Unplanned :ON HOLD

s i x

Niall because he's cute.

That night, I lie in bed, my mind whirling. Cedric sighs and turns over, dropping an arm over my chest.

"What's up?" His voice is thick with sleep.

Alarmed, I flinch, I wasn't aware that I woke him up. "Nothing, go back to sleep." I say dismissively.

"I can't sleep when I know you're not. Talk to me."

"I have..." I pause as I try to work out how to approach this. "A friend at work who's got herself into trouble and I don't know how to help her."

"Oh." Cedric rubs the sleep from his eyes. "Maybe we can problem solve together."

I hesitate. "Alright." I take a deep breath. "So, she's married and pregnant..."

"Mmm," Cedric prods.

"She made a mistake - she slept with someone else and now she's not sure who the father is. On top of that, the other man wants to know if he's the dad so he can be involved with the baby. I'm just not sure what kind of advice to give her."

Cedric hums beside me, "It really is a pickle," he agrees.

We fall silent and I come to the conclusion he's fallen asleep, but then he speaks.

"I'd want to know," he says, "if I was the husband. You can't work on a relationship if people are keeping important secrets like that."

"That's true," I agree. "But," I chew on my bottom lip. "Wouldn't it hurt? I mean, if it was us..." I trail off.

"Yeah, it would hurt," Cedric says quietly, "but it would hurt more finding out later when some other bloke starts hanging around and the secrets become bigger."

I cuddle closer to Cedric. "I suppose, I feel so bad for her though."

Cedric kisses the top of my head. "You can't save everyone from their mistakes," he says kindly. "Just being there for her is enough. You're a good friend Haley."

Guilt eats away at my insides. "Cedric..."

Cedric cuts me off with a kiss. "Hush, now get some rest."

I tuck my head under his, closing my eyes. I should tell him, I decide. He needs to know.But that can wait until I know who the father is; it only fair that he should know in addition to that I don't want to make him wait to find out the results like I have to.

Then again I deserve it.

I did cheat.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The following morning, Cedric is up, dressed and in the kitchen before I am. There's a parenting book on the kitchen table, along with a list written in Cedric's neat script. I wander over and pick it up.

"Sybella?" I wrinkle my nose. "We can't call the baby that."

Cedric blushes. "I was just toying with ideas,"

"Besides, we don't even know the sex yet."

"True, we need to pick gender neutral names for now - like Ashley or Ollie."

"We need a name that won't get our child bullied at school," I tease. "I like the idea of giving the baby a name though, I don't like having to call the baby 'it' all the time."

   Cedric slides a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of me, a happy smile on his face. "Me too." 

I play with the scrambled eggs for a moment, before taking a small bite. Cedric is by my side in an instant.

"You OK?" He brushes my hair back to feel my forehead.

"I'm fine," I laugh him off. "I just haven't taken the morning sickness medicane yet."

"Silly." He flicks my ear. "I'll go get it."

"But it tastes so nasty, it tastes of Banana" I complain and take another small bite of eggs. "These are gorgeous by the way."

   While Cedric is out of the kitchen, I flip open the parenting book. Chapter Three: How To Potty Train Your Toddler. The picture is of a small child, his face screwed up and red as he sits on the potty.

I push my eggs away.

Cedric comes back and notices my disgusted face.

"Ced...is the baby pooping inside of me?"

The question takes Cedric by surprise and for a moment he's speechless, then once he's processed what i said Laughter bubbles up from inside of him, and he's quickly holding his stomach as he laughs.

"I'm glad you find this funny," I mutter, put out.

"We'll ask the doctor." Cedric smiles once he's able to get a hold off himself.

Right, the Doctor. Keeping secrets has never been so stressful. I've convinced Cedric to meet me at the hospital. The idea of having him anywhere near the office where someone could innocently ask him how the visit went yesterday chills me to the core.

Cedric walks back into the kitchen, his arms wrapping around my shoulders. He kisses the side of my face and neck, brimming with happiness.

"We're gonna be the best parents ever."

"Yes, we are," I agree.

Cedric presses the anti-nausea medicine into my hands with a smile. I grimace but take my medicine.

This is the least stressful part of the day.