Chapter 3
Victoria wiped her mouth with one of the paper napkins Mario’s had sent with their order and took a sip from the bottle of water David had gotten her. “I went to see Seamus.”
“Okay…”
“I asked him about Shannon. I… I wanted to know why our relationship seems to be stuck in first gear. Not that first gear is bad. It’s actually really nice, but…”
“You want it to be more.”
“I was hoping it could be more. Eventually. Now…” Victoria shrugged. “It’s probably not going to happen.”
“Why do you say that? What did Seamus tell you?”
She sighed deeply. “He told me about Shannon’s first love, Fiona, the woman he was with from childhood who was murdered.”
“Oh my God. How?”
“Seamus said I’d have to let Shannon tell me the details, if he chooses to. He didn’t want to go too far in filling in the blanks for me.”
“And Shannon has never told you anything about her?”
Victoria shook her head. “I’d never heard her name before today.”
“Oh wow.”
“I don’t know what to do with this info, David. Do I tell him I know about her or respect his obvious desire to never speak of her? Do I settle for the perfectly good thing we have now, or do I rock the boat and hope we can make it something even better?”
“That’s a tough one, for sure. Would he be angry with Seamus for telling you?”
“Seamus says probably not, and if he is, they’ll work that out between them.”
After a long moment of quiet during which Victoria picked at her food while David wolfed his down with his usual enthusiasm for all things edible, he looked over at her.
“It comes down to what you want. Mentioning this to him would be a risk. He might not appreciate questions about her from you. That could put a wedge between you, but it could also bring you closer. Maybe he’s been trying to find the right time to tell you about her.
There’s really no way to predict which way it’ll go.
Are you prepared for the possibility that you knowing about her could make him angry? ”
“No, I’m not prepared for that, and I’d never want to do anything to resurrect painful memories for him, but I feel like the ghost of his dead love is standing squarely in the middle of our relationship. We’ll never be able to move forward until we confront her.”
“And you’re sure that’s what you want? To move forward with him?”
“Yes. I want everything with him. I’m crazy about him. I have been from the very beginning.”
“I know,” he said with a smirk. “I was there and had to hear the gory details.”
“There was nothing gory about those details.”
“Depends on which side of the conversation you were on.”
Victoria laughed. “I suppose that’s true.” She sighed again. “I’m so afraid of bringing this up with him. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.”
“Maybe you could bring it up without mentioning her name. You could say, ‘I understand that you have reasons for not wanting this to be more than it already is, but I was hoping we might talk about the future and where we might be heading.’ That would give you a chance to tell him what you want and to hear what he thinks.”
“Why does the thought of saying that make me feel sick?”
“Because you’re scared of losing something that’s come to mean a lot to you.”
“I don’t want to lose him,” she said softly, blinking back tears that made her feel weak.
Victoria Stevens, badass Certified Nurse Midwife and overall happy person, did not cry over men.
At least she never had before, even when she broke up with Stuart before he could propose and force her to turn him down.
David put his arm around her, and Victoria rested her head on his shoulder.
“Thanks for letting me dump this on you.”
“You can dump on me any time. That’s what friends are for.”
“I need to check on my patients.”
“I’ve got Tiffany and the baby. You focus on Jenny.”
“Thanks for sticking around to back me up.”
“Happy to help.”
Victoria left the office to stash her leftovers in the fridge.
She went into the bathroom to wash up and brushed her teeth so she wouldn’t knock poor Jenny out with her garlic breath.
Then she put her hair back up and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
“Where’s the magic mirror when you need it?
” she asked the familiar face looking back at her.
Even after airing it out with David, she was no closer to a plan than she’d been before.
Although she did like his idea to infer that she knew about Fiona without specifically saying so.
That would be better than directly confronting Shannon’s painful loss.
With nothing she could do about her own life at the moment, she went to see to Jenny and the new life she and Alex would welcome into the world tonight.
Blaine couldn’t stop staring at his baby daughter as she slept in his arms. Everything about her fascinated him, from the quiver of her feathery eyebrows to the purse of her little bow lips to the squeeze of her tiny hand around his finger, he was completely besotted with her.
Adeline… His grandmother would be so pleased when she heard the baby’s name.
He had a daughter named Adeline. Tiffany said they’d call her Addie since Adeline was too much name for a little girl.
That was fine with him. After what Tiffany had given him today—and every day since he’d had the good sense to marry her—she could have whatever she wanted.
Tiffany awoke with a groan that had him immediately on alert.
“What’s wrong, babe?”
“Everything hurts.” She shifted to a different position and winced. “Even my hair hurts. I’d forgotten how bad the aftermath was the first time around.”
Still holding the baby, Blaine stood, moving carefully because God forbid he should drop his precious bundle. “Let me see if they can get you something for the pain.”
“In a minute. I want to see her first.”
He turned so she could see the baby’s little face. “Isn’t she pretty?”
“She sure is.”
“Just like her mama and her sister,” he said, leaning over the bed rail to kiss Tiffany.
“I’ll check with Vic and David about giving you something to make you more comfortable.
” Reluctantly, he handed the baby over to her, hoping she’d give her back when he returned.
He was nowhere near finished holding her.
Blaine went to the desk in the hallway where David and Katie were working on computers.
“How’s Tiffany feeling?” Katie asked.
“She’s hurting. Is there anything you can give her for that?”
“Absolutely. I’ll be in with something in a minute.”
“Thank you.”
Blaine was heading back to Tiffany’s room when a shout from the other end of the long corridor got his attention. Ashleigh broke loose from her aunt Maddie and ran for him. He bent to scoop her up and loved the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him so hard, he nearly choked.
Laughing, he kissed his stepdaughter’s cheek. “Is someone excited to meet her baby sister?”
“What do you think?” Maddie asked when she caught up to them.
“Can I see her?” Ashleigh asked, her green eyes big with excitement. She had her mother’s shiny dark hair and exquisite face.
“You certainly can, but you have to be gentle with her and with Mommy, okay? She’s tired after having the baby.”
“Okay.”
Blaine carried her into the room. “We have a very special visitor, Mommy.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Tiffany said, lighting up at the sight of her firstborn.
Blaine settled Ash on the bed next to Tiffany and stood back to watch while Ashleigh met her baby sister.
Tiffany gently placed the baby in Ashleigh’s arms. “This is Adeline, but we’ll call her Addie.”
“She’s so little!”
“I know, and we have to be extra careful with her.”
“I will. I’ll take such good care of her.”
Blinking back tears, Tiffany looked at Blaine, extending her hand to him.
He went to join his family, taking the hand of the woman who’d given him everything, his heart overflowing with love for all three of his girls.
“Let me get the first picture of the new family,” Maddie said, holding her phone. “Get closer to Tiffany, Blaine.”
“Nothing I’d rather do,” he said with a grin for his wife.
“Put it on ice, buster. No extracurricular activities for six weeks.”
“What does that word mean, Mommy?” Ashleigh asked. “Extracrricula.”
Blaine cracked up laughing. “Yes, Mommy, what does that mean?”
“It means,” Tiffany said with a pointed look for him, “that Blaine has to keep his hands to himself—literally—for six weeks.”
He snorted out a laugh at her double meaning.
“They tell us that at camp,” Ashleigh said. “You should know that, Blaine, cuz you’re a policeman.”
“I know, honey,” he said with a long-suffering sigh and playful scowl for Tiff. “Don’t worry.”
“Everybody smile,” Maddie said, framing the first picture of the four of them together.
Blaine, who hadn’t stopped smiling all day, happily complied and then forwarded the picture Maddie sent him to his family, letting them know Tiffany and the baby would be home tomorrow if they wanted to visit.
He had no doubt they’d have a line out the door.
His parents had been so excited to see him become a father.
After an hour-long visit that got more exciting when Tiffany’s mom and stepfather, Francine and Ned, showed up, Maddie took Ashleigh home with her for a sleepover with her cousins, Thomas and Hailey.
“She’s some kind of excited, huh?” Blaine asked Tiffany after everyone had left.
“She’s going to be the best big sister ever. Well, except for Maddie, of course.”
“Of course. I’m glad Ashleigh has a sister. I know how much you love yours.”
“I do love my sister. But you know what this means?”
“What’s that?”
“We have to try again to get you a son.”
“I don’t care about having a son. I love my three girls.”
“Still… I may have one more baby in me if you’re game.”
“You say that now that Katie gave you pain meds. When they wear off, you might not be so agreeable. And PS, I’m always game for making babies with you.”
“I want to try for a boy.”
“Not today,” he said with a teasing grin.
She groaned. “Not any time soon.”
“No extracurriculars, Mommy.”
“Oh my God! I can’t believe she asked me what that meant!”
“I can. She’s a parrot. If you say it, she says it.”
“I know. It’s awful. I have to watch my mouth so closely these days. What if she goes to camp and tells them Mommy and Blaine were talking about extracrricula activities?”
“I’m the police chief, babe. They won’t arrest you.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
Addie came to life with a little squeak that was among the most adorable sounds Blaine had ever heard. “Was Ashleigh like her as a baby? I hate that I missed that time with her.”
“She looked just like Addie does, and she used to wake with an indignant squeak, too. I’d forgotten about that.”
Addie’s squeak quickly became a howl.
“Is someone hungry?” Tiffany asked her new daughter.
“How do you know that?” Blaine asked, fascinated.
“She’s not wet, and she just woke up, so she’s not tired. Process of elimination.”
He watched, enraptured, as she opened the front of her hospital gown and guided the baby to her breast. “That is, without a doubt, the coolest—and sexiest—thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
She smiled at him and moved gingerly to one side of the bed. “Come up here with us.”
Careful not to jar her, he got on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean back against him as she fed the baby.
“Ahhh, that’s better,” she said with a contented sigh.
“This has been the greatest day of my entire life, Tiffany. Thank you so much for her—and for everything else. You and Ashleigh and now our little Addie… I love you all so much.”
With her head resting against his chest, she smiled up at him. “We love you, too. You think I’ve given you so much, but you’ve done the same for me. You waited all that time for me to be free.”
He ran his finger over her cheek. “Waiting for you—and our family—was the best and smartest thing I ever did.”