Chapter Text
The sonographer smiled gently as she drew the curtain around the examination area.
"We'll make ourselves comfortable."
One narrow examination couch sat beneath a large ultrasound monitor mounted on an articulated arm. A battered metal trolley held bottles of gel, rolls of paper towels and neatly labelled folders. Beside it stood the ultrasound machine itself, humming quietly. A few faded photographs of newborn babies had been pinned to a corkboard near the sink, alongside handwritten thank-you cards from grateful parents. It felt strangely ordinary. For a moment Taggie wondered how many lives had changed inside this little room.
The sonographer looked between them all.
"So..." She smiled warmly "Who's staying in with you?"
Inside the room was everyone from the waiting room, Caitlin holding Taggie's hand, Freddie and Lizzie off in a corner together whispering conspiratorially, Maud was already slumped on the sofa with Declan standing nearby, Patrick had disappeared to get coffee and had not yet returned and right in the furthest corner of the room was Rupert. His eyes downcast, not daring to make a sound, let alone breathe,
"Who's staying in with you?"
Taggie looked automatically towards Declan and Maud. Declan gave her the smallest nod, walking out with his arm around Maud's shoulders. Lizzie and Freddie followed silently.
"I'm just outside," Caitlin said, giving her sister a kiss on the forehead.
She hesitated. Her eyes drifted across the room. Rupert hadn't moved since he'd arrived. He stood awkwardly beside the door, shoulders slightly hunched, hands buried deep inside his coat pockets as though he wasn't quite sure what he was allowed to do with them. He looked frightened. Taggie swallowed.
"...Rupert." His head lifted immediately. "Would you..."
She struggled to finish the sentence.
"like to... stay?"
For a second he simply stared at her. As though he genuinely believed he'd imagined it.
"Only if you're sure."
She wasn't. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. But she nodded anyway. He crossed the room carefully. Not the confident stride everyone associated with Rupert Campbell-Black. Almost tentative like someone approaching a wounded animal. The way Taggie imagined he approached his horses. He stopped beside the hospital bed; it was the same one Taggie had been lying in all day, but now it suddenly felt even more delicate.
"Here?"
She nodded again. He stood, leaving almost a foot between them. Close enough to be beside her. Far enough that she wouldn't feel trapped. Neither of them spoke.
The sonographer pulled on a fresh pair of gloves.
"First baby?" the sonographer asked kindly.
Taggie nodded her head.
"Yes."
Rupert spoke quietly.
"Not for me."
The sonographer glanced between them, sensing immediately that there was a story she wasn't meant to ask about.
"Right then," she said gently. "We'll take it nice and slowly."
"Well..." She reached for the bottle beside her. "This gel's always cold."
Taggie gave the tiniest nod.
"I've heard."
"I'm afraid everyone says that."
She squeezed a generous amount onto Taggie's stomach. The cold made her flinch despite herself.
"Oh." The sonographer laughed softly. "Sorry."
Rupert instinctively leaned forward.
"Are you alright?"
Taggie nodded.
"It's just cold."
He relaxed again. Only slightly.
The probe touched her skin. Grey shapes immediately filled the monitor. None of them made any sense. The sonographer studied the screen.
"Hmm..."
She tilted the probe slightly. Then again.
"There we are."
She rotated the monitor so it faced them both.
"Can you see?"
Neither of them answered.
Rupert frowned.
"I..." He leaned closer. "I don't know what I'm looking at."
"Nobody ever does." The sonographer smiled. "Even if you've done it a few times"
She pointed with one finger.
"This little round shape here."
Both of them followed her hand.
"That's baby's head."
Taggie blinked.
"Oh..."
"And this..." She moved the probe a fraction. "...is their tummy."
Rupert stared. Their. Not it. Their. The word echoed strangely around his head.He remembered this feeling from Tabitha and Marcus, the feeling of utter awe. However it felt even stronger with Taggie, this was their child. A child with a woman he genuinely loved. This was different.
The sonographer continued gently.
"And these..." Another tiny movement. "...are little arms."
Taggie let out the smallest gasp.
"I can see them."
"You can?" Rupert leaned even closer. "I still..."
She smiled despite herself.
"That's one little arm." She adjusted the probe slightly. "And there's the other."
Another tiny movement crossed the screen.
"Baby's moving beautifully."
He looked again. Then suddenly he laughed.
"I see it." His voice broke into something almost boyish. "I see them."
Taggie couldn't stop looking, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. The sonographer pressed another button and the room filled instantly with a rapid rhythmic sound. Rupert let out the smallest laugh, It escaped before he realised. Half laugh. Half sob. He covered his mouth immediately.
"Sorry..."
The sonographer smiled kindly without taking her eyes from the monitor.
"Don't apologise." She'd heard it countless times before. "Everybody cries."
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Fast.
Incredibly fast.
Taggie's entire body went still. The sonographer smiled.
"There's the heartbeat."
Neither of them breathed.
Rupert's eyes remained fixed on the monitor.
"...That's..." He swallowed hard. "...that's really them?"
The sonographer smiled.
"Would you like to see something?"
She adjusted the probe again. A tiny shape shifted across the screen.
"There."
Rupert frowned.
"What am I looking at?"
"Baby's hand."
Taggie leaned forward instinctively, It happened again. The tiniest movement. Barely more than a twitch. Rupert's breath caught.
"They moved."
The sonographer nodded.
"Yes."
Rupert couldn't take his eyes off the screen.
"They really moved..."
Nobody answered him. Nobody needed to.
"And it's..." He looked completely overwhelmed. "...it's healthy?"
"A lovely strong heartbeat."
Rupert closed his eyes for a moment. He'd thought he'd experienced this before. He hadn't. He'd never stood beside someone he loved like this. He'd never looked at a tiny blurred shape on a screen and seen the rest of his life staring back at him. The sonographer measured silently for another few moments.
"Everything looks exactly as I'd hope. You are measuring at approximately four months 6 days"
Taggie hadn't realised she'd started crying until a tear slid into her hair. She didn't wipe it away. Rupert noticed before she did. Quietly, he reached for the tissue box, his hand stopped halfway. He looked at her.
"May I?"
Taggie hesitated, then gave the smallest nod. He handed her a tissue and their fingers brushed. Only for a heartbeat, Rupert immediately began to pull away. Before he could, Taggie's fingers curled around his. She never looked at him. Her eyes remained fixed on the screen. Neither did Rupert's. But neither of them let go.
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head. Neither of them knew what she was answering. The sonographer kept talking softly while taking measurements.
"They're measuring beautifully."
Click.
"Everything's exactly where I'd expect."
Click.
Another tiny profile appeared.
"Oh..." She smiled. "I've got a lovely picture here."
She froze the image. The room fell silent again. Their baby. Tiny nose. Curved forehead. Little body curled in impossible perfection. Rupert forgot the rest of the room existed.
Forgot Declan.
Forgot Cameron.
Forgot Helen.
Forgot Parliament.
Forgot everything.
He simply stared, His child.
He'd spent four months believing he'd lost the woman he loved. Without ever knowing she'd been carrying the most precious thing either of them would ever create. His voice barely existed.
"...Hello."
Taggie looked at him.
He hadn't meant to say it aloud.
He smiled through tears.
"...Hi, little one."
Taggie closed her eyes for a moment. She'd imagined this moment a hundred different ways, none of them had sounded like that.
Something inside Taggie cracked. Not forgiveness. Never that. But something softer. She looked back at the monitor.
"They've got your nose."
Rupert smiled through tears.
"It's only a little blob."
Taggie shook her head.
"No." She studied the picture for another long moment. "That's your nose."
Rupert laughed softly.
"You can already tell?"
"Mmm." For the first time that day, the ghost of a smile reached her eyes. "Definitely."
The sonographer quietly pretended to concentrate very hard on the measurements. She'd seen hundreds of couples. Happy couples. Terrified couples. Separated couples. She knew enough not to interrupt whatever this was.
Eventually she reached for the printer.
"Would you like some pictures?"
Neither of them answered immediately.
Then, together...
"Yes."
They looked at one another. The first time all morning they'd spoken at the same time. The sonographer smiled to herself. The printer whirred softly. One photograph. Then another. She handed the first to Taggie. The second she paused and then handed it directly to Rupert. He accepted it with both hands as though it were something sacred. He stared at the tiny black-and-white photograph for what felt like forever.
"...I missed four months." His voice was barely audible.
Taggie looked down at her own copy.
"So did I."
He frowned.
She swallowed.
"I missed enjoying them."
Silence settled again.
Rupert finally looked at her.
"I can't get those months back."
"No."
"But..." His fingers tightened around the photograph. "...if you'll let me..."
He couldn't finish. Taggie watched him. His eyes never left the tiny picture. There wasn't a trace of charm left. No politician. No playboy. No Campbell-Black. Just a father meeting his child for the very first time. She looked back at the monitor, then down at the photograph resting in her hands.
Very softly, almost too quietly to hear...
"They're beautiful."
Rupert smiled through fresh tears.
"They really are."
The sonographer quietly switched off the monitor. The sudden silence felt almost shocking after the steady rhythm of the heartbeat. Rupert looked down at the tiny black-and-white photograph in his hands. Taggie still hadn't let go of his fingers. Neither of them seemed to notice, Neither of them was looking at the other. They were both looking at exactly the same tiny photograph. Four months earlier, they'd imagined a future together.
Now... They were imagining someone else entirely.