“Do you want to come in for a glass of wine?” she offered when they got to the restaurant. “Or a cup of tea?” It was a balmy March evening, with unseasonably warm weather. It felt like spring. The following week she would be seven months pregnant, and she felt like she was getting bigger every day. The doctor said the baby was big.

“A cup of tea would be nice. I love the French decaf vanilla tea you have.”

“So do I,” she said with a smile, and unlocked the door. They turned on the lights in the kitchen, and she made them both a cup of the vanilla tea, and they sat on stools at the kitchen counter and drank it. They talked about the movie they’d seen, and disagreed amicably about the director’s message. It had been a Polish film and had a very dramatic ending. She squirmed as they sat on the stool. It was harder for her to perch there now, with what felt like a beachball on her lap.

“You look uncomfortable,” he said with a look of concern. But she didn’t want to mess up any of the freshly set tables in the dining room.

“Do you want to come upstairs?” she suggested. She had bought two ancient overstuffed chairs at Goodwill while he was gone. Her mother had a fit when she saw them and told her to throw them away and that she’d buy her new ones, but April liked them, as she did the rest of her decrepit furniture. She said she didn’t need anything better.

Feeling somewhat hesitant, Mike followed her up the stairs, and they each sat in one of the big easy chairs and drank their tea. He had enjoyed the evening with her. And then without even knowing he would or if they were ready, he leaned over and kissed her. He had wanted to for weeks, but hadn’t dared. He got on his knees next to her and held her.

“April, I’m so sorry, I’ve been such a fool,” he whispered. He wanted to make it up to her in every way he could. He kissed her again, and she reached up to him with every ounce of her being.

“Will you sleep with me?” she asked him, and he was stunned.

“Do you want me to?” She nodded. She wanted to lie with him and feel their baby between them. She wanted him to hold her. She didn’t need anything else from him.

He kissed her again, and they slowly took their clothes off and got into her big comfortable bed. He had only been there once before, and it had changed their lives forever.

Her body looked beautiful to him when he saw it. She was as lithe and thin as she had ever been, and in the center of her was the enormous roundness of their baby. He ran his hands over her belly, and felt it kicking him again, and then he pulled her close to him, and lay with her, and in a few minutes, he was horrified to realize that he was aroused, and wanted her very badly. This time it wasn’t drink or just raw sexual desire, it was much more than that. It was love.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her long dark hair, which she had loosened from its braid so it fell over her shoulders.

“It’s okay,” she said, guiding him, and he moved away from her, terrified to hurt her. She turned and smiled at him and touched his face. “It’s okay,” she said again.

“We won’t hurt the baby?” She shook her head and smiled.

“It’s allowed.”

He was very cautious with her, but he wanted her desperately. All the love and feelings he had held back for years came pouring out of him and into her, and their lovemaking was gentle and exquisitely sensual and erotic, and in the end, they both forgot the baby and plunged into the depths of passion for each other with total abandon, and then he lay peacefully and held her.

And then suddenly in the darkness of her room, he laughed. “April, I love you, but I think we must both be crazy. We’ve made love twice in our lives. Once drunk off our asses, and the second time with you seven months pregnant. Maybe one day we’ll do it like normal people.” He was a little shocked by what they’d done, but he had loved it.

“That felt pretty normal to me,” she said, and giggled like a kid. It sounded like silver bells to him in the darkness.

“I’m not doing it again tonight,” he warned her, “or the baby will come out and hit me.” In fact, the baby hadn’t moved while they were making love, and she had the feeling it was sleeping. And as Mike caressed her again, and the same urge rose in him, she made a liar of him a few minutes later.

Chapter 17


Much to their amazement, life became almost normal between Mike and April in the next few weeks. At the end of April, he moved in with her, although he had been there every night before. He went to work in the morning, and hung out in the restaurant. He helped out in the kitchen when they needed a hand. April looked blissful every time she looked at him. And everyone was relieved to see her so happy. The only one who wasn’t was Jean-Pierre, and he made it obvious to April. It made his heart ache every time he saw them. He looked like a scorned lover, which she found irritating since he wasn’t. He was only an employee with a crush on her and nothing more. She tried to ignore him. She had been honest with him and had never led him on. Her heart clearly belonged to Mike. And Mike thought the baby looked the size of twins. She got bigger every day.

She told her mother he was back. And Valerie told Pat. Jack was relieved for her. He just hoped the guy was reliable and stuck around. Jack and Valerie came to have dinner with them one Sunday night. Although Jack had been leery of him, he admitted to Valerie afterward that he liked him.

“He seems like a bright guy. I just hope he treats her right and doesn’t run out on her again.”

“So do I,” Valerie said, looking concerned. She had just bought a whole set of baby furniture for her grandchild, and Jack had teased her about it. But she was getting used to the idea.

She and Jack had planned a trip to Europe for early May, and they were leaving in a few days. They were going to travel for several weeks. London and Paris were on their itinerary, and a weekend in Venice. Jack called it their honeymoon. It was the perfect time of year for both of them to get away, since she was on hiatus and he had time off. They were still bouncing back and forth between their apartments, and couldn’t decide where they wanted to live. So they stayed in both places, and decided where to spend the night, depending on their mood and schedules the next day. It seemed to work for now.

Valerie had hesitated about the trip at first with April so pregnant. But April had insisted her mother go, and now that Mike was living with her, Valerie was less concerned. And April said that if she started having any early warning signs, she’d call her mother and she could come home. Valerie had finally agreed.

The night before they left, they had dinner with Mike and April again. Valerie told April about the furniture she’d ordered for her, and April was touched. And Valerie warned her not to have the baby before she got back. She was still nervous about going.

April and Mike had discussed his being at the birth, but he wasn’t sure. He was afraid it might be too much for him, and April wasn’t pushing, but said she hoped he’d be there. If he wouldn’t, Ellen had volunteered to go as April’s coach.

Valerie called April on the way to the airport, and told her again to take care of herself and call immediately if there was any problem. She looked so vulnerable and so pregnant now. And her due date was only five weeks away. Suddenly it was all going very fast. Valerie planned to be back two weeks before the baby was due to come.

That afternoon April saw her doctor, who said everything was fine. April had told her that Mike was back the month before, and the doctor was pleased for her. She said the baby was a good size, and it was in the right position. April had had another sonogram but the baby’s back had been turned and they couldn’t see its sex, and April had decided not to check again and be surprised instead. It didn’t matter either way, as long as it was healthy. She was still hoping for a girl, and Mike was just as hopeful for a boy named Sam. April kept insisting it was a baby girl named Zoe.

On the way home late that afternoon, she stopped for a cup of tea with Ellen, who was between patients and happy to see her. They talked about pressure points and things she could do to bring on labor, if she was overdue. April felt like she was ready to deliver now, and was already starting to have contractions if she worked too long, or was on her feet all day and night in the kitchen, which the doctor said was normal and didn’t mean early labor or anything wrong. April was worried about who would cook in her absence when she went to the hospital. She didn’t totally trust the sous-chefs to do it right without her.

“I have this vision of you having that baby in the kitchen, trying to fill your orders at the same time.” Ellen laughed.

“It could happen. Maybe I could have it at night after we close, and be back in time for lunch,” April said, smiling.

“You’d be just the one to do that,” Ellen told her as she left. And April went back to the restaurant to start dinner. She had already done most of the prep work before she saw the doctor.

April smiled to herself as she started work, knowing that by then Jack and her mother were in Paris. He had been a wonderful addition to her mother’s life. Her mother said she didn’t want to marry him, she didn’t need to. They had agreed that they were comfortable with the status quo, and neither of them had any desire to get married. In their hearts, they already were. They had been inseparable since December. Jack said it was the longest relationship he’d had since his marriage, and it was for Valerie too. And by far the best one.