Topic: Signs

AJ Ryan

Date: 2012-01-10 08:52 EST
10th January, 2011

The headache was back again. AJ grimaced as she was uncomfortably awaoken out of her doze by the by now familiarly sharp throb at the back of her head. For a moment, though her eyes were open, she couldn't quite see - no detail showed up in the blur of shapes and colors that was her sitting room. It had frightened her, the first time this had happened, but over the past couple of weeks, she'd gotten used to it. After all, it was just a headache; probably due to that nagging little feeling she hadn't yet told Stas about.

Lifting her head, she realised she was pinned to the couch by the sleeping bodies of her son and daughter. Now two years old, Orla and Seamus had hit the Terrible Twos with a vengeance, revelling in their newfound energy and ability to run faster than their mother. They still couldn't out-run Stas, but then, he had much longer legs than anyone else in the family.

Potty training was, blessedly, a thing of the past - even Seamus, with his stubborn little attitude, had managed to get over his distrust of the toilet enough to allow himself to use it. Unlike his sister; Orla was so eager to be a grown up girl, she'd pretty much stopped using diapers the moment the potty came into play. Hopefully, in a couple of months, they wouldn't have to wake the twins up at midnight to go to the toilet anymore - they'd wake themselves up if they needed to go.

That, of course, had been celebrated with a family outing to buy underwear, something that Stas had been utterly bemused about, especially when Seamus took him imperiously by the hand to go and browse the men's underwear section, leaving AJ and Orla giggling over tiny pairs of pants covered in princess crowns and flowers.

Birthdays and Christmas had gone surprisingly smoothly, as well. One birthday party at the beginning of the month, complete with a houseful of noisy toddlers and their parents, and a proper family meal right here in Rhy'Din. It never ceased to amaze AJ how her parents and Stas' had come together in the spirit of grand-parenthood, when before the twins appeared, they could quite happily have strangled one another if left together for any length of time. Babies did that, apparently.

No, it was no good. She was going to have to get up. Orla was lying right on top of her bladder, and that just wasn't fair. AJ sighed, easing her arm and shoulder out from under her son and watching him slide comfortably into the warm dip she'd made with barely a squeak of acknowledgement. Sitting up, she lifted Orla off her abused abdomen, only to end up with the sleepy girl's pudgy little arms wrapped tightly around her neck.

"Oh, Orla ..." Laughing very quietly, AJ swung herself off the couch, turning to put her daughter down next to the sleeping Seamus. "It's okay, sweetie, I'm only going to the toilet. Go back to sleep." With a little gentle insistence, she got herself free, covering both toddlers with the throw before making her way to the nearest bathroom. Ther test kit was in her tampon box - perfect place to hide it from her nosey OB husband. No time like the present.

As she waited patiently for the lines to turn blue or pink - yes or no - it happened again. Her vision swam in and out of focus, darkening around the edges as though she was about to faint. Her hands gripped the edge of the bath tightly just in case, eyes blinking with wild rapidity to try and clear her sight. It didn't last long, like the other times, and only seemed to happen when her head was aching, like now. And it cleared itself up quickly, like now.

As the little test swam back into focus, AJ felt her lips curve into a smile. Right. So this time, she was going to be the one to break the news. None of this armchair diagnosis from Stas, thank you very much. The headache forgotten in the light of her anticipation of Stas' smile, AJ returned to the twins, as impatient as they were for Daddy to get home.