Shattered Glass

[jenpen08]

Ok so I recovered my password! I've already told you what I Thought of it elsewhere but i love it soo much I'll reply here too!!

Did not see the pregnancy coming!!!! Very well disguised, she must tell Aden keeping it from him will only lead to badness!!

Also, I hope Jamie is ok!

Cannot wait for the next chapter!!! x

[Louise_2983]

Chapter 24

“I am going to kill Kirsty!” Belle fumed as they continued to search the beach.

“Calm down Belle, you getting worked up isn’t going to help anyone!”

“Calm down?! My son is missing and you’re telling me to calm down?!” she yelled in frustration, rubbing her brow as she desperately scanned the area for the five year old and bellowed out his name.

“Kids wander off all the time” Matilda tried to reassure her.

“I did it often enough, I’m sure he’ll be fine”

“This is the second time she’s lost him! Last time he just wandered up to a stranger and started talking to her”

“Seriously?” Matilda gulped looking worried.

“Yes but it happened to be me thank god! What if it’s someone who’s going to hurt him this time? Mattie I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him!”

“Belle we’ll find him” she whispered soothingly as her friend bit back the tears threatening to break free and continued to call our her son’s name in desperation.

“We better because if he’s hurt in the slightest I don’t know what I’ll do. To Kirsty or to myself”

“Belle you have to calm down, this can’t be good for the baby”

“I know” Belle sighed, suddenly becoming a little calmer as she rubbed a flat palm protectively over her tummy.

“But what about my other baby?”

“We’ll find him” Matilda repeated, unsure of who she was trying to convince more. Belle or herself.

“JAMIE!” Belle bellowed once more before sighing in frustration at the lack of response on the empty beach.

“It’s no good, he’s not here”

“No I think you’re right” Matilda admitted reluctantly.

“Maybe we should call the others? Roman or Aden? They might have found him”

“They would have called” Belle insisted just as the shrill ring of her mobile cut through the tension in the air like the sharpest of knives.

“Aden?!” Belle answered immediately without even bothering to look at the name flashing up on the display.

“No it’s me Annie” the familiar voice answered.

“Look Annie, whatever it is it’s going to have to wait. I need to keep the line free, Jamie’s missing”

“That’s why I’m calling you Belle, Jamie’s here”

“What? Where’s here?”

“At home, at The Beach House. He turned up a few minutes ago on his own”

“I’ll be right there!” she exclaimed, flipping her phone shut without another word and beginning to sprint down the beach towards home.

“Belle! Wait!” Matilda called after her having only heard Belle’s half of the conversation.

“Where are you going?”

Belle didn’t respond but continued to hurtle down the beach at great speed, not stopping until she barged through the back door of The Beach House to find her son sat at the table talking to Annie.

“Jamie!” she exclaimed, gasping for breath as she rushed towards him and pulled him into an urgent embrace. She clung to him with all her might, relief flowing through her now she was able to do the

one thing she’d feared she would never do again. To hold him in her arms.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again do you hear me?!” she exclaimed. Her tone wasn’t harsh enough to scare him but was strong enough to let him know how serious she was.

“You can’t wander off on your own like that sweetheart, you might get hurt. We were all very worried about you”

“Sorry Belle” he whispered sheepishly as he hugged her tightly.

“I just wanted to see you, I missed you”

“I missed you too sweetie but there are some nasty people out there who might hurt you if me or Daddy aren’t there to protect you. If you want to see me all you have to do is ask”

“I did ask but Daddy said you were busy and you haven’t been to see me for more than 7 sleeps now” he told her, his eyes sad and misty.

“Jamie I am never too busy for you, your Daddy must just have got mixed up” she told him, trying to make up an excuse for Aden. Not wanting Jamie to know that it had been Aden who’d stopped her

from seeing him.

“But you didn’t come to see me” he whispered again, almost breaking her heart.

“I know and I’m sorry, I missed you lots and lots. I was going to come and see you today”

“I don’t like it when I don’t see you” he told her quietly, his arms still looped tightly around her.

“I thought you might have gone away again”

“Baby I am never going away again” she told him adamantly, looking him straight in the eyes to ensure he knew she was serious.

“I’m not a baby!” he protested.

“I’m 5!”

“You’ll always be my baby” she grinned at him as his lips curved into a small smile and she hugged him closer to her.

“Do you promise not to go away again Belle?”

“I promise”

“Cross your heart?” he asked, looking up at her expectantly.

“Cross my heart” she giggled, lifting a hand and drawing an x above her heart with her fingertips. He giggled too as she pressed a kiss to his temple.

“I promise not to wander off again too” he told her sincerely.

“I didn’t mean to make you mad”

“I wasn’t mad Jamie, just very worried that something bad would happen to you. I love you so much it would upset me if anything did”

“I love you too” he smiled up at her sweetly as Aden burst through the door having been called by Annie.

“Thank god!” he sighed as he saw his son, safe and well, wrapped in Belle’s arms. The stress and anguish on his face instantly dissolved into relief.

“I’m sorry Daddy” Jamie instantly blurted out, his little face fearful at his father’s reaction.

“Don’t shout” Belle instantly ordered sensing Jamie’s fear.

“Daddy never shouts” Jamie told her quietly.

“But I don’t like it when he’s angry with me”

“Daddy’s not angry, he was just worried too” Belle reassured him as Aden knelt down beside them.

“Isn’t that right?”

“Really worried mate” Aden whispered, kissing the top of his son’s head tenderly before wrapping an arm around his back as he continued to hold on to Belle.

“You scared me, don’t do that again”

“I won’t” Jamie murmured softly.

“I just wanted to see Belle Daddy”

“Well next time wait for me and I’ll bring you ok, don’t wander off again”

“Ok Daddy” he promised before looking at him nervously.

“Is Kirsty mad at me? She told me to stay in the garden. Is she going to shout?”

“No mate, she’s not going to shout at you I promise”

“Seen as you’re here now” Belle smiled looking down at her son.

“How about I take you to The Diner for lunch?”

“Can Daddy come too?” Jamie asked excitedly.

“Daddy can come if he wants to” Belle smiled, glancing up at Aden.

“Please come Daddy” Jamie pleaded and Belle instantly knew that Aden wouldn’t be able to resist their son’s big, puppy dog eyes.

“Well I am kind of hungry” Aden conceded with a small smile.

“Yay!” Jamie exclaimed before abruptly letting go of Belle and rushing towards the bathroom.

“I just need to use the bathroom!” he told them loudly.

“I had to hold it the WHOLE way here!”

Belle couldn’t help but giggle as the bathroom door shut behind Jamie.

“You know this would never have happened if you’d just let me see him Aden” she hissed, suddenly serious.

“I know and I’m sorry. I just get really over protective of him Belle, he’s the most important person in my life”

“And mine!” she reminded him.

“And if Kirsty’s not going to take better care of him then you’re going to have to stop leaving him with her!”

“She’s his stepmother!”

“And she’s let him wander off twice! That wouldn’t have happened if she’d been watching him properly! Anything could have happened to him!”

“You think I don’t know that? I was terrified!”

“And you blame Kirsty too or you would have called me yourself instead of getting Roman to do your dirty work for you!” she snapped as Matilda shot a glance in her direction which Belle instantly knew

meant she should calm down.

“I don’t blame her but I’m not exactly happy with her right now either”

“I want to look after him”

“What?”

“When you can’t look after him I want to” she insisted, crossing her arms in front of her defensively.

“And how’s that supposed to work?”

“It’s simple. When you’re working I’ll look after him. I’ll take him to school and collect him if you need me to and there’s plenty of room for him to stay here if needs be”

“You can’t expect Kirsty to never look after him again Belle, that’s ridiculous”

“Well maybe not never again but for the majority of the time I want to be the one looking after him if he’s not with you”

“Ok” he nodded.

“Ok?” she repeated, shocked that he’d agreed with her so easily.

“Ok” he repeated.

“I think it’s good that you want to spend more time with him. And it’s clearly what he wants too”

“Thank you” she whispered with a small smile as Jamie came storming out of the bathroom.

“Ready!” he announced with a cute grin.

“It’s about time!” Belle teased.

“I thought you’d fallen down the toilet you were gone so long!”

“Don’t be silly Mummy!” he instantly replied without thinking, his hand shooting to cover his mouth as he realised what he’d said.

Belle felt warm tears begin to sting her eyes as she gulped and glanced at Aden to find him smiling back at her.

“It’s ok Jamie” she whispered as she knelt down to his level.

“You can call me Mummy if you want to”

“I didn’t mean to” he whispered softly.

“The words just fell out of my mouth”

“Well you can call me Mummy if you want to, I’d like that” she smiled affectionately, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

“But if you’re not ready to call me that then that’s fine too”

“Ok Belle” he replied clearly indicated he wasn’t ready to give her a new title just yet.

“Can we go eat now? I’m starving!”

“Yes we can” she tried to smile as she subtly attempted to wipe away the tears hovering above her cheekbones. She knew it would take time but hearing him call her Mummy, even if only by accident,

had quite possibly been the greatest moment of her life so far.

***

“Will the father be joining us today?” the sonographer asked as she began to spread the freezing cold gel over Belle’s stomach.

“No, there isn’t a father. Well of course there is a father” she rambled nervously as she fidgeted about on the bed.

“But he’s not involved, I’m doing this alone”

“Ok Belle, you might want to relax a little” the elder female gave a little laugh.

“Yeah, sorry I’m just nervous”

“I can see from your notes that you had an ectopic pregnancy when you were 19?”

“Yeah” Belle nodded quietly.

“And it nearly killed me”

“But you had a successful, full term pregnancy after that yes?”

“Yes, I have a son. He’s 5 now” she smiled just at the thought of Jamie.

“Ok well clearly the purpose of today’s scan will be to ensure everything is healthy with this pregnancy. Now it’s a little early so the scan might not be as clear as it normally would be but it will enable us

to identify any potential risks to you and/or your baby. Now Belle other than the possible risk of an ectopic pregnancy is there anything else that should be of concern? Any bleeding? Cramps?”

“No” Belle shook her head slowly.

“But...”

“But?”

“Well before I knew I was pregnant I got really drunk one night. Could that have harmed the baby?”

“Well it’s not advisable but you didn’t know you pregnant so there’s nothing you could have done. Just don’t repeat it and hopefully your baby will be fine”

“No of course I’m not going to repeat it! I wouldn’t knowingly do anything to harm my baby” she told her adamantly as the probe was placed on the tummy and a fuzzy image appeared on the screen

followed by the rhythmic thumping of her baby’s hear t beat.

“Glad to hear it” the sonographer smiled as the door swung open.

“Sorry I’m late!”

“Matilda what are you doing here?”

“As if I was going to let you do this alone!” her friend grinned as she moved closer to the screen.

“Wow is that my god baby or is that Neighbours with really, really bad reception?” she asked squinting at the monitor.

“Mattie!” Belle hissed in embarrassment.

“Sorry” she tried to apologise for her friend.

“This is my friend Matilda”

“I’m the baby’s godmother” Matilda beamed proudly.

“Or at least I will be when they get here. Any chance she’s later along than she thinks? Because I’m already like a four year old waiting for Christmas!”

“Well, everything appears to be fine Belle I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear. Baby appears to be healthy and that heartbeat is very strong”

“Thank goodness” Belle sighed in relief.

“And you appear to be around 9 weeks”

“Damn!” Matilda cursed loudly as Belle shot her a threatening glare and she suddenly shut up.

“I’d be naming the baby Jesus if I wasn’t” Belle chuckled softly.

“What? Why?” Matilda asked perplexed.

“You’re not religious! Has Annie been suggesting names? I thought I was the only person who knew?”

“Calm down Matilda!” Belle sighed.

“No one knows. Just you and Rachel. It was a joke, because you know if it wasn’t Aden it was the immaculate conception”

“Oh right!” Matilda exclaimed as she understood before starting to laugh.

“As if anyone would ever believe you had a virgin birth!”

“Oiy!” Belle exclaimed, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment.

“Would you like to know your due date?” the sonographer interrupted their discussion, glossing over what she’d heard like a true professional.

“Yes!” Matilda yelped in excitement.

“Then I can count down the days on my calendar!”

“Belle?” the sonographer laughed.

“Well I guess it might help if I knew when baby was planning on arriving” she laughed.

“Although I’m sure Matilda here will remind me every day for the next 7 months”

“Well I would estimate November 5th but it does say here you were almost two weeks overdue last time so bear that in mind, you’ll probably be late this time too”

“No way am I having another 42 week pregnancy!” she sighed dramatically remembering how uncomfortable she had been those last two weeks carrying Jamie.

“I don’t think I would be able to handle Matilda for a start! You don’t put Christmas back to January when you’ve got a four year old!”

“Belle, if my god baby’s over due I’ll do the c-section myself!” Matilda exclaimed before turning sheepishly to the sonographer.

“I’m just joking, honest!”

“I should hope so” she chuckled as she passed Belle some tissue to wipe the gel from her abdomen.

“Your next scan should be in around 6 weeks Belle, so I will see you then. And you too Matilda if you haven’t exploded with excitement by then”

“It’ll be touch and go trust me!” Matilda grinned as Belle hurriedly thanked the sonographer for the photo from the scan and practically yanked her friend out of the room.

“You so owe me cake for that!” she exclaimed in mock anger.

“Cravings already?”

“No, just my normal dietary requirements. Cake by 3pm or I get cranky”

“Get cranky? Belle you’re Miss Perma-Cranky!”

“That’s because no one ever buys me cake” she grinned as they entered the cafe and spotted Rachel sitting in the corner.

“Hey Rach” Matilda smiled as they sat down. Belle’s gaze followed a waiter carrying a plate to a nearby table.

“Belle? Earth to Belle?”

“Sorry!” she cried in embarrassment.

“I just got distracted by the mudcake!”

“Cravings?” Rachel asked knowingly.

“No, just me” she grinned back.

“Two OJs and two slices of mudcake” Matilda told the waiter with a smile and he instantly left to get their order.

“Aren’t you having any cake?” Belle giggled cheekily to Matilda as she handed Rachel the scan.

“Everything’s fine” she smiled, breathing a sigh of relief.

“That’s fantastic, so how are you feeling?”

“Scared obviously but I’ve been doing some reading and I’m going to be prepared this time. I just coasted along and hoped for the best when I was having Jamie, now I’m going to take this all really

seriously. Birthing classes the lot. And I’ve decided I don’t care what anyone says I want a natural birth”

“Belle, you know with your history that’s not the best idea”

“But it’s not impossible right?”

“Well no but..”

“No buts Rach” she shook her head adamantly as the waiter placed a huge piece of mudcake down in front of her and she stuck her fork straight into it.

“I was reading an article last night that said there seems to be a link between having a c-section and getting post natal depression and I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t

happen again. I want to give birth naturally. I know I can do it and it’s not like I’m going to be alone, Mattie here will hold my hand won’t you?”

“Woah!” Matilda cried looking up from her cake, fear etched into her face.

“I’m the god mother. I just wave my magic wand, I don’t actually go to the ball!”

“Matilda, would you seriously let me do this alone? Who else am I going to ask?”

“Oh I don’t know, Aden!” she blurted out without thinking.

“S**t!” she cursed herself.

“Nice one Matilda” Belle sighed looking up at Rachel.

“So now you know”

“Aden’s the father?”

“Yeah but he doesn’t know and he’s not going to” she replied adamantly with a glare at Matilda.

“No matter what anyone else might think. This is my decision”

“He’d want to be there” Rachel told her hesitantly.

“Aden wouldn’t want his child to grow up without knowing him Belle”

“I know” she sighed deeply as she swallowed the last of her cake.

“But I want him to love me, not my pregnancy”

“Belle I th-“

“Matilda just shut up and give me the rest of your cake” she ordered, an angry glint in her eye.

“Anything to stop you killing me!” she told her with a hint of seriousness as she pushed the mudcake filled plate across the table towards Belle.

“And if you tell anyone else then you might want to take some baking lessons first or it’s going to cost you a fortune!”

[LAURZY!]

Awww he went to find Belle Jamie is the cutest! and he called her mummy, even if it was an accident!!

i love that Aden's gonna let her look after him more often

Really glad we had more Mattie/Belle, their friendship is great!

Another fantastic update Really cant wait for more

[leah1234]

YYAaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!! he called her mummy AND he's ok he just missed her!!!!!

over-excited mattie is great!!!! she so funny!!!!!

belle and her chocolate typical!!!!

update soon xxxxxxxxx

[xknomex]

awwwww he called Belle Mummy thats just adorable!! I'm so glad he's okay

I really really really really really really really really think Belle should tell Aden!!!! after getting his trust back he will not be happy if he finds out she lied to him

Love Belle and her Chocolate and Mattie is brilliant!!!

update soon

xxxx

[jenpen08]

Arhhh Jamie called her mummy! Sweetness!!

Ooooh Belle has got to tell Aden. I was kind of hoping he'd be standing behind them when Matilda said he was the dad hehe!!

As usual great update, cannot wait for the next chapter!

[KaiyaBlake]

He called her mummy , accidently but still..

Please, please, please tell Aden, Belle! Please?

Great Chapter, Update sooooom please

[Taniya_K]

Aw, Jamie! He just missed her And he called her Mummy. How adorable was that?!

So glad that he's ok and that Aden's agreed to let Belle look after him more.

That last scene with the scan and Mattie was great. Mattie just cracked me up, bless her! I really do hope Aden finds out before the baby's born, maybe due to some medical reason? Or just Mattie blabbing it

Cannot wait for more!

xoxo

[wrongturntaken]

That was FANTASTIC!!!!! Jamie was so cute! I loved that he accidentally called her mummy but wasn't quite sure he was ready to do it on purpose yet, that felt really realistic.

The scan was so sweet and funny! Matilda was great!!!! I love her character!

The talk with Rachel and them was great too! I'm glad she knows that Aden's the father.

"I'm the god mother. I just wave my magic wand, I don't actually go to the ball!"

LMAO at that!!!! LOVED IT!!!!

Amazing chapter as usual! Can't wait for the next one! UPDATE SOON PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

[bailey4]

I seriously love your writing, your soooo talented.

Loved this chapter, actually I love this whole story. Beautiful