DAC_II_GenVers_Sept2013

by Donna McDonald

  She paused, studying the group for their reactions.

  “Mrs. Graham, I take it you didn’t know about the baby?” Dr. Bensara asked.

  Leland squeezed his wife’s hand tightly until she lost the glazed look in her eyes.

  “No, of course I knew,” April lied, feeling her husband’s death grip ease at last. “I’m Walter’s mother. I just didn’t know that Jane was having problems. He never said. Sometimes he gets busy and. . .well, I’m sure he meant to tell us.”

  “Well, to be fair, Jane may not have had a chance to tell your son yet. We just got her tests back yesterday. She said she and the baby’s father weren’t living together.”

  “No,” Leland said, nodding and holding the doctor’s gaze. “Walter has an apartment next to his grandfather.”

  “Mr. Fox, I have to say you seem a little stunned as well,” Dr. Bensara said.

  “No. Not at all. I was just thinking about the pressure on my daughter lately. Walter went public with his feelings for her during an interview about his work. I’m not sure they’re on the same page about those feelings yet. . .despite the baby. You know how complicated relationships can get,” Morrie said, grateful for Lydia’s hand slipping into his.

  “Well, you all seem to be loving and supportive of their situation. Your presence says a lot about how lucky Jane is to not be alone as she goes through this at her age. I’ve got to see some other patients now, but will check on her a bit later. The door will lock behind you when you leave. Take your time,” Dr. Bensara said, leaving Jane’s family alone to digest her advice.

  After the doctor was gone, the four of them stared at each other. Finally, Morrie asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “I had no idea my daughter was pregnant. Did you know about the baby?”

  Leland shook his head. “Not a clue. Walter loves your daughter. I know that for certain. I came down last week to give him some advice. The media stuff may have been my fault. . .ouch, that hurt. Stop it, April.” He rubbed his arm where his wife had pinched it hard.

  “You said it was about money for his project,” April said.

  “No, I said I thought Walter was concerned about money. Until I came down here, I didn’t know what it was about. He’s modeling now. Did you know that? Our son doesn’t care about what he has to do to meet his goals. He’s so much like Harrison that it scares the hell out of me at times like this,” Leland said. “The baby doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

  “Modeling? Walter’s modeling?” April demanded, her voice rising. “You didn’t tell me that either. What else are you keeping from me?”

  “Nothing. God. Nothing, I swear.” Leland put his face in his hands.

  “With Walter’s body, he’ll probably be very successful at modeling, April,” Lydia said. “You should admire your son’s resourcefulness. You raised a good man, very responsible. . .well, in most things. He did get Jane pregnant, but everyone slips up now and again.”

  “Thank you, Lydia,” April said, looking at the attractive older woman she’d known since she was a child. She needed a distraction from her anger over her husband’s tendency to keep secrets from her. It was a Graham male trait, but one she’d thought had missed her son. Walter usually didn’t seem to care what people knew about anything he’d done. Maybe the baby wasn’t his.

  “I’m trying to be positive here, but I can’t help being hurt that Walter hasn’t said anything to his father or me about the baby. This is not the same as some wild scheme to make money. This is about our grandchild. We had a right to know.”

  Morrie rubbed his chin. Surely Jane had told Walter, hadn’t she? His mother was right. The man had a right to know he created a child with her. “If Walter knew about the baby, do you think he would have said something?”

  Both his parents sighed and nodded. “I think he would have announced that on TV too,” Leland said.

  “Then I guess that means Walter is about to get a big shock. I hope Harrison is doing better,” Morrie said, standing up.

  “Just tell Dad about the baby. I guarantee that will speed up his recovery,” Leland said, pulling his wife to her feet. “Come on. After our talk last week, I need to be the one to tell Walter he’s going to be a father.”

  “If people find out Walter got some woman accidentally pregnant, it will be a third generation of Graham males causing scandals in this town. No offense to your daughter, Mr. Fox.” April added, almost forgetting the woman’s father was still there.

  “It’s okay, Mrs. Graham. My daughter has a soft spot for scandalous men like your son,” Morrie said, enjoying the snooty woman’s quick intake of breath.

  Lydia laughed. April really did have a big stick up her butt. “April, Walter’s better than most. Looking like he does, you should be grateful he got to almost thirty without a love child.”

  “Love child?” April repeated, glaring at Lydia.

  Leland rolled his eyes as he yanked his wife along. “They’re teasing. They adore Walter. Mr. Fox’s books are the ragged-page ones Walter used to carry around all the time he was doing his undergraduate work in college. His daughter Jane is brilliant and successful. You’re going to like her when you stop thinking about her age.”

  “Oh,” April said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you then. Maybe you can come to dinner sometime. Maybe after this whole sordid business is sorted out.”

  When he and Lydia veered off to Jane’s room, Morrie stopped and watched Walter’s father pull the complaining woman the rest of the way down the hallway. “Wow. I bet that’s not real fun to live with every day.”

  Lydia snickered. “Oh, stop it. April’s prissy, but she’s a good woman.”

  Morrie looked down at his wife. “Well, you should know I guess. But you’re definitely not prissy anymore. I fixed that months ago.”

  “Enough teasing, Morrison. Or should I call you ‘Grandpa’ now?” Lydia challenged.

  Morrie sighed. “Right. Janey’s having a baby. I bet she wasn’t even going to tell Walter, much less us. How was she planning to hide it? That’s not easy to pull off.”

  “Well women can be very determined when they have a strange idea in their head, but there’s no going back now, is there?” Lydia asked. “Too many of us already know.”

  ***

  Walter looked down at the sleeping woman, still trying take it in. He bent over the bed and kissed the blanket above where his child was growing inside Jane Fox. He raised his head to meet his mother’s shocked gaze and his father’s understanding one. It occurred to him then that it was really going to be okay. They had left Harrison resting and behaving. News of the baby had calmed his grandfather down more than any pill they’d managed to get him to take. Motioning his parents to follow him out, Walter pulled the door closed with a quiet click.

  “Don’t get too sentimental yet, Walter. You aren’t even sure yet the baby is yours,” his mother said, her voice a fierce whisper.

  Walter reached out and hugged his mother, squeezing a surprised grunt of alarm out of her. It made him laugh.

  “Yes, I am sure. I’m absolutely, positively sure it’s my baby. And I plan to exploit the fact, Mom. It’s going to be a scandalous road until Jane agrees to marry me.”

  “She’s a lot older than you and it shows,” April said. “Are you ready to deal with what people will say about that, especially if you marry her?”

  Walter laughed. “What are they going to say, Mom? That I’m dating a cougar? If that’s what people want to call my relationship with Jane, so be it. But you and Dad need to know that I love her. I only really care what family thinks.”

  Leland nodded. “Morrison Fox is a very interesting man. Quick witted.”

  “He means Fox was rude to me,” April corrected.

  Walter laughed again. “I wish I could have been in the room with the four of you.”

  They were quiet for a few moments.

  “Dad?”

  “Yes, Walter?”

  “I need an unusual favor,” Walter said wi
th a grin.

  “Sometimes I think you take that Roman numeral in your name a little too literally, especially that evil smile. What are you planning now, son?”

  “Guard the door. Don’t let anyone in for a half hour. I need some time alone to convince the mother of my child to marry me. Her brother told me there’s a packed suitcase at her house. I can’t let her leave now, not when she’s sick like this.”

  “Walter, you can’t do anything bad here. This is a hospital. There are nurses and doctors and sick people everywhere,” April hissed.

  Walter looked at his father. “Am I ever going to see the side of Mom that you couldn’t live without?”

  April’s shocked gaze turned to her husband. His color rose. “What did you tell him about us, Leland?”

  “Dad said he still loved you more than any other woman he’d ever known, and he would do everything he did all over again to keep you in his life,” Walter said, closing the door to Jane’s room behind him.

  “Is that true?” April asked.

  Leland smiled and nodded solemnly.

  “Walter isn’t the only one with Harrison’s wicked smile,” April said.

  Leland laughed and pulled his wife into his arms for a hug.

  Chapter 23

  In the best dream ever, Jane felt a man’s body sliding along hers, scooping her closer. He was incredibly warm, and it was hard to pry open her eyes when he ordered her to.

  “Walter?”

  Her confusion grew as she realized that he was completely naked.

  “Where are we? What are we doing here?” she asked.

  “We’re in the hospital. You fainted. But everything is going to be okay,” he said. “Harrison is even behaving now. His heartbeat is returning to normal. He has to stay a few more days though.”

  “Okay. But why are you naked?” Jane asked, her hand pushing on his shoulder so she could angle her head enough to see his eyes.

  “Well, I have a question to ask you. If you answer correctly, I’ll put my clothes back on and we’ll do this later at my house or yours. If you don’t answer correctly, I’m planning to create a scandal of notorious proportions and call Stephanie Sawyer,” Walter said.

  “Blackmail? Okay. What’s the question?” Jane asked, closing her eyes as Walter’s lips trailed across her forehead.

  Walter took a deep breath and let it go. “Marry me, Jane Fox. Have my children. Be my wife. I’ll be faithful and as patient as a man can learn to be.”

  “You know about the baby?” Jane asked, the words catching in her throat.

  “What baby?” Walter asked in return, his mouth coming down hotly on Jane’s, his kiss desperate because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. “Are you talking about the baby we probably made our first time together? Well, I always was an overachiever. God only knows what our children will turn out like.”

  “Walter. . .I was going to tell you. I thought Harrison. . .I thought it was you in ICU. Then I saw you in the hall. You weren’t dead or dying, and then I was. . .here.”

  “Well as you can see, I’m fine. But you didn’t answer my question, Jane. In case you weren’t listening, it was another marriage proposal,” Walter said, sliding down until his face was next to hers.

  “I love you Walter, but marriage between us is just too high risk,” Jane said.

  “Well, it’s about time you admitted you loved me. We’ll get to the risk thing in a minute. How far were you planning to run?”

  “Cape Cod. I was trying to get a project out of town.”

  “Sorry. You’re going to have to find a project that’s closer. You have gestational diabetes. It has to be monitored. I like Dr. Bensara. She’s a very nice woman. I think I surprised her a bit by asking so many questions.”

  “Damn it, Walter. Will you stop being charming for two minutes and be logical?” Jane demanded.

  “No. I can’t be logical. Love is not logical,” Walter said, rolling his body over Jane’s. “I have one thing going for me in our relationship, and I’ll use it to convince you if I have to. My mother and father are outside the room guarding the door. If you moan as loudly at the end as you usually do, they’re going to hear for sure. For me it would just be proof that what I’ve told them is true. I love you, Jane.”

  “Walter, that’s enough teasing. Get off me. Get off me now,” Jane ordered, lifting him in her efforts to dislodge his bulk. The grinning naked male just looked more pleased with himself. He scrambled her thinking in a way no one else ever had. “What is going through that crazy mind of yours now, Walter Graham?”

  “That you sound more like yourself. I was afraid being pregnant might have affected you in some weird way. I was reading on my phone about the hormonal effects of pregnancy after Mom and Dad told me about the baby.”

  “Your parents know about the baby?” Jane groaned and turned her face away. “They must think I seduced you.”

  “No. Only my mother thinks that,” Walter said. “My dad knows the truth. Your dad knows the truth. Everyone believes I want to marry you. . .everyone but you, Jane.”

  “Walter, even if I marry you, it will never last,” Jane said.

  “How can you know that for sure? How about you think of our relationship as the biggest project risk you’ve ever taken, but one with more rewards at the end than any amount of profit you’ve earned to date. I’m worth your risk investment, Jane. I swear it.”

  Jane let the breath she’d been holding escape. “If I promise to talk to you about it, and to consider your offer, will you put your clothes back on?”

  “Sure. Kiss me first,” Walter said, smiling at the concession. “I also want your word you won’t leave town without talking to me.”

  Jane rolled her eyes. “I’m going to kill Elijah for telling.”

  “Please don’t. He’s kind of scary, but I like him,” Walter said. “Now kiss me. I’m worried you don’t want to.”

  “Like that’s ever likely to happen,” Jane said, titling her chin to let Walter cover her mouth with his. The kiss was sweet on top and hot underneath. It could go either way she wanted it to just by giving him the corresponding response. The man was nearly perfect. How in the world was she going to marry Walter Graham without worrying about him leaving her for the rest of her life? She hoped Alexa’s offer of friendship was sincere. She was going to need all the help she could get.

  “Walter, I kissed you but you’re still not moving off me.”

  “Okay, I’m going. I better get up before I get more interested than I already am. Dad’s not as reliable as Harrison at creating a distraction,” Walter said, rolling over the bed rail to drop lightly to the floor.

  Jane looked at his incredible body and his rising interest. It still perplexed her that she could cause such a strong reaction in such an amazing looking male. But Walter certainly wasn’t faking it. Maybe there were a lot of things that worried her, but at least she knew Walter’s interest was genuinely for her.

  When the door opened, Walter automatically turned toward it. His underwear was still in his hands. The doctor blinked and Walter turned back quickly to face away from him. “Sorry. I was asking Jane to marry me. I’m getting dressed now. Give me a minute.”

  Jane lay in her bed sighing in mortification as the door clicked closed behind the shocked physician. Even Walter’s laughter couldn’t drown out all the commotion happening in the hall. She counted it a blessing that it hadn’t been Dr. Bensara. That would have been really awkward for the next eight months.

  “Was that really necessary? The baby was enough scandal. Your parents are going to kill both of us.”

  With his pants back in place finally, Walter stopped grinning and leaned over the rail again. He kissed Jane’s mouth and then kissed the blanket over her still flat stomach.

  The door opened a crack. “Did she say ‘yes’ yet? We need to check her vitals.”

  Walter laughed and pulled his shirt on over his head. “No. Smart women are a hard sell. They don’t believe in romance. I’
m open to suggestions if you have any.”

  The resident on call walked in, smiled at the mostly dressed man and the blushing woman in the bed. “Well, you might try getting her pregnant. That sometimes works.”

  “Everyone is a comedian these days,” Jane said.

  Listening to Walter’s happy laughter, she decided it was going to take a lot of practice for her to start looking on the bright side.

  Chapter 24

  Jane tromped through the melted slush, lifting the brush to sweep the snow from each of the solar panels. It was her favorite physical job and one of the few she was allowed to do these days.

  “Watch out for the ice on the sidewalk, Jane. It still hasn’t completely melted.”

  “Will you stop with the constant worrying? I’m wearing my snow boots,” she said, smiling at the fireman walking toward her. He looked big, beautiful, and warm. She was looking forward to a serious cuddle in front of the fireplace later.

  “Nice work on the panels,” he said.

  “Just protecting your investment—I mean our investment,” she replied.

  Walter laughed. Things were coming along quite nicely between them.

  “Anything interesting happen today?” he asked.

  “Harrison got his special order. He talked Eli into putting the wheels on for him. He’s the only man I know who needs off-road tires for his wheelchair,” Jane said.

  Walter laughed. “Just remember you’re not allowed to go for a ride with him. The man drives like a maniac. I’m not risking my child just so my wife can get a few cheap thrills. If she wants cheap thrills, I’ll provide all she can handle.”

  “If I had known what a possessive killjoy you were going to be, I might not have married you. Good thing you’re so cute,” Jane teased. “And speaking of cute. . .guess who’s on the cover of yet another magazine this month?”

  Walter snorted. That picture had appeared everywhere. Ames’ work was in demand and his bank account was padded nicely. “Don’t get your hopes up drooling over that guy on the cover. I hear some cougar has her hooks in him already. What in the world could he see in her?”