A Baby for Christmas (Love at The Crossroads)

by Simmons, Pat

  He observed her every movement. Some commented that Solae reminded them of a younger version of Nia Long. There was no comparison. She was just as unique as her name.

  Solae worked the crowd with little effort. She was a beauty with her one dimple and engaging smile. What made her more alluring was the mass of curls that were swept up and piled on the top of her head. Each bounced with every step. Her natural strut was flirty and exclusive to her because Hershel had yet to see another woman duplicate it.

  “Man, she looks hot,” he mumbled under his breath as his heart pounded wildly with longing. He missed her.

  “She’s not the center of my attention here, dude,” Royce said in a bad impression of a ventriloquist.

  “She is mine,” he whispered back. Hershel was tempted to leave his post and sweep Solae off her feet to make up for all the times they were apart because of their hectic lives. Despite their conflicting schedules, his sons never lacked Solae’s attention. She picked up Brandon from school whenever he needed to be, fed him, and helped him with his homework.

  As if that wasn’t enough, she would smother Brandon and Harrison with the love that should have come from their mother, who deserted her family for another man. Solae was the one he should have married first…He paused—Solae wouldn’t have been able to give him the sons that he loved dearly.

  Forcing his assessment off her legs, Hershel admired her bridesmaid’s dress until he beheld her face. Her eyes sparkled with happiness. Wait—he squinted. They also glistened as if she was about to cry. Women—they were so sentimental when it came to these affairs. He relaxed.

  Hershel’s mind continued to drift until Pastor Reed made the proclamation. With his single brother officially hitched, Hershel could get to Solae.

  As the bridal party began to exit the sanctuary, Hershel held his elbow for Solae to take since he was the best man to escort the maid of honor as they trailed the bride and groom. He kissed Solae’s cheek in order to leave no doubt in the minds of any guests that she was his. Her lids fluttered. Hershel liked to see his effect on her. “Hi, baby. You look gorgeous.”

  “Thank you.” Her voice was soft and unsteady—almost unsure of how to respond to him. Odd.

  The wedding director turned into a task master as she ordered the attendants to follow her outside for pictures and then back inside the sanctuary. With every pose, Hershel kept a possessive hand on Solae’s waist and shoulders. Usually, she gave him an encouraging smile, but she barely acknowledged his touch. Something was definitely wrong.

  Hershel endured the never-ending receiving line for his brother’s sake, then on to the reception. He pulled out Solae’s chair at the head table. “I’ll fix our plates. What do you want?”

  “Oh, thanks, but take care of the boys. I can get my own,” she said, avoiding eye contact.

  That was one thing he loved about Solae. She always put his sons’ needs first. For their first date, she suggested Dave and Buster’s to make it a family event. Now, almost a year later, she was still doing it. “All right.” Hershel frowned and slowly walked away. But something was off and he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  Throughout the night, every time Hershel attempted to initiate a private conversation with Solae, someone interrupted him.

  “I heard you’re a lieutenant at the fire house,” Mrs. Pearlman said, shuffling her way down the head table. The longtime family friend would babysit the Kavanaugh brothers when his parents were away. Her hair was just as gray and her square glasses thicker.

  “A captain,” Hershel corrected. “I have been for three years.” He was about to introduce Solae, but she beat him to it.

  “Hi, honey. You’re sure a pretty thing. Are you Hershey’s wife?”

  Hershel groaned as Solae giggled at the eighty-something woman’s nickname for him. His brothers’ names were also massacred: Trenty, and Roycie.

  “No, we’re not married,” Solae answered with an edge to her voice.

  Mrs. Pearlman gave him a curious look. “You always were the slow one.” She patted his hand and was about to say more, but another old neighbor snagged her attention.

  “Can you believe she said that?” He faced Solae who still seemed to be amused. “You think that’s funny, huh?” He tried to sound threatening, but he couldn’t keep a straight face. It felt good for them to relax together.

  When Royce and Candace had their first dance, Solae swayed in her seat to the words of gospel artist, Antwaun Stanley’s, “By Your Side.” Closing her eyes, she seemed to shut everything out, including him.

  I don’t think so. “Babe.” He gathered her hand in his. “I’m on duty the next three days, so how about I take you out to dinner on Thursday—just the two of us—no boys.”

  Opening her eyes, Solae stared into his. “Can I let you know?”

  Hershel calculated his breaths to rein in his frustration. Her nonchalant answer rattled him. Solae made it known that he and the boys were her priority. Whatever she had on her plate, she —without hesitation—would reshuffle it to be there for him on his irregular off days.

  Lowering her flashes, she seemed to struggle with what to say. “Do you love me?”

  Where did that come from? “Of course, I love you.” He angled his head to really study her profile. “Why? Did something happen that I need to know about?”

  “Sometimes a woman just needs to hear it, see it, feel it…”

  “Every time I look at you, I say it; every time I touch you, I say it; and every time I see, text, or speak to you over the phone, I say it. So how can you doubt something so tangible?”

  The microphone shrieked as the wedding director fumbled with it, giving Solae a reprieve not to answer, causing everyone to look that way, except him. His focus was on Solae and trying to read between the lines.

  “It’s now time for the bride and groom to cut the cake,” the woman announced as guests applauded.

  Hershel noted the whimsical expression on Solae’s face. When she shivered, he smirked, recalling the first time he had seen her do that.

  “Are you cold?” he had asked one night when they were out with his boys.

  Shaking her head, Solae had leaned in to brush her lips against his. “No, for some reason I can feel when you’re looking at me.”

  A group of firefighters approached the head table. A few slapped him on the back, one or two nodded at Solae.

  “Captain, we’re out of here. See you at the station tomorrow,” Felix Noble stated, Engine House Eight’s fire truck driver. He stood to bid them farewell.

  “Excuse me a moment,” Solae whispered while he was distracted. Hershel watched her as she sashayed to Candace, who had just shoved cake into his brother’s mouth. Solae whispered something that caused Candace to glance his way.

  Fed up, Hershel stood. He was about to go after Solae when Lindsay skipped up to him and gave him a hug.

  “Are you my real uncle now?” Her eyes were filled with expectation.

  Squatting to her level, Hershel grinned as a camera flashed. “Yes, I am.” Royce was blessed to have such a cutie pie for a daughter.

  As Lindsay spun around, modeling the frills of her dress for him, his mind drifted. Hershel had hoped to have his own daughter one day to call “Daddy’s little girl”. He wanted at least one more child, hoping for a daughter. That discussion had sparked several arguments with his ex-wife.

  “This body ain’t meant to birth a whole lot of babies. Considering I didn’t want any, be glad that you got those two,” she had tossed in his face.

  Tara’s revelation had shocked Hershel to the core. Then she proceeded to tell him she was attracted to his uniform first, then the man. “I’m not cut out for this type of life. You’re gone most of the time and when you are here, you’re asleep.”

  The woman had known his erratic work schedule when she married him. He later discovered why there was no pleasing his wife. While he and his crew were out trying to save lives, Tara had stepped outside their marriage with a newcomer at c
hurch. If it wasn’t for his brothers and sons, Hershel might have left the church and never returned.

  Devastation worked a number on Hershel’s psyche for years as he tried to come to grips that he had been played; and when it came to women, he no longer trusted them.

  His resolve betrayed him with one chance encounter when Solae showed up at his son’s birthday party unexpectedly. There had been an instant connection and attraction.

  Hershel didn’t realize he had become distracted until Solae’s melodious voice at the microphone dragged him away from his past regrets.

  “I would like to propose a toast to my best friend, who is like a sister, and her new husband.” Beaming, Solae lifted her champagne glass filled with sparkling white grape juice and waited for others to follow. “Royce and Candace, I’m so happy you two found each other on the street corner…”

  She laughed as well as other guests, especially the remaining firefighters who knew the story of how the bride and groom met: While Candace was on crossing guard parole, Royce whistled at her from his fire truck en route to a house fire. The rest was history. “I pray that God will bless you with all the babies I can’t have,” then added, “on your honeymoon.”

  Cheers and laughs floated around him, only Hershel didn’t see anything funny by her veiled toast. Solae not being able to ever have children was nothing to joke about. He was still coming to grips with that realization himself. Hershel planned to tell Solae that, but a few minutes later when he went in search of her, she was nowhere in sight.

  Chapter 3

  The following morning, Solae had awakened to a headache that seemed to expand with each breath. No wonder, she had barely gotten any sleep between crying and praying.

  She almost jumped at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The remnants of her makeup seemed to favor one side of her face and her cute curls from the night before were a tangled mess. She moaned as she performed her morning hygiene, then shuffled her way to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

  It would take too much damage control for her to get ready and be at church on time. While her thoughts and mind were jumbled, God’s voice cut through her confusion.

  Come unto Me. I will give you rest for your soul, God reminded her of His Word in Matthew 11:28-29. I am the healing station.

  Solae was about to reach for her Bible to read the whole passage when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, her mother stood on the porch. Her stylish suit indicated Minerva had made a detour before going to her church.

  “Hi, baby.” She kissed Solae and walked in. “Hershel asked me where you were after you disappeared at the reception.”

  With a disapproving look, her mother laid her purse on the sofa and seemed to follow the coffee aroma. In the kitchen, she helped herself to a mug from Solae’s cabinet then poured herself a cup of java.

  Once she doctored the mixture with more cream than sugar, her mother seemed to be in no rush as she sat on a counter stool and said grace before indulging in a sip. “He seemed a bit flustered.” She tilted her head in reflection. “Definitely confused.”

  “Umph. That makes two of us.” Taking a seat across from her, Solae rested her chin in hand. “Momma, I can’t continue this agony, hoping that each week, month, moment would be the one day that Hershel proposes.”

  She gnawed on her lip, racking her brain at the cause of his stalling. “I mean, he says he’s okay with my infertility; then it has to be the fallout from his failed marriage that is holding him back. He talked about his ex twice and never brought her name up again, but surely he knows I won’t walk away.”

  The headache she woke with was threatening to return, but she had to blow off steam although her mother and Candace had heard it all before. “I can no longer act like I’m content with playing family when we’re out with the boys.”

  She pounded the counter and stood up. Solae glanced out her kitchen window then began to pace her kitchen floor. “He’s off Thursday, but I want more than dinner dates. I want the whole package. I want to know where our relationship is going.”

  “Then ask him.” Her mother’s calm demeanor downplayed her emotional turmoil as she took another sip, then rested her mug on the counter. “It seems like to me Thursday would be a good time to do it. I agree, you can’t force a man’s hand…but can’t you give him more time?”

  “My time ran out when I told him I couldn’t have children.” Solae looked away. Hershel made her believe it didn’t matter. But now she was beginning to wonder.

  “Even over this decision, I think you need to pray.”

  “You’re right. Either way my heart will break.” Solae recalled the message Hershel had left on her phone late last night as he was heading home with the boys after the reception. Otherwise, she knew he would have stopped by.

  “Whatever is going on in your life affects me too, baby. Don’t shut me out. I’m asking you to rearrange your schedule and have dinner with me.” He sounded exhausted. “I have long shifts the next three days, then a day to rejuvenate. I want to see you on Thursday at seven.” The message ended. She had replayed it two more times, which started another round of boo-hooing.

  But Solae really did have plans. While Candace and Royce were away on their honeymoon, she would care for Lindsay. At the moment, Lindsay was at Julia and Trent’s house where she had spent the night to play with her new cousin, baby Ariel, who technically would be a year old in a few months. Julia would drop Lindsay off later.

  Everything worked out because Solae was a wreck after the wedding and she wouldn’t have wanted her god-baby to see her like that.

  Thursday, she had designated as her and Lindsay’s game night. “There goes the Monopoly.” Solae loved that game.

  ***

  Hershel was in a perfect place as he and Solae dined outside at a cozy restaurant known for its barbecue. He blurred out everything and everyone around him and focused on her.

  “Okay, baby, tell me what’s wrong.” Hershel reached across the table and took possession of her long, slender fingers. As expected, they were soft.

  Solae shrugged. “Just craving some you and me time.” Her dimple winked at him.

  He relaxed and grinned. “You’ve got that now. You had me worried that it was something more serious.” Her indifference at the wedding was quickly forgiven and forgotten.

  She seemed fascinated by their intertwined hands. “I was just in one of my moods. I’m sorry I took it out on you.” Solae leaned closer, coaxing him to meet her halfway. “I love you more than anything and I just needed to hear you say that. I enjoy taking care of you and the boys.”

  “And we love you. To prove that I’m not taking you for granted,” Hershel pulled out the gift he just purchased from the jeweler, “I couldn’t resist.”

  Solae opened the box and squealed. “Another pair of diamond earrings...they’re beautiful. Thank you.” She got up and came around and hugged him.

  Yep, he knew how to keep his woman happy. He smirked. Suddenly, something started to pull him away from her. Solae’s face began to fade as voices in the background nudged him awake.

  Hershel’s lids fluttered until his eyes opened. Flat on his back, Hershel laid there and stared at the ceiling. Was that a dream?

  The dark room and quiet house confirmed it. Maybe it was his neighbor who worked overnight, coming home from his shift that had awakened him.

  Disappointed that it wasn’t real, Hershel hugged his pillow and rolled over. He had to recapture Solae in his dreams. Four days until he saw Solae seemed like a long time coming.

  He only had to get through his shifts. Hershel hadn’t been in the fire station an hour when central command struck an alarm.

  “Engine 8, Engine 10, Engine 12, Rescue 8, overturned trailer, Eastbound I-270, mile marker 153, Select Fire 6, Fire 6,” instructed the dispatcher.

  With their sirens blaring, Hershel rode in the front with Felix, their driver. “God, please protect life and property,” was his standard prayer when en route to all situat
ions.

  He briefly wondered if Solae was listening on the fire/police/EMS scanners she bought to make sure he was safe. It felt good to know she was praying, too.

  When he tried to give her a used scanner from the station, Solae had kindly told him she wanted the newest model, then refused to let him pay for it when he had accompanied her to pick one out. She was one stubborn woman who was a special breed, but he loved her.

  He switched back to captain mode when he saw the billowing, black smoke ahead. “Something is charring pretty good.”

  “Yep. It looks like we’ll be busy,” Felix said as he wheeled the almost thirty-thousand pound engine around traffic as if he was driving a corvette. To date, he had a superb driving record.

  His crew was the first responders on the scene of an overturned big rig that was pulling double trailers. One trailer was upright, but on fire along with the cab of the truck; the other’s contents were spilled across the interstate.

  They were able to get the trucker out alive, but he was transported to the trauma unit at St. Louis University Hospital. Before the night was over, another engine company assisted and hazmat crews were on the scene.

  Day two of his night shift, the county was peaceful until rush hour. An abandoned warehouse fire shut down one part of the highway.

  On the third straight day of his shift, Hershel was beat as he rolled his neck. He had to compile the work schedule for the next two weeks, by which time Royce would have returned from his honeymoon.

  Now with Royce married, Hershel was the odd man out. Solae’s dazzling smile materialized in his mind, but he pushed her vision away in order to finish his tasks. Hershel approved two requests for a firefighter to speak to school children about fire safety; he also had to be sure his crew was up to date on their training, which included new fire protection systems.

  Everybody was counting down the minutes before their shift ended when the first alarm struck for a house fire with persons trapped inside. They were ready to go in less than five minutes. “Lord, please protect life and property.”