Love Child (10 page)

I
’d never
missed anything or anyone how I’d missed Adeline the past four days. I’d never imagined I could. The ache of separation had become so acute I’d lost count of how many times I’d been tempted to hop the first plane I could catch to get back to her.

Finally, I was on my way back to her. As it was, I was cutting my trip short by a day, but everything was almost ready. And I couldn’t risk losing Adeline by lingering to see it finished.

I was thankful for the good people I’d surrounded myself with. People like Helen, who’d called to let me know Adeline had seemed upset last night. People like my secretary, who’d called to let me know my “friend” Miss Matthews had called trying to locate my whereabouts and seemed rather distressed when she learned I was not where I’d told her I’d be.

Pam felt terrible about unknowingly getting me into a tough spot, but I told her not to worry and thanked her for letting me know.

Adeline thought I’d lied to her. She must have believed I’d betrayed her trust, proving her suspicions that commitment was a ten-letter word to me and nothing more. I had to get to her to explain everything before she changed her mind about us or, god, disappeared with our baby potentially growing in her stomach.

The thought of her leaving made me sick. Every minute that ticked off and I wasn’t back to make sure she didn’t leave made me impatient beyond belief. Gone or not, I’d find her, I assured myself a thousand times on the drive from the airport to my condo. I’d turn the world upside down if that was what it took. I’d hire a thousand private detectives. I’d put out a billion-dollar reward. I’d do anything to find her. To explain.

To explain
everything.

Maybe I should have laid it all out early Monday morning before I’d left. Maybe I should have told her what I knew the moment I saw her and what had only grown in the days since. So she’d know that she wasn’t just special to me—she was precious beyond measure.

The instant my driver pulled up in front of the building, I hopped out, rushing past the doormen toward the elevator. Thank god one was waiting or else I would have lunged up every flight of stairs to my condo on the seventy-fifth floor.

When the doors pinged open, I bolted toward my front door, my heart pounding not from physical effort but from the anticipation of what I’d find inside. Would she still be there? Or would she be gone? I’d asked Helen to keep an eye on her until I made it home, but I couldn’t expect her to babysit a grown woman all day. I couldn’t expect Adeline to be comfortable being shadowed all day.

Turning my key over, I shoved the door open and lunged inside. It was quiet, empty. Just as my heart was sinking, I noticed a familiar purse on the wall table by the door. Its owner came whisking out from the hall a moment later.

“You’re still here,” I breathed, relieved.

Adeline looked surprised to see me. Then that surprise ironed out into something that resembled anger. “Yes, I’m still here. This is where I told you I’d be.” She paused, conflict settling in her eyes. “Why weren’t you where you told me you’d be?”

She was still here. I couldn’t stop reminding myself of that.

“I’m sorry I told you I’d be in San Francisco and I wasn’t,” I started, wanting to move closer but guessing she didn’t want me to. “I’m sorry you found out the way you did.”

She folded her arms. “Where were you?”

Grabbing her purse, I held the door open. “It’s a surprise. Or at least it will be until we get there and I show you what I’ve been up to this past week.”

Her eyebrows came together, but she stepped toward me. Progress. “This is what you’ve been up to? A surprise?”

“A
big
surprise.”

She kept coming closer, the anger dimming, though it didn’t disappear from her expression. “I’ve been worried sick over what might be going on, Abel. Wondering what could have possessed you to lie to me. Freaking out over what that meant for the baby . . .
for
us.
”

My eyes dropped to her stomach, my heart squeezing. I loved how she was already talking like she was pregnant. I loved how she was still talking about an us.

“Please. Just come with me, and I promise everything will make sense. I’m sorry I worried you, baby. I’m so, so sorry. I never thought you’d find out until I was able to explain it all to you personally.” I held my arm out for her, holding my breath. “Will you trust me on this?”

Checking the delicate watch on her wrist, she shifted. “My appointment at Love Child is in half an hour. I can reschedule, but don’t you want to wait until after we know if I’m pregnant or not?”

Thirty minutes. I could know in half an hour if I was going to be a father. I’d never wanted anything so much. At least, not until I’d met Adeline.

“I want to find out if we made our baby together so badly I can taste it, but I want to show you what you mean to me more. I need you to see that first.”

She was still staring at her watch, but I didn’t miss the way the way her eyes softened. Then she moved out the door. “Then show me what I mean to you, Abel Lockwood.”

I planned to spend the rest of my life showing her what she meant to me. Every last second of every last day.

The ride back to the airport was quiet, but by the time we boarded the company’s jet and were cleared for takeoff, her hand had found its way into mine. Before we touched down, I tied a blindfold over her eyes so she wouldn’t have a clue where we were landing or where the car waiting for us was heading.

After a few minutes in the car, she fell asleep. I guessed the blindfold and probably last night’s lack of sleep from worrying had caught up to her, so I propped her head against my shoulder and folded my hand over her stomach, feeling like the luckiest man on the planet. My child either was or would soon be growing in her womb, and the woman I’d believed didn’t exist was within arm’s reach. They were both in my arms.

“We’re here,” I whispered softly when the driver rolled to a stop at the very place I’d sped away from this morning.

She stirred, burrowing a little deeper into my shoulder before sitting up and stretching. “Where’s here?”

I smiled, winding my hands in hers and guiding her carefully out of the car. “You’ll see.”

After I’d led her to the bottom of the porch stairs, I lifted her into my arms and carried her the rest of the way inside. Up the stairs, down the hall, and inside the room that, miraculously, they’d managed to finish in record time. I’d have to make sure to write a hefty bonus check to the construction company for making this happen.

“Ready?” I asked, setting her on her feet.

“Ready for anything right now. And I do mean anything because I am so confused right now I don’t think I’d flinch if I found out you’d dragged me to some igloo in the Arctic.”

Untying her blindfold, I came around in front of her. Before I removed it, I lowered my lips to hers. She could have just as easily slapped me, but instead she kissed me back until it grew into something that was about to get me totally sidetracked.

When I leaned back, I found her lips parted by her breathing.

“Was that the big surprise?” she asked, keeping her fingers tucked inside my belt. “Because that works for me.”

Chuckling, I lowered her blindfold. “That wasn’t the surprise. That was further evidence that I’m unable to keep my body to myself when it comes to you.”

The first thing her eyes landed on as she blinked them clear was mine. All of the anger had vanished from her expression. There was nothing but warmth coming from her.

“Surprise,” I whispered, stepping away so she could see what I’d been busy with.

At first, she just kept blinking like she wasn’t sure if she was seeing correctly. When she did a slow spin, taking in the whole room, realization must have settled in. Her eyes welled when they returned to mine.

“This is what you’ve been doing this week?” She wandered to the crib against the wall and fingered the soft blankets inside.

“Well, this and the rest of the house and land that’s attached to this room,” I replied, stepping toward one of the big windows. “Oh, and taking care of one of our neighbors’ places too.”

When I held out my hand for her, she took it, joining me at the window. “That’s my . . .” Her hand flew to her mouth, tears streaming now. “That’s my farm. That’s where my family . . .”

Winding my arms around her, I pulled Adeline close. “I know, and you don’t have to worry about them anymore. I took care of everything. The liens. The loans. Everything. Your mom and sisters won’t have to leave that farm unless they want to. You and me, we’ll take care of them.”

Her tears were seeping into my shirt, her body quaking from her sobs, but I just kept her close, being a rock for her to lean on.

“And this place?” she said, sniffling after a minute. “It used to be Mr. and Mrs. Tucker’s place.” Her gaze roamed the room, and she smiled when she admired the rocking chair in the corner.

“It did, but as it turned out, they had it for sale and were more than happy to sell it to a person willing to pay twenty percent more than the asking price.” When her head tipped up at me, I stared at her, kissing the tip of her nose. “I thought this would be a perfect second home. A place we can fly out to on weekends and holidays or to see your family whenever we need a break from the city.” I shrugged, tipping my head out at the endless fields I knew nothing about. But I was willing to learn, or at least learn enough to hire help, to tend them. “You know, for when we get the urge to get our hands dirty.”

She stared out the window with me like she wasn’t sure any of this was real. “But you don’t want to spend weekends in Indiana. On a farm. In an old farmhouse.”

Curling my finger under her chin, I lifted it until she was looking at me. “But you do. And I want to be wherever you are. Wherever that is.”

That was when she kissed me. The kind of kiss that was about to make me lose all control of my impulses. I would have been happy to just let the kiss keep going wherever she had in mind, but this time she was the one who broke it.

“You did all of this for me?” she whispered. “Before you even knew I was pregnant with your child?”

My head tipped. Didn’t she understand yet? Couldn’t she see it written in my eyes? “I’d do anything for you. Absolutely anything, Adeline Matthews. Whether you bear us a child or not.”

Her eyebrow lifted. “
Us
a child?”

My arms wound tighter around her. “I don’t just want you to be the mother of my child. I want you to be the mother of my family. I want you to be my wife. The woman I share every good and bad moment with from now until the day I die.”

Twisting around in my arms, she leaned the back of her head into my chest. “I want that too. With you.”

“You are the only one,” I said. “There never has been or will be another woman for me than you.”

She glanced at me. “
Never
has been?”

Sucking in a breath, I decided to tell her. I was pretty much telling her everything else. “You weren’t the only virgin in the room the night we made this baby.” My hand curved around her stomach. I didn’t need a blood test to know my child was growing inside of my woman. I could already feel it.

Her eyes widened. “I was your first?”

I nodded, not even the least bit embarrassed to be a thirty-five-year-old man who had just lost his virginity days ago. It would have been wasted on anyone but Adeline. “And I was yours.”

“So we’re both each other’s firsts?” She smiled like the idea thrilled her as much as it did me.

“And so help me god, we’ll be each other’s lasts, because I am never letting you go, Adeline Matthews. Ever.” My arms tightened around her possessively, and when I felt her sweet behind wiggle against my lap, my cock sprang to life instantly.

“That’s good,” she said, twisting in my arms so she was looking up at me. “Because I am never letting you go, Abel Lockwood. Ever.”

Something ignited in her eyes right before her hand curled around my package. Her touch was so searing after the separation that my head rolled back.

“Now,” she said, tugging on my belt to lead me out of the baby’s room. We’d barely rounded into the hall before she had me up against the wall, her hands making quick work of my pants. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

O
ur baby was
in my arms. Abel had me in his arms. My whole family—my whole world—was right here with me. Everything I’d come to accept would never happen was in this small hospital bed with me.

“He’s perfect,” I whispered, leaning my head back to look up at my husband. He hadn’t slept a wink since my contractions started yesterday morning, but even thirty-six hours later, he looked alert and invigorated.

“You’re both perfect.” Abel kissed my temple, gazing at our son bundled up in my arms. He was a healthy little guy, weighing in at a hefty nine pounds two ounces, and looked identical to Abel’s baby photos.

Abel had gotten me pregnant that first weekend together. Not that that was much of a surprise to either of us. He’d known. I’d known. It was nice having the blood test verify that, but we’d started living our lives as a family before we had the results.

“How can I be married to the most beautiful woman in the world and have just had the most beautiful baby?” Abel’s hand curved tenderly around the top of our son’s head. His hand looked ginormous against our newborn son’s body.

“We did make an insanely beautiful baby together.” I smiled, snuggling a little deeper into Abel’s arms. I was tired after such a long labor, and while I knew these little ones might be quiet at first, they didn’t stay that way for long. I was going to need my rest while I could get it.

Abel had offered to hire a nanny to help out, but I couldn’t stand the idea of someone else getting up to comfort my baby when he cried. Or change his diaper when he needed it. I might have been possessive already of my family, but I’d learned it from a certain someone else who was overbearingly possessive right back.

“This might be a bit soon, but since we’re on the subject of babies, when can we start trying for a little baby brother or sister?”

I laughed quietly at the seriousness on my husband’s face. “I think I read six weeks before resuming sex and a few months before trying to get pregnant again.”

Abel’s eyes went round. “Six weeks?” he hissed. When our son squirmed in his sleep, Abel lowered his voice. “
Six weeks?
My god, did sadists draw up those guidelines?”

I tried to control my laugh, but I couldn’t help it. It filled the room, Abel’s joining in a few moments later. Through it all, our son stayed sound asleep.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got plenty of ways to take care of your needs.” When I winked at him, the excitement of possibilities flashed in his eyes.

Then he sighed. “Your needs first. If I have to control myself for six weeks . . . I guess I won’t die. I controlled myself for thirty-five years,” he said under his breath. “Your needs. Our son’s needs. Both of your needs first. Always.”

I melted into him a little more.

“I’m a father now. That’s how it works.” He shrugged like he had to explain it to me, but he didn’t need to. I’d known from the start what kind of father Abel would be.

“You’re not just a father, Abel. You’re a
great
father.”

He smiled at me like he was remembering the same memory of our first meeting. “I love you.”

My hand curled around the side of his neck. “I love you too.”

“Thank you for giving me this perfect baby. Thank you for picking me, believing in me, and sticking with me. Thank you for making this child with me in love.”

My gaze drifted to the baby in my arms. Our love child.

I had it all. Everything I’d ever hoped and dreamed for. “Thank you for making my dreams come true.”

* * *