McCallum Quintuplets
Page 21
“We should be singing that pretty soon,” Maggie said, and knew she needed Adam right then. She needed to get close to him, to feel him near, to make that physical connection between them. She needed it constantly, as much as she needed to know the babies were okay. “I’ll be right back,” she murmured, and saw Adam going out the door with Gracie on his shoulders. She went after him, into the hallway, and by the time she caught up to them, he was talking to Ian Russell.
She hadn’t seen Ian or his wife, Madeline, the fertility specialist who had been the first to tell them there were five babies on the way, for what seemed a very long time. She knew they’d married, and she knew that Adam and Ian kept in touch off and on, on a business level.
“Ian?” she said, reaching for Gracie to slip her off Adam’s shoulders and hug her to her chest. Gracie felt wonderfully heavy in her arms, a terrific feel for a baby who had felt so tiny and insubstantial for so long. But Gracie had other ideas, squirming until Maggie put her down.
“Maggie, I was just talking to your husband here about how you deal with having five babies. I think you’re both miracle workers to get through it.”
Maggie watched Gracie toddle toward Grace’s husband, Douglas, in the doorway. The elderly man held out his arms, and she went right to him, then Maggie knew Gracie was safe and turned to Ian and her husband. She sought and found Adam’s hand, holding it tightly and loving the way he held her. “No, we’re just doing this day by day and figuring it out as we go along.” She smiled. “Speaking of babies, I heard from someone that you and Madeline are expecting. Congratulations.”
“I’ll take a double dose of that,” he said with a grin.
“Double?”
“As in twins.”
“Oh, my gosh,” Maggie gasped. “That’s fantastic!”
“Pretty darn wonderful,” Madeline said as she came up to them and very naturally slipped into her husband’s hold.
That glow Maggie had seen in Annabelle was there a hundredfold in Madeline, along with the soft swelling of her stomach under the loose blue top she was wearing with black leggings. The woman looked wonderful with no makeup and her hair loose and curly.
“I was just getting some advice from these two,” Ian said. “About how to deal with more than one baby coming into our lives.”
“Oh, we can use all the advice we can get.”
Adam let go of Maggie just long enough to change from holding her hand to putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his side. “There is one thing you two should know, the most important thing,” Adam said. “Don’t ever lose each other in the middle of all the craziness.”
Maggie could barely breathe for a second, remembering how close they’d come to doing that very thing themselves. “The two of you are the core of the family,” she whispered. “And it’s too easy to forget the most important things in this life.”
“Good advice,” Ian murmured, and she could see his hold on Maddie tightening just a bit. “Thanks for everything.”
“No problem,” Adam said, and glanced at Maggie.
She saw something in his eyes, something that made her look at Madeline and Ian and say, “I’m sorry, I came out here to talk to Adam.”
“No problem,” Ian said. “I’m sure you two don’t get enough time together.”
“We’re working on it,” Adam said.
Maggie waited until Ian and Madeline were out of ear-shot, then she turned to her husband. “What’s wrong?”
He pulled her with him down the hall and into a quiet corner, never letting go of her. “I just keep thinking what could have happened to us, and instead, we’re here and we’re whole.” He exhaled. “I need you, Maggie.”
She went closer, circling his neck with her arms. “Your timing isn’t very good, is it? We’re sort of committed to this party, you know?”
“Oh, I know, and I don’t want to miss any of it. Not a minute of it.” He kissed her, a lingering caress that drew at her soul and made a promise of things to come. “But after it’s over—” he breathed roughly as he drew back away “—afterward, Grace and Douglas and my dad agreed to take care of the birthday kids for a few hours.”
“Oh, my, this sounds interesting,” Maggie murmured. “And what exactly did you have in mind?”
“I’m open to anything you can come up with.”
“Don’t be so sure about that,” she whispered.
“In an hour we can leave,” he said. “Right after the cake and the presents.” He exhaled roughly. “But right now we need to get back to the party.”
She didn’t want to let go, not yet, but she felt something at her legs, a tiny body pushing between the two of them, and she looked at little Jackson. He had chocolate cake all over his face and hands, and now that cake was all over the legs of Adam’s pants and the pale ivory skirt of her dress. “You little dickens,” Maggie said with a laugh, scooping him up, and when he giggled he showed an impressive number of teeth, the most of any of the quints.
“Let’s go to the party,” Maggie said, looking at Adam. “Shall we?”
“Absolutely,” he answered, and they went together into the party room.
Everyone was there, and Jackson McCallum stood in the middle of everything. He held up a hand to silence the partygoers. “Everyone. Can I have your attention?”
The guests turned to him, and as Adam put his arm around Maggie, his dad, in a blue sports shirt with more than his share of chocolate cake smeared on it, looked around and smiled.
“What a day,” he pronounced. “The birthday of my grandchildren, this place thriving and life itself! It was all worth it. A real labor of love!”
As he broke into a chorus of “Happy Birthday” and the others joined in, Adam looked at Maggie and leaned close enough so only she could hear him.
“Yes, it was worth everything.”
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to
Kasey Michaels, Mindy Neff and Mary Anne Wilson
for their contribution to the
MAITLAND MATERNITY: TRIPLETS, QUADS & QUINTS series.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8170-1
THE MCCALLUM QUINTUPLETS
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
DELIVERED WITH A KISS
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
AND BABIES MAKE SEVEN
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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