“I went to your hotel room. The door was unlocked and I went in. I found your appointment card,” I say.
She nods, not even angry that I invaded her privacy that way.
“Kimberley listen to me,” I say. “I love you. Completely and fully. And I will be right by your side through all of this. Whatever you decide to do.”
It hurts me to even think she might still choose to abort our baby, but I mean what I say. If she doesn’t feel like she can be a mother, then who the hell am I to force that life on her? It will hurt to know that our baby is gone but it will hurt more to lose Kimberley.
She gives me a sad smile and I reach out and gently stroke her hair.
“Just promise me you’ll stay here Kimberley,” I say.
She looks down at her lap again and shakes her head.
“I’m sorry Sebastian. I can’t do that,” she says.
“Why not?” I demand. “You were up for us giving this a go. What changed?”
Her head comes back up sharply and she looks at me like I’m crazy.
“You really need to ask what changed? I got pregnant Sebastian. That’s what changed,” she says.
“I know. And I know that was never part of your plan, but it doesn’t mean we have to be over,” I say.
“Yes. It does. Because I’m not going to be one of those women,” she says.
“One of what women?” I ask.
I’m starting to get really frustrated now, but I force myself to bite it back and be patient with her.
“One of those women who get pregnant and try to trap someone,” she says.
“Ok, you’ve lost me. Why would you even think I would think that?”
“Sebastian you wanted to take things slow. And the second you saw that pregnancy test on the sink you said you loved me and we could be a family. I don’t want you to feel like you have to pretend to feel something you don’t to keep me happy. And frankly, I don’t want to be with someone who is only pretending to love me because of some sense of honour or whatever. I get that I was just a fling to you – that’s why you wanted to take it slow. And I can make my peace with that. But I can’t make my peace with forcing you into something you don’t want.”
“Kimberley listen to me,” I say, taking her hands in mine. “You’re not forcing me into anything or making me feel trapped. I wanted to take things slow because I didn’t want to let myself feel anything for you too quickly and get my heart ripped out again. But that didn’t work did it? I told you I loved because I do. And I was going to tell you that the moment you walked through the door that morning, but I was too late. Look if you don’t believe me, call Matt. I was on the phone to him before you got back and I told him I was in love with you, and I was afraid I would blurt it out and ruin things between us. He convinced me to just tell you how I feel.”
“Really?” she asks, looking at me hopefully.
“Really,” I confirm. “Kimberley I don’t think I ever stopped loving you, even when I wanted to more than anything.”
“Kimberley Montgomery,” a nurse calls from the corridor opposite the waiting room.
Kimberley stands up and it hits me suddenly that if I let her go in there, we lose our baby. I meant it when I said I would stand by her side whatever she chooses to do, but I can’t let her do this without at least trying to get her to reconsider. I can feel tears prickling at the corner of my eyes just at the thought of her going through with this. I jump up and catch up at her as she crosses the waiting room. I catch her wrist and turn her to face me.
“Kimberley wait,” I say. “I meant it when I said I’ll be by your side whatever you choose to do. And I will. But please, at least take a few more days to think about this. I … please don’t get rid of our baby.”
She laughs softly, tears running down her cheeks at the same time.
“Sebastian I didn’t want you to feel trapped or like you owed me anything. That’s why I was leaving. But I’m not getting rid of the baby. This is just a routine check up.”
“You … you’re not?” I say.
She shakes her head.
“No. I was in shock when I blurted that out. It’s funny because I always said I didn’t want children, but the second I found out I was pregnant, that changed. I felt a warm glow whenever I thought of the baby growing inside of me. And I knew I would never get rid of it.”
“Ms Montgomery? Is everything ok?” the nurse asks, stepping closer to us, a look of concern on her face.
I realise I’m still holding Kimberley’s wrist and I drop it from my grip. Kimberley smiles at the nurse through her tears.
“Everything’s perfect,” she says.
The nurse nods.
“Right this way then please,” she says.
She turns and walks away and Kimberley starts to follow her. I stand on the spot and Kimberley looks back. She takes my hand in hers and pulls me forward with her.
“If you’re going to be here every step of the way, you might as well start with the first step,” she smiles.
I swallow hard, trying to get the lump out of my throat. I’m not completely clear on what will happen next, but Kimberley is going to have our baby. And it sounds like there’s still hope for us.
I follow her through to the examining room. The nurse asks her a ton of questions and takes a urine sample and a sample of her blood. She smiles and says that she’ll be in touch with the test results and she
