Lined With Silver (30 page)

His face was serious. “I think it has more to
do with you. I wasn’t attacked at my house. It was yours.”

Suddenly, Sondra remembered where she’d seen
that “s.” She turned to Zack. “Can you stop at my office on the way
to the airport?”

“Of course. I can’t tell you how sorry I am
about Nikki and Brad.”

She took a deep breath. There would be time
for tears later. Her attorney instincts had taken over, and she
wasn’t going to let this one go.

Zack followed her into her office and she
waddled to Cari’s desk, who looked up in surprise. “Hi, Sondra. You
look…good.” She had obviously struggled over the words. Sondra was
as big as a house. There was no nice way to phrase it.

“Do you have the bill Scott sent for cleaning
his truck?”

“I think so. Let me look.” Cari pulled open
her filing cabinet and shuffled through papers. “Here it is. It was
paid a couple of days after he sent it to us.”

“Thanks.” Sondra’s hands shook as she glanced
over the bill. There it was. The “s” she’d seen too many times
before. She handed the bill to Zack. “I think I found the
stalker.”

Zack stepped behind Sondra and wrapped his
arms around her, resting his hands on her big belly. The squirming
twins reacted to his touch and kicked. Sondra rubbed the spot just
below Zack’s hands. “Ouch. They’re getting stronger every day. That
one hurt.”

Zack kissed the top of her head. “You’ll be a
great mom.”

Tears trickled down her face and she reached
up impatiently to wipe them away. “This isn’t the way I thought it
would end. I miss Nikki so much.”

“I can’t imagine how hard this has all been.”
He rested his chin on her head. “Your Mom has been a real trooper.
Planning a funeral right after her mission…”

“As hard as it was, I think she was glad she
could be here when it happened.”

“I doubt any of us would be feeling like this
if we didn’t have the sure knowledge that we would see them
again.”

“Tell me again what Nikki said.” Sondra
stepped away and looked up at him.

“She talked about all eight.”

“That must’ve been their babies. There were
eight of them including the twins I carried for her.”

“Do you remember the dreams you’ve been
having?”

She nodded, her throat too tight to speak. He
stroked her hair a moment and then said, “I think you were having a
premonition, and I have a confession.” Zack’s face was
contrite.

Sondra’s brows furrowed in concern. “How bad
is it?”

“Well,” Zack rubbed his forehead, a sign of
his embarrassment. “I often thought of the twins as my own even
before Nikki and Brad died.” When he saw her shocked expression, he
hurried on, “I know it was wrong of me.”

He bent down to rest his head against her
stomach, “but I just couldn’t help myself….our marriage put ideas
in my head I just couldn’t shake.” His elusive dimple appeared.
“And I’m not as selfless as you are. I couldn’t see myself letting
someone else raise my children. If I didn’t spend some time away, I
knew I wouldn’t have enough self-control to keep from wondering if
the embryos were my own, and I wouldn’t have let you hand over my
children. Since you were willing to sacrifice so much for Nikki, I
didn’t want to take that choice away from you.”

He paused and said, “The last few months have
been torture. I wanted to be here with you every day. I never
planned on this marriage staying fake for so long.”

Sondra patted his head, still resting on her.
“For the sake of the twins, I think it will have to stay fake for a
couple more weeks at least.”

“Do you remember the day after the brake
failure?”

Sondra nodded.

“I had you added to my will. I wanted to make
sure you were taken care of if anything happened to me.”

“You did that for me?” She was stunned.

He stood up and reached for her wrist, where
the tennis bracelet sparkled under the artificial lights. She
watched as he undid the clasp and turned the bracelet over. There,
engraved in elegant script on the gold under each jewel was a
letter.
Eternally yours.

“Oh, Zack, I had no idea you felt this way.”
Fresh tears started, but these were ones of joy.

He knelt down with the bracelet in his hands
and asked, “Sondra, will you marry me?”

She stared at him, a puzzled expression on
her face. “But we’re already married.”

“I know, but I never did this right, and I’d
like to propose properly before we make it official.”

“Ummm…I don’t know how to break the news to
you, but our marriage is as official as it gets.”

“Not really. There’s somewhere else I had in
mind.” He looked up at her, a serious look on his face. “Will you
marry me? And this time, I’d like it to be in the temple.”

“Oh, Zack,” and fresh tears were coursing
down her face. This time, she didn’t try to stop them, “I’d be
thrilled to be your wife.” He stood up and gently wiped her tears
away. Her eyes opened wide. “Do you want me to re-write that
prenuptial agreement?”

He was nuzzling her neck as she spoke. He
looked up at her question. “I never did want that stupid agreement.
I burned my copy the day you handed it over.”

“You did?” she asked, astonished.

He nodded. “I knew I wanted to marry you the
first time I cleaned tears off your face. You looked so heartbroken
sobbing in your sleep. I wanted to kill whoever had hurt you like
that. Of course, when I found out what the reason for your sorrow
was, I couldn’t be angry at Nikki.” He bent down to kiss her wet
cheek. “I couldn’t believe my fortune when you blurted out a
proposal.”

“I don’t make a habit out of it, you know.”
She tried to sound prim and proper, but her wildly beating heart
left her breathless.

“I would hope not.” He spoiled his tone by
nibbling softly on Sondra’s ear.

Sondra was tired of his little nibbles and
pulled his mouth to hers, exploring his lips with an intensity that
left both of them breathless. “I confess I’ve been dreaming about
this,” she breathed, the color racing up her face.

He sighed and pulled back. “As much as I’d
love to continue this enjoyable past time, I don’t think it would
be good for the twins.”

“Two more weeks and they can be induced. I’m
as big as a house.”

“We have some wedding arrangements to make,
Mrs. Carlson. I think your mother wants to be a part of this
one.”

She laughed. “It’s a good thing their mission
is over. Mom is going to be very busy.”

He turned, pulled an unresisting Sondra into
his arms, and kissed her with a passion she echoed. He pulled back
again. “Happy anniversary, Beloved. I’m going to go call the
temple.”

“You didn’t tell me which one.”

He stopped and turned back to her. “We have
several in the valley to choose from. Do you have a
preference?”

“I was thinking something out of the valley
would be nice. I’ve always loved the Bountiful Temple.”

“Bountiful it is, then.” He reached out to
caress her cheek. “I never want to face losing you again. For the
rest of eternity, I want you by my side.”

Sondra reached for the picture of Brad and
Nikki sitting on the hallway table. “I just wish they could be here
with us.”

“I think things happened exactly the way God
intended them to.”

“I don’t think God intended Scott to kill
anyone.” She protested.

“No, but He didn’t step in to stop it,
either.”

“Based on the charges against him, he won’t
be threatening anyone for a very long time.” Her eyes flashed
angrily.

“I would guess he won’t ever get out.”

“Not if I have anything to do with it.”

Zack re-fastened her bracelet and watched the
sparkles for a moment. “Do you know what makes diamonds so
valuable?” He asked.

Sondra blinked. “Diamonds?”

He chuckled. “Do you think I’d give anything
but diamonds to my lovely wife?”

“But I’d asked for something else.”

“And my intentions weren’t for anything
temporary.” He bent down and kissed her again and then continued.
“As I was saying, diamonds are valuable because they are flawed.
Each one is slightly different. Cubic zirconia is uniform. There
are no differences. They sparkle like diamonds but they don’t share
the same value. I know it’s hard to even think of it, but even
Scott is a beloved son of our Father in Heaven. He has some big
flaws, and I’m grateful he won’t be out to hurt anyone ever again,
but his actions didn’t change his eternal value or the eternal
nature of Nikki and Brad’s relationship.”

He rested his cheek on her head and then
straightened. “I come from two generations of mixed marriages where
one spouse was a member and the other was not. I didn’t want to
risk not having an eternal relationship. I wanted my children born
in the covenant. If we can get to the temple soon enough, even the
twins will be.”

Sondra kissed the palm of his hand, then he
gently reached up to caress her face again and said, “Even the
darkest clouds are lined with silver.”

When Craig and I were facing our own battle
with infertility, we considered embryo adoption. Because my
infertility issues stem from my inability to carry a full-term
pregnancy, we opted for the adoption of a post-born child. We have
six adopted and three birth children.

For any of my readers considering in-vitro
fertilization, I wanted to let you know there is a different
option, and that would be the adoption of excess embryos. These are
embryos created by an infertile couple who are finished with their
families. Rather than have them disposed of or experimented on,
these infants can be given homes.

If you’re interested, you can contact the
infertility clinic of your choice. Pricing and the availability of
viable embryos vary by location.

While I was writing this book, I came across
a group that works to match available embryos with searching
couples. It was gratifying to discover that there are people out
there who see the need and are working to fill it.