THE BABY PLAN

by Susan Gable

  No, no, no! It couldn't be.

  Harley's Law. Just when you think your life is the worst it can possibly be, fasten your seat belt.

  She opened her eyes and peered through the curtain of hair to see Jake struggling with the key to her cell door. Her heart sank. Of all the things she never wanted him to see, this ranked at the top of the list.

  Where was Charlie? And how the hell had Jake found her?

  Maybe if she ignored him, he'd go away.

  She felt an itch on the bottom of her left foot and scratched it with the toes of her right.

  "Ah, good. At least now I know you're alive in there."

  She rolled onto her other side, presenting him with her back.

  He laughed. The man actually had the audacity to laugh. "Don't think that's going to work. That's just a silent version of your talking-in-circles trick, and it doesn't work on me anymore."

  "Go away, Jake. I don't want you here. In fact, I don't want you anywhere near me, or didn't you get that message?"

  "Oh, I got the message, all right. The one where you said you loved me—"

  "I lied."

  "And how wonderful I am."

  "Go away!"

  The key noises stopped. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Harley."

  Her chest tightened and her nose tingled. Finally a white knight had ridden to her rescue, and she couldn't have him. Why didn't he understand she wasn't any good for him? Well, if this didn't convince him, nothing would. She rolled back over, sat up on the cot and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Did you come to see the animal in the cage, Jake? Take a good, long look at the mother of your child. Here she is, behind bars. Imagine what the Spandlers would have to say about this."

  "The hell with the Spandlers! I don't give a damn what they think, or anyone else, for that matter. As far as I'm concerned, you had every right to clock that guy, and I'm damned proud you did."

  "You're crazy!" She kicked her sneaker across the cell.

  "Crazy about you."

  Harley clambered to her feet. "I'm a menace to you! And to our baby! I have nothing to offer either of you!"

  Jake grabbed the cell bars in his hands. "You could offer us yourself, your love. That's more than enough."

  "I'm … I'm not good enough for you, Jake."

  "Ah, Harley." He shook his head. "I think you're the one who has the problem with forgiving and forgetting your past."

  "I'm branded by it for life, Jake, even though I didn't do it. I didn't commit that crime. But Ned fired me because of it. I'll never get a decent business job, not even with the most outstanding college degree. And that damn deputy made up his mind about me based on my conviction." She shuddered.

  "Harley, look at me," he commanded.

  She lifted her gaze from the floor to meet his.

  "I'm here for you. I've flown a thousand miles and spent hours riding in a car with a cranky old man grilling me about my intentions toward you. I love you. I love you exactly the way you are."

  "Why? Nobody, not even Charlie, has ever loved me the way I am."

  "You're wrong about that. He does." Jake leaned closer to the bars and spoke softly. "And I love you because you've got guts and spunk and a wonderful sense of humor. You've taught me to slow down and enjoy things. I love that underneath your tough exterior is a tender heart."

  Harley's nose started to drip, and she snuffled.

  "Sweetheart, I asked you this question once before. I want you to really think before you answer me this time. What's your dream? I mean your absolute have-it-all dream."

  A tear slid down her cheek. "To be part of a real family. To have a place where I belong, a place for always, where no one will ever make me leave."

  "I can give you that, Harley. I didn't make you leave, sweetheart. I didn't return you."

  "It's only a matter of time. I won't measure up. I'm not good enough."

  His face became harder, more stern. "I'll be the judge of who's good enough for me." The lines around his eyes softened again. "Harley, you are a unique woman. The most special woman I've ever known. I said I wouldn't beg, but I lied. If that's what it takes, I'll beg." He sank to his knees, still clutching the bars. "I'm begging. I love you. Come home with me and let's make a real family."

  The sight of him on his knees almost convinced her. Surely a man who would travel all this way and grovel like that had to be sincere, not merely offering pretty words and empty promises. A man who professed his love on his knees to a woman in a jail cell was truly a special man. "You really love me?"

  "Yes!"

  "Even if I'm a mechanic?"

  Jake laughed. "It was never me that had a problem with your being a mechanic, it was you."

  "But the day we made the agreement, you said a garage was no environment for an expectant woman…"

  "Right, an expectant woman. I just didn't think it would be good for the baby if you were in that tiny oil-change shop all day with those chemicals and the exhaust. It had nothing to do with you being a mechanic. Why waste good talent?"

  A tentative smile tugged at her lips. "You just want someone to keep the Mustang in shape." He loved her. The real Harley.

  "Absolutely. Imagine all the money I can save with my own in-house mechanic. Actually, I've been thinking … maybe you should put this new business degree you'll be getting to work running your own shop. Harley's Hot Rods." He winked at her. "Has a nice ring, don't you think?"

  "It does." A tiny bit of uncertainty still nagged at her. "You sure you want me?"

  "Yes!" He grinned at her. "Can I tempt you with chocolate cake?"

  "Only if it has a file in it."

  His laughter washed over her, warming her, comforting her. "I've got better than that, I've got the key." He rose to his feet and dangled the metal key by its ring. "I just can't get it to work."

  Harley retrieved her sneakers and slipped them on her feet, then moved over to the bars. She reached through to grab for him.

  The key clattered to the floor. Passing his hands through the bars at different levels, he wrapped one around her waist and caressed her cheek with the other. "God, Harley, I thought I'd never touch you again." He released her and sank to one knee this time. "Harley Emerson, will you be my real wife and the mother of my child?"

  Her lower lip quivered. "But … but I might hurt her."

  "Don't be ridiculous. Mel told me it's not the first time Grace ate crayons or the first time she's hit Hope. And you're not the only one to have a baby fall while in your care."

  "Really?"

  "Do you think Mel's a good mother?"

  "Yes."

  "When Grace was seven months old, she fell off the changing table. Mel felt guilty as hell for weeks. Harley, kids don't come with instruction manuals like cars do."

  "I noticed."

  "It's a learn-as-you-go deal. I thought you mechanics were good at hands-on work?"

  Harley stared down at him. Grab it, grab the dream, and don't ever let go! "We are. Wanna see?"

  Jake shot to his feet, the key in his fingers. "I sure do."

  She took it from him. Inserting it into the lock, she lifted the door upward while turning it. The click as the bolt released satisfied her more than any other thing she'd ever heard—except her husband's avowal of love. She stepped out of the cell and into his arms.

  Clasping her hands behind his back, she pressed her face into his chest. This was love, being there for someone at the worst of times. This was the home she'd sought for so long—in his strong, loving arms.

  Jake drew her as close as possible. He stroked her back, ran his fingers through her hair.

  She looked up at him, green eyes sparkling. "I love you, Jake."

  He closed his eyes for a moment. A lump swelled in his throat, but he swallowed it. He looked down at her, tracing her chin with his fingertips. "I love you, too, Harley. I didn't think I'd ever hear you say that to me."

  She nuzzled his palm with her lips. "I mean it. They're not just pretty words." />
  "I know that." He brushed his mouth across her forehead, then leaned down to crush her lips in a powerful, soul-baring kiss. Her warm, receptive response stoked the flames within him. Reluctantly, he broke away from her. "You ready to go home?"

  "Actually, I was hoping to visit with Charlie first."

  "Your wish is my command." He kissed the tip of her nose. "Just promise me one thing, Harley."

  "What's that?"

  "Promise you'll never leave me again."

  She held his face between her hands. "Promise you'll never ask me to?"

  He nodded. "I promise."

  "So do I." She touched her mouth to his. "Sealed with a kiss. There's just one more thing…"

  "What's that?"

  "Can I … I want to be a Manning, too."

  "Ah, Harley." She'd probably never know how much that statement meant to him, perhaps even more than her declaration of love. She wanted his name. "Of course you can be a Manning. I'd be proud if you were a Manning."

  Jake felt a nudge against his belly and he glanced down at Harley's stomach. He reached between them and caressed the place where his child—their child—moved. "I think the baby agrees."

  Harley removed her hands from his face adjoined them with his. "What can I say? Peanut's already a smart kid."

  "I hope she's a girl," he whispered. "A girl who's just like her mom."

  Her eyes glistened. "Oh, Jake…"

  He placed his arm around her shoulder and guided her to the metal door, hammering against it with his fist. "Let us out! We're ready to go home!"

  "Home." Harley sighed.

  Jake tightened his grip on her. "You won't just be home for Christmas next year, sweetheart. You're going to be home forever."

  * * *

  Epilogue

  «^

  "Aaaagh." Sweat beaded on Harley's forehead and trickled down her face.

  "Nine, ten." Jake lowered her to the birthing-room bed. "Relax, Harley. You're doing great." He'd be doing better if she'd release the death grip she had on his left hand. He wiped a damp cloth across her forehead with his free hand, then stroked her arm. "Relax everything, Harley. Relax your fingers."

  She let go of his hand and opened her eyes. "You get in this bed and try to relax, mister."

  Jake smiled at her while he wiggled his fingers in a covert attempt to restore circulation. "The bed looks fairly comfortable."

  "Then get in it, let me fold you up in a position that would make a gymnast cry, and while you're at it, you ca drive a Volkswagen through your—"

  "Harley!" Jake's face grew hot.

  The nurses laughed.

  "That's a perfect way of putting it, honey," quipped the red-haired nurse assisting the doctor.

  Harley's eyes widened, then her nostrils flared as she dragged in a deep breath.

  Jake knew that expression and what it meant. He pulled on her arms, bracing her in an upright position. "All right, push, Harley!" He started counting.

  She struggled in his arms. "I can't, I can't!" she wailed. "I can't do it anymore! I changed my mind, you can have your own baby!"

  Dr. Hansen's chuckle was muffled by his mask. "It's a little late now to change your mind, Harley. You can do this. Come on, push."

  Jake lowered his mouth to her ear. "You can do it. Come on, don't you want to find out if you're right about Peanut? I think he's going to shock you and turn out to be a boy."

  Harley grabbed for his hand and squeezed as she bore down, laboring to bring their baby into the world. Jake winced at the pressure but knew better than to say a word.

  "That's it, good! The baby's crowning, Harley!" Dr. Hansen reported.

  A few more contractions and intensive effort on Harley's part, and the doctor announced that the baby's head was born.

  "Forget the head, get the rest of her out here!" Harley gasped.

  The birthing room erupted in laughter.

  "Almost, Harley. Just a little more," the doctor soothed. "I've got the shoulders. Now, just one more push."

  "Aaaaagh." The sound, wrenched from Harley, ended on a note of relief.

  Jake glanced down to watch their child enter the world.

  "It's a girl!" Dr. Hansen said. "You were right all along, Mom." He placed the wriggling, crying baby on Harley's stomach.

  Jake's heart kicked against his ribs. Life would never be the same from this moment on. They had a daughter. He was a daddy. The thin, piercing wail of his child was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.

  "Peanut." Harley sighed and reached out a tentative finger toward the infant. "Happy birthday."

  The nurses swooped in to claim the baby for cleaning, weighing and all the other necessary medical steps, promising a speedy return to the new mother.

  Harley slumped back in the bed. Jake brushed a sweat-soaked tendril of hair from her forehead, then leaned over to kiss her.

  She smacked him. "Get away from me with those lips. Those lips are nothing but trouble."

  He ignored her, placing another kiss on her forehead. "Thank you, Harley, for giving me the most wonderful gift in the world."

  Her face softened. "No, thank you. I can't believe it's true. I'm part of a family now."

  "Daddy and baby, and Mommy makes three."

  She smiled at him. "I guess that's not the order most people would do it, but then, we're not most people, are we?"

  "Definitely not."

  Harley rested as much as possible while the doctor took care of the final procedures, including a few stitches. Jake averted his gaze for that, grimacing empathetically. The nurse came back with their daughter swaddled in a pink blanket. "Here you go, Mom. Eight pounds, two ounces, and twenty inches long." She carefully placed the bundle in Harley's arms.

  The panicked look returned to Harley's face. "It's okay, Harley. You're not going to break her."

  "You want to put her to the breast now, honey?" the nurse asked. "It's a good time to start."

  Harley nodded. The nurse helped her pull down the shoulder of the gown she wore and then position the baby. After a few false starts, the baby latched on and began to suckle.

  Harley turned wide eyes to Jake. "Amazing." He bent closer to gently stroke the silky skin of his newborn daughter's cheek. The tiny muscles moved beneath his finger as she nursed. "It sure is. She's smart and beautiful, just like her mom."

  "Do you have a name picked out for her, or do I need to haul out the name book from the nurse's station?" The red-haired nurse looked quizzically from Jake to Harley.

  They hadn't been able to agree on one yet. "Well, I think Mercedes is the perfect name."

  Harley shot daggers at him. "That's not funny, Jake."

  "Why not? Why can't a mom named Harley have a baby named Mercedes? It's pretty."

  "Because Harleys and Mercedes don't go together. Trust me. You wanna name her Toyota? Maybe Mustang would be good?"

  "Okay, Harley, I get the point." Jake couldn't tear his eyes from the sight of his wife, nursing their newborn.

  "I want her to have a feminine name. Something pretty, but not too unusual." Harley ran a fingertip over the baby's downy hair, a light strawberry-blond fuzz. "Peanut, what's your name? Can't call you Peanut all the time." The baby waved a tiny fist in the air. "I know! Jennifer. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be Jennifer. And we'll call her Jenni. J-e-n-n-i. It's pretty, and it's different, but not too different."

  "Jenni." Jake smiled. "Jenni Manning. I like it." He gingerly touched his daughter's head. "Now I have to go and tell the rest of our family. They've probably taken over the waiting room."

  "Our family." Harley sighed and smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "Yes, go tell our family. And call Charlie. Then, while you're at it, tell Dusty he owes me twenty."

  "Twenty? Did he bet Peanut was going to be a boy?"

  "No, he bet you'd end up face-first on the floor. I told him that would never happen, that you'd be at my side, taking care of me."

  Jake planted another kiss on Harley's forehead. "You kno
w it. Always."

  * * * *