If I Could Be With You (14 page)

CHAPTER twenty-two

Later that evening she snuggled against her fiancé, who wore the sweater and new watch she had given him that morning.

“This feels so nice. We’ve made all our calls. Everyone knows and is happy for us. The ring fits perfectly, I have a job and we have a new home in Queens as of a week from now. Could we ask for anything more?” She worried slightly when his body tensed at her words. “What’s wrong?” she asked as fear pooled in her belly.

He plucked a strand of her hair from her face and pushed it behind her ear. He looked sad, but how could he be sad? Everything was perfect. It had all worked out exactly as they wanted.

“Hannah, I have to ask you for one more gift.”

“You know I’d give you anything.”

“I do.” He smiled but the sadness lingered in his eyes. “I have everything I could ask for except one thing and I’m worried that the one thing that I need to ask of you may prove to be more than you’re willing to give.”

The nervous energy inside of her peaked and she sat up straight.

“Just tell me, Charles. You’re scaring me. What don’t you have that you need?”

“My old friend in my life.”

It slowly dawned on her. He was referring to Nadia, pregnant Nadia, who had been the source of conflict, fear and almost all of the tension between them.  But she was also the Nadia that had been his best friend through college. The Nadia who he had cared enough about to marry so that she could become a citizen and have the life she deserved.

“What do you mean?” She twisted the ring on her left hand. “I just need you to tell me exactly what you’re asking me,” Hannah said.

He sat up and folded his hands between his knees giving her a shy sideways glance. “I need to be a part of my friend’s life again. I want for my wife to be a part of her life, too.”

Hannah sat back.  She still struggled with the fact that Nadia loved Charles and always had, but then again…on the subway that day Nadia had thanked her for saving her life. She knew the baby Nadia carried didn’t belong to Charles, so it must have belonged to someone else. Was it possible Nadia had found love? “So again, Charles, for right now I need you to be very clear. What are you asking me to do?”

“I’d like you to come with me to the old apartment and take a gift for the baby. One of my oldest and dearest friends is having a baby and even though she doesn’t celebrate Christmas, this would be the first time since I’ve met her that I haven’t given her a gift. It would mean the world to me if it could be a gift from both of us and if you would go with me.”

For some strange reason, the emotion that rolled through Hannah wasn’t jealously or fear, but love. She felt tears forming and knew he would misinterpret them, so she spoke quickly before he could jump to a conclusion.

“I would be happy and proud to go with you to take Nadia and her baby a present. Despite everything that’s happened and the fear that I have legitimately felt over her presence in our lives, I know now that she isn’t a threat. She never really was.”

He shoulders sank in relief and he pulled her back towards him. He pressed his lips against her hair and mumbled, “I love you, Hannah Miller.”

She shoved up off the couch.

“Let’s get moving, then. She’s pregnant and probably tired. I doubt she’ll be up until all hours.”

“You’re amazing, Hannah. Let me just run and get the gift. Grab your coat!”

Her words hung in the air, “She’s pregnant and probably tired.” She yawned and lifted the silver framed photo. November 28. Today was Dec. 25. Had it been a whole month since their first night in Ohio together? How could she not have noticed?

Charles appeared in his coat, holding his hat and gloves. She tried to put herself in his place. If it had been her friend and she had gone through everything that Nadia and he had together, there was no way she could have abandoned them. She was proud and relieved that she loved a man of integrity.

“Oops,” he said and turned around. He ran back to the bedroom again and came carrying a gift wrapped in yellow paper with small giraffes printed on it.

“When did you get that? I didn’t even notice it.”

“It was under the bed. Truth?” he asked.

“Always truth,” she answered.

“I bought it the day after I found out she was pregnant. I was just standing outside of Macys and I had to go in. Have you ever shopped in the baby department before, Hannah? Who knew there was so much stuff that a kid could need?”

She laughed at his innocence and ignorance, “Yeah, who knew?” she replied, wondering if she herself might need to know sooner than she thought.

****

Early the next morning Hannah snuck out of bed, careful not to wake her snoring fiancé. Tiptoeing into the living area she grabbed her purse and pulled out the pregnancy test she’d picked up on the way home from Nadia’s the night before. It had been a good thing that they were out of milk, and that Charles had agreed to let her run in alone. She didn’t want to get his hopes up for something that was probably not that likely.

She’d gone off the pill when she’d come home from New York because she didn’t want to make sleeping with any of her new suitors too easy, and it seemed smart to have to ask them to wear a condom, not that she’d gotten past first base with any of them. With Charles though, they hadn’t always been as careful as they should have. Sitting in the bathroom waiting for the plus or minus to appear she let her hopes get the better of her. There was really no reason not to be excited. They were taking giant leaps together anyway. What was one more?

A knock sounded on the door.

“You in there? Hurry up. I’ve gotta go.”

“Just a second,” she said knowing that it would literally be just a second before she knew the truth.

She picked the test up from the counter and let out a small squeal at the confirmation of baby McMillan’s impending arrival.

“You OK? Do you need help?” He called from the other side of the door.

She looked at the test in her hand and didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want this to be the way he found out he was going to be a father.

“I’m fine, just dropped my hairbrush in the toilet,” she answered. “I’ll be out in just a sec.” She quickly turned on the water and ran her brush under the stream. Taking toilet paper off the roll, she wrapped the test so that it couldn’t be seen and placed it in the trash. Good enough, she thought.

Striving for calm, she opened the door and pushed passed him, even faking a yawn and pretending she couldn’t wait to get back into bed. He shut the door and she screamed into a pillow. How was she supposed to go back to sleep with news like this to share? Her heart was beating a mile a minute, still she found a way to climb back under the covers and wait for him to join her.

When he returned he scooted up against her and wrapped her in his arms.

“I love you,” he mumbled.

“Hmmm…” she answered trying to pretend she wasn’t wide-awake.

“I wanted to thank you again for going last night.” He pressed his lips to the back of her head as he spooned her. “It really means a lot for me to still have Nadia, and now her new boyfriend and child in my life. I can’t believe she’s really going to be a mom.”

“Me either,” she said, wondering why he was feeling so chatty when he normally would roll over and go back to sleep.

“You know,” he kept talking, “Seeing her pregnant last night made me really happy that you and I have this time with each other before we have kids. I’ve always believed it’s really important for people to establish who they are as a couple before they start a family.”

She felt her breathing hitch. She wouldn’t cry.

“You have?”

“Definitely,” he said as she nuzzled her neck. “Of course, that was before I found this pregnancy test in the trash and got the greatest news of my life.”

Holding the test in one hand, he pulled her around to face him.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry Hannah! I was teasing you.” He bent and kissed the tear from her cheek. “I found the test so I thought I’d tease you. I’m happy, I promise. I’ve never been happier in my entire life.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Honestly.”

“Well, these aren’t sad tears anyway. Do you think after yesterday with the boxes and the gift card I’d actually fall for another one of your tricks. They’re happy tears, hormonal – but happy.”

She leaned in to kiss him.

“Uh, Hannah?”

“What now?” she asked.

“Do you think I could put this pee stick somewhere else before we get too busy celebrating?”

She laughed and crawled on top of him before taking the test from his hand and placing it on the bedside table.

He pushed her hair from her face and looked into her eyes. “I can’t believe we’re here. After all this time I always knew that if I could be with you, we’d fall in love and we could make it work.”

She nodded and leaned down to kiss him.

“Oh yeah,” she said. “No doubt. This is going to work.”

The End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Mamie Hardesty lives and works in Louisville, KY. She is an avid reader and fan of the romance genre and is thrilled to finally be a contributing member of the community. She is happy to interact with readers on Amazon or Goodreads.