Her Pregnancy Surprise

by Kim Lawrence

  ‘How do you intend getting to Paris?’

  She looked at him blankly.

  ‘You’re not thinking straight, Megan.’

  ‘If I catch the next flight…I could be there by…’

  He shook his head slowly from side to side. ‘They won’t let you fly.’

  Megan glared at him, leaking self-control from every pore. Why was he making this difficult? ‘I’ll make them. I’ll say I’m only twenty…’ how pregnant could you be before they wouldn’t let you fly? ‘…something weeks.’

  ‘And even if they would permit it, I wouldn’t let you go.’

  She looked at him for a moment with real loathing. At some level she was aware that she was being totally irrational but she couldn’t stop. ‘God, but I hate you!’

  Luc flinched as though she had struck him, but not a muscle in his face moved.

  ‘We can discuss your feelings for me at a later date.’

  ‘I don’t want to discuss anything with you. I want to see my mother.’

  ‘Listen, I know you’re scared and you want to be with your mother, but she has Jean Paul. He’s her husband; it’s his job to be with her. Your first concern has to be your own health and that of our baby.’

  God, he was right! She knew he was right. Megan caught her trembling lower lip between her teeth. The antagonism in her eyes faded as their eyes meshed.

  ‘She’s so far away…’ She closed her eyes, silent tears sliding down her cheeks.

  Luc was at her side in a heartbeat. He stroked her hair; his expression was so tender that the trickle of tears became a flood. ‘I know,’ he crooned, drawing her close.

  With a cry Megan collapsed weakly against him, her body shaking with sobs.

  Luc had never felt more helpless in his life.

  Long after her tears had abated Megan remained where she was in the protective circle of his arms seeking comfort from his strength, the warmth of his hard body, the familiarity of his scent.

  It was the sound of the phone ringing that made her break away. She looked at the phone in his hand, her eyes wide and fearful.

  ‘You all right?’

  She nodded and even managed a watery smile. ‘Go ahead, answer it,’ she said, brushing the hair from her damp face with the back of her hand. ‘I’ll be fine, promise.’

  Luc nodded and lifted the phone. After a moment he covered the receiver. ‘She’s out of surgery and she’s fine,’ he told her, grinning from ear to ear.

  Megan experienced a rush of relief so intense it made her head spin. Weakly she leaned against the wall. ‘Thank God!’

  ‘Are you all right?’ Luc asked, half listening to the relieved husband’s emotional and extremely loud outpouring in his ear.

  Megan dug deep into her reserves to give him the ghost of a smile, oblivious to the fact that, far from reassuring him, it scared the hell out of him. When she closed her eyes tight and began to shake, visibly shake, he shoved the phone back into his pocket and crossed the floor to her side in two strides.

  He fell onto his knees beside her chair and framed her face in his hands.

  ‘I th…thought…’ Her eyes, so big and so intensely blue that he still got a shock every time he looked into them, flickered open.

  Luc smoothed the hair from her eyes and pulled her head onto his shoulder. ‘I know what you thought,’ he said quietly. ‘Don’t try and talk, just give yourself a minute; you’ve had a terrible shock.’

  For once Megan didn’t resent his fussing. ‘I’m sorry I yelled at you.’

  ‘Forget it.’

  ‘And I’m really glad you’re here.’ Her eyes lifted to his. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t been here.’

  Something flickered at the back of Luc’s eyes. ‘I’ll always be here for you, Megan.’

  He’ll always be here for the baby, she sadly translated. ‘I know you will.’

  Her eyes suddenly snapped open. Arms pressed against his chest, she pulled upright. ‘The baby…?’ she asked fearfully.

  ‘The baby…?’ he repeated blankly. Then his eyes widened. ‘Oh, the baby. Fine, a little small so they’re keeping it in an incubator.’

  ‘It? Is it a boy or girl?’ Because of her age her mum had had an amnio, but she hadn’t wanted to know the baby’s sex. Megan didn’t think she could have shown the same restraint if she had been offered the same opportunity.

  ‘Almost definitely.’

  ‘No, seriously.’

  ‘I’m not sure…Jean Paul might have said before I hung up on him.’

  The outrageous admission made her stare. ‘You hung up on Jean Paul!’ she gasped. ‘How could you? I have to know if I’ve got a brother or sister.’

  ‘What’s the hurry? It’ll be the same sex in the morning.’

  ‘Only a man would say anything that stupid,’ she told him. ‘I’ll ring. Give me your phone…’ Without waiting for him to comply she reached inside the breast pocket of his shirt where she could see the outline of his mobile.

  ‘It won’t do you any good ringing. Jean Paul’s phone will be switched off now…it is a hospital.’

  ‘You’re probably right.’ Megan, who in the last few seconds had realised that the niggly back pain she had had all morning was actually something more, gave a distracted smile.

  Everything she had learnt in antenatal class had gone! Her mind was a total blank.

  ‘I was simply prioritising.’

  ‘What could possibly be more important?’

  He stilled. What the hell was important to him? Not long ago he wouldn’t have had to think about it. It had been doing what he wanted when he wanted.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked, concerned by the dazed expression that had settled on his lean features.

  His eyes focused on her face. His life if he had never met Megan—no drama, no epic battles of will, no spending frustrated nights reading his way through the library.

  Megan who had strained to catch his soft reply, shook her head. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’

  ‘You.’ This time Luc’s voice was not soft, it was firm and resonant.

  He had experienced one of those rare moments in life when all the pieces slotted into place. It wasn’t a gentle voyage of self-discovery, more a kick in the pants.

  A kick that Luc thought he deserved for taking this long to see something that would have been so obvious! He loved Megan, and loving her wasn’t going to change because they got old or were separated. Megan wasn’t Grace and he wasn’t the kid he had been when he had got married. He needed this woman, without her his life was empty.

  He exhaled, then said it again and said with more confidence, ‘You, you’re the most important thing in my life.’

  He means the baby, she told herself, so don’t say anything stupid. Their eyes met and she said it anyway.

  ‘If this is your way of saying you have feelings for me, you have very bad timing…’ she told him huskily. ‘In fact,’ she added grimly, ‘it’s probably the worst timing possible.’

  ‘It feels like a good time to me,’ Luc rasped. Unable to resist the temptation of her white smooth neck, he pressed his lips to the pulse spot at the base of her throat. Megan felt his tongue and mouth move up her throat and sank her fingers into his dark hair.

  ‘Luc…?’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ he said, not stopping the lovely things he was doing.

  ‘I think we should stop.’

  His head lifted. ‘If you’re worried about making love, don’t be. There’s more to making love and giving pleasure than penetrative sex. There’s touching and tasting and…’

  She shook her head. At any other time his frank explanation would have given her a case of terminal embarrassment, or more likely pleasure, but she was beyond that now.

  She leaned backwards. ‘No, Luc, I’m serious. We have to go.’

  Her urgency finally seemed to register with him. ‘Go where?’

  ‘To the hospital.’

  It took several seconds for her mea
ning to sink in; when it did he froze. ‘Are you saying…?’

  She nodded. ‘I think…actually,’ she confided, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m in labour. I’ve had this funny feeling all day and a backache and just now I…’ She took a deep breath. ‘Yes, I’m definitely in labour.’

  ‘You’re going to have the baby?’ Despite his flat level tone there was an undercurrent of panic in his voice that irrationally made Megan feel much calmer.

  ‘Well not here and now…I hope.’ The last vestige of colour fled his face and Megan added hastily. ‘Only joking.’

  ‘Don’t,’ he pleaded with feeling.

  ‘I think a sense of humour is going to be essential.’

  ‘Let me think,’ Luc said, pressing his hands to his head as if to speed up the process. ‘I’ll call an ambulance. Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine.’

  ‘Or you could drive me…?’ she inserted gently.

  ‘God, yes, of course!’ he exclaimed. ‘Right, let’s go. Can you walk?’

  ‘In a minute,’ Megan said, grabbing onto the nearest object, which happened to be Luc, to wait for the contraction to pass.

  ‘Breathe.’

  ‘I am breathing,’ Megan panted.

  He had absolutely no recall of driving to the hospital, but he must have because they had got there.

  ‘Don’t they realise that this is an emergency?’ he seethed. ‘This is a hospital—you’d think they’d be able to find a damn wheelchair.’

  Megan laid a hand on his sleeve and begged him to sit down and not shout.

  ‘I wasn’t shouting. I just don’t want our baby to be born in a damned hospital waiting room.’

  ‘Neither do I. They know what they’re doing, Luc, and I’m not the first woman to have a baby,’ Megan pointed out, looking amused.

  Luc subsided into the chair beside her looking frustrated. ‘How can you be so calm?’

  He asked the same question several times during the next few hours. She was so focused and so brave that he got choked up just thinking about it.

  ‘I’ll never call women the weaker sex again,’ Luc said as he stroked the hair from Megan’s damp forehead.

  Megan lifted her eyes from the face of their sleeping daughter—a tiny, perfect miracle and she was theirs. The sense of awe she felt was overwhelming.

  ‘I want lots of babies!’ she announced suddenly. ‘Lots and lots.’

  Luc lost his colour and looked at her as though she had lost her mind. ‘How can you say that after what you’ve just been through?’ he asked her.

  ‘Yes, but look what I got at the end of it,’ Megan, who seemed to have miraculously forgotten the pushing and pain, gloated joyously.

  ‘Your wife actually had a very easy labour considering this was her first,’ the midwife told him.

  ‘Easy!’ Luc exclaimed. ‘She was incredible,’ he retorted indignantly.

  The midwife smiled indulgently. ‘Of course she was.’

  ‘I couldn’t have done it without you.’

  Luc glanced down and saw Megan was looking at him. ‘Me!’ he exclaimed. ‘I didn’t do anything.’ It had been the inability to help that had been the worst aspect of the entire experience.

  Megan looked astonished. ‘You were incredible,’ she retorted. ‘I definitely couldn’t have done it without you,’ she added firmly. ‘You kept me focused.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ she told him with complete conviction. ‘Look at her fingers, Luc, and she’s got so much hair.’ She tentatively touched the abundant silky dark hair that covered their daughter’s tiny head. ‘I’ve never seen a baby with so much hair…she’s so perfect.’

  The tiny bundle opened her eyes.

  ‘She knows we’re talking about her,’ Luc said.

  ‘Do you think her eyes will stay blue?’ Megan wanted to know.

  ‘Of course, she looks exactly like you.’

  ‘Oh, no, she looks like you…well, I hope she does anyway.’

  ‘Why on earth would you hope she looks like me?’

  ‘Because, Luc, you’re very much prettier than I am.’ She laughed when Luc looked deeply embarrassed by her observation.

  ‘Would Dad like to hold the baby while I help you to freshen up and put you in your own nightgown?’

  Dad looked shocked at the suggestion. ‘Thanks. I’m…actually…’

  ‘Go on, Luc,’ Megan urged. ‘You might as well get used to it if you’re going to be a hands-on dad. She won’t break, you know.’

  For a long time Luc just looked at the sleeping baby in his arms. When his eyes lifted Megan saw there was a gleam of moisture in those fantastic silvery depths.

  ‘I think we should get married.’

  Megan froze.

  ‘You don’t have to answer now…think about it.’

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  THERE wasn’t much time to think about anything. The first six weeks were the worst, Megan had read somewhere. That meant they were halfway through. She would never have believed that one small creature could demand so much attention. They hadn’t had the time or energy to continue the conversation they had started just before the dash to the hospital.

  Their personal life had gone on hold. Everything revolved around Rachel, as they had named their daughter. Megan and Luc were both suffering from sleep deprivation big time, although the mirrors told her it showed more on her face than his!

  Megan hadn’t actually been keen on the spa idea, but Luc had insisted she needed some time to herself and rather to her surprise she had actually enjoyed being pampered. Despite this she was glad that the pedicure was her last treatment; she wanted to go home.

  ‘I wish someone had treated me to a day at a spa after I had my baby.’ The girl who was painting her toenails a pretty pearly shade sighed enviously. ‘How old is your baby?’

  Megan’s face softened. ‘She’s three weeks now. This is the first time I’ve been away from her.’ She glanced at the silent mobile phone—she had made Luc promise to ring if anything went wrong.

  ‘Three weeks and you have your waist back…you lucky thing. It was six months before I could get into my jeans.’ She patted her midriff with a sigh. ‘I’m still a good ten pounds heavier than I was before I got pregnant.’

  Megan smiled. She knew the girl was being kind—she had lost some of her pregnancy weight but she still had a long way to go.

  Driving back home, she decided it was time she gave Luc the answer he had been so patiently waiting for. She would marry him. Her heart beat faster in anticipation as she got closer to home.

  Luc was in the library; so was the small, delicate-looking brunette. She was talking and Luc was listening. From where she was standing Megan could not see his expression, but the woman looked emotional. The tear stains on her cheeks suggested she had recently been crying.

  ‘I’ve been such a fool, Luc. Can you ever forgive me? It’s not too late, is it?’

  Megan felt as though she had walked into one of her own nightmares as Luc said, ‘Gracie, I wish—’

  Megan was as startled as the couple standing there appeared to be by her shockingly loud, ‘No!’

  ‘Megan, you’re home.’

  ‘Sorry, am I back too early?’

  Luc’s jaw tightened as he absorbed the hostility and pain shining in her eyes.

  ‘Don’t be angry with her, Luc,’ the other woman said quickly, laying a restraining hand on his arm. ‘Megan, I’m Grace,’ she added.

  ‘I know who you are.’

  ‘Megan, this is—’

  ‘This must be very difficult for you,’ his ex-wife interjected softly.

  Megan’s chin went up. ‘In what way difficult?’

  ‘You do know who I am?’

  ‘You’re the woman that Luc used to be married to.’ She ignored the other woman totally and turned to Luc. ‘Did you plan this, Luc?’

  ‘No, I swear—I know how this looks, but I didn’t know she was coming.’

  Megan exhaled and n
odded. ‘Have you had a cup of tea, Grace? I’m sorry, I don’t know your surname.’

  The older woman was looking a little confused. ‘No, I’m afraid you don’t understand—’

  ‘Oh, yes, I understand perfectly,’ Megan contradicted with a smile.

  Luc, who had been poised to intervene, leaned back against the wall, his arms folded across his chest.

  ‘I still love Luc.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Megan said, still smiling. ‘A woman who loves a man doesn’t walk out on him when he needs her most.’ Her glance flickered briefly in the direction of the tall, silent figure whose eyes hadn’t left her face for a second since she’d begun to speak. She stopped smiling. ‘A woman who loves a man doesn’t kick him when he’s down.’

  ‘It wasn’t that way at all,’ Luc’s ex-wife protested flushing to the roots of her hair. ‘I never stopped loving him. He never stopped loving me!’ she declared in a voice that throbbed with emotion.

  The brunette looked so beautiful and sounded so convincing that for a moment Megan’s resolve faltered. This was the woman whose very existence had threatened her but now she almost felt sorry for her.

  ‘He doesn’t love you anymore.’ She tempered her announcement by adding gently, ‘I’m sure he’ll always have a special fondness for you, but what you and Luc had ended a long time ago.’ Her eyes turned towards the tall, silent presence and almost imperceptibly he nodded. Megan exhaled. ‘You can’t turn to him every time something goes wrong in your life.’

  ‘You have no idea what you’re talking about. Luc loves me.’ Her voice rose to a shrill crescendo as she added, ‘He always has and he always will. He’s only with you because of the baby.’

  ‘Rachel.’ Luc’s voice made both women turn to look at him. ‘Our daughter’s name is Rachel.’

  Grace gave an uninterested shrug. ‘Oh, it’s a girl, is it?’

  ‘Did she sleep?’ Megan asked.

  ‘She was fine—at least she was when I wheeled her pram around the garden. Every time I stopped she woke up.’

  ‘This is all very interesting,’ began Grace, who had listened to this interchange with a bemused expression, ‘but—’

  Luc’s ex was obviously a woman who didn’t enjoy being ignored. ‘The fact is, Grace, Luc and I are going to be married, not because of Rachel, but because we love one another.’ The eyes she turned to the tall man who was walking towards her sparkled with unshed tears.