Marriage, Manhattan Style

Twelve

Elizabeth and Reed were on their way to the bedroom when Lucas stirred. Reed went into the nursery to rock him back to sleep, while Elizabeth all but floated into their bedroom.

Reed was staying. They were going to work things out. He’d decided their love was worth fighting for, and if there was anything her husband could do, it was to achieve whatever goal he set for himself.

Though they’d slept in their bed together hundreds of times, she knew tonight was special. It was the beginning of a whole new marriage, a whole new family.

She pulled open the top drawer of the bureau, and her gaze caught on the rosewood coin box. She slowly lifted the lid, pulling out the liberty head, ten-dollar gold coin, and hefting its weight in her palm.

“Heads,” she whispered to herself, “I do it.”

Tails, she’d do it anyway. This time, she didn’t need to flip the coin.

She slipped it back into its holder and pulled out the red silk negligee she’d worn on her wedding night. Appropriate, since this was another new beginning.

She removed her clothes, but as she was about to slip the soft silk over her head, her gaze caught another flash of fabric in the drawer. Lemon yellow and bright blue and purple. The silk scarves they’d bought in France.

Elizabeth paused. She set the negligee aside, fingering the texture of the scarves. And then she smiled. This wasn’t her honeymoon. It was a different beginning, a different relationship, a relationship based on authenticity instead of fantasy.

She wrapped the lemon yellow scarf over her breasts, tying it at the back like a bikini top. Then she fastened the blue and purple one low on her hips, sarong-style, leaving most of one thigh and hip bare. She combed her hair, dabbed some perfume, then waited, standing in the middle of the room.

Reed walked in and stopped, his gaze trailing up and down her body. “We going to Tahiti?” he asked.

She sauntered toward him, walking her fingertips up his chest, snaking her arms around his neck. “I think we’re going to nirvana.”

A gorgeous smile spread across his face. One arm snaked around to the small of her back, tugging her tight. His other hand cupped her bottom through the soft silk.

“I do love you,” he whispered as he bent to kiss her lips.

She tipped her head back, opening her mouth, meeting his hot tongue in a tangle of passion and desire that she couldn’t hope to contain. And she wouldn’t. It was all honesty all the time from here on in.

She pushed his suit jacket off his shoulders, letting it fall to a heap on the floor. Then she attacked his shirt buttons while he nipped and nibbled his way along her shoulder. His hand slipped under the sarong, toying with her heating skin.

He cupped her breast, strumming his thumb over her hard nipple. “I so love these scarves,” he breathed.

“Versatile,” she agreed.

He chuckled low, then his tone turned to a growl. “Nobody, nowhere, no how is ever going to stop us from making love. I don’t care what the science says, this is right.”

She nodded her agreement, gasping as his finger slipped inside.

“Too fast?” he asked.

“No. Just right.” She grappled with his belt buckle, and he shucked his clothes, pulling her onto the bed in a flurry of caresses, kisses and silk.

When she was naked, he stretched her arms over her head, stroking his fingertips from the wrists all the way to her toes and then back again.

She shuddered at the sensations, freed her hands and caressed the play of his muscles, from his shoulders to his abs and beyond.

He rolled on top of her, settling between her legs, his body teasing her sensitized flesh. He took one nipple into his mouth, drawing out the caress as she squirmed beneath him. Then he laved the other, then moved to her mouth, kissing her long and deeply.

He drew back, gazing down into her eyes as he slowly pushed into her. She felt the pressure, then the heat, then the fullness, and then he stopped. They stared at each other for a frozen moment of perfect communication.

Reed flexed his hips, and sparks shot off in her brain. She tipped her head back, exposing her throat to his kisses. Her hands tangled in his hair, and he murmured her name over and over while time stopped and he drove them higher into the atmosphere, past the moon and the stars, to the outer stratosphere until the entire universe exploded around them.

Elizabeth woke to the sound of Lucas’s gurgles and coos in the nursery. Reed’s arm was across her stomach, holding her firmly back against his body.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he whispered against her hair.

“Good morning, handsome,” she responded.

He planted a series of tender kisses on the back of her neck.

“There’s a baby waking up,” she warned him, the buzz of desire forming instantly in her belly.

“Can’t resist me?” he teased.

“I don’t want to resist you,” she corrected.

He moaned. “Oh, that’s what I like to hear.”

“But I have to get Lucas.”

“I’ll get Lucas. You go lounge in the bath for a while.”

Elizabeth glanced at the clock. “You’ll be late for work.”

She felt him shrug. “So, I’ll be late for work. Who cares?”

She turned onto her back to stare up at him. “Reed, you don’t have to prove-”

“What are they going to do? Fire me?”

“I’m just saying-”

“Bath,” he repeated. “What does Lucas eat for breakfast?”

“Oatmeal.” She searched his expression. “Are you really…”

“What did you think I meant last night?”

“That you’d get home earlier in the evenings.”

“And the rest?”

The part about working part-time or selling his companies or moving to France? “I thought it was a terrific speech.”

Some of the light went out of his eyes. “I was serious, Elizabeth.”

“Okay.” She nodded, realizing he was completely serious. “Okay, husband of mine. Our baby eats oatmeal for breakfast. Sometimes he gets it in his hair. Sometimes he gets it in my hair.” She jammed her thumb in the direction of the en suite. “And I’m going to take a very long bubble bath.”

“Good for you.”

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, drawing the hug out until Lucas’s little voice turned demanding. Then Reed pulled back the covers, and Elizabeth headed for the bathtub.

While the water splashed and foamed its way to the top of the oversize bath, she brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and twisted it into a messy knot on top of her head. She retrieved a soft terry robe from the closet and hung it on the hook on the back of the door.

Rain spattered on the bathroom window, while the small room filled with the scent of roses. Elizabeth took a deep, cleansing breath, glad that the month of October was coming to a close. November was going to be so much better. Maybe they would go to Tahiti.

She slipped a toe into the hot water, then her ankle and calf. The steam caused a sudden wave of vertigo, and she steadied herself on the towel rack. But it passed, and she lowered herself into the luxuriant water.

They’d only had Lucas for three weeks, but already she appreciated the simple pleasure of time for self-indulgence. She pictured Lucas in the high chair, and Reed heating up the oatmeal. She smiled. There would be happy months and years ahead of them.

Months.

Elizabeth blinked.

She sat up, sending a wave of water over the edge of the tub, splashing onto the tile floor.

October was almost over.

Her cycle was off.

Her cycle was way off, and she’d been dizzy getting into the tub, dizzy three days ago in the penthouse foyer. She counted on her fingers.

No way. No way. They’d missed her prime ovulating days. They’d gone against all the advice of their doctor.

Yet, still…

Her hands started to shake as she made her way out of the tub. She pulled open the lower cabinet, digging through the bath crystals and shampoo, finally finding an open box containing the second of two pregnancy tests.

She frantically checked the expiration date. She was in under the wire. Then she scanned the instructions, followed them and set the little wand down on the counter, backing away.

From across the room she stared at the little window for three minutes, dripping wet, while the color arranged itself against a white background.

When the time elapsed, she moved forward.

Two lines.

She blinked.

There were two lines. She was pregnant. Lucas was going to have a brother or a sister. She and Reed were going to have a baby.

She sat down on the edge of the tub. Her legs were shaking, and a chill came over her body. When the weakness subsided, she wrapped her arms around her abdomen. There was a baby in there. A tiny little baby was growing inside her.

A warm glow enveloped her body.

She stood and wrapped the terry robe around her. Then she tightened the belt and all but floated down the hall to give Reed the good news.

“Iron, calcium, vitamin A, and a good source of fiber,” he was reading out loud.

She rounded the corner.

“I kind of like it myself,” said Hanna.

Elizabeth stopped short at the sight of Reed, Joe and Hanna surrounding Lucas’s high chair.

They all turned to stare at her bulky robe and messy hair.

“Why does this keep happening to me?” she asked.

“Gotta say, babe,” Reed said as he gave Elizabeth a kiss on the cheek, “you looked a lot better last time.”

Hanna laughed. Even Joe gave a smile.

“Are you on duty?” Elizabeth asked him. If he was going to be hanging around their house, she supposed he’d better get used to her in a bathrobe.

“Just visiting.” His hand brushed Hanna’s, and Hanna held his fingers for a brief instant.

“Ahh,” said Elizabeth.

“I forgot to mention that Selina and Collin solved the SEC problem,” said Reed.

Elizabeth spun around to look at him. “It’s solved?”

“Yes.”

“You’re off the hook?”

“It was one of Kendrick’s aides. I can give you all the details.”

“You’re not going to jail?” she confirmed.

Reed nodded.

“And I don’t need a bodyguard anymore?”

“Not anymore.”

“Those are all the details I need.”

Lucas banged his hands on the high-chair tray and chanted a single note.

“So…” She glanced around at the little group. “There’s something I need to mention.”

They all waited.

“I’m pregnant.”

It took a second for her words to sink in.

Hanna squealed and Joe offered congratulations.

Reed simply looked flabbergasted. Then, finally, “How on earth…”

“In Biarritz, I guess,” said Elizabeth. It had been scientifically possible, but given her and Reed’s history, getting pregnant had seemed highly unlikely.

“Did you do something different?” asked Hanna.

Joe quickly elbowed her.

“That’s not what I meant,” Hanna protested.

“He tied me to the bedposts,” said Elizabeth.

Hanna hooted out a laugh. Joe guffawed.

“I can’t believe you said that,” Reed told his wife, laughing deep in his throat.

Elizabeth shrugged. “I’m just trying to be honest. And, hey, it worked.”

His arms went around her, and he drew her close. “From here on in?” he murmured against her ear. “This honesty thing is just between you and me.”

Elizabeth grinned at his words, squeezing him tight as her world settled into a permanent glow of happiness.