ISA’S HOROSCOPE FOR OCTOBER 30
Your future is not written in the stars, only the possibilities. The rest is up to you.
“Mom told me that your brother is okay,” Andrew said when they got in the 4-Runner.
“Yeah, he is. He got real lucky,” Alex said, wishing Isa had come to the game.
Andrew nodded his head, staring out the window.
“So how’s your mom?”
“Okay. She’s got the flu.”
Alex cringed inside. He was responsible for giving Isa “the flu.”
He didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help but ask, “So what did you do in L.A. last night?”
“We visited with my Auntie Mara and I got to ride the fire truck and stuff.”
“Your aunt has a fire truck?”
“Nope. Her boyfriend works in a fire station. We visited him.”
Alex gripped the steering wheel. “Yeah, uh, that’s pretty cool.”
They drove a few more blocks in silence.
“I’m glad my dad wasn’t here to see my game. He’s not always nice to my mom.”
Alex didn’t mean to stomp on the brake that hard. “Real men aren’t mean to women.” He turned to Andrew to drive his point home. “My dad told me that. Look, I need to ask you something. Man to man.”
Andrew waited, looking at Alex with his mother’s eyes.
“I really like your mom. A lot and uh, I’d like to be her uh—”
“Boyfriend?”
“Actually more than that. Would that make you feel weird?”
Andrew’s brow ridged as he considered the idea. “A little. I guess I’d have to get used to it.”
“You wouldn’t have to call me dad or anything if you didn’t want to. We could be friends and if you needed to, I don’t know, get something off your chest or something, you could tell me.”
“Yeah I could get used to it. When are you going to ask her?”
“I was thinking tonight.”
Isa had hoped she’d stop ralphing by the time they came home. This was not how she wanted to see Susan again. She wanted to be confident, serene, and completely in control of her emotional, mental, and digestive faculties.
“Where are you?” Andrew shouted.
She kicked the bathroom door shut, keeping her face over the toilet in case she did an Exorcist on the floor.
“I’m in here. Be out in a minute.”
Isa thought she was in the clear and that Susan just dropped Andrew off, but she realized she would have no such luck when Alex asked, “Can I come in?”
“He’s got something to tell you!” Andrew piped in.
Isa should’ve known better. Damn that Susan. What if she knew? “Give me a second, okay?” she shouted.
She took a few cleansing breaths and pulled herself up. The ghoul staring back at her from the mirror had lipstick smeared across her cheek and the right side of her hair mashed up from resting her head on the cool side of the tub.
When she switched off the water, she heard masculine voices conspiring in the hallway.
“Give me a few minutes so I can talk to your mom.”
“But I want to see.”
“Later.”
“Aren’t you supposed to have a ring or something?”
Yanking open the door, she eyed Andrew and then Alex. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Andrew said. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
He skipped away. Her child never skipped.
“Hey there,” Alex said. “You look beat.”
Isa’s smile was about as strong as the feeling in her knees. “Thanks for bringing him home.”
“No problem.” He walked toward her, backing her into the bathroom.
“What’s going—”
He shut the door behind him and flipped the lock. She was hormonal and in no mood for his male stupidity.
“You weren’t picking up your cell phone yesterday,” he accused.
“I was in class.”
He took a deep breath, stretching his fingers wide and then closing his eyes as he exhaled.
“I wanted to answer that question you asked me the other—”
“Don’t,” her voice rang out like a shot. “I don’t want the rehearsed answer.”
“But—”
“No. Look, I thought about it and I know you want to be part of the baby’s life so we’ll figure out how to do this without getting married or living together.”
“I let June and my dad take off to Germany and I blew off my boss yesterday to come here and tell you how I feel. Doesn’t that count?”
She opened her mouth but he blurted, “I love you.”
“Don’t.” She folded her arms over her chest, which hammered like a drum.
His face fell and he stared at her with his mouth hanging open.
“I appreciate what you’re doing, but—”
“Appreciate? Do you think I just said that for my health? You belong with me.”
His hand clamped onto hers when she got to the door. “Why are you—What is going on?” he asked.
“You didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, I did.”
“But how could you—” she clamped her other hand over her mouth.
“How could I what?” he asked gently, taking her hand off the doorknob and holding it between his two hands. “Love you? It’s easy to love someone like you.”
“Because you feel responsible for me?”
He shook his head and then kissed her knuckles. “I respect you.”
“You’re just saying this so I’ll marry you.”
“Wrong again.” He pulled her up against him. “Maybe if you’d been someone else, I would marry you because I had to. I know I should’ve said it but I—I was afraid that it would be, I don’t know, associated with my brother dying. So if I have to tell you every single day that I love you, up to the day you give birth or our baby graduates from high school, I will until you say you’ll marry me.”
She stood there, completely terrified of what he was offering. She’d been used to taking scraps of whatever affection she could find: from her father, her mother, and Carlos. She’d found love from Susan and Tamara but it was the kind that grew out of friendship, not from a one-night stand in the backseat of a Toyota 4-Runner.
What if Alex took it back? Changed his mind, or saw her for what she really was, scared and not always so smart?
“Hey,” he said, pulling her away from the horrible places in her mind. “I mean it.”
The look in his eyes burned away the ropes that kept her in that dark place where she’d been hiding for so long. Freely, she settled her head on his chest to see how long his love would last.
“Will you keep saying it after you marry me?” she asked.
His arms tightened his hold on her. “Every day.”
Epilogue
18 WEEKS AND COUNTING
There was nothing like air-conditioning and ultrasound jelly smeared across her belly to make a woman want to pee.
Isa squirmed on the table, wishing she wasn’t thinking of her bladder when she saw her baby for the first time.
“We’ll be just a second here,” the tech said, wheeling the monitor over. “Boys, are you ready?”
“I guess,” Andrew mumbled. “Are we really gonna see what it is?”
“We hope,” Alex answered. To Isa, “How’re you doing?”
“Fine,” Isa gritted between her teeth. The tech twisted on the tap, washing her hands and sending Isa into a new level of hell.
“We just want to make sure everything is developing like it should be,” the tech said, wiping her hands. “Do you want a brother or a sister?”
“Brother. Girls are a pain.”
“I had brothers and they always stole each other’s toys.”
Andrew’s mouth turned grim.
“Take out your list, honey,” Isa suggested.
He searched his pockets. Alex handed it to Andrew across Isa’s chest. “Here. Yo
u left it on the table.” He winked and smiled at her.
“Here we go. Remember the routine?”
Here it came. The pressure.
“If it’s a boy I think we should name it Bruce,” Andrew said as the monitor came to life.
“Like Bruce Lee?” Alex asked.
“No, Bruce Wayne from Batman.”
“Nah. How about another one?”
The tech and Isa exchanged a smile.
“Kal-el.”
Isa turned to Andrew. “You are not naming this baby Kal-el.”
“But it’s Superman’s Krypton name.”
She turned to Alex for help, but he said thoughtfully, “We could tell people it’s Irish.”
Isa rolled her eyes at the men in her life. “Next.”
“What about Peter?” Andrew offered.
“She doesn’t like any of our names,” Alex said.
“Here we go,” the tech announced.
Isa squinted to make out what looked like light green blobs. Trying to make out the head, or maybe that was its butt, the baby’s arm jerked.
“Did it just move?” Andrew said.
She felt Alex’s hand sneak into hers, his gold band sliding over the back of the engagement ring they’d exchanged as promise rings for Christmas. They’d decided to get married next October, well after the baby was born and the garage apartment he was building for his father was finished.
Alex’s hand gripped hers and Isa watched wonder, delight, and fear blossom on his face. “What are we looking at?” he asked. The tech pointed out the head, torso, arms, and legs.
“Can you see what it is?” Andrew asked, straining his neck to see better.
“No, the baby’s not turned in the right direction to make a clear determination,” the tech said. “We can do an amnio.”
“Do I have to?” Isa asked.
“Only if your doctor suggests it.” She gave her a woman-to-woman grimace. “Frankly, I wouldn’t.”
Isa took a deep breath. She didn’t exactly come out and say it but she’d been hoping the baby would be a girl. She hadn’t told anyone, but she was going to name her Cecelia.
She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Alex and then Andrew, as the tech explained that the baby was oriented in such a way that they couldn’t visually make out the gender.
“You’ve gotta be kidding,” Andrew muttered. He glared at Alex. “You should be fired.”
As much as she loved the men in her life, Isa needed a female to dress up in cute dresses while teaching her how to be a strong woman who didn’t wrestle in K-Y for a man. And frankly, living in a household of males, she needed to even the playing field.
“Tough break, little man.” Alex kissed Isa’s cheek. “We’ll be outside waiting.”
“So did you see anything that might give you a clue?” Isa asked while the tech wiped the goo from her belly.
She shook her head. “Sorry.” Then she stopped mid-wipe. “Then again, judging from the way you’re carrying, you might be having another boy. With my girl—” She rolled her eyes to emphasize her point. “My butt was big enough to have its own time zone.”
Isa thanked her and then slid off the table to walk to the bathroom. Another boy. She let her mind test the idea and when the happiness flowed inside, she rested her hand on her belly. Next time.
About the Author
The longest MARY CASTILLO has ever gone in between men was two years. In her lesser moments, she wishes she could get those years back. But in her moments of clarity, she realizes she’s one lucky girl to live with her husband and two pugs in Southern California. Please visit her at www.marycastillo.com.
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By Mary Castillo
IN BETWEEN MEN
HOT TAMARA
Copyright
IN BETWEEN MEN. Copyright © 2006 by Mary Castillo. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Mobipocket Reader August 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-153615-1
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