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“How are you feeling, Charlie?” Sarah asked over breakfast that morning. They were heading to Truham together to talk to Headmaster Barnes before Charlie began year thirteen in a couple of days. There was a lot they needed to talk about and Charlie was absolutely terrified. Nick was off at Kent for the day as he needed a couple of orientation days before starting uni. Nick was so excited. Charlie couldn’t help but smile at how infectious his boyfriend’s joy was.
“Terrified.” Charlie replied. Sarah moved around the kitchen so that she could pull him into a hug.
“It’s going to be okay. I know you’re worried about the opinions of the other students but hold your head up high, okay? You’re pregnant, you can’t change that and I know you wouldn’t want to. You’re doing a great job, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks." Sarah assured him.
"I'm glad I've got Tao and Aled to support me during this year even if I haven't got Nick by my side."
"I know, it's going to be hard on both of you being apart for the school year, you more so than Nick, but it's going to get to him too, I promise." Sarah soothed.
"What can I do for you today, Mr Spring?" Mr Barnes asked, kindly as he offered both Charlie and Sarah a seat in front of his desk.
"Um, some things have changed, uh, over summer." Charlie began.
"Charlie now lives with me and Nick." Sarah added, trying to make it a little easier on her son's boyfriend.
"Oh, so are we to change his emergency contact to yourself in our system as well as his address?" Mr Barnes checked.
"Yes please. Sarah will contact anyone from my family if necessary." Charlie replied.
"Was there anything else or is that everything?"
"I, uh, I'm pregnant." Charlie admitted through stuttering.
"Okay." Mr Barnes said, unsure.
"Were all very happy about it." Sarah assured him.
"I knew you needed to be aware of it before term starts, also, it will be kind of obvious when I'm in my uniform. Those shirts are unforgiving." Charlie chuckled, awkwardly.
"And the whole blazer not buttoning up too." Sarah added.
"Yeah, I can't really hide under baggy clothing now I'm back at school." Charlie grimaced.
"I will, of course, inform all of your teachers. I can't let you be head boy again this year though, I feel the students could rather use some consistency and you will be a little all over the place with appointments." Mr Barnes explained.
"I completely understand, Mr Barnes. I was going to ask for it to be given to someone else as I think I have enough to be dealing with this year." Charlie smiled, placing a hand on his bump.
"When are you due, if you don't mind me asking?"
"February, so I should have enough time to recover and catch up with my school work before my exams." Charlie replied.
"If not, you could ask for an extension citing extenuating circumstances."
"I don't think I'll need it. I'm not planning on it, anyway. I have a great group of people to support me." Charlie turned to Sarah who smiled at him. She was so proud of both Nick and Charlie for the way they were handling the pregnancy. Sure, it had been a shock to both of them but they were doing brilliantly. This baby would be very lucky to be born to two parents who adored them so much.
"I hear congratulations are in order." Mr Ajayi smiled when Charlie entered his classroom at lunch time on the first day of his last year. Charlie beamed and placed a hand on his bump. He'd been trying to hide it everywhere else but he knew Mr Ajayi would be supportive. He couldn't say the same for any of his other teachers. Well, maybe Mr Farouk would understand if the way he kept looking at Mr Ajayi was any indication but Charlie didn't want to risk it.
“Yes.” Charlie laughed.
“I take it you’re happy about it.” Mr Ajayi smiled. He was so happy that despite the ups and downs life kept throwing at Charlie, he got to have his shot at happiness. Not that Mr Ajayi didn’t have his, he just couldn’t be quite as loud and proud as Charlie could because of the fact he worked with Mr Farouk.
“We were terrified when I found out, me especially but this summer has been nothing short of incredible, Nick’s mum has been incredible and so has he. We’re really excited to be having a baby together even though it’s a hell of a lot sooner than either of us would have planned. You know, we always talked about having our own place and both of us being out of college and having jobs.” Charlie explained.
“It’s good to plan for the future, even if things don’t always go as you intend them to.” Mr Ajayi commented. They then spent the rest of Charlie’s lunch break talking about how Charlie was doing, the baby, what had happened over summer. It was nice to have someone other than Sarah, Nick and his friends to talk through what had happened with Jane.
“Nick Nelson, thought you were off to Leeds.” Harry greeted, holding out a hand for a one armed hug.
“Yeah, well, my priorities changed.” Nick smiled, just thinking of Charlie and their baby brought the biggest smile to his face and he didn’t think that would ever change.
“You didn’t want to leave Charlie. I respect that.” Harry commented before introducing Nick to the new friends he’d already made.
“Not just that.” Nick deflected.
“Not just Charlie? That sounds interesting, although I won’t push you to tell me if you don’t want to.” Harry accepted.
“Charlie’s pregnant.” Nick admitted. He loved telling people, he loved Charlie and their baby so much that he didn’t want to hide them away as though he was ashamed of them.
“That was quick!” Harry smiled. “Happy for you, mate.” Harry then clapped Nick on the shoulder again before they headed their separate ways. Nick had forgotten that Harry would be coming here, too. He couldn’t actually remember if there was anyone else he already knew here but he didn’t mind having someone he already knew, even if it was only Harry.
“How was your first day back at school?” Nick asked as Charlie curled up against his side in bed that night. Nick had his hand resting on Charlie’s bump, like he often did if the two of them were sitting together.
“It was good. I got a few funny looks from some of the other students but Tao and Aled as well as all of my teachers were really supportive. I spent lunch with Mr Ajayi.” Charlie explained.
“I did think that would probably be where you could be found.” Nick smiled.
“What about you? First day of uni and everything. Way more exciting than anything going on at Truham, surely?”
“I ran into Harry, actually.” Nick replied.
“Can’t get rid of him that easily, apparently.” Charlie laughed.
“He was really nice, actually. I, uh, I told him about the baby.”
“Really?” Charlie beamed.
“Yeah, I know it’s too soon but I’m so excited to be having a baby with you and I don’t want to hide you or them from anyone.” Nick responded. Charlie pulled Nick into a kiss.
“I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”