Three Girls and a Baby

by Rachel Schurig

  I couldn’t counsel him on what to do where his mother was concerned, as I was prone to fantasies of bashing her head in myself. For now, he was refusing to call her back and I had tentatively invited him to come to us for Thanksgiving.

  When I finally got home that night, I found Annie all ready to give Danny his bath. I decided, for once, to let her, choosing instead to make myself some dinner—of course I ate my dinner standing up at the counter watching while he splashed his chubby hands in the bathwater.

  When he was dry and in his jammies, I propped him up in his boppy pillow—it turned out LeeAnn at Baby and Me! had been right; the boppy pillow was totally a necessity—and spent the next hour or so playing with him. He loved patty-cake, tummy tickles, the itsy-bitsy-spider—just about any game that required me to touch him would make him laugh.

  I felt pretty content. Sure, there were a lot of uncertainties with Josh, but sitting here now, with my baby in my arms, I felt like I was pretty lucky. I figured asking for much more would be tempting fate.

  Chapter Forty

  Three Months: Your baby has grown and changed so much since the day he was born. At twelve weeks, your baby is more than likely sleeping better, eating less frequently, laughing and smiling at you, and recognizing your face and voice. Some mommies consider this the ‘honeymoon’ period with their baby! Enjoy these precious times with him: he’ll be grown up before you know it. While you have the chance, spend as much time as you can playing with him—and loving him! He is, after all, your most precious gift!—Dr. Rebecca Carr, A Fabulous First Year with Baby!

  “Shut up.” Jen walked into the living room, where Annie and I were getting the baby ready, and stopped in her tracks. “Seriously, shut up. Danny, how are you that cute?”

  I laughed—she had a point.

  It was Halloween, and Annie and I had decided Danny needed to wear a costume to get into the spirit of things. We had taken a green pillowcase and added armholes to the sides. Annie, who had gotten pretty good at sewing when making Danny’s crib bedding, had then sewn a hem in the top, leaving only a hole for his neck. We plopped Danny into it, like it was a little sleeping bag. Annie had made three little pillows out of a darker green towel and attached them to his front, and we found a green baby cap that just barely fit him…

  “He looks like a pea pod!” Jen exclaimed. “That’s adorable!”

  “Right?” Annie held him up, laughing. He did look pretty damn adorable, if I do say so myself. And he was in such a good mood tonight, giggling at everything and flashing his toothless grin. I could not get enough of him.

  “Ginny, you should come with me,” Jen said, flopping down on the couch. She was supposed to be heading to a Halloween party at the office building of her firm that night, but she had done little but complain about it all week.

  “And what would I do with the baby?” I asked.

  “He could come too! I talk about him so much. Everyone would love to see him.”

  “No thanks,” I said, picking him up and bouncing him on my knees. “Danny and I are gonna chill out here and hand out candy. Plus, I promised some of the neighbors I would bring him by trick-or-treating.”

  “Fine,” she sighed. “Leave me to go and schmooze all by myself, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said cheerily.

  “And what about you?” she demanded of Annie. “Where are you off to tonight?”

  “I have the Zombie Musical, remember?” Annie asked, standing up and stretching. “I promised I would be an usher.” She looked over at the clock. “In fact, I better head down there soon. Let me just get some pictures of the little pea pod first…” She wandered off to find her camera.

  “Are you sure you want to stay in alone tonight?” Jen asked me seriously.

  “I’m not alone; I’ve got the little man over here,” I told her. “We’re going to have a fun night.”

  “If you’re sure.” She didn’t sound convinced, but she kissed Danny on the cheek and stood. “I guess I better go get ready.”

  Annie left shortly after, so I brought Danny into Jen’s room to keep her company while she got ready. Her costume was some kind of she-devil getup. When it came to fashion, be it Halloween or not, Jen was all about elegance. I knew I would find nothing polyester or nylon in her room. In fact, she was wearing a rather tight, sleeveless red dress that nicely showed off her cleavage—it might have read slutty if not for its knee-length hem. Instead, she looked elegant and sexy. She topped it off with a red horned headband, her only real nod to the holiday. She was a knock-out.

  “Any good prospects at this party?” I asked her, lounging with Danny on the bed while she put on her make-up.

  Jen snorted. “Yeah right. Everyone at my firm is either female and bitchy or male and gay.”

  “I thought you said it wouldn’t be just work people?”

  She shrugged. “Who knows. But from my experience I’m gonna guess it will be disappointing pickings.” She pressed her lips together and moved back from the mirror. “How do I look?”

  I stood up, bringing Danny with me, to kiss her cheek. “You’re hot.”

  She smiled. “Okay, Danny, give Auntie Jen a kiss.” She pecked his cheek, smearing her lipstick a little. “Have fun, sweetie. Call me if you need anything.”

  “Kay,” I replied, walking her to the door. “Have a great night. Be open-minded!”

  She rolled her eyes at me as she stepped outside. Danny and I stood in the doorway, watching her until she got into the car. “Just you and me, little man,” I told him. I shut the screen but left the front door open, so we could hear the trick-or-treaters.

  It was a fun night. Danny was enthralled by the colorful costumes we saw on the kids who came to our door. I brought him around to a few of the neighbors we were close with. Everyone oohed and ahhed over his cuteness, and he ate up the attention.

  I was out of candy by eight thirty, so I shut off the porch light and locked the door. I gave Danny his bath and fed him. The excitement of the day had clearly worn him out: he was asleep before I could make it up the stairs.

  I decided to make myself some popcorn and see if there were any scary movies on TV. As I pulled the bag from the microwave, I heard the doorbell ring. “Stupid kids,” I muttered. I headed to the living room and pulled open the door, prepared to tell whoever it was to clear off.

  But it wasn’t a kid trick-or-treating.

  “Hey, Ginny,” said Josh. “Can I come in?”

  * * *

  Josh had moved home. I couldn’t believe it. I had talked to him the night before, and he said nothing about it. But here he was, back in Michigan. He had quit his job in Seattle, bought a plane ticket, and driven straight here from the airport.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, once I had recovered from my shock enough to let him into the house.

  He shrugged, walking over to sit on the couch. I joined him. “I wasn’t sure what you would think about it.”

  “Do your parents know?”

  He shook his head.

  “Well, you just missed Danny; he’s fast asleep. He had a pretty big night. Oh, I should find Annie’s camera, she took pictures of his costume, you need to see it—” I started to stand but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

  “Ginny, hang on. The pictures can wait.”

  For some reason my heart started to pound and I found it difficult to meet his eyes.

  “I want to talk to you,” he said quietly. “Will you look at me, please?”

  I met his gaze and the intensity of it stirred something deep in my belly.

  “What do you want to talk about?” I asked, my voice shaking.

  “I love you, Ginny.”

  It felt like an explosion went off inside my chest. Was I hearing him right? Was this really happening right now?

  “Say something, please,” he said, reaching over and grabbing my hand.

  “I…Josh…I don’t know…” I trailed off. There was so much I wanted to say, so many quest
ions I had, but I felt like my brain wasn’t connecting to my mouth.

  “Ginny, I know you have no reason to want me anymore. I know I treated you horribly and put you through so much. But I love you. I never stopped. I thought about you every day in Seattle, missed you every day.”

  “Is that why you came back?” I whispered. “Last month, is that what you wanted to tell me?”

  He nodded. “But I still didn’t know if I was good for you. I was so afraid we’d go back to how we were. I waited as long as I could, hoping I was giving you the chance to move on, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I missed you too much. I figured I would come back and see you, and then maybe I would know what to do.” He laughed. “And instead I found everything I ever wanted.”

  His mother had said that to me—that Josh was finally getting everything he had ever wanted. I knew she was wrong then, I had been sure of it.

  “I found Danny, and he’s perfect, Gin.” Josh smiled. “And then there was you. You were so happy, so confident. It was like I was finding the old Ginny, but even better, because you weren’t pretending anymore. I’m so proud of you, the way you’ve been so strong for the baby, and starting your new job. You’re so…so real now, Ginny. And I think I fell even more in love with you.”

  Happiness was crashing over me in waves. I couldn’t believe this was happening. It was everything I had dreamt of for so long—but, just like Josh had said, it was so much better.

  “Ginny,” Josh said. I looked up at him. “Why are you crying?” he asked uncertainly. “Say something, Ginny. Please.”

  I shook my head, my throat too tight to speak.

  But Josh misunderstood. His face went white and he pulled his hand back from mine.

  “Oh,” he whispered. “Oh…okay. I understand. Of course.”

  He moved to stand up and I could only laugh. He looked down at me in surprise.

  “Don’t be such an idiot,” I said, my voice cracking. “I love you!”

  “You do?”

  “Of course I do!” I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close to me, breathing in the scent of him, the feel of him. I had missed him so much.

  Josh let out a burst of gleeful laughter and pulled back, taking my face between his hands and staring at me. “Really?” he asked. “You can really forgive me?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive, Josh,” I replied. “We both started over. There’s nothing to forgive.”

  He pulled my face towards his and kissed me. I know this is totally cheesy to say, but, oh well, it’s true: kissing Josh felt like coming home.

  He pulled me up into his lap, resting his head on my shoulder. “Thank God,” he murmured. “I was so afraid you were going to tell me to get out.”

  I laughed, kissing his hair and nestling closer into his arms.

  “Is Annie going to kill me when she finds out?’

  “She’ll probably try,” I admitted. He gave a mock-shudder. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her.”

  “I owe them a lot, don’t I?”

  “You have no idea, mister.” I paused. “They saved me,” I told him quietly. “I don’t know if Danny and I would be here without them.” He pulled me to him even tighter.

  “Thank God,” he repeated softly, raising his head up to kiss me again.

  I melted into his kiss, feeling the heat start to grow from my belly, spreading out into my fingers and toes. Just before I completely lost my head, I heard a sharp cry from above us.

  Josh sighed, pulling back. “Guess I’m going to have to get used to that, huh?”

  I jumped off his lap and pulled him up from the couch. “It’s not so bad,” I told him. “You’ll see.”

  “I can’t wait to see him,” he said, grabbing my hand and heading to the stairs.

  “Josh, wait,” I said, pulling on his hand to stop him. “I don’t want to get married.”

  He turned to stare at me. “Um, okay,” he said uncertainly, looking at me like I was a crazy person.

  “Sorry,” I laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that…I just meant…I really like my life. I like living here with the girls. I want you to be a part of that, but I think we should take things slow.”

  He smiled at me. “I can handle that.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Actually, I was wondering—do you think Annie or Jen might babysit tomorrow?”

  “Why?”

  “Because I was hoping I could take you out on a date.”

  I felt a huge smile spread across my face. “That sounds perfect.”

  I kissed him once more, softly, before I took his hand and led him upstairs, up to where our baby was waiting for us.

  ###

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Rachel Schurig lives in the metro Detroit area with her dog, Lucy. She loves to watch reality TV and she reads as many books as she can get her hands on. In her spare time, Rachel decorates cakes. This is her first novel.

  Don’t miss the next book from Rachel Schurig…

  Three Girls and a Wedding

  Jen Campbell loves weddings. In fact, she loves them so much that she became an event planner in the hopes that she would one day get the chance to help women create the fairy tale day of their dreams...Unfortunately, the only thing Jen has been allowed to plan so far are boring restaurant openings and children's birthday parties.

  When Jen’s big break finally comes, she realizes that wedding planning is a heck of a lot more complicated than picking out the perfect flowers and cake.

  Add to the chaos a pair of fighting friends, a totally pressuring mother, and a ridiculously gorgeous (but moody) best man, and Jen has her work cut out for her.

  In Three Girls and a Wedding, Jen Campbell will try to plan the perfect wedding and maybe—just maybe—create her very own happily-ever-after.

  Continue reading for a special sneak peak!

  Chapter One

  ‘Whether you are planning your big day yourself, or letting the pros handle it, a wedding can be a very stressful undertaking. The sheer number of details that must be accounted for could overwhelm even the most dedicated amongst us. It is essential you devote as much time as possible to planning—this is, after all, the biggest day of your life!’—The Bride’s Guide to a Fabulous Wedding!

  It was 6:30 on Friday night, and I wanted to go home.

  It had been a long day—a long week, really—and all I wanted was to be out of the office and back home, preferably in comfy clothes with a glass of wine in my hand. Unfortunately, we were all stuck here for the foreseeable future.

  “Any word yet, Jen?”

  I looked up to see Amanda, a junior account manager in my department, leaning in my doorway.

  “Nope,” I replied, leaning back in my chair. “Haven’t heard anything.”

  Amanda sighed and walked into my office—and I use the word office here figuratively. Closet, or cubby hole, would have been more accurate. Amanda plopped herself into the chair opposite me and promptly put her head on my desk.

  “It’s going to be Jason,” she moaned. “I just know it.”

  “You’re probably right,” I agreed sadly. “Little bastard that he is.”

  “I’ve been here four months longer!” she exclaimed, sitting up straight and brushing her curly blond hair out of her face. “It’s just so unfair.”

  Amanda had a point, and I could commiserate with her. But, disloyal though it may be, I also felt that she wouldn’t have much chance of beating someone like Jason even with years of seniority on her side. In the decision of whom to make a senior account executive, Jason was a natural fit.

  Amanda was good at what she did, sure, but she didn’t possess that killer edge that our bosses seemed to love so much. Jason had that edge.

  “He’s just so…so smarmy!” I could tell Amanda was starting to get worked up, so I settled back and tried to get comfortable. We’d been down this road before. “Who would want someone like that planning their event?”

  “A lot of people wouldn’t,” I so
othed her. “That’s where you and I come in.” I didn’t add that the big money accounts were the ones perfectly suited to the Jasons of our firm.

  I had been at NoLimits, the premiere event planning firm in the metro-Detroit area, for nearly two years now—a few months less than Jason and half a year a shy of Amanda’s tenure. In that time I had seen two people promoted from junior manager to senior account executive. It wasn’t hard to get the lay of the land around here—Jason was a shoo-in.

  And, as such, I was beginning to get pretty irritated that I was stuck here, on a Friday night, awaiting the partners to make their final decision. I knew it wasn’t going to be my name that was announced, or even Amanda’s, my closest friend here, so what was the point in waiting around? The thought of congratulating Jason, of sipping champagne while everyone plastered fake smiles on their faces and pretended they weren’t dying of jealousy, was not my idea of fun.

  “What does he have that I don’t have?” Amanda muttered, once again laying her head flat on my desk.

  “Balls?” I suggested. Amanda only sighed. “Oh come on, I don’t even get a sympathy laugh for that one?”

  Amanda looked up from her pillow of files on my desk. “Seriously, Jen. What’s holding me back?”

  It was my turn to sigh. How could I tell her what I really thought? Amanda was adorable. Much shorter than me, she was also somewhat round, with rosy cheeks and a perpetually cheerful demeanor—with the exception of this evening. She was best suited to smaller, more intimate events—definitely an important part of our business, but she hardly brought in the kind of money that impressed the partners.

  I, on the other hand, played the game—or tried to. I studied what the partners seemed to be looking for, and I emulated it. I dressed in simple, sophisticated clothes. I kept my dark brown bob sleek and my makeup impeccable. I never left the house with my feet in anything but heels. I went out to the lunches, to the drinks after work, to the parties and the swanky dinners. Did I enjoy any of it? Hell no. But I was willing to put in the time now if it would get me where I wanted to be.