Page 24 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

Tara was sitting on the edge of a chair in Dion’s office, tense.He was standing facing away from her, looking out of the window, hands behind his back.The doctor’s disembodied voice, coming from the phone on the desk, hung in the air.

As if startled out of a reverie, Dion turned around and said, ‘Yes, please do.’

The doctor coughed a little and then said, ‘Well, the test is ninety-nine point nine per cent conclusive that Tara Simons is Niko’s mother.’

Tara felt a surge of emotion and looked at Dion, who was looking at the phone, his expression unreadable.Then he said, ‘Is there any possibility it’s not correct?’

Tara absorbed that like a blow to her belly.

The doctor said, ‘Of course, we can run the test again, or you could go elsewhere, but I think you’ll find that—’

‘No, that’s fine, thank you for your time.’Dion came over and reached forward and pressed a button, cutting off the doctor.

Reeling a little with the confirmation shewasNiko’s mother, Tara said jokily to hide her hurt, ‘You really don’t want me to be Niko’s mother, do you?’

He looked at her and his eyes were dark.No hint of gold today.‘It’s nothing personal.’He waved a hand.‘This is not how I expected things to go.I had never intended having any kind of relationship with the mother.’

Still feeling hurt and defensive now, Tara said, ‘For what it’s worth, I’m glad Niko will have a mother.He has a whole family in Ireland, aunts, uncles…presumably cousins one day.Did you consider that?’

To Tara’s eye, Dion went a little pale.‘No,’ he admitted.‘But you’re assuming a lot to think Niko’s life will intersect with theirs.’

Tara stood up.‘Intersect?He’s not a Venn diagram.’

They stared at one another across the space.And then Dion said, ‘You’ll probably want to make arrangements to go home now, I can organise that for you.’

‘Why would I want to leave?My son is here!’

‘You have a career to get back to.Your family.’

‘I hadn’t actually got a job placement yet and for the first time in my life my family don’t depend on me for everything.They’re all adults now.’

‘Well, what are you proposing?’

Tara felt cornered, under pressure.‘I don’t know yet.But all I know is that I don’t want to leave Niko.’Or you.It sneaked into her head even as she was wondering what she’d ever first seen in this man.Had he ever been charming?Right now he couldn’t be more closed-off, cold.And yet something about him called to her—beyond the physical—deep inside in some emotional place that she couldn’t deny.She’d felt it the first time they’d met.

‘You froze your eggs in a bid to control when you’d have children after becoming a mother too young.Howlong will it take before you start to resent Niko for taking your freedom again?’

Tara shook her head.‘I did that because the option was available to me and it seemed to make sense for lots of reasons, not least of which is because I can’t take for granted that getting pregnant would be easy for me.’

Dion pointed out, ‘You have four siblings.I doubt fertility will be an issue.’

Tara lifted her chin, ‘It still could be, in spite of family history, and that’s a luxury women don’t have—endless time to wait and have children.’

He had the grace to look slightly sheepish.‘Fair point.’His expression hardened again.‘That still doesn’t assure me that you’d not end up resenting Niko and ultimately abandoning him to take up your life again.’

Tara put her hands out, ‘This isn’t what I’d planned but, as I’ve learnt, life doesn’t always go according to plan.My parents shouldn’t have died so young, but they did.But they left us with a legacy of unconditional love and endless encouragement.I have a son now, and I will give him the same as my parents gave me.My life is with Niko and I will never resent him for that.And if that means taking up work here, and living here to be near him, then so be it.Only time and my commitment to my son will prove that to you.’

His gaze narrowed on her now and she felt a frisson of trepidation.He said, ‘The clinic messed up.Badly.I should be taking legal action against them.’

Tara’s insides curdled.‘You can’t.This wasn’t Mary’s fault but it could ruin them.She’d lose her job.’

‘But how many other people might have been affected by someone’s shoddy work ethic?’

Tara swallowed uncomfortably.She couldn’t answer that.‘Maybe there’s a way to let them know about the mistake without going as far as suing them.I’ll do anything.’She crossed her fingers behind her back because she wasn’t going to leave Athens.Not even for this.Not now she knew Niko was hers.She felt a very primal urge to stay close to him.

Dion looked at her for a long moment and Tara, who’d never really given her appearance much thought, was suddenly acutely aware of her bed hair roughly pulled back and up into a knot.The same jeans as yesterday, albeit with a fresh T-shirt.She must look like a messy student.

‘Maria is doing a double shift, as you know.’