Hide and Seek (25 page)

"You know what?" Maddie stepped up and took Sam into her arms. "I haven't gotten to spend a minute with him all day. I'd like to feed him. I'll take the bottle in his room, so we'll be out of daddy's way."

"Good idea." Emma got a bottle from the refrigerator and heated it for her.

Maddie said, "Thank you all for everything you've done. We're so lucky to have friends like you."

Smoky stepped into the kitchen. "You've got more friends arriving, too. I'm serving drinks and everything's fine, so take your time." He turned to Rosa. "I could use your help, though."

"Coming dear." She smiled at her husband, and they walked outside.

Maddie watched them fondly, then took Sam to his bedroom. She sat in the rocker and savored giving him the bottle. She didn't get to feed him much these days, Rob or Sophie almost always did it. At first it was better, because Sam got mad when Maddie tried to bottle-feed him. But now he was used to it, and drank it happily. Maddie rocked slowly and studied her little boy's face. He was truly beautiful, and a marvelous little miracle in her life. She closed her eyes and thought about how happy she was, having both Sam and Rob in her life again. She couldn't even begin to think about the new baby. It still scared her a little, but mostly, gave her an overwhelming feeling of joy.
Too much for any one person to bear.
It was almost like living in a bubble that Maddie was afraid could burst at any time.

"You what?"
she screamed, clutching Sam as she hopped up and ran to the door.

She tapped on the door, and he knocked back. Maddie heard footsteps and imagined how he looked, walking away. She smiled and glance at Sam, sucking on an empty bottle. "Oh, sorry, sweetie!" She threw a rag over her shoulder and walked him around to burp him. More excited than she'd ever been in her life, she was very ready to become Mrs. Robert Cooper. She tingled thinking about it.

Maddie changed Sam's diaper and opened his door to look out. The house seemed empty. She walked out slowly to make sure, but no one was there. She looked through the kitchen window and saw all their friends milling about in the yard. Rob was talking to Sandy and Suzie and their husbands. Maddie touched her hand to her heart.
He's so sweet!
They were probably the only people there who didn't know everyone else, and Rob was making them feel welcome. Her heart was so full of love for him at that moment, Maddie thought it might burst. She spotted Emma, and was going to sneak Sam out to her when the front door opened.

"Who could that be?" she murmured. Practically everyone they knew was already in the back yard. She walked through the kitchen to the front room and stopped. Dionne stood there, looking at her.

"Dionne," she said stupidly.

"Hello Madison."

Rob's ex- looked tall and leggy and busty and beautiful as ever.
Here's the pin that's going to burst my bubble.
"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"This is not a good time." Maddie looked toward the kitchen nervously. Did she want Rob to walk in, or did she hope he'd stay away?

"I realize you're getting married tonight. Edward and Andrea told me. But this is important."

Maddie's heart dropped into her stomach with a thud.
Were Rob's parents trying to sabotage their wedding by sending Dionne here? How would Rob react when he saw her?
Visions of Rob and Dionne driving away in her Beemer flooded through Maddie's mind, and she tried to push them away.
Rob loves me
. He left Dionne. But the only thing she could see, at that moment, was Rob kissing Dionne for ten seconds by the bushes last July fourth.

Sam babbled and Maddie looked at him, surprised. For a moment, she'd forgotten she was holding him. It helped to concentrate on the baby, because she knew Rob could never leave Sam.

A vision of Rob, Dionne, Sophie and Sam driving off in the Beemer flitted through her mind, and she took a step backward. "I need to take him outside. I'll be right back." She rushed through the kitchen and hurried out to Emma with a lump of anguish in her throat.

"No! I don't want him to see her!" Maddie went back in the house and shut the door. She walked to the living room, slowly.

Dionne was fingering one of Sam's rattles. Maddie snatched it from Dionne's hand and clutched it to her stomach. "What do you want, Dionne?"

Dionne gave a sultry chuckle. "I'm so sure. But I need to know what kind of a person you are. I don't believe you're the kind of person I met here last summer. I need to be sure."

Maddie inhaled. Her whole life balanced on a tightrope. A tip in one direction or the other would change things forever. She looked at Rob.

He stopped behind Maddie and placed one hand on her back, the other on her stomach. "Are you all right?"

The look in his eyes pulled her off the tightrope and securely into his arms. "I'm fine," she said with renewed confidence and a sense of empowerment she'd never felt before. "I'm just not sure what Dionne wants to talk about."

"Is this really what you want, Coop? Because it wasn't, a few years ago, when we were in college and making plans for the future."

"College was nothing like the real world. And once I got out here, I realized pretty quickly what I did and didn't want. I tried to make a go of it with you, Dee, you know I did. We had a history, and we'll always have a connection because of Soph. But this," he motioned around the room, "and this," he took the baby's rattle and shook it, "are what really make me happy."

Dionne shook her head, smiling. "I see it, I just don't believe it. It's not the Coop I know."

"You're right," he admitted. "I'm not the same guy you knew. I changed when I met Maddie, and fell in love with her. And all this," he motioned around the room again, "as happy as it makes me, means nothing without Maddie in my life." He wrapped his arms around her from behind. "She's the reason for everything I do, and everything I have. I don't just want a wife and babies. I want Maddie, and Maddie's babies. I hope you understand, because it's that simple."

Maddie leaned back against him and closed her eyes. She wasn't living in a bubble anymore. She was firmly standing on the ground, securely wrapped in Rob's arms. She rubbed her hands over his biceps and clung to him.

"Yeah, okay." Dionne paced around the room. "What I've got to ask is this, is there room for Sophie in this new life of yours? I won't have her treated like a second class citizen in your family, with the little princes and princesses treating her like crap."

Maddie's eyes popped open and she took a step forward. "That would never happen! You know how much Rob loves Sophie. And, like it or not, I love her, too. I'm sure you don't want to hear that, but it's a fact. Sophie is a wonderful, special person, and no matter how many children we have, she'll always be treated with love and respect in this house."

Rob looked at Dionne. "You know that, Dee. You know me."

Dionne wiped a tear from her face. "Yeah, but I needed to hear it." She pulled some papers from her purse and handed them to Rob. "This is the revised custody agreement. I get her every other weekend, we'll alternate holidays, and I'll take her for two weeks in the summer, unless I can get more time off. I'd appreciate a little flexibility."

Rob took the papers and stared at them.

Maddie saw a shocked expression on his face.

Dionne continued, "You'll need to sign them in front of a witness and have your lawyer file them. And there's just one other thing."

"What?" He glanced at Maddie and they both looked at Dionne, waiting for the bomb to drop.

Dionne was crying as she said, "You'll have to tell Sophie. I couldn't bear to have her think I was a bad mother, who gave her away."

No bomb
. Maddie inhaled and released the breath slowly.

Rob took a step toward Dionne. "No one will ever call you a bad mother. You're doing what we all think is best for Sophie."

She nodded, tears still streaming down her face. "But, if somewhere down the line, it isn't the best thing for Sophie, can we agree to re-evaluate?"

"Of course. We'll never keep her from you, Dee."

Maddie stepped closer. "And we'll never utter an unkind word about you in this house. You're not a bad mother. You're being a very good mother."

Maddie glanced at Rob. She'd understand if he gave Dionne a little hug or a kiss on the cheek before she left, but he didn't budge from her side. He simply said, "Thank you."

Dionne nodded. "Call me to arrange to get her stuff. We'll need to decide what she'll want to bring here from my place."

"I'll call you." He nodded, and they watched her go. He looked at Maddie with wonder in his eyes.

She smiled up at him.
This is a wise man I'm marrying, a very wise man.

"Good.
Very good
. The super glue is holding quite nicely."