Even with the hum of the clinic outside, the Tick-Tock of the clock chimed in Jo's ears while Chad leaned against the examination bed as the doctor slid the stethoscope across Jo's fairly flat belly and listened intently.

Dr Singh pulled down his stethoscope with a massive grin, "There's definitely a heartbeat. You better start thinking of names."

"Come again."

"You are going to be a mother, Ms Gilligan."

Jo gawked at Chad.

"You're going to be parents," the doctor added.

"I'm her brother." Chad cringed, feeling bile rise in his chest. "Her twin, in fact," he added, shuddering in disgust.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I assumed. We usually get couples coming in," Dr Singh said. "When was your last period?"

Jo shrugged, uncomfortable talking about such in front of Chad. "Maybe a month or two ago?"

"Well, we'll do a blood test and an ultrasound to get you the date."

"She was drinking the other night, doc. Will that harm the baby?" Chad asked. The thought was nagging at him.

"How much are we talking? I mean, any drink is one too many in these situations, if you know what I mean. Alcohol can impair fetal development."

"I didn't know, okay!" Jo bristled in annoyance.

"How often do you drink, Jo?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"A glass or two a week?"

"More like a glass or two a day," Chad piped in.

"Will you shut it?" Jo warned.

"Well," the doctor slowly said, "my suggestion and professional advice would be to lay off the alcohol and till that baby is born. I'm guessing you're about two-three months pregnant. The ultrasound and blood test will tell us better."

The doctor handed Jo two print outs for the tests and smiled, abruptly bringing the visit to an end. "Come back when you've done the tests."

Jo rose from her seat. "Thank you," and left the room in a trance.

♡

Back at Jo's, Chad went through her entire kitchen, confiscating all the alcohol he could find, including the ones from her 'secret' stash at the far back corner of her wardrobe, where he knew she usually hid 'emergency' packs should she need them, and because she couldn't walk away from a 'sale'.

"You can't do that," she protested now and then with Chad piling the drinks in her plastic laundry tub.

"I can and I will." He pushed past her, reaching for her stash. "That's my little niece in there and I'm not letting you hurt her by drinking yourself silly because you can't adult or deal with your feelings like a sane person."

"Wow. Judge much?" Jo shouted in frustration. "A little sip won't hurt."

That's when Chad snapped and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her till she complained of nausea. He took her by the hand and marched her into her study, turned on her computer and typed her password in, to which Jo complained, "How the hell do you know my password?"

"Because it's been the same since we were fifteen." He placed her on the chair and flipped the screen her way. "Change that stupid password. It's embarrassing. Lucky in love? Really? Which one of us and since when?"

He kissed the top of her head. "I'll check on you later. I have to go home and shower." He left Jo staring at cute faces of babies plastered on her screen and marched out of her house quietly with the laundry basket full of alcohol - back to his problems. He had enough to worry about on his own. What was he to do about his new obsession, June?

He placed the basket in the boot and sent Jo a message: That baby deserves better. I'm thinking, Emery?

Jo messaged back: Emery is a sanding board used in manicures. I'm not naming my kid Emery.

Chad: At least you're admitting you're pregnant. And thanks for a month's supply of booze. My not-girlfriend and I will enjoy them very much.

Jo: You wish she were your girlfriend!

Chad: Nah.

Jo: Go home, you thief. Drive safe.

Chad struggled to bring the tubful of bottles from the car without rattling it too much. He was early and June wasn't home yet from her shift at the cafe. She'd gotten the job. Not that it surprised him.

It was only one in the afternoon on a lovely spring Friday. June had been living with him for a couple of months and he had never celebrated her companionship or thanked her for it, for agreeing to live with a stranger at his behest. Since he had a shitload of random alcohol to finish; Chad thought he could whip up some fancy dinner to go with it perfectly. It could be a surprise for her, and it totally wasn't a date or anything like that.

He marched himself over to the study and to the bookshelf at the back, with its drawers lining the bottom. From there, he pulled out his collection of recipe books, hidden from ridicule. He picked out a recipe and made a grocery list for it. He wasn't about to let June know he was a softy who enjoyed cooking from time to time, so the sooner he went shopping and started cooking, the sooner he could hide the recipe book back in the drawer whence it came. There was a lightness, a bounce to his strides as he happily bounded out of the house once more.

♡

Chad pushed a trolley full of grocery along, humming to the music in his headphones when the fresh flowers caught his attention. He chose the fattest bunch of white Lilies and added them to his haul. Next, he splurged on a selection of ice creams at the gelato shop before heading back out to the parking lot. He took his time tasting flavours before choosing two. That was when the hairs on the back of his neck stood for the first time in years. That old familiar feeling of being watched was back, and he glanced at the faces of strangers around him. Could she be back?

"Was that all, Sir?" the impatient teenager behind the counter called out. "Sir?"

Chad shook the feeling off and paid for his treats. "Do you know who I am?" he asked nervously as he tapped his card to the EFTPOS machine.

"No." Not surprising, the kid shook his head and gave Chad a look bordering on judging him a 'creep'. 

Chad half smiled and took his purchase and his card.

The kid looked to the customer next in line and yelled, "Can I help you?"

"Right, thank you." Chad whisked his trolley around and almost ran a lady over.

"Watch it," she yelped as if he'd plunged a knife in her, or worse, as if he'd stubbed her toe with the trolley which he probably had, and in that case, he deserved the yelling.

"Sorry," he grimaced, now preoccupied with scanning faces of strangers around as conspicuously as possible. Was he paranoid, or was he being watched? It was the same uneasy feeling he used to get when he had the delirious Cassie Micha stalk him for a month, convinced he was her husband and they were married.

"It can't be," he muttered, trying to assuage his worry as he unloaded the shopping into the boot. "She's institutionalised, remember."

Yeah, but that was a while ago, Chad. She could have been released by now, his mind argued back, and he had to admit, it was entirely possible Cassie was no longer locked up, but free. Free to go wherever she pleased, even find him if she was inclined.

He shuddered at the thought and drove home, distracted. By the time he got back, his zeal for cooking a fancy meal for the non-date was about gone, until he saw June's microbiology textbook on the coffee table and decided she deserved pampering. That and it would distract him from the feeling, so win-win.

'Are you sure you're not trying to make a girlfriend out of her?' Jo's cynical voice took form in his head.

"No," he rebuffed, hauling the groceries into the house via several trips. "I'm making a nice meal to celebrate the fact that I'm about to become an uncle."

'Don't use my kid as an excuse.' Jo's voice was vexed. 'You're trying to impress her, admit it.'

"I am not." Chad reached in the boot for the last of the items and slammed it shut. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled again. He scanned the quiet street. No one was around this time of the day. Satisfied he was alone; he went around to the back seat to fetch the flowers, only to find the seats were empty.

'Okay then, I'll admit it for you.' Jo's playful voice chided, laughing the witchy cackle she'd perfected over the years. 'You're definitely trying to make a girlfriend out of your flatmate in one of the most obvious ways, by cooking for her.'

"Where are the flowers?" he muttered, fixated on the empty backseat. He thought he'd put them there, so where were they? He remembered buying them. He remembered grabbing them off the trolley, right?

His head snapped up as the hedge rustled. A sparrow hopped on it, picking at food. He eyed the street once more. "Where are the fucking flowers, Jo?"

'Maybe you left them on the trolley?' Jo replied with her sensibility. Maybe, thought Chad, and locked the car, making sure the doors wouldn't open before he stole like a thief into his own house.

"You're imagining it. You have to be," he coaxed, starting to unpack the shopping. He suddenly stopped, struck with an idea. There was a simple way to put his mind at ease. Terry. Terry would know if there were any Zachary Eve scandalous loose-cannon-of-a-stalker out again. She'd promised to keep up with news on Cassie for him. It was time he called her and asked.

♡

"Tell me about Cassie," Chad demanded as soon as Terry picked up her phone on the third attempt. "Where is she?"

"What?"

"Cassie Micah? The stalker, Terry, my stalker. The one I found naked in my bed because she thought I was her husband? Where is she?"

"What's going on, Chad?" she asked instead. "Why are you worked up? Are you getting enough sleep?"

"Just tell me," he demanded. "Is she still institutionalised?"

Terry's long protracted silence made him nervous.

"Terry? If you know something, please tell me!" he begged, feeling his stomach flutter in fear. He'd known Terry long enough to know that her silences had meaning. She could carry out an entire conversation with varied styles and types of silences. She had one for every occasion. This one was her foreboding silence.

"Don't get mad," Terry began, keeping her voice as calm as possible so as not to alarm him. Chad's already nervous body tingled. "She was released a couple of months ago."

"What?" he squeaked. "Couple of months? A couple of months? Why didn't you tell me?"

Again, instead of answering his question, Terry's silence spoke. It was saying, 'Really, Chad? Look at how you're reacting?' "What happened, Chad?" she asked like a mother hen.

Chad thought about it before answering. The first time he'd felt that sense of being watched had been about two months ago, around the time he'd met June. "I feel like I'm being watched again," he whispered. "Even today, at the shops, then when I got home. I was being watched. The bunch of flowers I bought, gone, missing from the backseat of my car while I was bringing in groceries. Someone took them out of my car, Terry, straight from my driveway."

He felt hysteria setting in and that was never good. Last time he'd been hysterical with paranoia, he'd had security cameras installed, and monitored by a company around the clock. A system that had caught Cassie sneaking into his house frequently and Police had only given her warnings until that fateful night.

He shivered at a thought, at something he'd kept secret.

"You're overworked and stressed about this book. It could be your imagination." Terry suggested.

"I'm not imagining this, Terry, like the last time I wasn't imagining it. I'm being watched. I know it. I just know it."

"Okay, okay. I hear you," Terry sighed. "Tell me what I can do for you, to make you feel comfortable?"

"Make me feel safe in my house," he whispered, beaten. "I don't live here alone, anymore, Terry. June's here too. And if it is Cassie again." It was time to tell Terry why exactly a five foot two inches of a woman had him spooked. "She killed my dog, Terry. He didn't go missing. She killed him and then sent me a photo with a message attached."

Terry's silence weighed on him. "What did the message say?" She carefully weighed her words.

"I know where your mum lives."

"You said your dog ran away. What the fuck, Chad? Is this a joke?"

"Am I laughing? She knows where my mum lives!" he fired back. "Mum never moved."

"Okay, okay. Fuck!" He could hear Terry muttering, processing the information. "Why didn't you tell the cops that day?"

"She sent it before the incident. I don't know. I thought if I offered her money she'd leave us alone."

"Jesus, Chad. You should have told the cops. And you never offer money."

"They already had her arrested that night. And I couldn't prove definitively she sent it. It was unsigned."

"So how do you know it was her?"

"She mentioned it that night, while she had me pinned down on the bed with a knife."

"This is messed up, Chad, but you can't go to the cops now with a feeling."

"She can't know where I live, can she?" he asked trying to be hopeful.

"She is an IT whiz, Chad. Stealth surveillance was her thing." In those few words, Terry had said it all. I don't know, kid, she could know where you are. She could know where we all are.

A lengthy silence slipped in and Terry cleared her throat. "Look, how about you carry on like you were. Pretend nothing's changed because- for all you know, you're imagining things. I'll ask around to see if anyone knows her whereabouts. See if she's even in Sydney any more. Okay?"

"Okay," Chad agreed, barely convinced.

"Chad, try to not worry, okay? I'll see what I can find out."

"Thanks, Terry." He hung up, his energy completely sapped away. He stared at the bags of grocery still left to unpack, but he was no longer bothered. Lost in thoughts, he put away the cold items and let the rest be. H sat at the kitchen counter in the darkening space. A bottle of beer in front of him barely touched.

What if Cassie is back? What if she knows where I live? What if she hurts June...? and that was where he desperately tried to stop his thoughts. June. What if Cassie hurt June out of... out of what? Jealousy? Anger? Revenge?

"Nope, I'm not doing this. I'm not." He shook his head, trying to loosen the grasp of those demonic thoughts. Why wouldn't they leave him alone? Cassie couldn't possibly know his new address. It wasn't even under his real name or Zach's.

"... stealth surveillance was her thing, Chad..." Terry's laden words echoed in his mind relentlessly.

(Image by Gabor Adonyi on Pixabay)