"You wanted to see me" George tapped gently on the door to Christine's office, not waiting for an answer before stepping inside.

"Yeah, I'm not going to be around this afternoon, can you keep an eye on things, Simon's doing some resilience thing."

"Of course, are you going anywhere interesting?"

Christine shook her head, "just a meeting with the LEA" she lied, "I'll be leaving after lunch and I probably won't be back until tomorrow."

"That's fine" George smiled as the bell rang, "I'll see you after lunch."

"Yeah" Christine whispered as the door closed behind George, "see you."

"Is there anything you want me to do while I'm in charge?" George asked as Christine put her jacket on, his feet resting on the polished surface of her desk.

Christine rolled her eyes as she saw George, "I've left a report for the board on my desk, can you have a read through it for me? You always had a better head for numbers than me."

George nodded and sat properly at the desk, "no problem, leave it with me" he said, already beginning to flick through the papers.

"Thanks" Christine forced a smile as she headed for the door.

"Erm, aren't you forgetting something?" George pointed to the pile of folders Christine had left on her desk.

"Thanks, I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on" she laughed before picking up the folders.

"It's okay, good luck."

Christine froze, "what do you mean?"

"You're always saying how boring these meetings are, I was wishing you luck, that it's not too boring" George frowned, "it was a joke."

"Sorry" Christine shook her head slightly, "yeah, me too."

"I hope the meeting doesn't go on too long, you look like you could do with an early night."

"Thanks" Christine rolled her eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow." She said, not waiting for a reply before leaving her office, not wanting George to know anything was wrong.

Christine didn't have a meeting with the LEA, she just hadn't wanted George to know she'd made an appointment with her GP, "what can I help you with today?" The doctor asked with a friendly smile.

Christine looked at the woman in front of her, having specifically asked to see the only female doctor at the surgery, "I Erm, I haven't had a period in over four months" she mumbled, "I think it might be the menopause."

"Okay" the doctor nodded, "I'm sure you've already thought of this but I have to ask, is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

Christine's heart stopped. About three months ago she'd slept with George, she'd been missing Connor and Imogen had bailed on the plans they'd made to spend the evening together so George had taken her out for dinner so she didn't have to spend the night alone. She only remembered to breathe again when she remembered the boxes of condoms she'd left in the bathroom for Connor and Imogen, the box she'd taken into her room and opened before anything had happened between her and George. "No, no."

"You had to think about that" the doctor said gently, "are you sure?"

"There was one time but we were safe, he used a condom."

The doctor pulled a plastic cup from the top drawer of her desk, "condoms aren't 100% effective, so why don't we do a quick test to put your mind at rest? There's a bathroom just down the hall."

Christine nodded and with shaking hands took the container and made her way into the ladies toilets. She leant back against the door once she'd locked it, she couldn't be pregnant, she'd spent what felt like forever teaching Connor about safe sex, joking that she wasn't old enough to be a grandmother, she might not be old enough to be a grandmother but she was most definitely too old to be a mother again, especially now she was finally getting used to not having Connor around any more. Part of her just wanted to run from the doctor's and not look back but she needed to know, she needed to know if her one night with George was going to change the rest of her life.

She silently passed the cup over to the doctor when she returned, not watching as the doctor removed the lid and placed a thin strip of paper into the cup, "now, have you had any other symptoms, any nausea, anything at all that could point to either pregnancy or the menopause?"

Christine shook her head, "nothing, there's been nothing else" she whispered, her eyes fixed on the tiny strip of paper, the tiny strip of paper where two blue lines were beginning to appear.

She couldn't stop her tears from falling as the doctor confirmed her worst fears, two blue lines meant positive, she was pregnant. "I take it this wasn't planned?"

Christine shook her head, "no, it was, it was just one night" she whispered shakily, "we agreed we were better off as friends, "I can't, I can't be pregnant."

"I can arrange for you to see someone, to talk through your choices and your feelings if you think that would help you decide whether to continue with the pregnancy or not if you think that would help." Christine nodded and the doctor passed her a form and a pen, "if you fill this in and leave it at reception someone will ring you in the next few days to arrange an appointment, you can bring the father along too if you think that would help?"

Christine nodded, shakily filling in the form, "thank you."

"I can give you some leaflets to read through if you want, or you can get them from the counselor."

"Can I have them now?"

"Of course" the doctor nodded, pulling the required information from a folder by her desk, "you'll need to make an appointment for a blood test on your way out and I'd recommend taking folic acid too, just in case you do decide to continue with the pregnancy."

Christine nodded as the doctor passed her some tissues, "thank you for your time."

She spent almost half an hour crying in her car once she'd made an appointment for a blood test and handed in the form. She cried until she had no tears left before texting George, 'Are you still at the school? I need to talk to you.

'I'm on the last page of the report is everything okay?'

'I'm on my way, I'll talk to you when I get back.'

George frowned when he read the text before flicking on the kettle in the corner of the office, if Christine wanted to talk to him about something serious he needed coffee.

"I didn't have a meeting with the LEA" Christine confessed as soon as the door to her office closed, "I had an appointment with my GP."

George frowned, he could tell Christine had been crying, "are you okay?"

"I'm pregnant" she whispered, unable to look him in the eye, "I'm pregnant and it's yours" she said quietly, her hands shaking as tears rolled down her cheeks.