Page 42 of A Chance to Believe

‘You aren’t going to try for full custody, like Kimberley?’

Rolling his shoulders, he twisted in the chair to face her, his knee brushing hers. ‘I told you, none of the choices around Kimberley’s life were made without discussing them with her mother. I will want to have a proper role as a full-time father as far as possible. I’m going to be pushing for you to stay in town to facilitate access. In the end, I can’t make your choices for you. I can only ask you to let me be their father to the best of my ability.’

He was serious. Really serious. She tried to think of a response, but it was too late. The nurse was asking them to go into the room for the ultrasound.

* * *

Shayne followed Cassie into the tiny room, keeping to the side to avoid the machinery arranged beside the patient couch. He had to hold himself back from jumping in to help her climb onto the bed and arrange herself. The nurse was kind. She was someone he knew at a distance, as you did in small towns. Older than him, but he was pretty sure she had a sister in his class at school. Karen? The sister was Robyn, married to a guy who worked out at the sawmill. Karen left the room, murmuring something about the ultrasound specialist coming shortly.

Cassie looked awkward and uncomfortable lying with her exposed belly hidden under the sheet provided. Did all men feel so helpless while their partners went through all this? It was ridiculous. He was a father and he had no idea. In a few years, his daughter might go through this. He could only hope she chose a decent guy who would support her through it.Way to get ahead of myself here.

He scraped his fingers through his hair. ‘Are you uncomfortable?’

‘My biggest concern is my bladder might explode.’

‘Should you have gone to the bathroom?’

She wriggled on the bed. ‘It’s better to have a full bladder for this. Makes it easier to see everything on the screen. The problem is timing. Delay too long and it gets uncomfortable.’

Dragging his chair across, he gripped her hand. ‘If I distract you, will that help?’

‘So long as you don’t start talking about running water and Queen Adelaide Falls.’

‘How about food?’

‘Chocolate?’

‘I don’t remember you being so obsessed with chocolate in Brisbane.’

She chuckled, a warm sound he felt in his chest. ‘There were other pleasures to distract me back then.’

His breath caught. A whole raft of memories flooded his mind. Cassie hadn’t been shy about her body, perhaps because of her athletic prowess. When she ran, she wore clingy crop tops and bike shorts that curved over her butt, revealing everything to the observant eye. It had made her an enthusiastic partner in bed, with stamina he was hard put to match. Those long muscular legs wrapped around him kept him exactly where she wanted him.

Heat flooded his body and when a woman in scrubs entered the room, he ducked down, pretending to pick up something from the floor to hide the flush he knew would be visible on his face.

When he emerged, both women were looking at him. ‘I thought I heard something drop.’

Cassie’s brows arched. ‘A pin perhaps?’

Curse the woman. She had an instinct for when his body reacted to her. It had made things exciting when they were together in the city, but now, when he couldn’t act on his physical reaction, it was damned inconvenient.

The other woman stepped forward, breaking the intensity between him and Cassie.

‘I’m Jen Parker, Cassie. I don’t think you and I have met before.’ She flicked a smile at Shayne, which he returned. ‘I’ll be running the scan today.’ She fiddled with the machine, adjusting the screen. ‘I’m a doctor, but I’ve also trained as an ultrasound technician. It comes in handy being multi-skilled in rural practice.’

Her smile was genuine and Shayne warmed to her. He hadn’t really had much to do with her, but he’d heard a lot about her. He could feel Cassie’s hand relax, so she must be feeling it too.

After a warning about the cold, she drew back the sheet from Cassie’s stomach and squirted a clear gel onto the bare skin. He vaguely knew about this part of it. Ben had some special scan to check the blood flow of his injured leg.

The screen was black and white, and it took a moment for Shayne to recognise what he was seeing. A face and some feet. The view shifted as Jen did some measurements and he caught another glimpse of a face, this time with a thumb in its mouth. Two distinct faces, two different babies. His throat tightened and he fought to swallow the clogging emotion.

The doctor smiled. ‘They’re really grown now. We rarely do scans this late in the pregnancy. It’s only because these little guys are relying on the same blood source.’ She started talking about the placenta, pointing it out along with other details. Cassie was listening intently.

Shayne was mesmerised by the flicker of the two tiny, beating hearts. His own heart sped up and sweat beaded on his upper lip and brow. These were his children, his and Cassie’s. Shit just got real.

‘Shayne? Are you alright? You aren’t going to faint, are you?’

He tore his gaze away from the screen and met the concern in Cassie’s eyes. ‘No, I’m good. It’s been kind of academic until now and seeing them like this …’ His voice failed and the squeeze of her hand told him she understood.

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