Belonging to the Iceman

The Birth

Nicolas and his wife were woken to the shrill ringing of his phone, the alarm clock on his bedside table read 1:36 am in bright red numbers.

Shantelle switched her bedside lamp on, giving her husband the light he needed to locate his still-ringing phone.

Finally, he found it, in the pocket of his leather jacket that was tossed on the chair in the corner of their Bedroom Suite, he and Shantelle had been out for dinner and a night out and had only been in bed for about an hour.

"Delphine" He panted "have you gone into labour?"

"YES! NICOLAS! PLEASE HURRY!" She shrieked, trying to breathe like they had taught her as she clutched her belly "OH. MY. GOD!!"

He was already frantically getting into his jeans, threw on a shirt and his jacket, kissed his wife and grabbed his keys, bolted out the door, leaving Shantelle alone and in her own, foreboding thoughts.

*

It took Nicolas just minutes to pick her up and rush her to the hospital, with no one on the roads he had a quick and clear run.

"M. Prost et Mlle Frey!" A nurse said, helping poor Delphine into a wheelchair, Nico held her overnight bag as they hurried down the corridor to one of the delivery rooms.

*

Shantelle opened the door to see Sacha, Alain, and Anne Marie on her doorstep with a bunch of flowers and a picnic basket.

"Nicolas told us that Delphine had gone into labour so we're here to keep you company, Shantelle dearest!" Alain said with a smile, he knew what she was going through, but as if suddenly something had just snapped inside of her she left them standing at the door in shock and headed back into the warm house, going straight back to bed.

She didn't want Delphine to have that baby, for she knew that it was Nicolas'.

Worry filled her heart, where would she go? Back home to Brisbane? Kimi was dating Amelia Stuart now, she couldn't go running to him.

As she allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks, Alain cautiously came into the bedroom "Shantelle, ma fille" He said tenderly, as he carefully sat down next to her on the bed and gently pushed the hair back from over her face, however when he saw her tears he felt his heart wrench painfully in his chest.

"Venez ici ma belle fille, s'il vous plaît ... ne pleure pas! Il déchire mon pauvre cœur en morceaux voyant les larmes coulent sur ton beau visage! Nicolas ne vous aime pas moins, il ne vous laissera pas, il peut simplement avoir pour s'assurer un enfant et sa mère est bien pris en charge! Vous voulez dire trop pour lui de le laisser s'éloigner de votre amour merveilleux! Croyez-moi, il veut fonder une famille avec vous!" He said softly.

To his shock, Shantelle just laughed "il peut déjà avoir commencé sa propre famille Alain!" She said, the bitterness in her voice.

He gave her a look as if she was talking absolute rubbish "Don't be stupid Shantelle Alissa Prost!"

She was determined not to back down "You know people fall out of love Alain when Nicolas sees that baby and IF it is his, his heart is just going to melt and he'll forget all about me!"

He gave her a look and said "Ann Marie stayed with me even though I had an affair with Victoria's Mother..."

Shantelle gave him a look and snapped "of course she did, you're loaded!"

He abruptly cut her off and snarled "Oh, au nom du ciel, ma Shantelle! Vous savez que vous êtes un Prost!"

"By marriage Professor, not by blood! At any time Nicolas could just tell me he's 'fallen' out of love and wants a divorce!" She snapped, in turn cutting him off.