Page 64 of Prognosis Temporary

‘Are you thinking about the baby?’ he asked.

Callie dragged in a breath. It would be easy to play dumb and pretend that Sebastian was talking about Sallie but they both knew what he meant.

She nodded. ‘I think she’s going to be tall.’

His breath released in a husky rush like he’d been holding it in. ‘She?’

Callie pressed her hand against her belly harder. ‘I know it’s strange but somehow I just know it’s a girl.’

‘I’d love a little girl,’ he said quietly. ‘With your amber eyes.’

Callie swallowed at the picture in her head. She’d like that to. Giving into the urge, she eased back, leaning into the hard strong wall of his chest, the steady thump of his heart in the centre of her back strong and reassuring.

‘And your gorgeous hair,’ she whispered.

Tentatively his arm came around her waist and Callie snuggled into him a little more.

‘A lot’s...happened today,’ he said.

Callie laughed. Now there was an understatement. ‘We delivered a baby.’

‘Yes, we did.’

She heard the roughness, the uncertainty, in his voice. He was being cautious and she couldn’t blame him. It had been a day of high emotion. It would be easy to conflate what had happened with what they felt.

But she wasn’t doing that. She wasn’t transferring, she was taking off the blinkers. ‘And I fell in love.’

Given the proximity of his mouth to her ear, the hitch of Sebastian’s breath was like the tolling of a bell. ‘With our baby?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’ Callie nodded then slipped the hand that had been resting low on her belly onto his forearm. ‘And you.’

He didn’t move for a moment. He didn’t speak. Hell, Callie wasn’t sure if Sebastian even took a breath. In fact it seemed like an age before she heard a long slow inhalation.

‘May I?’ he asked as he lowered his hand from her waist.

Callie’s heart did a funny little doo-wop in her chest. ‘Of course.’ She covered his hand with hers and slid them both down low on her belly, pressing his palm against the place where their baby was safely cradled.

His hand tightened for a beat or two and a surge of emotion filled Callie’s chest, and pricked at the backs of her eyes. ‘We won’t be able to feel anything for ages,’ she murmured, even though she was pretty sure he already knew that.

‘I can’t believe we made a baby,’ he whispered.

Callie shook her head. ‘Neither can I.’

He nuzzled her ear, dropped a kiss just behind. ‘I love you.’

A well of emotion rose in her chest prickling at her nose and tear ducts. ‘Are we being crazy, Sebastian? Is this just about the baby?’

His chin scratched against her hair as he shook his head. ‘No. Absolutely not. It was the bridge for me. You were so damn pushy.’ He pressed a kiss to her temple. ‘I know hardened criminals that wouldn’t have dared speak to me the way you did. But you were so...ballsy. I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure out.’

Callie smiled. She had been pretty annoyed that day. ‘It was the restaurant for me. The homeless man. It was such an ugly scene and you were so...heroic that night. But I guess I just wasn’t wired to think like a normal person. I was comfortable with being on my own. It never occurred to me that I’d ever find my one...my soul mate. Especially not so late in life. It was easier just to think of you as a sexual attraction thing.’

He chuckled and little puffs of air disturbed the fine hair at her temples. ‘Hey, no complaints from me.’ He turned her around, kissing her forehead, her eyes, her nose and finally her mouth. ‘And just think,’ he murmured against her lips, ‘we wouldn’t have our little girl if you hadn’t ruthlessly exploited the sexual attraction thing.’

He eased away slightly, his hand returning to cradle her stomach again and Callie swallowed at the sight of his big hand so gentle yet so possessive.

‘I think actually, deep down, that was the main reason I avoided getting involved with anyone. Because I knew that eventually, no matter how much I told myself I didn’t want any of that, I would want it. The whole shebang. A wedding ring, suburbia, a white picket fence and babies.’

She looked at him, his expression soft as he stared at his hand and it took her breath away. ‘And I couldn’t disregard my family legacy. The mental illness history. How could I expose a tiny baby to all that potential?’

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