Page 4 of In Just One Day

* * *

Of course, Flora hadn’t looked the next day, or that week, and before long months had gone by and she still hadn’t done anything about it. She was ridiculously busy at work, but with every day that passed she felt more nauseous about going in. She and Johnny were still hopping between each other’s flats, which suited them both. It seemed too soon to have the ‘shall we move in together’ chat; it had been barely six months since they’d met.

So no one was more surprised than Flora when she realised she was pregnant. That growing sick feeling in her stomach hadn’t been about the job at all, it had been the work of a very tiny human growing inside her. At first she’d put off finding out for sure, not wanting to see it in black and white, or rather in blue lines on a stick. But after a week or so of knowing in her bones that she was almost certainly pregnant she took a test and called Johnny.

‘Is everything OK? You sound… a bit weird.’ She could picture his face, a frown on his forehead.

‘Yes, I’m fine. But I need to talk to you. Like, now.’

‘Are you… are we…?’

‘Johnny, please can you just come?’

‘On my way.’

Twenty minutes later they sat in Flora’s flat, looking down at the pregnancy test in front of them.

‘Johnny, I’m so sorry…’

‘Hang on, what do you mean? I think you’ll find I had something to do with this, too. Why are you apologising?’

‘I know, I just thought… anyway, whatever. What do we do now?’ She looked at him, his eyes still fixed on the thick blue line. He closed them for a second then slowly turned to face her.

‘I want you to marry me.’

‘What?’ Flora stared at him in disbelief. ‘Are you serious?’

Johnny’s blue eyes sparkled. ‘Well, I’ve never proposed before but I’m pretty sure it’s not something you ask for fun.’ He took her hands in his. ‘Flora, I’m sure this might not be quite what you had in mind but I’m being absolutely serious. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been so sure of anything in my life. I love you, Flo.’

‘I… I…’ Flora wasn’t sure which was more surprising: finding out she was pregnant or being proposed to. ‘Johnny, I don’t know what to say. I just didn’t think I’d be having a baby quite yet. I thought I’d be in my thirties, not my twenties.’

‘But that’s the thing. The plan is ours to make together.’ He tilted her face to his with his hand under her chin. ‘Come on, what do you reckon? Are you up for it?’ A wide grin spread across his face, so wide it made his eyes crinkle at the edges.

Flora swallowed hard. ‘I’m in.’

‘Is that a yes?’ He laughed, springing up from the sofa.

‘Yes, it’s a yes!’ Flora stood up to meet him and he picked her up, twirling her around before falling back gently onto the sofa, both of them lost in tears and kisses.

* * *

Telling friends had been a doddle. Informing their parents, on the other hand, had been slightly more painful, at least for Flora. Her parents had met and married when they were young, barely a penny between them, as Kate often liked to remind Flora and her brother, Billy. And even though they were so different – or maybe because they were – the marriage had always been a happy one, as far as Flora knew. She couldn’t help but feel she had a lot to live up to.

Her father had been delighted. Kate, on the other hand, had been all smiles but Flora could sense her disappointment. This was not how Kate had imagined this moment at all.

‘So, where will you live? I mean, you can’t bring up a baby in your tiny flat, can you?’ Kate asked Flora.

‘Well, we’ll have to for a while. I’m going to move into Johnny’s flat and sell mine. We’re thinking of trying to find somewhere with a bit more space, a small garden, perhaps. But not yet.’ Flora tried to sound as upbeat as possible, ignoring the look on her mother’s face.

‘What about work?’ Kate probed further.

‘Actually, Mum, I’ve been thinking about changing career anyway…’

‘Since when?’ Kate’s mouth dropped open.

‘Darling, we didn’t know you were unhappy.’ Her father was clearly concerned.

‘I’m not. It’s just, well, I’m really not exactly loving the advertising business any more so I’m going to explore other options, that’s all.’

---