Baby Fever (Sarah / Alec)
A tie-in with Big School Series 2 Episode 3.
The thing about children is that it's not for everyone.
From the moment Alec picked Sarah up from school, he knew something was off. The beautiful sparkle in her eyes that he loves so much has disappeared. Throughout dinner, he watched her push her food around on her plate. She refuses to tell him about her day, except to say that she really hates parents’ evening and it gives her a headache. Even with her head resting comfortably over his heart, he can hear the gears spinning in her head and he wonders how or if she knows what’s going on in the show at all.
Another sigh.
That’s the last straw, he thinks. He has lost count of how many times she has sighed since he picked her up that evening. He switches the program off and she immediately turns to glare at him. “I was watching that!”
“Were you really?” She opens her mouth to protest but can’t seem to find the right words and he sighs. “Darlin’, what’s bothering you?”
“Nothing! I told you! Will you stop questioning me?! I’m not one of your suspects!” In all their time together, even during that disastrous dinner with the new teacher, she has never ever yelled or even raised her voice just a little. Alec is pretty sure that look on his face was one of utter shock and confusion. “Oh, Alec,” Sarah blinks heavily, tears already swirling in her eyes.
Without a second thought, he tucks her under his chin and rubs her back soothingly. “I’m sorry I asked,” he whispers earnestly into her hair. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“I’m sorry,” she sniffles, “I shouldn’t have yelled. I didn’t mean to. It’s just been a long day. I’m sorry.”
“Would you rather be alone tonight? I can go if you want me to,” he murmurs, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“No. Please don’t go.” She’s looking at him with those big blue eyes, all sad and guilty, and he thinks he can never leave her.
“Okay.” He drags her closer to him and she buries her face in the crook of his neck, kissing the soft skin there. She leans back to look at him seriously and he shakes his head. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. “I want a baby,” she whispers fearfully.
“What?”
“I want a baby.”
“And that’s what’s been bothering you.”
“That and a headmistress who can’t be bothered to learn my name. She thinks I dress like a Persian prostitute, I have colleagues who can’t stop staring at my breasts when they’re talking to me and won’t stop hitting on me even when they know I have a boyfriend. I really hate parents’ evening. But mainly the baby thing,” she adds quietly after her tirade.
“Okay.”
Sarah watches as he tries to adsorb all the information she has given him in sixty seconds and she sees his police training kicking in. She can see it in her head, their child looking very much like him when he’s focusing. Maybe a boy wouldn’t be bad after all if he looks like Alec. But that is if they have a child and that he does want a child with her. At this point, she’s not even sure she can have babies. Women have a small window of opportunity when it comes to childbirth and she knows she doesn’t much very much time left, despite what she told Keith earlier.
“I can’t do anything about your headmistress,” he begins evenly. “To me you always look beautiful and proper, and I think she’s just jealous of your fashion sense. I could probably do something about those colleagues of yours. I could pop by your school more often. As for the staring, I guess you can’t really blame them. Your breasts are beautiful.” Alec winks and she smiles for the first time that evening. “The only reason I can take my eyes off them is because your eyes are breathtaking.”
Sarah knows she has a silly grin on her face and she’s glad she’s sitting down for this because her knees can’t hold her upright now. He squeezes her hand gently and says with all the sincerity in the world, “I would really love to have a baby with you.” Oh, she’s really glad she’s sitting down now.
“Really?”
“Yes. But I don’t understand why you feel like you can’t tell me.”
“We’ve never talked about it,” she explains. “We’ve only been together for less than six months. This isn’t something people usually talk about. I don’t want to scare you off because I have baby fever.”
“We can talk about it now. I’d love to have a baby with you, Sarah.”
“Do you want a boy or a girl?”
“A girl,” he answers easily and Sarah feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. After the disappointing conversation with Keith in her classroom, she really wants Alec to want what she wants.
“I always thought you’d want a little boy.”
“A boy would be nice too, maybe the second one can be a boy.”
“The second one? How many do you want?”
“Two. If we just have one, she’d be too lonely. Three is an odd number, I wouldn’t want any of them to feel left out but I don’t think we can handle four children. So, two would be just right and I really want the first one to be a girl. A little girl with your eyes and hair, and a love affair with France, just like her mummy,” he grins she feels her heart leap in her chest at the word ‘mummy’. “You do know that when we become parents, you’ll have to be the one disciplining them, right? Especially the girl, because I already know I am incapable of denying her of anything.”
“Softie. You’ve been thinking about this.” She leans into him and rests her head on his chest, sighing contently. “How do you feel about raising our kids in a little farmhouse in the South of France?”
“You’ll have to start giving me French lessons, Darlin’.”
Sarah giggles and kisses him lovingly. “That can be arranged.”
* * *
“Sarah, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I’m sorry if I upset you.”
“No harm done, Keith. You have your ideals about the children you want and that’s fine. You don’t have to apologize,” she smiles. “I should apologize for walking out on you. That was rude.”
“Not at all.” They continue to walk in awkward silence until Keith clears his throat again. “So, I think your idea of raising a child in Provence would be nice.”
“I know. Alec thinks so too,” Sarah smiles sweetly, sighing happily at the thought of her perfect DI.
“Right, Alec.”
“He thinks we should have two kids and I agree. I quite like the idea of twins though.”
“Twins? Two babies at once?” The idea of having one child is quite terrifying and two at once makes Keith fear for his life a little.
“Yeah. He thinks it’d be adorable too but neither of our families have any history of ever having twins so it’d be quite impossible. Besides, I think I’d like to have a boy after the girl. He’d be so cute looking like a little Alec, don’t you think?” Keith thinks watching Sarah gushing about having children with another man is one of the worst things he ever had to do. “I think he’ll want to grow up to be police like his daddy. Sorry,” she cringes when she finally notices her poor colleague. “I should stop.”
“It’s fine. So, does this mean you’re trying for a baby now?”
“Oh.” A lovely blush spreads through her alabaster skin. “We’re not trying but we’re not doing anything to stop it from happening, if that’s what your asking.”
“Sorry, that wasn’t appropriate. I’m glad you’re happy with your boyfriend. I think you two would make lovely children,” he says with a forced smile.
“Thank you. Classes are starting. I’ll see you at lunch?”
As he watches Sarah’s retreating form, a regretful sigh escapes him. He still can’t believe that one mistake he made months ago is still haunting him. If only he showed up at the right place, he’d be the one Sarah would be excited about having children with.
I know the last bit with Keith might not be absolutely necessary but it didn't feel quite right to cut it out. Sweet Keith would most certainly try to get back into Sarah's good books after that scene in her classroom. And Georgie also agrees that it gives it a nice conclusion.
Thank you so much for your help, dearie. You've been so kind and I'm really touched.
For everyone who's been reading, I'm so glad you are enjoying it as much I enjoy writing them. Please don't be afraid to tell me what you think, I love all your comments. Thanks again!