A Family to Be (Saddle Falls) (15 page)

“Well, didn’t he?” Josh asked, wondering if the man had come back to claim Em as well.

“Yes,” she admitted, grabbing onto the front of Josh’s shirt so he couldn’t start storming around again. “He did.” She took a deep breath. “But you can’t really believe I’d let him? Accept him back into my life and the baby’s after what he did to me?”

“Well—”

“Josh Ryan, I’m surprised at you.” She gave him a poke in the chest. “You know me better than that. Do you honestly think I could just forgive and forget that the man is completely lacking in morals, character, and every other attribute required to be a husband and a father?”

Confused, Josh stood there looking down at her. “I don’t know, Em,” he admitted honestly, wanting to haul her close and into his arms, to protect her from anything that would ever dare to hurt her. Or Baby Cakes.

“Josh, it takes a lot more than being a sperm donor to be a father. It takes love, care and kindness. It takes putting your child ahead of yourself, making their needs, wishes and desires first in your life.” She took a deep breath, rubbing her belly and praying the pain she was feeling was just another Braxton-Hicks contraction because she had a feeling this would
not
be a good time for Baby Cakes to make an appearance. “It takes more to be a father, Josh. A lot more. What it takes, Josh, is what you’ve been to me and to Baby Cakes all these months.” She laid a hand to his chest, overwhelmed with love for him. “Josh, you asked me where Baby Cakes’s father is. Well…” Her voice trailed off and she tugged his hand, dragging him to the mirror on the wall in the foyer. “See that gorgeous guy there,” she said, grinning as she pointed to his frowning image. “There’s Baby Cakes’s father, Josh,” she said softly, her voice catching as he turned to her. “You’ve been her father from the moment you found out about her, Josh.” Em sniffled, pressing a hand to her back, hoping these pains weren’t serious. “Her
real
father,” she added softly, glancing up at him, her gaze soft with love. “Josh, you are exactly the kind of father every woman—
any
woman—could want for her child. The kind of father any child could be proud of.”

“Em—”

“Josh, I don’t know if you’re ready to hear this or not,” she said, biting her lip partly in pain, partly because of nerves. “But Josh, I—I—love you, and not as a friend, but as so much more. And so does Baby Cakes,” she admitted. “You’ve been everything to me during all these months, Josh, showering me and the baby with love, kindness, attention and affection. You’ve always put our needs ahead of your own, even when it made me mad.” Tears glistened. “That’s what a father is, Josh. That’s what a true partner is, as well. Like it or not, Josh,
you
are Baby Cakes’s daddy, and—” she added, pressing a hand to her back again “—you’re the man I want to spend my life with. The man I want a family and the fairy tale with. The only man,” she added as his gaze filled with love.

“Oh, Em.” He grabbed her, held her close, his heart overflowing with relief, with love, for her, and for the baby. “I love you, Em,” he admitted with a long, relieved sigh. “I’m totally, completely in love with you
and
Baby Cakes.” He drew back to lay a hand to her cheek, praying this time he’d do this right. “Em,” he began slowly. “I—I love you and want to marry you, and have a family with you. I want to make a home with you. I want the whole fairy tale we’ve both always wanted—needed. And not just because of Baby Cakes or because she needs a father, but because I need both of you, Em. Please, say you’ll marry me?”

Her heart leaped. “Oh Josh.” She lifted a hand to his cheek. “I love you, too. And yes I’ll—” she laughed, then lifted his hand to her belly. “We’ll marry you.”

“Oh, Em.” He drew her close for a kiss that sealed their love, their future.

“Uh…Josh?” she whispered against his lips. “Uh, I think you’d better get my suitcase.” She had to stop to catch her breath as another sharp pain cut through her. “And the car.”

“Em?” Confused he drew back and looked at her then went pale as the moon. “Oh, my God. The baby? Baby Cakes is coming?
Now?
”

She laughed. “Yes, Josh. Now.” She inhaled deeply again. “Right
now.
”

“Okay, stay calm, Em,” he said, making her laugh when he left her standing there to dash into her bedroom, grabbing a suitcase with each hand. “Don’t worry, Em,” he said as he hurried toward the door. “Everything’s going to be fine. I’ll call Doc Haggerty. No, I’d better get you to the hospital first.” He darted out the door, threw the suitcases in the trunk, then jumped in the car, started it and roared down the driveway.

Em sat down on the couch, figuring he’d remember he’d forgotten something—sooner or later.

It was sooner.

The door flew open again and he stood there, grinning, looking sheepish and more adorable than she’d ever seen him.

“Sorry, hon.” He darted across the room to help her to her feet. “Don’t worry, Em, everything’s going to be fine.”

“I know, Josh.” She grinned up at him. “Finally, I know everything is truly going to be fine.” As she walked out of her house, Em turned and glanced at it, realizing that now, with Baby Cakes and Josh, and all the love they had to share, this house was no longer just a house, but finally, it had truly become her home.

The home she’d always wanted.

“I love you, Josh,” she said as he helped her into the car.

He bent to kiss her. His hands were shaking so bad he wasn’t certain he could drive. “And I love you, too, Em.” For an instant he pressed his brow to hers. “And we’re going to be a family, Em, just like we’ve both always wanted, just like we’ve always dreamed of.” He kissed her again. “I love you, Em.” Grinning, he shut the door, then hurried around to the driver’s side. “Now, let’s go meet our daughter!”

F
our months later, on a warm sunny day Em and Josh were married under a gorgeous flower canopy in the Ryan family garden with the entire family present.

Rebecca, who had given birth to a baby girl just days after Em, and Natalie were her attendants, and Jake, Jared, and Sammy were Josh’s grooms. Josh’s grandfather Tommy, beaming with pride and carrying Em and Josh’s two-week-old daughter Brie, who’d been named after his late, beloved wife Sabrina, walked Em down the aisle to meet her beaming groom.

“You know, lass,” Tommy whispered to Em as he juggled Brie to keep her quiet. “It’s a fine, fine day for a wedding.” He glanced at her. “And you make a beautiful bride. Your father, he would have been so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Tommy,” Em whispered, trying to hold back tears. “That means a lot to me.”

“Aye, I know, lass, and it’s the truth,” he insisted, just in case she doubted. “I’d not lie in front of the Ryan family priest now, would I?”

She grinned. “Nope, not you, Tommy.”

“And he would have been so proud of this wee one, so proud,” Tommy said, glancing at the baby. “As am I, lass. As am I.”

“I hope so, Tommy,” she whispered, praying it was true. She’d finally come to peace about her father, finally come to understand that he simply hadn’t the words, or hadn’t been able to cope with a frightened little girl when his own grief was so strong. With understanding came forgiveness.

“Here you go, lad,” Tommy said to Josh as he handed Em over to her groom. “I’ll keep the wee one,” he said, making the assembled guests chuckle.

“Thanks, Tommy.” Beaming, Josh took Emma’s hand, and together they turned to face the priest, anxious to say their vows, to pledge their love, forever and eternity.

“Now, lass, what’s the problem?” Tommy whispered as Brie began to fuss. “Are you hungry, is that it, lass?” He rocked her, hoping not to disrupt the vows. “Come on, now, lass, you and me, we’ll slip into the house and see if we can’t find something to put in your belly.” Using his cane to steady himself, Tommy gingerly moved back down the aisle and out into the expanse of the garden, cooing softly in Gaelic to Brie.

As he got closer to the house, he could hear the phone ringing and sighed. “Ah, lass, it’s another salesmen for sure, trying to sell me something I don’t need.” He pushed open the sliding glass door, holding the baby carefully. “But alas, I’m a softie and I’ll buy whatever’s he selling because I remember what it was like to be young and starting out, trying to make my mark in the world.”

Tommy set Brie down in the ancient cradle that Mrs. O’Connor had given to Em as a shower present and reached for the phone.

“Aye, good day to you, this is the Ryan residence.” Tommy listened for a moment, then gripped the kitchen counter as his knees buckled. “Jesse,” he whispered, clutching the receiver and the counter so tightly his knuckles whitened. “Is it true?” he whispered, tears streaming down his face. “Dear God in Heaven, Jesse, my boy, is it really you?”

ISBN: 978-1-4592-1363-0

A FAMILY TO BE

Copyright © 2002 by Sharon De Vita

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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