Marriage for Her Baby

by Raye Morgan

  Timmy just stared up at her with huge eyes as though he didn’t have a clue what she was asking him.

  “Oh!” She didn’t wait. “Watch the kids,” she called back to Jake. And then she ran.

  She’d learned from the first when she helped take care of the twins that losing sight of a child was one of the worse experiences you could have. The panic that started pushing its way up her throat was wrenching.

  “Oh, please, please, please,” she muttered in her own simple prayer that he might be okay—okay and found soon. “Oh, please!”

  He wasn’t near the preschool slides, nor the close-by junior merry-go-round. He wasn’t at the bounce house.

  “Have you seen a little two year old with a blue Danny Duck cape on?” she began to ask everyone she passed. “Reddish hair. Blue eyes.”

  All she got were shrugs and apologies.

  “Sorry. Haven’t seen him.”

  She knew it was fruitless. He was just like twenty other boys his age playing here. Her heart was beating hard and she ran past the rocky stream as she headed for the top of the hill.

  And then she saw him. How on earth had he gone so far so fast? She’d reached the older kids playground with the heavy polished steel equipment as opposed to the soft, padded things the younger children dealt with. The pieces were huge and scary compared to what they were used to down the hill.

  And there, at the top of the tallest, most dangerous-looking slide, sat Tanner, dangling his feet over the side and looking down as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

  “Tanner!” she cried, sinking to her knees in relief. “Oh, Tanner. There you are.”

  Rising again quickly, she began to race to the area beneath where he was.

  “Tanner, wait! I’m coming.”

  He didn’t look her way and the fear was coming back quickly. She reached the sandy area the slide was set in.

  “Tanner,” she called up. “Come on down, honey.”

  Tanner acted as though he’d never seen her before. He squinted his eyes. And then he rose, leaning under the bar and looking down on the wrong side of the slide.

  “No!” She shaded her eyes against the sun. What was he doing? “No, Tanner. Come down the slide, sweetie. I’ll catch you.”

  He bent over and looked down the slide, then he looked at her and shook his head.

  “What’s wrong? I’ll help you. Come on, honey, we can do this.”

  He shook his head again, obviously scared to go down the big kid slide. And she could hardly blame him. It seemed so high! What little two-year-old would want to jump right into this crazy journey?

  But paradoxically, he went to something even scarier. Instead of the slide, he turned back to the wrong side of the platform again and looked down at the sandy landing below. Sara’s heart was in her throat again. It looked like—it couldn’t be. But it was. The boy wanted to jump.

  “No! Tanner, don’t jump. It’s too high.”

  He looked at her again, his eyes bright and shiny.

  “Dandan Duck,” he said happily, and he held out his arms so that his cape was ready to surge out behind him. He was going to try to fly down.

  “No!” she yelled again, starting up the metal steps of the ladder to the top, going as fast as she could. She would never reach him in time. But she had to try. “Tanner, don’t jump!”

  “Dandan Duck!” he called back. He flapped his cape at her.

  “No, Tanner,” she called, climbing as fast as she could. She was almost there. “You can’t fly. Stop!”

  “I Dandan Duck.”

  And he stepped off the edge of the platform.

  She screamed. She was terrified, barely clinging to the very top steps, leaning out as far as she could, as if she had a prayer of catching him. His small body fell past her, heading for the ground. She felt the earth begin to spin around her.

  “No, no!” she cried desperately.

  But then something happened. Everything went into slow motion, and there was Jake, down in the sand, holding Tanner.

  He’d caught him! He’d caught him and he was already setting him down on the ground.

  “Oh.” She closed her eyes and everything went black. She lost her balance for just a moment, but that moment was long enough to make her lose her footing. The next thing she knew, she was falling, too. She grabbed at the railing, but it was too late.

  She closed her eyes again, waiting for the jarring landing, praying she wasn’t going to break anything. And she hit with a jarring thud, but not in the sand. Instead she found herself in Jake’s arms, just like Tanner had.

  She opened her eyes in surprise and stared up into his brilliant blue gaze. He was grinning.

  “Wow, everybody’s trying to fly today. What is it? A new trend?”

  “Very cute,” she managed to grate out. She struggled a bit, but he wasn’t letting go. “Where’s Tanner? Where’s Savannah?”

  “Everybody’s right here,” he said, turning so that she could see Savannah in the stroller and the twins sitting side by side on the cement walkway, their feet in the sand. Amazing. It seemed he’d taken care of everything.

  She frowned, shaking her head as though to clear it. “How did you do that so fast?” she asked accusingly.

  “Magic,” he teased. “Magic and fast footwork. I’m a trained rescuer, you know. We have our ways.”

  She searched his eyes and tried to catch her breath. She’d been through an emotional meat grinder for the last ten minutes and she hadn’t gotten over it yet. It actually felt good to be in Jake’s big strong arms, safe and unharmed. She was tempted to close her eyes and rest her head against his shoulder while her system recovered.

  Jake was laughing at first. It all seemed so comical, catching one person after another that way. But there was something in those dark eyes....

  His smile faded as their gazes caught and they stared at each other in a strange, twisted sort of wonder. The feel of her began to sink in. Her body felt warm and her shape felt rounded and provocative in his arms. Her skin was so soft and her scent so clean and sweet. Her lips were touched with pink and slightly swollen. There was a glazed look in her eyes. Suddenly he wanted to kiss her more than anything in the world.

  But that was nuts. If there was one thing he was not going to do it was get emotionally entangled with this woman. Kiss of death. He couldn’t do it. And just like that—Savannah started to fuss, they pulled apart and he was snapped back to reality. He let her go, sliding to her feet, and they quickly backed away from each other.

  It seemed like minutes had gone by, but it must have been only a few seconds. At least, she hoped so. She avoided looking at him again, embarrassed.

  “Thanks for catching me,” she muttered, busy with the clasp to Savannah’s stroller. “And especially for catching Tanner. You lived up to your rescuer rep, I guess.”

  She glanced his way and found him frowning at her thoughtfully, as though what had just happened had given him food for thought.

  He’d almost kissed her. She knew that. If the children hadn’t been so close, he might have followed through. And to her horror, she also knew that for just a moment, she’d really wanted him to.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “LET’S GO,” SARA said quickly, not wanting to talk about it any longer. She’d been hoping to catch Jake up in the difficulties of taking care of babies and she’d ended up being the one who hadn’t coped all that well. He was the hero. And thank goodness he’d been there for them all.

  “Time to go home.”

  They herded the children back and Jake was quite cheerful with them. She looked at him sharply, searching for evidence of getting tired or annoyed, but she didn’t see any. That made her crosser than she normally was.

  But they made it back to the house and then found themselves spending the next hour spinning their tales of adventure out for Jill and Connor and reenacting what they’d gone through—though they did skip most of the details concerning that spectacular last catch Jake had made.<
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  The twins both told their parents all about it, one starting out the exposition and the other talking over him toward the end, beginning a new segment. They were so cute, but unfortunately, not a word of what they said was understandable. It was as though they spoke their own toddler language. But they were passionate and everyone gave them a good listen just the same, oohing and aahing over every incomprehensible detail.

  “Is that right?” was repeated a lot. “Oh, my goodness.” And that seemed to satisfy them. When it was over, they both looked very pleased with themselves.

  Jill had fixed a nice lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and the adults sat at the table while the children sat in pulled up high chairs. Sara gazed about the room as they ate, noting how Jake seemed to fit in much better than she’d expected. In fact, Jill and Connor obviously liked him a lot. They were talking and laughing with him as though they were old friends.

  Why did that give her a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach? Why did she keep thinking of herself as the odd man out?

  And then, when she was hoping it was time for Jake to go to his own house and leave them alone for the rest of the day, she heard Jill inviting him to the birthday party for the twins they were having the next day.

  “Their second birthday,” Jill was saying. “I know they’d love it if you could make it to help celebrate. We’re just having a few friends over.”

  “I’d be honored to come,” he said. “These two little guys are about as fun to hang out with as short people get.”

  Jill loved it. Sara watched her, feeling a bit resentful. She’d been looking forward to the birthday party and now she was going to have to share it with him.

  Even worse, tomorrow was the last day before the DNA report was due. She was planning to try to talk him into reconsidering his plans to take over raising Savannah, but she needed more time. She hadn’t done enough groundwork to convince him yet.

  She needed to make it up as she went along. The first thing she did, once lunch was finished, was call Jake over and tell him it was time for a lesson in baby management.

  “You might as well learn how to do some of these things,” she told him. “You might end up having to take over. Let’s see if you’re a quick study.”

  He seemed nervous. “What exactly are you talking about here?”

  “Changing diapers. Giving a baby a bath. Putting her down for her nap. Dealing with her when she cries. Reading her favorite books to her. Keeping her busy and in a learning environment at the same time. Singing songs. Walking her when she needs to be carried.” She shook her head. “I could go on and on. I just think you ought to get some taste of what you’re signing up for.”

  “Of course. You’re right.”

  He said the words, but he still looked more uncertain than she’d ever seen him look before. She smiled. Maybe this was going to be effective after all.

  “Okay,” she said. “You pick her up and bring her this way. We’ll take her up to the room where she’s staying.”

  “Pick her up?” he said, frowning.

  “You managed at the park,” she reminded him.

  He nodded. “Sure. I can do that.”

  And he did. But he appeared scared to death for the first few moments. She smiled again. Then he began to hold Savannah like a real, live baby instead of a fragile and oddly shaped potato, and her smile dimmed a bit. He seemed to be catching on awfully fast.

  “Okay, here’s the deal,” she told him quickly. “I’ll walk you through everything today. Tomorrow you come in the morning and you’ll do it all again, only this time, you’ll be on your own. Got it?”

  He nodded.

  “How long did it take you to get up to speed?” he asked as they negotiated the stairs and headed into the upper bedroom.

  “What are you talking about?” she shot back.

  “Come on. You say you took care of your sister’s boys so you know all about babies, but I don’t believe it. I’ll bet there was still a lot you had to learn.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. She remembered her resolution—casual conversation, not confrontation. She was a lot more likely to get somewhere if he thought they were talking on a friendly basis. Honesty seemed the best option for her anyway.

  “It was pretty hard at first,” she admitted. “That was why we stayed here with Jill for the first week. She was there to help me over the rough spots.”

  She gestured for him to lay the baby down on the changing table and he complied fairly gracefully, then smiled down at the sweet little girl who grinned back at him and waved her arms, reaching for his fingers whenever they got close.

  “So you would recommend having someone there with me at first?” he asked.

  It was a simple question. She should have been able to handle it. But for some reason, resentment shot through her and she flushed. “What are you asking me? Advice on what to do when you steal my baby?”

  He turned and stared at her. “Come on, Sara. It’s not like that.”

  She couldn’t help it. Suddenly it was all too real and menacing. “Yes, it is like that.”

  She turned away so that she wouldn’t be actually glaring at him. Using every ounce of strength, she made herself calm down. “And yes, I would recommend very strongly that you have someone onboard who knows what she’s doing. Probably someone full-time, because you’re a man and men always seem to have things they have to do away from the house.” She turned back and met his gaze rather defiantly. “And I certainly don’t expect you to learn how to sit around rocking the cradle, so to speak.”

  He stared at her but he didn’t say a thing and she flushed even redder, wishing she had held her tongue. She watched as he steeled himself for the job.

  “Okay,” he said quietly. “Tell me what to do. I’m ready.”

  He did great. Of course, he had her there to give him advice every step of the way. But she had to admit, he didn’t waver. He watched as she changed Savannah’s diaper. He was still hesitant to try that on his own. But he did walk her, humming a sweet song to help her go to sleep and then he lay her down gently in her little bed and she sighed and went right off to dreamland.

  “How’d I do?” he whispered, looking pleased with himself as they made their way downstairs.

  She nodded, feeling sad and lost. “You did just fine. Really. I’m impressed.”

  His grin could have lit up the sky. He took her hand and regarded her candidly.

  “Hey, Sara,” he said. “Thanks for today. I know it was hard for you to let me be a part of it. It must have cut into your heart to let me be this close to Savannah for so long. But you know what?” His grin was genuine and disarming. “This was one of the best days of my life.”

  And he walked off down the driveway, whistling as he went.

  Sara stayed where she was, tears running down her face. There was no way she could spin this. He was basically a pretty good guy. She wanted to hate him, but even that had been taken away from her.

  * * *

  Sara went to her room and spent another hour in agony before she could get the tears to stop. She was very scared, but she couldn’t let that stop her from moving forward with her plan to prove to Jake that he just wasn’t father material. At least, not single father material.

  Savannah was down for the night but it was still light outside. She decided to run over to take a look at the progress the workers had made on her house. She knew she’d been neglecting it lately. Other things had been on her mind.

  She drove up, parked in front and went inside. It looked like her addition was almost completed. They were still working on the new bathroom, but it was gorgeous.

  All the workmen had gone home for the night. She’d lived in this house for a number of years, but it had a strange, lonely feeling now that Savannah wasn’t filling the place with love and laughter. If she lost her baby, would she be able to live here? She wasn’t sure. It would be painful.

  The new bedroom for Savannah was beauti
ful, powder-pink with white trim. She’d already begun furnishing it with a new crib and changing table. It was beautiful. The question was, would it ever be used by the little girl it was meant for?

  She bit her lip and forced back the hopeless feelings. She was going to keep fighting so there was no use letting pessimism build up and handicap her spirits. She was going to win this.

  She looked out the window toward the neighbor’s house that Jake was renting. She’d heard music as she’d walked up to her own house. There seemed to be people visiting him. Noisy people. There was something going on.

  Two huge Harley-Davidson motorcycles sat in the front, pulled onto the grass. What kind of people was he having over, anyway? It was none of her business. But she had to know.

  No. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and thought better of it. She had nothing to talk to him about that couldn’t wait until morning. She would get into her car and drive away and leave it alone.

  Sure she would.

  She gave it a try. She walked to her car and opened the door and then someone shouted something borderline vulgar and she turned and made a beeline toward his front door.

  A large jovial man answered the bell. He leaned out toward her appreciatively.

  “Hey,” he greeted. “You here for the party?”

  “What party?” she snapped with disapproval.

  “Oops. I guess not.” He backed away, looking chagrined. “Sounds like a disgruntled neighbor to me. Help.”

  Jake came into the room and headed straight for the door. “Sara. What is it? Is there something wrong?”

  “No.” She frowned at him. “I was just checking out my house next door and I heard the music, so I thought I’d check out what was going on.”

  She glanced past him and saw two other large men filling up the couches. “So you’re having a party?” she asked skeptically.

  “Absolutely not,” he told her. He looked back at the others. “Would you like to come in and meet my friends?” he asked, though he didn’t look as though he really wanted her to. “They’re guys who served with me in the Army.”