“Hey, Jack!” Frazer turned on her professional self, because her real self was close to cracking down the centre.

“Hey, Frazer.” He followed her into the exam room, round and very pregnant. “How are you?”

“Good! How are you?”

His hands fisted the cuffs of his oversized hoody that couldn’t hide his belly anymore. He lived in that thing. “You don’t look okay.”

Frazer sat down at her desk, trying to look happy but probably looking like she was about to puke. “Really? Strange. I’m great.”

He sank into his chair, his gaze never leaving her. “You look like you’re about to cry. Or hit someone. Either one.”

If Jemma had asked her that, Frazer would probably have gone on an extensive rant. But this was a patient, so Frazer relaxed her laser beam smile. “Sorry, I’m tired. I’ve been doing too much lately. How are you?”

He shrugged. “Peeing constantly. My chest hurts. I feel like it would be easier to roll everywhere.”

Frazer uttered a genuine chuckle. “So, as expected?”

“Yeah. Will Bug be out soon? I…I want…” Eyes on his lap, he shrugged awkwardly.

“You want your life back?”

The follow-up shrug was even more uncomfortable. “That’s a really bad thing to say.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Something tugged in Frazer’s chest and she tried to catch his eye. “No it’s not. You’re doing an awesome job, and it’s normal you’d want this part to be done so you can have your life back to being your life. That’s not selfish.”

He mumbled something, and when she clearly hadn’t understood, he repeated himself. “I feel selfish not keeping Bug ’cause I want a life.” Redness was crawling up his neck, and he shifted uncomfortably.

Standing up, Frazer walked around and knelt next to his chair until he had to look at her. “You are anything but selfish, Jack. What makes you think that?”

“I’m thinking about myself.”

“Sometimes you have to… Want to know what I think?”

He stared at her openly, still young enough to think that people in authority had a better understanding of the world. Little did Jack know her life was like a soap opera.

“I think,” she said, keeping her voice even, “I think it would be more selfish to keep a baby when you didn’t want to because you were worried about guilt. You’re doing something incredible by giving this baby to someone who desperately wants it—for it and for the family and for yourself.”

Glazed eyes stared at her like chips of marble. “You think?”

She nodded. “If you wanted Bug, wanted to be a parent, then that’s okay too. If you want to change your mind.”

He shook his head. “I don’t… I just…”