Gerard {You Know All My Favourite Singers} Way {Have Stolen All Of My Best Lines} 3

July, early morning

“Honey?” you whisper, walking into the room.

“Mm,” you husband replies, eyes closed.

“I’m off now, see you at four,”

“Mmkay. C’mere.” He rolls onto his back and opens his arms for a cuddle, in exactly the fashion Helena does. Now I know where she gets it from, you think as you lie down next to him and hug him whilst he embraces you.

“Love you, Katie-girl,”

You smile. He hadn’t called you that since the two of you were just friends. “Love you too, Geerawrd,”

He chuckles, holding you tighter. “Ah, resurrected nicknames are great, aren’t they?”

“Mmm.” You run your hand down his back, over the curve of his shoulders from the slipped-disc problem.

“You doing a test today?”

A test? Oh yeah. “Mmmhmm, I’ve got it in my bag now. I’ll do it at lunchtime when I have time, okay?”

“Lemme know,” he mumbles sleepily.

“Of course, honey, I’ll phone you when I can. Now I’ve got to go, I’ll se you later,”

“Come home safe,” he mumbles – dealing with his constant fear of losing the people close to him, including you.

“You too, honey, if you go anywhere,” you answer softly. You release each other and you (personally) exit the bedroom, blowing him a kiss from the bedroom door. “Bye, baby,”

“Bye…”

You shut the door and go to Helena’s room. She’s very much wide awake – a contrast to Gerard – and ready to go to playschool.

“Come on then, baby girl. Have you got Mikey?”

“Mikey!” Helena waves her green bear around in the air. You lift her out of the cot and balance her on your hip. “Say bye bye to Daddy,”

“BYE, DADDY!” Helena yells. My God, that kid’s got a pair of lungs on her, you think.

“Bye, babies,” Gerard calls back. You go downstairs and step out the house to a beautiful morning – the second so far this summer, you prayed it wasn’t going to be anything like last summer (i.e. raining all the time). The weather, however, does not change your daily routine, much as you wish it to, and you get to school.

~x~

Lunchtime

“I swear, this is the longest three minutes of my life!” you sigh.

“You and Gerard tryin’ fer another sprog?” your mate Fiona asks.

“Yeah, we are. He wants loads of kids. “Fill the house with babies”, he said,”

“How old is he?”

“Thirty-one,”

“And you’re 24? Quite an age gap,”

“Not really. Not when you think about it. He’s just come off touring, so if we’re successful, he’ll be home for the baby’s birth,”

“Bless,” Fiona says absent-mindedly. Being a, let’s say, a senior member, she’d been there, done that and got the stretch marks to show for it. “Three minutes up, Kate,”

“Oh shit!” You grab the test. “Fiona, could you do me a favour?”

“Sure thing, what?”

“If it’s positive, could you keep it to yourself? You know, not tell anyone. We’re telling everyone after the first trimester, so –”

“Yes, yes, just get on with it!” Your friend waves her hand impatiently. You look down at the screen.

Pregnant.

One word, right there on the screen.

“It’s positive?” Fiona asks.

You nod.

“Congratulations, Katie, and here’s to the next 9 months!”

You laugh, grabbing your phone and speed-dialling Gerard’s number. It keeps ringing and after a while, it goes to voicemail.

“Damn.” You try the home number – no luck there, either, just the same. Suddenly the bell rings and you switch your mobile off, snatch up the test and dash back to teach the Year Eights about the 12-bar blues.

~x~

The final bell rings and you celebrate. You can now pick your stuff up, pick Helena up, go home and tell your husband the good news. A thrill occurred in your stomach at the thought of his face. You turn your mobile on and put it in the hands-free set as soon as you get in the car and it immediately jumps into life. Caller ID says:

“Ray?”

“Hi, Katie,”

“Hi, what’s –”

“No time, Katie, sorry to be abrupt, but it’s Gerard. He’s been involved in a car accident. You have to get over here, Katie – he’s not going to make it…”