The Surrogate

Getting Confirmation

Thursday November 25th. Switzerland.

There's an open sachet on the countertop in front of him and next to that is his laptop, Seb looks at the tiny black poppy seed in his hand and then at the screen. He's not planning on doing any gardening, he doesn't have a lot of spare time for that though he'd love to plant a cherry blossom tree and do a wild flower garden for his upcoming child before he or she is born. He marvels at the little black dot in his hand, relating it to the information he sees. Little bean is now little seed and at four weeks old is the size of a poppy seed. He wants to treasure this seed in the palm of his hand and he can't quite believe that something that tiny will eventually grow in a fully functioning human being.

But Holly has news for him as she enters the kitchen to see him sat there with his laptop in front of him, staring intently at whatever it is that he's got in his hand. She's a little annoyed at herself for sleeping in so late, it means that she's not got much time to try and eat breakfast, shower and get dressed before they make the long drive to Zürich and the appointment that Seb's really excited for. She's craving a coffee but now she's pregnant she's got to be careful how much she drinks, too much caffeine can be linked to smaller babies.

He looks up as the white of her long sleeved tee and pyjama bottoms catches his eye, "morning sexy," he grins, turning his upper body so he can admire her for a bit longer.

"You been up long?" she enquires, opening cupboard doors in search of his granola because she fancies something quick to eat.

"A couple of hours," he answers, "looking for something?"

"Your granola," she closes a cupboard door and turns to look at him, sat there with the baby website up on his laptop and whatever that thing is, still in his hand.

"We're a poppy seed today," he gives her a soft smile, his eyes lingering on her tummy for a moment before going to the little black dot in his hand and imagining it inside her.

It's time to put him right, she can't have him about two weeks behind when they go to the appointment later on. She should've put him right in the first place but hadn't got the heart to do it, he'd been so in love with his little vanilla seed. "We're not Seb," she comes and stands next to him as emotions flash across his handsome face - mainly confusion and then worry. Reaching across in front of him she pops a finger onto the touch pad of his laptop and directs the arrow up to a certain point where she then taps twice, making the page move on to six weeks gestation.

"What...I don't get it," he quietly mutters, frowning as she leans back and slips an arm around his shoulder.

"We're the size of a pea," she confirms, softly kissing the top of his head. "Didn't you check weeks one and two?"

"No..." he's frowning as he stares at the new information on the screen, "I just counted from when I knew we'd conceived."

"It's my fault, I should have corrected you but you've been so excited over the vanilla seed, I just couldn't do it."

He taps a few times on the other side of the screen until he reaches weeks one and two, then it all makes sense.

"Sorry, I feel awful for not having told you," she goes to kiss his head again, leaving her lips in his soft hair.

He goes back to week six on the laptop, little seed is now a little pea, "it's ok, really, don't worry, I'm glad I know now," he smiles as he takes in all the information in front of him, slipping an arm around her waist to bring her closer.

"So what are you going to do with those seeds?" she asks, spotting the sachet the other side of him.

"Nothing yet," he replies, gradually scrolling down the screen. He notes that the heartbeat might be visible now if they have a scan and decides to ask if it's possible that they can have one today when they're at the clinic.