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Sep. 16th, 2018 09:11 pmIt's not that unusual for Fran to cry, though she tends to cry at cute things, the ends of films, children singing, and that sort of thing. However, when Guppy comes into their bedroom just before bedtime to find her properly bawling, he finds himself quite alarmed and sits down next to her, putting his arm around her.
"What's up?" he asks softly.
"It wasn't supposed to be possible, but that makes it sound all unwanted and it's not unwanted it's just so much of a worry." Fran splutters.
Guppy watches her for a moment.
"No, you've lost me, start at the beginning."
"It could only happen to us, couldn't it?" Fran sniffs and wipes her eyes. "What's the chance of a vasectomy failing, one in two thousand?"
"About that... oh." Oh. OH. Ah. Hm.
Bloody Wilford's going to bloody gloat.
"How do you feel about that?" he asks, cautiously, since this much crying is not Fran's usual reaction to being unexpectedly pregnant. Then again, three of her previous four pregnancies were pretty traumatic.
"I know we've got enough love to give a dozen kids." Fran says, looking down at her belly. "It's not unwanted. I'm not getting rid of him or her, if that's what you're asking."
Guppy nods, feeling slightly relieved.
"We've managed all sorts of difficult things." he says, taking her hand. "We'll manage another one. Besides, Fry and Coral are a lot older now, and they're much more independent."
"You're not upset?"
"Of course not."
"You're not going to accuse me of having some torrid affair?"
"Of course not." Guppy gives her a squeeze. "We have four children, Fran, when would you have had time?"
That gets a small smile out of her.
"But there's so many problems." Fran says, looking at him. "I've thought of nothing else all day."
"Such as?"
"What will we do about bedrooms?"
"Well two of them will have to share, once the little one is out of our room. We'll stick them in with Gil, he won't mind, and even if it's a girl they can room together for a few years."
"Secondly, what if they're autistic, like Fry? What if they're premature again? What if they have a heart condition, like Gil?"
Guppy considers this. "I actually think Brooke is the most difficult of our children, and she's stonkingly healthy. We'll manage, whatever happens."
"And thirdly, we never planned to have four kids when we first started sending them to private school. Even with the multi-child discount and Fry's special needs allowance we can barely manage to pay the fees for four kids. I don't see how we can possibly manage a set of nursery fees on top, and Fry certainly won't be able to go to Oaking, and he's throwing his whole heart into his entrance exams."
Guppy considers this. Fran has a point. And that's not an easy question. Should they move all the kids? Should they move after primary school? But then, Fry is the one likely to struggle most moving out of small class sizes.
"I'll just have to sell my soul." he says.
"Your soul?" Fran asks.
"Let me just do some maths." Guppy gets out his phone and checks a couple of emails. "Okay. If I take up a couple of private clinics - which Dr Bell has been nagging me for ages to do because it'll take some strain off our waiting list - and we look at getting a better rate on the mortgage, and we give up all the expensive extracurriculars like martial arts and music lessons, and we're generally really frugal, we should be able to keep the younger kids in their current school and the little one in nursery."
"What about Fry?"
Guppy stares at his figures for a moment.
"If Fry can win a full scholarship to one of the schools, we're in almost the same financial position we are now, though they'll have to cut down to one extra-curricular activity each. He would certainly need a partial scholarship if he wants to go to Oaking. If he doesn't win any scholarships, he could go to Holby High, which is the cheapest and still perfectly good." He squeezes Fran's hand. "Look, there are a million things we can worry about, but we'll work something out, we always do."
"I know. I mean, even if the kids did have to leave their school, they're good kids, they'd work it out." Fran says. "I just had a lot of feelings..."
"Well let's get you booked in for a scan and we can find out how far along you are. We best not tell the kids until we know whether everything's okay with the baby." Guppy says.
"Agreed." Fran nods.
As they turn out the light, with the best intentions of secrecy, they fail to hear the soft tread of feet back down the corridor and up the loft stairs.
"What's up?" he asks softly.
"It wasn't supposed to be possible, but that makes it sound all unwanted and it's not unwanted it's just so much of a worry." Fran splutters.
Guppy watches her for a moment.
"No, you've lost me, start at the beginning."
"It could only happen to us, couldn't it?" Fran sniffs and wipes her eyes. "What's the chance of a vasectomy failing, one in two thousand?"
"About that... oh." Oh. OH. Ah. Hm.
Bloody Wilford's going to bloody gloat.
"How do you feel about that?" he asks, cautiously, since this much crying is not Fran's usual reaction to being unexpectedly pregnant. Then again, three of her previous four pregnancies were pretty traumatic.
"I know we've got enough love to give a dozen kids." Fran says, looking down at her belly. "It's not unwanted. I'm not getting rid of him or her, if that's what you're asking."
Guppy nods, feeling slightly relieved.
"We've managed all sorts of difficult things." he says, taking her hand. "We'll manage another one. Besides, Fry and Coral are a lot older now, and they're much more independent."
"You're not upset?"
"Of course not."
"You're not going to accuse me of having some torrid affair?"
"Of course not." Guppy gives her a squeeze. "We have four children, Fran, when would you have had time?"
That gets a small smile out of her.
"But there's so many problems." Fran says, looking at him. "I've thought of nothing else all day."
"Such as?"
"What will we do about bedrooms?"
"Well two of them will have to share, once the little one is out of our room. We'll stick them in with Gil, he won't mind, and even if it's a girl they can room together for a few years."
"Secondly, what if they're autistic, like Fry? What if they're premature again? What if they have a heart condition, like Gil?"
Guppy considers this. "I actually think Brooke is the most difficult of our children, and she's stonkingly healthy. We'll manage, whatever happens."
"And thirdly, we never planned to have four kids when we first started sending them to private school. Even with the multi-child discount and Fry's special needs allowance we can barely manage to pay the fees for four kids. I don't see how we can possibly manage a set of nursery fees on top, and Fry certainly won't be able to go to Oaking, and he's throwing his whole heart into his entrance exams."
Guppy considers this. Fran has a point. And that's not an easy question. Should they move all the kids? Should they move after primary school? But then, Fry is the one likely to struggle most moving out of small class sizes.
"I'll just have to sell my soul." he says.
"Your soul?" Fran asks.
"Let me just do some maths." Guppy gets out his phone and checks a couple of emails. "Okay. If I take up a couple of private clinics - which Dr Bell has been nagging me for ages to do because it'll take some strain off our waiting list - and we look at getting a better rate on the mortgage, and we give up all the expensive extracurriculars like martial arts and music lessons, and we're generally really frugal, we should be able to keep the younger kids in their current school and the little one in nursery."
"What about Fry?"
Guppy stares at his figures for a moment.
"If Fry can win a full scholarship to one of the schools, we're in almost the same financial position we are now, though they'll have to cut down to one extra-curricular activity each. He would certainly need a partial scholarship if he wants to go to Oaking. If he doesn't win any scholarships, he could go to Holby High, which is the cheapest and still perfectly good." He squeezes Fran's hand. "Look, there are a million things we can worry about, but we'll work something out, we always do."
"I know. I mean, even if the kids did have to leave their school, they're good kids, they'd work it out." Fran says. "I just had a lot of feelings..."
"Well let's get you booked in for a scan and we can find out how far along you are. We best not tell the kids until we know whether everything's okay with the baby." Guppy says.
"Agreed." Fran nods.
As they turn out the light, with the best intentions of secrecy, they fail to hear the soft tread of feet back down the corridor and up the loft stairs.
