Love Always Wins

11

Christmas Day.

"Merry fucking Christmas." Chloe groaned into the toilet just after throwing up once more. She'd woken up an hour ago and not felt too bad, even coming downstairs to join everyone for breakfast but then her dad, David, had decided to make bacon sandwiches and that had been it, she'd been unable to leave her bedroom since. "Oh come on!" She groaned again as she sat up, this was taking the piss now. "Please, all I wanted was one day of not puking my guts up." There was a knock at the door. "What?" She called, the last thing she felt she wanted was a visitor.

"Can I come in?" Seb called through the door.

"It's not a pretty sight." She called back. The door opened and he stepped in.

"I just wanted to check on you, you've been up here a while." He said as he sat down on the edge of the bath. "He's not giving you an easy time of it, is he?"

"I feel like shit." She rubbed her forehead with her fingers wearily. "And it just leaves me feeling wiped out. Happy Christmas by the way."

"Happy Christmas to you too." He moved from where he was sitting and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "Want me to have a word with him?"

"Who?"

"The baby." He sat down on the floor next to her.

"I wouldn't sit too close if I was you, I'm likely to vomit on you." She warned with her stomach feeling like it was on a spin cycle. "And I don't think you speaking to our baby will make any difference."

"I'll take a risk, he'll listen to daddy."

"Have you been on the mulled wine already?" She giggled as he lowered himself down, bringing his head close to her stomach.

"Hey!" He gave her tummy a gentle poke. "It's Christmas Day, give your mummy a break and stop making her sick."

"You nut case, I doubt he can even hear yet."

"He can, but only us." He grinned, she didn't look convinced.

"If you say so."

"I'll look it up later."

"You do that, I think you'll find it'll be a while yet before he can hear a thing."

"Have you noticed that it's not just me that calls our baby 'he'?" Seb pointed at her. "Even you think we're having a boy."

"I only call him that because everyone else seems to, even mum has started doing it now. It'll be funny if we end up having a girl."

"Nah, that's my son in there."

"You're convinced, aren't you?"

"Yeah." He got to his feet. "I just can't help but feel that we've got a boy arriving in the summer. Why don't you take a lay down on the bed and get some rest, you look tired." He held his hands out to her and she took them to help herself up.

"I look as shit as I feel don't I?"

"No, you just look tired." He let her exit the en-suite first and followed her out.

"What time is everyone coming over?" She asked, referring to his parents, siblings and his daughters, as she sat down on the bed, shuffled back and lifted her legs up.

"Not until around three." Being German, his family had followed their tradition and exchanged gifts yesterday while her family were doing theirs today, but they were coming over later to help prepare for tonight's dinner, roast goose as most German families had goose instead of turkey. He watched as she laid back on the bed, she looked a little unsure as she looked back at him, like she was debating something in her mind.