Chapter 5: Results
She sat at her desk as Owen waited in the examination room for the results from her test. She had been a little afraid of how he would react to the news, but he seemed to be trying very hard not to think of it. He was businesslike, and almost platonic during the whole thing. In fact, the only betrayal of his feelings had been when she told him there were only two alternatives for the father of her unborn child, and that he was one of them. His hands had stilled momentarily, and a distant look had appeared in his eye. But it was gone in a moment, and he was back to reeling off the importance of that knowledge, since they had his DNA on file, and could match it to that of the baby's. If it came up that it didn't match his, then it narrowed the field down by half, and Gwen would have her answer.
Now she was merely sitting, waiting anxiously for him to return with the results. She looked back at the computer screen, noticing once again Tosh's message. Clicking into the window, Gwen typed back, 'What am I going to do?' She watched as the other woman received her message. Tosh read it through, then glanced around behind her for the others. Ianto was nowhere to be seen, and Jack had retreated to his office with the claim of some paperwork he needed to get done.
'What do you mean?' came Tosh's reply. Gwen swallowed hard.
'If it's Owen's baby, what do I do?'
'Do you want it to be his?'
'I'm not sure. In one sense, it would almost be easier if it weren't. Rhys wouldn't have to know about anything out of the ordinary.'
'What if it is Owen's though?'
'That's the thing. If it is Owen's then I will have to tell Rhys. It's bad enough that he and I are still having trouble finding a port in our stormy relationship. I think this would end it completely.'
'Would the baby secure that rocky relationship with Rhys if it is his?'
Gwen tapped thoughtfully on the desk, thinking of an answer. If she had to be honest with herself, she didn't think that she and Rhys would make it to Christmas at the rate things were going now. She hated having to lie to him, yet it was terrifying to think of being on her own with a baby on the way.
She started to type all of this to Tosh when Owen came up from the exam room, a piece of paper in his hand. Earnestly, Gwen searched his face for any sign of what the outcome would be, but he kept his expression remotely blank. He merely set the paper down on top of her keyboard, then turned and walked away in the direction of the cells downstairs.
She read the page through, almost not believing what she saw there. She glanced up to see Jack watching her, hands on his hips, from his office. Tosh had stopped typing momentarily and was staring at her with a look of concern. Gwen licked her lips, and read the papers in front of her again. In the end, she couldn't find the words to say what she was feeling, so she turned to her keyboard and tapped out two short words to Tosh.
'It's his.'