A/N Wanted to thank Lover of Books 97 for their continuing reviews. I really appreciate them very much. And also to EmmyLovett who is doing a fantastic job, beta'ring. Thank you both :) x
Dot's grip on Emma's hands tightened. "Surely, that's a good thing, isn't it?" she asked, at first not understanding why Emma was so upset by the news.
Emma shook her head. "I can't be pregnant, Mum!" Emma sobbed. "I'm using contraception!"
Dot smiled, reassuringly. "It's not always reliable, Sweetheart. Are you sure you're pregnant, and it's not that sickness bug after all?"
Emma nodded, large tears spilling down her pale cheeks. "I've had two kids, Mum; I know the signs. It's definitely not a bug."
"Have you told Callum?" Dot wanted to know. "How does he feel…?"
"I haven't told him; I can't!" Emma cried, pulling her hands free of her mother's grip.
"I'm sure he'd be pleased, Sweetheart," Dot reasoned. "He dotes on Devon and Charlotte…"
Emma shook her head again, emphatically. "It's not his!" she sobbed, distraught at the thought. "It's Matt's!"
Understanding crossed Dot's face, as she rose to her feet, and went to Emma's side, hugging her tightly.
"Oh, Darling!" Dot soothed, sympathetically. "Are you absolutely sure…?"
Emma nodded, too upset to speak.
"I'm phoning Callum," said Dot, making a quick decision, and reached for her phone.
Emma cried all the harder. "Please, don't!" she begged. "He's shift finishes soon anyway."
"Darling, he'll want to know about this. It affects him too."
"Emma?" Callum called as he entered the house, an hour later. He looked worried as he entered the kitchen, where Emma and Dot still sat. His eyes flickered quickly around the room; nothing seemed to be amiss.
"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked squatting down next to Emma once he was satisfied that everything was fine.
"We're both fine," Dot assured him. "There's been a development, I thought you should know about, as it affects you as well."
Unease settled in the pit of Callum's stomach as he watched Emma. She'd clearly been crying again, and refused to look at him, as he tried to catch her eye. Her hands, held a slight shake as she wrestled with a tissue.
"Em, what's wrong?" he asked covering her hands with his.
She flinched back, and nosily scrapped her chair back across the tiled floor, as she stood up. She folded her arms hugging herself, as she stared out the window, overlooking the sink.
Callum rose to his feet, swallowing dryly, not taking his eyes off her. The unease in stomach, growing stronger.
She half turned, as she felt his concerned gaze on her back, biting her lip as she hung her head, still unable to bring herself to look at him.
"I'm pregnant," she finally said, in a small voice, still looking at the floor.
"Darlin, that's fantastic news," Callum began a small smile starting to form on his face, before fading slightly. "But I thought you wanted to wait a year, and were still taking your pills?" he asked, sounding disappointed that she hadn't told him she'd changed her mind.
"She has been taking them," Dot clarified, holding the empty blister pack up. "But, we've discovered that they're from an old pack from before she had Charlotte, and are out of date, so they haven't worked. They must have gotten mixed up with the newer ones."
"I didn't realise they had expiry dates," replied Callum, sounding a little confused, a slight frown on his face.
"Neither did I," Emma sniffed, as fresh tears threatened to overwhelm her again. "I never thought to check. I can't have this baby, Callum!" her voice rising in her panic.
Callum's stomach dropped, and his heart froze. He stared at her in numb disbelief, too shocked to speak.
Somehow, he remembered how to talk. "You…don't mean that?" he just barely managed to say, his voice unsteady. "I know you wanted to wait a year; and I agreed. But…the baby will still be born next year…"
Emma was suddenly angry. All the pent up fury from the attack, bubbled to the surface. She couldn't take her frustrations out on Matt, who utterly deserved it. She wanted…needed …to vent, and unfortunately, it was Callum that was in the firing line.
"You only want this baby, because you've been wanting us to have another one!" she shouted, turning to face him, eyes blazing. "I don't care that it'll still be born next year! I can't have this baby, Callum!"
Suddenly her anger disappeared, and she sobbed brokenly. "It's not yours; it's Matt's!"
He went to her, shaking his head. He reached out, touching her shoulder. She shrugged him off, and stepped away from him. "Darlin, there's every possibility that this is our baby," he tried to reason. "I'd say well over fifty percent. If the pills are out of date…"
Emma shook her head. "I've worked it out, Callum," she insisted. "It's Matt's baby."
Callum's expression hardened. "I can't accept that. I stand by what I said. There's a high chance that this is our baby, Emma," he insisted, just as strongly.
Emma stared at him, in disbelief. "Suppose I have it…and it turns out to be his, what then?" she demanded. "Could you raise another man's child?" She paused as she waited for his answer. "Thought as much," she said with a little confirming nod when he didn't – or couldn't - answer.
Seeing that there was no way of reasoning with her, at this moment in time, Callum suggested, "I want this baby, I won't deny it. But I'm not going to force you into something you don't want, and I'll support you in whatever you decide." He paused, as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. "But before you make any decisions, Emma, consider the possibility that the baby is mine," he asked of her. "We can discuss this with Dr Sinclair…there could be tests he can do…"
"I have an emergency appointment with him tomorrow," Emma confirmed.
After the attack, he had flagged her medical notes so that he could see her immediately, should she ever need an appointment.
"I can understand your concerns, Emma," said Dr Sinclair, at Emma's appointment, the next morning, after confirming Emma's pregnancy. "Since you had consenting intercourse around the same time as the assault."
"Are there some kind of tests, that can be done, in cases like this?" Callum wanted to know.
Sinclair nodded. "There is a test that can determine paternity while the baby is in utero. It can either be done by ultrasound or through amniocentesis, and comparing the foetus DNA to a sample of your blood, Callum. However, amniocentesis can carry a risk in itself."
"No," said Emma pointedly, not completely understanding why she suddenly felt protective of the baby growing inside her. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. If there might be even the smallest chance that Callum is the father…"
Encouraged slightly, by her seeming change of heart, Callum squeezed her hand.
"I'll arrange for an ultrasound, in the next few weeks. In the meantime, discuss what you want to do, and I'll see you again after the ultrasound."
They rose to leave, but Dr Sinclair requested Callum to stay behind.
"You of course know that Emma is in an extremely emotional and vulnerable state right now," he began when Emma had left the consulting room. "The identity of the father is a pressing one in the circumstances. She clearly has your support and that's very important. She has mixed feelings and that is normal. While she is resentful at the moment, as the pregnancy progresses, she could become more positive. It doesn't always happen, and she could still reject the child when it's born."
"Callum?" called Dot quietly into the darkness of the kitchen. It was almost 2.30 am, and she had been unable to sleep. Hearing Callum moving restlessly around the house, she decided to join him.
"I couldn't sleep," he said, his voice sounding strange in the darkness, and he wiped savagely at his eyes.
"We have a lot on our minds," she acknowledged, as she joined him at the table. She reached out, placing her hands on his, resting on the table. "We've been through worse, and come out all the stronger," she encouraged, giving his hands a squeeze. "We'll get through this, too."
"Right now, that's hard to believe," Callum stated, his voice slightly unsteady. "I just wish…I know she's scared that the baby could be Matt's, but there's just as much of a chance that I'm the father. But I can't force her to…" he stopped, biting his lip as he looked down at the table.
"Not many husbands are as understanding of their wives feelings about this, as you are," Dot praised him, giving his hands another reassuring squeeze. Matt certainly wouldn't have been as accommodating.
"I love her," stated Callum simply, unaware that Emma, hiding in the shadows of the living room, was listening to their conversation.