The Pregnancy Promise

by Barbara McMahon

  When she left the doctor’s office, she almost bumped into Tray.

  He took her arm and walked her through the vast lobby of the high-rise building. Once outside, he started left. “There’s a café down here. We can have a cup of coffee and talk.”

  “Tray, we talked at the cottage. It’s all been said. How did you know I was here?”

  “Emily found out for me. And we have not said all we need to say.”

  She could barely keep up with his rapid pace. “What’s the rush?” she asked, glad when he paused by a coffeehouse and held the door for her. Midafternoon was not a crowded time. He placed their orders and they took a table near the front windows.

  “I’m putting the house in Richmond up for sale,” he said.

  “You are? Why? I thought you were going to fix it up and then rent it out.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. If Lianne didn’t know better, she’d suspect he was stalling.

  “Why?” she repeated.

  He looked at her. “The renovation was a way to do something together—you and me. I don’t fit into your world, but I wanted to. I haven’t had much family life ever. It was just me and my uncle. And over the last ten or twelve years, I’ve been building the business, neglecting my uncle and going along as if life would never change until I was ready.”

  Lianne could relate to a degree. She had loads of family, and lots of interaction, but she’d focused her life on one area. And now it was too late to do much else but continue to focus on that one area.

  “He was proud of you—more than one person mentioned that at the wake,” she said. She studied Tray as he sat beside her. He looked lonely. Could it be? Her heart began to beat faster.

  “I thought you were keeping the house.”

  “I said I thought it might bring you and me together.”

  “We are together.”

  “No, we’re not. We are married—there’s a difference.”

  Lianne nodded. She and Tray certainly didn’t have the loving relationship her sister and her husband shared. If they did, she’d reach out and take his hand, linking with him so he would know he wasn’t alone. But she kept her fists in her lap, lest she give way.

  “So if we’re not going to do that together, maybe you’d like to buy a beach cottage.”

  Lianne blinked at that. “What?”

  “You love the one that’s in your family. Maybe you’d like to have one of your own, nearby, of course, so you could run back and forth when they are there. But one that you could go to anytime you wanted.”

  She wasn’t sure she was hearing him correctly. “You’d buy me a cottage?”

  “Us.”

  “Us. Tray, there is no us.”

  “There could be.” He glanced around impatiently. A group of laughing teenagers entered and the small coffeehouse suddenly seemed overrun.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Lianne grabbed her cup, glad it was the to-go kind, and almost ran to keep up with him.

  Tray didn’t speak as they walked toward the Mall. Once on the great expanse, he slowed a little, turned and looked at her. “I don’t want to end our marriage, Lianne.”

  “Tray, I can’t have kids. I was fooling myself, trying one last ditch effort to have a baby. You need a wife who can give you everything you want.”

  “That’s you.” He cupped her face in his palms. “I realized our last weekend together that I like spending time with you. Whether we’re looking at driftwood, planning a project or enjoying a concert. Or just lazing around watching a storm together from the porch. Or, maybe I’ve known it for longer, just didn’t admit it to myself. I thought we could keep going like we had been. I wanted you to move into my place. When I thought about it, it sounded convenient. But the truth is, I like waking up next to you. I want more of that. I enjoy watching you move around the kitchen—it’s so womanly, and I’ve not had much of that in my life. Everything about you fascinates me and enchants me. I want you in my life. And I mean to keep you right in the center.”

  She started to say something, but he shook his head once. “Let me finish or I might never get the courage to start again.”

  Lianne blinked at that. This man was afraid of nothing.

  “When Suzanne aborted our child, it crushed something in me. Which bloomed again when you said you’d have a baby with me. But the more I get to know you, the more I share your anguish in not having a child. That’s the difference—I share it with you. We can adopt, we can lavish attention on your nephews and nieces, or we can forge a strong life just the two of us. Whatever we want. Only, don’t shut me out. Don’t walk away.”

  Lianne couldn’t believe her ears, but her eyes conveyed the truth. His honest appeal couldn’t be faked.

  “Did Annalise tell you?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Tell me what?”

  “That I love you? That’s why I wanted to break things off. Not because I didn’t want to spend time with you, but because I thought I’d get so deep in love I’d never get out and then when we didn’t have a baby, you’d go on to another woman. That would kill me. I had to fight for myself, and end it before I couldn’t ever walk away.”

  “Then you really don’t want a divorce?” he asked.

  She threw herself into his arms. “I love you, Tray. I have forever, I think. I tried so hard to resist my sexy boss, but once you said you wanted to have a baby with me, my resistance melted. I fought a good fight, but the result was a foregone conclusion. I love you. Do you really mean it that you don’t want to find a wife who can give you a dozen kids?”

  “I only want you, Lianne. You have shown me how a family can be. I hope your family will let me in. But if not, you will always be enough for me. I love you, sweetheart. I want us to have fifty or sixty years together. Just don’t walk away.”

  She waited a heartbeat then burst out, “Are you kidding? I love you! I don’t want to leave. And don’t worry about my family. They’ll all love you to bits. And before you know it you’ll be a favorite uncle. We have a birthday almost every other week, and holidays are chaotic with everyone at one place or another. Summers we spend lazy days at the shore with barbecues on the sand.” Lianne clung to him, her happiness bubbling over. For a few bright moments, she forgot they’d never have a baby. That their family would forever be small, just the two of them. But with Tray it would be enough.

  “We won’t have kids of our own,” she said slowly. “Tray, are you very sure? You said you were the last of your family. That will always be the situation. I’m so sorry.”

  “Hush. You will be my family. If we wish, we will adopt. That’s really what my uncle did, took me on when he didn’t have to. We’ll fill a home with children we choose to be ours. And we’ll teach them everything about the Elliott and O’Mallory families to carry on down the generations. I love you, Lianne, not some yet to be conceived child, not some fantasy future with everything ending happy. We’ll face all life’s challenges together. Right?”

  She nodded, her heart brimming with love.

  “The next step is to tell your parents.”

  “Oh-oh. Let’s wait until after the operation, and then suggest we want to get married. We’ll let my mother put on a big wedding and we’ll be the only ones to know our anniversary date is another.”

  “Unless Annalise or Dominic spills the beans.”

  “They won’t. I love you, Tray.”

  “I love you now and forever,” he said, kissing her deeply.

  Lianne and Tray slipped away to the sea cottage for the weekend. They walked along the shore, making plans for the future. She looked at each dwelling as they passed, considering whether it would be suitable for a home for them, though none were for sale that she knew of. Still, it was fun to dream of a future—with her and Tray.

  “Are you sure you want to sell the Richmond home?” she asked more than once.

  “Don’t you want a home of your own?” he responded, threading his fingers through hers as they walked.

/>   “The beach cottage has been in our family for generations, we’ll be able to use it. So why not have a home in Richmond as well?”

  “Because we are more likely to come here than back to Richmond. Once you’ve recovered from the operation, we’ll start looking for a place. If you don’t like my condo, we can buy another primary residence together. But I think here at the shore we will also want a home of our own.”

  “Suits me. We need one with a porch that faces the sea, so we can sit there during storms.”

  Tray rearranged his schedule for the next week. He planned to accompany Lianne to the hospital, wait through the operation and then, when she was ready, take her home—to their home—to recover. They had moved a few of her things on Monday, enough to carry her through the first few days. Once she was fully recovered, they’d tell her family.

  Tuesday they arrived at the hospital early. Dr. Wright was already there doing rounds. Her nurse contacted her and she hurried into the admissions office.

  “Lianne, I tried calling you several times over the last few days.” She looked at Tray.

  “Dr. Wright, this is my husband, Traynor Elliott. I’m sorry, I wasn’t home. I took a weekend away before today,” Lianne said, gripping Tray’s hand. “A last mini-vacation before the operation.”

  “There won’t be an operation,” Dr. Wright said. “There’s been a complication. Your blood work came back—you’re pregnant!”

  Lianne stared at the doctor, barely aware of Tray’s grip tightening on her hand. Had she heard correctly?

  Dr. Wright was beaming. “So we’ll have to postpone this operation for at least nine months. Call my office for an appointment. We need to get you started on prenatal vitamins and supplements.”

  “But I just had cramping,” Lianne said.

  “You may have had spotting, too. Not uncommon with this condition. We’ll do another round of tests, but I’m sure you are pregnant. And since I know you were willing to put up with a lot to have this baby, we want to do everything we can to make sure he or she arrives healthy.”

  Tray swept her into his arms and lifted her, spinning her around. “You did it, sweetheart. We’re going to have our baby after all. What more could we want?”

  “Twins?” Lianne said, hugging him tightly as they rejoiced in the news.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-1808-0

  THE PREGNANCY PROMISE

  First North American Publication 2008.

  Copyright © 2008 by Barbara McMahon.

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