Barbara Dunlop - Marriage, Manhattan Style

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.

writes romantic stories while curled up in a log cabin in Canada’s far north, where bears outnumber people, and it snows six months of the year. Fortunately, she has a brawny husband and two teenage children to haul firewood and clear the driveway while she sips cocoa and muses about her upcoming chapters. Barbara loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her Web site at www.barbaradunlop.com.