Chapter 30 #3
“I was never opposed to having more than one with Jill. Don’t know why I couldn’t have another one with the love of my life over here.”
Sometimes she said things so sweet that she probably didn’t even know they were sweet. “Let me guess – you think it should be done before your son is old enough to think it’s terrible.”
“I mean…”
Sarah slowly shook her head. “How about we do something else before seriously considering babies?”
“Like…?”
“You know what I mean, Lu.”
Luca kissed her hand. “Year’s still young yet, Angel.”
Sarah was ready to crack a joke at her expense when Danica approached, stripped down to nothing but her tailored trousers and a baby blue silk shirt. Her face veered between excitement and oh my fucking God. The moment she made eye contact with Luca, both grinned.
“It’s a girl.” Danica rarely smiled like that, let alone covered her mouth with her hand to keep the whole world from seeing her happy. “I mean, we always knew it would be a girl, but…”
“Congrats.” Luca offered a hug. “Welcome to the special club. Everything go all right?”
“Yeah… took a long time, you know?”
“Four hours is record time for a first-time mother. You’re lucky you weren’t here for two days like I was.”
But Danica hadn’t paid attention to that. She was too busy fixing her composure when she faced Sarah, still sitting in her chair. “Thank you for driving my wife here, Ms. Clayborn.”
“Don’t mention it.” She left it at that. One of the most casual statements she had ever said to Ms. Moreau.
“When do we get to see the little princess?” Luca asked.
“Our families will be here soon. Well, her mother’s already here. My mother’s on her way.”
“Of course. We can wait.”
They waited another ninety minutes while the grandmothers squealed, the nurses proclaimed Baby Girl Moreau to be the cutest newborn yet, and Alicia kicked everyone out of her private room because she was exhausted. A nurse put the baby girl in a bassinet.
So that’s what’s been growing around here for the past nine months, huh?
Clarissa Moreau – and that name was not a surprise, least of all to Sarah, who had already done a shitton of things on behalf of the then-unborn Clarissa – was a solid seven pounds, nine ounces.
Her red, wrinkled skin made her already look pissed off at the whole world, which she consistently shook her tiny fists at.
Eh, she’ll be fine in that family with an attitude like that.
It helped that whatever distinguishing features a baby had, this one screamed Moreau.
Sarah turned away. Luca, who had spent the past minute making nice with the baby through the window, put a reassuring hand on her girlfriend’s side.
“Everything okay, Angel?”
“Just had a thought.”
She had many thoughts. The most prominent one was that her own baby would have probably looked similar to Clarissa.
The Moreau genes were strong. Danica’s mother had red hair and freckles, and Alicia’s family were blond and fair – yet the dark hair and amber eyes of the Moreau clan would always win out.
Sarah’s baby would have looked exactly like his father.
Would that pang always be there? Triggering her heart into brief glimpses of despair?
Would Luca always be there for her? To kiss away the pain and remind her to live in the present? Where so many people lived and loved her?
Sarah’s problems couldn’t be solved overnight.
She would be foolish to believe that. Not even her girlfriend would be enough to make her trauma go away as quickly as she would like.
Because the world didn’t work that way. Human brains and hearts could be decimated in one night, but it took years to put the pieces back together again. At least Luca understood that.
“Let’s go home, Angel.” She kept her arm around Sarah’s shoulders. “I’m thinking a nice, long bath and a massage. Oh, we should get some real dinner, too.”
Sarah scoffed, showing herself out of Luca’s embrace. “Massage for who?”
“Why, you, of course. You did all that acrobatic driving earlier. Your boss even thanked you for putting her wife’s life in danger.”
“Damn straight I need a massage.” That kink in her neck wouldn’t go away on its own. “Not all I need, too.”
Sarah was tired of dealing with other people. The whole reason she was quitting was to finally have time to herself again! Time with the only one I love like this. She made sure to spare Luca a smile before getting into the elevator.
Luca held the door open for her. They were the only ones in the car the whole ride down to the parking garage.
“What say we do a little role-playing tonight, hm?”
Really? Suggesting that in a hospital elevator?
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well… who said we had to go home at all? We could hop on my plane up to New York City tonight. I hear there’s a club there where women go to have some fun.”
“See? This is why we can’t have kids. How the hell would we explain how we met?”
“I’m sure they’ll hear worse at school.”
She had to be kidding. She was kidding, right?
The fact that Sarah wasn’t sure was part of the reason she loved Luca.