‘Of course they do—his sperm can’t get through rubber, for goodness’ sake.’ Daisy jerked a shoulder. ‘Not unless it’s supersonic or something. Can it?’
‘Oh, Daze.’
Daisy swivelled round to see Jacie wearing the same worried frown as Juno.
‘What? What is it?’ Why were they looking at her like that?
‘How late are you?’ Juno asked gently.
‘Only…’ She did a quick calculation. Oh, God, she’d been due for over two weeks.
‘I think we better get you a home pregnancy test,’ Juno said without waiting for her answer. ‘Just to be on the safe side,’ she finished hopefully.
‘You have to tell him, Daisy.’
Daisy’s fingers fisted on the plastic stick, her whole body trembling. She had to be dreaming this, surely. Or having a nightmare. She could not be expecting Connor Brody’s baby.
Juno’s hand squeezed her shoulder. ‘You know that, right?’
‘It’s not true. Maybe we should do another. There must be some mistake. He’ll never believe me if I tell him. I don’t believe me.’
‘We’ve done three tests already,’ her friend said. ‘There’s no mistake. And unless it’s the immaculate conception, Mr Superstud is the father.’ Juno took a weary breath. ‘You should go over there now and tell him, get it out the way. Then you can start thinking about what you’re going to do.’
Daisy dropped the plastic stick on top of the others in her waste-paper bin, her mind whizzing like a Catherine wheel. The three pink plus signs floated in front of her eyes like something out of a Salvador Dali painting.
‘I’m going to call Maya,’ Juno whispered, her hand still gripping Daisy’s shoulder. ‘So you can discuss your options.’
Daisy placed her hand on her abdomen, rubbed. Her heart rate finally calmed down enough so that she could grasp one wonderful, impossible truth. ‘Juno.’ She looked up at her friend, tears of joy pricking her lids. ‘I’m going to be a mummy.’
Tears welled in Juno’s eyes too, to match the ones now flowing freely down Daisy’s cheeks. ‘So you’re going to have it?’
Daisy nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, I am. I know the circumstances are a total disaster, but I could never do anything else.’
Juno clasped her hand over Daisy’s. ‘Whatever happens, I’ll be here to help and so will Mrs V and Jace and everyone else you know. And that’s a lot of people. You’re not alone.’
‘I know.’ Daisy nodded and sniffed. Why had she ever thought she didn’t have a family?
Juno wiped the moisture away, slanted Daisy a wobbly grin. ‘Enough hearts and flowers. When are you going to tell Brody?’
Daisy’s heart stopped. The moment of euphoria faded to be replaced by a terrible wave of grief. ‘I’m not.’
‘Don’t be silly. You have to tell him. He has a right to know.’
‘I can’t tell him,’ she said dully, the awful reality of what that meant finally dawning on her.
‘A
re you worried he’ll try and make you have an abortion?’ Juno said carefully.
Daisy shook her head. ‘No, he wouldn’t do that.’ She stared at her hands, the knuckles whitening as she twisted them in her lap. ‘Actually I think he’d do the opposite.’ She remembered what Jessie had told her about the pregnancy scare with his last girlfriend. ‘There’s a core of honesty, of goodness in him. He’ll feel responsible and he’ll want to do the right thing. I couldn’t bear that.’
‘But, Daisy, in this case he is responsible. Partly responsible. You didn’t get pregnant on your own.’
‘But he doesn’t want to be a father.’ She pictured the way he’d looked when he’d told her about his own family, that sunny day a million years ago in Central Park. ‘He had a miserable childhood, Juno. His father was violent, abusive. But he didn’t blame his dad for what he did to him and to his brother and sisters. Honestly, when he was telling me about it, reading between the lines, it was like he blamed himself. I think that’s why he’s so scared of making a commitment. I’m not going to force it on him. I love him, how could I?’ she said, placing her hands on her belly.
Juno stood up and paced across the room. ‘That is such a load of total rubbish.’ She stabbed an indignant finger at her friend. ‘Stop being such a martyr. It’s not your fault you got pregnant.’
‘I know, but I want this baby.’ She caressed her stomach, felt the jolt of emotion. ‘Whatever the problems, the challenges, the difficulties I’ll have to face. This is like a dream come true for me.’ Maybe not the whole dream, but a good part of it. ‘I think it could well be Connor’s worst nightmare.’ And then another thought occurred to her. ‘Plus, I spent my whole childhood around men that didn’t want to be my dad. I know how inadequate that can make you feel. I’m not going to put my own child through that. I couldn’t.’