Perfectly Unpredictable by Linda O'Connor Read Free Book Online Page A

hour to dry and then come back and put the paint on. I should be
able to get two coats done today.” She glanced at the window. “I’d leave that
open for now.”
    “I will. Thanks again, Chloe.”
    “You’re welcome, duckie. Be back soon.” She
waved good-bye. “Don’t pop that bambino out while I’m gone,” she said, and
skipped down the stairs.
    Kalia laughed. “I’ll try not to.” She followed
her downstairs more slowly. Tomorrow she’d be able to decorate the nursery. It
was all falling into place.

 
 

Chapter 7

 
 
    Two days later, the nursery walls were done
and the furniture assembled.
    Kalia had said no to a baby shower, but it
hadn’t mattered. Her parents and brother had surprised her with a new crib and
change table. Krista had given her a stroller with a detachable car seat. It
was a simple design. She hadn’t figured it out yet, but it was going to be
great.
    Her father had put together the crib, and
her mom had sewn curtains to match the adorable linens – pale yellow
and green and adorned with a grinning elephant and a goofy giraffe. Kalia had
added a twin bed and a rocking chair to the nursery, decorated the walls with
the alphabet, and hung a stuffed hot air balloon with the same charming animals
in the bucket. She couldn’t go upstairs without stopping to admire the room.
    Kalia sat at her computer trying to focus.
She needed to get the last of the outstanding jobs done before the baby arrived.
If she completed them, she’d be able to take two or three weeks off, if she
needed. And according to experienced mothers, she would need it.
    She scrolled through her emails before she
got down to work. One from the International Forum of Neuroscience caught her
eye. She was still on their email list, even though the work had been completed
months ago. She opened it and read.

 
    It is
with great sadness that we mourn the loss of one of the most promising, young
neuroscientific researchers, Dr. Alexandre Sinclair.

 
    What? Kalia bolted upright.

 
    Dr.
Sinclair, aged thirty, lost his battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diagnosed
only ten months ago. He is survived by his parents, Dr. Alain Sinclair and Dr.
Fiona Tabeau-Sinclair.
    Dr. Alexandre
Sinclair received his master’s degree and PhD in neuroscience at Oxford
University and went on to study medicine and receive specialist certification
in neurology at Stanford University. He was a pioneer of addiction research,
and his numerous published papers, in journals ranging from Addiction to The New
England Journal of Medicine , have changed
the way scientific researchers and clinicians approach addiction worldwide. He
was president of the International Neuroscience Association and held honorary
positions in the American Academy of Neuroscience and the Addiction Research
Foundation.
    The funeral
will be held on Friday, July 12 at St. Bastille Cathedral in Paris. A
scholarship trust fund has been set up in Dr. Alexandre Sinclair’s name. Online
condolences can be . . .

 
    No. It can’t be true. No. No. Kalia’s hands
shook. Alexandre was so young. So full of life. No. Please God. Tremors racked
her body as she read the obituary again.
    “I love you.” She crumpled in the chair. “Don’t
leave me.”
    Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Oh Alexandre.
    He hadn’t said a word. I can’t make promises for tomorrow , he’d said. She’d assumed there
was someone else. But that wasn’t it at all. Ten months ago. Had he known when
he’d met her? Had he found out after the conference? Had he needed her?
    It was just too sad.
    And now she’d never have the chance to tell
him about the baby. Her chest tightened as guilt ripped through her. She had decided
to wait until the baby was born and then contact him. She’d wanted him to know.
She’d wanted to be a family. She’d played God and made the decision to wait. If
something had happened and the baby had died before it was born, she hadn’t
wanted to bother him.
    Oh my God, how could she