‘Do you know that with your standard of A level passes a hospital laboratory would be prepared to accept you as a trainee?’ Zeke asked mildly. ‘You’d be given exemption from some of the National Certificate exam in chemistry and biology, but there’d be a few years attending day-release and evening classes with all manner of further exams to pass. Of course there’d be the asset of working in a laboratory, which would enable you to learn useful practical skills, but with all the out of work study and so on you’d be working all the hours under the sun.’
She was too amazed to say a word.
‘So, although that seemed a good idea on the face of it, I don’t think it’s great for you in your current position, not now the baby has changed things.’
‘Zeke—’ She took a deep breath. This was so surreal. ‘When did you start looking into all this?’ she asked shakily.
‘A couple of weeks ago,’ he answered quietly, his grey eyes tight on her bewildered face. ‘I knew how much you wanted to work in a laboratory so I wanted to explore all the options before you committed absolutely to a straightforward degree. Once I’d got all the facts and figures I was going to discuss it with you and we could have decided what was right for us.’
If a choir of angels had suddenly materialised singing ‘Hosanna in the Highest’ Marianne couldn’t have been more astounded. He had been investigating a job for her, she thought dazedly, wondering if her ears were deceiving her.
‘But now it looks as though we’re back to the university idea,’ Zeke continued evenly, ‘which should be fine as long as we can get you into somewhere near, so you don’t have to drive too far on the days you need to attend lectures and so on.’
‘You mean now, in the immediate future after the baby’s born?’ she asked in surprise. ‘Are you suggesting we have a nanny?’
‘We could get a nanny.’ He eyed her stolidly, enjoying the utter bemusement she couldn’t hide. ‘But I don’t fancy a stranger living with us, somehow, and however dedicated she would be she wouldn’t love it as we will. So on the days you’re at university I’ll be at home, okay?’
‘What?’
‘We’ll share caring for our child between us,’ he said coolly, his handsome face calm. ‘You told me once I could delegate and you’re right, I can. I’ve got over six months to set it all up, and we can turn the breakfast room into a joint study for both of us. It looks out on to the garden, and with the big French windows it’s perfect.’
‘But, but your work…’ Marianne couldn’t take her eyes off his face. ‘Buchanan Industries…’
‘I own Buchanan Industries; I can do whatever I want,’ he said drily. ‘What’s the point of being the boss if you can’t call the tune? I don’t want to miss seeing my children grow up.’
‘Do you mean it? Do you really want to do this?’ she asked softly, the fierce emotion that was growing and growing inside her making her voice tremble.
‘Yes,’ he said huskily. ‘We’ll take it as it comes, Marianne, over the years. We’ll have our family, God willing, and we’ll have each other and that will be the main thing. We’ll see our children growing up, surrounded by love, and with two happy, fulfilled parents who love them and each other. It might not be the traditional way of doing things but it will be our way, and we can always get additional help later if we need it.’
The tears were blocking her throat, but she still managed to murmur, ‘You don’t have to do this, Zeke. I know how important your work is to you. I can stay at home for a few years and then go to college when the children are all at school.’
‘You’re important to me,’ he corrected softly, reaching for her hand and lifting it to his mouth, kissing it tenderly. ‘We’ll share our careers and our children and our grandchildren. We’ll make our house ring with laughter and joy, and the kids will never know what it feels like to be unwanted or unloved. They’ll grow and blossom and become anything they want to be, like their mother.’
She looked at him, her love so intense it hurt. ‘I love you,’ she whispered mistily. ‘I love you with all my heart.’
‘I know.’
His face was open, his grey eyes perfectly at peace and filled with a light that had banished all the darkness.
They had come through, they were together in heart and mind, and it was only going to get better in the years to come. This was the greatest thing in all the world. This was love.