Chapter 4 A father's realisation

Victor's heart pounded as he raced via the town, stealing glances at Rose in the passenger seat. Her face changed into pale, palms clutched protectively over her belly. The mystery he'd just discovered weighed heavily on his mind, but proper now, all that mattered was getting Rose to the medical institution.

They screeched to a halt on the emergency room entrance. Victor leaped out, rushing to Rose's facet. As he supported her weight, he was struck with the aid of how small and fragile she felt in his palms. A surge of protectiveness washed over him.

"It's going to be ok," he murmured, greater to himself than to Rose. "I'm right here. I'm not going everywhere."

The next few hours were a blur of medical doctors, assessments, and stress ready. Victor paced the ready room, his mind a whirlwind of feelings. What if something came about to the baby? To Rose? The concept made his chest tighten with fear.

Finally, a physician approached. "Mr. Maxwell ? Ms. Walker is asking for you."

Victor rushed into the room, heart in his throat. Rose lay within the clinic mattress, searching exhausted but relieved. "Victor," she stated softly, reaching out her hand.

He took it without hesitation. "How are you? Is the child...?"

Rose nodded, a small smile gambling on her lips. "We're both first-rate. It became simply severe dehydration and stress. The medical doctor says I want to keep it clean for a while."

Relief flooded via Victor. He sank into the chair beside her bed, still protecting her hand. "I turned into so scared," he admitted, voice barely above a whisper.

Rose's eyes widened in wonder. "You had been?"

Victor nodded, assembling her gaze. "I recognize I've been a jerk, Rose. But seeing you in pain, thinking something would possibly occur to you or the infant... It made me realize how much I care."

Tears welled up in Rose's eyes. "Oh, Victor..."

A nurse entered with an ultrasound system. "Ready to look at your toddler?" she asked cheerfully.

As the bushy image seemed on the display screen, Victor felt his breath capture. There, in black and white, turned into a tiny, best little being. His baby. Their baby.

"Oh my god," he whispered, eyes glued to the screen. "That's... It really is our child."

Rose squeezed his hand, tears streaming down her face. "Yeah," she stated softly. "That's our baby."

In that second, searching at the tiny existence they had created collectively, all of Victor's fears and doubts melted away. He knew, with absolute truth, that he wanted to be a part of this. To be a father, to be there for Rose and their toddler.

As they left the health facility that nighttime, Victor decided. "Rose," he said, assisting her into his vehicle. "I want to be worried. In everything. Doctor's appointments, birthing training, it all. If you will permit me."

Rose studied his face, searching for any signal of insincerity. Finally, she nodded. "Okay," she stated quietly. "But Victor, I want to understand, is this just about the child? Or is there... Is there something greater among us?"

Victor opened his mouth to reply, heart racing. But earlier than he could speak, his cellphone rang. It became his grandfather's range.

"I'm sorry," he stated to Rose, torn. "I need to take this. It might be about his health."

Rose nodded expertise, but Victor couldn't leave out the flash of disappointment in her eyes.

As he spoke back the call, Victor saw an acquainted automobile pull into the health facility parking zone. It turned into James. What turned him on right here?

"Victor," his grandfather's voice got here through the phone, sounding urgent. "We want to speak. It's approximately Rose. I've determined some things that modify the entirety."

Victor's thoughts raced. What ought Richard have discovered? And how would it have an effect on their budding dating and the child?

He glanced at Rose, who had fallen asleep within the passenger seat. She regarded it as peaceful, one hand resting protectively on her stomach. Victor felt a surge of love, mixed with a gnawing guilt about the secret he became keeping from her.

As they drove towards his grandfather's estate, Victor could not shake the feeling that the whole thing became approximately to trade. For better or worse, the existence he knew changed into slipping away, replaced by a way of something new and unknown.

But searching at Rose, feeling the warm temperature of her hand in his, Victor found out he wasn't afraid. Whatever got here next, they could face it together. As a circle of relatives.