Gabriel's Redemption

Chapter Sixty-two

That evening, Julia and Gabriel dined at Kelly’s Manhattan apartment with her husband, Jonathan, and their daughters, Andrea and Meredith.

Julia felt welcomed by Gabriel’s family. By the end of the evening, they were visiting like old friends rather than strangers.

Kelly gave Gabriel a pair of cuff links and an old Brooklyn Dodgers cap that had belonged to their father, along with several books that had been written by their grandfather.

Gabriel gave Kelly the knowledge that the train engine he had, was, in fact, their father’s. He’d carved the initials “O.S.” into it as a boy, when his name had been Othniel Spiegel.

The Emersons invited the Schultzes to visit in Cambridge or Selinsgrove, and there was talk of a joint holiday in the Hamptons the following summer. Kelly made sure that Gabriel promised to attend the next meeting of the Rabbi Benjamin Spiegel Foundation. She was looking forward to introducing her brother to the cousins.

Back at the Ritz before bedtime, Julia checked her email. She was wearing the Dodgers cap, since it was almost too small for Gabriel’s head.

(A fact she pointed out with no little amusement.)

She stared at her laptop screen from behind her tortoiseshell glasses.

“Scheisse.”

“I really need to start teaching you to curse in a different language. I’ve heard that Farsi has some particularly colorful expletives.” Gabriel smirked as he walked toward her, clad in a plush hotel bathrobe.

“I’m not sure Farsi could capture what I feel when I look at this.” Julia pointed to the screen.

Gabriel picked up his glasses and put them on. He gazed at the scanned black-and-white engagement photo, recognizing Simon Talbot immediately.

He resisted the urge to curse. “Who’s the woman?”

“Do you know Senator Hudson from North Carolina? That’s his daughter. She’s a senior at Duke.”

Gabriel and Julianne exchanged a look.

“Her family is very conservative. How did she end up with him?” Gabriel sounded contemptuous.

“I have no idea. But I can understand why Natalie is upset. Simon dumped her for the Jacqueline Bouvier of fiancées. Look at her.”

“Who sent you the photo?”

“Rachel. It was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer.”

Julia turned back to her laptop, gazing sadly at the photograph of the smiling couple.

“I feel sorry for her. She has no idea what she’s getting into.”

“Perhaps she does but doesn’t care.” Gabriel tugged on the brim of her ball cap. “This looks good on you. I didn’t take you for a Dodgers fan.”

She grinned. “I’m embracing your Brooklyn heritage.”

The next day, Julianne finished her seminar paper while Gabriel attended to business, researching his grandfather in the Columbia University archives. That afternoon, they joined Kelly and Jonathan in paying a visit to Aunt Sarah at a nursing home in Queens.

After an evening spent shopping and then dining at the Russian Tea Room, they returned to the hotel. The room was bathed in candlelight as Julia moved atop him. Her hands rested on his chest, stroking him.

He gripped her hips, urging her to increase her pace.

“Say my name,” he whispered.

She gasped as he thrust up inside her.

“Gabriel.”

“Nothing could enflame me the way your voice does when you say my name.”

“Gabriel,” she repeated. “That’s beautiful.”

He pulled her closer, his lips moving across her breasts.

“You inspire me.”

“You’re very intense.”

“Of course I’m intense. I’m with my beautiful wife, having fantastic sex.”

“I feel like we’re the only ones in the world.”

“Good,” he mumbled, watching her as she moved up and down and up and down.

“You make me feel beautiful.”

In response, he licked her breast until she began to groan.

“I love you.”

Gabriel’s eyes grew determined as he urged her to go faster.

“I love you too.”

“I’d be proud to have a baby with you,” she managed, just before lifting her chin and closing her eyes. Her body shook as the pleasure coursed through her.

He continued thrusting, watching as she climaxed. Then he quickened his pace, planting himself with one great thrust before he came.

“I’m glad you joined me in New York.” Gabriel held Julia’s hand as they waited to check in for their flight back to Boston. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to see a show, but at least we saw some of the sights.”

“Gabriel, you braved the crowds to take me Christmas shopping. I don’t have anything to complain about.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “They’re going to charge us for having overweight bags.”

“I’d like to see them try. It’s Christmas, damn it.”

She laughed. “So it is. Somehow, I can’t imagine you sitting through an entire Broadway show.”

He sniffed. “I’d see Shakespeare.”

“The musical?”

“Very funny. I’d sit through a performance of Les Misérables.” His gaze leveled on hers. “Your interpretation of that novel changed my life.”

Julia looked down at her feet, at the new high-heeled Manolo Blahnik boots Gabriel had insisted on buying her at Barneys.

“I think a lot of things conspired to change your life. I can’t take credit for what happened to you in Assisi.”

“No.” He lifted her hand, stroking his thumb over her knuckles before toying with her wedding band.

“But I wouldn’t have made it to Assisi if you hadn’t helped me first. And I wouldn’t have had the joy of discovering my grandfather if you hadn’t agreed to have a child with me. You’ve given me so much.”

“Tammy said that fatherhood does something special to a good man. I’d like to see what it does to you.”

Gabriel blinked twice, hard. “Thank you, Julianne.”

He captured her smile with his mouth, kissing her until a throat cleared behind them.

Embarrassed, they moved ahead in line, hands woven together.

The Emersons had just cleared security when Julia’s cell phone rang.

“Jules.” Tom’s gruff voice echoed in her ear.

“Dad. Is everything okay?”

The pause on the other end of the line caused Julia to stop walking. Gabriel stood at her side, a questioning look on his face.

Tom cleared his throat. “I’m at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.”

“Oh, no. Are Diane and the baby all right?”

“Diane woke up in the middle of the night feeling funny and so we drove here right away.” Tom paused. “Right now, they have her hooked up to a bunch of monitors but she and the baby are fine. However”—he paused again—“she started going into labor a little while ago.”

“She’s early,” Julia breathed.

“That’s right.” Tom’s voice was tight. “They won’t know how he’s doing until he’s delivered. The doctors say there are lots of things they can’t see on an ultrasound. They might have to work on his heart immediately.”

“Will he need surgery?”

“The corrective surgery is scheduled for three days after delivery, give or take. I suppose he might need surgery before, depending on what they find.”

Julia looked at Gabriel. “We’re at JFK in New York, getting ready to fly back to Boston. Would you like me to come home?”

“Yes. If you can. She’ll probably still be in labor when you arrive, but it would be good to have you here. It’s going to be a long three days and I don’t know if—” He began coughing.

“I’m coming. Okay? I’ll change my flight and head straight to the hospital. I’ll call you when I arrive so you can tell me where to meet you.”

“Okay.” He sounded relieved. “Jules?”

“Yes, Dad?”

“Thanks. See you soon.”

“Bye, Dad. Give my love to Diane.”

Julia disconnected the call and looked up at her husband. His expression was grim.

“I guess I should have spoken to you before I promised I’d go to Philadelphia.” She chewed at the inside of her mouth.

“It’s an emergency. We have to go.”

“We?”

“The baby will be my nephew. And I’m not letting you go by yourself.” He pulled her into his side, leading her through the crowd.