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'Well, we can't exactly ignore information like that.' The judge finally spoke and nodded to two officers to escort me from the courtroom. I didn't resist. I was led down from the stands and past Dan. I was able to touch his hand through the glass for just a moment. He was pleading with his eyes for me to stop what I was doing.

I was taken behind the judges stand and into a small dark room full of books and files. There was a lot of confusion and talking, phone calls and hushed conversations. It seemed that I had thrown a spanner in the works. I just sat there, humming to myself and rubbing my bump. If my plan was going to work then I needed to keep calm and think clearly.

'Ms Taylor.' There came a sigh. The judge had entered the room. He took a seat in front of me and then Gary sat besides me. And then two policemen joined us. 'I understand you wish to confess?'

'Yeah. I did it.'

'Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You're not the first and you won't be the last to try get their partner freed by pleading guilty.'

'But it was me. I can tell you everything. Let me go on trail.'

He regarded me for a long time.

'Its not up to me to arrest you. I do however have to throw this case out and have the prosecution start from scratch, because continuing from here would end in a mistrial. Your little outburst would have biased the jury and this is no longer a fair trail.'

'Does that mean...?' I dared to hope my idiotic plan had worked. He nodded. I wanted to dive up and hug him. He had no idea what this meant to me.

'It is up to the police whether they release Mr Smith. And these officers here are going to take you into custody.' I had prepared myself for this. I knew full well they weren't just going to let us both walk out of here. I'd confessed to murder and I would be going to prison. The end game was that I wouldn't get as hefty a sentence as Dan would've.

I was read my rights and my hands cuffed uncomfortably behind my back. Even when I was taken away in the back of a police car from the magistrates, I knew I was doing the right thing. I just had to wait it out. I only hoped my family and friends could understand what I was doing.

I spent a night in the cells, on a hard mattress with the toilet just a foot away from where I slept. I was surprisingly calm and only slightly scared. The next morning, after a breakfast of porridge and crap coffee, I was taken out and put into an interview room, just like one I'd seen on cop dramas as a child. Everything about this felt like some sort of television show. The female officer who had to help me from my cell to the room took pity on me and had got me a cup of tea, having constantly checked on me all night to make sure I was ok. I wondered if it was the first time they'd had a large pregnant detainee.

I had everything ready to say to the police. Why I'd done it, how I'd done it, that Dan didn't even know I'd done it. I had fully expected to be questioned for hours, but when the door opened, in stepped Dan. He looked so much older now, so tired and grey. If I could've got up to hug him, I would've.

'What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?' He sighed as he bent down to me, kissing me desperately. I couldn't stop smiling. The police woman let us have a moment.

'They let you out.' I could feel the tears of joy brimming in my eyes.

'Yeah and now you're in here. Gracey, this is ridiculous. You are almost nine months pregnant.'

'They can't touch me Dan. They're not gonna send a pregnant woman to jail.'

'No, but they will send you when those babies are born and you'll never see them again.'

          

'Don't worry.' I smiled.

'Don't worry?! How am I supposed to not worry? What the hell are you doing?' He was genuinely cross with me. But I was too happy to care. My plan had so far worked. I could feel this building sensation rising up in me, like I could burst. And then, suddenly, I did.

'Erm.' I looked at Dan with terrified eyes.

'What?' I saw the colour drain from his face. I didn't need to explain what had happened, because when we looked down on the floor, a massive puddle had formed beneath me.

'I think-' I began.

'Yeah.' He grinned. He gripped my hand tightly. This was it. Early by a couple of weeks, but that was fine. Nevermind the nursery being as Dan had left it and I hadn't even packed my hospital bags. None of that mattered. We were about to become a family.

The police woman must've been dreading this moment happening. She panic rang for an ambulance and tried to help me up from the chair but I was more concerned that it looked like I had wee'd myself. In all the confusion, it seemed to get forgotten that I was actually under arrest. Dan and I were loaded into the back of the ambulance and I was offered pain killers.

'I feel fine, I don't need anything.' I'd assured them, but the male paramedic insisted it wouldn't last long. I felt too excited to be scared or nervous. I was here, holding Dans hand in the outside world with no prison guards watching. Only paramedics trying to find a vein in my arm.

It went from full on panic and flashing lights to the hospital to waiting around for hours before anything really happened. I was due to have a c section and there were no surgeons free. So that left me and Dan in a private room on the labour suite, alone. I couldn't stop looking at him, touching his face, knowing that any minute I would wake up from this dream. And these were our last moments as non-parents. Any minute now our boys would be here, in our arms and we would embark on a totally new path in our lives. One that I would start off in prison.

We squished onto the bed together, lying down as best we could with the gigantic mound between us. I was so tired. I couldn't wait to get home and go to bed, but then I remembered there would be no sleep for the foreseeable future. I could feel my eyes struggling to stay open, when I felt a foot in my rib.

'Baby Twos had enough I think.' I laughed.

'How do you know which is which?' Dan asked sleepily. I took his hand and placed it just under my right breast.

'Thats Two.' I moved his hand down towards my pelvis. 'Thats One. Two is the lazier one, but when he kicks, he really goes for it. And One likes listening to me hoovering.' I forgot that he'd missed all of this.

'I'm so sorry.' He whispered and put his forehead against mine. I hadn't realized just how much I had longed for these moments of just being in his presence. I'd been so wrapped up in the drama and pregnancy of the last four months.

'I love you so much.' I told him.

'I love you too.' He kissed my lips tenderly, regretfully.

'Lets go have a baby.' A doctor declared as he entered the room. 'Or two babies.' He laughed. Now the nerves had kicked in and I felt suddenly sick. The only other operation I'd had was when I was five and I'd snapped my arm. But I'd been asleep for that. I'd read up everything I could about epidurals and c sections but now it was very real.

I waddled down to theatre hand in hand with Dan, trying to steady my breathing and avoid a panic attack. I'd waited eight long months for this moment, to meet our children, and now I didn't think I was ready.

'The cots aren't up, we never finished the room, I've not even got their clothes, what about nappies? Do we have enough bottles and things?' I stopped in the hallway, refusing to walk any further.

'Hey, hey, hey, it's ok. When they're here, I'm gonna ring my mum and Woody and get everything sorted.' He had his hands on each side of my face, forcing me to look into his blue eyes. It was then I noticed the grey hairs beginning to sprout in his hair and stubble. And it made me love him even more.

'But what...what if I do go to prison? If I just stay pregnant they can't put me away-' I knew the idea was impossible but it was nice to think about. I'd loved being pregnant. I just wished I could've done it with Dan.

'Don't even think about that right now. We are going to fix this. Let's go have our babies and go home.'

I was led into the clinically white operating theatre and sat up on the table when they injected the anaesthetic into my spine. It stung a little and I drew in a sharp breath. Dan leant in closer to me and put his forehead against mine. Now there wasn't time to back out of this.

'They're nearly here.' He whispered.

It all went in such a blur. I just held eye contact with Dan the entire time as he sat humming. As long as I stayed focused on him I couldn't be scared. I could feel tugging and pulling behind the blue curtain in front of chest, but felt no pain. And then...a cry.

'Heres baby number one.' The doctor declared. Up he held a tiny, screaming, blood covered baby. And it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I looked between my son and Dan and began to sob tears of joy. He was here. This guy had been the one sitting on my bladder for the last half a year. And he was beautiful. The doctor handed him to a midwife who wrapped him up and passed him to Dan. He cooed over him and put him up to my face so I could kiss him. Then Dan kissed me.

'I'm so proud of you.' He told me. I felt more tugging in my abdomen and then more crying. And then above the blue curtain, a second tiny, screaming blood covered baby. They truly were identical. And each one as beautiful as their father.

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