Countdown To Baby

“My mother finally sent me to a twelve-step program to break me of the habit. She called it school. I learned to appreciate other types of literature, but I kept a stash of comics hidden under my mattress.”

“No girlie magazines?”

“I eventually worked my way up to those,” he confessed, looking not the least embarrassed. “I outgrew them both about the time I was able to grow a mustache. But I still have a soft spot for the comics. So I

’d like to see the movie, even though it will probably make a mess of the original story, as those films so often do.”

“Then, it’s a date.” And then, because that sounded too cozy for the relationship they had agreed upon, she said quickly, “Well, not a date, exactly, but a plan. I mean…”

“It’s a date,” Geoff interrupted firmly and pressed a kiss on her still-parted lips before opening his door. “Drive carefully, Cecilia. I’ll call you tomorrow to arrange a time.”

She drove home in a haze of bemusement that her life had changed so drastically in the past twenty-four hours. And her state of mind was so mixed up that she wasn’t sure which was harder to believe—that she had a date with Geoff Bingham or that she could even now be carrying his child.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can fix for you while I’m here, CeCe? Didn’t you say you’ve got a squeaky hinge in the bathroom that’s been driving you nuts?”

Cecilia smiled lovingly across the dining table at her brother, who, along with his fiancée, had joined her for Sunday lunch. Eric had called her CeCe from the time he had learned to speak, and it was certainly too late to try to change that habit now. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if his child called her “Aunt CeCe.” Oh, well, she supposed she could live with that as long as Eric looked this happy, she mused, watching the adoring look he gave Hannah.

“I took care of the squeaky hinge myself. A little shot of oil was all it needed.”

Eric frowned. “What about the step that was coming loose on the back porch?”

“I found a hammer and a nail, and I fixed it myself. I have paid attention to a few of your maintenance lessons, you know.”

Hannah laughed. “Looks as if you aren’t quite as indispensable as you think, Eric. Your sister is perfectly capable of looking after herself.”

“She always has been,” Eric admitted. “I just like to delude myself occasionally into thinking that she needs me.”

“I will always need you,” Cecilia assured him. “Just not necessarily as an on-call handyman. You have your own life now, and it’s about to get very busy,” she added with a meaningful glance at Hannah’s rapidly expanding tummy.

Resting a hand on the bulge, Hannah sighed a little. “None too soon, as far as I’m concerned.”

Cecilia smiled. “Between the wedding and childbirth classes and setting up your household, the next eight weeks are going to pass more quickly than you can imagine. It won’t be long at all before you’re holding that baby in your arms.”

And maybe, if she was lucky, she would hold a baby of her own before this time next year, she thought wistfully.

“So, CeCe, Hannah and I were thinking about going to the park this evening to hear the bluegrass band that’s scheduled to perform. Would you like to join us?”

“Thank you, but I have other plans,” she said, busying herself by scooping another spoonful of peas onto his plate. “Here, have some more of these. You never eat enough vegetables. You’ll have to keep an eye on that, Hannah. I swear he would live on junk food and candy if we let him.”

Eric cleared his throat. “I am an adult.”

“So eat like one.”

Hannah laughed again.

“What plans do you have this evening?” Eric asked, turning the conversation back to Cecilia.

She should have known her ploy to change the subject wouldn’t have worked. Eric was like a dog with a juicy bone when his curiosity was aroused. “I’m going to a movie.”

“Alone?”

“Eric,” Hannah murmured, “your sister would tell you her plans if she wanted you to know them.”

“Hey, if she can monitor my diet, I can ask a few questions about her life,” he retorted. “Who’re you going to the movie with, CeCe?”

She sighed. Might as well answer him, she told herself in resignation. The way gossip spread through this town, he would hear it eventually, anyway. “Geoff Bingham.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. Eric looked startled. “Geoff Bingham? You mean it was true that you two had dinner together after the reception Friday evening? I thought that was just a case of mistaken identity.”