THE DREAM CHILD (21 page)
Authors: Emma Daniels
He finally dared to look up and meet her gaze. Her expression gave nothing away as she gazed seriously back at him.
“That was a pretty convincing argument, Vic, but have you thought about how much it’s going to change your life-style? No more going out whenever you feel like it, interrupted sleep, dirty nappies and toys everywhere, Not to mention all my stuff cluttering up the place.”
“Is that you saying no?”
“No, I’m not saying no, I’m just asking if you’ve considered all the ramifications.”
“Sophie, I love you. I want you to be with me. I want our son to be with me. I know things won’t always be easy, but I’m prepared to work through whatever problem crops up. Are you?”
“Of course I am Vic. But –“
“Those dreams were given to us for a reason, and the reason was to show us we’re meant to be together, always.” He squeezed her fingers for emphasis. “At least think about it.”
“I am thinking about it, and yes, I’m tempted, but I have everything ready at home. It would mean moving with a new baby in tow.”
“Don’t worry about that. One of my bushwalking mates is a removalist. He owes me a favour. Between the two of us we could have everything moved before you come out of hospital. Honestly Sophie, it would make everything so much easier.”
“Would it?” she wondered out loud.
“Do you want a ring on your finger first? Is that it?” he asked seriously.
“I’ve never really considered a ring and a piece of paper makes a marriage. It’s the way two people feel about one another that counts… But we really have done everything back to front, haven’t we? Start with the baby and work our way back to the altar. Is that what you want to do Vic?”
“I want to make you happy, Sophie. I want to make our son happy. And I want the three of us to be together,” he said meaningfully, leaning closer, till his lips touched hers.
It had been so long since she’d tasted his kiss, and suddenly Sophie wanted nothing more. She returned his kiss, gently savouring the taste of him. She touched his cheek with her other hand, gently stroking his face.
“Yes, I’ll move in with you,” she said, when he finally drew back to gaze into her eyes. “And Iet’s call our son, Adrian Nicholas Rose? How does that sound?”
Victor almost fainted with happiness, but covered it with a joke. “I had terrifying visions of the poor kid getting teased with the double barrel name of Rose-Bloome,” he admitted with a grin.
“I’d never even thought of that, but it does sound rather silly now that you come to mention it.”
“As for the other issue, I really do think we should get married some day soon,” Victor added.
“Truly!” Sophie gasped. “You really are serious about all this, aren’t you?”
“No, just serious about my new family,” he said cupping her face for emphasis.
“How about we see if we get on first? This is all happening so fast, and it’s easy for you to say all these things now, but wait until we’ve been together for six months and the novelty has worn off.”
“The novelty will never wear off, because we are meant to be. The dreams told us so,” he told her earnestly.
“I think you hold more trust in those dreams than I do,” Sophie replied, wishing with all her heart she could believe him, but she’d tried marriage once, and seen it all gone sour. She didn’t want the same thing to happen with Victor, because she already knew she cared for him more than she ever had for Duncan. She probably even loved him, but she had to see with her own eyes what kind of a husband he would make.
“Maybe I do, but you’ll see I’m right,” he said at last. “Things always happen for a reason.”
Voices in the corridor alerted them to the fact they were no longer alone, and a moment later, Marie barged into the room, followed by none other than Louise.
Still sitting on the bed beside Sophie, Victor wasn’t surprised to see Marie, since he knew she and Sophie had always gotten along well, but as far as he knew, Louise hadn’t even stopped to give Sophie the time of the day after her temporary promotion.
“Hello Sophie,” Marie greeted her friend with a wide and cheery grin, placing a gaily wrapped parcel in her lap, along with another bunch of flowers to add to her growing collection. “Did it hurt?” she asked, turning to glance into the crib containing the snoozing baby. “Of course it had to hurt. You’re so brave. Oh, he’s soooo cute,” she cooed down at the infant. Then she looked up at Victor, but before the words could leave her lips, Louise beat her to it,
“What the Hell is
he
doing here?”
Sophie and Victor exchanged glances.
“Shall I tell them, or will you?” Sophie said finally.
“Tell us what?” Marie asked, her brow puckering into a frown.
Louise merely continued to glare at Victor as though he was enemy number one.
“Um, he’s Adrian’s father,” Sophie finally said.
“What?” Louise and Marie asked at once.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked, you two,” Sophie said. “It’s not like it’s a biological impossibility.”
Victor gave a little snort of amusement.
“Oh no,” Louise moaned. “I thought it hadn’t worked, but all along it was
you.
” She pointed a shaking finger at Sophie, her chubby face awash with torment. “You had those dreams, didn’t you?
Didn’t you?
”
“H – how do you know about that?” Sophie asked shakily, her heart knotting painfully.
“
Because it was meant to be me!
I
was meant to have the dreams with Vic.” Huge tears welled in her eyes. “That baby should have been
mine.
”
“I think she’s finally lost it,” Marie murmured, her face pale with shock, but not as pale as Sophie had become.
Victor was starting to get a really bad feeling about this, and he didn’t like it one little bit.
He got to his feet and stood towering over Louise. “Explain yourself,”
“I – I cast a spell out of this really old book, months ago, nine months ago to be exact… I wanted a baby so much. I thought the chance had passed me by… until… until I found that spell. I worked so hard to make it work, focussed so hard on you.” She swallowed nervously as Victor glared down at her.
“I thought you hated me,” he said gruffly.
“Hated you? I loved you, always have, but of course, like every other man in the world, you prefer someone beautiful.”
“I’m not really beautiful,” Sophie said.
“Oh yes you are,” Victor told her, and then returned his attention to Louise. “So you cast a spell to try and get pregnant?”
Louise nodded miserably.
“And it backfired.” Sophie stated the obvious. “But how? How did
I
get pregnant instead?”
“The phone rang, and it must have distracted me. That’s why when the dreams didn’t come I thought it hadn’t worked.”
“Did you ever try again?” Victor asked.
“Yes, a few months ago. It didn’t work then either,” she mumbled miserably.
“I bet it was those other dreams,” Sophie murmured. “The ones telling us you were Adrian’s father…”
“What exactly did this spell say?” Sophie asked Louise. She should have known there had to be a logical explanation for those dreams.
But a magic spell? Cast by Louise?
Louise was sobbing openly now. “It was meant for one who truly desired new life, someone who was linked to a man with a broken heart… I thought that was me…” She stared pointedly at Victor. “And you.”
“Well, your spell didn’t backfire,” Sophie said softly. “It… it just didn’t work on you. And I’m sorry about that, but if you knew how hard I’ve tried to have a baby...” She trailed off as Louise’s tear filled eyes fell on Adrian.
“He should have been mine,” she sobbed, reaching for the crib. She took hold of the end of it and pulled it towards her, but Victor grabbed the other end, his superior strength preventing her from budging it, so she reached for the baby instead.
“
No!”
Sophie cried. Jumping out of the bed, she scooped Adrian protectively up into her arms.
“He’s mine,” Louise yelled. “Give him to me.”
Marie grabbed hold of Louise’s arm, but she shook her off.
Sophie took a step back, and Victor positioned himself in front of her.
“Get out, Louise,” he commanded.
“Please Vic?” Louise begged, gripping the front of his shirt. “You have Sophie now. Just give me the baby. You can have another one. This is my only chance.
Please?
”
“What’s going on in here?” a new voice asked, and a nurse poked her head around the doorway.
“I want this woman out of here,” Victor said, prising Louis’s hands from his shirt.
“You’re such a
bastard
,” she screamed at him, and a man wearing a security uniform walked into the room.
“What seems to be the trouble here?” the tall red-haired man asked.
“D – Duncan?” Sophie gasped, as she stared in shock at the impassive face of her ex-husband.
“This is Duncan?” Victor demanded, nodding in the direction of the older man. “What the Hell is
he
doing here?”
“For your information, I work here,” Duncan replied in his all too familiar belligerent tone. “What are
you
doing here Sophie? Has you sister had another baby?”
“No, Duncan,
I’ve
had a baby, with no help from you whatsoever. Now, if you wouldn’t mind doing your job and removing this woman from my room, I’d really like to get some rest.”
“Way to go Soph,” Marie said, once again taking hold of Louise’s arm. This time the tearful older woman let herself be let from the room by Marie and the other nurse.
Duncan merely continued to stand there staring at Sophie holding the baby, who appeared to have slept through all the commotion. His gaze then flicked to Victor who still stood partially in front of her, protecting her from all the insanity which had just taken place in her room.
“Well?” Victor asked him. “What are you staring at?”
“Um… um she’s… was my wife… Is he the father?” Duncan asked Sophie motioning to Victor.
“What do you think? Yes, he’s the father as well as the new man in my life. Now please just go away and leave us alone.”
But Duncan didn’t move. Victor thought he detected a touch of sadness cross the other man’s features. Well, it would serve him right if he regretted leaving such a wonderful woman.
“She told you to leave,” Victor repeated. “You might be the security guard here, but I’m sure you have a boss I can call.”
Duncan shook his head, and then with a deep sigh, he slowly walked from the room.
Sophie collapsed back against the bed, and Victor turned to help her back into it. He offered to return Adrian to his crib, but she declined. “I think I prefer to hold onto him for a while… Oh Vic…” And before she knew it, tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Victor sat down beside her and gathered her and their son close.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against her hair. “That should never have happened. I should strangle Marie for bringing that crazy woman in here.”
“Oh Vic, how was she to know?” Sophie cried, gulping back a sob. “Poor Louise! Think about it for a moment. She wanted a baby so much she was prepared to dabble in the dark arts. She obviously had a crush on you that went back years.”
“And I would have been having erotic dreams about her instead of you,” he growled against her ear, and she felt him shudder.
Suddenly Sophie laughed. “That’s right. You would have. Eek.”
“Yes eek,” he agreed.
They both collapsed back against the pillows and laughed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Vicky asked Sophie when she rang her mother to tell her that she'd agreed to move in with Victor. "I mean you haven't even spoken to one another for months, not until he turned up again out of the blue the other day."
"Yes Mum. I know what I'm doing. You can still come down to check that everything is going to be OK if you want."
"So you've just given him the keys to your place and let him do what he wants," her father cut in on the other line. "I really don't think that's a good idea."