Chapter Twelve
D elia made to get out when Gabriel pulled to a stop in front of the gatehouse.
“Are you in a hurry?” he asked. “We could have tea.”
“Oh no, not more tea.” She’d had her fill of stimulants for the day.
He unfastened his seatbelt. “You’re right, but don’t you want to come in?”
“I’d love to, but I have a pile of papers to grade for tomorrow and a meeting with my PhD students to prepare. I’m already cutting it close.” Ah, he was so lovely and hospitable, but she couldn’t spare even half an hour.
“Sorry this cost so much of your day.” His eyes were wide with concern. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“Don’t worry. It was fun in a weird way.” She patted his arm, hoping he’d relax. “Here,” she slipped his mother’s wedding ring from her left hand and offered it to him on her right palm. “You’d better have this back.”
“Thank you.” He dropped the ring into his jacket pocket then faced her.
“I know you need to rush home, and this may sound odd, but ever since you told me about your plans for a baby, I haven’t been able to stop thinking maybe I could be the sperm donor for your future child.
I mean, if you were to accept me. I wanted to mention the option in case you needed to think about it for a bit. ”
She gaped at him. All this time she had his lovely genes in front of her very nose, and she’d never even once considered asking him. She’d never had a male friend before whom she trusted enough to consider for the role of co-parent, but this novel idea certainly held appeal.
She examined his face. “Are you sure? I had pegged you as more the traditional type who’d wait until he was married to his perfect countess before having children. You know, pass on your crumbling palace to the next generation of Renwoods.”
“My last attempt at commitment ended with a broken engagement.” His mouth hitched into a pensive half-smile. “Right now, I don’t feel the faintest inclination to try that again. Establishing a secure and lasting bond takes months, if not years.” He glanced at her.
She lowered her gaze. “Let’s both mull it over and get together once we have thought through the implications. It’s a serious life decision, after all.”
“I know. This is not some whim, Delia. I’ve wanted to be a father for quite a while and would want to be involved in the parenting, like a divorced dad maybe.
That would give you a break and provide me with a chance to bond with the little one.
I wouldn’t like to be father in sperm only, so to speak. ”
She smirked and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“I don’t want to make you feel like a prized stallion, but your DNA is second to none.
And your telomeres...” An image of his beautiful genes rose before her inner eye.
“But consider this, what if you get married to some aristocratic lady and start having a nice, neat row of legitimate children who’ll take up all of your energy?
I’ll have my poor kid craving attention from Daddy and feeling left out.
” She pressed her lips together and crossed her arms. “I can’t have that. ”
He chuckled. “Our child would always be my firstborn, and I’d never neglect him or her. I’d also like to be present at the birth, if that’s all right with you.”
A hot solid weight pressed against her chest, and she struggled for breath. He was already getting over involved in this hypothetical pregnancy of hers, and she wasn’t sure what to make of that.
She grazed her lower lip with her teeth. If Gabriel was the father of her child, there wouldn’t be hundreds of unknown half-siblings running around. In her view, the sperm donor system should be regulated more tightly.
Also, a co-parent might come in handy. Children were hard work, as Tom kept reminding her, and having a committed father figure in her child’s life wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
“Let’s give it a few days to think things over.
There are advantages to your plan, but we need to make sure we’re both on the same page. ”
“Sure.” Gabriel got out, rounded the car, and opened the passenger door. “Sorry for having kept you when there’s so much work waiting for you at home, but I had to get it out there before you selected a sperm donor.”
“And I’m glad you did.” She hugged him. “See you soon, Gabriel.” And with this, she strode to her Fiat, then drove off.
~ * ~
J em took a sip from his pint and sighed. “Great idea this. We should go for a drink more often.”
“High time I took you out for a few pints after making you work on the Hall,” said Gabriel.
“Ah, it was good fun, the two of us on a climbing frame of sorts.” Jem put a folded-up beermat underneath one table leg, then put his palm on the table to check if it still wobbled. It didn’t.
They were sitting in their local, the Renwood Arms; a dingy old-man’s pub with a rather grand name. For some unfathomable reason, they both liked it.
Gabriel traced the wet circle made by the bottom of his pint glass. “I’ve something to tell you, and I think you’re going to be thrilled.”
Jem fixed him with an eager look. “Come on, spit it out.”
Gabriel drew a breath, his chest expanding with joy. “I’m planning to become a father too.”
“Whoa, back up there for a minute.” Jem grabbed the edge of the table with both hands. “When did you get yourself a girlfriend serious enough to talk of babies?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend. It’s a bit more complicated than that.” Gabriel rubbed his chin.
Jem narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you knocked someone up. I always thought one-night stands weren’t your style.”
Gabriel lifted one hand to stem his cousin’s flow of words.
“No such thing happened. It’s all very civilized.
” He grinned into his beer and told him about his and Delia’s co-parenting plan.
“Imagine, Jem, we’d run through the park after our kids, kick a football around, and teach them how to ride a bicycle. ”
Jem’s expression grew serious. “Gabe, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I’m struggling to understand why you’re not doing it the conventional way. You know, get a girlfriend and think about having babies with her.”
Gabriel frowned. The whole thing was difficult to explain, even though it made perfect sense to him. Maybe he should have waited before telling Jem. Delia hadn’t even agreed to let him be the sperm donor and co-parent. She was still thinking things over.
Gabriel got carried away by his enthusiasm, and now he had to deal with his cousin’s justified skepticism. “Hear me out. I think it’s a brilliant arrangement. I want to be a young, active father. Waiting around for someone to have a serious, solid relationship with could take years.”
Jem rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, give me a break. You’re handsome, intelligent, an all-round decent bloke. Ten minutes spent on a dating app, and you’d have five potential candidates for a wife.”
“You make it sound easy, but it isn’t. You’ve been with Suzette for so long, you’ve no idea what it’s like out there.
I did date after Vanessa, but there was never any kind of spark.
It was like I were auditioning for a role of some sort.
The aristocrat who whisks the woman away to his mansion.
Impending financial ruin does mar the picture somewhat.
” He gave a humorless laugh. “If I get married, it’ll have to be a special person.
I want a marriage like the one my parents had. ”
Jem grimaced. “I think you’re idealizing your parents. Understandable, but unhelpful when you’re trying to chart your own course.”
Gabriel drew himself up. “My parents were devoted to each other.”
He couldn’t think of a better example of a happy marriage. His father and mother had been so close, they’d finished each other’s sentences. They’d rarely fought and never had been happier than in each other’s company.
“Sure, they were,” Jem conceded. “But you know what they say. The children of lovers are orphans. ”
“What rubbish,” Gabriel huffed. He tried not to be offended. Jem meant well, and he was used to his outspokenness.
“I’m only saying, sometimes it seemed like Uncle George and Aunt Julia were so wrapped up in one another there wasn’t much room for you.”
“My parents loved me,” Gabriel snapped.
“Of course, they did,” Jem said, his tone placatory. “I just mean... Ah, well, forget it. Another pint of the same?”
Gabriel jumped up. “I’ll get it.”
After a while, he returned to the table with their drinks. He sat and kneaded one hand with the other. “I was hoping you’d be happy for me.”
“And I will be if it all works out as intended.” Jem grabbed his arm.
“Let me say one more thing, because I care about you. Make sure you’re not entering this arrangement because, deep down, you want a baby with her .
You told me you quite fancy her but that she’s also a commitment-phobe.
Please, Gabe, be careful not to fall for her. ”
“Why don’t you trust me when I say that I’m entering this arrangement with my eyes wide open?” Gabriel cringed. He sounded like a petulant child rather than a grown man, who knew what he was about.
Jem sighed. “I didn’t mean to annoy you.”
Gabriel gave his cousin a conciliatory pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s talk about something else, if you don’t mind.”
~ * ~
A nother beautiful chocolate fudge cake graced the round kitchen table of the gatehouse. Two gold-rimmed plates were laid out, each with a dainty silver fork by its side.
Gabriel took Delia’s coat, and she sat. She’d asked him to meet because she’d come to a decision. After a week of compiling pro-and-con lists and researching the legal framework, the evidence was conclusive.
It was a stroke of luck that someone like Gabriel had the same approach to parenting as she did. “Now that we’ve both thought about this, I’d like to outline the ground rules I think should be non-negotiable.”
He took a seat opposite her and folded his hands on the tabletop.