Level One

Epilogue

Five weeks later

She was sure even before the test showed positive. She walked out of the bathroom and sat on the lounge. There would be no trips to the moon to visit Sarah for at least nine months. The effects of space travel and weightlessness could be dangerous. Now for the hard part. Time to face Laurence.

Tracy gave Laurence the news the following afternoon when he came to do his shift in the Nanotechnology lab.

"So you deliberately set out to get pregnant despite telling me not to take precautions because you were on the pill?" he said in a passive voice.

Tracy tried to read the expression on his face, but it was hard to tell if he was angry or not. "Yes," she said quietly.

"Then you lied to me."

"Yes."

"Those wonderful dates we went on and all the sex we had afterwards, just so you could get pregnant?"

"Yes, but Laurence I really did want to get back with you. I still do."

"You could have told me that. And you could have told me you wanted us to have a baby instead of going about it in such an underhanded way. This is a new low for you, Tracy."

"I know, and I'm sorry. But if I had have said to you I wanted to get pregnant, would you have agreed?"

"Probably not, at least not straight away."

"That's why I did it this way. It was important I get pregnant now. Again, I'm really sorry. But there's no pressure on you. We don't have to live together, we don't have to get married. If you don't want to have any part in our baby's life, I understand. I won't make any demands on you."

Laurence glared at Tracy, anger in his eyes. "How can you say there's no pressure on me? Of course there is. What sort of man would I be if I just walked away from you and our baby."

Tracy lowered her eyes. She didn't blame him for being angry. She had lied and manipulated him. He had every right to be furious with her. "There's no rush, Laurence. You don't have to make any decisions now. Take your time."

Laurence paused for a few moments and took a deep breath. "I don't need to think about it. We can announce our engagement in the next few days and get married in a couple of months before you show too much. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes," Tracy replied meekly, "Am I forgiven?"

"No, it will take a long time for that to happen. Maybe not until our son or daughter is born."

Tracy looked up at him. "Daughter. We're going to have a girl."

"How do know? You said you're only four weeks along?"

"I just know. I have a feeling."

"And knowing you I'm sure you have a name picked out already."

"No. We'll have plenty of time to do that together."

"Well it looks like we're going to be a family," Laurence said, almost in a bitter voice, "but Tracy I promise you this, if you ever try anything like this again instead of being open and up front with me, we're through." He turned and walked out of the room.

Tracy watched him go. She wished she could be completely honest and open with her future husband, but there was one thing she could never tell him.

Author's Note
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Thanks for reading.
Aurora