The Baby Shower

by Tasha Blue et al.

  Laura didn't know what she had been worried about. Annie senior adored her grandchild on sight and couldn't stop telling everyone that she did.

  “She's a precious little thing!” she cooed, patting at the chair beside her to invite Laura to sit at her side as she carried on chattering away. “I've been begging that boy to sow his seed for years now. Years!

  I was starting to think I'd be in my grave before he had any little ones, but look at this adorable little girl! I think she's just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen. And look at you! You have a lovely face. She looks just like you, you know. Can I get you anything?”

  Laura laughed with bewilderment and accepted a chocolate cookie, chewing contentedly as Annie senior continued to ramble on. Laura was grateful to have someone else holding little Annie for a while, and she kept catching Daniel's eye from across the room. He was laughing at her, trapped in his mother's endless chatter as he and his father sat on the other side of the room with a little more restraint.

  “I like a girl who eats,” Annie said approvingly. “A new mother has to keep her strength up. A baby needs attention,, twenty-four seven. Tell me, Laura, have you heard of infantile colic?”

  The afternoon was one of the most pleasant she’d had in recent memory. She found Daniel's parents to be kind, warm people who adored their son, adored their grandchild and, it seemed, adored her. When she'd eaten just about all she could eat and listened to every word in the dictionary fly out of Annie senior's mouth, Daniel at last drove her home.

  “What did you think?” he asked her as he turned out the driveway and began to head up the main road.

  “Oh, they're wonderful,” she beamed. “Your mother is so sweet.”

  “I knew she'd love you,” he smiled. “And Annie of course. I thought she'd never let go of her.”

  “Me too,” Laura smiled. “That's nice though. I'm so glad they liked us. I thought they'd think I was a floozy.”

  “Of course not,” Daniel said. “I wouldn't let them think a thing like that. I think you're a very courageous woman. I admire what you've done for Annie very much. You're not a floozy.”

  “I was worried that when you saw me again, you'd wonder what you ever saw in me,” Laura confessed. “You told me that something came over you that night that was unlike you. I was just the same. I'm usually so careful and modest. I don't know what got into me that day.”

  “Whatever it was, I liked it.” Daniel told her. “I haven't been able to get you off my mind.”

  “Really?” Laura asked him. “When you disappeared off the face of the earth, I thought I'd never see you again.”

  Daniel frowned. “I won't be going to Colorado next summer,” he assured her. “When I was young, we had this little inflatable paddling pool that we pulled out every summer. I always thought I'd spend summers with my kids the same way.”

  “Annie's a little water baby already,” Laura told him fondly. “My mother says that I used to hate the water, but Annie loves it. Well, she loves the bubbles.”

  “Will I meet your parents any time soon?” he asked her.

  Laura hadn't thought about it, but when she did, she liked the idea.

  “I hope so,” she replied.

  “If you're the floozy, what does that make me?” he asked her with concern. “Another deadbeat dad?”

  “Everyone knows that you left before I found out I was pregnant,” Laura reassured him. “Don't worry. I haven't made a demon out of you. They'll respect you for stepping up the way you have. I certainly do.”

  Daniel smiled and they drove on in silence. Laura was sorry when he dropped her off. She'd been enjoying their easy conversation and the way she felt so comfortable around him, as if she'd known him forever. She supposed it was natural to feel that kind of connection with him. After all, they'd had a child together. And then there was the fact that nobody in the world had ever seen that wild side of her, apart from him and although she had expected him to be disappointed to see her in the cold light of day, he still seemed to enjoy her company and respect her for all she had done.

  The captain did respect her. In fact, Daniel had never respected a woman so much in his life. Laura had a grace about her that had taken him by surprise. When he'd first met her it had been in a sexual frenzy, and that had been, if he were to tell the truth, the most intensely pleasurable night of his life.

  He'd be lying if he said he hadn't fantasized about her body during those hot Colorado nights or every time he'd stepped into a fire engine. He'd hardly been able to get her out of his mind. But, in the last couple of days, he began to see a different side to this captivating creature. Laura was smart and determined and independent, which was, in its way, just as attractive to him as her physical appearance. She was a woman who could handle herself and her problems and do it with quiet dignity and bravery. He admired her for that.

  And of course, there was Annie. There was no doubt in his mind that no child could ever be so beautiful without having a mother like Laura. There was no new man in her life, it seemed. That made sense, considering that she'd been acting the single mother to a newborn since he'd been gone. The knowledge that she was still single made an unexpected hope dance within him. He saw the future, which was full of days out in the park and paddling pools and when he pictured those things, it wasn't just with him and his daughter. In every fantasy, Laura was there, with her dark hair and eyes, her gentle smile and that unforgettable gaze.

  It made him realize everything that had been missing between him and Stacy. He understood now that he had simply been afraid of being alone and allowed the pressure of a needy woman make him do what he had believed was the honorable thing.

  In truth, Daniel doubted that he would have spent a single summer in Colorado if it hadn't been for the fact that he needed those few months of peace to keep him sane. It was only when he was away from Stacy that he realized how much she smothered him. He drove now to her apartment to break the news to her that he'd gotten another woman pregnant.

  Daniel climbed the stairs to her apartment and knocked at the door. He heard Stacy step up from the sofa and walk over to the door. She pulled it open with excited eyes and a smile and just when he was starting to think how hard it was going to be to break her heart, she began to berate him for being ten minutes late.

  “I called Sam and he said that you left the station hours ago!” she accused, pouting in that childish way she did and folding her arms over her chest. “I wish I could trust you!” she seethed. “But no. I'm the girl who has to call your friends to find out where you are every night.”

  “How did you get Sam's number?” Daniel asked her.

  “From your phone.”

  “My phone?” Daniel repeated. “Stacy, what did I tell you about going through my things?”

  “You don't really leave me any choice, do you, Daniel?” she accused him. “You say that you're going to be here at eight and it's already ten minutes after the hour. If I wasn't on you like this, then it would be eight-thirty or nine... You think just because you're a good looking man and some big shot down at the fire station, that a girl's just going to hang around waiting for you. Well, think again, buddy. I'm not just going to sit around all day wondering where you are...”

  Daniel listened to her rage with quiet bewilderment and recalled all the hundreds of times he'd heard her rants before. True, on this occasion, he had impregnated another woman, but he had never lied to Stacy.

  He himself only found out about his child in the last few days, and when he had spent that night with Laura, it was when Stacy and he had a huge fight and she had dramatically declared that it was over, packed her things and left.

  A week later she came back, crying and weeping and telling him that she was sorry and like a fool, he'd taken her back because he hated to see her cry and because they had a history, and because once in a lifetime nights like the one he'd had with Laura, didn't come around twice.

  When Stacy finished her rant, Daniel was finally able to te
ll her what he'd come to say.

  “Stacy, listen to me,” he said calmly. “I'm going to tell you something that you don't want to hear.”

  “I knew it!” Stacy screeched, throwing a cushion at him from across the room. “You've been with someone else, haven't you? Who is she? How long has it been going on for? Is she skinnier than me? Younger? Does she put out more?”

  “It was a year ago,” Daniel told her matter-of-factly.

  “A year ago?” Stacy howled. “You cheated on me a year ago and you're telling me now? You mean that you've been keeping this dirty little secret all year? Is that why you ran off to Colorado?”

  Daniel took a deep breath for patience. “We were broken up, Stacy.”

  “Broken up?” she repeated. “Danny, you know I never mean that!”

  “You seemed pretty serious when you keyed my car,” Daniel reminded her. “Or did you forget about that?”

  “Well, excuse me for standing up for myself,” Stacy retorted sarcastically. “What am I supposed to do when you don't come home all night?”

  “I was at the station,” Daniel reminded her exasperatedly. “Sometimes there are fires at night. I'm the captain, Stacy. I've told you this a hundred times.”

  “So I'm paranoid?” Stacy spat. “Obviously not, since you came here to tell me about your other woman!”

  “Stacy,” Daniel continued patiently. “I slept with one woman. Once. A year ago when you stormed out on me and said we were done. I didn't cheat on you, but I did sleep with this woman when we weren't together and I didn't see her again before I went to Colorado. When I got back she ran into me at a café and she had a baby with her.”

  “Oh, let me guess,” Stacy seethed, “It's yours? If you screw a woman like that, Danny, you've got no idea whose it is. It's probably not yours at all. She's probably just some cheap little gold digger who goes out with every man who shows up on the street.”

  A sudden anger rose up in Daniel for Laura and he raised his voice to answer Stacy. “Don't you talk about her like that!” he warned. “She is not cheap. She is not a slut. She is a kind, decent woman that I let down, but not anymore. I have a child now, Stacy. I can't be playing these games with you anymore.”

  “Are you dumping me?” Stacy asked him disbelievingly. “Forget it, Danny, because I'm ending this right now. I will not be your piece on the side while you're out screwing every woman you come across ‘fighting fires.’ You go have fun with your little slice and enjoy raising someone else's kid, because I'm done with all of this and I'm done with you.”

  “Thank God!” Daniel replied. “I can't believe I put up with you this long. You're paranoid, Stacy and you're insecure and you're childish.”

  “You got another woman pregnant!” Stacy hissed. “So yes, I'm insecure.”

  “Oh, you love it,” Daniel accused. “From day one, you've been waiting for me to trip up; pushing me and pushing me, just willing me to go over the edge. Well, congratulations! You won. I was with someone else and I didn't regret it for a moment. You were right to be suspicious. I'm a terrible, cheating man.”

  Stacy stopped and stared at him and finally stopped her hysterics. She became quiet and collected herself.

  “I know we fought a lot, Danny, but I really thought we had something.”

  Daniel shook his head. “There might have been a time when we were good for each other, but it was a long time ago.”

  The angry young woman let go of her fury and walked over to the door, pulling it open to indicate that Daniel should leave.

  “I think you should go, Daniel,” she told him coldly. “This is the last time we have this fight. This time I mean it. We're done.”

  For once, Daniel didn't stick around long enough for her to change her mind and he left her apartment quickly. For years, he had put off truly ending things with that girl, from fear or loneliness or duty, he didn't even know any more, but now that it was all over, all he felt was relief and freedom at last.

  He felt hopeful, too. He thought of Laura with hopeful expectation, imagining a life with her, not that he could imagine that she'd want him now. After all, he'd knocked her up and left the state for months. She'd been so kind and gracious since he'd returned, but that was because she was the type of woman he'd never encountered before and he wasn't really sure where to go from here.

  He called on Sam and Michael for a drink to talk it out with friends who knew him well. He told them about ending things with Stacy.

  “Thank the heavens!” Sam sung. “That girl was a nightmare.”

  Daniel looked to Michael for his opinion and his other friend nodded too.

  “She had some serious issues, Dan.”

  “So, what are you going to do about this other girl and her baby?” Sam pressed him. “Are you all just going to play happy family now?”

  “I don't know,” Daniel sighed. “I haven't known her long, but she's not like anyone else I've ever met. Maybe I've just been with Stacy too long, I don't know. When you get a woman pregnant and return months later, you expect there to be hell to pay, but she'd just pulled herself together and made a life for herself and when I came back, she didn't ask for anything or blame me for anything. She just invited me to be a part of a family that she'd worked hard to build. You've got to respect that.”

  “She seems like a really nice girl,” Michael said. “And it was clear that there was something special between you two. When we saw you together that day we came by, there were definite sparks flying. You never looked at Stacy that way.”

  “You should have seen how Laura was looking at you when you weren't looking at her,” Sam added. “You don't look that way at someone if you’re not interested.” “Do you think?” Daniel asked hopefully. “I mean, I know it's a weird situation, but I think in time I could have something real with this girl.”

  “Give her a bit of space at first,” Sam advised. “You've been gone for a long time.”

  “Yeah,” Michael agreed. “Don't rush in. Make it about the kid and see where it goes with the girl.”

  *

  Daniel took their advice and even though everything about Laura was incredible to him, he tried to keep his distance, because he hadn't earned her yet. Perhaps she wouldn't want him at all. Perhaps if he really got to know her, he'd find that she wasn't as perfect as she seemed to him when he only saw her occasionally.

  After all, Laura had already shown him that there were two very different sides to her: the sexy, uninhibited and wild side he'd discovered on their first night together, and the tender, quiet side that he'd seen in her as a mother.

  Over the weeks and months that followed, their time together gradually increased. It began with sharing in Annie's big moments: her first words, her first steps, her first professional photos. Then it crept into family barbeques with Daniel's parents and social drinks with Sophie, Sam and Michael. Soon play dates with the twins were creeping in and then the two needed to plan Annie's first birthday party together.

  Annie's first birthday was a happy event. It marked the start of so many things and the end of so many others. When Laura looked around and saw everyone gathered together; Sophie, Sam and Michael, her parents and Daniel's, neighbors and friends, she felt like everything had come to together in the most unexpected and remarkable way.

  She saw not just an unplanned child, but an unplanned family which had somehow sprung up from the chaos. It was the end, too, of the uncertain year. Laura wasn't afraid anymore that she was going to be on her own or ever struggle to take care of Annie. Daniel had been true to his word and looked after her and Annie in whatever way was needed.

  Often it was the financial help that Laura needed and he would make sure that Annie was always clothed and fed and surrounded by toys, but it was also the emotional support that a new mother desperately requires. He would listen to her talk about her day with Annie and she would tell him all her concerns and frustrations. He would listen with quiet patience and reassure her that it was all going to be all right.r />
  He loved his daughter. The first time that Laura had let him take Annie out on his own, she had been terrified to let her little girl out of her sight, but Annie had returned all smiles and tuckered out and when Daniel told Laura excitedly all about their day out at the fair, she felt all over again the fondness she had begun to feel for him. They tried to keep their distance at first, because this was new to them both. It was sudden, unexpected, and a little strange, but as life brought them closer together, they both stopped fighting the currents and fell into a routine more suited to a couple than two people who had been thrown together by a surprise baby.

  Daniel kept waiting to see the side of Laura that he didn't like; her possessive side, or her sulky side, or her selfish side, but it never came. In fact, he only saw a hundred new sides to her that had been hidden in the haste of their union. Laura had the patience of a saint. He could only marvel when he arrived at the gift card shop to pick Annie up and saw Laura explain to a little old lady at least a dozen times that you couldn't buy a Christmas card in February.

  She was fun. Laura made him laugh without even trying. It was the fact that she amused him without any effort that made him enjoy her company so much. She was a wonderful listener. When he came to pick up Annie with stories about a hard day at work or a difficult co-worker, she would listen with genuine interest and sound advice. And, of course, she was a wonderful mother. Watching how she raised his daughter with such honest love and affection made his feelings for her run deep.

  His affections were not unreturned. Laura thought it was all a dream when Daniel returned and stepped into her life again, but the man just became more and more wonderful the more time she spent with him.

  When she'd first met him, she had believed him to be a wonder to women everywhere; a confident, sexy man who was way out of her league. As time went by, she found him to actually be a little on the shy side and sensitive and incredibly funny. Far from being with any number of women, she came to learn that he had been with one woman on and off for years until he ended it all to be there for her and Annie.