Having My Baby (7 page)

Ouch. That hurt
. Maggie continued to watch him. He had yet to look away from the computer. Ever since he’d punched Derrick in the face, he’d been treating her as if she was the one who did something wrong. “Aaron. Look at me, please.”

Finally, he looked up, his eyes cold and unseeing.

“Why are you blaming me for Derrick’s actions?”

“The truth?”

“Nothing but.”

“I think you
wanted
Derrick to kiss you.”

Aaron might as well have punched her in the gut because that’s how she felt—sucker punched and sick to her stomach. “Is there more?”

“Yeah. I think you’re in love with Derrick. I think you always have been. I think you agreed to marry me to get closer to him.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was hard to believe he could be so dense. “You don’t think I would have approached Derrick if I thought he was the man for me?”

“No. You’re a stickler for pride and your pride never would have allowed you to go after him.”

Wow. He had it all figured out
. She watched him as he set his attention back on his work. She’d grown up with a gaggle of boys, including Derrick and Aaron. They all did everything together. They rode bikes and played football, shot hoops and hiked around town. They joked together, laughed together, played silly pranks on one another. Until she reached puberty, she’d been one of the boys: Connor, Derrick, Aaron, Lucas, Brad, Cliff, Jake, a few neighborhood boys, and Maggie. They were all great friends, at least until her body changed and their voices dropped an octave. For a short time, she’d thought she had feelings for Derrick, but then she’d given him a football for his fourteenth birthday and he’d kissed her. By the time they shared their third and last kiss in the principal’s office during their senior year, she’d known her heart wasn’t in it.

Derrick was fun and carefree, but he didn’t take life seriously. Aaron, on the other hand, had grown up to become a responsible and caring man who wore his emotions like a badge for all to see. She and Aaron had always been great friends. They talked for hours on end and it had only taken one kiss for her to know that he was the one who had her heart, the one she loved.

Yes, she’d heard from Aaron and Derrick’s sisters about the ridiculous vow all the boys made back then, a pledge stating that if one of them couldn’t have her, then none of them could.

Crazy talk—childhood silliness.

Maggie watched her fiancé and inwardly smiled as she thought about all the lonely nights she’d spent during her college years, dreaming about Aaron someday coming for her. It had taken him a few years longer than she’d thought it would, but he’d come all the same. And she’d been waiting.

“Where are you going?” Aaron asked after she sighed and headed for the other room.

She stopped and looked around the house they’d been sharing for months now. She looked at the roll-top desk Aaron had bought for her before she moved in, to the handmade cushions on the chairs where Aaron sat, the cushions she’d made when they first moved into the house. “I’m going to get my laptop,” she said. “I have clients who need me.”

“You’re not leaving?”

She raised her eyebrows, shocked by his question. “This is my home,” she said, tired of his moping. “If anyone’s leaving this house, it’s going to have to be you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“And you have nothing to say on the matter?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat, determined to keep from falling apart, firm in her decision to help Derrick in his time of need. “I’m going to help Derrick to the best of my ability. He’s your brother. He’s family.”

Chapter Six

“What did you do to Aaron?”

Derrick grimaced at the front console of his car where the radio frequency miraculously turned magnetic waves into his mother’s voice. The wireless phone system in his Chevy Tahoe was supposed to make for a safer ride, but he wondered how safe it was to drive while being lectured by his mother. Keeping his eyes on the road, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aaron said he couldn’t come to the get-together I’m planning if you were going to be there. He said to ask you about it if I wanted details.”

“Not now, Mom. I’m pulling up to my new apartment building as we speak. Jake and the twins are meeting me to help move a few things.”

“Why are you moving into an apartment when you have a beautiful home already.”

He turned into the parking lot. “It’s only temporary. I’m hoping I can make Jill see that Ryan’s life will be better with me in it.”

“Well, of course, it will be better with you in it. When are we going to be able to meet Jill and our grandson?”

“I’m working on it, Mom. Until mediation next month, I’m going to do what I can to try and see if Jill and I can work something out on our own.”

“I don’t understand. You were in the hospital room when your son was born, so why can’t she see that you’re a nice, trustworthy guy? I mean you’re not exactly Tom Hanks or Bob Barker, but you’ve got charisma. Maybe she’s wondering why you’re still single.”

“I would take that as a compliment, Mom, if Bob Barker hadn’t been sued by six women from his daytime show.”

“Ridiculous. Bob Barker was named the most popular game show host by a national poll.”

Derrick chuckled as he pulled into an empty parking slot and slid the gear into Park. “I’ll take your word for it. I’ve gotta go.”

“Tell Jake I found the rollerblades he was looking for, and tell the twins dinner will be ready at seven.”

“Rollerblades?”

“Jake has a date with Candy this weekend, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Derrick lifted his eyes heavenward. “You still cook for the twins? Didn’t they turn twenty-five recently?”

“Everybody comes here for dinner on Wednesday. Everyone but you.”

Damn
. He’d forgotten again. “I’ll come next week, I promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to that. Don’t forget to bring a picture of Ryan.”

“I’ll do what I can. Talk to you later, Mom.” He quickly hit the Off button before she could think of another subject to broach. He climbed out of the car and shut the door.

The layer of marine clouds had disappeared earlier than usual today. The sun warmed the air along with his stiff shoulders. Blue, cloudless skies, not a bit of Los Angeles smog or June gloom in sight. Closing his eyes, he put his face to the sun and inhaled while he stretched his leg - his knee got a little stiff whenever he sat for too long.

A honk sounded as two trucks pulled into the parking lot: an old brown Ford and a newer Toyota model. Three of his brothers had arrived. The twins, Cliff and Brad, owned a construction business and they were in the new truck, while Jake followed behind in the truck he’d borrowed from Dad.

Cliff was the first to find a parking spot and head Derrick’s way. At six foot five, Cliff was the tallest of all the brothers. On the basketball court Cliff made a two-handed dunk look easy. He was also the only fair-haired child in the family, which is why they liked to tease him about how much Mom had always liked the fair-haired mailman.

Cliff gestured with his chin toward the apartment building. “So this is your new place, huh?”

“This is it.”

“A far cry from your house in Malibu.”

“It’s only temporary. I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do.”

“And what is it exactly that you have to do?”

Jake and Brad joined them in time to hear his answer.

“I plan to show Jill that I’m a decent guy, you know, make her see that I deserve to be in Ryan’s life.”

“I never realized you were so eager to be a father,” Jake chimed in.

“He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, now did he?” Cliff argued.

“I didn’t know how I would feel about it either,” Derrick said, “but once I held my son in my arms, I knew that not only did I
need
to be there for him, I
want
to be in his life. I want to see him take his first steps and hear his voice when he says his first words. I want to help him with his homework and throw him a ball at the park. I want to coach him if he decides to play sports and I want to get to know his friends. I want it all.”

It was quiet for a long moment.

He could tell by the look in his brothers’ eyes that he’d said too much, but he didn’t care. Something about being a father had brought out a mushy side to him he hadn’t known existed.

“And if Jill sees that you’re a nice guy, then what?” Jake asked.

“I have no idea.”

Brad shook his head. “What kind of woman would keep a father from his son? So many deadbeat dads out there and then you come along, a guy who wants to be a part of his son’s life, and she turns her back on you. I don’t get it.”

“She’s confused,” Derrick told them. “From what I’ve picked up on so far, an incident in her past has left her a little bitter toward men. She didn’t plan on having her donor show up at her doorstep, which is why I need to show her that Ryan needs me in his life. I have no intention of taking him away or making her life miserable.”

“It’s a complicated situation,” Cliff agreed.

“What does Jill look like?” Jake asked.

Derrick thought about the first time he saw Jill. All he saw was her belly, at least until she kissed him. He hadn’t thought a whole lot about the kiss until now: sexy eyes, full lips, expressive face. “She’s cute. Nice, shiny hair; straight white teeth; doesn’t wear much makeup.”

“Not your type, huh?” Cliff asked.

“I don’t have a type,” Derrick said.

All three of his brothers laughed at once.

Jake snapped his fingers. “I know what you need to do.”

Brad chuckled. “This ought to be good.”

“Get her to like you,” Jake said. “You know, make her want you, flirt with her, give her compliments, and bring her flowers for no reason at all. Women love that.”

Derrick grunted. “I don’t want to lead her on.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Jake said with a shrug. “You can always use my idea as a backup plan.”

“Nothing about this situation is going to be smooth sailing,” Brad said as Derrick and Cliff headed for the closest truck and began untying the ropes tied across the furniture.

“What if Jill decides to let you into Ryan’s life? And then down the road you find out she wants him to go to an all boys’ school—”

“Over Derrick’s dead body,” Cliff interjected.

“What if she gives Ryan a little baby tattoo?” Jake went on, trying to stir up trouble.

“Nobody gives a baby a tattoo,” Brad said.

Cliff shook his head. “That’s not true. The nephew of a good friend of mine owns his own tattoo shop and he gave his baby a tattoo.”

“Jill wouldn’t do that,” Derrick said, although nobody was listening.

“What if she signs him up for dance lessons?”

Jake looked appalled. “Do they allow boys to take ballet lessons?”

“No nephew of mine is wearing tights,” Brad said.

Derrick raised a hand. “You’re all getting yourselves worked up for nothing. Ryan isn’t even a week old. Besides, if the boy wants to dance, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

All three of them got another good laugh at that.

Derrick felt a headache coming on.

“Is she breastfeeding?” someone asked.

Derrick had watched her feed Ryan from a bottle, and he recalled Lexi’s comment about Derrick not liking his mommy’s boobies. “I don’t think so.”

“I overheard Grandma telling Mom that she hopes Jill is breastfeeding because otherwise the baby could turn out to be…not too bright.”

“Ridiculous,” one of them said. “Sounds like an old wives’ tale.”

“I’m just telling you what I heard.”

“Sagging breasts would be the only downfall I can think of when it comes to a woman breastfeeding,” Brad stated matter-of-factly.

“A definite downfall,” Jake agreed.

“How about Maggie?” someone asked next. “I wonder if she plans to breastfeed?”

“First comes marriage and then comes baby,” Derrick growled. “Could we all get to work now?”

“Still a little sensitive when it comes to Maggie, I see.”

Derrick finished with the ropes and then headed for the back of his brothers’ truck and unlatched the tailgate. “Aaron had no business going after her and that’s all I have to say on the matter.”

Brad shook his head. “You really do have it bad for Maggie, don’t you? I didn’t believe it, but now that we’re on the subject, what’s the deal? If you were in love with her, why didn’t you go after her a long time ago?”

“Because I knew I wasn’t the only one who had feelings for her. We took a damn vow.”

“That was nearly fifteen years ago,” they all said at once.

“We were kids,” Cliff added for good measure.

Jake shook his head as if Derrick was a lost cause.

Derrick grabbed hold of one side of the couch and slid it halfway off the truck on his own before Jake hurried over and grabbed hold of the center while Brad jumped inside the bed of the truck to get the other end of the couch.

“You’ve got to let go of your feelings for Maggie,” Jake said. “She and Aaron love each other and Aaron deserves to live a good full life with his brothers’ support.”

“He’s not our brother.”

Jake glared at Derrick. “That’s bullshit. Guess who taught me to swim?”

“Aaron did,” Jake said, answering his own question. “Remember the car wreck in West LA, the accident people still talk about: the driver fell asleep and four boys were killed on their way home from Vegas? I never told anyone but I should have been in that car. Aaron caught wind of what I was up to and he wouldn’t let me go. He threatened to tell Mom. I was furious, hated him for stopping me. But I wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for Aaron. I don’t care what anyone says. He’s our brother. He’s yours too, but for some reason you’ve got your wires all twisted because if you stopped to think long and hard about the good ol’ days you’d see you’ve got it all wrong. Maggie never loved you or any of us like she loved Aaron. For some reason, though, everyone can see that but you.”

“Can we get to work now?” Derrick asked.