Tom dropped the pile of coursework he was carrying to the floor; both Michael and Nikki looked at him. She moved a couple of steps closer to him "Tom?"
"Oh clumsy me, who knows what?" he asked curious for some staffroom gossip.
"Tom…" Nikki hesitated, trying to find the words, "I'm pregnant, with your baby"
Tom just stood there.
"Say something Tom" Nikki said as her and hands were shaking with anxiousness.
Tom couldn't say anything, he didn't know what to feel or think, part of him wanted to give her a huge hug but it would be a bit weird because they weren't together, another part of him just wanted to run out of the room and swipe it under the carpet. But he just stood there silent.
Michael feeling the awkwardness the most made a swift exit. Tom watched him before focusing back on Nikki. "Weren't going to tell me then?" he finally found his words, "just tell Byrne and quickly leave before anyone else had a single piece of knowledge about it?"
"Tom, he wasn't meant to find out yet, he noticed my baby bump when I bent down to pick something up, honestly I was going to tell you first, when I was certain I weren't going to lose it" Nikki's chest was getting heavier and heavier.
"But you can't be certain Nikki; you could lose it in the future, and… didn't you think of taking the pill after what happened?"
"I…" Nikki stammered "I… would have been happy if I got pregnant, I've wanted a baby for a while…"
Tom interrupted her "So you used me to get pregnant, someone else stealing my sperm, I seem to be the free sperm donor!"
"What do you mean again and I never, you don't want anything to do with this baby do you Tom?"
"Josh's mum stole my sperm to have Josh alright, and I never said that did I Nikki, you know what, I can't have this conversation with you now" he started picking up the paper, as Nikki went to help he swiped his hand to tell her not too.
As Tom left, Nikki slumped down into her chair and started to cry, the tears fell rapidly, tissue after tissue, Nikki hadn't stopped.
It was six, it was starting to get dark and Nikki hadn't moved, she didn't want to, she was afraid to see Tom again, she was afraid of tomorrow. After making herself, she slowly rose from her chair, collected her stuff and went down to her car. She carefully put her things in the boot before driving off home.
As she slipped inside, she kicked her shoes off, dropped her bag and walked into her kitchen and turned the kettle on. The click of the kettle as it finished boiling made Nikki jump, she made herself a sweet tea and sat at the table.
Tom was sitting in the pub with Grantly drinking his third lager of the night, he was focusing on the football match that was being shown, while Grantly was being socially awkward. He was trying to get his mind off Nikki and the baby but just couldn't, he really wanted to be a father again, raise a child but he didn't think he was ready, plus his outburst earlier had probably put Nikki off.
As the night drew to a close both Nikki and Tom were looking at their phones, staring at the screens, waiting for a text from each other. But they didn't know that they were both doing the same thing.
