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‘Don’t apologise. Of course you had to tell me. Why didn’t you tell me before?’
‘Because I didn’t know how, and it didn’t seem fair before the wedding. But...now you know. We’re having a baby.’
Now he knew.
Images streamed through his brain. A baby with chestnut hair like Gabby’s...another with dark blonde hair like his, hazel eyes...blue, grey...so many permutations and possibilities.
Then panic broke in, short-circuited the connection and dispersed the images. How could he be a dad? He wasn’t a family man; he was a businessman. And in his case the two were mutually exclusive. But that wasn’t this baby’s fault.
He had to focus. This was his baby. That was the precious being he needed to think of now. Not himself. Right now the two most important people on the planet were Gabby and the baby.
‘Now I know,’ he repeated.
‘Know what?’
A voice behind them. Zander spun round to see Julia walking towards them, a vision in a red-and-black gown.
‘Know that we need to be on wedding duty,’ he improvised quickly.
‘Yes, you do. It’s time to move the guests in here for dinner. I came in to double-check the seating plan.’
She moved back to the entrance and Zander took Gabby’s hand as she rose. ‘We need to talk.’
Gabby nodded. ‘But not now.’
‘And, Gabs? Everything will be all right.’
Right now he wasn’t sure how—all he knew was that somehow he had to make it so. Even if he had no idea how. Even if the idea of fatherhood was making his skin clammy with sheer, unadulterated terror.
* * *
Gabby walked by Zander’s side back to the gaiety and hum of chatter and laughter, the pop of champagne corks, the vibe of celebration, and tried to focus on the part she was here to play. She was no longer sure what that even was—everything was surreal as her emotions corkscrewed.
Sharing the news had brought a modicum of relief along with a surge of misery. Saying the words had made it real, but the initial horror on Zander’s face and his gesture of repudiation had hurt, even though she understood it.
He’d been taken by surprise. But he’d recovered enough to tell her everything would be ‘all right’. Whatever that meant.
‘Gabby, come over here for a photo,’ she heard Gemma call out, and she walked over, pinned a smile to her face.
She looked at the Grosvenors with the sudden realisation that they were related to the baby growing inside her, and the idea sent her emotions into free fall again. But somehow she pulled herself together, and she kept herself together over the next few hours.
She tried to appreciate the grandeur of the Pump Room, the classical melodies played so beautifully by the orchestra, the Georgian banquet that drew gasps of awe from the guests.
Once the meal was over the guests moved into yet another room. Music struck up again and the bride and groom took to the floor. Gabby felt her chest constrict as she watched, seeing the love in Gemma’s and Alessio’s expressions, the protective, almost reverent way Alessio held his bride, and she blinked back tears. What if this never happened for her?
Then Gemma turned and gestured to her. ‘Come on. Family on the floor next!’
Laura and Frank moved forward and started to dance, their movements so attuned to each other, the smiles on their faces only for each other. Julia was dragged forward by Freddy and Heidi,
and soon the three of them were dancing, laughing together.
‘Zander, come on!’
Gabby realised there was no choice, and put her hand into his proffered one. They stepped on to the floor. His arm encircled her waist and she felt his reaction, his small intake of breath, and knew he was realising the fact that inside her was the start of a baby. Their baby.
As they swayed together to the music, she allowed worry and anxiety to dissipate in the awe-inspiring knowledge that she and Zander had created the beginnings of a new life. She let him hold her close, and rested her head on the solid wall of his chest.
They stayed until the end, waved off the bride and groom, said farewell to the rest of the family, gave a hug to the sleepy children—and then they were back outside, where a chauffeur-driven car waited to take them home.
