Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (16 page)

Eric nodded. "Yeah, he sent word to choir
practice for everyone to plan on food and drink at his house when we're done.
Frank's a good guy."

"What about where we're going to live? Do you
want to stay here in Sully Point?" she asked.

"I think it's going to depend on whether we
go back to school and if so, when. The earliest we could probably get into
classes would be the fall of next year. Why don't we live here until
then?"

"Here? In this apartment?"

"You think it's too small for the two of us?
We've practically been living together here already."

"I think it might be nice to find something a
bit bigger. A place we could come back to, if we do move away, for holidays and
vacations. A place we could grow into, when we start having children."

"Which will be a long time in the future, but
I get your point." Eric nodded slowly. "I hadn't thought of it, but
it would be nice to have a place to call home, and not something temporary. I
can call Linda Firestone, the real estate broker I used for the building. I'll
bet she can find us something."

Maggie punched him gently in the arm. "If you
think I'm going to go house hunting right before Christmas, you're nuts. Don't
even bother that poor broker until after the beginning of the year."

He laughed. "You're right, I wasn't
thinking." He ended up yawning on the last word.

"Let's go to bed, love," Maggie said.
"I think we're both wiped out tonight."

As they settled into bed, both on their sides, him
behind her, she decided that spooning was one of the more enjoyable aspects of
being part of a couple. Feeling his arm around her, his body against her body,
his warmth making her feel sleepy and cozy and warm, she murmured, "I love
you, so much."

She felt him kiss the top of her head. His fingers
linked with hers, tucking their hands up against her body.

"Go to sleep, darling. Know that I love
you."

When she woke up in the morning, Eric had already
left. There was a note on his pillow, telling her he was off to Julia's Place
for an incoming shipment of computers. She laid back on the bed for a
moment--and suddenly jumped up and raced for the bathroom. After being
thoroughly sick, she stumbled into the kitchen for a glass of ginger ale.

She sat carefully at the table, feeling fragile
and vaguely worried that she might be coming down with something right before
Christmas, when it hit her. It couldn't be, she thought. She sat completely
still and stared at the refrigerator. There was a calendar on the front of it.
She started counting back to when she and Eric had first had sex. The nervous
fluttering in her stomach now had nothing to do with being sick and everything
to do with fear.

She managed to get up and go back to the bathroom
to open the medicine cabinet. With trembling hands, she took the container of
birth control pills out and stared at them. The count was off by one day.
During all the excitement of the first days of their love, the time spent with
Eric--somehow she had managed to forget to take a pill. It wasn't too much
chocolate making her sick. She didn't have the flu. It wasn't even stress. Big
tears splashed down her face as she looked into the mirror.
"I'm...I'm...I'm pregnant," she said to her reflection. Wide shocked
eyes looked back at her. She had no idea what to think or how she felt, besides
being stunned.

"Okay, okay, just settle down. You might not
be," she said out loud. "Just because you're suddenly craving
chocolate and desserts, and you cry at the drop of a hat, that doesn't mean
anything. First, buy a pregnancy test. But not anywhere in town! Just go do
that first." She nodded firmly at her reflection in the mirror, and wiped
her eyes.

She got dressed, grabbed her coat and purse and
was out the door in a few minutes. She drove to the mall and bought three
pregnancy tests--just to be sure.

The whole time she couldn't stop thinking about
what Eric would say. He'd been so clear about their future when discussing it
last night, talking about how they had plenty of time, to not rush into having
kids. At least he wanted kids! That was something. But, right now?

And what did she feel about it? All she really knew
was that she felt confused, stupid, and scared.

* * * *

Eric took a satisfied look around the
pentagon-shaped room. Everything had arrived on time. Now they had to start
deliveries or they'd never get them all out for Christmas morning.

"Julia? Have you got the finalized
list?" he called out.

Julia walked into the room holding a clipboard.
"Got it. I'll be staying here for the ones who are picking up their own.
Cody's on the way over with the van. Our volunteers should be arriving right
about now." She turned at the sound of the bell on the door. "Hello,
Mrs. Newton."

Eric saw tiny Mrs. Newton come into the shop. Her
face was lit up. "Is it true? They're really here?"

"Yes, they are. You're sure you don't want us
to deliver it to you?" he asked.

"Oh Mr. Stanton, I'm plenty strong enough."

He looked at her. She was five feet one inch,
maybe. A single mother whose husband had died in Afghanistan, she had two
children, one who was in Kindergarten and one in second grade. "First off,
call me Eric. My father is Mr. Stanton. How about this--we send someone with
you, just to carry it in. I know you can set it up once you have it inside your
house, but it's snowy out there. Okay?"

She tilted her head to one side. "You're a
nice man, Eric. Even if you do worry too much. But sure, if you have someone to
come out with me, then that's cool. I just want to tell you what a great thing
this is that you're doing. I want my kids to have every advantage I can give
them, but I couldn't give them this. You're making a huge difference in their
lives, so thank you."

Eric could feel his face flushing with
embarrassment. He'd never done anything like this before. He'd always been so
wrapped up in his work. The gratitude he was getting around the computer
giveaway was surprising to him, and he didn't really know how to respond to it.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Newton. I think it's
terrific that you're determined to expose your kids to computers early on.
That's the best way."

Julia handed Mrs. Newton a several pieces of
paper. "Here's the list of computer classes we'll be running that includes
the higher level ones. There's also a list of software. Let us know if you want
or need something immediately. Eventually we'll get around to everyone."

"Thanks to you too, Julia. You guys are
great. Now--which one is mine?"

"Right over here," Eric said and pointed
to a box with her name on it. One of the volunteers came in and they put the
desktop computer and flat-screen monitor into her car, then the volunteer drove off with her. Some wanted desktops and others were getting laptops, based on preference.

"First one out the door," Julia said.
"How does it feel?"

"Weird. And good. I've never given anything
away or helped out anyone in any kind of charity. It felt odd to have her
thanking me. I have so much now. It's really the least I can do, to give
something back."

Julia beamed at him. "Exactly. Cody and I
look at having money as a reason to do good. What's it there for, if not to be
used?"

"Yeah. That's a good point. Okay, I'm going
to get this thing on the road. I want to check in with Maggie in a while. She
was sick last night."

"Stomach bug?"

"I'm not sure. She was sick but then she got
better and ate. She thinks it was because she overdid eating chocolates."

"Maggie? Eating chocolate again? You know,
that is so strange because she can be such a stickler for eating healthy."

"All I know is that she was sick and I want to
make sure she's okay. I'm going to get some guys to start loading these
up."

* * * *

Maggie sat on the side of the tub, staring at the
wall. Three different tests and they'd all come back positive. According to
them, she was pregnant. All because of one missed pill. She and Eric had not
used condoms because they had both been without lovers for a long time and knew
they were healthy. With her being on the pill, they of course had assumed they
were covered.

What to do now was the question. She could think
of only one thing.

"Mom?" she said into the phone, and then
burst into tears.

Fifteen minutes later she was calmer.

"Can you come now, Mom? You and Dad? Get Sam
to, I don't know, send a Lear jet or something for you?"

"Of course we can. I'll call Sam as soon as
we hang up. We'll figure this out together, so wash your face and keep yourself
busy. We love you."

"Thanks, Mom. I knew I could count on you.
Love you, too." She ended the call, splashed water on her face, and walked
into the kitchen. Now she was starving, so she made some scrambled eggs and
toast. She didn't have any decaf coffee, but hot chocolate sounded like a good
idea.

Sipping her chocolate, later, while she worked on
knitting a sweater for Sam, she realized that tonight was another practice
session for the carolers. Eric would be gone all day with the computers and
then out with the choir. That, she decided, was a very good thing. She needed
time to sit with this, to figure out her own feelings before telling him
anything. She knew she had to tell him, but she dreaded it. He had a vision of
their life together, their future, and because she had forgotten to take a
pill, it was going to be a very different future.

Would he want a child now, at this time? She
didn't think so. And even if he said he did, how could she really trust that he
meant it? She didn't want him to resent the baby even unconsciously. But that
was all beside the point in this moment. Her feelings had to get sorted out
first.

She did like kids, even if she called her nephew,
Joshua, a little monster on occasion. But she'd expected to be having them in
the future, several years down the road. She was young, she had time. Only the
time had become now. A baby. A baby made up of bits of her and bits of Eric.
She set her knitting aside, and placed her hand where she thought the
beginnings of a baby might reside.

"Hey, you in there. No matter what happens,
you've got me. And I love you. How could I not? So don't worry about anything.
And if you could chill out on the making me throw up thing, I'd appreciate
it."

A new person, growing inside her, made out of
their love? Of course, she loved it already, a being made of love.

She felt better, having figured out that she did
want the baby. When her mother called back, she was calm.

"We can't get there until day after tomorrow,
honey," her mother said in a worried tone. "Everybody everywhere is
all booked up. We need to wait for the snow to subside and then we'll drive
down. We've got that monster four-wheel drive that Sam gave us last year for
Christmas. We should be fine."

"Mom, I'm better. I've realized a few things.
No matter what, I am keeping this baby. Wait until the roads are really cleared
before coming out of the mountains. Take a couple of days. If you don't get
here until Christmas Eve or even Christmas, that's okay. Really."

"But I don't want you to be alone."

Maggie laughed. "I won't be. I have the whole
Grainger clan, and Sam and Anna are right here. I'm not alone. Plus, there's
Eric."

"You'll tell him?"

"Yes. He should know. I don't know how he'll
react, but he's a good man."

"All right, dear. But talk to Anna, or
someone there, if you feel you can. It's good to share this kind of news."

"I don't want it to get out around town yet.
But maybe I'll talk to Sam and Anna. They can keep a secret. Be careful driving
down."

"We will be. I'll let you know when we set
out, but call me any time, day or night."

She set her phone down after the good byes feeling
confident she'd be able to handle things. Her parents would just be
reinforcements of security during what could be a shaky time. But she was a
grown-up, especially now! She was going to be a mother. What a strange idea.

Eric called a few minutes after that. "How
are you feeling?"

"I'm pretty good. I had some breakfast and
everything is fine."

"Are you sure? Your voice sounds kind of
funny?"

"Funny?"

"Sort of strained, higher than usual. Do you
want me to stop by in between deliveries?"

She took a deep breath and let it out, and tried
to put confidence in her voice. "No, really, I'm okay. I've got some gifts
to finish up, so I'll be taking it easy here. How are the deliveries
going?"

"Wonderful. People are so excited. It ends up
making me excited for them. The look on their faces just gets to me."

"You're doing a good thing, Eric. In fact, I
told my mother you were a good man only moments ago."

"Your mother? Did they get their travel plans
worked out?"

"They should get here on Christmas Eve or the
next morning, depending on the weather."

"I can't wait to meet them. I know they must
be terrific people."

"How can you know that?" she asked
curiously.

"They made you. You came from them. And you
are terrific, so they must be."

Maggie felt the tears start.

"Maggie, are you there?"

"Yes," she sniffed. "I think I
might be allergic to this yarn. It's given me the sniffles."

"Sorry to hear that, darling. Take care of
yourself and I'll see you around supper time."

"You have choir practice."

"I'll bring a pizza over before practice,
how's that sound?"

"Great."

"Gotta go. I love you," Eric said.

"And I love you," she replied.

She set the phone down and proceeded to bawl for
five minutes. It occurred to her that her hormones must be going wonky, but
maybe this was abnormal, to be crying so much. She called Doc Watson and got an
appointment for the afternoon. It couldn't hurt to be sure everything was okay.