"Have you heard anything? I'm not sure what I should say."
"If you mean about Maggie being pregnant, then yes. Anna told me."
"Well, we had this huge argument last night."
"I'm assuming about the pregnancy?"
Eric's brow wrinkled in a frown. "How the hell do I know? It was crazy. I was trying to apologize because I'd been so stunned when she first told me that I hadn't reacted well at all. But then she flipped out on me. I said I thought we should get married soon, maybe at Christmas and she didn't take that well."
"Um, did you lead with that?"
"I don't know. Sort of, I guess."
"Well, that was probably a bad move."
"Why, what's wrong with it?"
"She probably thought you were saying you guys had to get married right away because of the baby. Like it was something to hide."
"I was only thinking that it was better for the child, when he grew up, for there not to be, you know, that difference in dates."
"But Eric, why didn't you start by apologizing and telling her that you were excited about the baby?"
"I tried to tell her I was happy about it, but she didn't believe me. And, she got all picky about the words I was using. Said I was calling it 'it' instead of 'baby' like I was a terrible person." He stood up and began pacing. "Nothing she said made sense to me. She was lying there glaring at me--"
"Hold on. She was lying down? Why?"
"She'd just gotten sick. The smell from the pizza I'd brought got to her."
"Oh my. You were doomed from the outset. Sit down here and listen to me."
Eric sat down and watched as Julia flipped her very long black hair over her shoulder. She seemed to gather her thoughts and then speared him with her dark blue eyes.
"When a woman is pregnant she has a ton of hormonal changes happening. Just that alone can make things unsettled. She's not crazy or incompetent or stupid, which some men seem to think. But her emotions are more stirred up. Then you take the nausea. I remember it well. Even after you get sick, you still have the nausea for a while, sometimes all day. Nothing, I repeat, nothing is going to make you happy when your body feels like that. To expect that you two could have a rational conversation, with her feeling like that, was delusional."
She paused and took a drink of her coffee. Eric felt his body relaxing as she talked in her calm, steady voice.
"Plus, both of you are trying to adjust to this unexpected event in your lives. I'm sure you hadn't planned on this happening for a while at the very least. Suddenly, you're both scrambling, trying to do the right thing, trying to deal with your world being turned upside down. I'd be amazed if either one of you had any understanding and awareness of the other person's needs at this point. You guys were asking way too much of yourselves to try and discuss all of it under those conditions."
"I never knew she could be so unreasonable!" Eric said with some heat.
"Let me guess. This was your first fight?"
Eric thought about it. "Sort of. She wasn't happy when I bought the building for her. We kind of argued about that. Mostly it was her telling me why I was wrong. And me realizing she was right. It wasn't much of an argument."
"So you hadn't really experienced arguing with a touch of unreasonable behavior thrown in? You know, in most arguments, they tend to degenerate into illogical and rather stupid things being said to each other. I would have been astonished if you had managed to talk about the baby coming without disaster happening, given all these factors."
"Who was at fault then? I woke up angry at her."
Julia shook her head. "You both said and did things yesterday that you wouldn't have done under other conditions. It doesn't mean either one of you was at fault. You both reacted from where you were coming from in that moment. Today is a new day. You've both had time to sleep on it, and to think a bit. You're talking to me, and hopefully Maggie is talking to someone, maybe Anna. At some point, you'll be ready to sit down together and hash this all out."
"She threw me out, last night. She told me not to come back there after choir practice," Eric said quietly. He realized that this was what had hurt the most. "How could she do that?"
Julia reached across the coffee table and patted his hand. "Probably because she was hurt too, by something you said or did."
Eric felt his face flush. "Uh, well, yeah. I did sort of walk out on her when she first told me she was pregnant."
Julia bent her head and he suspected it was to get her face under control. She was smiling and looking rueful when she looked up at him. "You guys really did a number on each other. It's amazing how easily we can hurt the people we love the most. And you do love her, I can see that."
"Well yeah, of course I do. I don't see why she doesn't remember that."
"There are times in a woman's life when it is very important that she hear those words, often. This would be one of those times."
Eric supposed that she was right. The more he thought about her words, he realized she was very right. He decided to make the first gesture.
"Julia, I'm going out for a few minutes to the florist. I'll be right back." He ran out the door before Julia could say anything else to him.
* * * *
"So then he just left!" Maggie said to Anna.
"But hadn't you told him to leave and not to come back after practice?"
"Yes--but he didn't have to just agree to it so easily, like he wanted to go."
Maggie got up to make some more chamomile tea. It seemed to settle her stomach this morning. They were sitting at her kitchen table, eating scones. Although, her plate was mostly filled with crumbs as she'd demolished her scone instead of eating it.
"Look, you both said and did things that you probably shouldn't have. You're going to have to forgive each other and move past this."
"How? He was talking about us having to get married, like it was the 1950s or something. Oh you should have heard that patriarchal tone he got in his voice. 'Maggie' he said, all patronizing like I was crazy, or a child." She'd tried to imitate the tone of voice he'd used but evidently it hadn't worked, because Anna had started chuckling.
"I'm sorry to laugh," she finally said, wiping the corners of her eyes. "But you remind me of a conversation I had with Sam when I was pregnant. It was amazing to me how patronizing he could sound. I would never have believed he could sound that way when talking to me. I think something happens to men when they find out they're going to be a father. Yes, as I recall, we had a bit of an argument before we straightened that out."
"Well, I don't see why he couldn't have just said he was happy about the baby, and told me he loved me madly," Maggie said, feeling pretty grumpy about it.
"He probably was trying to say those very things. But men can sometimes tangle themselves up when it comes to babies and love--the mushy stuff. You'd both had a pretty momentous day. Men try and make sense of these big events by being all logical and rational. That's their coping mechanism. Usually. Women often don't respond well to that approach." She quirked an eyebrow at Maggie, who blushed and looked down.
"I thought so," Anna said. "You two are going to be okay. Think about it. He could have packed up his car and driven out of town. You're the only thing keeping him here in Sully Point. The fact that he mentioned marriage at all in connection with the baby is a good sign. It's obvious how much he loves you."
Maggie felt the blood drain from her face. "You don't think he might have left town in the night do you? Because I told him not to come back?"
"You told him not to come back forever?"
"No, but what if he interpreted it that way?"
"I would suggest that you don't let yourself get carried away...again."
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Maggie jumped up and ran to the door. Maybe it was Eric, she thought. But a stranger was standing at the door, holding out a bouquet of flowers.
"Maggie Carter?" he asked.
"Yes, that's me."
"These are f
or you, ma'am."
He handed the flowers to her and then took off down the stairs. She closed the door and carried the flowers into the kitchen.
"How beautiful they are," Anna said. "From Eric?"
"Wait--here's the card. Actually, it's several cards. What did he do? Write a book? You hold these while I read it. 'I didn't know your favorite flower, so I picked out one from every bunch that was beautiful like you. I love you very much. I hope we can resolve our differences. I want you to know that I am very happy about the situation. I would use the right word but it would be all over town. Call me, please, and tell me you want me back.'"
Maggie felt the tears running down her face. "I hate all this crying! Did he actually send me flowers asking to 'resolve our differences?' Doesn't that sound weird to you?"
Anna shook her head. "Don't you see what he was doing? He didn't want to give away that you are pregnant. The gossip would be all over town by lunchtime."
"Oh! I didn't think of that. Okay."
"Are you going to call him?"
Maggie thought about it, while putting the flowers in a vase. They were a multi-colored riot of blooms, made up of roses, irises, gerbera daisies, orchids, mums and more. They looked so unlike what she would imagine her logical Eric would choose. They looked like her.
"Yes, I'll call him." She turned to face Anna and placed the vase on the table. "But we still have things to work out. Flowers don't just make it all okay."
Anna nodded. "Of course. But they are a lovely start." She gathered up her handbag and put on her coat. "I think you'll do fine now. I'll leave you alone to call him."
Maggie hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Thank you once again, for always being there in my hour of need. I'll call you later."
"Good luck!"
Maggie leaned against the door for a minute after closing it. Did the flowers and the words on the card mean that they could work things out? It was time to find out. She took her phone out of her pocket and called him.
"Maggie! I'm so glad you called. You got my message then?"
"Yes, at least I think so. You were pretty good at being circumspect on the wording."
"I figured you didn't want the whole town to know yet."
"You were right. Did you mean what you said in the cards?"
"Yes. I love you Maggie, for forever, remember? I was in shock, stunned, and acted like an idiot. Can we meet to talk sometime today?"
"You could come by after you're through with the computers, if you want."
"Okay--no--wait. Tonight is the first night of caroling."
"Oh."
"But I could come by when we're done. How does that sound?"
Maggie felt relief. "That sounds good. I'll see you then."
"I love you."
"Love you, too." She ended the call and took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He did still love her. That much at least was right between them. Maybe there was a way for this to turn out okay.
She went back into the kitchen and cleaned up the dishes. Then in a flurry of energy, she vacuumed and dusted everywhere in the apartment. Next up was an optimistic changing of the sheets on the bed. She'd just finished cleaning the bathroom when she got a call from Cody asking her to take over at the food drive operation because they were short-handed.
Feeling much more grounded than she had in days, she changed clothes and headed out. On the drive over to the building they were using for the food drive, it occurred to her that she had done no work at all for the past week or so on the Sully Point Project. Realistically, there wasn't much she could do at this point, especially during the holiday season. After Christmas she was going to tell everyone that she was out. There were plenty of good P.R. people in the city that could take over.
Being pregnant, knowing she was experiencing something truly important, was making her see the world with different eyes. Eyes that looked honestly at the parts of her life that needed changing. Her work was the biggest and most obvious one. How could she expend time, energy, and creativity on work that she didn't have a passion for, a joy in doing?
She was going to be a role model for a child. She wanted to pass on a joy in life, in everything she did. Yes, sometimes life requirements meant that a person couldn't work in the field that they cared most about. But she believed in those cases it was vital to have something outside of work to bring satisfaction and fulfillment to life. Her arts and crafts had given her that over the past couple of years.
She parked and went inside the first floor. It was the building with the loft apartment that so many Graingers had used for one reason or another. Now they were using it for the organization of the food and toy giveaway. She walked into chaos. People and boxes, wrapping paper and bows, a ringing phone, and a radio blaring Christmas music almost overwhelmed her. But she threw her shoulders back, took a deep breath, and yelled, "Everybody stop!" Then she whistled loudly with two fingers at her lips.
The noise abated somewhat and she went to the radio and turned it off. Everyone seemed to sigh with relief at the silence. "Let's get organized people. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and our big day. Any questions, come see me. Also, I want everybody's cell phone set to vibrate, please. I'll answer the phone line coming into this room. Now, chop, chop, get to work, elves!"
Laughter filled the room and then a productive murmur as people returned to their jobs. Five people lined up with questions for her, which she handled smoothly. Soon she had the room divided into sections, with about half of it devoted to completed boxes and gifts packaged to go out on the trucks tomorrow. A double refrigerator sat at the back of the room, filled with gallons of milk and hams. The delivery plan involved pick-up trucks and SUVs and plenty of volunteers. If everything worked out, the computer deliveries and food deliveries would all finish up by late tomorrow afternoon. Maggie was just glad that Sully Point was a small town. She couldn't imagine working with one of the big city charities that served so many more people. At least here, she knew they were helping everyone who needed help. No one would be overlooked.
By around six that evening, she knew they were all set for the next day. Every toy had been wrapped and labeled, and every food package was ready to go. Cody had stopped by and been thrilled to see how organized it had become.
Maggie was exhausted. She went home and fixed some vegetable soup from her freezer. After a quick shower, she tumbled into her bed for a nap. The next thing she knew was Eric kissing her lips.
* * * *
He'd come in and thought the apartment was empty at first, until he had walked into bedroom to find her there. She looked so peaceful he didn't want to wake her. But he couldn't resist kissing her softly. Violet eyes stared into his and then she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down to lie beside her.
"Oh Eric, I'm so glad you're here."
"I didn't really mean to wake you up, but I couldn't keep from kissing you. I missed you."
She smiled at him. "I missed you, too. I'm sorry I was so mean and awful."
"And I'm sorry I was stupid and unthinking."
"Okay, at least that's out of the way," she said. "Now what?"
He gave her a hug. "Now, we should talk. About everything. Until we both understand each other and feel like we are in agreement. I know that we should do that. But all I want is to make love to you."
"I like that plan," she said, and proceeded to kiss him thoroughly.
Much later, his stomach rumbled and she heard it. "Is your stomach growling? Didn't you eat dinner?"
"I was in too big a hurry to get here. Do you think you can handle my fixing some food? Will it upset your stomach?"
"I have no idea, but let's give it a try. I could eat something more."
They got out of bed and she put on a robe, while he tugged on the flannel pajama bottoms he usually wore around the place at night, with a sweatshirt. He spied the eclairs in the fridge. "All right!"
"Eric, you are not going to eat all my eclairs instead of supper. Look, there's some turkey and p
rovolone cheese for sandwiches and I picked up rolls today from the bakery, so they are nice and fresh. Mm, mustard. I want lots of mustard on mine."
When he saw her slather mustard all over her sandwich, he managed not to say anything about how it might be pregnancy-related. He wolfed down one sandwich, and then made another. She'd finished hers by the time he polished off his second.
"Now about those eclairs..." he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.
She giggled. An actual giggle, and somehow that lifted his heart. "Go ahead," she said with a wave of her hand.
As he ate the pastry that was filled with a deliciously creamy custard filling, he gazed at Maggie's face. She looked relaxed and happy, licking some chocolate icing off a fingertip. "You look beautiful."
She blinked and stared at him.
"Did I say that out loud?"
She smiled and said, "Yes, you did. You're not so bad yourself."
"I haven't come right out and said it, but I want you to know that I want this baby," he said, trying to put as much conviction as possible into his voice. She had to understand.
She looked at him steadily. "But this wasn't in your plan for our future."
"No, it wasn't. And I was surprised, stunned actually. And I handled the news badly. I couldn't seem to wrap my head around something so momentous. But when I had time to think, I realized just how miraculous and wonderful it is that you're pregnant. This baby is made from our love, from each of us. How could I not love him or her already?"
Maggie stared at him with wide shining eyes. Then she got up and walked around the table to him. He turned in his chair to face her. She placed her hands on his face and kissed him lightly. "That's all I wanted to hear from the very beginning."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"What about the wedding?" he asked, with a decent amount of trepidation.
"Don't you want your parents to be there? If we move the wedding up, they will still be gone."
"I have money. I can send a plane for them or something. I'm not concerned about what the rest of the world thinks about your being pregnant. I just thought it would be good for our kid, in case he ever adds up months and dates. I wouldn't want him to think we had to get married because of him."
Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) Page 14
