“Are you here for a short sexfest?”

She pushed him away playfully. “Crickey, Pat, not in front of the baby. All you think about anymore is S-E-X.”

“It’s not all I think about, but I have to admit, it’s been at the front of my mind a lot lately.”

Megan had similar mind problems. Especially after being kissed like that. Good thing Timmy was clattering across the floor in his walker, she thought, because she was putty in Patrick Hunter’s hands. Timmy was a loud reminder that there were important things to be discussed.

“Maybe we should be talking instead of sexfesting.”

Pat nodded in agreement. So much for rent a – family, he thought. Besides, she was right. They’d procrastinated long enough. Maybe if they talked about their relationship, they’d find a solution. At least they’d know where they stood.

They both groaned at the knock on the door. “What are the chances that’s your mother?” Pat asked. “She’s probably come to tell us she’s hired a hall and a caterer.”

Megan had to smile. At least Pat knew he was being railroaded and could joke about it. That put him one up on Steve and Dave. She opened the door and gasped. It was Tilly Coogan.

The young girl frantically looked around, saw Timmy, and ran to him. She lifted him out of the walker and hugged him and kissed him. She turned to Megan with tears streaming down her face. “I’ve missed him,” she said simply.

“Mum, mum, mum,” Timmy shouted.

Megan reached out to Pat for support. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d convinced herself Tilly wouldn’t be back. She’d been thinking about marriage… adoption. She’d learned nursery rhymes and bought books on child rearing. She knew how to play eensy weensy spider. How dare Tilly Coogan come back to claim her baby after abandoning him?

Megan felt her temper flare and just as quickly dissipate. Tilly hadn’t abandoned Timmy. She’d temporarily entrusted him to the care of her pediatrician.

Megan was left with a painful emptiness in her chest where the anger had been. She noticed a young man standing in the doorway. “Are you with Tilly?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said softly.

Tilly wiped the tears away with the heel of her hand. “I’m sorry. It was rude of me not to make introductions. It’s just that I’ve been so lonesome for Timmy. I knew he was in good hands, but I’ve still been awful lonesome.”

She kissed Timmy on the top of his downy head and pointed to the young man, now awkwardly standing beside her.

“This is Timmy’s daddy, Leonard Bell. Lenny, this is Dr. and Mrs. Hunter.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Leonard said shyly. “It was very nice of you to take care of Timmy. I’m sorry to have caused everyone so much trouble.” He stared, wide – eyed, at the little boy. “Til, he’s beautiful.”

Tilly beamed. “I’ve done a good job of bringing him up. He knows all kinds of things, and he’s healthy, too. You’re going to be proud of him, Lenny.”

Megan thought if Lenny got any prouder he’d explode. “So,” she said, making a supreme attempt to still the tremor in her voice, “what’s going on here?”

Tilly took a deep breath and closed her eyes, as if what she was about to say was so wonderful, she couldn’t believe she was saying it. “We’re getting married.”

Lenny looked affectionately at Tilly. “I guess we owe you folks some explanations. Tilly and I have been sweethearts ever since seventh grade. I asked her to marry me when we graduated from high school, but she said no. She said we were too young to get married, so I got myself into a snit and went and joined the Navy.”

“Then I found out I was pregnant,” Tilly said. She fumbled with the collar of Timmy’s terry – cloth pajamas. “I thought I was being so smart, saying we shouldn’t get married until we grew up more, but I wasn’t smart enough not to get pregnant. When I found out about the baby, Lenny was halfway around the world. I couldn’t go to him anyway. We’d had a terrible fight.”

She moved into the reassuring arm Lenny held out to her. “I felt I was an embarrassment to everyone. I couldn’t bring myself to have an abortion, and I didn’t want my mom and my grandma to know I was pregnant… so I left. I said I was going north to get a job.”

She raised her chin a fraction of an inch. “I think I did pretty good, too. I waited tables until I was ready to deliver, and then afterward I tried to make money typing term papers, so I could be home with Timmy.

“Two weeks ago I got a phone call from Lenny. My mom gave him my cell phone number. He said his ship had finally come home and he still wanted to marry me. Can you imagine? After all that time, and he didn’t even know about Timmy. No one knew. Lenny still wanted to marry me.”

He hugged her to him. “I should have written when I was away, but I’m not much good at that sort of thing.”

Tilly looked at Pat with apologetic eyes. “I had to go home to explain to my mom and my grandma and to see Lenny. I couldn’t take the baby until I’d made sure everything was okay. I had to be sure Lenny really loved me. I guess I wasn’t thinking so good, but I just had to get home and straighten my life out.”

Pat could feel Megan’s cold hand holding tightly to his, and his heart went out to her. She’d let herself love Timmy, and now she was losing her baby. He wanted to reassure her that Timmy would be well cared for. He wanted to give her a little more time to adjust. “What did your mom and grandma say about Timmy?”

Tilly’s face broke into a wide grin. “They were so excited, they didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Boy, I was really dumb to go off on my own like that. I didn’t understand much about love. You don’t stop loving someone just because they make a mistake.”

“We’re packing up Tilly’s apartment now,” Lenny said. “Then we’re going back to Louisiana, and we’re going to get married right away. Tilly’s going to live with her mom, until I get out of the Navy.”

Megan compressed her lips. She didn’t want to meddle, but she couldn’t help worrying about Timmy. “What about a job? Will you be able to take care of a family?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve learned all about computers in the Navy. I’ll be able to get a good job when I get out.”

Megan looked around at the toys and books and baby furniture. “Timmy has so many things here,” she said absently, resigning herself to the finality of it, feeling utterly lost.

Pat gave Tilly her son’s snowsuit. “You can get Timmy dressed, and I’ll pack his clothes.”

In a matter of minutes Pat had assembled several bags of baby paraphernalia. He handed Timmy his favorite blanket and kissed him. “We’re going to miss you, kid.” He turned to Megan. “Meg, would you like to kiss Timmy good – bye?”

She shook her head. It would be too painful to kiss him good – bye. She stood with her arms tightly clasped across her chest. She was afraid to move or speak for fear of bursting into tears. Tilly and Lenny seemed like nice people. This was a happy time for them. She didn’t want to ruin it, and she didn’t want to embarrass herself. It had been foolish of her to think she could keep Timmy, but she’d followed her heart. Damn, she thought. She was such a dope.

Pat closed the door after Tilly and Lenny and Timmy. “He’ll be fine. He belongs with his mother. Now he’s even got a father and a grandmother and a great – grandmother.”

“I know.”

“Doesn’t make it hurt any less, does it?”

“No.”

Pat looked at the toe of his shoe for a minute, then walked into the kitchen and got a dinner plate.

“What’s this?” she asked as he handed it to her.

He grinned. “I thought you might want to smash something.”

“Please, I feel foolish enough…”

Actually, she did want to smash something. She realized she was practically smothering in anger. It wasn’t fair. Every time she made a real commitment to someone, he left her. She hefted the plate and threw it at the fireplace. It smashed, and shards of china scattered on the hearth and braided rug.

“Feel better? Pat asked.

“No.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. This could get expensive, he thought. Megan looked mad enough to go through a service for forty. “Want another plate?”

What she wanted was another baby, Megan realized. She liked being a mother. She was just getting good at it. She didn’t want to go back to being a single person, rattling around in the big old farmhouse by herself.

She looked at Pat and thought a short sexfest might not be such a bad idea. She couldn’t have Tilly’s baby, but she was pretty sure she could have Pat’s. It’d be a terrific baby, too. Cute little nose, big brown eyes, perfect teeth. They should get married, of course, but there was no reason they couldn’t get started making a baby right away. Why waste valuable time? If she got pregnant now, she could have a baby by the end of the summer.

The trick was getting Pat to make a baby. He’d been very careful about that sort of thing. She might have to take matters into her own hands, she thought slyly.

Pat uneasily shifted his weight from foot to foot. Megan was looking at him as if he were lunch. No, sir, he thought, life with Megan Murphy was never dull. He didn’t have a clue what was going through her mind, but the look in her eyes raised all the little hairs on the back of his neck. This was a desperate woman. This was a woman on the edge.

“Maybe we should go out to dinner,” he suggested. If she was planning a double suicide, they’d be safer in a crowded place. She’d feel better after a good meal, and he’d have a chance to talk to her, reason with her.

Dinner?she thought. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. It would give her a chance to really get Pat in the mood. A romantic restaurant.The perfect place for a proposal. Once she got the proposal out of the way, it would be clear sailing to motherhood. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. This time it was going to work. She wasn’t going to get dumped on. She wasn’t going to get left at the altar. She was going to get pregnant.