“Where’s your car parked?” I ask Kimberley as we leave the clinic.
“I walked here,” she says.
“You walked here? Is that a good idea in your condition?”
She laughs.
“Oh God, don’t turn into one of those types Sebastian. I’m pregnant not disabled.”
“Sorry. This is just all kind of new to me,” I say.
“And to me too,” she smiles.
“Kimberley, can we talk?” I say.
She nods and lets me lead her to my car. I open the passenger door for her and although she rolls her eyes, she gets in without commenting. I go around to the driver’s side and get in beside her.
“I meant it Kimberley. When I told you I’m in love with you. I really want us to make a go of this. If you still want to go back to London, I understand, but I swore to you I wasn’t going to let you go without a fight this time, and I meant that too. So if you want to go, fine, but I’m coming with you.”
Kimberley looks at me for a long moment, an expression on her face that I can’t read. The silence stretches out between us and I want to say something to break it, but I don’t know what to say. I’m starting to think Kimberley is going to say no. She’s going to go back to London without me and I’m going to be one of those dads that misses his kid’s first steps, first word. I’ll get to see him or her the odd weekend and at school holidays and that’ll be it.
“Kimberley, say something,” I finally beg.
My words seem to break her out of her silent thoughts. She still doesn’t say anything to me. She turns to face out of the front window of the car and she bends down and picks up her handbag. She pulls out her phone and scrolls through it.
“What are you doing?” I demand.
Is she seriously checking her emails in the middle of this? She holds up her hand and I am so shocked to see she’s making a phone call now, in the middle of our conversation, that I fall into silence as she holds the phone up to her ear. Her other hand picks at her leg, removing imaginary fluff from her skirt. She won’t look at me.
“Joe? It’s Kimberley,” she says finally. “About the transfer. Is it too late to change my mind?”
Warm relief floods my body at her words. She’s still talking but I only catch a word or two here and there. Words like maternity leave. Pregnant. Baby. Less hours. She ends the call and finally she turns to look at me. She smiles.
“Does that answer your question?” she says.
“Yes,” I say.
My insides are on fire as I look at this beautiful woman who looks back at me with love shining in her eyes. Have we finally done it? Have we finally got past the old problems and learned to communicate in a fashion? I think we have.
I lean forward and brush my lips against Kimberley’s.
“I love you Sebastian,” she whispers.
I kiss her with everything I have, using my kiss to show her how much she means to me, how I’ll never let her go again. She shifts closer to me, wrapping her arms around me. It’s kind of awkward hugging over the gear stick, but I hold her as tightly as I can, kissing her like I never want this moment to end. I can feel my cock responding to the closeness of Kimberley, but more than that, I can feel my heart responding to her.
I finally break the kiss and we look into each other’s eyes. Kimberley is a little breathless and she smiles at me.
“Wow. I should have told you that sooner if it makes you kiss me like that,” she smiles.
“I’ll kiss you like that every damned day,” I say.
Suddenly, something occurs to me.
“Wait. What did Joe say? Is it too late to cancel your transfer?”
She laughs and shakes her head.
“No. Joe never wanted me to leave here in the first place. He was only too happy to hear I’d changed my mind.”
I grin, happier than I’ve ever been. I reach out and rub Kimberley’s belly gently. I lean in and kiss her again. My lips have barely touched hers when she pulls away from me quickly. I barely have time to wonder what’s going on before she spins in her chair and opens the door and retches. I hear vomit splattering on the ground. She wipes her mouth and pulls the door back shut, resting her head back against the seat.
“Ok. Maybe I won’t kiss you like that again after all,” I say.
She laughs softly.
“It’s nothing personal. Just the baby letting me know he or she is awake,” she says.
“Are you alright?” I ask.
She nods, but she’s still a little pale.
“Yeah. I’m alright. Will you drive me back to the hotel please?”
Chapter Nineteen
Sebastian
I reach across Kimberley and open the glove compartment of my car. I pull out a bottle of water and hand it to Kimberley. She smiles gratefully and takes the bottle. She opens it and takes a big mouthful, swills it around her mouth and opens the door again and spits it on the ground. She closes the door and opens the window half way down and then she sips the water, before she puts her head back against the seat and closes her eyes.
“Actually, there’s something I wanted to show you. Are you up for it?” I ask.
Kimberley opens her eyes and looks across at me. I know she’s going to say no and I try to swallow down my disappointment. I have to do what’s right by her and if she doesn’t feel up to this, then I will take her back to the hotel and we can go another time. But I so want her to see it. She’s still looking at me and I think she
