Romance for Matthew (5 page)

Jacob sucked at her nipple eagerly, while making little noises and shuddering from his crying.

"Sorry," Bethany told Matthew. "I just need to feed him, I think. He should be all right in a few minutes."

"I can see you rocking back and forth, your shadow," he said softly, "there's a light behind you. It's really a lovely picture in my mind. Very tranquil and serene."

"Well, he's noisy, I'll give him that much," Bethany replied with a laugh. "He's not very tranquil or serene either."

Matthew sat back on the couch with a smile on his face, as he watched their shadows move.

"Okay, Jacob," she said after a few minutes, pulling up her gown again, "you need to say a proper hello." She held him on her knees while she patted his back.

"Would you like to hold him?" she asked Matthew, not knowing if he was a baby lover or not.

"Yes. Definitely."

She picked up Jacob and laid him upright in Matthew's waiting arms.

Matthew's mouth was open a bit, and he was smiling. His hands moved over Jacob, and his smile grew wider with each discovery. "He has tiny little hands and feet. And he's chunky, like a football player. And he has hair, a little bit."

Bethany laid a towel on Jacob's front. "Just in case. Pat him on the back, then, he hasn't burped yet."

Jacob was serious now, with just a few little shudders from his crying jag, as he looked up at Matthew. After a few seconds, he burped loudly.

"Now where have I heard that before?" Matthew laughed.

"I know," she said, sitting on the rocker again, "I was afraid to tell you about him."

"Why?" Matthew smoothed Jacob's pajamas and rocked him back and forth.

"I guess some people think if you have children, you'll have to take a lot of time off from work."

Jacob gurgled contentedly, and wiggled in Matthew's lap, while his head nodded up and down.

Matthew replied, "He's so cute. I wouldn't even care about that. People need time off work for whatever reason. Life happens
, even to people without children
."

Then Jacob's eyes grew heavy as he leaned against Matthew more and more, before Matthew shifted him onto his leg. "I hope you don't think I'm too forward asking this, but where is his father?"

She sighed. "He died. Five months ago now. For some reason, I'm counting the days since he passed. I don't know why. Just some dumb thing I do, I guess."

He said softly, "It's certainly not dumb at all. How difficult your life has been. It must have made your faith even stronger. You seem so strong."

She smiled. "Not really. I'm very much a weakling. And it crushed my faith in God, actually. I haven't been to church since. I cremated Samuel and spread his ashes in the yard, by the roses. He always loved those roses so much. Ruby red. He said they were the color of my lips..." and her voice trailed off as she quietly reminisced.

"You have Jacob," he said softly, "he's living proof of your love for your husband. You created Jacob. It's a miracle, don't you think?"

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears, and she used one of Jacob's cloths to dab at them, trying not to sniff, but failing.

"I didn't mean to upset you," he said. He brought Jacob around to the front of his chest and looked down at him, almost as if he could see him. "Such a miracle," he repeated, in an awestruck voice, "I just can't get over it."

But then Kate wandered in, sighing and flopping herself in one of the chairs by the couch.

Matthew's head bounced up.

"My sister," Bethany said. "What's up, Kate?"

"Just bored," she replied, watching Matthew holding Jacob.

"Nice to see you, Kate," he said politely. "Listen, Bethany, I'd better go. I know you're busy here with everything."

She took the sleeping baby from him, placed him in his playpen, and walked Matthew to the door. Then she motioned for the limo driver to help him out.

"Thanks so much," she told Matthew, "I had a lovely time."

They stood very close now. His hand came up and felt the front of her face, left then right cheek, forehead, smoothing back her hair. He kissed her lightly once, then again, before he left.

"Stud-muffin," Kate told her, when she was in the house again.

Bethany laughed, as she headed for the bedroom with sleeping Jacob. "Yes, he's quite attractive."

"Anytime you get tired of him, just let me know," Kate called after her.

*****

Half way to his house, Matthew's cell phone rang.

"So, how did it go, my man?" Nat's voice said, as Matthew heard a loud band playing in the background.

"I held her baby. His name is Jacob."

"Wow, I didn't even know she had a kid. I've got to catch up here, things are moving too fast."

Matthew laughed. "Yes, she has a six month old beautiful baby boy." Then he grew serious. "Her husband died five months ago. I just don't know how she could go on after that."

"Sometimes people can do extraordinary things if called upon. You of all people should know that. Oh, by the way, Catherine called me a few minutes ago."

Matthew groaned. "Trying to get information I suppose."

"The usual," Nat said. "This time she was asking about Bethany. How long has Catherine been chasing you now?"

"About a year, give or take. You think she'd get the hint by now."

"She probably wants the one that got away. I knew a hunter like that one time. Said he was looking to bag the elephant."

Laughing now, Matthew replied, "I'm just not in the mood to get bagged right now in my life."

"Don't blame you. So, did you call Bethany yet? Make sure she got to bed all right?"

"No. If you'd hang up, I could do just that."

"See 'ya."

Bethany heard her phone go off just as she'd put Jacob to sleep in his little crib in her bedroom. She searched for it, and found it by his baby seat in the kitchen. He'd been gumming it, so she wiped it before answering. "Yes?"

"Just wanted to make sure you're okay," Matthew said softly.

His voice brought up a whole host of feelings from the evening. When he'd kissed her so lightly on the porch, she'd felt the light kisses down to her toes. But she'd also felt guilty at her feelings of attraction to him.

"I'm fine. Just cleaning up a bit," she replied finally.

"And what's on your agenda for tomorrow?"

"Probably some time for walks in the park down the road here. I might make cookies if I have the energy."

"No church?"

"I haven't been to church in more than five months," she said.

"I understand," he said, in the same soft tone. "Maybe one day you'll see He really does have a plan for all of us. We just can't question it."

"How can you be so upbeat? Aren't you angry?" They both knew what she meant. He couldn't see.

"I suppose I could be," he said thoughtfully. "But what a waste of my time that would be, don't you think? I'd rather be bowling or something."

Smiling now, she said, "I think you scored better than I did. I'd better practice up."

She could tell he was smiling too now, as he said, "So I'll give you one day off, then you have to come back to work for me on Monday. How's that for a slave driver?"

"Okay. See you then." And as she hung up from the call, she realized she was looking forward to Monday.

Chapter 4

But, they weren't able to go to the park. Jacob ran a fever from teething starting Saturday night, and through to Monday morning.

"His cheeks are so bright pink," Bethany said worriedly, after she'd prepared for work. He sat in his baby seat in the kitchen, and she touched his cheeks and forehead while he gurgled contentedly and flailed his arms.

"Now don't worry," her mother said in a calm voice. "I just gave him some of the non-aspirin liquid. He'll be fine. You'll get yourself sick if you worry too much."

"You'll be with him all day?" Bethany asked, as she watched her sister come into the kitchen, yawning.

"Of course. Just go now. I can handle it."

But Bethany was so distracted, she took a wrong turn again getting to Matthew's house, and she was a little late, arriving at eight-thirty.

She opened the front door, set her things in the den, and wondered where Matthew was. After checking the kitchen, she heard a noise in one of the rooms downstairs.

It turned out to be a workout room, off the kitchen, complete with mirrored walls, weights, benches, a stair-climber and a treadmill. She'd never seen this room before.

But her breath came out in a gasp as she watched Matthew run on the treadmill. He just wore shorts and running shoes, but she thought the rest of him was extraordinary, with well-defined pec muscles on his chest, sinewy arms and back, hard thigh muscles, and now his body held a slight sheen from running. He was one solid man, she thought.

A few seconds later, his head came up, and he stopped the treadmill. "Bethany?" he said, turning towards her.

"Yes," she said, "I didn't mean to interrupt you. Just wanted to apologize for being late today. I was spacing out and took a wrong turn after the highway."

But he just grabbed a towel and laughed. "I'm late today too. I'm usually finished with my workout by the time you get here. It must just be the day I guess. Mondays are like that."

He wiped at his face and chest while she still admired his fine body.

"Well," she said, "I'd better get to work. I'll be in the den."

"Be there in a minute," he replied breathlessly, "I just need to take a shower."

And the thought of him in the shower, soaping himself, was a very nice picture for her to contemplate, she thought, on the way to the den. Then guilt set in, and she frowned at her wandering imagination.

She
sat
reconciling an account as he came in about half hour later. He'd changed to a polo shirt and chinos, probably the most casual she'd seen him dress, as he sat in front of his computer with Mutty at his side.

After an hour, she called her mother. "How is Jacob?" Bethany asked somewhat anxiously.

"He's about the same. I called the doctor and he said that was pretty much the norm for teething. A fever, I mean."

"All right. You'll call me if there's a change?"

"Of course. Try not to worry."

After she hung up, Matthew asked, "Everything okay at home?"

"Actually the baby has a fever from teething. He's such a sweet baby, even with a fever, he barely cries."

"Would you like to take the day off?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"No. It's all right, really. I'm almost at the end of this one account here and I can finish it today."

After they had lunch, though, she wondered if she should take him up on the offer of the rest of the day off. She just couldn't seem to concentrate and still hadn't finished the account.

But soon, she received a call from her sister.

"What is it?" she said to Kate impatiently, as her sister hesitated.

"You need to come home."

"For what?"

"Mom just said for you to come home." And Bethany heard commotion in the background.

Now she started to panic, and her voice grew louder. "What's going on, Kate? Where's Mom?"

"She went in the ambulance," Kate told her.

"Tell me what you're talking about, quickly," Bethany snapped.

"The baby had a seizure."

"Oh, God. Is he okay?" Bethany's voice grew louder, as Matthew stared at her, frowning.

"I guess you could meet her at the General Hospital. That's where they were taking him."

Bethany snapped the phone shut. "I have to go," she told Matthew, as she gathered up her things. "The baby had a seizure."

"Which hospital?" he asked.

"General," she said over her shoulder, as she ran out the front door.

Bethany pushed all the speed limits, until she was finally arrived at General emergency entrance. Grabbing her purse, she ran into the nurses station. "Jacob Cox," she said breathlessly, thinking of all the times her Samuel had been in this hospital, and in the end, wasting away before her eyes.

"Come with me," the male nurse said. "He's over here."

She followed into a curtained off room in emergency. Jacob lay on the huge gurney, looking very tiny, as he waved his fists and feet in the air. He wore just a diaper and t-shirt, and his right hand was hooked up to an IV solution.

He wasn't crying, but Bethany was in tears after seeing him. Her mother came over and hugged her. "I just wanted to be safe," she said to Bethany. "Can't take any chances with my grandson."