Echoes in the Bayou (40 page)

"Am
I going crazy? Or is he really here?" She asked him. "Because if I am
then please let me stay crazy," she told him.

Sterling
squeezed her hand. "No sweetheart you're not going crazy, he's here and
from what he told Kelly, he's staying.
"

She
couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Magnus
was here and he was staying, the excitement was almost too much to bear.

"I
got you a water." Magnus had returned to staring eyes. The small group had
assembled in the room now and had surrounded Ava. Magnus couldn’t help but
notice how much they reminded him of a family that was protecting its young
from a predator, and to everyone but Ava, he was the predator. "I'd love
to make the introductions but I'm not feeling too good at the moment, she said
with tears in her eyes.  "I wonder if someone would be so kind as to
bring me home."

"What
is it? Is it the baby?" Magnus and Sterling chimed in and then glared at
one another. "I don’t know." Was all that she could say. "I just
feel incredibly strange, I can't describe it but I'm worried. What if
something's wrong?" She asked eyes wide with fear.

"That's
it were bringin
g you to the hospital. Adrian go
get Anthony and tell him to bring the car around front.
Within minutes
Sterling and Magnus had Ava bundled up in her coat and were waiting for Anthony
to pull the car around.

Kell
y you and Adrian follow us, we'll take Mister
Hollywood here and Ava to the hospital."

"We'll
talk about that comment later on," Magnus said to Sterling as he climbed
into the back seat of the car.

"Oh
yes we will," Sterling replied and gave Anthony a quick kiss on the cheek
before telling him to make haste towards the hospital
.

During
the ride Magnus had managed to get in touch with the doctor who told them th
at he'd meet them there. Ava rested her head on his
shoulder as he tried to calm her nerves. "You and the baby are going to be
fine," he reassured her and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I'm
here now and I'm not going anywhere, I promise you."

"You're
damn
right you're not going anywhere. This woman
waited around for you for eight months, you leave again, she ain't waiting no
more," Sterling snapped at him.

"Come
on you two no fighting," Ava murmured. She was still dizzy and all of a
sudden felt i
ncredibly tired.

An hour
later, she was hooked up to the fetal monitor and resting comfortably in a
private hospital room. "So far so good," the doctor had told her. He
told her that she was not in labor and that the dizziness and strange feeling
had more than likely been brought on by the sudden shock of seeing Magnus.
"Not to mention that you've been on your feet dancing for several hours,
you should have taken a break," he lightly reprimanded her.

Ava
smiled sheepishly, he was right. She figured that since the music was slow,
there was no harm in dancing to most of the songs. "You over did it is
all," the doctor told her. "But now, you've got to take it easy Ava,
the baby can come at any time now and you're going to need your strength for
delivery you got that? Now how about we let daddy to be take you home?"

He smiled
at Magnus who was sitting at her bedside enthralled at the sound of his hearing
his baby's heartbeat.

"It's
amazing," he said eyes wet with tears.
"Simply amazing."

"Glad
to see he finally came to his senses Miss Montgomery, just don’t forget what I
told you," he winked at her. "Go easy on him," he whispered in
her ear before giving her hand a gentle squeeze and leaving the room
.

 She
was much calmer now; the short stay at the hospital and listening to the baby's
heart beat was more than enough to boost her spirits. Not to mention the fact
that Magnus had come to her, and was more than a little excited at the concept
of becoming a father. The ride home was a lot more relaxed and tense free than
the ride to the hospital. Even Sterling had managed to call a truce with
Magnus, for the rest of the night anyway and as Anthony drove them back to the
Inn so that Magnus could pick up his car, the two shook hands before saying
goodbye.

"Magnus,
why didn’t you tell me you were coming?" She'd waited until they were
alone in his car and heading back to her place before asking the question.

"By
the time I came to my senses and realized
that
none of what I was doing seemed right without you, I had already made up my
mind that I wanted to surprise you," he grinned.

"I
wanted to see if you were going to be happy to see me.
"

She
whacked him on the shoulder. I wish you would have told me you were coming,
well at least you caught me looking pretty," she joked. "Most days
I'm lucky if I can change out of my pajamas."

"Ava,
you couldn’t get any prettier. I love the new hairstyle by the way," he
winked
.

"And
here I thought you hadn’t
noticed."

"Oh I
noticed believe me I noticed, but at the time that little bump in your belly
seemed to warrant all of my attention. Put your haircut on the back burner for
a minute or two," he said with a grin
.

Magnus
whistled loud when he saw the gorgeous Victorian home. This is all yours?"
He asked with enthusiasm. He knew that she was a sucker for older homes like
himself and the house that stood before him was the quintessence of Ava
Montgomery.

"No
it's not all mine," she said as he help
ed
her out of the car. "It's all ours," she said and wrapped her arms
around him.

Once
inside he couldn’t help but smile at the Victorian inspired decorations that
seemed to scream
Ava lives here!
"Are the others coming?" He asked, not
wanting her to feel alienated from her friends. But once she explained that
they had wanted to give the two space and let them get reacquainted he began to
like them more and more. "And Kelly is spending the rest of the weekend at
Adrian's," she said with a wink. So you and I have the house to ourselves,
she motioned towards the fireplace. "So how about you start a fire while I
go change and then we can catch up?" She smiled warmly at him.

"It's
wonderful to have you home," she said before making her way up the stairs.

"It's
wonderful to be home," he said
.

When she
came downstairs wearing a crimson colored chemise that fit her body like a
second skin, he instantly grew hard.
  The
fire placed crackled and soft music played in the background. It reminded her
of how only hours before she had been dancing with Sterling.

He
gathered her in his arms and smoothed her hair back away from her face.
"Did you miss me?"

"Just
a little," sh
e said with a grin and
shrugged her shoulders.

The tears
had begun to run down her face. "I think you missed me more than just a little
Ava Montgomery.
"

"And
you called me what? Once and you never emailed me!
"

"I
did email
you; I emailed you so many times that
I can't even begin to count but once again, something went wrong and my emails
must have gotten lost or something. That was my only way to communicate after
Steve deleted your cell. And after the line went dead the day that I called, I
all but gave up but I'm so sorry Ava. Now that I know that Steve was behind it
all, everything makes sense."

 
"But know that I missed you so much that it broke
my heart and I don’t ever want to have to miss you that much again!"

"But
what about the book tour
and movies?"

He gave a
shrug. "I can write anywhere and writing makes me feel good, but not as
good as being with you." He leaned in for a kiss. "Not as good as
when I am inside of you. Ava, it's time that I made some changes.
"

 
"What kind?"

"I
need to take things down a notch and realize that I have everything that I need
right here.
"

And I
don’t think I'll be signing with another agent. From now on, I'll self- publish
and start doing things my way. Ava what we have is perfect, and I for one
want us to stay together forever. If of course you're
still interested, that is."

 
She glanced away to hide her smile. "I'll have to
think about it."

He buried
his face in her neck. "Well can you think fast? Because I so ver
y badly want to make love to you."

She
leaned back and put both her palms on the
warmth
of his cheeks, and stared into his eyes with desire. "Magnus, I need to
know that you're in this for the long haul because if you aren’t you need to
tell me right here and now. I don’t want you here unless this is where you
absolutely want to be and I won't have you feeling obligated towards me or the
baby."

 
"Ava, I understand where you're coming from I do.
I want you to know that I am one hundred percent committed to you and not only
that but I am helplessly and wholly yours. I'll scream and shout it from the
widows walk if you want. I am in love with you, Ava. Like I've never been in my
entire existence."

"But
will you feel completely fulfilled living here Magnus? Because I
've no intentions of moving back to New Orleans, or
anyplace else for that matter. This is my home now and I'd like very much if
you would make it your home too."

"This
may sound silly but the moment I saw you, I felt fulfilled. I feel as if I've
been given a whole new life and in so many ways, I have. Ava we have a baby on
the way, we're going to be parents! You and the baby are everything that I
need. And without you in my life, well… I don’t even want to think about
it."

He kissed
her long and hard then, and in a seductive whisper he said, "You are my
life Ava, you're what I need to feel alive."

She
returned his kiss and led him over the oversized sofa so that they could begin to
catc
h

up.

Chapter Twenty Nine

"What
I don’t get is why Steve would do something so spiteful as to erase all of your
accounts and disregard my messages."

It was
morning and they were lying in bed trying to put things in perspective. "I
don’t know, I guess ever since he star
ted using,
things seemed to get out of hand for him.  He probably thought that by
keeping us apart, I'd finish the book tour and want to move forward with the
whole movie idea."

"But
surely he must have known that we would both try to contact one another."

"I
don’t think so, I think that the more distance and time he put between us the
more we would see that it just wouldn’t work but I hope he realizes that it was
a complete waste of time.
"

She
reached down and placed her hand on top of his. "
Magnus are you sure you're ready for all of this? I mean, you say you
are but are you really ready?"

"He
kissed her softly on the cheek.
  "Ava
I have never wanted anything so bad in my entire life, you have to know this. I
am ready; you have no idea of how ready I am."

She
smiled. "Good and since you're so ready, you can be the one to wake up
with the baby for his or her hourly feedings and diaper changes," she
joked.

"I
wouldn’t have
it any other way. And you'll see,
I am going to be the world's greatest dad," he said and squeezed her
gently.

"I
have no doubt in my mind about that Magnus, no doubt at all.
"

Ava
decided to put Sterling and Kelly in charge of the shop while she helped Magnus
settle into her new home. Neither Kelly nor Sterling objected when she told
them of her plans. She would get Magnus settled, and the two had planned to
finish the baby's room. She wanted to get all of the last minute details in
place, so that they were no longer in the back of her mind, nagging her to get
them done.  After that she planned on taking time off to relax before the
baby arrived.

Things
were falling into place for the them now. The baby was kicking up a storm and
Magnus had told her that he or she was getting restless, and was ready to come
out. Ava had never been happier, she felt wonderful when Magnus went with her
to her obgyn appointments and held her hand during the entire exam. Her visits
had become weekly now and the doctor had reminded her again that the baby could
come at any time now and with each day they both grew more and more excited.