Part Twenty-Seven: Jonah

Cesca's body was completely relaxed against his. Her head was heavy on his chest, her hair tickled his chin, her breathing was slow and rhythmic. She was sleeping soundly. He softly kissed the top of her head and pulled his arm more securely around her waist, drawing the two of them even closer together. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her, the love he felt for her was almost too strong to bear.

He moved his hand gently up and down her back, wanting only to soothe her, not to wake her. He was desperately tired, but the last thing he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't know when they would get to spend another night together and he wanted to treasure every second of it, even if all he was doing was watching her and passively holding her.

Each time he saw her lying against him like this, felt her slim body in his arms, he was filled once more with a sense of wonder, of disbelief. How could this be happening? How could she be letting him into her life in this way? Only a few short months ago, she'd been an authority figure, separated from him completely by her teacher's desk and her veneer of professionalism, but now, somehow, he was closer to her than anyone else.

He remembered the first time he'd seen her. It had been his first day at the school, his first day at any school, and he'd been overwhelmed by the noise and the confusion of it all. The other pupils in his class had blended together in one blur of colour and sound and motion and yet, somehow, Cesca had stood out from the cacophony of the rest of the day. She'd been an oasis of calm in the midst of it. Her lesson had stood out from all the others and, when he went to bed that night, the image of her seemed to have been burned onto the backs of his eyelids. And that had been it. She'd caught him, ensnared him, taken hold of his heart and refused to let go. He'd tried to distract himself with other girls, had dated Jess Fisher, but nothing had been enough. The spectre of Cesca still haunted him. He knew that a relationship between teacher and pupil would never work and yet the tantalizing possibility of it had refused to go away.

He had decided not to act on these latent feelings that he had, realized that they weren't reciprocated, that she had hardly noticed him and then Kyle Stack had brought that dog of his into school. When it had launched itself at Cesca, Jonah had felt his whole world implode. He'd acted on instinct, pulled the dog off her and then held her shaking body as she sobbed in his arms. She'd clung to him out of fear and relief, but there had been another emotion there too. She'd pressed her body against his more than was strictly necessary and she hadn't hurried to distance herself from his embrace. Her eyes had caught his for a moment and he'd seen an emotion there which had caused his heart to race.

Without really deciding to, he'd begun to flirt with her and, to his surprise, she'd flirted back. She'd suggested one-to-one Spanish classes, sent flirtatious text messages, invited him to her house. And then she'd kissed him. Or he'd kissed her. He still wasn't sure how it had happened, how they'd been drawn together like that. All he knew was that the moment his lips had touched hers, the whole world had changed. He'd kissed other girls before, but nothing had ever felt quite like this. Kissing Cesca had felt right. More than that, it had felt inevitable, as if the two of them had been born for each other, made for each other. He'd known then with absolute certainty that he would never feel for another woman so strongly.

But even then, he'd never dared to dream that she would give herself to him so completely, would love him so absolutely. He'd thought that she would deny the kiss afterwards, ignore him completely, even move schools and he still couldn't quite believe that she hadn't, that even now, she was curled up on his chest sleeping soundly, that she carried their child. Just the thought of the baby brought a lump of emotion to Jonah's throat. He swallowed hard and wrapped his other arm around her, so that she was encircled completely in his embrace.

He felt her stir slightly. Apparently she wasn't as deeply asleep as he'd thought. 'What's wrong?' she asked sleepily, shifting position a little so that she could see him more clearly.

'Nothing,' he whispered.

She didn't look too convinced. 'You're not having second thoughts, are you? About us, I mean.'

'No, no...' seeking to reassure her, he kissed her full on the mouth, feeling her suddenly tense body relax as he did so. 'I was just thinking about how much I love you, about how I can't quite believe that all this is happening...'

'Me neither...' She giggled a little nervously. 'It feels right though. It feels more right than anything ever has.'

Jonah smiled down at her. 'Yeah, he does.' He agreed, leaning down to kiss her again.