Stacey kept her eyes on the small object moving around in her stomach and her heart melted. All of the instincts she had heard about were starting to kick in. She was a mama bear and this was her cub. Nobody was going to hurt this precious little thing. She was unaware of the tears rolling down her cheeks until Doc handed her a tissue.
"Unreal feeling seeing it for the first time, isn't it?"
"Sure is. So the verdict Doc?"
"I would say about thirteen weeks, give or take a couple of days. I certainly wouldn't recommend an abortion at this late stage."
"As if I would. This baby is mine. I don't know how I'm going to cope but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Doc wiped the gel from Stacey's stomach and helped her to sit up on the bed.
"There are a couple of things I will insist on though." He waited until she made eye contact with him. "I want you to hire some help."
"Can't do that, Pop doesn't have the money."
"Speak to your parents or I'll do it for you. You need more rest Stacey or you will end up in hospital. Look at you now, tired, underweight and no doubt not eating properly. You will fall in a heap if you don't look after yourself and the pub will have to be closed. Better you hire staff than close it down."
"Fine then. Anything else?"
"Let my darling wife pamper you. It still hurts that we cannot have children of our own and she is your closest friend here apart from me. I know as soon as she finds out she will be all over you and it would probably do you the world of good anyway."
Stacey threw her arms around his neck inhaling his unique Doc smell and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
He held her hand as she got down from the bed. "Now I want you to go home and have an easy day. I hear around the town that there are a few wives of the mine guys moving into town to be with their husbands. Renting some of the empty houses in town too, maybe one of them would like a job."
"Maybe, I'll give it some thought. Might put up a sign at the corner store too. I've got a lot to think about."
She walked out of the hospital cupping her hands protectively over her stomach. The walk home took a mere ten minutes but it gave her time to think. Was it worth trying to track Morgan down or was he giving her a wide berth for a reason? If he wanted to keep in touch he would have. Simple. He said what he had to say to keep her happy so when he left he didn't have a clingy female demanding more than he wanted to give.
When she walked into the pub closing the door behind her, her gaze scanned the old place. She could set up a cot in the office behind reception and a playpen when the baby got more active. The stairs might be a problem when it got older and learnt to walk but that was something to worry about later.
Resting her hand on the rail Stacey walked up staircase down to her room.
She went into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes leaving them in a pile on the floor. Standing under the warm water she relaxed with the knowledge that she understood what was making her feel so melancholy all this time. Her hormones must be going wild.
Soaping up a cloth, she gently washed her stomach in slow round swirls wondering how long it would take for it to show. A new sense of purpose settled over her. Now she had something to look forward to even if the child's father wasn't in the picture. She could do this and she could do it on her own.
* * *
Stacey lifted her head when Doc walked into the bar and called out a greeting.
"Jane, take over here will you. I need a word with Doc." She hung up her cloth smiling at her new incredibly capable bar maid and walked out to meet the man waiting for her. Kissing him on the cheek, Stacey guided him out of the bar and into her office.
"How is that baby treating you?" He gazed down at her now protruding stomach.
"Keeps me awake at night more than not but that's okay. Jane makes me go upstairs after the lunch trade and have a nap so I manage alright. What can I do for you?"
He shut the door before taking a seat. "I found out something I think you should know."
Stacey felt a surge of panic go through her as Doc avoided her gaze.
"What?"
"It's about Morgan."
She froze in her chair, barely taking a breath.
"The new mine they are getting ready to start, the gold mine? It's his company that owns it." He watched her taking it in.
"Are you sure? Morgan owns it all?" She knew the blood was draining from her face because a light headed feeling was washing over her.
A firm hand pushed her head down over her stomach and an arm held onto her. Stars swam in front of her eyes and she gulped down much needed air. This couldn't be true, not Morgan. Surely not. Her mind could not comprehend that he would do that to her. Come into her small town letting her think he was a tourist while all the time he was scoping out what he was going to plunder. And she had fallen straight into his arms. That bastard was going to get all he had coming and more. Just wait til your daddy gets here baby girl, I'm going to kill him.
"Stacey, are you okay?" She lifted her head and looked into Doc's worried face.
"Yeah, just a bit of a shock." Shaking her head she swore. "Flaming hell Doc, how could I have been so damned stupid?"
"Honey, it could have
