His Baby (20 page)
Authors: Emma J Wallace
They lay there, pressed together, in a timeless moment of
what Diana decided was pure happiness, a happiness she felt in her whole body. The
very light in the room seemed brighter, more luminous.
When he moved away, she protested a little, but he only
settled next to her, pressed against her, pulled her tight against him with a
strong hand.
"I love you, Diana," he said, then kissed her. "Next
time will take longer," he said, smiling faintly down at her as he moved a
bit of her hair away from her cheek.
It did, she found out. He was right, the next time took much
longer.
"Hey, Sis," Carl said as he came through the back
door into Diana's new kitchen and glanced around taking in the polished cabinets,
the barely-dry paint job, the pile of wallpaper rolls on the big kitchen table,
which had been the dining room table in the Whitney house. He crossed the room
and, uninvited, opened the refrigerator door to remove a beer.
"Want one?" he asked, then smiled when she scowled
at him from her position in front of the big pantry. He shut the refrigerator
door and leaned against it, glistening faintly with sweat under the edges of
his neat new haircut.
"It's hot enough for a beer, isn't it?" she said,
straightening up a little and pressing a hand into the small of her back.
"Haven't you been outside today?" he asked,
gesturing around the cool room with his dark green bottle.
She smoothed down the maternity T-shirt and rested a hand on
her big belly. "No, I'm trying to rest. That's what everyone said I should
do. I remember nagging Mary about resting and I remember how she never seemed
to do it."
"Yeah, but you absolutely have to rest up," he
said, waggling his eyebrows. "I don't want my nephews feeling any strain. Those
guys need to be strong to be linebackers," he said, laughing.
"They must be linebackers," she said,
"they're big enough, but they kick. Do linebackers kick the
football?"
"You don't want to know, Sis," Carl answered her. "Why
don't you sit down?" He came across to her and reached for her hand,
taking it and gently leading her over to the table.
"Do you want to give me your opinion on
wallpaper?" she asked, sounding polite but he laughed again and she knew
she must be scowling. "Everyone else has given me their opinion, why not
you?"
"It's just that we all like your house best," Carl
said soothingly as he reached for one of the rolls. "Which room are we
choosing wallpaper for?"
"The downstairs bathroom," she told him.
He was quiet while he unrolled each roll enough to study the
pattern. He set all but two of them aside, then opened the two runners-up and
studied them again. Diana took this opportunity to confirm again for herself
that her brother was as happy as he claimed to be. He looked happy.
He had been working in the warehouse at White Stationers for
nearly a year. Sam had told her confidentially last weekend that he wanted to
make Carl manager when the present manager retired.
"Won't people resent it?" she asked him. "The
boss' in-law?"
"Nah, Carl can handle it. He's great manager material. Besides,
it was Hamilton's idea. He says he's the one he'll retire for and I've been
waiting for Hamilton to retire for ten years!"
"This one," Carl said, handing her one of the
rolls and moving the other one back on the uneven pyramid on the table. She
unrolled the paper and nearly groaned at the big pink cabbage roses.
"Why does everyone but me like this pattern?"
"I don't know. You have bad taste?" he suggested.
"It's so old fashioned."
"Well, it's an old fashioned kind of house," he
said, shuffling through the Saturday paper until he found the Sports section.
"With all of Zack's modern furniture," she said.
"And our antiques, the ones you didn't sell off,"
he reminded her, opening the section to read something.
"They aren't antiques, they're not old enough,"
she corrected him. But they had sold well and added considerably to the down
payment they had needed, along with the sale of the house in Whitney and Zack's
place. Her ex-boss, Mr. Harper, had paid her asking price for the house,
although he had tried to convince her that she should give him a discount,
based on long years of friendship and to make up for her abandoning him. Mrs.
Hampton had told her to stick to her guns. Besides, Mr. Harper had mocked her
decision to stay home for Lark and given the imminent arrival of the twins.
She nearly raised the price for those comments.
Mrs. Hampton had come to visit three times already and
stayed for a couple of weeks each time. Lark called her Aunt Trudy now,
although Diana was still not sure about calling the dear old woman Trudy. Zack
was beginning to call one of the bedrooms upstairs her room, which Trudy found
quite amusing. He liked having her around and made no secret of the fact. She
had threatened to move here, especially since they lived only a few blocks from
the train line into downtown Chicago. Mrs. Hampton loved downtown Chicago
almost as much as she loved Whitney.
Diana admitted a certain fondness for Chicago herself,
although she did like their suburban town, one of the string of small towns
along the lake. It wasn't Whitney, but she thought that wasn't all bad. Besides,
Carl and Mary lived only three blocks away and Beth and Sam were just a couple
of miles north.
The university had helped them find this house, a big old
Victorian in a settled neighborhood, when they hired Zack as a lecturer. It
would be years before he even had a chance at tenure, if he ever got offered a
position that led to tenure, but neither Diana nor Zack cared much. The area
was blessed with a number of colleges and universities. Besides, as Sam always
said, they could always find a position for him at White Stationers.
Diana wondered if Sam knew that was the best motivation to
succeed in something else that Zack could ask for. He had been bored to death
at White's Stationers. After three quarters teaching, he had declared that he
never wanted to do anything else for a living.
"How's Mary?" Diana asked Carl.
The newspaper rattled for a minute, then he put it down. "She's
okay. She's working today. That woman loves to work."
"She loves her job," Diana corrected him. Mary was
working in a small gift and stationary store, one of White's Stationers' best
customers. "Where is your son?"
"With your husband."
"Zack took Alan along?" she said, not able to
suppress her surprise.
"Yeah, two toddlers to the Children's Museum. Alone."
Carl shook his head. "In this heat."
Diana stood up slowly and headed over to the refrigerator.
She'd have some iced tea and be sure there was something cold for the kids when
they got home. Orange juice, she decided after she had studied the shelves. She
took out the pitcher and reached for a glass.
"You want me to get something?" Carl offered from
his seat.
"No, I'm okay." She opened her mouth to make a
comment about their plans for a barbecue tomorrow afternoon when she heard the
repeated slam of car doors outside the kitchen window.
She felt a flutter of excitement, a frisson of happiness,
but didn't move, in part because one of the twins chose that moment to deliver
another kick to the small of her back.
The screen door was flung open and a child came scrambling in.
"Mama, Mama, we went to the Zoo and I petted a
horse!" Lark said, streaking across the room to grasp Diana's hand. Diana
looked down and smiled at the glowing face and pale hair of her daughter. She
felt a jolt at the word, but was getting used to it, she decided. Lark was
chattering on, glancing at Diana's belly from time to time. She clearly wanted
to be picked up but had been told she was too big. Diana led her over to the
table and sat down and let Lark scramble up to balance herself across her mother's
legs. She had no lap anymore. Lark leaned against Diana and blinked slowly,
clearly tired out by her zoo trek.
"Do you want me to take Lark?" Zack asked, once he
had unloaded a diaper bag and a backpack from his back onto the now-cluttered
table. Carl was talking to Alan. Zack leaned over to kiss her, taking his time,
nibbling at her lip gently before he broke away. The two of them smiled at each
other. Diana felt the deep sweet tug of her connection to him and slid an arm
up next to his, holding his elbow while he rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, Alan," Carl said, "look at Uncle
Zack." The baby turned his head and giggled at his uncle. Carl smiled at
them as well. "Looks like it’s going to be Lark's nap time soon." He
winked at Diana.
"Carl!" she said.
"Hey, what did I say? Mama needs her nap too, doesn't
she?"
Diana looked up at Zack and found him looking down at her
with a loving look she recognized all too well. He shifted his gaze to his
daughter.
"Lark," he said, "come on with me,
okay?"
"Daddy, I don't want to," she whined, but he
persuaded her, as he always had, to do whatever he wanted.
Diana and Carl talked for a few more minutes, catching up on
the week's gossip, then Carl stood and assembled Alan's paraphernalia and came
over to kiss his sister on the forehead.
"You get some rest, Sis," he said and winked again
before he turned to go out the kitchen door. "That's an order!”
Diana fussed in the kitchen for a while, moving all the
wallpaper rolls (except one) into a cabinet, putting dishes into the dishwasher
(her present to Zack on their anniversary), and surveying the refrigerator for
something for dinner.
He snuck up behind her while she had her head down, trying
to decide what could possibly be in the large striped bowl.
"You want me to get that for you?" Zack said
softly.
"What?" she said, standing up slowly, pressing her
hands against the small of her back.
"Whatever it is you're looking for." He smiled at
her.
She couldn't help it, she smiled back at him.
"Doesn't matter," she said. "We'll figure out
something to eat later, right?"
"I'll take care of it, while you're napping,
okay?"
"I'm going to be napping?"
He smiled a little more broadly and reached out for her
hand, then took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly.
"In a while, my darling, in a while."
She laughed at his confidence and led him upstairs.
For Elda Minger who deserves this prize for always believing
in and always supporting this book’s publication and its uncertain author. She
always knew what to say and how hard to push so this book could be born. Thank
you.
Home Again
Katie Reed comes back to the Southern California desert
after a disastrous and very public divorce from her football player
husband. Everything has changed, including her best friend from high
school, Greg. The quiet, intelligent young man has grown up to become an
internationally acclaimed geologist -- and confusingly different.
The attraction between them is immediate. Surprising.
Enticing. But love is never easy. Greg is engaged to Yvonne. Katie is
pursued by Douglas, a financial planner. As everything swirls around them,
will Katie realize that her best friend from the past is the perfect man for
her present -- and her future?
When Maggie Warren walks in on her fiancé Richard with
another woman at a posh business party, something snaps. Always the good
girl, always the considerate one, instead she breaks up with him on the spot
and decides she has to change her life completely, starting now.
That very night she allows herself to be seduced by the
handsome and charming bad boy, Geronimo Smith. Going home with him, she
spends a passionate night in his arms, determined to have
just one night
for herself.
In the morning, Maggie leaves, but Geronimo has other
ideas. He’s going to track her down . .
About the Author
Emma J Wallace has always loved
stories, coffee, tea, and flowers, in various combinations and permutations.
She believes reading and writing are a great way to share minds and hearts.
When not writng, she enjoys hanging out on the porch, taking long walks, and –
sometimes, after much careful planning, traveling to a new place or returning
to a familiar one.
I want to thank you for buying
His Baby
and for
taking the time to read it. I hope you enjoyed it.
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His
Baby
.