When Storm Clouds Hover

4: Dom - Unwelcome news

Dom was half asleep in his room the night before he was due back to school, exhausted with his parent's problems. As the heat slowly lifted, he heard his phone vibrate on the night table. He raised his head groggily and glanced at the screen.

'Cal?' He hadn't expected his girlfriend to call so late; she should be at school already. He swiped the screen urgently.

The prolonged silence at the end of the phone made him wary. 'What's up? Are you okay?'

'I have to talk to you.' Pascal's voice was different.

Dom's heart beat a little faster. Everything had been going so great with them lately.

'What's happened?'

He sat up in bed abruptly. He hadn't felt so much for a girl before and hoped this was nothing serious.

'I'm sorry to call you so late, babe, but I've got something I need to tell you,' Pascal said. She hesitated. 'I'm finding it a bit hard.'

Anxiety began to chew at him.

She's cheated on me.

It was the first thing that flashed into Dom's mind. A stupid, childish thought that he immediately regretted. Must be his mother's constant criticism of Pascal, he told himself. Yesterday, she hadn't minced her words about his girlfriend's family.

'Cal, you can tell me anything,' Dom said comfortingly. 'You know that.' He meant it. Pascal was nothing like his mum thought she was. She was sweet.

'I know I can,' she said, 'but Dom, this is going to change everything. I wish I could talk to you about it in person, but I can't.' Dom could hear a quiver in her voice.

'I've just got back from school,' she said. 'My parents picked me up today. I'm not going back this term or...well ...ever actually.'

'What are you talking about?'

Pascal signed deeply. 'I'm just going to say it and get it over with. I know you're going to hate me after this.'

'Whatever you say, Cal, I'm not going to hate you.' Dom said firmly. 'That's just not possible.'

'Dom, I'm pregnant.'

'What the hell!' Dom yelped, holding his chest. 'Is this a joke?' He leaped from his bed, limbs shaking.

'Calm down...' Pascal said quickly. 'It's not yours.'

A wave of sheer relief washed over Dom. He dropped his phone to his chest for a moment, holding it against his chest. He began to pace, his dark shadow following him ominously on the walls of his bedroom. Taking a deep breath, Dom desperately tried to control his cascading thoughts. The inevitable fury arrived.

'What do you mean, it's not mine!' he hissed into the phone. 'Is there someone else you're sleeping with that I don't know about?'

Pascal sighed. 'Dom, I'm almost five months gone. The baby's Ollie's.' He could hear his girlfriend crying now. 'I told him today.' She gasped through her tears. 'He doesn't want anything to do with me or the baby.'

Dom was too shaken to comfort Pascal. He zoned out for a moment. The bizarre tunes of frogs singing outside his window seemed to get louder and louder. The sound of another voice in the background at the end of the line brought him back. He wondered if Pascal was with someone.

Rapidly his mind checked off the facts of the past couple of months. Ollie was Pascal's ex. Ollie used to go to Rosebay but was at Uni now. Pascal had broken things off with him to be with Dom. Or so she said.

That can't have been five months ago. Or was it?

There had been signs. At the beginning of the holidays, the couple had joked together about Pascal's boobs getting bigger. Dom wondered if she'd known then about the baby and kept it a secret from him while he was in Argentina. She must have.