Baby In A Million

The whole time she was talking, Cord seemed to be looking straight through to her soul.

“One thing led to another and he decided to do a pregnancy test on me. He said stranger things had happened, that once in a while an infertile couple defied all the odds.

“When the first test came back saying I was pregnant, he did two more tests to be absolutely certain, then told me we’d made medical history.”

Her proud chin lifted a little higher. “It’s your baby, Cord. No one else’s.” Her voice throbbed.

A stillness came over him that pervaded the entire storeroom.

Like trick photography, his expression underwent a total transformation. Frame by frame she watched, as if new life had just been breathed into his body. His well-defined chest heaved from the force of a dozen new emotions exploding inside him, needing expression.

Ashley could feel them because her body was undergoing a similar reaction. She’d lived with this secret knowledge too long, holding back for the moment when they were divorced and she was ready to tell him.

But circumstances had dictated that she tell him sooner, and now her husband knew the truth. With this knowledge, she realized everything was about to change…

“I presume you were going to tell me after the fact,” came the acid comment.

A fresh wave of guilt swept over her. “I—I thought it best to keep it to myself so our divorce would go through quickly. Sheila intimated that the two of you were anxious to—”

“Sheila be damned!” he interrupted cruelly. “You knew how much I’ve always wanted to have a baby, and you kept it from me. Good Lord, Ashley—”

Her heart almost failed her. “But, Cord— Sheila said—”

“I don’t ever want to hear her name mentioned again,” he bit out with barely controlled rage. “When is our child due?”

“May thirtieth, four weeks from now.”

“The day before my birthday,” he murmured in wonder, as if to himself. “Have you had an ultrasound?” he asked unexpectedly.

“Yes. As far as the doctor can tell, the baby is perfect and it’s a good size.”

She saw a little nerve throb along his forceful jaw, evidence of the emotion he was experiencing.

“Are we having a boy or a girl?”

Ashley averted her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Why not?” he fired back.

“I—I decided I wanted to be surprised, so I asked the doctor not to tell me. All I care about is that it’s normal.”

“It appears that if I hadn’t called you, I wouldn’t have known about our child until after it was born,” he murmured, sounding far away. “What really made you come?”

It was hard to look anywhere except at him. “Greg said—” She paused, afraid to reveal too much. Talking about his best friend was like treading on sacred ground. She didn’t know exactly what she should say.

“Tell me!”

She shook her head. “He was worried about you, that’s all.”

His eyes flickered dangerously. “He always did have a lot of influence over you.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to remind him that Sheila had only to call him—ostensibly about a business problem—no matter what hour of the night, and he would leave Ashley in bed to take care of it.

But bringing up his stepmother’s name at such a precarious moment as this could only exacerbate the tension between them.

To her shock, she felt his hand run through her hair, feeling the silky strands. She had to stifle a moan.

“I like it,” he whispered. “There’s a lot of natural curl. I would imagine our baby will look just like you.”