Page 21 of Prognosis Temporary

But the lull of his voice had washed over her as she’d driven and she couldn’t banish the image of him reclining naked on his bed, the sheet pulled up over his hips, his chest beckoning.

‘I’ll wait outside,’ Sebastian said as Ginny was shown straight in.

‘Oh, no.’ Ginny placed her hand on his sleeve. ‘If it’s okay, I’d like you to be there. I’d like you both to be there.’

Callie nodded, even though she’d rather stick a poker in her eye than have to share such an intimate thing with Sebastian. They’d already been intimate enough!

It was good — great, she supposed — that Ginny had taken so well to Sebastian but it really was the last straw in a very long day!

‘Hi, Blake.’ Callie smiled at the sonographer who was a very good friend. ‘I really appreciate you fitting us in on such short notice.’

Blake grinned with a playful leer. ‘Anything for you, Cal.’

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her which Callie ignored. Let him wonder about her relationship with Blake. Let him wonder about their familiarity and whether or not they’d been involved at some point. Just because she’d opened up to him a bit didn’t mean her life and her past were his business.

‘Okay, Ginny, climb up here, my lovely,’ Blake said, holding out his hand to help Ginny onto the narrow couch. ‘Are you ready to see your baby?’

‘Yes. I think,’ she said, her voice tremulous.

The ultrasound got under way and Ginny reached for Callie’s hand. Callie gave a reassuring squeeze but she was aware only of Sebastian standing to one side and slightly behind her. She could feel the heat radiating off his body and smell the rich, earthy tones of his aftershave, which seemed to be imprinted on her DNA.

All she needed to do was lean back and she’d be pressed along the length of him. Then it’d only be a small move to turn in his arms, press her face into his neck, feel his stubble scratching her cheek.

Blake pressed a button and the room filled with the steady whop, whop, whop of a tiny fluttering heart. It dragged Callie out of the haze miring her body and she actually took in what was on the screen for the first time.

‘Isn’t that a beautiful noise?’ Blake grinned at them.

Ginny burst into tears and Callie squeezed her hand again. The fuzzy image squirmed and from nowhere a lump of emotion rose in her throat as tears pricked the backs of her eyes.

Callie blinked hard to dispel them. This was ridiculous! She’d sat through dozens of these. Unfortunately lack of sexual inhibition and promiscuity often went hand in hand with unmedicated mental health conditions, so she’d done this very thing with too many clients over the years.

She’d never, ever got weepy over the sound of a baby’s heartbeat!

But there it was on the screen. All fuzzy and black and white with a fluttering movement right in the centre. It was rhythmic and utterly entrancing.

‘She’s beautiful,’ Ginny whispered, touching the screen.

‘Oh, you think it’s a she, huh?’ Blake grinned. ‘Well, I think we’ll need to wait until your nineteen-week ultrasound to know that one for sure.’

Callie didn’t really take in what Blake and Ginny chatted about over the next few minutes. She was too caught up in the image flickering on the screen. And for the first time ever a tiny worm of regret wriggled inside her.

‘According to my calculations,’ Blake mused as he input his final data and pressed a button, ‘you’re twelve weeks along.’

‘Twelve weeks?’ Ginny squeaked.

Ginny’s startled exclamation snapped Callie out of the strange twilight zone she’d been stuck in. She moved away from Sebastian and closer to the bed.

Blake grinned and patted the large metal machine like it was a much loved pet. ‘The waves don’t lie.’

‘That makes you due in September,’ Callie said, helping Ginny adjust her clothes and aiding her into a sitting position.

‘September twentieth,’ Blake confirmed.

Ginny shook her head. ‘I can’t believe it.’

Sebastian crossed to the other side and held out his hand, joining with Callie to help Ginny down off the high couch. ‘You’d better believe it.’ He smiled. ‘You’re going to be a mummy.’

Ginny thanked the sonographer and Sebastian guided her out. Callie raised on her tip toes as the door swung shut behind them and pecked Blake on the cheek. ‘What would I do without you?’

---