It Must Be Love - Jacob and Connie

Chapter Forty Four

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and continued support! I'm uploading two chapters together now, because they're both shorter than usual, and it leaves you on a bit of a cliffhanger, so hope you enjoy it! 😀

Jacob had served up dinner at exactly three, and Connie hadn't stopped thanking him for getting the table and everything sorted. The conversation at the dinner table had been lively and full of the Christmas spirit, and both Connie and Jacob were astounded by how great his mother was with Grace. They took the plates into the kitchen, and left their families chatting with each other.

"My mum is absolutely in love with Grace," Jacob laughed as he began to load the dishwasher.

"Makes it all the more easier to tell them our news then, doesn't it?" She snaked her arms around his waist and kissed his neck softly.

"How do you want to do it?" He asked.

"I just thought an announcement would do the job," Connie smiled.

"I know ma will want to see the video after."

"I hope my mother does too - I hope she takes to this as well as she's taken to you. She knows how much I struggled with Grace, but it'll be different this time, because I won't be on my own, and I'm more prepared."

"Too damn right you won't be on your own," he smiled, and pecked her lips, before walking hand in hand out to the dinner table. Everyone stopped talking as they noticed that Connie and Jacob were stood watching them, with huge smiles on their faces. "So," Jacob began. The pair looked at each other - neither had any idea on how to start.

"So...what?" Jacob's sister asked, speaking on behalf of the rest of the confused table.

"I, we, have something to tell you." Connie said, barely able to contain her emotions. She took Jacob's hand and placed it across her stomach, and the jaws of the three women around the table all dropped simultaneously. "I'm pregnant." There was silence for a few seconds before Grace started clapping.

"I'm so glad I don't have to keep that a secret anymore!" She laughed, and jumped out of her seat to hug Connie. The others were completely expressionless, and Connie's hand tightened around Jacob's.

"Say something," she whispered. "Any of you?"

"I'm so happy for you, sweetheart," Connie's mum said, and stood up to give her a hug. "How far gone are you?"

"Two months," Connie replied, with tears in her eyes. Jacob's mum was next to stand up, but not before a very loud celebration.

"Ho, oh oh sweet mother of Jesus!" She called, doing a little shimmey by the table. "I'mma gon be a granny. Ha!" She moved over to Jacob and hugged him tightly, then celebrated with Jacob's sister, who also gave her congratulations.

"Did you get a photograph at the scan?" Emily asked, and Connie took them all over to the TV where they watched the video. Connie could watch it on constant repeat - her and Jacob's baby, moving around inside her. It was beautiful, and she loved showing it off. After a conversation about the baby, they all sat together and chose to open their presents. Connie was the first to present them, and she passed two identical gifts to Jacob's mother and sister, and two neatly wrapped presents to her mum.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't know what to get any of you," she said as she watched everyone open them. She'd bought Jacob's family a box of deluxe chocolates each, and had bought her own mother a bottle of her favourite perfume, plus a luxury wine selection in a neat wooden box. It turned out that none of them actually knew what to buy the other, and so all of the presents were typically the same - wines, chocolates and the like. However, the gift that Jacob had bought for his sister was quite different to the others, and he was eager to see her reaction when she opened it. She peeled back one layer of paper, expecting to find a box of chocolate or something similar, but came across another layer of paper. She unwrapped it gently, then froze staring at the half-unwrapped present.

"Jay, I told you not to bother with anything massive," she whispered in shock.

"I thought you'd need it. Settling in, you've got plenty of things to be worrying about, so it's something you wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself." Everyone else was curious as to what the gift was, but Connie remembered being told about it, and she grinned.

"Go on, put us out of our misery. What is it?" Jacob's sister lifted the present, allowing the paper to fall to the floor, and pulled out a small white box, containing an iPad. Which generation it was was irrelevant - he had clearly thought about what she would need and it was a sweet and meaningful present. "Oh Jacob, that's so sweet," Connie gushed, hugging on to his bicep, even though she had been the only other one in the room who knew.

"Thank you so much, Jay." He was so glad that she liked it - he didn't want to go overboard but really wanted to buy her something special. Now she'd opened it, all the presents were done with, and everyone was sat back around the kitchen table waiting for pudding.

After a delicious selection of puddings, they all played board games together before Connie remembered that she still had a Wii Console in the drawer under her TV from the last time Grace lived with her. They had a look through all the games, and ended up playing Just Dance, as it was ideal to get all the family involved.

"So," Connie announced, as they waited for the game to load. "The top two on the game stay on, while the other two swap for the ones who didn't dance last time, and at the end, we'll crown the winner." Ever since Connie told everyone she was pregnant, people had noticed that she wasn't drinking, and so nobody else had drinks either. Connie felt guilty as she didn't want to deprive them of being able to relax with some alcohol, but she was happy that everyone was so supportive. It turned out that she had many different versions of Just Dance, but they settled for the "Best Of Just Dance" to keep everyone happy. Connie and Jacob had been the first two to sit out, and they enjoyed watching Grace and the other three dance to "Firework" by Katy Perry. Grace and Jacob's mother came out on top, and so the other two swapped with Connie and Jacob after Connie had written down everyone's scores.

After about five dances each, they had called it a night, with Grace being the obvious winner, and with Jacob's mother coming up second, which was no surprise to Jacob. They had a few nibbles and all sat talking for a short while before wishing each other well, and leaving.

"Are you sure I can't give you a lift?" Jacob asked Connie's mother. She had to drive back to Plymouth and he didn't like the idea of her being on her own. However, she stood her ground, and insisted that Jacob stay at home to be with Connie and Grace. They all said their goodbyes, and it wasn't long before Grace said goodnight and went up to bed as well, leaving Connie and Jacob cuddled up together on the sofa.

"Just you and me," she whispered, her nails trailing up his body. "Oh, the things I could do to you." He chuckled as he rememberd the time when he'd said that to her, and stroked her arm as she curled up into him. "You made this Christmas unforgettably perfect. Thank you."

"I did nothing - it was all you sweet-cheeks."

"You being here made it important." He tightened his grip on her for a second or two, then loosened it again so she could shift her weight over him. They began to strip themselves slowly, but Jacob stopped her and insisted they did it in the bedroom, and so they walked together up the stairs before climbing naked into bed.