‘You have?’ Jack said, hope dawning in his eyes, and then with a ragged laugh he hauled her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. ‘Oh, thank you,’he whispered un-steadily, and she hugged him back.
‘Don’t thank me,’ she said. ‘I’m only doing what I’ve wanted all along—being with the man I love.’
She let him go and went over to David, standing now with Alex beside him, and she put her arms around him and hugged him, too. ‘I’m sorry. I never should have married you, it wasn’t fair, but you’ve been fantastic, and if I hadn’t Ben wouldn’t be here, and I can’t imagine the world without him, and you’ve been the best father the boys could have wished for, but I just want to be happy, like you are with Wendy.’
‘That’s all I want for you, too,’ he said, hugging her hard, and then he turned her and pushed her back towards Jack. ‘Come on, boys, let’s leave them to it. I expect they want to do soppy stuff.’
‘Oh, yuck,’ Ben said, but Alex gave Jack a lingering look, as if he didn’t really want to leave him.
‘Five minutes,’ Jack said. ‘Deal?’
Alex nodded. ‘Deal.’
They went out and closed the door, and she walked into his arms, rested her head on his chest and sighed.
His voice rumbled under her ear. ‘Did you really mean it?’
‘Mean what?’ she asked, tipping her head back so she could see him.
‘That you’ll marry me.’
‘Of course I meant it.’
‘It wasn’t just for the boys’ benefit?’
She straightened away from him, staring at him in consternation. ‘Of course not. Jack, I love you. I’ve always loved you, but you’ve never said it to me and so I never said it back. I thought…’
She broke off, and he tipped his head on one side. ‘You thought…?’
She shrugged. ‘Maybe it was just sex. Maybe it was just convenient—and then you found out about Alex and you thought, Why not? Good sex and you get to see your son—’
‘Hey, hang on. I’m not that bothered about sex.’
‘That’s ridiculous! You make love to me so often when we’re together—’
‘Because I want you. You. Not sex. I want to be with you, to hold you, to touch you. To be close to you. It’s only you that does that to me. Nothing else has ever come close. And it’s because I love you.’
Her eyes filled, and she rested her head back against his chest. ‘I’m so glad because, now I think about it, you might be right. About the contraception.’
He went still, then shifted so he could see her face. ‘Meaning?’
‘I think—I’ve been feeling queasy this week, but I thought it was knowing we’d got to tell Alex. It might not have been.’
Joy lit his eyes, and with a ragged sigh he gathered her gently against his heart.
‘Oh, my darling girl,’ he breathed, and pressed his lips to her forehead. She tilted her face up, and his lips found hers, and it was like no other kiss he’d ever given her.
It was a kiss of affirmation, of promise, of thanks.
A kiss of love.
And then the door opened, and a voice said, ‘We had a deal. Five minutes.’
Jack laughed softly against Sally’s mouth and lifted his head.
‘I’m coming, son,’ he said.
‘A girl?’
Jack grinned and hugged the boys.
‘That’s the one.’
‘Can we see her?’
‘Sure. Come on up.’
He led them through the garden door of their pretty but not-so-little Victorian house, the stuff of Sal’s dreams, and up the stairs to their bedroom. The midwife was still busy in the background, but Sally—his beautiful, clever, beloved wife—was lying there, propped up in bed with the baby at her breast, looking utterly sublime. His daughter was still streaked with blood, but one little starfish hand was pressed to the pale, blue-veined skin of Sally’s breast, and her rosebud mouth was working noisily.
‘Wow,’ Alex said softly. ‘She’s so tiny. Can I touch her?’
‘Of course you can,’ Sally said, smiling at him. He slid his finger under the tiny hand and she gripped it, and he grinned.
‘Hey, she’s really strong!’
‘She’s cool—bit messy, but she’s cute,’ Ben chipped in, going round the other side and climbing up onto the bed for a better look. He sat down on the pillow and put his head on his mother’s shoulder and watched his little sister feed, while Alex stood there with his finger in her tiny hand, and Jack thought his heart would burst.
‘I wonder what Wendy’s having?’ Ben said.
‘I reckon a boy,’ Alex answered. ‘Meg had a girl, then Annie had a boy, and Mum’s had a girl, and so it’s their turn for a boy.’
‘Does it matter?’ Sally asked, and they both shook their heads.
‘No. They all cry all night,’ Ben said sagely, and Jack met his wife’s eyes and laughed.
‘Oh, joy, I can hardly wait,’ he said, and he meant every word…
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5902-0
HIS VERY OWN WIFE AND CHILD
First North American Publication 2007
Copyright © 2007 by Caroline Anderson
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