The Surrogate

The Secret Slips

Monday November 8th.

She fucking hates confrontations and arguments and she hates going to bed leaving things unresolved but last night she had no choice and now, after barely having any sleep, she finds herself feeling anxious and like a zombie while she waits in the lounge with her case and bag, waiting for Seb to finally emerge from his room. She knows he's still in there, she's been stood near the door listening and heard him moving about and talking to someone on the phone in German so it's at least some comfort to her to know that he's not left for Brazil without her.

In his room, Seb is mentally preparing himself to face Holly. Now he's had all night to think about it (and he's been doing nothing else, not even sleeping) he knows that he's really not got much option other than to accept things as they are. She's not going to change her mind and that's all there is to it. Unless.......

Flinging his rucksack over his shoulder, he makes a quick scan of the room to check he's not left anything before grabbing his case and heading for the door. To see her standing there waiting for him feels good and painful in equal measure, she looks anxious as if she's expecting him to be angry with her. He offers her an apologetic smile as he pulls his case behind him, he doesn't want her to be under any stress if it's at all possible, not now she's pregnant. "I'm sorry," he apologises as he stops in front of her and puts his rucksack down on the floor. Now that he's closer he can see that she looks nearly as tired as he feels and he feels totally responsible for that, "I didn't handle things well last night, did I?"

"We both made a hash of things last night, I'm more to blame than you are," she admits while fiddling with the handle of her case.

He tilts his head to the side, giving her boyish smile, "friends?"

"Friends," she agrees readily, how can she disagree when he's being adorable like that?

He pulls her into his arms and relishes the moment he's given himself to hold her tight. Inside, he's going through the choices he's given himself and trying to decide which one to pick.

"I've got something to show you," she pulls back from him and then reaches behind herself to retrieve something from her back pocket.

His eyes are sparkling with curiosity, face lighting up with a smile as she produces a second pregnancy test and holds it in front of him to show him the two strong lines. He hadn't forgotten about her doing a second test but felt that maybe mentioning it might have been bad timing after last night. He's thrilled and feels a bit choked up with happy tears at the confirmation this test gives them.

"You don't mind me doing it on my own do you?" she asks, aware that he probably would have preferred to be present for it.

He doesn't take his gaze off of the little square window on the test as he answers her, "it's fine, thank you."

Her brows furrow, she's not quite sure how to take that response, it seems kind of stiff. Maybe he really is annoyed that she's done this without him?

Then she spots a lone tear rolling down his cheek and he steps back, hands gripping at his hair, bottom lip between his teeth as he swallows heavily. She's gives him a minute, she's not going to get too close to him and make the same mistake that she made last night. Or is it last night that he's upset about? Is he actually sad instead of happy? She just can't read him right now and it's unsettling, really unsettling.

It's hitting him all over again; she's definitely pregnant, he's going to be father...no, he is a father! And he's finding himself wanting to scream it from the rooftops, very unusual for someone as notoriously private as he is. Then he notices Holly, she's watching him, looking anxious. "I'm ok, happy," he smiles and then lunges for her, scooping her up in a bear hug to twirl them both around. He hears her squeal and then laugh and it makes him proudly yell the words out loud, "I'm going to be a daddy!"