Miracle Christmas. Shirley Jump

that Rilla wasn’t suffering from a virus.

      If she was pregnant, did she know? Was she hiding it from him? Luca frowned. He didn’t think so. She genuinely thought she was run down—he’d stake his life on it. He passed a late-night pharmacy and quickly pulled the car over. Rilla murmured but didn’t wake, and he was in and out in two minutes.

      ‘Rilla.’ His voice was annoyingly husky in the hushed confines of the car and he cleared his throat. His brain had been formulating plans for the last few minutes and he was eager to get the ball rolling. ‘Rilla,’ he said again. Firmer. Louder.

      ‘Hmm?’ Rilla stirred.

      Luca watched as her eyes fluttered open and the slumberous look tinted her amber eyes an amazing shade of gold. She looked vulnerable and he felt a fist claw at his gut.

      Rilla almost sighed when she saw the soft black of Luca’s eyes staring back at her. ‘Are we here?’ she asked.

      Her sleepy voice and lazy smile were a potently sexy combination and Luca had to physically draw back from the temptation. ‘At my place, yes,’ he said, unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car before he did something truly insane like kiss her.

      Rilla sat up and looked out the window. Luca’s flat. Their flat. ‘I thought you were taking me home?’ she said as he opened the door and she allowed him to take her elbow and guide her out.

      ‘My place was closer.’ He shrugged. ‘You’re not well. I want to be able to keep an eye on you.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘Rilla!’ Luca interrupted. ‘Just humour me, OK?’

      Rilla knew she shouldn’t. She knew it was dangerous but would it hurt to let him take charge for one night? She was tired down to her bones and her stomach ached from being empty and ejecting its contents.

      ‘You know you really need to work on your flattery, Luca,’ she grumbled as she shut the car door and pushed away from the car.

      ‘Hey,’ Luca said, putting a hand on her elbow and drawing her back towards him so he could pick her up.

      ‘Oh, no,’ Rilla said, stepping out of his reach. ‘I’m fine now. I can walk.’

      ‘You’re weak,’ Luca insisted.

      ‘I’m fine,’ Rilla repeated, jutting her chin and staring him down.

      Luca saw the determined look in her eyes and he acquiesced, but kept a guiding hand beneath her elbow. He unlocked the front door and pushed it shut behind them.

      A vision of him taking her against it swamped him and he took a deep steadying breath before he turned back to her.

      ‘We need to talk,’ he said.

      ‘Not now, Luca, please. I’m tired and desperately need a shower,’ Rilla said.

      ‘In a moment,’ he said, steering her into the lounge and towards the couch.

      ‘Luca,’ she protested weakly.

      ‘Sit,’ he ordered, giving her a gentle push, knowing that she was so out on her feet a puff of wind could have blown her over.

      He held out the brown packet in which the pharmacy had put his purchase. ‘This is for you,’ he said.

      Rilla gave him an exasperated look as she took it. ‘What is it?’

      ‘Open it.’

      Rilla rolled her eyes but opened the bag, not remotely curious. She could barely keep her eyes open. She pulled out a long rectangular box and looked at it for several moments through bleary eyes before it made any sense. It was a home pregnancy test kit.

      ‘What the …?’ she said, her tired brain not quite computing the meaning as she looked at him.

      Luca knelt down. ‘You’re tired. You’re nauseous. And it’s been a month since we had sex. Unprotected sex. Are you still on the Pill?’

      Rilla stared at the box in a daze. ‘No. But … I had my period,’ she murmured, her brain coming awake now.

      Luca’s face fell. He felt stupidly disappointed. His planning on the drive hadn’t involved the not-pregnant contingency. His gut feelings had always been spot on.

      ‘It was pretty light, though. Didn’t last long,’ Rilla admitted. ‘I just put it down to all the stress with Bridie and work.’

      She was fully awake now. ‘Do you think …?’ She looked into Luca’s deep black gaze. ‘Do you think I could be pregnant?’ She didn’t even dare hope.

      ‘I think it’s a possibility. I think we should find out.’

      Rilla looked at the box. The one thing she wanted more than anything else. More than Luca to sign the papers. More than the NUM position. Could it be true?

      ‘Is your bladder full? Why don’t you go and use it?’ Luca suggested. The suspense was killing him but he could see Rilla was still processing the idea. He waited for a few more moments to prompt her. ‘Rilla?’

      ‘Hmm?’ she said, looking at him. His gaze was carefully neutral but there was a betraying nerve jumping under his left eye and she could tell he was clenching his jaw. The outcome would affect him as much as her. ‘Oh, yes, right.’

      She rose, clutching the box for dear life.

      ‘I’ll be right out here,’ Luca said as Rilla shut the toilet door on him.

      Rilla’s heart pounded and her hand shook as she opened the box. Could she really be pregnant? She pulled the toilet lid down and sat on it for a moment, absorbing the idea. Her hand found her abdomen and she placed it there, hoping for some psychic impulse to overcome her.

      Luca paced for five minutes. What was taking her so long? The test only took two minutes, for crying out loud. He knocked lightly on the door. ‘Rilla? Everything all right?’

      Rilla came out of her daze. ‘Er … yes, everything’s good.’

      ‘Have you done it?’ He tried not to be impatient but he felt excluded from the first indication of his baby and he needed to know.

      ‘Sorry … Hang on, doing it now.’ Rilla took a deep breath, almost too frightened to carry it out. What if it was negative?

      She rose and performed the necessary procedure but when it came to looking at the little window, she just couldn’t. It was like her whole future depended on one little cross and she couldn’t bear to look.

      She opened the door and thrust the test at Luca. ‘Here, you watch it,’ she said, brushing past him to wash her hands in the bathroom.

      Luca’s eyes were drawn to the plastic stick with the two windows. The test window had its pink line clearly visible to prove that the test was viable, and before his eyes a pink cross slowly appeared in the other window.

      It took a few moments for the implication to sink in to Luca’s consciousness. It gradually took hold as a reality and Luca felt a joy welling in him that he couldn’t deny. It started at his toes and worked its way through his body like a series of fireworks on New Year’s Eve. His heart beat with the pop and swirl of light and colour.

      Could it really be true? After all their history, all their misery, could something so wonderful actually have happened? He could barely move for fear the moment would disappear.

       He wanted this baby. He wanted this baby more than he’d ever wanted anything.

      It was impractical. Inconvenient. They were almost divorced. But he wanted it anyway.

      Rilla came out of the bathroom to see Luca holding the test up, a wide grin breaking across his handsome face. His eyes were glittering like moonlight on water. A little pink plus sign stared back at her.

       She was pregnant.

      She stared