Prognosis Christmas Baby - Amy Andrews Page 0,30

negative one?

She put it on the kitchen bench. She’d been to the toilet before leaving work and doubted very much if she could produce any urine for the test right at this moment. So she made a cup of tea, relying on the diuretic effect of it to work its magic on her bladder.

Sitting on her back deck in the morning sunshine, the December sun was already packing quite a punch. Maggie tried to concentrate on her lovely garden which was bordered with native trees and shrubs she’d lovingly planted with her own hands.

Usually, it filled her with such joy but her mind kept wandering to what colour she was going to paint the nursery and, for a little while, she let herself indulge in the fantasy. When she finished her cup she went and poured another, torn between wanting to do the test and being terrified of the result.

If it was negative, which of course it was going to be, she knew she was going to be bitterly disappointed. She shouldn’t be. It was wrong to want it and it was a dream she’d given up on long ago. But the yearning in every fibre of her being this morning was almost a physical ache.

God, she’d gone through a decade of this — negative pregnancy tests — waiting for that magic second line or the dot to turn blue or whatever new-fangled gimmick the test boasted to relay the happy-sad news to its user.

How could she go through it all again?

The second cup of tea disappeared and Maggie forced herself to stop being such a coward and just do it. She made her way to the much closer main bathroom, not trusting herself to walk the extra distance to her en suite without chickening out.

She followed the directions but when she held it in her hands afterwards, Maggie couldn’t bear to look. She couldn’t bear to see the little red sign in the window.

Not again.

Leaving it on the cistern, she washed her hands and fled back to the deck to muster some courage.

***

Nash had a smile on his face as big as Tasmania when he opened Maggie’s door. He crept in with his booty, not wanting to wake her.

Not yet anyway.

Unlike him, she didn’t have to work again tonight but he knew better than to disturb those first few catatonic hours of sleep after night duty.

Quietly, he placed the pre-decorated, four-foot Christmas tree on her coffee table and plugged the lights into the nearest power point. They glowed in multi-coloured splendour and he hoped Maggie was going to love it.

She’d looked so sad earlier that morning when she’d admitted to not bothering to decorate the house for Christmas because she lived alone that he’d resolved then and there to rectify the situation. Maybe that’s why she’d been a little preoccupied? Maybe contemplating another lonely Christmas had made her a little melancholy.

Well, not this year.

This year she had him and he was going to make it a Christmas to remember.

He smiled again, heading for the main bathroom, not wanting to risk using her en suite. He wondered how long she’d sleep for and couldn’t wait for her to wake up. Should they make love first or should he drag her outside and reap the rewards of her gratitude then?

He smiled as he zipped up and reached for the flush button, noticing for the first time the round plastic disc-shaped device sitting on the cistern. Nash frowned as he reached for it. It took a few more seconds for him to figure out that he was indeed seeing what it was he thought he was seeing.

What the...?

The Christmas tree was instantly forgotten as he strode from the bathroom, pregnancy test in hand, and stalked into her bedroom. He could feel a white-hot ball burning in his stomach like acid reflux.

Not there. Where the hell was she?

Her car was outside so she had to be home. His pulse galloped at his temples and reverberated through his head in great, angry crashes. His grip tightened on the test, feeling it creak as the plastic protested the pressure.

No wonder she’d been so screwy. How long had she suspected?

‘Maggie?’ he called as he stormed through the house. ‘Maggie?’

Maggie, still trying to summon the nerve to go and look at the result, felt her heart stop as Nash’s voice carried out to her. She stood and turned to face the door as Nash stepped out onto the deck and she knew by his face it was