‘You, Alice, are amazing.’
‘Do you think you can stomach it? How are you feeling now?’
They walked into the kitchen together and Alice grabbed two plates from the cupboard as Imogen found a home for her beautiful bouquet. ‘I feel okay, it comes in waves. Let’s get this down me before the next wave comes.’ Imogen grabbed the ketchup and a glass for Alice’s champagne whilst Alice took the food through to the dining table.
‘So, how was work?’ Imogen asked, delving into the chips as she spoke, their salty taste working wonders on her nausea. It had been ages since she’d eaten a takeaway. They had been trying to be super-healthy whilst trying to conceive, as the consultant had asked them to make sure everything was as good as they could make it to ensure optimum conceiving chances. So Imogen had strictly watched what and how much she ate, trying to get her body to its best so as not to cause any unnecessary problems. But how she had longed for chips from the chippy for months. And Alice knew this. So the fact she’d brought these in today simply showed Imogen the exact reason why she loved her so much. Her thoughtfulness was impeccable and it really mattered. It’s the little things that mean the most and Alice was very good at getting those little things spot on.
‘It was actually quite a good day. We completed some house sales and remember that house we put up last week that had been on with our rivals for months? Well, we sold it today!’ She pulled her long, brown hair back into a ponytail and then continued to eat.
‘You’re joking! How do you do it?’
‘Because we are brilliant.’ Alice puffed out her chest and Imogen laughed. ‘Seriously, though, that house spent months up with another agent, but we managed to sell it in four days! I’m so proud of the team.’
‘That’s great news. So we have a few things to celebrate, then?’
‘Damn right. Have you told your mum?’
Imogen was waiting to see how long it would take her to ask. She had thought of nothing else all day. Every time she even thought of ringing her mum she felt sick – and that wasn’t even the nausea. That was sheer panic. She knew exactly how her mum was going to react.
‘Not yet.’
Alice leant forward and squeezed Imogen’s hand. ‘It’ll be okay, you know that?’
She shrugged. Suddenly she wasn’t hungry any more.
‘Imogen, listen. Whatever happens, you will always have me, okay? I will never let you down and I am not going anywhere. This baby will have us both and it will be loved, no matter what other people want to say to us or behind our backs.’
‘I know.’ She did know. ‘It’s just hard. I know what she will say. She gets me all worked up, right under my skin. She knows what she is doing.’
‘She might be fine. She’s finally getting the grandchild she thought she would never have. She might surprise you and be excited.’ Alice tried to put on a confident face but they both knew that was highly unlikely.
Imogen snorted. ‘Yeah, and pigs might fly.’
‘Come on, what’s the worst that might happen?’
Imogen let all the thoughts crowd into her head. Her mum might disown her, feeling so ashamed that her daughter was having a baby with another woman that she couldn’t bear to even look or talk to her any more, so she might decide to cut all ties and leave Imogen without parents, because her dad sure wouldn’t stand up to her mum. Or maybe she’d get really angry and end up shouting abuse down the phone to her. Or worst still, become so upset that Imogen had been a disappointment of a daughter and not what she had ‘brought her up to be’ as she had said on many occasions, and spend the whole time crying down the phone, making Imogen feel like the biggest regret of her mother’s life.
But instead of saying all this, she simply replied, ‘I guess I’m just not ready to say anything to her yet. Let’s wait until we have seen the doctor and everything is okay.’ She tried to avoid Alice’s stare. ‘Please?’ she added.
‘Okay, if that’s what you want to do, then I’ll support you.’ Alice stood and slipped out of her suit jacket, revealing her perfectly formed petite body, which Imogen loved. Alice was a confident, powerful, assertive woman, wrapped up in a beautiful petite package.
‘Have you told your mum yet?’
Alice shook her head. ‘I thought we might go and visit them this weekend and tell them in person?’
Alice’s parent lived about half an hour away and Imogen thought about travelling in a car whilst feeling sick, but decided that she needed to feel some support around her. Alice’s parents were amazing. They were sure to be over the moon and she needed to surround herself with positivity at this moment in time. ‘Sounds like a great idea.’
‘Great, I’ll call after dinner to see when they’re free.’
‘Okay and we need to call the clinic. Tell them we’ve had a positive test.’
Alice laughed and shook her head.
‘What?’ Imogen couldn’t help but smile along, even though she had no idea what Alice was smiling at.
‘I just can’t believe it, Imogen. We are going to be parents!’
‘Okay, so you’ve been here about six hours. We’ve spoken about my work, your work, Dad, my new boyfriend and all the latest soaps we’ve both watched over the last week.’ Zoe was staring at her and Ellie struggled to keep the eye contact. She knew this was coming. She knew she would have to speak to Zoe and tell her what was happening, but she just didn’t want to. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to speak to Zoe; she didn’t want to speak to anyone. She wanted to curl up in a ball and pretend this wasn’t happening.
But it was.
‘Come on, spill. What’s the real reason you are here?’
‘What? I can’t just rock up and spend time with my sister every once in a while?’ Ellie played the hurt-sister card but it was having zero effect on Zoe and she simply stuck with her hard stare and disbelief. ‘Okay, fine,’ Ellie conceded, ‘I need your help.’
‘Okay, and what exactly do you need help with? Money?’
‘No! When have I ever asked you for money?’ She was offended that her sister thought she would drive all this way just to ask her for money. Plus, she made good money now that she was doing higher-profile jobs with her make-up. Although that probably wasn’t set to last now. Not once word got around that she was unreliable and would just stroll off set whenever she felt like it. She made a mental note to make sure she rang Jenni this weekend to try to repair some of the damage to her reputation before it plummeted.
‘Well, what, then?’
She hesitated and tried to think of a way to word it. How could she tell her sister not only that she was pregnant but who the dad was? She was never going to believe her. And then all the questions would start and Ellie wasn’t even sure she knew the answers.
‘Are you in some sort of trouble?’ Zoe looked worried.
‘No, well, not exactly.’ She exhaled, ‘Kind of.’
‘Okay, whatever it is, we can sort it, okay? It will be fine. But you need to tell me what’s happening – I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.’ Ellie felt a twinge of irritation at the way Zoe was speaking, as if she was her mum. Whilst it was nice to have Zoe to turn to, when she spoke like that it only reminded Ellie that her mum wasn’t there. And no one could fill that gap, no matter how much Zoe tried.
She