Bundle of Joy (22 page)

"Everything is splendid," she called back. "Absolutely splendid."

"You'll share a few minutes with me before you leave?" Scotty asked as she raced for the basement door.

"I promise!" she tossed over her shoulder, then disappeared down the steps.

Charlie was up to his eyebrows in beer kegs, cartons of Scotch and vodka, and more cases of peanuts and pretzels than even the gang on
Cheers
could imagine. He looked up at the sound of her high heels clicking across the cement floor and grinned. "Don't tell me: you can't live without one of my cheeseburgers deluxe."

She stopped a few feet away from him, heart pounding crazily inside her chest. "Come here."

"Even better," said Charlie as he tossed down his ledger and came toward her. "You're gonna get physical."

"How right you are." She drew in a deep breath and reached for his hand, placing it across her belly. She waited for it to happen again and when it did she threw back her head and laughed joyously. "Did you feel that? The baby moved!"

Charlie's dark brows drew together in a frown. "I didn't feel anything."

"Oh, Charles...there! It happened again. Did you feel it this time?"

"I don't know...I think--Jesus!" His eyes widened and color appeared on his cheeks. He pressed his hand more closely against her belly. "I can't believe this."

"Neither can I," said Caroline. "Isn't it miraculous?"

The baby seemed to somersault within her womb, a gentle rolling motion that made Caroline giggle and Charlie stare in amazement.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

"Wonderful...like a tiny creature tumbling around on a waterbed."

"Apt description."

"It is, isn't it?" She threw her arms around him and planted a kiss right beneath his moustache. "It happened for the first time not twenty minutes ago and I raced right over here."

W
armth that had nothing to do with sexual desire grew inside Charlie's heart. He wanted to say things to her that he'd never said to any other woman before, to utter words that would change his life even more than it had already been changed. If things were different between them, if this were a
real
marriage, he would have said "I love you." But things weren't different between them and it wasn't a real marriage and so he just hugged her close and wondered why the best part of life always seemed to come with strings attached.

#

The next two months passed in a happy blur for Caroline. Bursts of great activity were followed by bursts of equally great serenity. Both the morning sickness and the numbing fatigue had disappeared, replaced by a sense of such well-being that she pitied women who would never know the joys of pregnancy. She ate with gusto, worked with inspiration, and slept the sleep of the well-satisfied woman. Charlie worked a bit of magic and somehow rearranged his hours at the bar for the duration so that he was home most evenings.

His wayward socks still made Caroline crazy while her love of closet space bordered on the obsessive to Charlie, but somehow they managed to mesh their differences in a way that worked for them--at least for now. There was something to be said for a short-term commitment. It made it easier to overlook petty annoyances and concentrate on what was wonderful about the relationship.

To Caroline's delight, there were
many
wonderful things about life with Charlie. His off-key singing each morning as he made breakfast. The soapy-clean smell of his skin after their shower. The solid feel of his body next to hers at night.

But, not the least of it was the sheer pleasure to be found in sharing the day-to-day changes that pregnancy brought into their lives. Charlie's stacks of
Sports Illustrated
were still prominent, but now stacks of baby books vied for space, as well. The short-order cook
par excellence
had become the expert on prenatal care. He knew everything there was to know about the baby's development
in utero
and Caroline's progress. Words like "pre-eclampsia" no longer made him dizzy. Truth was, he was reveling in the experience and his enthusiasm made Caroline happier than she'd been in her life.

Charlie cooked a gigantic 28-
pound turkey for Thanksgiving and they brought it over to Sam and Murphy's house to share with their friends, thankful that they had been blessed with so much.

Oh yes, life was good these days for all three of them, Caroline, Charlie, and the baby.

#

"Look at you," said Sam in the O'Rourke's kitchen two weeks before Christmas. "You look so beautiful it's disgusting."

Caroline groaned and placed her hands on her prominent belly. "Sixteen and one-half pounds and climbing." She rolled her eyes. "Give me another two months and I'll look like Roseanne Barr."

"You're radiant," said Sam, munching on a carrot stick. "I take it pregnancy agrees with you."

"It does," said Caroline, taking a sip of milk. "I feel as if I could tackle the world."

"From the looks of your store yesterday, I'd say the world was beating a path to your door."

"Wonderful, isn't it? Christmas is usually my best season, but this is unbelievable." Who would have imagined that the introduction of ultra-chic maternity clothes would send her profits right through the roof. Pregnant women from as far away as Philadelphia were flocking to
Twice Over Lightly
for the most glamorous holiday gowns in the world. "I could kick myself for not catching on to this earlier."

Sam's smile was smug. "I believe I told you exactly that around Valentine's Day when I was desperate for something special to wear to Murphy's UPI dinner." She feigned deep concentration. "If I remember correctly, you told me you'd be wasting your time and money hunting down designer maternity clothes." Her smile widened. "'Not a big enough market,' I think you said."

Caroline shrugged broadly. "So I was wrong." She leaned across the kitchen table and grabbed a carrot stick for herself. "You must admit there seem to be more pregnant women than usual around here lately."

"Not so I've noticed."

"Really, Sam. You might not have noticed, but I have. They're everywhere. Princeton must be the most fertile town in the country!"

"You've just become aware of pregnant women," said the Voice of Experience. "Once you deliver, you'll think there are more young mothers and new babies around than ever before. It's all a matter of perspective."

Caroline nodded but she wasn't buying it. There was a definite baby boom flourishing in central New Jersey, whether or not her best friend wanted to admit it.

Sam arranged the raw vegetables on a platter then went to work on mixing a dip of yogurt, chives, and assorted spices. "How's the prospective daddy handling it?"

Caroline started to laugh. "As if he'd invented fatherhood. I swear the man knows more about fetal development than Dr. Burkheit."

"That's the way it always is. The reluctant types are always the ones who fall hook, line, and sinker."

Oh, Sam,
she thought with an inward sigh.
You couldn't possibly know how right you are.
Once upon a time there had been no one more reluctant than Caroline.

Sam's daughter Patty chose that moment to burst through the back door, her fiery red hair dancing about her face. Patty was bursting with excitement, something to do with a boy named Jeff, and Sam turned into Mommy right before Caroline's eyes. How did she do that, Caroline wondered, switch gears from being a civilian to being a mother without so much as batting an eye. It was as if a magician had waved a magic wand over Sam's head and the transformation was total and complete.

From the very beginning Samantha had been able to juggle all the different facets of her personality with little trouble. Caroline was good with dresses and sales figures, but would she be able to kiss away a child's tears or offer encouragement when a little girl was in the throes of first love?

She looked over at her goddaughter, whose freckled face looked endearingly serious as she described her heart
throb.
I've never had any trouble getting along with Patty,
she thought, as she listened. She'd always enjoyed spending time with Patty, offering advice, helping out with Halloween costumes and party dresses and the job of finding a husband for Sam.

Yes, but that's the fun stuff,
a little voice inside her whispered.
Where were you for dirty diapers, chicken pox, and monsters-in-the-closet?

"Oh God," she moaned, burying her face in her hands. "Someone should offer classes in how to be a mother."

"They do!" said Patty, the resident genius. "My friend Amy's mother is a nurse and she said they have seminars at Princeton Medical Center on Tuesdays."

"Basic training or advanced infantry?"

"Basic training," said Patty. "Baths and diapers and all that kind of stuff." She wrinkled her nose. "Don't you know how to do that junk, Aunt Caroline?"

Caroline shook her head forlornly. "I was on the wrong line when they gave out maternal instinct. About all I
do
know is which end to diaper."

"Uncle Charlie knows more than that."

Both Caroline and Sam laughed out loud.

"I'm sorry, honey, but Charles is as backward on baby care as I am." So far Charlie's forte had been pregnancy. She prayed the baby came with instructions.

Patty, however, didn't budge. "He's giving Jimmy a bath."

"Good grief," said Sam, pushing her chair away from the table. "Where's Murphy?"

"He's coaching."

Caroline pulled herself to her feet. "Now this I have to see."

They tiptoed after Patty as she led them through the hallway toward the nursery. "Be real quiet," Patty cautioned, "and if you scrunch down near the doorway, they'll never see you."

Scrunching down was hard work for Caroline, but she managed. It was well worth the effort. Murphy was leaning against the window, looking exceedingly amused--and with good reason. The sight of Charlie, all muscle
-bound 6'3" of him, struggling with a squirming five month old baby boy with deadly bladder aim, had Patty and Sam convulsed in silent laughter behind Caroline.

Even Caroline had to admit it was a comical sight. She'd seen Charlie heft hundred pound beer kegs with greater ease than he was displaying with that bundle of little boy. However, there was no denying the sweetness of the moment or the effect it had on her heart.

Lucky baby,
she thought, lacing her hands across her belly.
Your daddy already loves you.

A thought, dangerous and impossible, came to life inside her soul and she struggled to push it away but still it lingered, making her yearn for things she didn't want and could never have.

If only,
she thought
. If only....

#

Charlie wasn't entirely certain he was ready to face a roomful of expectant parents, but when Caroline suggested they attend the Tuesday seminar at the hospital, he found it impossible to say no. What kind of man could look into the big blue eyes of his beautiful--and heavily pregnant--wife and say no to anything she asked?

Not Charlie, although when they walked through the door of the conference room he wished he'd managed it.

"This is worse than the doctor's office," he said as they claimed two seats up near the front.

"I know what you mean," said Caroline. "I feel like someone should start boiling water."

"Why did we let the kid talk us into coming?"

"Patty didn't talk us into anything. She merely pointed out fifty separate reasons why it would be a good idea."

"Has she always been this way?"

Caroline nodded. "From her first word."

He shot her a look that made her laugh. "Sam's not a certifiable genius too, is she?"

"Her IQ is high, but not stratospheric."

"How about Patty's father?"

"Ronald's no rocket scientist."

He took note of the edge in her voice. "So what you're saying is sometimes a kid is her own creation, nothing at all like the parents."

"It gives one hope, doesn't it?"

"I'm not so sure." He dragged a hand through his hair. "We might end up with a son who likes designer dresses."

"Or a daughter who prefers
Old Spice
to
Chanel No. 5
."

"I wouldn't mind if she looked like her mom."
Corny, Charlie. Real corny.

She glanced down at her hands. "I wouldn't mind if he had his father's green eyes."

"I've been thinking a lot about a little girl."

Her eyes met his. "Most men have their hearts set on having a son to carry on the name."

He shrugged. "Plenty of other Donohues out there to carry on the name."