Chapter 12
Twelve
Baby?
Michael nearly lost his footing. Stacy was pregnant?
It couldn’t be his. They’d used protection.
Damn her! She’d written him, made him believe there was a chance, when all this time…
No. He willed his mind to settle. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was all right. That she was alive.
Stacy was alive, not dead like Beth. God damn it, Michael would see that she stayed alive. If she carried another man’s child, they would deal with it.
“You look surprised,” Kevin said.
“Yes. I didn’t know she was pregnant.”
“Neither did I. We’ve been pretty good friends since she moved in here after her divorce, but I didn’t even know she was seeing anyone.”
Damn. If her friend and neighbor—the man who was her emergency contact—didn’t know she was seeing anyone… Could it be?
Condoms weren’t one hundred percent effective, but he didn’t remember one breaking. Of course, he hadn’t looked carefully either, and they’d gone at it harshly at times. Despite the situation, he smiled faintly at the memory.
“She isn’t very far along,” Kevin went on. “The ER doctors detected a faint fetal heartbeat when she was initially brought in. They told me at first that she’d most likely lose the child. When she didn’t, they said it was pretty much a medical miracle.”
No shit. A fucking miracle. A wonderful baby who was trying desperately to enter this world despite condoms and hit and run drivers.
God, the baby had to be his. It had to be.
A beautiful baby with the woman he loved—it was a dream he’d thought long dead.
“I’ll take you over there if you like,” Kevin said, “I’m going myself.”
“I’ll follow you,” Michael said. “I don’t plan to leave until she does.”
“Oh.” Kevin’s eyes widened. “You’re not…?”
“The father of the baby?” Suddenly, it didn’t matter whether he was the biological father or not. That baby was his. His and Stacy’s. The need to take care of both of them enveloped him in a thick haze. “Yes, I am.”
“Wow. Let’s get over there then. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.”
Michael’s heart raced until the moment he stood outside Stacy’s room. His Stacy lay in the bed, one eye swollen shut, the other open and alert as a nurse held a strange instrument over her abdomen.
“That’s a Doppler,” Kevin said. “She’s checking the baby’s heartbeat.”
A rapid staccato sounded from the device. “Is it supposed to be that fast?”
The nurse turned around. “Yes,” she said. “It’s supposed to be that fast. Baby is nice and healthy so far. Hello, Kevin.”
“Hello,” Kevin said. “This is Michael, another friend of Stacy’s.”
Stacy’s head jerked forward a little.
“Michael?” Her voice was soft and raspy.
“Yeah, baby, I’m here,” Michael said, his heart pounding. “Can I come in?”
The nurse looked at Stacy, and Stacy nodded.
“Just for a little while,” the nurse said. “Stacy needs her rest.”
Kevin excused himself and left. The room smelled sterile when Michael inhaled. No flowers graced the surroundings. He’d remedy that as soon as possible. He pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.
“You look beautiful.”
She winced. “Don’t make me laugh, Michael. It hurts.”
“God! I’m sorry.”
“Did you get my email?”
“Yeah. I emailed you back, and when you didn’t respond, I came here looking for you. I’m so sorry about all this, Stace.”
“This? This isn’t your fault.”
“I know. But if I’d had half a brain, we would have been together long before now, and maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
“There’s no way to know that for sure. I’m going to be all right. I got really lucky.”
“Thank God. If something had happened to you…” Michael swallowed. “I can’t lose you, baby. I…I love you.”
“Oh, Michael!” She reached for him but grimaced in pain.
Michael’s heart broke to see her like this. “Don’t try to move, sweetheart.” He leaned toward her. “I’ll come to you.” He touched his mouth softly to hers. Her full red lips were parched and dry.
“Michael, do you really?”
“Yes, baby. I love you. I’m so sorry about everything. I thought I wanted a woman to take care of me. I thought I could live without love. But I can’t, not now that I’ve found you.”
“I should have listened to you at the conference.”
“No, Stace. No. You bear no blame here. It’s all on me.” He meant it. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m just so glad you’re here now.” She closed her open eye, and a tear squeezed out. “Michael, I know about Beth.”
“I know. Dino told Ronnie.”
“Ronnie didn’t tell me. I haven’t talked to her since the conference. I found an old article online. I’m so sorry that you lost her and your child.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“But it still hurts.”
“Yes, it still hurts. But I found another woman I love more than life itself. If she’ll have me?”
His heart skittered as he awaited her answer.
“I will have you, Michael. I love you too.”
Joy filled him. She loved him!
“Michael, I have to tell you something.”
“What, baby?”
“It’s a miracle. We…we’re going to have a baby.”
“So it is mine?”
“You know?”
“Kevin told me. I don’t think he thought it was a secret, so don’t get mad at him.”
“I’m not mad at him, and yes, of course it’s yours. I had no idea. I thought I was infertile, and you used condoms. But I haven’t been with anyone else. It has to be yours.”
A primal desire to run to the top of a mountain and roar surged through Michael. The woman he loved carried his child.
“Listen, baby,” he said, pushing her hair off her moist brow. “You need to take care of yourself. I’m not leaving your side. We need to get you healed up good as new, okay?”
“Yes, I can do it, now that you’re here. I can do it for you and our baby.”
“I know you can. God, I love you so much. As soon as you’re all better, will you do something for me?”
“Anything, Michael.”’
He smiled. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said, and the look on her face made his heart melt. “Yes, Michael, I will marry you.”
* * *
Seven months later
“Had enough?” Michael eased the baby from Stacy’s arms and set him in the bassinet next to Stacy’s hospital bed.
Stacy smiled. “That baby sure knows how to eat for only being a little over twenty-four hours old.”
“I can certainly understand that.” Michael leaned down and kissed Stacy’s cheek. “I can’t resist those breasts of yours either. They were the first thing I noticed about you, remember?”
Warmth crept up Stacy’s neck as the memory emerged. Michael, dressed in jeans and a white shirt, looking like the male model he was, ogling her chest and saying “that’s a nice shirt.” How far they’d come since then, but Stacy wouldn’t change a minute of their time together. They’d been married six months and still her husband could make her blush. She hoped that never changed.
“Hey. Can you hand me the laptop? There’s something I need to do.”
“No working, baby. I thought we agreed you’re taking some time off. Now that I’m managing the Chicago Playboys, you can ease up on the writing.”
Michael was proving to be great at his new job, a real asset to the male revue. “See? With your talent and intelligence, you never needed a sugar mama.”
“I still got the woman I wanted though.” He reached for the laptop. “What do you want this for? I’m serious about you not working. You just gave birth, for God’s sake.”
“I’m not going to work.” Exhaustion overwhelmed her, but it paled in comparison to her deep happiness and contentment. “But there are some people who are waiting to hear the good news.”
Michael set the laptop on her lap. Stacy fired it up and logged into the Cougar Club.
StacyStarr: It’s a boy!