THE DREAM CHILD (23 page)

“Nothing I do ever pleases him, so I’ve given up trying… I plan on going back to teaching after doing a sandwich course later this year. That didn’t impress him much. He would dearly love for me to go into politics. Could you see me as a politician?”

Sophie shook her head. “I much prefer you as a school teacher. Good on you for giving it another go. By the way, where are you working now?”

“Back at Students. Kevin wouldn’t let me go.”

“But you can’t have been back any more than six weeks. Where were you before that?”

“I worked on a project in Canberra for about a month, and then had some time off. Anyway, why don’t you have a rest before they arrive? I need to go out and do some shopping.”

Sophie’s eyes widened. “Don’t even think about it, dream lover. I’m still bleeding like crazy, and the doctor said no sex until the six week check up.”

“I can still go to sleep with you in my arms tonight though, can’t I?”

“Of course you can.”

All of a sudden the idea held a great deal of appeal, and Sophie returned his winsome smile as she handed him the baby. “Go on, go bond with your son.”

Sophie lay down on the comfortable lounge and closed her eyes.

Adrian didn’t protest very long at all when Victor put him back into his bassinet. The man obviously has the magic touch, she thought to herself with a contented smile. For a moment she dared to imagine that she had found ultimate contentment.

Here she was in a lovely home, with a beautiful healthy baby, and a handsome man who so far had done everything to make her feel special.

With those soothing thoughts rolling about in her head, she dozed off.

Her contented slumber was broken by insistent knocking on the front door. When she opened her eyes, Sophie wondered for a moment where she was, as an unfamiliar room swam into view.

Then she remembered.

She was at Frenchs Forest at Victor’s house, and the people at the front door were most likely his parents come to inspect their grandson. It also made her wonder why Victor wasn’t back to greet them. She glanced at her watch. She had been asleep for well over an hour.

Still trying to wake up, Sophie went to answer the door. She finger-combed her hair, reasoning she probably looked as befuddled as she felt.

The couple standing on the porch didn’t look happy, but Sophie was relieved to see Victor’s big black four-wheel-drive coming up the drive. Just in the nick of time, she thought as she welcomed their guests.

James merely grunted in response to her greeting, but Vera was a little more communicative, first saying hello, and then sweeping past to ask; “Where is he then?”

Sophie directed her to the nursery. “Victor decorated it himself,” she said.

“Yes, it’s a lovely room…. Ah here he is… Oh my goodness… “ She sighed, as she gazed down on the tiny sleeping face. “Come and look at this, James. He looks just like our Vic did when he was a baby.”

When Vera had the baby in her arms, Sophie saw tears mist her eyes. “Oh he’s just adorable. But why did you have to call him Adrian for? My first boyfriend’s name was Adrian.”

“Was it?” James asked gruffly, coming to his wife’s other side.

“Well, it was a long time ago, before I met you obviously.” She cuddled the baby close. “I came here today expecting the worse, but you have to admit Sophie was telling the truth on this one. He’s our grandson all right.”

“Well, if you’re convinced, then I’ll accept it too. But why the heck couldn’t you two do things the proper way?” James asked in a slightly less assiduous tone.

“Anyway, let’s bring him out so we can all sit down to a nice cup off coffee and afternoon tea,” Victor suggested.

His parents didn’t leave until after dinner time. Even though he had planned on a nice romantic meal for two, Victor didn’t have the heart to march them out the door, particularly since his mother didn’t seem to want to let Adrian go.

Finally, after Adrian’s last feed for the evening, they retired for the night. This was the first time since Victor had moved in that he would share the bed with someone. He let her use the shower in the en-suite, since that was where he’d put all her toiletries, and he went to the main bathroom.

Because the weather was still so hot, Victor decided to just wear a pair of satin boxer shorts. He really didn’t like running the air-conditioning all night, even if it did sometimes stay hot until morning. Of course he was the first in bed under the sheets.

A few minutes later a vision wearing a shimmering red nightgown entered the room, long dark curls cascading over her pale slender shoulders.

“I think I’m dreaming again,” Victor said, as she came towards the bed.

“So do I. Everything that’s happened between us feels like a dream. But does this feel real?” she asked. trailing delicate fingertips across his bare chest.

“Mmm, feels nice, sweetheart.” He took hold of her hands, and pulled her down on top of him. “Kiss me, vision of the night. Make my dreams come true.”

“I only wish I could,” she whispered, her beautiful mouth hovering just centimetres above his. “But doctor’s orders – ”

“There are so many other things we can do to one another to show our love. Do you love me Sophie? I’ve never heard you say it.”

“I know and I’m sorry, but until today I wasn’t completely sure. This afternoon I realised just what a wonderful man you are, and how special you always make me feel, so yes, Victor Rose, I love you, very much.”

To prove her point, she kissed him with all the love in her heart, and kept on kissing him. She kissed him in places that made him squirm, places that made him moan in delight, showing him just how much she loved him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The warm spring sunshine sent dappled shadows dancing through the bower. The scent of fresh roses, jasmine and hibiscus perfumed the air, and soft romantic music lulled the crowd into relaxed silence.

The soothing atmosphere did nothing to calm the hard knot of tension tightening in Victor’s stomach with each second that passed. Even though he told himself over and over again that Sophie was
not
going to leave him on his wedding day, his body obviously had other ideas, making him feel sick enough to puke. Now wouldn’t that be a wonderful sight, he thought in self-disgust, the groom throwing up from nervous tension.

Victor had wanted a quiet ceremony with just their family present, but Sophie’s sister and mother had taken over, turning it from a quick visit to the registry office into a garden wedding with close to a hundred guests. His family home was ideal for this, the backyard large enough to host such an event.

He stood beside Marcus, his best man, under an arch of blossoms. Marcus was one of his bushwalking buddies, someone who had no idea of the emotional torment Victor was going through, since they hadn’t known one another six years ago. The fact that Sophie’s mother sat in the front row of the arbour with nine month old Adrian, and the rest of their grandchildren, did nothing to quell the deep unease that drummed insistently through Victor’s veins. Every member of Amanda’s family had been present at the church too.

We’ve been living together for the past nine months, and nothing has gone wrong, he reminded himself. In fact they couldn’t have been happier. Adrian was a good baby, sleeping when he was meant to, well most of the time. He was a healthy, happy child, adored by both parents, and grandparents. But that didn’t mean Sophie was prepared to get married for a second time.

Victor glanced down at his watch, confirming she was now a whole minute late. That’s normal too, he told himself. The bride was
meant
to arrive late for the wedding. He turned to Marcus who grinned back at him.

“You look like you’re going to a funeral rather than getting married, mate,” the tall, brown haired man remarked. “And no, I haven’t lost the ring, so don’t even think of asking again.” He patted the breast pocket of his suit jacket for emphasis. “I was nervous on my wedding day too.”

“Thanks,” Victor mumbled in response, knowing his friend was only trying to put him at ease.

The celebrant went as far as to stroke Victor’s arm. She was a short, black-haired woman in her mid forties with a kind and understanding face. She had managed to find out what was bothering him during their final rehersal. Victor hadn’t wanted to tell her about his disastrous first attempt at marriage, but in the end he was glad he’d brought it into the open, because she said it explained a lot about him.

Marcus sniggered. “He had another wedding straight after, so it ended up a bit of a rush job.” He continued to regale Victor with anecdotes, no doubt to take his mind off his concerns, but when Sophie was ten minutes late, Victor was starting to get more than a little worried.

He knew they had a fair way to come from Hornsby, and that traffic could be a problem, but the hire-car companies always took that into account, driving around the block a few times, or stopping for photos if they were early

Half of him feared she’d stood him up like Amanda, but the other half was worried that something had gone wrong, despite her rigorous planning and organising. All sorts of dire scenarios began playing through his mind, and once again Marcus tried to distract him by drawing his attention to baby Adrian now trying to stand up on Vera’s lap. His poor mother was attempting to evade his little grasping hands, as the baby pulled pins from her hair, smeared her make-up, and generally climbed all over her.

Another ten minutes later Victor had had enough. The crowd was getting almost as restless as he was, and even Marcus had stopped trying to distract him. He yanked his mobile phone out of his pocket, and jabbed Sophie’s number into the keypad. Of course she’d it switched to voice mail. He then tried her sister, but since she was her maid of honour, she didn’t have her phone on either. Finally he tried Allan. Surely he would have kept his phone switched on, since he’d be the one walking Sophie up the isle, but Allan didn’t answer either.

“Damn it,” he cursed, wondering who else he could ring. He saw his father come up to join him. “I can’t get hold of any of them,” he muttered under his breath.

Victor shouldered past his father and strode angrily down the isle between the rows of chairs. He felt everyone’s gaze on him, and conversations ceased as he headed towards the driveway. He could hear people murmuring; “Where’s he going?” “What’s wrong?” “Where’s Sophie?”

“Wait up Vic,” his father called after him. Victor only increased his pace, finally reaching the street, where he leant against a gate post and clasped hold of his stomach. He felt like retching, but nothing came, probably because he’d hardly been able to eat a thing over the past few days.