d under her elbow and drew her onto the street. She walked easily beside him, her height almost equal to his. It was a warm night, and people were everywhere, but somehow the street afforded an anonymity not offered by the restaurant.
“I hate the thought of you being with someone else,” she said after a moment, the words anguished.
“Why?” His response was cold, not borne of bitterness so much as a lack of compassion. “You had me. We were married. You’re the one who ruined that.”
“I didn’t realize until you left.” She shook her head from side to side, her hair loose around her face.
“What else could I have done?” He tilted his head to hers, his eyes flashing with anger and resentment.
“You married me, for better or for worse.”
“I don’t know who I married,” and the words throbbed with his anger. “You lied to me, Marie. You lied to me about everything. I can’t forgive you for that.”
A single tear escaped her eye, rolling slowly down her cheek. “But you still love me.”
Guilt flooded him. Guilt over the demise of what they’d been, and what they’d lost. Something special and irreplaceable. “We’re over,” he said softly.
“Please, Theo, let me…”
“I don’t want to hear it,” he interrupted stonily. “You made your bed and you’ll have to lie in it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s somewhere I have to be.”
*
“That’s so cold.”
Theo squeezed Imogen’s hand as she reacted to the sensation of the ultrasound gel with a low laugh. The ultrasound tech was, perhaps, completely devoid of personality. He impersonated a brief smile and waved the wand over Imogen’s stomach, his eyes focused on the screen.
It boasted a grainy black and white image, but it was just that – grainy. No clarity, no obvious baby swimming around in there. Imogen stared at it, and, when the technician didn’t say anything, she leaned forward. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
His eyes flicked towards them and he nodded. “I’m just feeling my way around.” He pressed the wand harder against her abdomen, and a small frown sat on his face.
“What is it?” Theo could tell something was wrong too and that both instantly terrified and reassured Imogen. If Theo was worried, then it was bad. But he was also right there with her, and he could fix it. He could fix anything.
The technician didn’t respond immediately and Imogen squeezed Theo’s hand tighter, trying to take strength from him, needing comfort and not knowing how to ask for it. He lifted it and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, his smile kind. “I’m sure it just takes a moment,” he said gently, but when his eyes lifted to the technician’s they were loaded with impatience. “Right?”
“Right.” The technician nodded and now his smile was relaxed as he spun the screen for them to see. “Everything’s looking good. You’re around fifteen weeks along,” he said moving the wand, pressing it harder so Imogen winced a little. But what was pain when the tiny little image of her child was on a screen in front of her. She squeezed Theo’s hand again and this time, he squeezed it back.
“Fifteen weeks and three days,” she grinned, unable to pull her eyes from the screen.
“That’s about right.” The technician moved his hand to the keyboard and pressed a few buttons, clicked something round and then returned to the scan.
He studied the images for several minutes longer, occasionally nodding and humming and it wasn’t until Theo lifted a finger to Imogen’s cheek that she realized she was silently crying, tears streaming from her eyes as she looked at the screen and tried to make out the significance of what she was seeing.
“So, this is the baby,” the technician offered after a few more moments.
“Where is it?” Imogen responded, her eyes darting across the screen, a frown on her face.
“Here. See the curve of the back, the head is here. The cord. You’ll have another scan in five to six weeks and we’ll be able to make out more detail then. Organs, gender, that kind of thing. But all you need to know now is that you have all the indications of a normal pregnancy at this stage.”
Imogen nodded, but it still felt so incredibly surreal. “Would you like to hear the heartbeat?”
She made a garbled sound that could have been a ‘yes’ or a ‘oh, yes, yes!” and Theo laughed softly.
“Please.”
Imogen held her breath but then, as clear as day, came the rhythmic thud thud thud of a baby’s heart. Theo squeezed her hand and when she looked up at him he had the most beautiful, awe-struck expression on his handsome face. He was all-man, powerful, successful, and totally brought to his knees by the emotion of that moment.
“It’s beautiful,” he said, his words thick.