Shattered Dreams Ch. 04

When a woman becomes pregnant the timing of the pregnancy is commenced from the last period BEFORE concept. So when a woman misses her first period, two weeks after conception, she is said to be 4 weeks pregnant.

I hope this note helps readers be aware of the passage of time in this chapter.

SHATTERED DREAMS - PART FOUR

Nearly four weeks had passed since Janey had told her mother that she was pregnant. One of the first things her father had insisted was that she attend counselling. He insisted that she needed to take care of her own well-being so she would be able to look after her child. He said that they would help her in any way she needed but as it was her child it was her responsibility first.

Janey had not told her brothers and sister about her pregnancy since she wasn't quite ready to face their reactions. She wasn't aware that Robby had overheard her speaking to one of the female officers about her pregnancy.

Janey was now close to twelve weeks pregnant and starting to show slightly. She had regained the weight she had lost during her abduction as well as filling out slightly in the bust. The only evidence of her pregnancy was a slight roundness low in her stomach just above her pelvis. So far she had not suffered with any morning sickness but she did dislike the smell of coffee while she was eating.

After her second counselling session she had her long hair cut short in an attractive feathered style that framed her face. She felt the need to remove the attraction of her long blonde hair. She had hoped to loose the sexy blonde look but her haircut only succeeded in transforming her from a sexy young blonde girl to a sophisticated young woman. While Janey wasn't completely satisfied with the result she soon decided she liked her new look.

Twice in the four weeks Adam came to Byron Bay for the day on a weekend claiming he had decided to visit the beach and each time he had dropped in to see the Wilkinsons. It soon became clear that he was really dropping in to see Janey and although she was quite shy and hesitant the first visit she had definitely warmed to him on his second visit.

When Robby rang and told their parents about a counselling week being held for victims of rape he convinced his father that it would be a good idea for Janey to attend the five days of counselling sessions as she would be coming into contact with other women who had been through similar ordeals to what she had endured. The only problem was that it was being held in Brisbane which made it a four hour round trip each day for Janey to go. So Robby offered for her to stay at his flat for the week and he would drive her back to their parents place at the end of the week.

Janey had been loath to go to the counselling sessions but her father had informed her that if she wished to keep her child then she owed it to herself and the baby to seek help in dealing with the aftermath of her ordeal. With very little choice in the matter because she still found it impossible to utter the word 'no' Janey resigned herself to going to the week long session, hoping that afterwards she would be more prepared to talk to her brothers and sister about their coming niece or nephew.

So on Sunday afternoon Jim and Marina drove to Brisbane with Janey planning to visit with Marina's cousin overnight and return the next day leaving Janey with Robby for the week. The drive was slow and cold due to a winter storm and Janey was relieved when the car stopped in front of the block of flats where her brother lived. She climbed out of the car pulling her two bags out behind her and stood on the sidewalk looking at the two rows of flats facing each other.

"Come on, let's get inside out of the cold." Jim said as he picked up Janey's bags.

Janey followed her parents as they headed up along one row of flats until they came to a door with a number 5 on it. She watched as her father knocked loudly and waited for a reply.

"I see you made it." Robby said as he opened his front door. He reached out and took his sister's bags from their father and led the way into the flat. He led the way to one of the bedrooms at the back of the flat and pushed the door open. He placed the bags on the end of the double bed in the room.

Janey glanced around the room noting that the bed was not made but sheets, blankets and doona sat on the bed.

"I meant to have the room ready but I got stuck down town at the Laundromat when I took the washing down to put through the dryer." Robby said.

"I can help Janey make the bed. It won't take a minute." Marina said as she walked over to the bed and placed the bags on the floor and out of the way.

Janey moved into the room to help her mother. Within minutes they had the bed made and had found a pillow on a chair by the window.

"There, that's better." Marina remarked as she smoothed a corner of the bed. "You'll be lost in this big bed." She smiled at Janey as she said it.

Janey looked away from the bed. The size of it reminded her of while she was with Hawk. It was strange how that happened she realised; sometimes it was the oddest thing that triggered the memories. Determined to escape the memories she feared would come, she hurried from the room only stopping when she reached the small kitchenette.

"Are you alright?" Marina asked with a worried frown as she followed Janey away from the bedroom.

Janey turned around and glanced back towards the bedroom as she opened her mouth to explain to her mother but she turned away once again as she saw her brother and father walking towards them.

"I'm just fine." Janey mumbled as she turned her attention to getting herself a glass of water from the sink tap. She took a sip of water and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the taste of the city's treated water.

"Don't like the water?" Robby asked as he saw her toss the rest of her drink into the sink.

"It's gross!" Janey said as she turned around to face the others, her face composed once again.

"I have a water filter-cooler in the laundry and keep the filtered water in a jug in the fridge." Robby told his sister as he opened the small fridge and motioned towards a jug of water.

Janey nodded without saying a word.

"We must really be going if we want to make it to Sandra's place in time to get ready to go out for tea." Marina said when she realised that Janey wasn't going to continue with what she had been about to say.

"Yes, we had better keep going." Jim said.

Janey gave her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

"Take care of yourself." Marina said as she hugged her daughter in return.

Janey gave her a faint smile before turning to her father and being given a large hug.

"You make sure you take care of yourself, " He said to Janey before turning to Robby, " You look after your sister while she's here." Jim told his son sternly.

"Yes sir." Robby acknowledged the order.

Janey walked with her parents and Robby to the door and then waited in the doorway out of the light misting rain as her brother walked their parents to the car. She waved as they drove away then waited as Robby walked back to the flat quickly.

"Brrr, it's damp out there!" Robby said as he walked into the flat and shut the door behind him. He reached for a towel he had hanging in the entrance way and briskly dried the light drops of rain from his short hair.

"So what's new?" Robby asked as he led the way to the small living combined dining room where a lounge face a TV and a small dining table sat against a wall.

Janey sent him a quick sharp look. Robby ever the cop never asked idle questions.

When no answer came from Janey Robby looked her way to find her watching him suspiciously.

"What's this about?" Janey asked suspiciously.

"I'm your brother. Can't I care enough to ask to find out how you're coping now you're home?" Robby asked gently.

That was the difference between her two brothers Janey knew. James waited for her to feel ready to talk if he knew something was wrong but Robby started poking and prying, edging the words out of her even before she knew she was ready to talk.

Robby watched as Janey's expression clouded over then became hard to read as she turned her face away from him.

"What is it you want to know?" Janey finally asked between gritted teeth.

"Sit down on the lounge and make yourself comfortable." Robby invited as he got one of the chairs from the dining table and bought it over to place it facing the lounge.

Janey sat down watching her brother guardedly.

"I'll come right to the point, no side-tracking around the issue," Robby said as he settled himself on the chair. "When you were talking to the female officer I couldn't help overhearing something you said to her. You said that you had found out you were pregnant." Robby paused for a moment as he noticed Janey's eyes narrow.

Janey sat on the edge of the lounge watching her brother silently.

"I can help you contact a clinic to get an abortion done before heading home. You don't have to have the constant reminder of what happened to you." Robby said gently. He watched his sister; she had lowered her head and wrapped her arms around herself.

Outrage boiled in Janey's mind as she slowly raised her head to look at Robby. Just knowing that he considered abortion an option for her made her anger continue to grow. She didn't dare say a word for fear she would start yelling at him.

"I know finding out you're pregnant must have been very scary, but you do have choices. You don't have to have the baby, or if you don't want to have an abortion you can always put the baby up for adoption." Robby said softly as he reached out to take her hand thinking that she was overwhelmed by her pregnancy.

"Leave me alone! Don't touch me!" Janey snapped as she jerked her hand away from him and got to her feet to pace restlessly. After a minute or so she stopped and turned to face her brother.

"It's alright Janey." Robby soothed softly.

"Alright?" Janey demanded angrily "You want to take me to have an abortion and kill my baby! And you say it's alright!"

"Janey..." Robby tried to talk to her.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it! This baby is just as much an innocent victim as I am in this! It did not ask to be forced onto me by rape! And if you are going to go on about abortion or adoption then I will not let you near this child!" Janey said angrily, her voice rising slightly.

"I'm not the enemy here Janey." Robby said soothingly as he tried to calm her down.

"Leave me alone! Just leave me alone! First you made me look at those pictures! And now you made it so I got to go to counselling! You are not taking this baby from me!" Janey accused as she backed away several steps.

"I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to Janey. I am just making sure you knew you had options." Robby tried reasoning with her.

"Leave me alone!" Janey protested and retreated further away.

"Okay Janey. I'll let you be, no pressure." Robby said. His mobile phone started beeping and he pulled it from his pocket and looked at the number displayed on the screen. Regretfully he looked at Janey. "I have to take this call." Robby said as he got to his feet and answered the phone. He walked towards his room as he spoke softly into the phone.

Janey watched her brother disappear into his room uneasily. She knew she had over reacted to his misguided advice but she was starting to feel more and more protective of the life she knew she carried. As quick as her anger came it drained away leaving her feeling tired and exhausted. She sat back down on the lounge and waited for her brother to return. He came back in a minute with a worried look on his face.

"Janey, I have to go in to work for a while. I don't know how long I will be I'm afraid." Robby said gently. "We will finish this talk another time."

"Are you going to leave me here?" Janey asked uneasily and jumped to her feet when she saw the answer on his face before he spoke. "You can't leave me here alone!" Janey protested in a panic.

"I'm sorry Janey but I have to go in to the station. Something has come up that I have to attend to." Robby said softly.

"Don't leave me here by myself!" Janey pleaded tearfully.

Robby looked at his sister worriedly. His father had already warned him that Janey refused to be left by herself at home. He glanced at his watch with a frown, he had to go in to the station to deal with something that had come up but he realised that he wouldn't be able to leave Janey by herself.

"How about I go and see if Adam is in his flat? Would you stay with Adam until I got back?" Robby asked hopefully.

Janey looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds before giving a hesitant nod.

"That's the way!" Robby praised with a smile and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?!" Janey demanded worriedly as she followed him.

"Adam lives in the other row of flats. I'm just going to go over and see if he's home." Robby tried to reassure her as he opened the door.

"You're not leaving me alone?" Janey worried.

"I promise I won't do that." Robby said before heading across to the row of flats that faced his flat. He walked down to the second one and knocked on the door loudly.

Janey watched worriedly as he got no response and knocked a second time. She could just make out the door opening slightly and Robby talking to who ever was on the other side of the door before turning around and heading back to where she stood in the doorway watching. She stepped aside as he hurried in out of the light rain.

"Adam is not long home. He's just out of the shower and is getting dressed. He said you could go over there and stay with him until I get back. He hasn't had tea yet either." Robby told her. "So grab a jumper or whatever you think you'll need and I'll walk you over there on my way out."

Janey hurried into the bedroom she was to use, opened one of her bags and pulled a warm jumper out of the bag then headed back out to where Robby was pulling on his jacket.

"Come on let's get going." Robby said opening the door and standing aside so she could go out. He quickly locked the door behind him and jogged over to the flat where Adam lived. He knocked on the door loudly then tried the doorknob and found the door unlocked as Adam had said it would be. "Janey's here Adam. I'll get back as soon as I can!" Robby called and motioned for Janey to go into the flat.

Janey walked into the flat and looked behind her as she heard the door close.

"Just another moment and I'll be out there!" Adam called from somewhere in the flat and Janey walked into the kitchenette. The flat appeared to have the same layout as her brother's flat but Adam had less furniture in view.

Janey looked around the kitchenette slightly nervously and then turned to face Adam as he walked into the room. She looked him over slowly, taking in the fact that his hair was still quite damp from the shower and he was shrugging into a shirt. She noticed that his chest and abdomen were slickly muscled as if he worked out regularly and a strange but familiar feeling began to stir in her stomach. Janey looked away hurriedly as she realised her body was reacting to her looking at him admiringly.

"I haven't eaten yet. Rob said you haven't either. I hope take out pizza will do - I'm not much of a cook." Adam said as he moved to the stove and turned the oven off before opening it to remove a cardboard pizza box from the interior.

"Pizza is fine." Janey said as she watched him place the box on the table and open it.

"I hope pepperoni is fine." Adam said as he grabbed two plates from the rack of washed dishes on the sink.

"I like pepperoni." Janey said and gave him a faint smile when he glanced her way.

Adam put the plates on the table and helped himself to a slice of pizza, taking a large bite before placing it on a plate. He motioned towards the box with a hand as he chewed the mouthful of food.

"Help yourself. Want a beer to go with that? Or maybe a coke?" Adam asked after swallowing his food.

"Have you got anything else?" Janey asked hopefully as she lifted a piece of pizza from the box and placed it on the other plate.

"Is that all your going to eat?" Adam asked with a frown.

Janey glanced at her plate uneasily and the added a second slice of pizza to her plate before glancing at Adam who had went over to fridge and opened it.

"Come have a look at what drinks I have. See if there's anything you like." Adam invited her.

Janey walked over and peered past him to look in the fridge. She had to bite her tongue as the thought that she liked the guy standing in front of the fridge popped into her mind. There were several different types of soda as well as orange juice and a bottle of chocolate milk in the fridge.

"Can I have chocolate milk please?" Janey asked softly, her eyes shinning with delight unbeknownst to her.

"Sure thing." Adam said as he got the chocolate milk from the fridge and handed the small bottle to Janey. It had been meant for his breakfast but he was happy to let her have it.

Janey opened the milk and took a drink with such pleasure that Adam had to smile as she looked around for some place to sit.

"I only moved in two weeks ago so I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of seating. My old place came fully furnished." Adam said apologetically.

"I can sit on the floor." Janey said as she picked up her plate and headed towards the empty living room.

"Janey. Wait a moment." Adam said softly.

Janey paused and turned to look at him.

"We can go in my room. I have the only chair in there at the moment. I can sit on the chair and you can sit on my bed, and we can watch something that's on TV while we eat," He suggested softly.

Janey glanced down at the plate of food she held as she considered it a moment. There was something about Adam that told her she could trust him. Besides she could sit down and watch TV with a cute guy just like any normal girl she realised.

"Okay then." Janey said and waited for him to lead the way to his room.

As Janey paused in the doorway, she noticed that where the rest of the flat lacked furniture his bedroom was quite comfortable and the chair was in the room like Adam had said.

The bed was definitely the main feature of the room, a big king sized bed that he was hastily making. On the side closest to the door the chair Adam had mentioned sat with an empty cup and plate on it. At the foot of the bed against the wall stood a nice wooden TV cabinet that contained a TV, DVD player and a video player.

"I'll just take this out." Adam said as he picked up the used crockery and placed his plate and can of beer on the chair. "Make yourself comfortable." He invited as he moved past her on his way to the kitchen.

Janey walked to the bed and tossed a pillow towards the end of the bed before placing her plate beside it and climbing onto the bed to stretch out on her stomach using the pillow just under her ribs as she propped herself up on her elbows. She was quite comfortable when Adam came back into the room carrying the box of pizza.

Adam placed the pizza box on the bed within easy reach of both of them before picking up his plate and beer and sitting on the chair. He picked the TV remote control up off the floor beside the chair and turned the TV on.

"Anything you would like to watch?" Adam asked.

"Got any interesting dvd's or video's?" Janey asked.

"How about I eat first and then look through the movies?" Adam asked. He had had a hard day at work and had been forced to miss lunch to keep working on a case he was finishing up to hand over to the prosecutor.

"Mmm, okay." Janey agreed then took another bite of pizza as she glanced back at him.

Adam chewed his mouthful of food as he met Janey's eyes; once again he noticed their clear blue colour, almost the same colour as the sky on a warm cloudless day. He realised he had been starring when she looked away before darting a nervous glance at him a second later.