by Sarah Gerdes
“Your mother went all out,” Danielle said quietly. In the days and weeks and months that transpired since her conversation with Lars in the hospital, she’d often recalled how he had described his love for his client’s wife and his own wife. He loved them both, but differently and for slightly different reasons. It was the same experience for her. But with only one man was she having a baby.
Andre’s glacier blue eyes penetrated her thoughts.
“Are you still feeling okay?” he asked her. This man, the one who had captured her heart first, was going to be her husband. And this was the engagement party.
“I’m nervous,” she admitted. And of course she was ready to give birth any day, which only contributed to her insecurity.
“Don’t worry. The whole family is here embracing and loving you, but not as much as me.” He reinforced his words by placing an arm about her waist.
“I hope so because there is nothing private and intimate about a gathering for two hundred and fifty people.”
Danielle touched the eternity ring on her right hand as her thoughts filled with past memories.
Her father’s words came to her then. Everyone has remembrances and past loves. Use them. Build upon them. Fill your heart and then add more.
Danielle looked at Andre. He had grown and matured in ways she never expected in the last few months. One day he told her he’d moved out of his apartment and purchased a home near his father; a smaller and more modern version with a view of the water. At first she’d cynically thought he bought it to buy his way back into her life, but as if anticipating her reaction, had told her if she were going to visit with the baby, he wanted the two of them to be comfortable. Andre had also rearranged his schedule for work, electing to spend less time on the water and more time in the office. That had shocked her more than buying a home. Andre loved the water, as much as being on his motorcycles.
“I told you I wanted to be involved,” he’d said at the time. The ultrasounds were during the day, and he wasn’t going to be on a boat and miss the early stages of the baby’s development. He also had little desire to work on the weekends, a time reserved for families and shopping, not entertaining strangers.
The most significant change related to her career. Danielle had been waiting for Andre to tell her to stop working, stay home and raise the child and allow him to provide for the family.
She waited. And waited. The conversation never came up, and so she continued as normal. As Danielle’s heart had softened towards him, she couldn’t resist raising the topic herself, asking if his opinion on the matter had changed.
“Actually, no,” he told her, catching her off guard and causing her pulse to spike. “What I mean is that providing for you and you stopping work had to do with you being sued, not my desire to have you stay at home without reason. I love your passion for what you do. I wouldn’t want you to slow down or give up what you’ve spent your career building just because you are having a child.”
“You mean you really don’t expect or want me to stay home?”
Andre applied the modest, careful demeanor he’d exhibited early in their relationship. “I want to be really clear on this, Danielle. I don’t have any expectations, and that’s not the way I look at our relationship. What I want is for you to be happy and satisfied. If that means you hire a nanny or enlist my mom in order to go back to work full-time, and that will make you happy, I support it.”
“But what would your preference be?”
He shook his head, unwilling to be led down a dead end path. “Honestly, I want you to take all the time off allowed by your company to rest and take it easy.”
“Six months off is a long time,” Danielle replied.
“Only compared to the States. Some companies give a full year. But when that time comes, you can determine your preference. Who knows, you may get completely bored and want to start working part time early. Either way, I’d like you to not feel rushed or bound by some notion that it’s going to make a difference, because it won’t.”
Andre’s attitude about leaving the decision to work in her hands released the last bit of hesitation she’d had towards fully trusting and loving him. When that happened, their renewed relationship had sprung to life with the staying power necessary to talk of a life after the baby. Only then did she cease to feel she was losing by not being with Lars and experiencing all they could have been together.
She looked at Andre now. He filled her heart, and Lars—he would eventually find someone to take her place and have the family he deserved.
Danielle touched her ring one last time. “I think I’m ready to go in,” she said, content and at peace.
Andre was smiling, his arm around her back, laughing at one of Max’s comments when he leaned over to her and said he’d be right back. She watched him head directly for Lars, who was speaking with Georgy.
Her heart stopped and then started again. Of course Lars would be here. He’d known Georgy many years before Danielle entered his world. Georgy left soon after Andre joined them. Danielle tried to concentrate on what Max was saying, but her eyes kept darting back to her two loves.
Lars was listening as Andre spoke, his face neutral but engaged, his eyes and mouth serious. A moment later, his features changed. He nodded his head once then, his eyes darting to hers, where they connected for a brief second, and then Andre turned to her as well. For a moment, both men observed her before they turned away and resumed their discussion.
“Are they going to get into a fight?” Max asked under his breath.
Danielle shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Unexpectedly, Lars laughed. Andre put his hand out and Lars shook it, clasping his shoulder, then it was over. Lars moved down the long hallway, picking up a glass of champagne from a server.
That evening, when she was relaxing on the couch in her flat, Andre rubbed her feet and told her about the conversation with Lars.
“I sincerely thanked him for his ability to think of you throughout this entire situation. He’s behaved in a manner that’s pretty damn unbelievable. To be honest, I don’t know if I could have done the same, had I been in love with you as much as he is. Of all the people to have fallen in love with Danielle, Lars is a good one.”
Danielle smiled at him. “I do have amazing taste.”
“I ended by wishing him the best at finding someone as perfect as you. That was when he looked over at you. He said, ‘It’s pretty hard to improve on perfect.’ I looked at you and agreed. We shook hands and I wished him all my best. He said the same.”
Lars’ words, meant for her and her alone. Love rushed through her again, but without the pain of loss and heartache. At that moment, she felt a kick inside her.
“Was it a good one?” he asked, placing his hands on either side of her belly, covering half of her palm, his fingers on top of the ring Lars had given her.
“Are you ready to tackle the name subject again?”
They had gone round and round, never finding quite the right one.
“No, not really,” she responded.
His eyes gleamed bright. “It’s been right in front of us the whole time.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes. We’ve been looking at it all wrong. Instead of coming up with a name that means something, I’m thinking it should be a name that defines our relationship and is also really American, in honor of your father and your roots.” Danielle expressed skepticism that anything could symbolize both, but Andre gave her a look of pure satisfaction. “Monroe.”
Danielle’s hand covered her mouth and her eyes blurred. She nodded her head, embracing him. Their little girl would have the name memorializing where they met and Andre’s love for all things American, including her.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered.
“Just like our life is going to be.”
Danielle smiled, her heart full. She felt a kick and decided that Monroe had given her acceptance of the name.
Then another kick
came. “She really likes it,” Andre said, smiling. Then there was a kick along with pain.
“Ouch,” Danielle said. “I don’t think that was a kick. It fell more like a…push.” She looked at Andre, and he looked at her. They waited in silence, wondering if now was the time. Danielle felt a rolling movement of pain, starting at the top of her belly, all the way down to her navel.
“Andre, I think Monroe is ready to join us.” He threw his arms around her, gave her a tremendous hug and leapt up.
“I’m ready to be a family.”
“So am I.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Before she began writing novels, Sarah Gerdes established herself as an internationally recognized expert in the areas of business management and consulting. Her business and fiction books have been published in sixteen countries, and two book series have been optioned for film by Warp Film. Follow her on Instagram at sarah_j_gerdes, facebook or download free chapters and subscribe for special deals at her website, www.sarahgerdes.com.
OTHER BOOKS BY
Sarah Gerdes
Fiction: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Made for Me, book 1 in the Danielle Grant Series, (Nov 2016)
Destined for You, book 2 in the Danielle Grant Series, (January 2017)
A Convenient Date (2015)
Fiction: Action- Adventure
Chambers (2012) – also translated in Indonesia (2014), Poland (2015) & Thailand (eta 2017) by mainstream publishers
Non-Fiction
Sue Kim: The Greatest Korean American Story Never Told Authorized biography, (2016)
The Overlooked Expert: Turning your skills into a Profitable Consulting Company (2009)
Navigating the Partnership Maze: Creating Alliances that Work (McGraw-Hill, 2002)
Social Media
Instagram: sarah_j_gerdes
Facebook: Sarah Gerdes author
www.sarahgerdes.com
Table of Contents
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57