The Gentlewoman
Page 38
Rory had mourned and moved on, true to her word. She drew strength in the aftermath. She helped appoint a new mayor, one she felt could stand a chance of delivering for the region, instead of just for his own ego. So far, things were working out.
And they had gotten married in a ceremony that included friends and family, just how Rory had wanted it. Because it was important to them both that his mother be involved, the wedding was held in Maine at his parents’ estate. Rory’s cousins and friends were there, as well as Jackson’s family and friends. His son had been his best man. It had been the happiest day of his life. And he had been happy ever since.
The role call came to a close and the gavel was dropped on a passed bill. Jackson stood, trying to get her attention. Mary Jo Jansen sat to Rory’s left and smiled at him, raising her eyebrows in question. He smiled back and nodded.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please,” Congresswoman Jansen said into the microphone. “At this time, I’d like to adjourn in order to release Congresswoman Dorn to a more important engagement.”
Rory looked up from the paperwork she was signing. She looked at Mary Jo as if she had ten heads. Rory cleared her throat and gave a puzzled little laugh.
“If it pleases the committee, Congresswoman Dorn has no prior engagement. I’m fine to run the rest of the agenda.”
Mary Jo cut her off mid-sentence. “I beg your pardon. Will the gentlewoman from Ohio please surrender the gavel to the vice chair and join her husband on his way out. I believe she is about to become a mother.”
Rory stood abruptly as her eyes flashed to Jackson in the back of the room. He beamed at her. She looked back to Mary Jo, who stood and hugged her. “Good luck, Congresswoman, we wish you the best.”
A round of applause rang out in the room as Rory quickly grabbed her bag and jogged to where Jackson stood. Her eyes filled with tears and her smile was wide.
“It’s time,” he told her gently.
“I’m ready,” she said as he put his arm around her and led her from the room. “I’m ready,” she breathed out happily.
Four Weeks Later
Rory’s eyes sprang open and darted to the clock on her nightstand. Five a.m. She crept out of bed and down the hall to the nursery. She looked through the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Ryan was rocking the baby gently as he gave her a bottle.
She smiled and leaned back on the doorjamb. “I wondered why she didn’t wake me.”
He looked up, surprised, and gave her his shy smile. “I couldn’t help it. She makes more noise than my drunk roommate.” He looked back down at the baby. “But she’s much cuter.”
Rory smiled and watched them. Patricia Elizabeth Dorn had weighed in at seven pounds two ounces but ate like a two-hundred-pound sailor. She had thick dark hair and blue eyes. If you didn’t know better, you would think both she and Ryan had come from Jackson and Rory. A wave of pride and love washed over her as she watched her stepson and her daughter. Life was good.
Over the four weeks since the baby’s arrival, Rory had started calling her Lissy. Jackson was fine with that. Rory didn’t tell him it was because it reminded her of the way her father had called her lassie. She kept that for herself.
Lissy’s birth had been a blessing and Rory loved being her mom. The college student who had given birth to her, and had chosen to let them adopt her, had allowed them in the delivery room. She hadn’t held Lissy, instead giving that honor to Rory, saying she was the baby’s mother. Rory intended to keep contact with the birth mom, to help her out if it ever became necessary.
When the doctor put Lissy into Rory’s arms, and she looked down at that tiny pink creature, Rory knew she had once again arrived at a destination.
Jackson reached his arms around Rory’s waist. “Good morning,” he murmured, nuzzling her ear. She put her hands atop his and leaned back into him, her eyes closing to savor the feel of her husband.
“Good morning yourself,” she whispered.
“If you two are going to be gross, do you have to do it in front of the kids?” Ryan’s voice softened as he looked down at his sister. “Right, Lissy? Parents, geez!”
“When did you sneak back in here? You spend more nights here than at that dorm I’m paying for,” Jackson teased.
Rory knew he was teasing. The nights Ryan chose to stay with them, instead of at his dorm on the Georgetown campus, were a source of pride for Jackson, she could tell. And it made her happy as hell too. Since Lissy was born, Ryan had spent almost every night with them. Unlike other parents, they had gone from being empty nesters to a full house. And it was heaven.
Today was a special day for their family. Lissy was being christened. Most of their friends and family were in town for the event. Afterward they were coming back to the house for a celebratory luncheon. Rory had really wanted it in Cleveland, but their schedules wouldn’t allow it. Ryan was the godfather and Devon and Nicole were both godmothers. They were both so important to Rory. She had to have them both, each of those women such wonderful role models for her daughter.
“How about I go down and start breakfast?” Rory suggested.
Jackson and Ryan locked eyes.
“No, no, that’s okay,” Jackson said. “I’ll start breakfast.”
“Yeah, I think Lissy needs to be changed and she wants her mommy,” Ryan suggested.
Rory crossed her arms and looked at them both with narrowed eyes. “Is it that bad?” she asked, fighting her smile.
They looked at each other. “Yes,” they said in unison.
Rory had been attempting to learn to cook in the months before Lissy’s birth. She had been nesting and had found some unique outlets for that energy. She had decorated their beautiful new white colonial farmhouse in the Virginia countryside. When that was complete, she had taken up learning to cook. With no help or lessons, and the boys as her guinea pigs, it hadn’t gone very well.
“Please, Rory, we’ve suffered enough,” Ryan whined. “I’m worried for my sister.”
She raised her eyebrow. “Very funny. Fine, I won’t cook. You boys can live on Chinese food for the rest of your lives,” she murmured as she came forward and gently took her daughter from Ryan’s arms. She sat in the chair he vacated and began to burp Lissy.
As Jackson and Ryan filed out laughing, she settled in with her daughter. She loved this part of the day when it was just the two of them, calm and quiet together. She held the baby against her shoulder, rubbing her back, their cheeks together.
After a burp that a longshoreman would be proud of, Rory turned the baby toward her. She saw Lissy was wide awake.
“Well, hello, beautiful. How is my Lissy girl today?” she asked as she rocked her. Rory was blown away at the feeling of joy she felt looking into that little pink face. The baby smiled up at her.
“Would you like to hear a story?”
She blew kisses on the baby’s cheek and settled her in her arms, the best feeling in the world.
“Once upon a time, there was a sad, lost girl. She tried and tried but she was so sad, because she couldn’t find her way back home…until one day when she came to the United States Congress…”
About Lisa Durkin
Lisa Durkin has spent the past fifteen years working in county government after completing her Master of Public Administration. After becoming seriously jaded and cynical about the ways of politics, Lisa started writing books as a way of staving off complete insanity. Thanks to her daydreams, symptomatic of acquired severe attention deficit, and her failed quest to find the perfect man (hot, sexy, brain in his head), Lisa enjoys creating characters whom she would like to find herself involved with. (So if any man resembles the characters in her books and is looking for a really good time, email!)
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The Gentlewoman
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The Gentlewoman Copyright © 2015 Lisa Durkin
Edited by Susan Edwards
Cover design by Allyse Leodra
Cover photography by Shutterstock
Electronic book publication August 2015
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