Child's Play

by Danielle Steel

  “Do you believe in me enough to do that?” Kate asked him, looking deeply touched and a little amazed.

  “Yes, I do,” he said seriously. “It’s how I feel about you, Kate, and I’d like the world to know it. I’m proud to be with you. We belong to each other. Do you believe in me enough to marry me?” he asked her. “Maybe that’s the more important question.”

  “Yes, I do,” she said quietly. “I haven’t believed in marriage for myself in a long time, ever since Tom. But I love you and I’m proud to be a part of your life.” She hadn’t thought they needed to be married but now she realized that maybe he was right. And the seven year age difference between them had proved to be insignificant.

  “Then let’s get married and go to India for our honeymoon,” he said, smiling at her.

  “Just like that? That easy?” she asked him.

  “It’s always been easy with us. We were meant to be together.” He kissed her. “I knew it when I met you, and when you fell in the street.”

  “Does this mean we’re engaged?” She smiled at him.

  “If you want to be.” He was smiling broadly. “Maybe we should make love to seal the deal,” he said as he pulled her closer and she laughed.

  “That seems like a very good idea,” she said and then he took off her nightgown and proved it to her.

  After they made love, she was half asleep and remembered what he’d said before. “When do you want to get married?” she asked him simply.

  “Yesterday,” he said, and fell asleep.

  * * *

  —

  They told the children when Anthony and Alicia came back from their honeymoon in Mexico. Kate and Scott got married before Anthony and Alicia went back to India in July. They rented a house in Connecticut for the weekend and had the wedding there. The whole family stayed with them and they were married in a small church nearby. It was simple and pretty and just what they wanted. They exchanged vows and wedding rings and had agreed to postpone their honeymoon until October, after Tammy and Stacey’s babies were born. And then they would go to India, with Margaret.

  * * *

  —

  The time until September passed quickly, after their wedding. They both had a lot of work in August and September, but all of their cases had settled, and by the end of September, it was still warm, but fall was in the air. It was a beautiful late September afternoon the day after their due date, when Tammy’s daughter and Stacey’s son decided to be born, and arrive on the same day. Kate felt that they had consulted with each other and said “Okay, jump,” and they both did. Tammy and Stacey went into labor within an hour of each other.

  Tammy was arranging things in the nursery again when her water broke. She was startled and went to tell Stacey, and by the time she found her, she had slashing pains that felt as though she were being cut in half.

  “Are you all right? What happened?” Stacey could see she was already in labor.

  “I don’t know. I came to tell you my water broke, and suddenly I started to feel like a knife was cutting through me.” As she said it, she had another pain so sharp she couldn’t speak.

  “Let’s go to the hospital now,” Stacey was calm and in full control, since so far nothing had started for her. She was feeling fine. She had been carrying boxes of medical supplies for her office that had come to their home that morning by mistake.

  Stacey kept track of Tammy’s contractions in the cab on the way to the hospital. They were increasing in strength and were two minutes apart when they got there. Stacey was smiling and holding Tammy’s hand as they wheeled her into a labor room, and Stacey took Tammy’s clothes off and put a hospital gown on her as a nurse waited to examine her. She was already eight centimeters dilated when she did, and with the next pain she was at nine. The nurse said she was going to call the doctor and left the room in a hurry. It was moving very quickly for a first baby.

  “It’s going so fast,” Tammy said to Stacey. “I didn’t expect it to be this way.” She was out of breath, the contractions were coming fast and hard. They’d taken Lamaze classes but the labor was moving with lightning speed. There was no time to call Kate so she could be there.

  “Labor usually doesn’t go this rapidly for a first baby,” the nurse said when she got back. Tammy had only been in labor by then for about forty minutes, but the contractions were so powerful, she felt as though the baby would come any minute, and Stacey thought she might. She was holding Tammy’s hand through another contraction, when Stacey’s water broke, and she looked surprised. She was standing in a pool of water next to Tammy’s bed, and suddenly the race was on. Her labor pains started immediately, and she sank into a chair next to Tammy.

  “This is crazy,” Stacey said, as Tammy started to push before they said she could. The nurse looked panicked and went to call the doctor again. It was too late for an epidural for Tammy, and Stacey’s pains were so powerful and so rapid that within minutes, she couldn’t speak. The two women held hands, as the nurse rushed back into the room with a gurney for Stacey and helped her onto it. They wanted to take her to another labor room and Stacey refused. She wasn’t going to leave Tammy before the baby came. They needed each other.

  Tammy’s face was red and she was pushing with every pain, as the nurse undressed Stacey and put a hospital gown on her too. She smiled at Tammy through their pains to encourage her, and as soon as Stacey was undressed there was a wail in the room. Their daughter had arrived. Tammy lay looking stunned as she smiled at Stacey.

  “I love you,” she said to Tammy, as an express train suddenly sped through her. Stacey could no longer speak, and Tammy told her she could do it with a firm grip on her hand.

  “I can’t,” Stacey whispered to Tammy between pains, as a doctor sped into the room, and cut their daughter’s cord, while Stacey pushed with all her might. Tammy kept her hand in hers, and everyone told Stacey to push.

  She felt everything within her force through her and a second angry wail filled the room, as Tammy and Stacey watched their son come into the world. They were laughing and crying as Stacey lay back, shaking. Their babies had been born within four minutes of each other.

  Two nurses cleaned the babies, and weighed them, as two other nurses tended to Tammy and Stacey, still holding hands and smiling, shaken but victorious.

  “That was easy,” Stacey said as a second doctor arrived to help, and a pediatrician came to check the babies.

  Their daughter weighed eight pounds nine ounces, and their son ten pounds two ounces. Both labors had taken less than an hour. The nurse placed each baby in its mother’s arms. Their daughter went immediately to Tammy’s breast, and Stacey found herself nursing their son without effort, and she had none of the resistance she thought she would. Everything about the deliveries had been easy and natural, as the room full of doctors and nurses stared at them in amazement. The two new moms said they were calling the babies Annabelle and John.

  Tammy called Kate then and she arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later, and tears ran down her cheeks, as she saw Tammy and Stacey peacefully holding their babies, looking like twin Madonnas.

  “What are you two doing?” she said smiling at them. “The nurse said you both delivered in less than an hour,” and they were both big babies. They were the talk of the hospital and the nurses said they were lucky the babies hadn’t been born at home. The girls had been wheeled into a room by then, with the babies in their separate bassinets in the room with them. They were a family now.

  Kate gazed at each of them as both of their mothers looked on proudly. They were beautiful babies. Stacey and Tammy were talking and laughing as though nothing had happened. They were on a high like no other.

  “I think you’ve set some kind of a world record.” Kate beamed at them as nurses came and went to check on both mothers. Tammy wanted to leave the hospital that night since the babies were perfect, he
althy, and had checked out with no problems. But Stacey convinced her to spend the night, and leave in the morning. Kate promised to bring a car to drive them home. She had to pick up their car seats to be allowed to leave the hospital.

  Their return to their apartment the next day was chaotic and triumphant. It was going to take a little time to make the adjustment and a baby nurse Stacey knew had come to help them for a month. The two mothers were walking around their home, and looked radiant while the babies slept in the bassinets Kate had bought them, with pink and blue ribbons.

  Tammy and Stacey looked like the poster children for motherhood. Stacey still couldn’t believe how easy it had been, and neither could Claire when Tammy told her. Claire sheepishly admitted she was pregnant again. Gregory was only six months old, and it had been an accident. Claire said she really didn’t want to be pregnant again, but Reed was over the moon about it. The baby was due in April by planned C-section this time. Claire made a point of telling her mother that they were not getting married. Kate just laughed when she said it. It no longer mattered. It was her decision. Claire seemed disappointed by the lack of reaction from her mother. Kate accepted whatever choice her daughter made. There was nothing to argue about this time. Kate had made her peace with Claire not wanting to be married. Reed was a wonderful father, and adored Claire and their son.

  * * *

  —

  By the time Scott and Kate and Margaret were ready to leave for India three weeks later, Stacey and Tammy were on their feet and doing well, and the baby nurse had Annabelle and John on a schedule. Both mothers were nursing. They nursed whichever baby needed to be fed at the moment.

  Scott and Kate left with Margaret to fly to New Delhi on a Saturday morning. They took an SUV with a driver to get them to the airport. Margaret was going to stay with Anthony while Kate and Scott spent two weeks exploring the country for their delayed honeymoon. They had planned the trip carefully to include all the temples and monuments that they wanted to see, including the Taj Mahal.

  The trip was everything they had hoped for, and as they lay under a full moon on the verandah of their suite at The Raj Palace in Jaipur, Kate looked at Scott and knew they had done the right thing getting married. Events of the past ten months had proven to them they belonged together. Cast together by fate, their life was a celebration. It was their turn now, without children or babies taking up every moment of Kate’s time.

  Kate was wearing a sari that Alicia had given her, and as Scott slowly undid it, they looked at each other and smiled.

  “Thank you,” Kate whispered, “for everything,” she said as he kissed her. It was a prayer and a wish and I love you, all rolled into one for the man she loved. Marrying him was the best thing she’d ever done and he felt that way about her too.

  It was exactly what they had both wanted and thought they’d never find, and miraculously they had. Kate’s children had grown wings in the last year, and so had Scott and Kate. Their wingspan was the broadest of all. The future awaited them and all the adventures they would share. It was their time now, as they walked back into the bedroom of their suite on a magical night. And whatever decisions and choices her children would make would be up to them, and hopefully, would turn out well. Kate and Scott had their lives to lead, and their time together with all its gifts and wonders, had only just begun.

  To my wonderful so much loved children,

  Beatrix, Trevor, Todd, Nick,

  Samantha, Victoria, Vanessa,

  Maxx, and Zara.

  May you make wise decisions,

  choose loving, caring partners

  who treat you well,

  keep you safe and protect you,

  make you smile,

  and share your dreams,

  And to all of us, as parents,

  who are constantly surprised

  by our children!!

  Thank you for the lessons you teach me!

  I love you so very much!

  Mom/d.s.

  By Danielle Steel

  CHILD’S PLAY • THE DARK SIDE • LOST AND FOUND • BLESSING IN DISGUISE • SILENT NIGHT • TURNING POINT • BEAUCHAMP HALL • IN HIS FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS • THE GOOD FIGHT • THE CAST • ACCIDENTAL HEROES • FALL FROM GRACE • PAST PERFECT • FAIRYTALE • THE RIGHT TIME • THE DUCHESS • AGAINST ALL ODDS • DANGEROUS GAMES • THE MISTRESS • THE AWARD • RUSHING WATERS • MAGIC • THE APARTMENT • PROPERTY OF A NOBLEWOMAN • BLUE • PRECIOUS GIFTS • UNDERCOVER • COUNTRY • PRODIGAL SON • PEGASUS • A PERFECT LIFE • POWER PLAY • WINNERS • FIRST SIGHT • UNTIL THE END OF TIME • THE SINS OF THE MOTHER • FRIENDS FOREVER • BETRAYAL • HOTEL VENDÔME • HAPPY BIRTHDAY • 44 CHARLES STREET • LEGACY • FAMILY TIES • BIG GIRL • SOUTHERN LIGHTS • MATTERS OF THE HEART • ONE DAY AT A TIME • A GOOD WOMAN • ROGUE • HONOR THYSELF •AMAZING GRACE • BUNGALOW 2 • SISTERS • H.R.H. • COMING OUT •THE HOUSE • TOXIC BACHELORS • MIRACLE • IMPOSSIBLE • ECHOES • SECOND CHANCE • RANSOM • SAFE HARBOUR • JOHNNY ANGEL • DATING GAME • ANSWERED PRAYERS • SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ • THE COTTAGE • THE KISS • LEAP OF FAITH • LONE EAGLE • JOURNEY • THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET • THE WEDDING • IRRESISTIBLE FORCES • GRANNY DAN • BITTERSWEET • MIRROR IMAGE • THE KLONE AND I • THE LONG ROAD HOME • THE GHOST • SPECIAL DELIVERY • THE RANCH • SILENT HONOR • MALICE • FIVE DAYS IN PARIS • LIGHTNING • WINGS • THE GIFT • ACCIDENT •VANISHED • MIXED BLESSINGS • JEWELS • NO GREATER LOVE • HEARTBEAT • MESSAGE FROM NAM • DADDY • STAR • ZOYA • KALEIDOSCOPE • FINE THINGS • WANDERLUST • SECRETS • FAMILY ALBUM • FULL CIRCLE • CHANGES • THURSTON HOUSE • CROSSINGS • ONCE IN A LIFETIME • A PERFECT STRANGER • REMEMBRANCE • PALOMINO • LOVE: POEMS • THE RING • LOVING • TO LOVE AGAIN • SUMMER’S END • SEASON OF PASSION • THE PROMISE • NOW AND FOREVER • PASSION’S PROMISE • GOING HOME

  Nonfiction

  PURE JOY: The Dogs We Love

  A GIFT OF HOPE: Helping the Homeless

  HIS BRIGHT LIGHT: The Story of Nick Traina

  For Children

  PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS

  PRETTY MINNIE IN HOLLYWOOD

  About the Author

  DANIELLE STEEL has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include The Dark Side, Blessing in Disguise, Silent Night, Turning Point, Beauchamp Hall, In His Father’s Footsteps, The Good Fight, The Cast, Accidental Heroes, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.

  daniellesteel.com

  Facebook.com/​DanielleSteelOfficial

  Twitter: @daniellesteel

  What’s next on

  your reading list?

  Discover your next

  great read!

  Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.

  Sign up now.