Page 53 of Prognosis Temporary

CHAPTER NINE

Callie was still feelingnumb when she drove to Jambalyn on Monday morning. She was tired of the same thoughts turning over and over in her head and was looking forward to the distraction of work. Eight hours of something else to concentrate on other than the fact that Sebastian’s baby was growing inside her.

Her stomach was still delicate and she’d spent half an hour that morning in and out of the toilet. Of course, it didn’t help that it was also churned up at the thought of seeing Sebastian again.

Sebastian had wanted to stay the weekend but she’d needed to be alone. It was too hard to think with him there. Her affection, her sexual attraction to him became all jumbled up in the seesaw of emotions inside her and just muddied the issue further.

So he’d gone. Almost eagerly, she’d thought.

But then, how could she blame him? He’d just had this momentous news dumped in his lap too - why wouldn’t he also need time to think things through?

He’d looked like hell when he’d left. Unshaven. Haggard. The lines around his eyes and mouth more pronounced. He looked like he had that night after Frank and a part of her had wanted to call him back. Hold him tight. Tell him it was all going to be okay, as he had assured her on the bathroom floor.

He would have stayed - she had no doubt of that. Had she asked. But something had stopped her.

The shock pregnancy news had thrown up some sort of shield between them. A physical and mental barrier. It was like they suddenly didn’t know what to say to each other.

How to act.

There was an awkwardness that had never existed between them. Not even in the beginning. And she wanted it back the way it had been.

Before the baby.

‘Hi.’

Callie stopped in the staffroom doorway in mid-stride as Sebastian pulled up beside her. Her stomach did its usual funny dip thing - which did not bode well in her current state. He was clean shaven but the smile he smiled didn’t quite go all the way to his peridot eyes.

‘Hi,’ she murmured as his gaze roved all over her face like he was performing a military inspection to assess her level of morning sickness.

It shouldn’t be hard to spot. Her reflection in the mirror had looked...peaky at best and she didn’t miss the way his gaze took in the extra layer of concealer she’d dabbed under her eyes this morning.

Not that he looked like he’d had much sleep, either.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

Callie’s grimaced. ‘Delicate.’

He nodded. ‘We really need to talk.’

Her heart squeezed in her chest. ‘Yeah, I know. We will. I just need a little more time...to get my head around it.’

He regarded her for a few more moments. ‘Okay. But soon. I’m not going to wait forever.’

Callie watched him walk away, his shoulders back, his head with its glorious crown of red and gold held high. He looked like a man who’d made a decision. Who knew what he wanted and trepidation squirmed through her already unsettled belly.

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Thankfully the morningwas frantic which didn’t give her time to dwell on things too much. Sebastian was scarce and Geraldine, sensing Callie’s need for space, didn’t push her on anything, even though Callie could tell that her boss was dying to talk.

Unfortunately, though, due to the way Rodney had booked appointments, Callie found herself doing community visits with Sebastian in the afternoon. Four hours of being trapped in a car with him stretched ahead of her and her stomach shifted uneasily.

They made it through two of the four visits, sticking to safe subjects - the clients and other work-related matters. Then Sebastian dropped his bombshell.

‘Just so you know,’ he said as he pulled the car out into traffic, ‘I do want the baby. Very much.’

Callie, who’d been sucking on a lolly to keep the nausea at bay, almost choked on it. ‘Wh-what?’ she asked, bewildered, after the coughing fit settled.

‘The baby,’ Sebastian repeated, his eyes on the road. ‘I’ve thought about nothing else since you’ve told me. You asked me the other night whether I wanted it or not, and it was all too enormous to take in back then. I know that you’re still at that stage too, but...I’m not. I do want this baby.’

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