Back To Normal?

The honeymoon is over, Malia's birthday is done, and life is getting back to 'the old routine' for Carl and Malia.

Well, a sort of 'normal'.  Winter was firmly settled in over Hidden Springs and as lovely as it looked it did mean that Malia's garden wasn't getting much attention.

They couldn't afford a greenhouse so she made sure all her plants were well protected by a good deep layer of compost mulch and grit.  All being well, her small and increasingly profitable vegetable plot would make it through to Spring.

So, while waiting for the weather to improve, Malia keep up-to-date with all the latest news, ideas, and tips from the award-winning "Garden Masterclass" programmes on their local TV station.

There was also her favourite monthly magazine, "Oh My! Garden!".  The last Thursday each month when it arrived in the post-box was always a 'red letter' day in the Slade household.

Not that Malia was entirely housebound, she also enjoyed trips into town, in particular her occasional  visits to Silver Zephyr Health Spa for a relaxing massage. On these cold winter days, the warmth of the Spa was especially welcome.

If not the Spa, she loved to while away an hour or so at her favourite coffee shop.

For Carl, however, there were not the same opportunities to relax or idly while away his days.

A week after Malia's birthday a memo was sent out from the lab's HR department.  There were to be no bonuses this year!


After the expense of the wedding and the honeymoon they had been planning on having the usual bonus to bring their finances back to a more respectable state.


With no bonus, Carl had to take every opportunity to earn overtime on the latest projects.

 It often felt as if he saw more of his car-share colleague than he did his wife!

What free time Carl had was often spent maintaining their home and repairing the inexpensive, but equally unreliable, appliances.

-- * --

It had been a few weeks now and Malia was starting to recognise a variety of symptoms ... her breasts seemed  a little more sensitive than usual, the increased tiredness and headaches, the nausea ... she was pretty certain she knew what they meant

A quick trip to the chemist to get a test kit and she would soon know, one way or the other.

Malia looked at the little display panel ... there it was, one simple word that meant so much was about to change ... "Pregnant".

As anxious as she was at the thought of raising a child, Malia was also delighted at the prospect and knew that Carl would be too.  He hadn't made a big deal out of it, not ever pressured her at all, but it was always clear that family meant a lot to Carl and he would love to start one of his own ... their own.

That evening, Carl returned from the lab as usual, changed out of his work clothes, noticing as he did so that Malia seemed particularly excited about something ...

"Carl, honey, I've some news for you ... I'm, I'm pregnant!  We're going to have a baby!"

"What?  Oh, what, pregnant?  Amazing!  Oh Malia, that is wonderful!  Are you sure?  Oh my!"

He pulled Malia close, into a tight hug, "this is the best news, I love you babe, we're going to have the most perfect and beautiful baby ever!"

His face alight with joy, Carl gently caressed Malia's stomach...