by JQ Jones
David was well aware the fact that one of the reasons that Barbara was so reluctant to give up the idea of marrying into his family was his money. Her family was land rich only. Barbara enjoyed the finer things in life but never intended to work for them.
He had not moved from his place on the bed when Manuela poked her head around the door. Making sure that the coast was clear, she came all the way into the room and stretched out on the bed fully clothed beside him.
“Was it bad?” she said.
“Not as bad as it would have been if they had taken me out to the yard and stomped me a little bit,” David said.
“Yeah, that would’ve been bad. I heard them coming around 4:30. So I went downstairs to Ebony’s room until they finished. I’m not ashamed of my baby but the idea of talking to my cousins brought back the early days of morning sickness,” she said.
“Are you okay?” David said. He could feel his anxiety race with just the possibility that she might not be well.
“No, I haven’t had morning sickness since I realized that’s what it was. If you eat certain things at certain times it will take care of that. And that’s what I’ve been doing,” Manny said.
“I think it was rather noble for them to ask me what my intentions are. It was old-fashioned and it does show that they care about you,” David said.
“I’ve never doubted that they liked me, or love me even, but we’re a close-knit family. Adriana and Ernesto had tons of love to give, you still can feel a little pang of not being in that inner circle,” Manny said.
She lay on her with her head propped on her right palm. She watched as to room got lighter and lighter and David continued to lay with his eyes closed. His hand stretched over his side so he could caress his fingers through Manny’s hair as she lay there. He watched as the expression on her face changed to a soft smile.
“I like your family. They’re very passionate. I understand their apprehension about me and you and the baby. I feel the same way. I don’t know enough about you to know if we have a chance at being something more than just passionate friends but I do know that that we are the parents of a child and for that reason we need to have some type of relationship. We can define it later. But for right now we need to be supportive of each other as much as we can. Before you say anything just listen to what it is that I have thought might work,” David said.
Manny opened one eye to watch his face as he began to speak. He continued to rub her scalp and trail his fingers down her neck. It wasn’t sexual but it was sensual. It showed that he was aware of her as a human being even more then she realized.
“I will listen, but I can guarantee that I will have something to say,” Manny said.
“I expect you will have quite a bit say, just let me get it all out first,” David said.
From his expression Manny could tell that it was something he had been thinking about but didn’t know how to express. Now you’ll offer me money and to set me up in a house somewhere.
“You don’t have anywhere to stay as you’re contemplating leaving the ranch and starting over. My suggestion is that we work this together. One of the places that Iona suggested or thought you were going to look at was London I’d like for you to come to London to live with me.” The speech came out in one long release of breath.
She waited for the rest as he drew in air for it.
“After we met here a few months ago, I left so I could explain to Barbara that I will not marry her. She is a stubborn woman. I’ve convinced her to move out of my flat. My place is not a place to raise a child. But we can and we should look for different place that would be convenient for both of us. I don’t know if you want to look for job while you are pregnant but with us splitting duties we should be able to take care of a baby and live our lives,” he said. During his entire explanation he had sat up in the bed watching Manny with close attention. For her part she closed her eyes and could feel the smile brightening her face.
“That’s not exactly what I was expecting so I’ll have to digest that for a while before I can give you an answer,” she said.
“Whatever problems you have tell me now and we’ll talk it out. I would like to everything settled within the next few days. Number one because I’m working on a new show in London and I have to go back. And the other reason is you are almost five months pregnant. I want you established and comfortable before you get six months,” David said.
“I’ll think about it and give you an answer before you leave. When is the plane leaving?”
“As soon as you give me an answer.”
* * * *
Early that same afternoon Manny, Iona and Ebony sat in the kitchen shelling peas that Adrianna sent from her garden. Manny went over the conversation she had with David about her moving to London as she shelled without joining in the conversation.
“Did you and David talk about the elephant in the room? Or the huge belly in the room?” Iona said. Iona was direct to the point of rudeness most times and with family even more so.
“What did your cousin say when they got there this morning?” Ebony said.
“They did what they do, make sure the guy understands that I am well protected, tell him that he will get hurt if I get hurt, and normal stuff they’ve been doing since we’ve been kids. It’s just now they know there’s a baby involved and I know there’s pressure from Abuela and Adrianna for me to stay here. I have no intentions of staying here. I think it’s best that I leave before I get too big. I just don’t know where I want to go,” Manny said. The snapping of the peas had become stronger and stronger as she spoke. She could feel the level of anxiety rising as she thought about not having a home or a support system, the two things that she had always had all of her life. She looked at David’s suggestion from so many angles that her head ached. The plan would man she and the Bean would be thousands of miles from family and at the mercy of a man who she knew very little about.
“I know your cousins would say something like that. That’s what any family in the Hollow says when their daughters get knocked up. I’m talking about what David said after they left,” Ebony said.
“He tried to explain where he thinks things stand with his fiancée. To him the relationship is over but she’s still hanging on. Then he said he wants me to come to London and live with him until the baby is born so that he could he could share in the experience and help me out,” Manny said. She threw peas into the bowl so hard that they bounce back up.
“So you’re mad at him for stepping up?” Iona said.
Manny laughed for the first time since the weekend began. She shook her head and nodded at the same time. “When you put it that way, I sound either psycho or pregnant. It’s just he’s being so righteous about this that I can’t believe it. I mean, I knew he was nice that was part of the reason I slept with him but that was expected from a man trying to get in a woman’s pants. But if I move to London I’d have to trust him more than I trusted any other man in my life.”
“I wish I could find a man who wanted to take care of me and my baby that I say is his even though he didn’t even know my name after I met him, fucked him then left him. Sounds like a keeper to me,” Ebony said. Manny and Iona stared at the baby-faced woman. It was rare when she spoke and rare still when she used profanity. The other women shot each other puzzled looks before they continued the conversation.
“I think there’s one thing that you haven’t thought of,” Iona said.
“What’s that?” Manny said.
“It’s a hell of a lot cooler in London that it is an Oklahoma right now,” Iona said.
“I’m on my way upstairs to pack my stuff,” Manny said.
* * * *
Clint and David sat in the front of the SUV while Manny tightly strapped in by both David and Clint sat in the back. Clint had moderated his usual breakneck speed to just barely cruising.
“Manny are you sure about this?” Clint said.
“I’m not sure about it but it is cooler in England and he�
�s not so bad,” she said.
“Call me first if you get in a tight spot. I can be there in eight hours. And if I come you won’t have to deal with the cousins,” Clint said.
“I can take care of her,” David said.
“I’ve seen you around Barbara and your parents. No offense, cuz, but I can see trouble once they get you cornered and worried about where your responsibilities lie. They are going to ride you like a bull.”
“This is my baby and my responsibility. Manuela is my responsibility. I take care of her. I appreciate your concern but I resent like Hell the implication that your help will be needed,” David said. He tipped his chin down so that he could over the top of his glasses at Clint.
“Just remember that as soon as you. They’ll be eight more men standing there ready to take her back to where she belongs,” Clint said.
“She is a grown woman. I don’t need any of the males in my life taking care of me,” Manny said, her frustration level rising as she watched the two men in front beat their chests over her.
Clint looked in the rearview mirror to catch her eye. “Call me any time, because…”
“Don’t worry. David is a good man. I trust him. Besides I’m a big girl, a very big girl now, I can take care of myself and the Bean. I appreciate the offer,” Manny said, her eyes steady in the mirror.
“I know all those things, I’m just being a port in the storm if you come up against a problem.”
Manny saw the concern in his eyes and longed for the comfort of being with her family. Her hesitation, the intense call for the comfort of home, pulled at her but she knew that staying at the ranch for just one more night would end her dreams of independence for herself and the Bean. They would be cossetted and taken care of for the rest of their lives in love and comfort. The months would stretch into years, years of taking care of her child, puttering around doing made-up jobs until the Bean grew up and she was left with a lifetime of what-ifs. She shook off the vision.
“I’ll keep it in mind but I’m leaving today.”
David let out the breath he held without realizing it. He knew how conflicted she was and for a moment he thought she would turn the car around for what she knew. They were still strangers who shared passion and a child but little else. He was determined more than ever to earn her trust and to take care of his child with her.
Miguel was their pilot for the day. He helped his cousin out of the backseat to escort her to the plane. David was left with the luggage. The jet took off so that going back was off the table, at least for now. After it was okay to walk around the cabin, Manny went to lie down in the back cabin. She was sleepy and tired but no amount of maneuvering could get her into a comfortable position. She pried open an eye as David slipped into the room.
He lay beside her so that her back was nestled against his chest. Her sigh filled the room over the sound of the engines.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he said.
“De nada. You trust me not to be pushing off someone else’s child on you, the least I can do is trust that you won’t turn into Jack the Ripper once we get to London. We may or may not work as a couple but we’re always going to be the Bean’s parents.”
“Poor Bean.”
“Yeah, poor Bean.”
They laughed. “I’m getting used to you. But more than anything right now you are the best back rest I’ve found.”
Manny drifted off to sleep snuggled against him. David held her for the rest of the trip determined to make the trust she gave him without hesitation earned.
Chapter Eight:
Turn Down the Voices
They arrived in London just after noon. For Manny it was wonderfully cool. There was a light mist falling and the streets were wet as they drove from Gatwick to the small boutique hotel in Soho that Iona purchased so she could have somewhere familiar to stay. The hotel was a small twenty-four-room place nestled on a quiet street with rooms overlooking a roundabout or a small garden. The name was changed to the Warren but the name was more formal than the eclectic funky space. It had been home to most of the rockers and singers of the sixties and still was one of the top places to stay for people who spent a lot of time away from home. Iona added her own touches of, what CJ called extreme green, to the hotel. Solar tiles lined the roof, radiant floors ran throughout and the ubiquitous London rain fell into a series of cisterns that fed the showers and sinks in the rooms.
Manny’s suite was decorated in much the same way as her old room at the ranch, in cool shades of blue, brown and gray. The bathtub-shower combination sparkled with glass tiles the formed a swan and a bidet with a butt sensor that made Manny smile. Backing out the bathroom, she slumped down on the bed in slow motion of ready to take yet another nap.
“All I want to do is sleep,” she said.
“That’s what pregnant women do isn’t it?” David said. He sat in a cloth-covered chair that faced the bed, watching her with close attention for changes in her mood and manner to make sure that she hadn’t overtired herself.
“I need to eat and take a nap.”
“At the same time?”
The look that Manny sent his way told David that his attempt at humor had missed the mark. He cleared his throat as he stood up to leave.
“I’ll order you something from room service as I leave. Lay down for a nap. I will be back in about forty-five minutes to an hour after I settle some things at my place and do a bit of shopping. I need to check in with my crew at the theater to let them know that I’m still alive and working. They must be frantic by now,” David said. He watched as she relaxed into the pillows as time, travel and circumstance got the better of her.
“I should go with you to shop. I could use a few maternity tops and new bras but right now all I want to wash off my newest layer of sweat and sleep for the next few months,” she said. Her voice progressed into a husky whisper as she got closer and closer to sleep. He unfolded the blanket from the foot of the bed and covered her, causing a slight mumble of protest. He stood over her, watching her sleep for a minute before he left the room.
“I might be asleep when you get back.”
“That really doesn’t matter. I know what my job is in this relationship, I’ve adjusted well to my position as an official back rest.”
“As long as you know your place.”
* * * *
After David left, Manny forced herself up and into the shower before she stretched out across the queen-size bed to rest her eyes for a few minutes. Almost an hour later, she woke to the discreet knock from room service. The bellboy arrived with a cart with breakfast, lunch and dinner selections plus herb tea, milk and juices. Manny ate something from each until the gnawing want for food was satisfied for now. She was at the end of her bout of gluttony when David came back accompanied by the same bellboy, each carrying a huge selection of bags and boxes.
“It looks like you went a little crazy with the shopping,” Manny said. She stuffed the last bite of salmon into her mouth as shopping bags and small boxes were arranged on all the available small couches, chairs, end and coffee tables. The rest of them ended up on the floor. David tipped the bellboy who wheeled away the food cart on his way out the suite. The name blazoned across most of the bags said Mammas and Papas.
“Went a little overboard?” Manny said. She smiled as she heaved out the chair to investigate the bags. A peek into a few of them showed baby clothes, bottles and other things.
“We didn’t pack anything for the Bean that I saw. They have the greatest things for babies. The woman at the shop said that you need most of this just for starters,” David said. He dove into a bag and began pulling out a variety of baby accessories that he explained in detail as each of them appeared. He was especially taken with the warmer for wet wipes. He had purchased three different types of breast pumps.
“Are you breast-feeding? No matter, it’s healthier but you said you were looking for job so I got your breast pumps just in case. This one is quicker and easier so you should be
able to work and feed the Bean with no problem.”
“And what are the other bags?”
“Things for you. You need posh clothes because you’re going to be interviewing. I bought you something to wear for dinner tonight. I made reservations at a restaurant that I think you’ll enjoy.”
“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Manny said. She yawned again. The past few days of nonstop emotional highs and lows plus international travel were catching up with her.
“You’re right, we don’t have to go tonight. But we will in future. I’m the set designer for a major London production so we’ll be going out quite a bit. I want people to know I’m with you,” he said.
“You have one little bitty problem,” she said.
“It’ll be a bit of a shocker to find out I’ve a child on the way but I’m not worried about what people say. I think we should be able to be equitable and adult about whatever we decide our relationship is going to be.”
“You’re forgetting about Barbara.”
“Bloody Hell!”
* * * *
“I had forgotten. I’m sorry for landing you in such a situation. I have to make sure that the news of my non-marriage gets out before those damn wedding invites get mailed out.”
“We both need to stop apologizing. We, together, did something stupid and impulsive. We, together, have to make sure that we take care of the consequences, including the Bean, in the best way that we can,” Manny said. She lowered herself onto one of the cleared chairs.
