Baby by Midnight?

by Karen Toller Whittenburg

  “Stand back, Superman,” she said. “We’ve been skunked.”

  “That much I’d already figured out.” Her heartbeat was steady and strong, thank God. “Are you all right?”

  “Couldn’t be better. This is very good concrete, you know. Doesn’t give an inch.”

  She must have hit her head. A concussion, maybe. On closer examination, the spreading stain around her didn’t look like blood. It looked and smelled like tomato juice, which logically followed the clues his brain had processed in a few seconds of observation—dog, eau de skunk, overturned pitcher. But why Annie was flat on her back on the cement wasn’t as clear. “Are you hurt?” he asked. “Bleeding, maybe?”

  “Tomato juice from toe to—” She lifted her head to see how far the juice had spread and made a face. “Shoot. It’s seeped all the way up and into my hair.” Lying back again, she frowned up at him. “You know, Alex, I may have stumbled into a worthwhile discovery. Getting vegetable intake through skin absorption. What d’ya think?”

  “Not much.” He ran a critical gaze over her, wondering what else could be wrong. She looked okay. Her color was good, if a little on the rosy side. Still, she could be in shock. Or delirious. Maybe he should call her doctor. The baby might be in trouble. Or in the process of being born. Holy cow, Sundance. Circle the wagons. What if she was in labor?

  Annie pushed up onto her elbows. “I’m okay,” she said, reading him as easily as Julia Childs could read a recipe. “No broken bones. No bleeding. No labor pains. Nothing to worry about. I didn’t even fall hard. Just sort of rolled over.” A throaty remorse purled past her lips. “Although I’m beginning to think I’ve jarred loose my olfactory sensors because, honest to Betsy, I think I’m getting used to the smell.”

  “Your sensors are probably just iced over. Haven’t you noticed it’s cold out here?” He ran a hand across her forehead on the pretext of lifting the hair away from her eyes but in reality, checking for a fever.

  “No temperature, either,” she said. “Well, nothing above the ordinary ninety-eight point six.”

  “It’ll be a chilly sub-zero Celsius if you don’t get out of this wind.”

  “I wasn’t planning to camp out all night,” she declared testily. “But this dog has to be deodorized and I sure as heck wasn’t going to put her in my bathtub.”

  “Why didn’t you just do it inside the clinic instead of out here?”

  “Can’t you smell her? If I’d stepped foot inside those doors without juicing the odor first, Genevieve would have taken one whiff tomorrow morning and quarantined the place for a month.”

  “Funny, I thought you owned the clinic.”

  “Yes, well, tell that to Genevieve.”

  Alex decided it wasn’t going to get any warmer talking about that old warhorse. “Let’s get you off the floor.” He put an arm beneath her shoulders and started to slide one beneath her knees.

  “Stop!”

  He stopped, scared all over again. “What? Did that hurt? Where? What happened?”

  “Nothing, yet. But lifting me is going to be a lot harder than you think it will be. Just give me a hand up, would you?”

  “Damn, Annie, you knocked the starch plum out of me. Now, put your arm around my neck and hang on because I’m going to pick you up and carry you into the house,” he stated.

  “Not today, you’re not,” she replied, just as firmly. “I don’t want to take any chances with getting dropped on my butt on top of busting it. The concrete’s wet and goopy and having four feet on the floor will be a whole lot more trustworthy than two up and two down.”

  She had a point, so he changed positions, secured his footing and extended both hands, marveling as she placed her palms against his that fingers could feel so icy to the touch. Before he could pull her up, though, she gave him a warning look. “A word of caution,” she said. “Any remarks comparing this exercise to getting a horse on her feet after she’s been down, and I’ll give you a solid kick in the shin. Providing, of course, you let me hold on to you while I do it.”

  “I do have some sense of self-preservation, Annie. Ready?”

  She nodded and he pulled her up and onto her feet. Keeping his grip on her hands, he rubbed them hard to stimulate her circulation. “You’re frozen. How long have you been out here, anyway?”

  “Here? Oh, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes. But Loosey and I set out for a walk probably an hour ago.”

  “Didn’t you notice the cold front moving in this afternoon?”

  “Yes, Alex, I noticed.”

  “But you still decided to go for a walk?”

  “That’s right.” Her voice was suddenly tripwired with aggravation. “Yesterday, you were telling me I needed exercise. Now I suppose you’re going to try and tell me breathing fresh air is bad for the baby?”

  “This air isn’t fresh, Annie. It’s frigid.”

  “Well, it wasn’t this cold when I decided to take your dog for a walk.”

  Ah, so now it was turning personal, which meant she was feeling more normal. “My dog has a broken leg. Seems to me she could have skipped exercise for one day.”

  “Well, I couldn’t, and since she hates to be left alone, she had to come for the walk with me. Any other questions?”

  “How did she happen to scare up a skunk in the first place?”

  Annie’s chin came up. “I don’t know, Alex. Maybe because she’s a dog and that’s what dogs do. Or maybe I didn’t have anything better to do and decided to see what would happen if I introduced the two of them.”

  This was not exactly the direction in which he’d hoped to move, Alex thought, wondering how he was going to persuade her to stop fussing at him, go inside the house and get warm. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon go inside to argue as stand out here and do it.”

  “I’d just as soon you went away and left me to do what needs to be done.”

  “You’re not doing anything that can’t happen inside out of this wind.”

  Her chin came up another haughty notch. “I’m not going in until I’ve taken care of this poor, stinky animal, who is probably colder than either one of us and definitely smells worse.”

  “I’ll take care of her, Annie. She is, as you’ve pointed out, my responsibility.”

  “Not today she isn’t. Just go, Alex, before you need a bath as badly as she and I do. Come back and visit tomorrow if you want, but we’re not in the mood for company tonight.”

  “Forget it, Annie. I’m not going anywhere, so make your peace with the idea and tell me what I need to do to make you happy.”

  Then, without so much as a blink of warning, tears welled like raindrops in her eyes and spilled over to run down her rosy cheeks. Lord help him, she was crying. He didn’t know why, couldn’t think of a single reason for it Annie never cried that he could remember. Okay, so the odor was bad, but not that bad. The air was cold and the job ahead unpleasant, but that sure didn’t make him feel like bawlin’. He didn’t know if he should just pick her up over her protests and carry her into the house, or if he should give her his shirttail so she could wipe her face. He flat didn’t know what to do, but he sure wished she’d stop.

  He knew from Josie’s complaints that pregnancy threw a woman’s hormones completely out of whack. He knew his sister wasn’t her usual easygoing self lately. But somehow he hadn’t thought Annie was similarly affected. And yet, there she stood, crying. Clearly he was in over his head, and the only action that occurred to him was to draw her into his aims—right where they were, despite the cold bite of the wind and all his yammering about it, despite the pungent, permeating odor of skunk—and let her cry it out on his shoulder.

  Or kiss her, which would give her something else to think about.

  Or bundle her off to the doctor, which would make her really mad but seemed to him the safest option. Although it surely wasn’t his favorite.

  Chapter Eight

  “A little bruising,” Dr. Elizabeth Lee explained.

  “B
ut otherwise, she checks out fine.”

  “The baby’s okay?” Alex asked insistently, embarrassing Annie all over again. As if this ridiculous trip to the local hospital wasn’t bad enough, as if calling Dr. Lee on a Sunday evening and telling her God-only-knows-what to get her to come in after hours and do an exam wasn’t completely humiliating, he had to act as proprietary as a husband and soon-to-be father. There was nothing for it, Annie decided. She would have to murder him. Slowly. Painfully. And with no remorse.

  “Mother and baby are just fine,” Dr. Lee assured Alex, again. “There’s nothing at all for you to be concerned about.”

  Alex nodded, but looked concerned anyway. “No special instructions for tonight? Medications? Extra rest? Special diet? Anything like that?”

  “No, although—” Dr. Elizabeth turned a lively smile on Annie “—I would recommend a bath.”

  Annie wanted to dig a hole in the floor and hibernate until this whole embarrassing incident was forgotten—probably a century or two. The least Alex could have done was hose her off before bringing her in to see the doctor. But no, he’d said. There wasn’t time, he’d said. She needed to get checked out. She needed to know for certain that the baby was okay. She needed the reassurance only a doctor could provide that her fall on the concrete and subsequent exposure to the cold wouldn’t come back to haunt her—and the baby.

  No amount of explaining that she hadn’t fallen off a four-story building or even off a curb for that matter, made a dent in his chosen scenario. No amount of adamant refusal fazed his determination. She was seeing the doctor, he said, and that was that. He’d even had the gall to tell her she didn’t smell that bad. While she hadn’t personally tangled with the skunk and didn’t smell as bad as Loosey, Annie knew her goodhearted obstetrician had probably wished for a clothespin to clamp on her nose during the exam.

  Oh, yes, she was going to get him for this. Annie renewed her commitment to revenge and shot him a meaningful scowl. “Do you hear that, Alex? There’s nothing wrong with me that a nice warm bath wouldn’t have cured an hour ago. Just like I tried to tell you, you jughead.” She turned toward her obstetrician and new friend with yet another apology. “I’m so sorry about this,” she apologized sincerely. “I wouldn’t have bothered you if I hadn’t been bullied into it.”

  “Please, Annie,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “Don’t apologize anymore. It’s my job as your doctor to do everything I can to help you deliver a healthy baby with no complications. I’d much rather spend a half hour now making sure that some little ache you think is nothing doesn’t turn out to be something for both of us to worry about later on. I know you’ll hate this, but this time I have to agree with Alex. He was right to be concerned and to insist you come in and get checked out.”

  Alex beamed under the approval as he held up Annie’s coat so she could slip her arms in the sleeves. He was playing his role as caretaker so well, Annie was half-afraid he meant to turn her around and button the coat for her. “I can’t tell you how glad I am you said that, Doctor.” Alex settled the coat on Annie’s shoulders and kept his arm there, too. “Because otherwise I’d have caught heck when we got home.”

  Elizabeth’s pretty eyes reflected a wry amusement. “It’s my professional opinion, Alex, that you’re going to catch hell when you get this young woman home.”

  He laughed and gave Annie’s shoulders a squeeze. “Nothing new for me. I’ve been catching that for one reason or another as long as I can remember.”

  “And learning nothing from the process.” Annie shrugged away his protective arm, more miffed by the way he’d wheedled himself into Dr. Elizabeth’s good graces than by his actions in general. She glanced at Alex. “Just so we’re all clear on protocol, this unscheduled doctor’s visit is going on your bill.”

  He reached over and straightened her collar. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said. “Send the bill to me in care of the S-J Ranch and I’ll happily take care of it. In fact, from now on, send all of Annie’s statements to me. I think it’s the least I can do considering all the trauma I’ve caused her—and you—this evening.”

  Annie wanted to refute his offer here and now, but arguing in front of her obstetrician would undoubtedly turn out to be bad for the baby. So she just smiled and vowed to clear up the matter with Dr. Elizabeth later. After she’d stuffed Alex so full of green beans he died of vegetable poisoning. It wouldn’t be a pretty crime, or a perfect murder and her son would probably be born in prison, but the idea was growing on her just the same. She turned to Elizabeth. “I suppose it’s too late to tell you I’ve never seen this man before and to ask you to call Sheriff Hitchcock and report a dangerous stalker?”

  “He obviously has your best interests at heart,” the doctor replied with a smile.

  “He’s a fraud and a bully,” Annie replied. “Don’t let him fool you.”

  “I rarely let anyone do that.” Elizabeth put her hand in the pocket of her lab coat, which would no longer button over the rounded form of her own pregnancy. Annie didn’t know anything much about Dr. Lee’s life before she came to Bison City. She did know she was single, pregnant and had a lovely smile and that the two of them were going to be friends long after their babies arrived. And that, Annie figured, was more than enough to know about someone, anyway. “How’s the First Baby of Bison City contest coming along?” Dr. Elizabeth asked. “Last time Josie was in, she was trying to come up with some ideas that might turn the contest into a moneymaker.”

  “We’re working on it.” Annie pulled a glove from each pocket and proceeded to put one on each hand, before Alex did it for her. “And we’ll keep you informed so you can pass the information and entry forms on to any new potential New Year deliveries.”

  Elizabeth’s eyes widened in alarm. “If there are any more babies due in Bison City around the end of the year, I don’t even want to know about them. As it is, I’m considering asking some of the doctors in the area to be on call in case Dr. Dave and I need help with the deliveries.”

  “You don’t think everybody will go into labor at the same time, do you?” Alex asked, obviously happy to have found something new to fret about. “I mean, what are the odds of that happening?”

  Annie and Elizabeth shared a look of amusement at all the mysterious things a man couldn’t possibly understand. “Ask any doctor or nurse what happens during the changing of the moon before you make book on how many babies could possibly be born at the same time.” Elizabeth walked with them to the door and prepared to lock up. “The truth is, nobody knows when a baby is going to decide it’s the right time to be born. So I’m going on the assumption that they could all be eager to make an appearance at the dawn of the new millennium. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.”

  “Wow,” Alex said, apparently struck by the possibilities. “Thanks again, Doctor. I’ll see you next...?” He looked to Annie, obviously expecting her to fill in the date of her next appointment.

  “Around town,” she said, feeling like she’d struck a blow for independence. “And I’ll see you soon.”

  Then she went out the door, head up, tummy leading the way, her thoughts already jumping ahead to a nice, long, fragrantly bubbled bath and a pizza. Two slices of sausage and cheese. Or pepperoni. No, one of each. Definitely.

  “GO AWAY,” she said in answer to the knock on the bathroom door. “I’m not speaking to you.”

  “Well, okay, but that’s going to make it difficult to communicate.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” Annie slid lower in the tub, laid her head against the curved porcelain and closed her eyes. “You can call me long-distance and I’ll hang up on you. How about that for starters?”

  “For starters, it’s a local call,” came his muffled but cheery reply.

  “In that case, I won’t answer the phone.”

  “Makes no never-mind to me. I can eat this whole pizza myself.”

  Pizza? She opened her eyes, then closed them again, deciding it was another of his dir
ty, rotten tricks. Either that, or he’d found some way to ruin a perfectly good meal by smothering it with vegetables. “Go home, Alex,” she said. “And take whatever you cooked with you.”

  “Nope. Don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  She shouldn’t ask, didn’t really care, but she was feeling relaxed, mellow and empowered. What’s the worst he could do? Call Dr. Elizabeth and complain that she wouldn’t eat her supper? “What do you think is going to happen, Alex?”

  “I think you’re going to ask me to come in there and massage your feet.”

  Smiling, she wondered if her attraction to Alex was based primarily on the fact that he was such a dreamer. “Nope,” she said, practical to the core. “Don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “You sure?”

  “So positive it isn’t even funny.”

  “I can bring the pizza in,” he suggested.

  “Don’t bother, I like it cold.” There, she thought. That ought to make him crazy.

  Quiet followed. Several blissful moments of it. She might even have nodded off for a second or two, because the next thing she heard was the soft creak of floorboards settling and then a splash as her feet were rudely pulled up from the depths to the edge of the tub. Bubbles—sandalwood-scented variety—went up her nose and her eyes flew open to see Alex perched on the rim, holding her toes, preparing to give them a rubbing. “What...?” she sputtered. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

  “Doctor’s orders,” he said with a wicked wink. “She recommended a bath, and I’m here to help.”

  “I’m certainly capable of taking a bath by myself, Alex. And that’s the way I intend to keep it.”

  “You keep saying that, you know. About being capable.”

  “Because it’s true.”

  “Well, if it were true about bathing, you’d have been out of this tub thirty minutes ago. Your supper’s getting cold, and I figured since I hadn’t heard so much as a quack out of you, you must need a little help.”