Page 49 of Wishes for August

“Caleb?” Daisy asked from the other side of the phone. “She’s really insistent that she sees you. What do you want me to do?”

I groaned. I had work to do and no time to deal with whatever this was. But I also knew how stubborn she could be and if she insisted on seeing me, I doubted she would leave without a fuss.

“It’s fine Daisy, show her in.” I stood from my desk and walked towards my office door just as Daisy opened it and stepped in. If looks could kill, I’d have been a dead man, but I didn’t have a chance to say anything before Dina barged passed her and Daisy walked out, slamming the door with force.

My breath caught when I took in Dina in front of me. At the same time, I felt my entire world splinter and crash at my feet.

“Hi hun,” Dina said, a smile plastered on her face as she rubbed her belly.

Her very pregnant belly.

My eyes locked on her hand as my mind did some quick math.

Fuck. Shit. Fuck

“Is…is….” I couldn’t get the words out. I swallowed audibly, my dry mouth betraying me as I forced out the words, “Is it mine?”

I looked up to meet Dina’s gaze and a flash of something washed over her face - guilt? Uncertainty? I couldn’t decipher it and it was gone so quickly, replaced by a huge grin.

“Of course it’s yours Caleb. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. When I found out, I got really scared and I panicked and I didn’t know what to do. I had already broken up with you and some of the things I said when I left were so mean and….” she trailed off. “Anyway, I am sorry but I’m here now, and well, surprise!” She pointed to her stomach.

Surprise.

My mouth went dry and I swallowed roughly as my eyes moved from her face to her belly and back up again.

“Caleb? You’re not saying anything,” Dina said as she walked towards me, taking both my hands in hers. My thoughts were racing and I couldn’t calm them down, couldn’t focus on one particular thought at a time.

How? What now? A baby? August.

Oh fuck, August.

I shook my head and looked at her, this woman I once thought I had loved. And yet now, looking at her, I felt nothing. But if what she was saying was true, she was about to become the mother of my child.

I was going to be a dad.

The thought made my heart trip. Excitement, fear, apprehension, elation, - all the feelings spun around me making me dizzy.

“I’m sorry, I’m just in shock. How did this happen? How far along are you?”

Dina laughed, rubbing her hands up my arms to rest on my shoulders. “Oh silly, you know how this happened. And I’m just over six months.”

Obviously I knew how babies were made. “But you were on the pill.”

“Come on Caleb,” she said, failing to hide her irritation, “You’re not naïve enough to think that the pill works one hundred percent of the time, are you? And maybe I wasn’t always the best at remembering to take it.” She shrugged as if forgetting to take her pill was no big deal.

“Why don’t you seem happy about this? You always talked about having a family, raising kids, a big house, all of that.” Her hands still rested on my shoulders and I looked down at the bump resting softly against my abdomen. Hesitantly, I moved my hands to the sides of her stomach and rested them there. Her stomach felt firm, and I wasn’t sure if I imagined it or not but I felt a flutter against my right hand.

My child was inside. Mine. I gulped and my pulse raced at the thought of what this all meant.

A baby, my baby.

“I am happy Dina. You caught me off guard is all. Obviously, we have loads to discuss about how this will all work. Especially since we’re not together. But I’ll be here every step of the way.”

I could make this work. It would all be fine.

“I thought,” she said, moving onto her tiptoes to bring her mouth closer to mine, “that we could make this work, together. I’m sorry I left you Caleb, but I’m back now, that’s all in the past.” Her lips brushed against mine, and I turned my face away to stop her at the same time that my eyes locked on a pair of beautiful brown ones at the doorway to my office.

If I had thought my world had crashed at my feet when she’d walked in, that had nothing on the way in which my heart crumbled, ignited and burned to ashes at the sight of the man I loved looking at me like I had ripped his heart out.

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