Angel's Peak (21 page)

Franci and Sean both looked at each other, shock evident on their faces. Seven days and it was done—he was Daddy. He was too stunned to even allow himself the pleasure that title could bring, and he could see from Franci’s face the chasm had been crossed and there was no going back. Everyone was assigned their roles and dare not shirk from them.

It was at once the most complicated yet simplest transition imaginable. The problem was that Sean and Franci had not yet negotiated their unified lifestyle or defined their positions. They were still nibbling around the edges of what kind of relationship they were going to have. Oh, Sean had suggested marriage right away, the moment he realized they had a child together, but that really wouldn’t win him any points. He’d done so only because of Rosie; if not for Rosie, he would have suggested he and Franci resume their old relationship, with marriage possible down the line, whereas four years ago he hadn’t been willing to consider it. As progress went, it was slight.

They were right where they started, with one additional player, and he held her in his arms. He turned his gaze from Franci and buried his face in Rosie’s sweet-smelling neck. “What are you cooking, short stuff?”

“Chicken,” she said, and giggled from his tickle.

“And broccoli?” he asked with a laugh. She nodded vigorously and he looked at Franci. “Don’t you feed this kid anything but chicken and broccoli?”

“Lots of things,” she said, getting up from the couch. “Are you good to go? Because I should get that nap or I’ll be useless tonight.”

“Go,” he said. “We’re going to do stuff.”

“Now remember, always—”

“Wear seat belts, make frequent bathroom stops, never let her out of my sight,” he finished for her.

“And never—”

“Send her into the ladies’ room. I will take her into the men’s room with me, if necessary, make sure it’s clean and private and, when possible, use the handicapped facility for privacy. And plenty of vegetables and nothing that tastes fun.”

“You don’t have to be a wise a—”

He grinned.

But inside he wasn’t grinning. He was thinking of all the things he really had to discuss with Franci. It had been his plan to talk to her over the next several weeks about what kind of future the three of them might have, a little piece of it at a time. The meeting with his boss, Jake, upped the urgency.

His cell phone chimed with a text and he lifted it out of his pocket, glanced at it and put it back. When he looked up, Franci was staring him down. “Haven’t you taken care of that yet?” she asked.

“I meant to, but I’ve been busy,” he said. “By the way, have you taken care of him yet?”

“We should talk about this later,” she said.

“We should,” he agreed. He shifted Rose onto a hip and walked toward Franci. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest, Franci. Being tired makes you cranky.”

“I’d slug you if that weren’t true.” Then she went to her room. Harry ran after her, scratched at the door and was let in to nap with her.

“Well, what do you say, sport. Wanna get some warm outside clothes on so we can go play and shop?”

“I’ll wear dis,” she said, touching her worn-out taffeta.

“You can’t wear that to the park and the store—it’s getting cold out.”

“I’ll wear dis!”

Sean furrowed his brow, narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips just the way his father had done and was surprised to find this all came quite naturally. He lowered his voice a notch. “Fine, then we’ll stay home and read and nap.” He lifted one brow.

She stared him down for a long moment. Then she said, “Oh-kay!” But she didn’t say it happily.

Sean had never spent much time alone with children. When he socialized with friends who had kids, he fit in just fine—he could toss the ball, throw a little one up in the air, make goo-goo faces, tickle and tease. But he’d never had any actual responsibility for a child before he met Rosie.

This was their first full-day outing alone and Sean learned something he had never before known. Women paid even more attention to him with a child in tow than they had before! He wasn’t bad looking, had an adorable daughter and no wedding band. Women approached him in the mall, in Target, at the playground, remarking on his beautiful child, making small talk. They smiled hugely while they said, “Well, having a daddy-daughter day?” Or, “If you live around here, we could get the kids together for a play-date sometime.” He was shocked and astounded.

When he was checking out of the grocery with his dinner makings, the checker said, “I’m about to go on a coffee break, if you feel like a cup of coffee. Maybe your daughter would like some ice cream?”

Sean immediately said, “Thanks, but I have to get going. My wife is waiting.”

And Rosie said, “Who’s your wife, Daddy?”

The checkout girl nearly threw the groceries into the bag as she shot daggers at him with her eyes. He felt fortunate she didn’t bean him in the head with the produce. On the way to the car he said to Rosie, “We’re going to have to get our story straight, kiddo. I don’t know if you’re helping or hurting the situation.”

“Daddy? Daddy, I know the baby is in the mommy’s tummy and the baby comes out of the mommy’s tummy, but, Daddy? How do that baby get in the mommy’s tummy?”

He stopped dead in his tracks in the parking lot, his daughter in the rider seat of the shopping cart, his bagged groceries in the cart, and stared at her dumbly. Time stopped. He tried to channel Franci, who seemed to do all this parent stuff with such ease, but nothing came.

“Daddy?” she asked.

He smiled with what he hoped was confidence, pinched her little chin and said, “After you have Stroganoff and peas tonight, would you like chocolate or vanilla ice cream?”

“Chocolate!” she yelled.

“Whipped cream and a cherry?”

“Whip cream and a cherry!” she yelled.

“That’s what I thought. No chicken and broccoli for you tonight. No, sir. You’re having fun food! Daddy’s Stroganoff and ice cream!”

“Yay!” she yelled.

Later that evening, while Rosie was singing in the tub, Sean and Franci did dishes together and talked about Sean’s day. “Here’s a shocker, Franci—Rosie is a babe magnet.” He grinned at her. “I’m a catch. You can’t believe the number of women who almost propositioned me today.”

“While you’re with my daughter?” she asked, appalled.

“Well, nothing racy. Just a cup of coffee or a kid’s playdate. Who’d guess, huh?”

“What a comfort that is,” she grumbled.

“Should Rosie be alone in the tub?” he asked.

She smiled at him, happy that he was over-protective. “The bathroom is ten steps away and as long as you can hear her singing, she’s not underwater.”

So Sean told her about the question Rosie had posed while they were in the parking lot of the grocery. Franci had to lean against the counter, laughing so hard she was doubled over, yet trying to keep quiet lest Rosie come running soaking wet to the kitchen to see who would dare have fun without her.

“Yeah, funny,” Sean said. “What would you have said?”

She wiped her eyes. “Well, I have a special book about all that. It’s right about time to look at it together, but I didn’t know how to explain you to Rosie, so I’ve been putting it off. I guess I can go ahead with it now.”

“A book? Come on!”

“No, really. It talks about all the differences in the mommy’s and daddy’s bodies—it’s very cute. Sweet. Non-threatening.” She smiled at him. “If you’re very good, I’ll read it to you later.”

“If you’re very good, I’ll show you how it’s done.” He leered at her. “By the way,” he said. “How was it done in this case? We were always very careful. Do you remember?”

“Every detail,” she said, turning away from him to put away dishes.

He turned her back. “Could I have a couple of details, please?”

She took a breath. “Remember I used to go off the pill for a couple of months a year and your job was to be very good about the condoms? Well, there were a couple of times you got real worked up and just let it slide.” She shrugged. “It was as much my doing as yours. I was also a little worked up.”

Silence enveloped them for a moment. He leaned forward and kissed her brow. “We were like that,” he whispered. “I’m not sorry about that. Big accident. Huge reward. She’s awesome.”

Franci hugged him. For once he managed to say the right thing. “You’ve had a nice week with Rosie, haven’t you?”

“She’s pretty amazing. Listen, there’s no good way to do this, Franci. I’ve been thinking all day about how to sneak up on our issues, but I’m kind of up against the wall. The air force wall. After we get Rose settled in bed, can we please have a glass of wine and talk about things? Practical things.”

She looked terrified. “Like what?”

“Everything from insurance to…” He took a breath. “Franci, I’ve been at Beale four years. I’m going to have to call MPC tomorrow, first thing in the morning, and see if I can get the boys down there to work with me on an assignment or I’m going remote. Maybe to the Middle East.”

Iraq. Afghanistan. She went visibly pale. “In the U-2?”

He shrugged. “If there’s a need for manned surveillance. But the U-2 travels to a lot of places. I don’t want to go since I have you and Rosie here. That aside, they’re not above changing my weapon system back to a fighter or finding me a staff job in the desert. I pinned on major—I owe ’em three more years at least.”

“Sean,” she said weakly.

“I know you’d like to just roll with this awhile—see where we are in getting to know each other—but we’re gonna have to face it. I’m only on leave another four weeks and two days. I’m sorry, Fran.”

“You’ve been at Beale four years, and you know that’s a long time for an air force assignment,” she said. “This can’t have come as a total surprise.”

“No, it didn’t. You and Rose came as a surprise. I tried to get into Air Command and Staff College and I’m on the waiting list as an alternate. My plan was just what you’d expect out of me—do whatever I have to do, go wherever I have to go, to head toward a command position. I wanted this job for life—so it didn’t matter where they sent me, as long as it all added up to a real good command slot down the road. I figured I’d take a remote for a year and come home to a year in Air Command and Staff College, a lieutenant colonel promotion and a squadron of my own.” He swallowed. “Now I don’t want to get too far away. I don’t want Rosie to think I can’t keep my word. And time’s short.”

Franci was quiet. “She’s still singing in there,” Sean said, tilting his head toward the bathroom.

“But I bet she’s pruny by now.”

Vivian and Maureen had a very nice day together, too. They’d gone out to lunch and then did a little shopping at the local mall—Maureen felt woefully behind in adding her special grandma gifts to Rosie’s coffers. They went back to Viv’s for the rest of the afternoon, looking through pictures of Rosie from her birth to the present.

There were, of course, many pictures of Franci. “Sometimes when you catch her looking at the baby, her eyes are glowing, but other times…” Maureen’s voice trailed off.

“I know. It was a very hard time—she wasn’t at peace with her decision to be away from Sean. She was already three months pregnant when she came home to Santa Rosa, but she got right to work in the local hospital. She took six weeks of maternity leave and went back. It was not only a long year, but heartbreaking to watch my daughter’s sadness. I kept thinking that any second he’d realize what he’d let slip away and come looking for her. But he didn’t.”

Maureen pursed her lips so tightly they nearly disappeared. “I’d like to box his ears,” she muttered.

“Remember, he didn’t know. Franci was the one to leave him. I was twenty-five when Franci was born,” Vivian said. “And thirty-two when my husband, a trucker, was killed in an accident. I went back to college almost immediately, in search of an education that would guarantee me a good income so I could raise my daughter alone. Franci at least had that much going for her—she wasn’t going to have any trouble supporting Rose. But, except for that, I knew how hard life was going to be for her without a partner.”

“I had a good husband while I raised my sons,” Maureen said. “He was devoted, worked hard, stayed involved. But he worked long hours and, with five kids to support, he took as much overtime as he could get. I had to be able to do it alone—I had to be strong and keep control of that brood. It wasn’t easy, even with a good husband. It’s hard to imagine how you and Franci—”

“We had each other,” Viv said. “Franci came alive when we moved up here. Actually, I said I’d come north only if I could find a good job. I only agreed to take an unpaid leave from my Santa Rosa job to give it a try. Franci flies out of Redding, so we initially went there, rented a small apartment and, on Franci’s days off, I scoured the area for work. When I had a good offer in Eureka, the decision was made—we bought a little house together here. Franci works a couple of twenty-four-hour shifts three weeks a month, then only one on the fourth week. It’s a long commute—but it’s only seven or eight days a month, and my job never requires an overnight or on-call status. After two years in one little house, another just like it down the street came on the market and I bought it. We joined forces to make sure Rosie always had one of us plus the babysitter. It’s been all right. It’s been good. She was even starting to date again. But…”

“But…?” Maureen asked.

“You didn’t know her after she broke up with Sean, so you wouldn’t see the difference—but since Sean’s been in the picture, she’s a different person. She loves him so much. And I believe he loves her just as much. I don’t know how this is going to work out, Maureen, but those three need to be together.”

“Sean told me he suggested marriage to Franci…” Maureen said.

“Really? That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Vivian said with some astonishment. “I’m surprised Franci didn’t jump on that offer. There must be something not quite settled between them. Frankly, I don’t care whether they get married or not as long as they follow the strength of their obvious feelings! Well, I’m staying out of it. Except for one thing—I’m going to be sure Franci knows she doesn’t have to consider me in her decision.”