Ryan shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Tell me. Tell me now, I hate surprises.”
Ryan looks at Lucy strapped into her car seat. She’s sleeping peacefully with her hands pressed together. I stroke her peaches and cream cheek.
Ryan kisses her on the head. “Your mom hates surprises, Lucy. But she’ll just have to get over that.”
I groan and sit back with my arms crossed over my chest defiantly. “I can’t believe that you won’t tell me.”
But he does keep his mouth shut. We pull up to a private airfield and Ryan takes Lucy out, car seat and all. The driver opens up the trunk and I shiver in the wintry air. I look in the trunk. There are more bags in here than just mine.
“What…” I trail off as I see the private plane taxiing closer to us.
Ryan puts his arm around me, the car seat in his other hand. “We’re coming with you to the States, Hayley.”
I gape at him.
“Let’s go! What are you waiting for?”
“The doctor gave Lucy clearance?”
Ryan tilts his head in a “I can’t believe you’d even ask me that” kind of way. “Of course he did. Only because we’re flying private. It’s my friend’s plane. Come on. Seriously.”
I’m in a daze as I ensconce myself in the cream leather cocoon of the seats. A flight attendant brings me a fresh soda and snacks. Lucy makes it through takeoff while I breastfeed her to help with the pressure on her ears.
And Ryan looks like the cat who swallowed the canary.
“You have something else up your sleeve, don’t you?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
I can pretend to be upset over all of these surprises. But I’m not. Not really.
I’m here with my man and my baby and I’m going home to see my sister. I couldn’t ask for much more than that.
***
The next day, I leave Ryan and Lucy in my Jersey tiny apartment. My business clothes don’t fit me that well because of the baby weight, but I manage to safety-pin my skirt together.
It’ll have to do for now.
I walk into the office feeling invincible. Not because I think I’m keeping my job. I know that I’m not. I know that I’m about to be fired.
I feel invincible because I just gave birth.
I’m basically superwoman.
I give Brenda a cheery smile. She’s gloating, I can tell. I don’t care.
I glance over at Jim’s desk and see it’s been completely cleared of all clutter. I make a mental note to call him later. He threw himself under the bus for me.
I owe him one. It was a worthy effort even if it didn’t work.
I don’t even knock on Sandra’s door. I just burst in unannounced. I never, ever would have done that before. But a lot has changed over the last few weeks.
I’m a different woman.
She’s inside on the phone. She holds up a finger to tell me to wait. I take a seat.
“Yeah, yeah. Right. Get the fucking copy done right or don’t do it at all.” She slams the receiver down on the hook. “Childs.”
“Sandra,” I say back. I’m sitting up straight and exuding confidence.
“You look different,” she says.
“Having a baby will do that to a woman,” I say.
She squints her eyes. “Right. Well. You know why you’re here.”
“I’m fired,” I say.
“Yes. Jim tried to take the fall for you, by the way. Cost him his job. If he’d been truthful I might’ve kept him on.”
I give her a shrewd look. “You would have fired him anyway. Don’t pretend otherwise.”
Sandra gives me a bemused look. “Motherhood looks good on you, Childs. Wish you would have had some of this spark when you still worked for me. Would have done you good as a journalist.”
I don’t respond to this. “Why didn’t you fire me when I called you from London saying I’d given birth?”
She shifts uneasily. “HR thought it’d look like I was firing you for becoming a mother and needing time off. Looks bad for the company.” She grabs a pencil and twirls it with her fingers. “Besides that, I felt like I owed it to your dad. I really did owe him one. He bailed me out once when I was in deep with a story.”
I don’t know what to say to this. “Thank you.” I stand up and hold out my hand.
Sandra gives it a firm shake. “What are you going to do now, Childs?”
I smile at her. “Anything I want.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
RYAN
I lay Lucy down in her makeshift crib. Hayley’s New York apartment is so tiny the bassinet is shoved right next to the double bed frame. There isn’t any room to move around in here.
But it’ll do for the next week or so.
I tiptoe out of the bedroom and close the door behind me. I dial my phone. It rings six times before Alison answers.
“Hey,” I say to her. “You still up for babysitting tonight?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?” Alison replies. “Of course I’m up for babysitting. I need to get all of my baby time in while I can before you permanently whisk Hayley away to the motherland.”
I laugh. “The motherland?”
“Yeah. We got rid of you Brits a long time ago. But I guess that doesn’t apply to hot soccer stars, does it?”
“You’re a piece of work, Alison,” I say good-naturedly. “Did you get that other thing set up that I told you about?”
Alison pauses and shuffles papers. “Yep. All done.”
“And Hayley knows nothing?”
“That’s right. Oh, and the dress delivery should be there soon.”
“I owe you, Alison.”
“I know you do,” she replies and hangs up the phone.
I take a deep breath and look around the apartment. I’m tempted to start packing Hayley’s things but technically I haven’t asked her again if she even wants to move in with me in London. So I’d better wait on that until later tonight. I settle for taking a pile of dirty clothes down the stairs to the building’s laundry room. It’s musty and damp down here.
I can’t wait to get Hayley out of this place.
Back upstairs, I check on Lucy. She’s still sound asleep.
I think I hear someone shuffling up the steps outside and I sprint towards the door to open it before they wake up the baby with a knock or a doorbell.
The guy has his hand raised in midair to press the doorbell and nearly drops the box he’s holding from surprise.
“Uh, delivery for-“
“For me. Yeah. Thank you,” I say hurriedly. I shove a twenty-dollar bill into his gloved hand and shut the door.
I listen for Lucy.
Nothing.
Sound asleep.
I hang the dress on the door of the bathroom and go to wash up the dishes. I’m in a meditative state so thick I barely hear the door open.
Hayley’s home.
I check her face. “You okay?”
She takes a deep breath and smiles. “I love your accent. Have I told you that recently?”
I swoop her up into my arms and kiss her on the mouth. “No. Tell me more often, though. I like knowing that you like to hear me talk.”
She laughs and drops her purse on the now-clean countertop. “It looks amazing in here,” she says. “I left such a mess when I went to London.” She pulls off her hat and gloves. “It’s freezing out there.”
“Might snow,” I say, drying the last dish. “So tell me about your meeting with Sandra?”
“I’m definitely fired,” she says, sitting down on the couch and putting her feet up on the tufted ottoman. “Lucy asleep?”
I nod. “Like a proverbial stone.” I hang up the dish towel. “We’re going out tonight, you and me.”
“In this weather?” she asks.
“Go check in the bathroom.”
She furrows her brow. “I don’t like surprises.”
“This isn’t a surprise. I’m only showing you what’s in the bat
hroom. It won’t bite, I promise.”
I hear her taking the dress off the door. She walks into the living room with it. “This…this is stunning.”
I grin. “I knew you’d like it.” I check the clock. “We leave in about forty-five minutes. I’ve got formula all set up for Lucy, and Alison is babysitting. So get changed.”
“If we’ll be outside I’ll freeze my legs off,” she protests.
“Check inside the bag there. Wool tights and socks. And you can still wear your snow boots.”
The dress itself is made of wool with a full skirt. It’s bottle green and matches Hayley’s eyes perfectly.
Hayley gets ready in record time and we say our goodbyes to Alison. I’m wearing a nice suit and we’re both bundled up in scarves, hats, gloves, and snow boots. Hayley’s dressy pea coat accommodates the full skirt bottom of the dress, and we hold hands as we walk through the rapidly-emptying streets.
The sky is iron grey, and there’s a sharpness to the air that says that snow is coming.
“I wish it snowed in London more,” I say absently. “I really enjoy it.”
“It’s fun for about ten minutes. Then the cars drive through it and it turns into a messy sludge.” Hayley grabs my hand. “And then if you actually have to be somewhere like work? Forget it.”
We hop in my rental car and drive to the train station. We take the train into Penn Station.
“I wish you would tell me where it is that we’re going,” Hayley says.
“Just admit it. You’re excited. I know all of your tells,” I reply, kissing her forehead in the middle of the station.
“My tells? Like what?” Hayley twists her mouth to keep the grin from escaping.
“You bounce on your feet when you walk,” I say. “You only do that when you’re excited. I know these things.”
Hayley tilts her head. “I like that you know that about me, Ryan.”
When we step outside of Penn Station, the sky has opened up. Thick, white flakes swirl around us and I can’t help but stop and stare.
“You look cute right now,” Hayley says. “Like a little kid in a candy store.”
“I told you, snow is still a novelty for me. I want to enjoy it while I can,” I say.
“About that,” Hayley says slowly. “I was thinking that maybe London would be a good place for me to live.”
I look at her in surprise. “Oh, really?”
She nods. “My lease is nearly up. I might be able to get a job at an online magazine in the city. And then you’d be close to Lucy.” We stop on the sidewalk in the middle of Times Square, billboards all around us. “What do you think?”
I lift her off of her feet and give her a kiss on the lips so passionate I want to fuck her with all these people watching. “I think that I’ve only been waiting to hear you suggest it. I didn’t want to force anything on you.”
Hayley smiles. “It’s a plan, then?”
“It’s a plan,” I reply. “Let’s hurry or we’ll be stuck in New York tonight.”
I pull her through sidewalks and crowds of people trying to get home before the city shuts down. There’s two inches of snow coating the ground already. We make it to a side alleyway to a store that has plastered Star Wars and Star Trek posters all over the windows like makeshift curtains. A neon sign says OPEN in red letters that flicker.
“We’re here,” I say.
Hayley looks around and laughs. “And where is here, exactly?”
I push open the rusty metal door. “After you.”
She steps inside.
This place is lined, floor to ceiling, with paperback novels. A life-size cardboard cutout of Han Solo encased in carbonite sits next to the register. A large man wearing a FRAK YOU Battlestar Galactica hat sits behind the counter. Below the register is a glass case filled with figurines of aliens and science fiction characters.
“Hey,” the guy says. “You the guy with-“
I cut him off, irritated that he’s not being subtle. “Yep, just here to browse.”
I push Hayley into the stacks. Her eyes go wide and she runs a finger along the worn spines. “There must be ten thousand books in here.”
I laugh. “Easily.” The air smells like ink and paper. “Let’s go to the young adult fiction section.”
Hayley grabs my gloved hand and we walk to the back of the store. She lets out a little shriek when she sees what I’ve brought her in here for.
“Young Jedi Knights!” she yells, bouncing up and down. She pulls off her gloves and shoves them in her pockets. Her full skirt has to be pushed out of the way as she crouches down to the bottom shelf. “Lightsabers was always my favorite.” She takes a few more minutes to peruse the titles. “They have all of them here,” she whispers.
“Well, pile them up,” I say. “I’m paying.”
She laughs. “I can’t possibly – I mean, it’ll just be a dozen more books to ship to London. I can’t.”
“Shut up and take the books, Hayley.” I laugh. “You’re so bloody stubborn sometimes, you know that?”
She gathers the books into her wool-covered arms.
“You’re bouncing again,” I say to her with a grin.
She laughs. “Take these for me; I might find something else I like.”
I stand back while she makes her way to the center of the bookstore. I wait to hear her say it.
“Oh my God,” she whispers. “Ryan!”
I walk over to her and set the books on the floor. “Do you like it?”
There are tears in her eyes as she hugs me.
Alison set it up just like I asked her to. In the middle of the bookcase is one foot of blank space. A sign rests there. “For future author Hayley Childs” it reads.
I reach into my pocket and get down on one knee. “Hayley,” I whisper to her. “You’ve made me a better man. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our daughter. Wherever you go, I will follow you for all the days of my life. Will you marry me?”
Hayley chokes back a sob. “Yes, yes, yes!”
She fumbles to pull off the glove on her left hand and I put the ring on her finger. It’s a blinding two-carat solitaire diamond on a white gold band. It fits perfectly.
“I carried this all the way from London,” I tell her.
She wipes her eyes on her coat. “This is the greatest day of my life.”
I kiss her and smile. “I think it’s the first greatest day of your life. There is so much more to come.”
We kiss in the warm, cozy bookstore as the snow falls outside on the streets of New York City.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
HAYLEY
“You sure he’s okay with this?” I ask Alison as we stand outside the front door of my parents’ house. I kiss the top of Lucy’s forehead. She’s bundled up in about a dozen layers and wrapped around my chest. I pull my coat tighter around her. I can’t remember a winter colder than this one in New York. Snowflakes swirl around us.
“Are you kidding? He’s about to meet his only grandchild.” Alison taps on the door for me. “Brace yourself for an actually emotional Dad. It’ll be weird, but you’ll get used to it. I promise.”
I take a deep breath. “I wish Ryan could be here.”
“He’ll meet Ryan at the wedding,” Alison says. “And him selling all of your furniture for you is worth its weight in gold. You should be glad he’s taking care of that instead of coming to dinner. I hate using Craigslist. People are late, they’re weird, they try to talk down the price you already agreed upon-“
The front door opens.
“Dad,” I say. He looks at Lucy and tears appear in his eyes. I’m still hormonal even though I’m about two months postpartum. I automatically cry when someone else cries. It’s threatening to become a habit.
“Hayley,” he says. “Come inside, all three of you. I’ve got the fireplace roaring.”
The house is the same as always, complete with a roaring fire inside of the stone fireplace enclosure. Alison takes off my c
oat for me and dusts the snow off of my hat and gloves, hanging them to dry by the front door.
“Sit, sit!” my dad says. The house smells of spaghetti and meatballs.
“I’ll get the salad ready,” Alison says. “Dad, you sit down and meet little Lucy, alright?”
My dad sits next to me rather awkwardly. “Your mother really wanted to be here. She’s gutted that she’s stuck in Chicago tonight after a month in California with her painting group.”
“She’ll get to see Lucy at the wedding,” I remind him. I pull off the baby wrap and hand Lucy to my dad.
He looks at her and tears roll down his cheeks. “She looks just like you did when you were a little peanut like this, Hays.” He strokes her pink cheek with one finger. “You were bigger, though.”
“Yeah, she wanted to come a little early and meet the world,” I explain. “But she’s getting bigger by the day. She’s doing really well, actually.”
My dad lifts her up and onto his chest. Lucy coos and sighs, relaxing into his worn flannel shirt. “She’s perfect, Hayley.”
I laugh. “I think so, too.” I look down at my hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was pregnant. I thought you’d be upset with me.”
My dad shakes his head and puts one hand on my shoulder. “I couldn’t ever be upset over something like this.”
I pause again. “I was fired from the paper.”
He nods. “Jim told me. He also told me that you did the right thing with the article.” He looks at me with his green eyes. They’re the same as mine. “I’m so proud of you, kiddo.”
“Alright, enough with the sappiness,” Alison calls from the kitchen. “Dinner is ready. Wash up!”
We both stand up, Dad still hanging onto a deeply sleeping Lucy. “I hope you do what you want to do from now on, Hayley. Don’t think of me when you do it, alright? Just dive in. Dream big. Get what you really want in this world. Promise me.”
“I promise, Dad.”
The glow of the evening carries me all the way home.
My dad loves me. He’s proud of me. That’s all I can ask for.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
RYAN
“Don’t go in that room yet,” I call out to Hayley.
“The guest room? Why?”
Dirty Baller: A Secret Baby Sports Romance Page 14