CHAPTER THIRTY
Three months later …
Carter
Our first Christmas is almost upon us. I’ve never cared about celebrating that day, but this year is going to be different. This year I have Indiana. She’s my new beginning. Having her living here has been incredible. I never knew life could be this good. The person I was before meeting her has gone. I actually love waking up every day now. I look forward to it because I get to be with her.
Last week we even went shopping and bought a Christmas tree for the apartment. We decorated it together. It was nice. Yesterday I put the first present underneath it. I busted her shaking it this morning, trying to guess what’s inside. She’ll never guess. I knew she’d snoop, so I put the smaller box inside a larger one.
It’s something special. Something I’ve wanted to give her since she moved in with me. I actually bought it a few months ago, but I’ve been waiting for the right time. Christmas is the perfect opportunity.
I love having her working next door to me. Her clinic is going great guns. She’s even hired another veterinarian because she was run off her feet. Her name is Sarah-Jane. Indi’s really happy with her.
Megan is working for her as well. She’s Indi’s receptionist. Drew ended up getting a new IT job up this way, so they bought a house not far from us. Indiana was so excited when she found out Megan was going to be living in Newcastle. Drew and I have become good friends. He’s a nice guy. The four of us do a lot together.
Indiana had her three-month check-up two weeks ago. We drove down to Sydney Friday morning for her appointment and spent the weekend with our parents. The oncologist called her later that day to say her test results came back negative. She’s still cancer free. It was a huge relief. Even though she seems fine, it’s still lingering in the back of my mind. I still worry that it may come back. He wants to see her again in three months’ time. If all goes well then her appointments will change to six monthly.
••••
A week before Christmas, we’re both flat out. We’re going to close for a week over the holidays, so we can spend some quality time together. Indi hasn’t been getting much sleep the last few nights. She has a sick dog staying at the clinic. He was brought in with paralysis, caused by a tick. She medicated him and has him on a drip, but it’s still touch and go. She’s been getting up during the night to go check on him. She’s going to be devastated if he doesn’t make it, I know it.
I love how much she cares, but in her line of business she has to have a certain amount of detachment or she’ll never survive it. She’s even gotten involved with a local animal shelter. She does all the immunisations and procedures on the strays, for free. She has a board set up in the waiting room of her clinic, with pictures and stories of all the animals on death row. She has helped find the majority of them new homes. She amazes me. I’m sure if our yard wasn’t so small, she’d adopt the ones she can’t help place. It’s sad, but a part of life I’m afraid.
Last night I offered to go and check on the dog, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I’d noticed the dark circles under her eyes during the day, and it worried me. I knew it was from lack of sleep. Well, that’s what I thought until I found her with her head in the toilet bowl, vomiting, this morning. It brought all my worries to the forefront, so even though she protested, I hauled her arse straight to the doctors.
He took some blood and a urine sample, and we sat there waiting for two hours for the results to come back. I wasn’t leaving until we had answers. She kept telling me she was fine, but until I knew for sure, we weren’t going anywhere.
“Stubborn arse,” she sneers after I refuse her demands to go home. It brings a smile to my face. I’ll never get sick of her sass. I fucking love it too much.
“Takes one to know one,” I retort like a child. She folds her arms over her chest and narrow’s her eyes at me. Our little standoff is interrupted when the nurse calls out her name.
“The doctor will see you now, Ms. Montgomery.” I stand and reach for her hand. She gives me a brief smile when I lace our fingers together. She can’t stay mad at me for long. I’m too damn irresistible.
“Take a seat,” the doctor says when we enter his room. Fuck I hate that we’re here. It brings back too many bad memories. I hope he has good news for us. “So, I have your results back Indiana. I’m not sure if this is planned, but congratulations. You’re pregnant.” What the fuck! I feel all the air leave my body. Did I just hear him right? She can’t be pregnant. We’re not married. I refuse to put my child through what I went through. There must be some mistake.
“Are you sure?” I ask. I can hear the shock and disbelief in my voice when I speak.
“Yes. Both the blood and urine tests confirm it.” His words are like a sucker punch to my gut.