wrath of the Sea Queen (133 page)

He
held up the plastic bag and
inspected the tube
within.  I
t took a moment for him to register exactly what he was seeing.  The two crossed lines in the little window clearly indicated a positive result.  When Vin finally
made
the connection, he grabbed up the paper again and read it carefully.  He could not believe what he was seeing. 
He
ha
d suspected it for weeks.  Vin realized
that
he
ha
d
known all along
, but
t
h
e distract
ion of
her
recent
illness
kept him from pursuing the truth
. 
Now he understood why C
a
eli was being so playful and
had
fixed all of his favorites this morning.  This truly was going to be a
good
day; one he would remember vividly.  He was going to be a dad!  C
a
eli was pregnant!

Salma looked up from her plate
,
aiming a questioning look at Ben as she heard Vin calling and saw C
a
eli leaving the lounge.

"
What's that all about?
"
  She asked Ben, but it was Max who answered as Vin came running in, still shirtless, with a huge grin on his face
.  He
nearly r
an
into C
a
eli as he turned the corner in a rush
,
still h
o
ld
ing
the paper in his hand.

"
Is it true? 
Is it r
eally
true
?
"

C
a
eli
nodded and laughed.  Vin kissed her and picked her up by the waist,
enjoying the
tingling sensation
, which he now understood
. 
For
some
reason
,
t
he baby
responded to
Vin's
touch
. 
He
spun
C
a
eli
around, smiling and laughing with her.

"
Pretty C
a
eli is going to be a Mama,
an
d Mr. Vin is going to be a Papa,
"
Max announced.

"
Ben, Salma, we're going to have a baby!  I'm going to be a dad!
"
  Vin
could not contain his excitement
.  He wanted to share the good news
with everyone
.  C
a
eli stood
a step
behind him smiling
and
basking in Vin's
happiness
.

"
Congratulations!
"
  Ben offered with a big grin
,
walking over to shake
Vin's
hand.

"
Congratulations!  This is wonderful news,
"
Salma added as she got up from the table
and walked over to join them
, shooting C
a
eli a quick questioning look
.
  C
a
eli shrugged her shoulders and nodded affirmatively in response.
 
It was true, after all. 
Noticing the paper Vin was holding,
Salma
added
a comment for Ben
.

"
It s
eems like the
missing page from my lab report
has also been discovered
.
"
  Salma looked over at Ben, who sheepishly hung his head.

"
I'm sorry.  It wasn't my
news to divulge
, and I didn't want her surprise to be ruined if the test wasn't vital to her treatment
and you didn't already know
,
"
Ben replied.

"
Ben, y
ou knew?  This is what you discovered?
 
And you didn't say anything? 
How could you not say anything or drop me a clue?  You're supposed to be my best friend?"  Vin teased.

"It's not his fault.  I wanted to surprise you.  I swore them both to secrecy."

"
Both?  You both knew?"  Vin couldn't believe they'd been able to keep it a secret.  Either
C
a
eli
had only recently told them or she had used very good leverage to ensure their cooperation.  Vin just shook his head in amusement.  Leave it to
C
a
eli
to find a way to silence the two people in the world that no one else could manipulate.

"
C
a
eli,
is
this
what you
've been
trying to tell me?
 
That's why you were upset.  It wasn't about how bad you were feeling at all. 
You've been worried about how all this
might
affect the baby?
"
  Vin asked incredulously,
yet beaming his fabulous smile
.
  He immediately understood her concern.
  Vin could read her like a book.

"
Yes
, but
the first test
I took
was unclear
.
I wanted
Salma
to confirm it before I told you.
 
As sick as I was, I was afraid it might not be true
. 
If not, I didn't want you to worry over nothing. 
In fact, for a little while, I
even
convinced myself
and Salma
that it wasn't
true
; and then
we kept
getting
separated or interrupted
. 
There was no good time to explain it all. 
As for
Ben
,
I don't know how, but
he
figure
d
it out
. 
Thankfully, Salma fixed me up, and I was still able to surprise you
.
"
C
a
eli stepped forward to take Vin's hand and rescue a squirming Ben, who did
n
o
t
enjoy
being on the other side of the interrogation table.  Salma came up and gave C
a
eli and Vin each a big hug.

"
W
ow!  I can't believe it.  In another few…C
a
eli, how far along are you?  I got so excited, I forgot to ask?
"

"
M
aybe
six or
seven
weeks
; I'm not entirely certain.
"

"That explains the new outfit!  In fact, it explains your entire wardrobe recently.  You've been dropping hints, haven't you?
"

C
a
eli's smile broadened.

"
Everything that you've worn recently has had
baby
blue in it. 
I should have caught on sooner. 
I suspected you might be having morning sickness
recently
, but when you
r
condition
got
worse
…oh, C
a
eli!  This is wonderful!"

Vin placed his hand on C
a
eli's stomach and sighed
as the tingling sensation
recurred
.  He could hardly believe it, and he could
n
o
t get the silly grin off his face.  He
didn't
realize that he would feel this strongly.  Vin figured that if
C
a
eli
ever did get pregnant,
it
would be
nice
and he would enjoy being a dad.  He did not realize how
truly
excited he would be now that
he
faced the
reality
.  But it was
real
, and the
idea
of having created a new life with C
a
eli was thri
lling.

Vi
n
hoped he would be a good father
. 
Never having known his own parents
and having grown up in a
n orphanage and a
succession of foster homes
, Vin did not have the best parental
examples
to
follow
. 
He knew
without question, however,
that
C
a
eli w
as going to
be a great mom.