Players, Bumps and Cocktail Sausages (Silence #3)(57)

She smiled. “Yes, he is. And I think you mean between your father and I, yourself and Jasper, and Jasper’s parents we can work something out.”

“Thanks, Mum.”

“What has Jasper said about it?”

“That I should go back in October and take a few weeks off after the birth.”

“Well that does make sense. Uni is almost starting again, and you still have just over seven months left. The year will be almost over by the time the baby comes; you’ll only have a few months left.”

“Yeah, I see his point, but I don’t want to be stressed out with studying when I’m pregnant. And definitely not taking my final exams when I’ve got a newborn...”

“Honey, it’s going to be a lot more stressful trying to do a whole year with a baby crawling around and demanding your full attention.”

I wanted to bang my head on the table. It would be easier to do it all now.

“I’d need to take three weeks off after the birth at least.” Two weeks was the legal requirement, but I knew I’d want and need longer.

“Of course. But you could catch up the things you’ve missed, and we’ll all help.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“You’ve been talking to Jasper.” He’d said the same thing to me just a few days ago.

She held her hands up.

“Yes. Don’t be angry though, we’re only trying to help. It’s a well known fact that not everyone that takes a year out goes back.”

“I would go back. But you’re right; it’d be crazy of me not to struggle past the final few months and finish my course with a new baby rather than deferring and having to do a whole year with a young child.”

Just then we were interrupted, and my head was spinning so much it was a relief.

“Look who I found wandering around outside,” Dad said, walking into the kitchen with Jasper trailing behind.

“I wasn’t wandering around, I was walking to the door,” he said. “Wandering makes me sound like a stalker.”

Dad turned to him. “You got my daughter pregnant, you’re whatever I say you are.”

“Fair enough,” Jasper replied and sidestepped him. Deep down, Dad liked him but he was stubborn so it would be a while before he admitted it again.

He sat beside me, and his aftershave filled my lungs. I tried to act cool as if he had no effect on me at all, but I couldn’t help leaning just that little bit closer to him.

“How’s my baby doing?” he asked, placing his hand on my stomach.

“She’s fine.”

He looked up at me with the biggest grin I’d ever seen.

“Good. I wonder when we’ll feel her kicking around in there.”

I shrugged. “A while yet.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Me neither. Although, apparently the kicks to the ribs really hurt. Oh but something you’ll be happy to hear, I decided to go back to uni next month.”

“That’s great, Holly.” Jasper beamed, and so did my parents. “What about living arrangements?”

I looked at Mum and Dad.

“Think I can move back here just before the birth?”

The drive to and from university every day would take about forty-five minutes each way so that would be too much for me to do each day. But I needed to be close when I was near to my due date because I had very little idea of what it was going to be like.

“As if we’re going to say no!” Dad said, sitting down beside Mum.

“Thanks.”

Jasper leant back, placing his arm on the back of my chair.

“And if he did you could just stay with me.”

Dad barked a laugh. “I don’t think so.”

Wow, living with Jasper. Recently that fantasy had filled my head more times than it should, and I didn’t know if it was because I had real feelings for him or because I was carrying his baby. Who was I kidding, they were real feelings!

“She’s carrying my baby,” Jasper said, trying to keep a straight face. He and Dad had a weird relationship; they teased each other a lot, and it was sometimes hard to tell if it was in jest or not. At first I was worried Dad would hate Jasper, but he was very quickly coming around, probably because Jasper had been perfect.

“Anyway,” I said, pulling Jasper up with me. “We need to talk about some stuff so we’ll see you later.”

“Leave your door open, Holly,” Dad said. I could hear the humour in his voice, but I didn’t look back because him trying to be a ‘cool dad’ was annoying. Jasper, however, laughed as we walked up to my room.

“We should actually have sex and call your dad’s bluff,” he joked. I noticed he waited until I’d closed my door before he said it though.

“Hmm, I’ll pass but thanks for the offer.”

He gripped his heart.

“You wound me. I thought I was irresistible.” Giving me his big puppy dog eyes, he pouted his lip and cocked his head, giving the full effect. My heart pounded.

“You’re not that irresistible.”

“Then why’re we up here?”

I rolled my eyes. “To talk about how this is all going to work. Do you think your mum will be able to help with childcare for the few months the baby’s here before university finishes?”