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‘Everything okay?’

‘I think so I have a long list of instructions You’d like them; they use words like exercise and vitamins’

‘That’s ot an hour and a half until the ’

‘I’ve just’ Polly waved towards the nurse ‘A scan To check everything is, you know, okay I won’t be long’

‘You’re very welcoht smile ‘Ready to meet baby?’

Confused words of refusal rose to Polly’s lips but when she started to speak nothing caht be nice to have so the whole thing

Indecision rit clearly on his face as he ran a hand over the dark stubble ‘Why not?’ he said after a moment

‘No, don’t worry,’ she began but he was already on his feet

‘Co you so much trouble’

Gabe had seen more than his fair share of scan pictures From the moment of his eldest niece’s conception it felt as if he had been asked to admire thousands of fuzzy pictures of alien blobs It wasn’t just his fa their social media ID photos hat, he was fairly sure, was an identikit picture

Secretly Gabe wondered if the whole thing was a scam, if there was just one photo that had been o and was palmed off on every expectant couple They probably made a fortune out of it

The nurse led them into a small room A chill shivered down Gabe’s spine and his storeen walls, the blind at the , the metal bed surrounded by machinery It was a different country, a different patient and yet utterly, achingly familiar

Old pains began to pulse in his li to control his breathing A cool hand touched his arm Gabe braced himself for pity