The Baby Shower

by Tasha Blue et al.

  She felt as if she wanted to hug him again, he was so fatherly, and so she did. He hugged her once more and then he let her go and walked toward the door.

  "I'd better let you get to your meal, and I am going to get to work in my office. I just wanted to meet you and welcome you home. I look forward to getting to know you and spending time with you," he told her with an earnest smile.

  She grinned back. "So do I."

  He left her and she hummed happily to herself as she finished making her meal and sitting down to eat it. She had decided that living with the Carter's was not going to be so bad. She cleaned the kitchen up so much it looked as if no one had touched it all morning. Then she wandered out into the house to go exploring and see what she could find.

  She had just made it to one of the sitting rooms when Oliver came in the door, looked around, and when his eyes settled on her he smiled widely and called to her. "Good morning!"

  "Good morning to you, too!" she told him, walking toward him to meet him halfway as he walked toward her.

  "How are you feeling today?" he asked with a hopeful air.

  She nodded. "We're good today. Thank you."

  He seemed excited about something; his eyes were alight, his movements had more energy, and she thought he looked a little happier than he had the previous day, though she was still getting to know him and wasn't sure if he was like that most of the time.

  "I'm glad I found you! I was looking for you," he told her with a gleam in his eye.

  He'd been working all morning on something to surprise her with, and he'd just finished it and was looking forward to presenting it to her.

  "Oh!" she said, wondering if she had wandered into a room she shouldn't be in. "I should have asked. I thought it would be alright if I came here." she said, giving the room a quick glance.

  He was confused a moment and then realized their misunderstanding. "Oh! You're fine to go anywhere you want in the house. That's no problem at all. I just meant that I had been looking for you because I have something to show you. Will you come with me, please?" he asked in anticipation.

  His excitement was catching and she nodded enthusiastically. He took her hand in hers, and she realized that the feeling of him doing that was becoming familiar. She liked it; it felt like a comfort to her. He took her through the indoor pool room and out into the wide expanse of the property behind the house. Not far from her own garden outside of her room, was a large solarium, and attached to it was a smaller greenhouse.

  She gasped when she saw the solarium, loving the look of it. It was a big glass edifice with Victorian iron scroll-work placed at every frame. There were delicately arched doors and windows throughout all of it. It was almost like a glass encased gazebo from a more genteel age. She loved the look of it, and more than that, she loved that it was the solarium filled with plants and flowers.

  "This is incredible!" she gushed happily as they walked through the doors and she looked around her.

  He turned and looked over his shoulder at her, giving her a little wink. "I'm so glad you like it, but this isn't your surprise."

  "My surprise? What are you doing?" She laughed as she followed him down the path that wound through the sun-filled glass building.

  They reached a door and he pushed it open and turned to allow her to go into it. From the look on his face she could tell that this was the surprise that he had in store for her. She walked in and found herself in the small greenhouse. It was about a quarter of the size of the massive solarium behind them, but even at that, it was still quite large.

  There were three worktables set up a few feet apart from each other, and they were set against windows on the far wall, all along the walls aside from that, were shelves of flowers and plants, vases, pots, and tools with which to do any kind of gardening or, to Grace's delight, flower arranging.

  She gasped and rushed into the room a short distance, and then stopped and looked at it with wide eyes and big grin. Then she turned and looked at Oliver, who was watching her with complete delight.

  "This is for you," he told her. "We have a crew of landscapers who used to use this room, but I told them to use a corner of the solarium, and they are moving in there, so that this will be all yours. You can design all you want to your heart's content," he told her well pleased with her happiness.

  She squealed and went to him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. He laughed and held her back, his arms close around her again, where he had discovered that he liked them to be. He let himself nuzzle his nose near her ear for a moment to breath her in. Vanilla, from the orchid. He closed his eyes and let himself soak up the good feeling of having her in his arms for just a moment before his embrace loosened and they parted slightly.

  She leaned up and kissed his cheek, overflowing with joyfulness, and as she kissed his cheek, soft and warm against her lips, she felt the air ignite with a subtle electricity between them. Something was different, if slightly. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she felt his breath on her cheek; his lips so close to hers. He hadn't let her go, and he was holding her to him. It felt more intimate than any touch they had shared.

  He turned his head slightly more toward her. The swell of her lips was so close. He could not believe that he was thinking it, that he wanted it, that he could almost taste...

  "Grace." He whispered her name like a prayer and she closed her eyes. He almost kissed her. He wanted to; she was not more than a breath from him.

  Somewhere, in the back of his mind, the knowledge that she was carrying his brother's baby tugged at him and he felt his heart pound. He took a deep breath in and let his arms fall from her. She opened her eyes in surprise, almost bewilderment, as she looked up at him. She had thought for a moment that he was going to kiss her. She felt his breath on her skin, and thought that his mouth was close... so close to hers, but then reality seemed to snap her to attention and she blinked and took a couple of steps back from him, taking in her own deep breath.

  "Yes?" she asked in a breathy whisper. She cleared her throat. "Yes?" her voice sounded stronger.

  He pursed his lips for a moment and looked around him at the greenhouse. "I... I just wondered what you thought of the greenhouse. I thought you might like to be out here. To work in here a little, for some creative outlet."

  The joy in her heart reached her smile and her eyes again and she turned and looked around her at it. "It's wonderful! It's bigger than the backroom I worked in at Maya's. This one feels like a palace almost. I am already bubbling with ideas, just looking at it and being here! I'm so excited for it!"

  She left him and began to wander through the room, looking at each shelf, her hand reaching to touch the various things set on them. She felt a blaze of inspiration moving through her, as if she had been given some new lease on future, and anything was possible; at least, anything in the greenhouse where she was standing.

  He watched her, almost in a trance, as she moved in her own world, and it arrested his heart and mind. It was as if he was being hypnotized and could not look away. He didn't want to look away. Part of him wanted nothing more than to continue watching her, and another part of him was excited to show her the rest of what he had made for her.

  He walked up behind her and touched her shoulder lightly, turning her around. Her dark eyes were shining as she looked up at him happily.

  "There's a little more to show you," he told her with a smile.

  Surprise flashed in her look. "More?" she asked incredulously.

  He tipped his head and gave her a little wink. "Come on. It's this way."

  He slipped his hands into his pants pockets and walked ahead of her, leading her to the other end of the room. There was a lattice wall filled with morning glory vines at the end of the third table, and behind it was a small room.

  The floor was oak wood, and the windows were lined with sheer curtains. Beneath the windows there was a full sized sofa and near that, a matching arm chair. There was a counter and cupboards against th
e other wall, and on the counter was a coffee maker and hot water kettle. There was a sink and a shelf that held three differently styled and equally lovely china teacups with matching saucers. There was a small refrigerator tucked beneath one part of the counter, at the end of the cupboards.

  He'd left a vase of fresh cut white roses on a little table beside the sofa, and a card with her name written on the front. She walked over to it and picked it up, opening it to read it.

  'Welcome home. - Oliver' was all it said. The power of it all was based in the simplicity of it. It was tremendously moving in that way. She turned to look at him and felt hot tears brimming at her thick eyelashes.

  He stared at her with a panicked face for a moment. "You don't like it?" he asked in concern.

  She shook her head subtly. "I love it," she whispered. Grace went to him and hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back, burying his face in her neck and dark hair, breathing her in again. He closed his eyes, wishing that he didn't like doing that so much.

  "This means more to me than you will ever know," she told him. It was true. Being able to do something other than sit around in the house all day would give her a sense of purpose, a sense of value in being able to work on something.

  She kissed his cheek once more and they found themselves very close again. Oliver didn't want another moment as intimate as the one they had shared when they came in. He was fairly certain he couldn't resist kissing her if she were that near him again, so he placed his hands gently on her cheeks and tipped her head down. He kissed her forehead for a moment and then stepped back from her and gave her a grin.

  "Well, I have work to get to up at the house. In any event, this is yours. Do with it whatever you like, spend as much time as you want to in here, make anything you like. I can't wait to see what you can do. Have fun with it. It's all yours." He pushed his hands back into the soft cloth pockets of his pants.

  She closed her fingers together and placed her hands under her chin, almost in a prayer of thanks, and looked as if she were glowing.

  He gave her one last smile, and then he turned and left her, walking back up to the house. Grace watched him go through the window, wondering how in the world her life had ever gotten so good. She wondered also about the moment they had shared when they first came in; she was certain he had been about to kiss her.

  Her fingers moved from beneath her chin and she touched her lips softly, thinking of the electricity that had come to life in the air between them, and she wondered how the moment had even happened, and what it would have been like if he had kissed her, and that thought drew up a warmth in her belly that she had never felt before.

  She pulled her fingertips from her lips and blinked, telling herself not to allow those kind of thoughts into her mind. It was the pregnancy hormones kicking in. She was sure of it. That was all that it was. She shook off the warm air around her and turned and looked at the room she was standing in.

  She was in her own greenhouse, it was fully stocked, and she could do anything she wanted to. The first thing that crossed her mind was gratitude. She walked back into the workroom of her greenhouse and began to pull materials down off of the shelves and set them onto a work table. She busied herself for most of the morning, turning on the stereo in the corner and singing her favorite jazz songs until the morning became the early afternoon.

  When Henry went into his office later that day after tea, he found a beautiful flowering plant in an elegant pot, sitting on his desk, waiting for him. Beside it there was a card of thanks with a little message in it from Grace, telling him how good it was to meet him, and how much she appreciated what he had done for her and for the baby. Henry grinned and his cheeks went a little pink. He set the plant at the corner of his desk and looked at it thoughtfully. It was in full bloom, and the metaphor of new life and beauty was evident in it.

  Oliver also found a similar plant and thank you card on the desk in his office, and as he sat down to read the message in the card, he smiled at her thoughtfulness, and then at her words to him in her message.

  He sighed and set the card on the desk, and then leaned back in his chair, resting his head on it and looking up at the portrait of his mother, which hung on the far wall. He couldn’t believe he almost kissed her. He could not believe that he had wanted to. She was carrying his brother's child, and that was something he would have to remember every time he was around her. He was going to have to make himself think of her as a sister... somehow, or at the very least, something other than the alluring and beautiful woman that she was. He had no choice in it.

  Whatever those feelings were that were forming in him whenever she was around, or whenever he thought of her, which was often, he would have to dispel. There was no place for them. There was no possibility that they could ever come to fruition. She was off limits.

  Chapter Four

  The days began to pass, and as they did, a sort of routine formed in the house, all on its own. Henry, Oliver, and Grace would meet for breakfast in the morning and talk about any number of things from old stories to recent events in the news. They rarely brought up Lance. He seemed to sort of fade to the edge of their trinity world.

  Henry and Oliver would go to their offices to work, or into the city, and Grace would go to the greenhouse, or on cool days, she would stay in the library and read beside the fire. Sometimes they had lunch together, but not always. They would all come together for dinner, meeting in the dining room, and it felt to her like they were going out to dinner every night. It wasn't formal, but with the luxurious appointments around them, it felt special, every night. After their evening meal, they would sometimes talk together in the library, and sometimes they would bid each other good night early, and go to their rooms.

  While Grace enjoyed every moment of those times, it was the afternoons that were her favorite, for most of her afternoons were spent with Oliver.

  It didn't happen right away. At first he would come to check on her, keeping a slight distance, keeping his hands in his pockets, smiling at her, talking with her, and watching her like she was a sunrise he couldn't turn away from. His visits were infrequent and brief, but as the days passed, they became more frequent, and they lasted longer.

  The days began to transition from spring into summer, each day growing longer, each day growing warmer. Sometimes they would sit in her little lounge in the greenhouse, and sometimes they would go for walks through the many gardens and along the winding paths around the house. He had become her confidant and her dear friend, her companion each day, and she cherished it, and her time with him, and she cherished him.

  They were strolling one afternoon, along a path through the grounds at the edge of a small wood that formed one border of the property. The sun was shining down on them, slipping in and out of thick clouds like a child's hide and seek game. The air was warm, and Oliver unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt sleeves, and carefully rolled them up to his elbows, exposing his strong forearms. Grace found herself looking at him a little more; the casual businessman look was attractive on him.

  He looked ahead of them on the path as he brought voice to a thought that had been confounding him since he had met her.

  "Grace," he said in a quiet voice, "please tell me if this is too personal, and don't feel as if you have to answer the question, but it's just astounding to me that a woman as gentle and sweet, intelligent, and... classy as you are, could possibly wind up with a man like my brother. How... how did that ever happen?" He frowned and looked at her for a moment as they walked along.

  She sighed and her gaze moved over the grounds around them and then to him for a moment before she looked straight ahead and answered him.

  "I've asked myself that question countless times. I mean, it's not to say anything against your brother, but he's just really not my type." The corners of her mouth turned down a bit. "I was at that party at the Harrington's. It was such a fluke. I don't even really know them at all. I went with an acquaintance of mine; a girl I had met in the flower sho
p. She and I had gone out for coffee and lunch a few times, and she told me about a party she was going to, and asked if I wanted to go with her. I almost didn't go, but then at the last minute, I wound up changing my mind. She picked me up and we headed into a neighborhood I had never seen before. Their house is big – not as big as yours, but it's big."

  "I've been there."

  She nodded. "So you know. Good. Well, I didn't really feel very comfortable there; I didn't really know anyone, and she took off shortly after we got there because she knew a lot of the guests, and she was going around talking to everyone. I was on my own and I had a drink, and then another drink, and then I had too many. I think it was just so I'd have something in my hands because I was nervous, something to do because I wasn't talking to anyone.

  “Towards the end of the night, I had had too much to drink and I wasn't feeling well. Lance had been watching me for a little while, and when I went to the bathroom, thinking I might be sick, he followed me in there. He said he was there to help. I was bent over the sink, splashing cool water on my face, trying to make myself feel better. When I stood up, he was standing behind me. He started kissing my neck, and the next thing I knew he was pulling my dress up, and—“

  Oliver felt nauseous hearing it. He stopped her before she could say more. "I get it," he told her with chagrin.

  She nodded. "I couldn't believe I'd done it. I still can't. It's not like me at all. I've never done anything like that. I'd certainly never had that much to drink before." She was quiet and thoughtful for a long moment and the silence was thick between them.

  "He left me in the bathroom, so casually, as if we had ridden in an elevator together or something, just with a smile and a 'thanks, babe', and then he was gone. I went back downstairs and found my friend. I was embarrassed and ashamed, and it felt like everyone at the party must have known what I had done. I saw him a while later, making out with another woman and I knew it was the stupidest thing I'd ever done. I asked my friend who he was and she told me his name. I remembered it, and told myself that I would never do anything that idiotic in my life again."