Another Notch in the Beltway (30 page)

“I don't know what you want, Hubble.”

“I want you and the baby,” he said simply and knelt down before her. “May I?” he asked, moving his hand toward her stomach to touch her.

“Yes,” she said, eyes fixed on him.

He parted her jacket and placed a hand on the slightly rounded mound and rubbed gently. “It's hard as a rock,” he looked into her face smiling.

Nik nodded uncertainly.

“Our child is right here.” He parted her jacket wider and used both hands to smooth her skirt over the baby bump.

“Yes,” she said in an uncharacteristic whisper.

He looked into her eyes, then bent his head and kissed her belly.

She watched him, taken with his behavior.

“I'll do everything for this baby and for you.”

“We'll make arrangements for you to be part of the baby's life.”

“I want to be part of both your lives.”

“I don't think so, Hubble. I can't be with someone I can't trust.”

“What can I do to prove I'm worthy of you?”

“Worthy is a lofty word. This has to do with trust. If I can't trust you, nothing else matters.”

He was circling her belly with caressing fingers, and it felt incredibly good. Suddenly, he lay his head on her lap and put his ear to her stomach. She stopped herself from running her fingers through his hair.

“You can't hear anything,” she laughed instead. “At about five months, I'll be able to feel the baby move, and shortly thereafter you'll be able to feel it kick its feet and begin to assert its independence.” She was smiling as she spoke.

“When is the baby due?” His hands were back to caressing, and he was looking into her eyes.

“Halloween. A witch for a witch.”

“Or a warlock.”

“Yes.”

“I want to go to your doctor appointments and ultrasounds and birthing classes. I want to be part of this every step of the way.”

“Now you're getting ahead of even me,” she said lightly.

“Don't think that's possible. I want to touch you.” He untucked her silk blouse and unzipped the side zipper of her skirt. She let him.

His hand was hot on her skin. She felt herself respond to his touch. Felt his response as well as it brushed against her leg.

“I love you, Nik, and I'll love this baby. I never thought I'd have a child. This is such a wonderful gift. Thank you.” Tears were brimming in his eyes.

It was said with such heartfelt sincerity, she felt the tears spring to her eyes, too. She nodded. “I never thought I'd have a child either. So he or she will be well-loved.”

“Yes,” he pulled her to him and kissed her long and hard. “I'll work on regaining your trust. I'll do whatever it takes. I was cocky and arrogant…”

“Keep going,” she said.

He laughed and pulled her to her feet. He slid her skirt down and took in the ripeness of her belly, moving his hands more thoroughly over it now.

“Beautiful,” he whispered.

She was being as patient as she could, but soon he was going to make her squirm, as Lenore would say. Sex and chemistry had nothing to do with trust. Neither did love, for that matter.

“I'd like to see all of you if you'd let me.”

She wanted it more than anything, but she shook her head no.

He nodded his understanding, kissed her stomach one more time, lingering a little longer than necessary. Then he pulled up her skirt, tucked in her blouse, and finally he zipped the side zipper that was getting a little snug.

“I'll take you shopping for a new wardrobe.”

She didn't respond.

“I'm going to see you home.”

“That's not necessary.”

“It is. It's late and dark and icy. I won't chance you falling.”

She was too tired to argue and too emotionally off balance to be totally rid of him. Plus, it was dark and icy.

“I thought you said you loved me.”

“Low blow, Mr. Finnegan.”

Lenore and MP were working in her office, each propped on the arm of her huge couch, feet touching.

Lenore was typing on the laptop.

“This is work, sweetheart, and while you might lead me astray in bed, you won't here.” she said, almost amused.

They'd been arguing over various endings to the book and coming to no good end.

“Should we each write our own ending and see how it goes?” she suggested. “Heck, maybe we could print the book with both endings and let the reader decide.”

“Maybe another book. I want to end together on this one.”

“The ultimate climax.”

“You could say that.”

“But is your man Cass going to get over his guilt that his failure to listen to Amanda in the first place almost got her and their unborn child killed?”

“I'd say he'd have to.”

“Yeaaah, me too. He wallows in everything.”

“Because he takes everything to heart. He believes he should be able to keep your Amanda safe.”

“He disarmed his no good half brother and saved all of them. Then got the beam off of her and stopped the bleeding from her head wound.”

“He feels it should have never gotten that far.”

“You're making me crazy,
mo chuisle
. I think we need a break,” she said in a poor imitation of his Irish lilt.

“We do at that,” he laughingly agreed. He handed her a small bottle of juice and split a banana with her. While her blood sugar went low often, she could only eat a small amount at a time.

“You are sooo good to me. Thank you.”

He leaned over and kissed her tenderly.

“Mmm.” She brought her hands up to either side of his face and pulled him closer.

“I like the way you show your appreciation.”

Her home phone started ringing.

“Hold that thought,” she said as she engaged the call.

MP grinned and left to replenish their OJ and food supply.

****

“Walker says Maxwell intercepted his wife's cousin, found her an apartment, and gave her some pin money. So she should keep quiet. Kelly also said she wouldn't talk about Nate being Maxwell's son, because she loves him,” Lenore offered when MP returned, rations in hand.

He was smiling as he put the stash away.

“What?”

“Pin money, does anyone say that anymore?”

She laughed self-consciously, “Probably only my historical romance crowd.”

“I like it. It's part of what makes you unique.” He gave her a peck on the cheek. “You're quite brilliant, love. Your research and knowledge of the era are astounding.”

She smiled at him, eyes bright with pleasure. “You don't find it frivolous?”

“On the contrary. I find it remarkable all the things that remain consistent through the years.”

“Yes, there are parallels, but differences too—some important ones. For instance, in my case, as a single mother in Victorian England, I would either have been a kept mistress, well-provided for, or more likely a whore forced to earn her living on the street, ostracized by polite society.”

MP looked at her.

“It's true. I'd never have been allowed to become a writer, make a home for Nate and myself, and send him to private school. Nor been allowed to become a proper wife,” she teased him.

“I never said anything about you being a proper wife.” He snaked an arm around her and gave her a kiss.

She laughed, “But it's true. I'm lucky to have been born in the present day.”

“Yes, you are,” MP conceded. “But you faced any number of challenges all the same.”

“Everyone does. You've had your own. They shape who we are, and I love who you are, Michael Patrick,” she said spontaneously.

A brilliant smile lit his vibrant eyes and flashed his dimples.

“I hope the baby has your dimples and smile. You have no idea what that smile does to me.”

“Why don't you show me?”

She put her hands on his chest to keep his physicality at bay.

“I have more.”

He sighed and sat down on the couch.

“Jack has decided no on the transplant and is moving back in with his parents.”

“He's letting nature take its course?”

“Yes, he doesn't want to deal with GVHD.”

“I can see that,” he said soberly.

“It's sad. According to what Connor was told, Jack's not even well enough for a transplant. Morris thinks the cancer is back and in his lungs, but Jack has had enough and refuses additional testing.”

“This entire thing with Nate was some kind of charade?”

“Don't know, MP, maybe. If I wanted to be cynical, I could say it was a campaign stunt to gain Maxwell the sympathy vote or something Corrine cooked up to flush Nate out in the open.”

“Politics and self-dealing,” Michael Patrick said with disgust. “Does your man think news of Nate will still go public?”

“That's a wild card.”

The next two weeks played out without incident. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop, Lenore thought as she looked at herself in the mirror.

“You are gorgeous,” Nikko said from behind. “No one would ever know you're harboring a minor in there.”

Lenore laughed. “You look pretty good yourself.”

Nikko was wearing a violet dress suit that hid the existence of her own child.

“Are you sure you're okay with Nolan being here?” Nik asked.

“I'm sure if you're sure.”

“I'm not. He won't let me go anywhere alone. He hovers.”

“Hmm, I know the feeling,” Lenore commented as she put on her lipstick.

“I bet. MP made sure I brought you your juice and crackers.”

“He is so excited about the baby and today's wedding, he might need to be tied down.”

“Nolan wants to get married.”

“What do you want, sweetie?”

“I want to be able to trust him.”

“Trust is a hard thing to give. I know. I could have driven Michael Patrick away because I didn't trust him.”

“But MP didn't give you cause not to trust him. That was baggage from BM.” Nik had taken to calling the senator that because she thought it was hysterical—he's a real shit, she'd said. “Hubble, on the other hand, has given me, all of us actually, cause. Almost resulted in the break-up of you and your soon-to-be husband.”

Lenore nodded, looking at her maid of honor in the mirror.

“I don't want to be his advocate. But did he do it to curry favor with you, Nik? Was he insecure with himself and thought if he made a big score, so to speak, he'd earn brownie points? Did his intentions backfire because of a volatile situation he knew almost nothing about?”

“Yeeaah!”

Lenore let out an exasperated sigh. “Think about it. Ask him.”

“We have to get downstairs,” Nikko said, effectively changing the subject. “You ready?”

“I am.”

“You nervous?”

“Nope.”

Lenore followed Nikko down her spiral staircase, which was wrapped with a garland of pink roses and baby's breath. She carried a bouquet of white calla lilies, which she had copied from her mother's wedding picture.

Michael Patrick was beaming at her, and she beamed back. Lenore handed Nikko her bouquet and joined him in front of the minister. He took her hands and, kissing her cheek, whispered in her ear, “You've taken my breath away.”

“Hey, no cheating,” Nate said good-naturedly, causing the handful of guests to laugh.

Lenore was indeed lovely. Her dress was long, comprised of ivory lace, and fit her still-slim figure like a glove. Her hair was down around her shoulders, making her look soft and sexy at the same time.

They exchanged traditional vows, and when the minister announced, “You may kiss your bride,” MP took his cue seriously.

Nikko let go with a wolf whistle, and that seemed to bring the couple back to reality.

“You are stunning, Mrs. Finnegan.”

“I think I'm stunned, Mr. Finnegan.”

They were still holding hands, looking into one another's eyes.

“Let me be the first to congratulate the ecstatic couple,” Nate said and embraced his mother and clapped MP on the back. Nikko followed suit, as did everyone else.

For their wedding gift, Nikko had hired a photographer that the agency used to take pictures of the bride and groom.

“That was so thoughtful,” Lenore said, embracing her friend as the photographer left.

“I know,” Nikko teased. “Now you'll have great photos to put on your book jacket. What better way to kick off your writing duet debut than with a wedding picture.”

“Always an angle, Nik,” MP teased back.

“I think it's a brilliant idea,” Nolan Hubble put in and the other three looked at him like he had landed from outer space.

“I was not serious, Hubble,” Nik said with disdain.

MP and Lenore looked at one another, and Nik walked away to talk to Connor Walker and his wife.

“I'm sorry,” Hubble said, chagrined. “I can't seem to do or say anything right around her.”

MP nodded his agreement, but Lenore said, “Maybe you're trying too hard and not listening closely enough.”

“I'm not sure I know what you mean.”

“Let it be,
a chuisle
,” her new husband said.

“You're forcing yourself into her life, without knowing her true character or nature. Like now with her teasing, maybe even jabbing, us about the pictures. Neither MP nor I have ever put a photo on a jacket cover. Did you know that?”

He shook his head.

“So, while I agree it would be great PR to put our wedding photo out there to help sell the new book, it's not going to happen, and Nik knows that.”

He nodded this time.

“Part of our PR is the mystique. MP coming out as Michael Patrick is about as far as we're willing to go. What happened with
The Sentinel
can never happen again. I hope that's understood,” Lenore said, not wanting to do this on her wedding day.