Takes You

by Nicola C. Priest

  “I wonder why he’s being so weird?”

  “I have no idea, Cris. Ever since he retired, he’s been looking for something to fill his time now that he doesn’t have anywhere to be during the day. For the most part, he’s home alone as I’m still working. Maybe he’s just losing track of time now he has the days to himself.”

  “Maybe. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

  Mum shrugs and takes a bite out of a piece of Battenberg cake. She’s loved that cake for as long as I can remember, so when she saw the new addition on the menu, she made a beeline for it and ordered an extra helping to take home for Dad. I, on the other hand, stuck with a tried and tested lemon drizzle cake, something I have always loved.

  “How are you and Cal doing? I know things have been tough with his new job. You two doing okay now?”

  Ah yes, Cal’s new job. That was a surprise when he told me three months ago that he’d been offered a position as chief mechanic for a local racing club. Only that local racing club was just starting to take off and was now one of the most recognised clubs in the North West, which is why they needed Cal.

  He was arguably the best mechanic in our area, so when they approached him with the offer, it was a big deal. He hadn’t wanted to accept the offer without discussing it with me first, but I knew he wanted to take it.

  It meant he’d be working longer hours, but the increase in salary more than made up for that. What we hadn’t planned on, though, was the amount of time he’d be working away from home.

  With the club’s popularity expanding, they were travelling all over the country with their drivers taking part in any number of races and tournaments and, as chief mechanic, Cal was expected to go too. Sometimes it meant he was away several days in succession, often on weekends and, I’m not gonna lie, it was hard.

  I knew it was going to be strange not having Cal home with me in the evenings, but I hadn’t realised how difficult it was actually going to be. We spoke most nights, and they weren’t just five minutes calls. Often, we’d be on the phone for over and hour just chatting about our days and whatever else came to mind.

  When the calls ended, it always left me with a sinking feeling and only made me miss him even more than I already was. It took several weeks for either one of us to get into a routine, and, if I’m honest, I still don’t think I’m fully used to it, but Cal is out there doing what he loves, and I love him too much to deny him that. After all, he was there for me when I went away to college, so now it’s my turn to do the same for him.

  “Yeah, we’re doing okay. I miss him every day, but it just makes it even better when he does come home.”

  “When is he due back?”

  “In about three hours,” I say as I check my watch, a smile creeping to my lips when I realise my man will be home soon.

  I take the last bit of my lemon drizzle cake and lift my cup to my mouth, realising it’s now empty.

  “Do you want a refill?” my mum asks as she finishes off her coffee.

  “No, I’m good. I should get going anyway. I want to spruce up the flat a bit before Cal gets home.”

  My mum gives me a knowing smile, and I feel my face flush. Jesus, I’m twenty-eight years old and I still blush at the stupidest things. My mum knows Cal and I have sex, so why does her knowing embarrass me?

  Shaking my head, I approach the counter to pay our bill and join my mum outside a few minutes later. “Do you want a lift or are you good?”

  “No thanks, honey. I think I’m going to do a bit of shopping. I’ll grab the bus later. You go on home and spruce up the flat for Cal.”

  I feel myself flush again, and my mum laughs. With a kiss on the cheek, she heads off into town and I cross the road. I’ve a quick stop to make before I head home, one I hope goes to plan, or my idea of a perfect welcome home for Cal might go out the window.

  After twenty minutes, I’ve a huge smile on my face and I’m heading towards the car park. It takes me less than fifteen minutes to drive home and another thirty to shower and wash my hair.

  It’s been four days since I saw Cal last, and I want to look my best for him when he comes home. I know he loves me in red, so I choose my favourite red silk camisole and pair it with my new black jeans, lying both items out on the bed. I’m undecided how to wear my hair, so I do my makeup first, keeping it simple with a pale pink gloss and a few lashings of mascara.

  When that’s done, I unwrap my hair from the towel and look at my reflection in the mirror. I comb it through to detangle it before adding a few spritz’ of heat protection and a small amount of serum. Grabbing my hairdryer, I decide to go for the straight look, which will be no easy feat as my hair has a natural kink my hairdressers struggle to get rid of.

  It takes me over an hour to sort my hair out, but by the time I’m finished, it’s poker straight and falls halfway down my back. I think Cal has only ever seen my hair straight once before now, and that was many years ago. I can’t wait to see his reaction.

  Checking the time, I dress quickly, seeing the text from Cal telling me he’s forty minutes away. I smile and plug my phone in to charge when there’s a knock at the door. I open it to see the smiling face of the maitre’d from our favourite Italian restaurant.

  “Miss Walker, your order, as requested.” He hands me two bags filled with food that’s making my mouth water.

  “Thank you so much, Marco. Please can you pass on my thanks to Giuseppe for me? I know he didn’t have to do this, so I’m very grateful.”

  “I will, Miss Walker, and may I say, Mr Roberts is a very lucky man.”

  “Thank you. Can you just wait there for one minute? I’ll be right back.”

  He nods, and I hurry through to the kitchen, depositing the bags of food on the counter before coming back through and grabbing my purse. I take out a ten-pound note and head back towards the door, handing the money to Marco.

  “You don’t have to, Miss Walker. You and Mr Roberts are valued customers. It was no trouble arranging this for you.”

  “No, I do, Marco. Please, accept it.”

  “Very well, Miss Walker, if you insist. Have a good evening.” Marco reaches out as if to shake my hand but places a gentle kiss on the knuckles before smiling and heading off down the hallway. I close the door and hurry back through to the kitchen. I have twenty minutes to get the table set and everything dished up before Cal gets back, and I do it with just five minutes to spare.

  I’m pouring the wine when I hear his key in the door, and when he walks in, drops his duffel bag on the floor and smiles at me, I swear my heart almost leaps out my chest.

  Even with a three-hour drive on him, he never fails to make my skin clammy and my pulse quicken. He’s wearing faded jeans and a tatty t-shirt, but to me there has never been a more welcome sight.

  I pick up the two wine glasses and meet him halfway, handing one to him and watch as he takes a sip.

  “What’s all this for?” he says as he looks at the table where I’ve laid out the food. “Is that from—”

  “It is. I stopped by there earlier to ask if they could prepare and deliver it, and Giuseppe agreed. I wanted to do something nice for you.”

  Cal puts the wine glass down on the table and just looks at me. I can see him scrutinising every detail as he starts at my hair, works his way down my face to my chest, lingering a little on the cleavage revealed by the camisole before skimming down my legs and back up again.

  “You look amazing,” he says as he takes some of my hair and twirls it between his fingers. “I like this. You should wear it straight more often.”

  “I just might if you’re going to look at me like that when I do.”

  “Oh? And just how am I looking at you?”

  “Like you’re starving and I’m the main course.”

  “Really? Is that how I’m looking at you?” When he takes a step closer and licks his lips, I see his eyes darken and the butterflies in my stomach take flight. After eleven years together, the fact he can still cause me to fe
el this way just by looking at me speaks volumes about our relationship. The man can turn me on like a light switch with just one look; the look he’s giving me right now.

  As much as I’ve missed him this week, and as much as I want to drag him into the bedroom, this is not how I planned our evening—well, not this early on anyway. I take a couple of breaths to try and steady my out of control heart before I speak. “I figured you’d be hungry, so I got everything ready. Shall we eat?”

  I see a flash of disappointment in his eyes, but it’s gone almost as quickly as it arrived. Ever the gentleman, he moves around me and pulls out my chair for me to sit, before joining me at the table. He picks up our wine glasses and hands one to me.

  “A toast. To the most beautiful, wonderful and thoughtful woman I have ever met. I love you, Cris, and I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

  All I can do is smile as I toast, knowing that if I try and speak, my voice will break. I swallow a couple of times, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat before we start eating. If he’s going to carry on saying sweet things like that, this evening is going to end a lot sooner than I had planned. Not that it would be a bad thing for it to end like that, but I’ve something I need to share with him, and I need to do it before we tumble into bed. Now, I’ve just got to find the right time.

  Caleb

  Good food, good wine and a great girl. What more can a guy ask for? I wasn’t expecting any of this when I walked through the door a little over two hours ago. When I set my sights on Cris, I was momentarily speechless. I’ve always known she was a beautiful woman but seeing her standing there with her hair styled differently and that sexy as hell red top and skinny black jeans, I hadn’t known what to say.

  This new job has taken me away from her more than I originally thought it would, and I’m lucky that, despite her initial reservations, Cris supports me no matter what. I love my new job, but I love Crissie more, so if at any time she tells me she doesn’t want me doing it anymore, then that would be it, no question about it.

  She will always come first for me, and after everything we’ve been through, how could she not?

  We’ve finished eating now and my stomach is stuffed to bursting. I take another sip of my wine, not failing to notice that Crissie has hardly touched hers. When she stands and heads towards the bedroom, I watch the sway of her hips, loving how the black denim moulds over her backside. God, I love that arse. I’ve missed that arse.

  I’m grinning like an idiot when she comes back in and sits on the sofa, calling me over with a nod of her head and a pat of her hand on the sofa. I stand and walk over; the curiosity must be evident in my expression when she laughs.

  “I’ve got something for you. I hope you like it.” She hands me a long, thin, white box with a yellow ribbon wrapped around it. I look at her briefly to see her watching me intently as I remove the ribbon and lift the lid. What I see inside almost takes my breath away, and I look between Cris and the box, seeing the sheen of tears in her eyes.

  “Is this really true?” She nods. “You’re not having me on? This is real?”

  “Yes, Cal, it’s real. You’re going to be a daddy.”

  I look down again at the pregnancy test, which shows the word ‘pregnant’ in the little window. I stare at it a moment longer, feeling something drip onto my hand. It’s only then I realise I’m crying, and looking up, I see Crissie is too.

  “We’re going to have a baby, Cal.”

  Before I can stop myself, I reach out and grab her, pulling her towards me and pressing my lips to hers. I can taste the saltiness from our tears as I hold her there, not wanting to let her go, but I know I have to when the urgent need to breathe takes over.

  “We’re finally going to be a family, Cris. After all this time, it’s finally happening.” I grab her again and pull her into a hug, shifting our position so she’s sat on my lap as I hold her. We’re going to be parents. After everything that’s happened, after everything we’ve suffered and recovered from, we’re finally going to have what we’ve wanted for so long.

  And I couldn’t be happier.

  Chapter 45

  Crissie

  I’m a nervous bundle of excitement as we wait for the doctor to come see us. We’re here for my twelve-week scan and it’s been one week since I broke the news to Cal that I was expecting.

  After what happened with my first pregnancy, we’ve decided we’re going to listen to every piece of advice the doctors and nurses can give us. Even though we were told over and over that what happened to Aria was outside of our control, we’ve decided we are not going to do anything to increase the chances of that happening again. I don’t think we could go through that for a second time. It almost broke us then. Going through it twice would just be too much.

  “Crissie Walker?”

  I get to my feet when I hear my name called, and Cal and I walk down the hallway towards the nurse. She’s young—I’d say early twenties if she’s a day—and she reminds me a little of Pippa. She has her brown hair styled in a pixie cut and has a round face and button nose. She’s the definition of the word ‘cute’, so much so that if you looked up the word in the dictionary, you’d probably see her picture.

  “If you’d like to come in here and get yourself comfy on the bed, the doctor will be with you shortly. Mr Roberts, you can take a seat over there, so you can see the monitor.”

  I climb up onto the bed and Cal takes his seat by my side. I glance around the room, realising it’s the same room I was in when I had my twelve-week scan for Aria. Apart from a fresh coat of paint, it looks pretty much the same. Taking a deep breath, I look down when I feel Cal take my hand, just as the doctor walks in.

  “Crissie, Caleb, how are you today?”

  “We’re good, thank you, doctor. Eager to get this done so we can make sure everything is okay.”

  The doctor smiles at me kindly as she flicks through what I assume is my chart. I see the smile fade a little, and I assume she’s got to the part about the miscarriage, but she quickly masks her reaction and hangs the chart off the end of the bed.

  “Well, I shouldn’t keep you too long. If you can just lie back for me and lift up your top a little, I’ll get the machine set up.”

  I do as she asks as she flicks on a few switches, and I see the monitor flicker to life. She pulls up a stool next to me and tears some tissue paper off a large roll, tucking it into the waistband of my leggings so the gel she will put on my belly in a moment doesn’t mess them up.

  When she reaches for the gel and squirts a little on my skin, I jump slightly at the coldness, causing the doctor to chuckle. “No matter how many times I do this, I still forget to warn people that the gel is cold.”

  “Don’t worry, doctor. I’ve done this before.”

  “So I saw. I’m sorry about that.”

  I don’t respond, just give her a small smile as she picks up the scanner and spreads the gel across my belly, applying a little pressure as she searches for our baby.

  We don’t hear anything at first, but then we hear it, the steady thump, thump thump of a heartbeat. We still see nothing on the monitor, but then it comes into focus and we see it, the outline of our baby, clear as day.

  “There you are. We have a healthy heartbeat, and going by the measurements, I’d say you’re probably closer to fourteen weeks. So, I calculate your due date to be the twenty-fifth of February 2018.”

  She gives us both a smile as Cal grips my hand tightly and we both gaze at the monitor. The doctor continues moving the scanner, and I see when her brow furrows. She squirts a little more gel and moves the scanner a little lower, before putting it down and taking off the latex gloves she’s wearing.

  “Is there something wrong, doctor?”

  She smiles at us as she stands, but I can tell it’s a forced smile. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt to recognise over the last few years, it’s when a smile is genuine, and that one most definitely wasn’t.

  “I just want to get one of my colle
agues to take a look. It’s nothing to worry about, Crissie. I’ll be right back.”

  We both watch as she leaves the room, glancing at each other before looking back at the monitor. I can still hear the steady heartbeat and the image is clear as day. Everything looks fine to me, but clearly the doctor saw something she doesn’t want to tell us about, and that makes me nervous, something Cal senses.

  “Don’t worry, Cris. I’m sure everything’s okay.” I nod at Cal’s words, my eyes fixed to the monitor, focussing on our baby, trying to convince myself everything is fine, and nothing is wrong. Moments later, the doctor returns with another doctor, one I recognise immediately, and my hopes fade away rapidly.

  “Crissie, Caleb, I understand congratulations are in order.”

  “Well, we think so, doctor, but we have a feeling there’s something we’re not being told.”

  “Well, let me take a look and we’ll see what’s going on.”

  The doctor I’ve not seen in almost eighteen months takes a seat in front of the monitor and squirts some more of the gel on my belly. Despite the ‘this will be a little cold’ warning, it still makes me jump a little. He angles the monitor away from us and put’s the scanner on me, moving it around in much the same way the other doctor did.

  He leans in and his brow furrows in concentration as he presses a few buttons, which I know is taking photographs of the images on the screen. He carries on doing this for another five minutes, all the while my anxiety level increases as no one tells us what’s going on.

  “Doctor, what’s wrong? Of all the doctors here, why did she bring you in? I know something’s going on and we have a right to know. What’s wrong with our baby?”

  Cal squeezes my hand in support, and I keep my eyes on the doctor, who finally places the scanner back in its cradle and hands me some tissue. “Crissie, get yourself cleaned up and I’ll be back in five minutes. I just need to confer with my colleague here. I promise I’ll explain what’s going on when I come back.”