I turned and walked back out, collecting my bag and making my way from the building. As I stood at the entrance, I looked around at the people rushing past. They were always in such a hurry to get somewhere around here.
I grabbed my phone and dialled the number I was looking for.
“Hello? Can you come and get me, please? I need to speak to you.”
“Decaf? Thought you always needed a caffeine fix,” Callum joked as I sipped my cappuccino.
“I thought I’d try something different.”
I looked around in the café. A few people were sat around the space. There was a group of workmen digging into their breakfasts, and not far from them a family together with a newborn.
That would be me this time next year.
Well, not the family, but the baby.
“You haven’t touched your bacon sandwich.”
I looked down at the plate in front of me. I thought I’d try to eat something, but I just felt queasy and didn’t know if I could stomach it.
“Do you want some of this?” He held up his sausage, fried onions, and burger sauce roll.
The smell of the onions hit me, and instead of making me feel sick, it made my stomach rumble.
“It does smell good.”
He smiled and handed me the roll. I hesitated before taking a bite. As I swallowed, I expected it to come back up, but to my surprise, it didn’t, so I ate some more. Guess this was what I was going to be eating from now on.
“Ok, you don’t normally eat anything without mayo. What’s going on?”
“Can’t a girl change her mind?”
He sat there for a moment, looking me over. “Depends what she’s changing her mind about, I suppose.”
“Do you think you’ll ever have kids?” I blurted out.
He nearly choked on his coffee. “Erm, it depends. With the right woman, yes.”
I looked down at my stomach and placed my hand on it. Callum would be a good dad. I’d seen him in Leeds with some of his younger cousins, and he was always involved with whateverthey were playing. I’m sure he enjoyed playing with the Nerf guns more than they did. He was very family-oriented, and there was always some sort of family gathering going on. Jason used to take me to them. He’d be off somewhere with one of his uncles, but Callum was always with the kids.
“Why do you ask?”
I wasn’t sure why I’d asked, if I was being honest.
He was the complete opposite to Sebastian. He was honest with me about everything. He’d never lied to me once and was always there when I needed him.
Callum took hold of my hand and squeezed it. “Aria, are you ok?”
It was probably the pregnancy hormones, but I couldn’t help but burst into tears, and I covered my face to try to stop the sounds from escaping.
Callum wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest, that warm, familiar feeling of being brought back into his protective bubble. It could have been seconds, minutes that I was in his arms; I had no concept of time, just tears.
“My little Astra, what’s wrong?” Callum tilted my chin to meet his eyes.
I blinked, tears still flooding out as my body shook in his arms.
“I … I’m pregnant.”
My head crashed back into his chest, back into that safety net I never wanted to leave. I just wanted him to wrap me up in it for the rest of my life so nothing could get through. His arms tightened around me as he kissed the top of my head. He held me until I was ready, like he always used to.
