The Surrogate

This is Imogen

She's frozen to the spot, she's so still it's like someone could hit her with a hammer and she'd shatter into millions of tiny fragments.

It feels like time has stopped, like it doesn't feel real.

Hearing the voice and knowing that it sounds very familiar to the girl he saw on Friday, Seb gets out of the car and looks first to Holly. Her eyes are open wide and her lips are slightly parted and she's so perfectly still that he's not sure if she's breathing. Then he looks to the back of the car and there she stands, waiting for Holly to turn around and face her. The girl looks fretful and uncertain, she's fiddling with her fingers and he notices the bandage has gone from her wrist.

He hears Holly take a big breath, as if she's just remembered to breathe. A quick comparison of the two of them reveals one thing.

The long, brown hair; the blue eyes, the pretty, perfect nose and even the girls voice... this is definitely Holly's daughter - this is Imogen.

And the silent tears now rolling down Holly cheeks tells him that she knows it too, without even looking at her.

Holly looks petrified and so Seb softly closes the car door and then makes his way around the front of the DBX to be with her. She's actually shaking when he gets to her and so he takes her hand and tries to coax her into turning round. She needs to do this because if she'll doesn't then she'll regret it for the rest of her life, "it's ok, you're not doing this alone, I'm here."

She looks into his eyes and she doesn't have to say a word for him to know how a big a moment this is for her.

He squeezes her hand and tells her a soft, reassuring, "I've got you, it's ok. You can do this."

It's like war style flash backs as her mind replays the day that Imogen was taken away from her. With both Matthew and herself on drugs, in hindsight it had been a blessing that Imogen had been given a chance of a better life even though it was heart breaking at the time.

Finding Imogen, or in this case Imogen finding Holly, doesn't mean that everything is automatically sorted. This is the beginning of something - something that could change both of their lives.

The poor girl is still waiting and she looks like she's on the verge of changing her mind and leaving. She looks like she's preparing herself for more heartache.

Seb looks at her over Holly's shoulder, worried that if she doesn't move soon then the girl will simply vanish like she did on Friday. He can see she's desperate for Holly to turn around and tries to make sure that she doesn't leave, "Holly just needs a minute. You're Imogen, right?"

The girl nods, her face crumpling with unshed tears. Then she takes a step closer and shakily, hesitantly says, "mum?"

It's both beautiful and painful at the same time and Holly screws her eyes shut tightly, her bottom lip trembling. Even Seb is already finding this reunion emotional and he looks down towards the ground, biting on his bottom lip. If himself and Holly are finding this moment emotional then he can't even begin to imagine what it feels like for Imogen - a fourteen year old girl who's about to meet her mother for what probably feels like the first time. She probably doesn't remember the day she was separated from Holly, she'd have been too young.

Holly opens her eyes and returns to staring solidly into Seb's eyes, using him to keep her centred. She takes a few deep breaths and then whispers to him, "please stay with me, don't..."

He interrupts her, still holding her hand while his other hand now softly grips the top of her arm, "I told you, you're not doing this alone, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, ok?" She nods in response, her palm now feels sweaty against his. He's desperate for her to do this now, to take this chance to begin healing and building a relationship with her daughter. "Go on, you can do this," he quietly urges her, adding another squeeze of her hand before pulling his away from her grip.