I Never Dream You'd Leave in Summer

Chapter 2 - The Unexpected News

Two months after Sonja left, my phone rang. "Chris? It's me." "I know, how are you?" "Well, okay" she responded. I told her "I thought we would have heard from you before this?" "I've been busy getting settled but that's not why I called. Hey, we have a three day weekend coming up. Do you think that you could fly out this way?" "Percy do you think that's wise? We said that we were going to make a clean break." "Chris just let me say this, you're going to want to come out. First to take a DNA test and then to talk about what we're going to do." "What?! How Sonja? We always used protection." "Not the first night at the motel." "Oh shit. Alright, I'll get my leave papers in and take the Friday off too."

I hang up. I am stunned. A baby?

Two weeks later I flew out to meet Sonja. She smiled weakly at me as I walked down the ramp. She 'rotely' asked how everyone was doing and handed me her keys as we approached her car. I opened the trunk and put my carry-ons in and turned back toward Sonja only to see tears escaping from her eyes and then the faucet turned on. "Oh Chris, how could I have been so reckless?" "Sonja it takes two people to make a baby. We're not the first people to be in this position. Let's get you to your apartment and let you rest for a few hours. Are you eating right? Do we need to do anything special?" "No, not right now. I can get an ultra sound in a few more weeks. I'm at eleven weeks the best they can determine. And no, I haven't told my supervisor yet."

Sonja grabbed my hand as she drove. I had forgotten that she was that strong. Her grip was formidable.

We went to the doctor's office about 1 p.m. The blood test confirmed what Sonja already knew – this was my child.

Sonja was craving Chinese so we stopped on the way back to her place. I had to gather up the containers and take them to the garbage chute down the hall. While the food tasted good at the time, the smell of the left over Kung Pao Chicken did not agree with Sonja sense of smell and her stomach.

Back in the apartment I sat down close to Sonja on the sofa. "So what are you thinking Sonja?" "Chris I don't know what to think. I was just stunned when my blood work came back positive. I thought I had the flu. How could I have been so stupid? What are we going to do Chris?"

"Well the easy thing is that we don't have to worry about child care. We can hire the best. We also have big enough families to see if someone can move in and help with the child care. But Sonja I guess you're really wondering about the baby's momma and daddy.

Sonja those last two weeks that we spent together were wonderful. I know why I had decided to not enter into a relationship with you, but the circumstances have changed. We are going to have to decide if we want to live together and give our child a home with fulltime parents or live in two different cities and co-parent from a distance".

"Well Chris I know how I feel. I have wanted to have a try at an 'us' for some time." "Where would we live Sonja? Where would we work? You're assigned to Immigration right now. There are a lot of decisions to make.

The first action we probably need to take is to tell our families. I'll flip you a coin because I can only guess how pissed your mother will be." I lost.

"Hi momma. No, I'm okay. Yes I know that I promised that I would come home this weekend but something came up. That's why I'm calling. Are you sitting down? You're going to be a grandmother. Momma quit screaming. Well, it's a real surprise. The mother? My work partner Sonja Percy. Yes momma I know you told me that I was wrong not to chase her. That's a conversation for a different day momma. I have to go. We need to call Sonja's mother. Okay, your turn mommy."

"Hi mom. Well I guess you could say that I'm okay. Mom I need to tell you something and I don't know how you are going to take it. I'm going to have a baby. No it wasn't planned. I can't say it's a mistake, just maybe ill-timed. Mom, I don't know if I can answer that right now. Eleven weeks mom. No we won't be able to know the sex for a few more weeks. No but I'll call you when we know more."

"All right. What do we do next?" "I need nap" Sonja says. "I hardly slept last night. I didn't know how you would react when you saw me face to face." "I think I'll join you if that's okay. I haven't slept well since you called me two weeks ago"

As we lay down on the bed, I melted into Christopher's strong arms. My fears were allayed. I know that he will be a loving father for this child and at moment I felt safe and secure.

I woke up two hours later and peppered Chris with butterfly kisses. This time I made love to the man who had stolen my heart and my soul and the one who I never want to leave again.