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Before his training tonight, he had tried calling her, checking on his phone if it was a decent hour in Sydney, and got no response. He left a voicemail that he hoped didn’t sound like he was pressuring her. He could see the situation was strange. They weren’t dating so it wasn’t even a long distance relationship. Maybe she felt weird about continuing to chat. Maybe he should just cut ties and let her go?
“Hey! Snap out of it!” Robert yelled.
“Huh? Sorry, what?”
“You heard nothing I just said?” Robert said with a roll of his eyes. “I said get in the shower. I’ll get your bag in the car. And, for the love of God, don’t make a scene. Just do the commercial and come home. I organised this so you could have a small break from training plus fulfill your commitments. When you get back, we have maybe one or two days to get you over the jet lag but then we are in the home stretch and focus one hundred percent. We eat, sleep, and shit Williams. Nothing else matters, right?”
Owen shook his father’s hand. “Right.”
8
Tegan lay curledon the couch, sure she was all cried out. She had waited a few days to process her appointment with Dr. Lucy. Tomorrow she would get the results. She could make a better, informed, choice on a course of action then.
The only thing she still had to do was tell Owen. But, in this, she faced a dilemma. She had avoided his calls, sure that if she picked up he would tell something was wrong in her voice. She wanted to tell him for many reasons. Mostly as it was the right thing to do in her mind. But what was the point of saying anything unless she was absolutely sure? Why mention something to him if it turned out to be false?
He was half a world away anyway. When she thought of how she wanted him on that couch with her, her head felt like exploding. Fiona had been an angel, helping her during work. She was even willing to come to the doctor’s appointment with her, which Tegan took her up on. Whatever the result, Tegan didn’t want to be alone.
“Just a second...” Tegan called to the knock at the door, checking her watch. It was almost 11PM. She wasn’t sure if Fiona had wanted to stay the night before the appointment. If they had made that arrangement, Tegan forgot in the madness. She opened the door preparing a greeting but it wasn’t slender Fiona that stood before her.
“G’day...”
Tegan’s right hand found the wall. A fortunate thing, as the sight of Owen was almost enough to send her passing out. Seconds stretched and neither said a word. Tegan still hadn’t closed her mouth but bolted into him, burying her face in his chest. His arms encircled her gently and he placed a hand at the back of her head, using his thumb to stroke her hair, shushing her at the same time.
“Was going to call, but wasn’t sure if you wanted to speak to me.”
Tegan gave a mini leap and pulled him down towards her mouth. “Shut up...” she whispered, parting his lips with her tongue, dragging him inside.
“Are you sure...” Owen whispered, but it was her turn to shush him.
Tegan looked deep into his eyes, after roaming his face with her hand. Was it this cold blackness eating away at her? Or was it his child inside her? This handsome, honourable man. She had so many things to say, one particular thing especially. But only one thing came from her lips. She wanted to forget her fear. She wanted the world to disappear, even just for a while. “Make love to me.”
Tegan moaned with the efforts of both kissing him and then undressing him. No more words were said by either. With a grunt, Owen carried Tegan to the bedroom.
Over an hour later, Tegan lay in his arms, her leg draped across his. His fingers slowly moving up and down her spine. “Why didn’t you return my calls?” he asked softly, planting a kiss on her forehead.
Oh Jesus...
Nausea hit her, as well as panic and fear. She turned to her back as a flood of tears came over her. And she covered her mouth and nose with both hands. There was no help for it now. She couldn’t lie to him or drag this out.
“I think I’m pregnant,” she sobbed, looking up at the ceiling and blinking away more tears. “I’m so sorry, Owen. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want you to think I was trying to trap you—”
Owen turned over and positioned himself over her, gently easing her hand away from her face. “Hey... hey... take it easy. Take it easy. It’s OK.”
“How can you say that? What about this is OK?”
“Because...” he said, gently easing her hands away so she would look at him, which she eventually did. “There are plenty of worse things to happen to you.”
“Like cancer?”
Owen took that reasonably well, studying her intently. “Sorry?”
Tegan carefully told Owen all she knew, all she was told based on her appointment with Dr. Lucy. She had found a lump when checking Tegan over to confirm her pregnancy. She was terrified that was what explained how shitty she had been feeling lately. She had no idea if it was a normal part of pregnancy or... something else. Owen let her talk, never taking his eyes off her. When she finished, she apologized for dumping all this on him, ruining his homecoming. He blinked for several seconds, appearing to take the information in.
“Be angry, be frustrated, be scared. That’s normal. But never be scared of what I’ll think or that I’ll think it’s your fault. It’s no one’s fault. It’s happened.”
“Why are you so OK with this? How are you so calm?”
Owen gently wiped the tears away from her cheeks. “Maybe because you’re freaking out enough for the both of us.”
