Baby Comes First (12 page)

Hannah let him help her to her feet. She
looked up at him. He looked taller in close proximity. In three
days, I’m going to marry this man, she thought with wonder, but
then she didn’t think, for he was kissing her again.

Eventually, he pulled back. “Much better, but
I think we’ll save that kiss for the honeymoon,” he said wryly. “We
don’t want to shock the guests.”

He was trying to sound casual, but Hannah
noticed with pleasure, that he was as out of breath as she. “Are we
going on a honeymoon? I thought Dr. Armanzo said I can’t --”

“Not right away,” Luke said tenderly, tucking
one of her curls behind her ear. “We’ll go later, after the baby’s
born. When we know each other better and can enjoy ourselves.”

Hannah blushed at the gleam in his eyes. “I’d
better lie back down. My five minutes are up.”

She thought he would then say good night, but
instead, he sat next to her, smiling, as if he didn’t want to
leave. “You have the most beautiful hair.” He reached down and
tugged on another one of her curls, pulling the hair out to its
complete length. “I wonder if the baby will have your red hair,” he
mused.

This was her chance. Hannah took a deep
breath. This was going to be dicey. “Only if you have redheads in
your family,” she said quietly.

Luke looked at her closely, his brows knit
with confusion. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Actually it does. Having red hair is a
recessive gene. Unless you have that recessive gene, none of our
children will have red hair.”

“But this, technically, isn’t my child.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken. You are the
biological father.”

For a moment Luke stared at her as if she
were insane, then his eyes darkened. “What are you telling me?”

“It was your sperm. I went to your fertility
clinic.” He listened as she spilled out the details of finding his
letter and copying down the account number.

“But why me?” he asked in a deadly calm
voice.

She would have felt better if he had shouted
at her. “I didn’t know you, but I thought you’d be a good
candidate. You were tall, smart, and looked healthy.” She tried to
make a joke. “If I had known a little more about your temper, I
might have acted differently.”

“It’s unethical. That was confidential
information,” he persisted.

“I know, but I didn’t think it would
matter.”

“You thought I’d never know.” His voice grew
louder.

He was angry. This was what she’d been afraid
of. “And you wouldn’t have, if you hadn’t chosen me as your
secretary.” Hannah wondered if she should have quit, after all,
instead of working for him.

He swore under his breath, and started pacing
across the room.

Hannah watched him, feeling as if all their
wedding plans were a house of cards, starting to fall. She wished
she could find the words to make everything right between them
again. “You said it didn’t matter who the father was. That you’d
treat the child as your own.”

He turned and glared at her. “That was before
I knew the child was mine. How could you work with me, day after
day, and keep this information from me?”

“It was none of your business. You signed
away your rights.”

“That’s irrelevant.”

He was too upset to think rationally. She
said, “You agreed to let other people use –-”

“Yes, but you –” He struggled to find the
right words. “Was it a game to you? Did you enjoy watching me make
a fool of myself, when I offered to help you track down the father
to pay support?”

Hannah felt as if she’d been struck. “You
know better than that.”

“No, I don’t. I don’t know anything. I feel
as if I don’t know you at all.”

“Don’t I get any credit for telling you the
truth? I could have kept it a secret.”

“Until the baby was born, and he looked
exactly like me.”

“That was a risk, but I could have said it
was a coincidence.” Hannah wished he would listen to her and try to
understand her motives. “But I didn’t want to lie. I wanted to tell
you the truth, before we married. Even if it made you change your
mind.”

“About what?”

“Marrying me. I knew you’d be angry, and you
are. So if you’re so angry you can’t deal with it, we’ll call it
off.”

“Cancel the wedding?” He sounded stunned.

“If necessary, yes.” Hannah grimaced. “Don’t
worry, I’ll put your name on the birth certificate, and we’ll
figure out some sort of visitation rights.” It wasn’t an ideal
arrangement, but under the circumstances, it seemed like the right
thing to do.

“I don’t want visitation rights. I want to be
a full-time father to the baby.”

She needed to remember that Luke only wanted
to marry her because of the baby. He liked kissing her, and
eventually would enjoy sleeping with her, but that was not his
prime motivation. “That’s what I want, too,” she said carefully,
striving to keep her voice steady. “But I’m not going to spend the
rest of my life apologizing to you for keeping this baby’s
parentage a secret. I did what I thought was best at the time, and
if you can’t accept that, we’d better rethink getting married.”

His gaze met hers. His eyes were stormy. For
a minute, he was silent, then he said quietly, “You’re right.
There’s no point arguing about the past. As much as I wish things
were different, we need to focus on the future and do what’s right
for the baby.”

Hannah let her breath out slowly. She should
be pleased that the crisis was over, but she felt as if they’d lost
the closeness they’d enjoyed only minutes before. The laughter and
ease between them had gone. “Do you still want to marry me?” she
asked.

“Of course I do. Even more now that I know
you’re carrying my child.”

My child
. The possessiveness in his
voice chilled her. Before he’d always referred to it as ‘the
baby.’

#

Luke Jamison drove to his house, deep in
thought. He parked in his garage and sat, staring at the steering
wheel, seeing nothing.

Hannah was expecting his child.

She had known from the beginning, and she’d
kept it hidden from him. She’d worked for him for six months
without once betraying her secret.

How can I trust her?

He’d thought she was a good poker player, but
that was nothing compared to this. Would he ever know what she was
thinking?

He’d thought they were friends. But friends
were open and honest with each other.

In her defense, she had finally told him the
truth, but she’d left it until nearly the last moment. That didn’t
auger well for their married life. He didn’t like secrets.

He thought of Gloria and her secrets, secrets
that had undermined their marriage from the beginning.

Marriage was a contract and contracts worked
best when both parties knew all the facts and knew what to expect.
Full disclosure was the best policy.

Luke still liked Hannah, but today’s
revelation made him realize how little he knew her. Marrying her
was a risk. He’d had one unhappy marriage, and he didn’t want
another.

Was he setting himself up for another
failure?

If only she weren’t pregnant, he thought,
then realized how foolish that was. If she weren’t pregnant, he
would never have considered marrying her – or would he?

It was a hypothetical question, and one he
would never know the answer to. She was pregnant, and there was a
baby, his child to consider.

Luke was a realist. Even though Hannah had
used confidential information to have access to his sperm, the
burden of proof would be difficult, and no judge would award him
full custody. He didn’t want his child to be shuttled back and
forth between two parents, two households.

If he wanted to take care of the baby, to be
a full-time father, he must marry Hannah and try to make the
marriage work. Somehow.

He had no other choice.

#

Christine came over Saturday morning to help
Hannah get ready. “Your mother should be here, but since she can’t,
I’ll do the honors.” She whistled with admiration when she saw the
simple white gown Margaret had found for her.

Hannah bit her lip nervously as she stared at
her reflection. The empire-waist emphasized her bosom and the
gathers below minimized the effect of her stomach, but today it
looked like a mountain of fabric. “Do you think it’s too
dramatic?”

“Honey, if you can’t be dramatic on your
wedding day, when can you?” Christine asked, and they both laughed.
She added, “You look beautiful. Luke is going to be very
proud.”

Hannah had her doubts. Luke had spent most of
the past few days, working long hours at the office. He said he was
“finishing up a few matters,” but she knew he was avoiding her.

In spite of his talk about putting the past
behind them, she sensed that it still bothered him. He was polite;
he was considerate, but there was no warmth in his voice. She felt
as if they were strangers again.

Her unhappiness must have shown on her face,
for Christine said, “Are you having second thoughts?”

“Try eighth and ninth.”

“If you’re not ready, you can change your
mind.”

“No, I’m committed to this.”

“It’s easier to jilt him at the altar than to
get a divorce six months from now.”

“Hey, whose side are you on?” Hannah
said.

“I’m on your side,” Christine said as she
flat ironed Hannah’s hair into looser curls. She fastened a sprig
of tiny silk flowers that clipped onto the back of Hannah’s
head.

She said, “I want you to be happy, but I do
think you’re jumping into this marriage too quickly. It doesn’t
seem that long ago that you were dreading being his secretary.” She
pulled at one of the curls framing Hannah’s face and shrugged,
surveying her work. “But as long as you love the guy, everything
should work out.”

“But I don’t –” Hannah started to say ‘love
the guy,’ when she realized suddenly that yes, she did love him.
I love Luke Jamison
. She sat down weakly on her bed.

When had that happened?

It must have started when he’d been so kind
and drove her to the hospital.

She remembered what he’d said --
What most
people call love is a combination of infatuation and hormones.
Some of her feelings might be caused by hormones, because she was
increasingly aware of him physically, but it definitely wasn’t
infatuation because the emotional attachment had been so gradual.
She loved him, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with
him.

That’s why she’d agreed to marry him, she
realized. She’d tried to convince herself that it was all for the
baby, but she’d been deceiving herself. She wanted to marry Luke
for herself. And she wanted him to love her, too. That’s why his
reaction to the news that he was the biological father had upset
her. If she had wanted only a marriage of convenience, his coolness
wouldn’t have bothered her.

“Are you all right?” Christine asked.

Hannah smiled at her friend, suddenly brought
back to the present. “I’m fine.” She gave Christine a hug, being
careful not to smudge her make-up. “Thank you so much for your
help.”

“Then you’re going through with it.”

Hannah nodded. Luke might not be happy with
her right now, but she had to believe that love could grow between
them. She refused to think otherwise. “Wish me luck,” she said.

“You’re going to need it,” Christine said
wryly, then added, “Every marriage does.”

The marriage party was small – there were
only a few of her friends, some of Luke’s family and two of the
partners from the law firm. They had rented some potted plants and
a white trellised arch so the living room looked more formal.

Hannah stood next to Luke, avoiding his eyes.
She didn’t want to stare at him like some love-struck teenager. He
gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, as if to say, “Everything will
be all right.”

The judge said a few words, and before Hannah
was ready, it was time to say, “I do.”

Luke bent to kiss her, a brief kiss.

Their noses didn’t bump, and Hannah smiled.
She glanced at him to share the humor, but he stared back at her
with a solemn expression.

Marriage is serious business.

The guests gathered around to express their
congratulations. Luke, keeping an eye on his watch, suggested that
she lie down again.

Hannah lay down on the couch in the den,
arranging the skirt of her wedding dress so it draped gracefully,
and Luke left to get her some punch.

His brother Charles, Luke’s height, but with
a receding hairline, said, “Welcome to the family,” and bent down
to kiss her cheek. “Is any of your family here?”

“No, there’s only my mother, and she was too
ill to come.”

“That’s too bad,” he murmured.

His wife asked to see her ring, and was
startled by the plain gold wedding band. “It’s very nice,” she said
politely, obviously expecting something more elaborate.

Luke came back with the punch and Charles
teased him. “I didn’t realize the law firm was doing poorly.”

Luke frowned. “What are you talking
about?”

“No engagement ring. After Gloria’s rock, I
expected ten carats at least. But maybe Hannah doesn’t like
diamonds.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. With all their hasty
preparations, neither of them had thought of an engagement ring.
Luke looked at her, as if trying to discern whether she was upset
by the oversight. “I do like them,” she said quickly, “But with my
fingers so swollen right now, we decided to wait.” It wasn’t a
great excuse, but it was the best she could think of.

Luke smiled at her with quick
appreciation.

Margaret, walking by, overheard the
conversation and added, “Get it in writing.”

“You see what I have to put up with?” Luke
joked. “No respect.”

“That’s what you get for being the baby of
the family,” Charles returned.