red, blotchy and tear stained, she was frantically trying to dab them dry and cover up the fact she’d been crying, dabbing under her eyes with a neatly folded tissue hoping her eye make up hadn’t smudged. Eventually she gave in, and Karen still hadn’t noticed, so Laura just gave a massive big sniff and walked over to Karen, throwing her arms around her and let her head rest against her mum’s shoulder, this took Karen by surprise seeing as she hadn’t even noticed the state of her daughter.
“Baby girl! What’s wrong honey?” Karen exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her daughter and squeezing her lovingly.
“I’ve just had the WORST day…!” she sobbed, hugging Karen tighter.
“oh baby…. Why don’t we sit down and you can tell me everything” Karen offered in a soothing voice, taking Laura’s hands and walking her over onto the sofa, giving her another comforting squeeze as they both sat down.
“Well first I totally failed maths and had to re sit the exam at lunch…” she wept into her mothers arms. “Then everyone just ditched me after that and I couldn’t find any of my friends, I got my phone confiscated, because I was trying to ring people to find out where they all got to! Then my French teacher kept me behind after last lesson because I got a low mark on the vocab test because I didn’t practise for it… then I had to go all the way back up to the other side of the school to get my phone from reception, the receptionist gave me such a dirty look as she handed it back… then I found out that Tom dumped me… by text” every little thing was effecting her much more than it normally would any other time she’d not had much sleep lately because she’d got into the habit of watching lots of tv shows that didn’t finish until gone midnight, and then she’d be texting people from school for hours before she even attempted to get any sleep.
“Look at you…” Karen said scooping the emotional mess in front of her into another warm hug, and held her there for a while to try and get her to calm down. “Listen… everything is going to be okay do you hear me? It doesn’t matter about the maths, because you’ve done it again now… and you’ll do fine this time won’t you? You’ve obviously learnt a lesson not to use your phone as well haven’t you? Don’t do it again and you won’t be getting anymore dirty looks from the receptionist will you? Just use your common sense darling…. And get more sleep, you’re shattered I can see it in your eyes… and you don’t normally let things get to you do you?” Karen said, all in a calm, comforting voice to relax Laura, as she sat and listened to Karen carefully, every word went into her head as if she was being hypnotised. “See look I can see you’re already feeling a little better because you’re not crying anymore! And as for Tom, he’s an idiot to dump you Laura, you’re beautiful… he was obviously no good for you eh? Don’t worry, you’ll find new love soon I know you will you’re an attractive young girl… and you’re only young still, there’s plenty more opportunities I can promise you that” Karen continued, sending a warm smile Laura’s way.
“Thanks mum… I knew you’d be able to cheer me up no bother… I just got so fed up with everything, it’s just been one of those days… you know?” Laura said wiping the tears that were still lurking in her eyes, and then standing up, smoothing over the creases in her skirt.
“No problem baby… that’s what I’m for right?” Karen laughed.
“Okay I’m off up to my room on my laptop if you need me…” she said happily going up the stairs, grabbing herself a can of diet coke on the way up.
Karen flopped back on the sofa, all this distracting lark was making her tired, she felt bad for her daughter having such a bad day, it seemed convenient that it was on the one day she just wanted both the girls to go up to their rooms and do their own thing to leave her and Chris to escape. Pulling herself up she dragged her feet up the stairs again and went into Chris.
“I’m so so sorry…” she gushed opening the door on him again.
“My god woman I thought you’d bloody forgotten me! Is everything okay?”
“Yeah everything’s fine Laura’s just had a bit of a bad day that’s all, had a bit of a talk with her and now she’s all good… and we’re free to go now we need to be quick before some other problem pops up I think” Karen said. “You go and down and get out before one of them isn’t settled again and wants something, I’ll quickly say goodbye and I’ll be with you in a minute!"
“Okay… I love you baby” Chris said giving Karen a quick kiss on the lips before she ushered him quickly out the room and down the stairs which he then quietly sneaked down hoping neither girls would notice it was not their mother’s footsteps that padded around in the hallway, he didn’t think either of them would considering they both had music blasting out. He let himself out the house closing the front door softly behind him so it didn’t slam. 5 minutes later he was still waiting outside the house hoping no one would suspect him for just hanging around, when Karen finally came out with one hand rummaging around deeply into her bag which was hung on her left arm below her elbow.
“You took your bloody time didn’t you” Chris complained before kissing Karen’s head.
“Sorry…” she muttered, getting into her car and glaring at Chris until he finally got in, he didn’t know why Karen’s mood had suddenly changed and she looked as if she was concentrating a lot as she fumbled around to find her car keys.
“Are you okay?” Chris said after he’d got his seatbelt on, noticing she’d suddenly gone a little more quiet than her normally chatty self, he stroked her thigh comfortingly and his voice was a hushed tone.
“Yeah I’m fine… it’s just… I don’t like lying to the girls” Karen said finally getting the car to start and reversing off the drive, setting off down the road.
“Well you know… we don’t have to do this if you’re not comfortable with it… we can wait” Chris assured her.
“No, no… I want to be with you Chris… I’ll just…. I’ll just have to get my act together won’t I, it can’t be that hard people lie all the time don’t they, it’s just I’ve always told them both everything and vice versa”
“well I don’t really know what to suggest… why don’t you just tell them honey”
“Because I can’t… I just can’t bring myself to I don’t know why! And I especially can’t now, not now I’ve told them both there’s nothing going on, they’ll hate me… we’ll have to wait at least another couple of weeks and then see what happens, just bloody prayer that we don’t get caught out before then eh”
“Okay baby but we can put an end to anything you don’t want to do whenever you like okay… and I hope you feel the same way, but I really hope we can make this work”
“We will make it work, whatever happens” Karen said and quickly turned to give Chris a kiss on the lips as they pulled up to a stop at a set of traffic lights. It turned into a little more than anticipated – a quick peck – and a car drove past on the other road honking the horn, startling them both and Karen swiftly put her foot down and they continued on towards Chris’s house which wasn’t far at all. “Whoops” Karen said giggling as the car behind them honked again before overtaking.
“I’ll only stay a couple of hours then I’d better get back…” Karen said as she followed Chris into the house and kicked her shoes off in the hallway.
“well that doesn’t matter does it every minute with you I’m treasuring” Chris said. “I mean it Kaz… I’m going to make the most of the time I get to spend with you because I don’t know how long it will be… I love you so much I didn’t even know it was possible to love someone this much in such a short amount of time” he said pulling her into his warm body in the middle of the lounge, his arms wrapped around her waist and he stared deeply into her sparkling blue eyes. They cuddled closely together and shared lots of little kisses in the romantic atmosphere with the lights dimmed, it was an amazing feeling to know that they weren’t going to be disturbed and didn’t have to hide from anyone or be cautious about being found out.
“****! What the hell was that???” Karen said, a bang came through the wall and it startled them both, Karen jumped backwards letting go of Chris, her heart suddenly started to race.
“I don’t know it sounded like the door”
“oh my god its Jayne” Karen gasped as she realised the truth.
“you told me she wasn’t coming back!!” Chris said, now he was panicking like hell too, his own heart was pounding inside his chest, they couldn’t hide, there was nothing they could do, both of them weren’t good actors unrehearsed so they were left stood like useless lemons in the middle of the room as Jayne and Phil came in, giggling and loved up, obviously not expecting anyone to be home.
“Well I guess she still has some things to collect” Karen hissed right before they entered, and Karen moved back closer towards Chris, taking hold of his hand and squeezing it tightly in hers, just for a sense of security as if it would help and make everything better. “What the hell are we gonna do??” Karen asked urgently, they’d both just frozen as if they were just waiting for Jayne and Phil to come in and find them there.
“You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!!!” Jayne said having the fright of her life to come in to her own home seeing these two bodies aimlessly standing there, she was looking at Karen as she daren’t give Chris any eye contact whatsoever. “What the hell are you doing here??... And what the hell are you doing??” her voice was getting more and more raised with every word she said and she just stood looking at Karen, while Phil awkwardly stood behind her not knowing what to do.
“I’m sorry Jayne I really am” Karen whispered…
“don’t you be bloody sorry its him why is he in my house”
“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you Jayne, Chris is basically living with me now we came to get his things…” Karen said slightly twisting the truth. “and the way you were talking on the phone it sounded like you weren’t living here anymore… its not really your house is it” Karen said trying to justify her reasons.
“Karen please just leave… take him with you” Jayne said putting her head down and letting Karen and Chris just trail out the house passing them on the way out.
“Where the ****ing hell am I supposed to go now for **** sake” Chris said as they both got in the car together and sat there for a few minutes just thinking it through.
“I’m going to have to tell the girls” Karen said in a rather determined voice.
“no don’t, not if you don’t want to I’ll find somewhere else won’t I” he muttered. Karen was looking right at him but he couldn’t bring himself to look back at her, knowing that it was a possibility they might not be able to be with each other, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling inside of him.
“No Chris listen to me! I’m not having you living on the ****ing street because I’m too selfish to have enough courage to tell my own daughters I’m in a relationship do you hear me… now we’re going to go back to the house and I’m going to walk in there and tell them straight, just how it is….”
“You’re amazing you are…” he said finally managing to look up, took her hands in his and just held them there. “I love you so, so much, thank you” he said, then leaning in to kiss her again. They drove off back to Karen’s, parked on the drive and Karen got out the car quickly making it to the house, leaving Chris in the car waiting in suspense.
“Girls!” Karen shouted up the stairs, she didn’t even bother taking off her shoes, she just walked up the stairs and got them both into the living room. The three of them were sat on the sofa, Emma and Laura were getting nervous about what all the fuss could be about, they’d thought Karen had just been at the rink for the past half an hour, though got a little suspicious that it was a short amount of time for her to have been at work.
“Can you just spit it out mum please because I’ve got Jess on hold on skype up there” Laura said.
“Yes sorry…Look. It’s like this. I might have been telling you both a tiny little lie, and I feel absolutely awful about it I really do…”
“wha-“
“Before either of you say anything I just want to say it all because otherwise I won’t… so just… let me explain eh? When I said there was nothing going on between me and Chris… well to begin with it was true, I promise. But then, over the past week or so we’ve just… seen each other differently? Yes, that’s a good way to put it I think. I feel so, so bad for not telling you sooner, I wanted to, I really did but I didn’t want to upset you! But I couldn’t go on lying anymore. We’ve just been up to Chris’s but Jayne turned up and kicked him out of his own home! So now basically he’s homeless… I just wanted to let you both know what was going on before anything else happened okay? We were going to wait… you know put things on hold until after Christmas, but we really can’t anymore, and I just can’t go any further lying with you” Karen explained to both the wide eyed girls sitting in front of her, tears were welling up in her own eyes as she told the story.
“You ****ing lied to me?!!” Laura said standing up in a bit of an outrage. “You lied to me for all that time, all those times I asked you and you just lied to my face!! And I asked Chris and he did the same thing!!!!” Laura was clearly angry and stormed out the room, back to her own bedroom leaving Emma sitting in front of a weeping Karen.
“This is exactly what I was afraid of” she wept under her breath.
“Mum, it’s fine… Laura’s just flipping out because she hates change. I’m not blaming you for anything I promise, I’m not bothered who you have a relationship, its your life not either of ours, and its not like you weren’t ever going to tell us right? And it’s not even been happening that long, has it? It’s fine, mum, honestly. Come here eh” Emma said, then holding her arms out as Karen sunk into them, Emma squeezed her tight before letting her go and she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Hey, where’s Chris now then?” Emma suddenly thought.
“He’s outside in the car, I wanted you both to know first”
“Well bring him in silly! Don’t leave him out there any longer will you it’s probably freezing, he’s probably thinking you’ve forgotten about him!” Emma said trying her hardest to put a smile on her mum’s face. Karen was so grateful that her eldest daughter handled things so much better, Laura often overreacted about the littlest things, not that she considered her relationship a little thing of course. Laura would soon come around she knew it, but she felt like she had so much pressure on her shoulders to deal with.
She went outside and beckoned Chris inside, Emma went to go and put the kettle on for them. They were all snuggled up on the sofa when Emma came in with a cup of tea for them both and one for herself and she sat down on the chair opposite flicking through the tv channels.
“I just want you both to know that I’m really happy for you both, me and Laura know you so well Chris it’s great you and mum are having a relationship, I really hope it works out and lasts well” Emma said very maturely, especially compared with her sisters reaction.
“That’s very sweet of you Emma, thanks, I’m going to look after her well I am” Chris said giggling and giving Karen another quick kiss, he could tell she was still upset about Laura but she was trying her best to cover it up.
“I’m leaving, I’ll see you whenever, or maybe never again I can’t believe you lied!!” Laura said storming into the room with a small overnight bag packed, not expecting Chris to be there.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Karen asked turning around to see her daughter in the door way getting ready to leave.
“I’m going to dad’s, I just rang him and he’s meeting me at the station”
“Oh suit yourself bloody hell… I don’t even care any more Laura I’ve had enough of this stupid behaviour why can’t you be more like your sister!” Karen said showing no interest she was totally fed up with it all.
“Ring me later?” Emma shouted as Laura walked out the house. “Ignore her!” she said to Karen, and they all went on as if nothing had even happened, except Emma was frantically tapping away at her blackberry to find out what the hell her little sister was playing at. Karen fully expected her to come marching back in, saying it was all just a stupid spur of the moment decision, but it never happened and they didn’t hear from her for another couple of days.
Karen and Chris were at the rink training with a couple of celebrities with their professional partners, they had so much more to do when Jayne wasn’t around but they were trying their hardest to catch up with all the work that needed doing, on and off the ice. There was only a couple of weeks left before they had a few weeks off for Christmas and then shortly after that the tv series would be underway. But the lunch break that was to follow wasn’t exactly expected.
“Karen!” a voice called out from the side of the rink, sounding desperate. “I need to tell you something!” shouted Jayne, startling Karen out of the lift she was demonstrating with Chris.
“I’ll be back in a minute?” she said before skating off to see what her best friend needed.
“It’s about the babies!” she almost whispered, tears streaming down her tired features.
“What? What about them? What’s wrong with them?” Karen said gently pushing Jayne to the side and making her sit down before she passed out.
“Oh they’re bloody fine… it’s just… they’re not Phil's” Jayne said almost in a whisper, then her head fell to her hands in her lap, more tears streamed down her face, dampening her leggings as they rolled off the edge of her face.
“What?! How do you know? I thought both of them would have to take tests and all sorts before you could find out?”
“That’s what I thought too… but then I was sitting there working out the dates because the doctor suggested I do that first as all the tests are so much hassel… well the dates that they would have been conceived let’s just say there was no way I was sleeping with Phil at all around that time” Jayne sobbed. “it’s the week he was away on business…” she trailed off not knowing what to do.
“Oh honey…” Karen said, her facial expressions were dead serious as she listened to Jayne, then scooped her up into a long, warm, comforting cuddle to calm her down a bit. “You’re definitely sure?” Karen double checked, not really knowing what to say or do in the situation, it was definitely an awkward one.
“Yes I’m sure… I checked and checked and then I asked Phil to double check that that was definitely the right week he wasn’t here and he said yes… Karen I’m scared what the hell am I going to do” Jayne said trying to wipe her tears but she was still incredibly distressed.
“I don’t know darling… I don’t even know what to suggest I’m so sorry…” Karen said hugging Jayne again but it just made her cry even more. “everything will work out eventually I promise, it’s just going to take some time… come on come to my dressing room” Karen said standing up taking Jayne’s hand, and leading her around the back. She put the kettle on and let Jayne sit on the bed with a hot tea, hoping it would give her some kind of an idea about what to do.
“I want an abortion” Jayne burst out with after the two of them sat in silence for about 10 minutes, staring into space and slowly sipping from their mugs.
“What?”
“I’m serious… an abortion - that’s the answer.”
“Jayne its not all as simple as that its quite a complicated process and it will take time… and what are you going to tell Phil?”
“Well I’ll tell him I had a miscarriage…”
“Can’t you just continue with it and convince him their his, I mean what’s the worst that can happen?”
“and then what happens when they come out of there looking the spitting image of Chris?! I’m going to have an abortion… I’ll tell people I’ve miscarried…. I can’t bring up those children telling Phil he’s their dad, when I’ll be seeing their real dad nearly every day of my life for however long. I just can’t”
“If that’s really what you want then I’m happy to support you but I really think you’re rushing into things far too much I really do… and how far are you? There’s only a certain amount of the pregnancy you can go through before an abortion just isn’t an option any more, what if you’re already passed it?”
“I don’t think I am… I’m 18 weeks, I’m pretty sure the ‘deadline’ is 20” Jayne said not sounding very convinced herself.
“Well you can look into it all you like just please, please don’t be too disheartened if you can’t…”
“Will you come with me… to the abortion clinic?” Jayne asked, looking up at Karen with hopeful eyes, wiping away more tears from her delicate face. “Yes of course I will” Karen agreed, making Jayne to let out a weak smile, before they hugged again. “You get yourself an appointment and of course I’ll come I’ll be behind you every step of the way I promise”
“thank you” Jayne whispered in a strained voice, trying to give Karen a weak smile to show how grateful she was.
“Do you want to stay here for a bit? I guess you’re not ready to go back to Phil” Karen guessed correctly.
“Yes thanks… I won’t stay long… just don’t come here all passionate with Chris will you…” Jayne said laughing, but she really didn’t like to think of the thought of her ex making out with her best friend.
“you get some sleep honey… stay as long as you like we’re here all day, and I’ll try not to, we’ll go to Chris’s if we do” Karen said a smile spread across her face. Jayne climbed under the crisp sheets and closed her tired, heavy eyes as her head rested against the pillow, and Karen left her in peace closing the door to behind her before she made her way back onto the ice with Chris.
“Everything okay?” he asked concerned as Karen joined them back on the rink.
“Yeah she’ll be okay it’s just some things with Phil, it’ll be fine. She’s just getting a bit of rest in my dressing room so don’t go in there okay” Karen said.
“I won’t” Chris assured her. “Right shall we get back to this routine then” he said. They worked for a few more hours before having a quick break to have a bite to eat and then Karen went to check on Jayne. She felt awful waking her from the deep sleep she’d fallen into but it had to be done at some point, she looked like a sleeping princess lay in the middle of the bed with all the sheets wrapped around her, and warmed her stomach.
“Jaynie…” Karen whispered as she entered the room quietly, and went to shake Jayne’s shoulders gently to break her unconsciousness. “Come on wake up honey I’ll take you home”
“Is that the time already…” Jayne said waking up sleepily rubbing her eyes, and sitting up slowly to avoid that dizzy feeling of getting up too quickly. “Thank you for letting me stay here, I’ll drive myself home its fine”
“No really Jayne I’ll drive you home it’s no bother… I’ll take you now and Chris can just meet me back at mine can’t he” Karen said as she got her shoes on and put her skates in her bag.
“Thanks Kaz” Jayne said as they walked out together, and Jayne relaxed as she got in the car and enjoyed not having to drive back as Karen dropped her off at her door. “I’ll let you know about the abortion thing… I’ll look it up online and maybe ring them later..” she said as she got out the car, thousands of butterflies flew rapidly around her stomach just at the thought of getting rid of the babies.
Hope it's not getting too boring, I don't think there's much more to write of this I'm running out of ideas, if any one has any suggestions feel free to let me know xx
-- Edited by Sk8tingGleek on Thursday 23rd of February 2012 09:11:33 PM
Jayne was very quiet all evening and Phil could sense that though she wouldn’t let him inside, she wouldn’t let him, or anyone else find out what was bothering her. She had always been very secretive about her feelings and hardly let any one in, she hated talking about how she felt, Karen and Chris were the only people she’d ever spoken to about personal things, and now obviously Chris was out of the picture altogether so Karen was the only one. She sneaked the laptop up to their bedroom and told Phil that she was going up for an early night, she did a bit of research and then eventually did fall asleep, but managed to at least close down the laptop lid before she did.
*** “Chris… I have something to tell you” Jayne whispered down the phone into her friend’s ear, she was breathing heavily and her heart was racing.
“What is it sweetheart” his soothing voice replied back.
“Can you come over… like urgently!”
“Of course”
Chris was at the house within five minutes of hanging up the phone, rushing into the bedroom where Jayne was sitting spread across the bed. She was heavily pregnant and past her due date by a couple of days, and had just been working a few things out while she had a spare moment.
“Jayne! What’s wrong, is it the babies? Have your water broke? Are you going into labour?” he quick fired questions at her like there was no tomorrow and didn’t give her a chance to speak, she looked incredibly pale and felt a bit dizzy, her body began slightly swaying from side to side, Chris rushed over to her bedside just in time as she collapsed into his arms. “Jayne!” he called again, shaking her shoulders gently to try and wake her up and bring her back to consciousness. “Jayne wake up.. Please” he begged, stroking her forehead. She opened her eyes slightly for a few seconds and muttered “Chris… the babies aren’t yours… they’re Phil’s” ***
She then sat bolt upright in bed, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and she was shaking like mad, it was almost more unreal than the dream she’d just been startled from, her heart was pounding against her chest so much she could hear it thud. She reached out hoping Phil would be there to grab his hand, but he wasn’t, so she grasped a handful of the bed sheets and squeezed them tight in a fist. After a couple of minutes she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down, reassure herself none of it was real.
She was just calming herself down when Phil came into the room, surprised to see her sat straight up right in the middle of the bed with both hands clutching sections of the sheets around her for dear life.
“Jayne!” he said rushing over to her. “What’s the matter you look like you’ve seen a ghost” he said, softening her grip and stroking her arm and her head, brushing her hair out of her scared face.
“I’m… fine” Jayne stuttered not at all convincingly.
“Jayne there is no bloody way you are fine I’m not fooling for that one quite so easily… what’s wrong… tell me baby”
“nothing… it’s just a bad dream that’s all… what’s the time”
“It’s 10:30... I’m coming to join you now anyway so you can calm down a bit eh… everything’s okay” he said trying to comfort her, edging away from her still shaking body and getting undressed before slipping into bed beside her, and urging her to lie down and get some more rest. She was still reluctant to tell him anything so she just stayed silent, and tried to just shut her eyes and forget about it all, just for a few hours at least, she thought.
“are you going to tell me what’s wrong or not” Phil continued to pester Jayne thinking he might get more out of her that way.
“no it doesn’t matter now it’s nothing… I swear… I’m going to be late” Jayne said suddenly jumping out of bed and rushing around to get ready while Phil laid in bed watching her, knowing something wasn’t right.
“late for what?”
“Work what the hell do you think”
“Jayne you haven’t been to work in a couple of months not this early anyway and not for long at all, so why today and now”
“Well I’m sick of staying here doing nothing”
“oh don’t you appreciate the time you get to spend with me anymore then”
“It’s not that it’s just I want to go back to work now I think I’m ready… and me and Karen have things to talk about”
“What about Chris”
“What about him”
“Do you really want to spend time with him after all that’s happened”
“Not really but I’m going to have to some day it may as well be today I can’t avoid him the rest of my life can I” Jayne protested, now standing in front of the wardrobe deciding what to wear having already done her hair which was pulled back into a high ponytail, her side fringe straightened and curving around the shape of her face.
“Fine… ring me later though won’t you… I’ll miss you… I love you Jayne”
“I love you too…” she said walking over to him in her underwear and they shared a short passionate kiss, Jayne’s arms were wrapped around Phil’s neck and his hands were resting on her small but perfect baby bump.
“Okay I really need to get dressed and eat now” Jayne said giggling as she went back to the wardrobe releasing her hold on Phil and pulled on a pair of black leggings and a knitted long sleeved baggy jumper which covered most of the bump, before making her way downstairs and grabbing a couple of cereal bars and a banana to eat on the way.
“Hi Jayne! What are you doing here?!” Karen said pleasantly surprised to see her walk in with her skates over her shoulder. Karen and Chris had the rink to themselves and were just fooling around before anyone else turned up.
“Hello there…I wanted to come in today I’m so sick of being at home…” she said in a slightly muffled voice as she sat down to get her skates on.
“Okay that’s great we’ve missed you being here so much… well I have anyway I’m sure other people have too! Just take it easy though yeah?” she said as Jayne skated over to them in the middle of the rink. She flashed Chris a half smile, they weren’t completely avoiding each other but went to no real effort to make conversation or eye contact, but things were moving on. The three of them worked together with the two couples they had in that morning and Chris was surprised it wasn’t really awkward at all, he’d been dreading it the second he’d realised Jayne had come in to skate. They got much more work done when Jayne and Chris weren’t talking much, before all the drama with the wedding etc those two were always bickering at each other about the routines, Karen had always found it very amusing.
“Let’s take a break for lunch now then eh, good work everyone” Karen said once they were happy with the work that had been done. Chris went off to his dressing room taking the hint from Karen by the facial expressions she was throwing him to leave her alone with Jayne for a while.
“So…?” Karen started as Chris skated away, and Jayne just stared at the ice underneath her feet.
“I looked up the abortion… I have an appointment tomorrow to discuss the options which I don’t really see the point in, I know this is what I want, I want rid of these babies as quickly as possible! But then tomorrow they’ll give me another appointment in advance to that I guess” Jayne explained trying to remember what she’d read on the internet before falling asleep and having the nightmare that she still couldn’t get out of her head.
“I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you…. But like I said I’ll support you all the way with whatever you choose…” Karen said before hugging Jayne tightly.
-- Edited by Sk8tingGleek on Saturday 25th of February 2012 09:55:53 PM
I'm posting this for Lauren as her laptop is playing up or something x
“are you sure this is the right decision you’re making” Karen asked Jayne wisely as they pulled up in the hospital car park, just about to get out for Jayne’s appointment. It was a week after Jayne’s first appointment and she was about to have the abortion procedure. Phil was away for a couple of days working so that’s why Jayne had picked that day to have the abortion, and when he got back she was going to tell him she’d miscarried, or maybe rung him later that evening.
“I don’t have a choice Karen… I wish things could be different but they’re not… I’m sure there will be other chances” Jayne said, trying to make it a bit more positive.
“I know you don’t…. sorry… let’s go in then?” Karen said, squeezing Jayne’s hand encouragingly and then the two of them got out the car at the same time, and made their way into the abortion clinic.
“And you are…”
“Ms Torvill” Jayne answered to the lady behind the desk in the small reception, it was a private clinic and Jayne had done a lot of research around to find it, but she was now confident she was making the right decision.
“Okay if you go through those double doors, turn left and then right, and keep going to the end of the corridor Dr Black is waiting for you” she said kindly pointing in that direction. “And just a little heads up, your friend won’t be able to stay in with you at any stage of the process”
“Yes I know, I’m just going to see her in if that’s okay” Karen said politely before following Jayne as they took the directions the receptionist had told them. When they got in Dr B asked a few routine questions before Jayne changed into the hospital gown, and Karen just stood nervously in the corner of the room.
“Right Jayne… during this operation you’ll be under general anaesthetic so you won’t feel a thing, and after you may experience some stomach cramps like period pains, but that can be sorted by pain killers so no need to worry. Are you ready?”
“Yes I think so…”
“and I’m going to have to ask your friend to leave now,” she said nodding at Karen, “it doesn’t take long, so I’ll call you back in when we’re finished, it won’t be any longer than about 30 minutes”
***
“That’s it all done…” Dr Black told Jayne as she regained her consciousness. “You may experience bleeding for the next week or two, probably a bit heavier than your period” she explained. “Pain killers should easily soothe the cramps, and you should be ready to go home in a couple of hours”
“Thank you…. Can you send Karen in?”
“Of course”
“Hello honey….” Karen said in a soothing tone as she came back in the room clutching her handbag, not sure what state Jayne would be in. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay at the moment actually, I’m supposed to be experiencing stomach cramps though, they could come later”
“Is it strange… knowing they’re not with you anymore?” Karen asked hesitating a little, she wasn’t quite sure how to word it without upsetting Jayne.
“Yeah it is… I think I’ll miss them, even though I never really knew them…” Jayne mused over the thought for a few minutes. “But I want to try again, you know as soon as possible… I want to be pregnant again” she decided confidently. “That’s if Phil wants to of course… I don’t know what he’s going to say about all this” “When are you going to tell him?”
“I was thinking I’d ring him tonight and say I fell at the rink or something, and then break it to him that I miscarried, but make sure he doesn’t come home until he’s supposed to, on Saturday”
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She explained: 'Chris is happy because I am' "Make the most of your time and have no regrets."
