Rush shrugged. "Don’t ask me." He walked across the kitchen, opened the fridge and took out a beer, silently offering it to Steve.
Steve shook his head. He wasn’t interested in drinking anything. All he wanted was for this situation to be squared away with Carol.
Rush helped himself to a beer and moved into the living room, claiming the recliner. A slow smile spread across his face. "In case you haven’t heard, Lindy’s pregnant."
Steve stopped pacing long enough to share a grin with his friend. "Congratulations."
"Thanks. I’m surprised you didn’t notice."
"Good grief, man, she could only be a few months along."
"Not her," Rush teased. "Me. The guys on the Mitchell claim I’ve got that certain glow about me."
Despite his own troubles, Steve chuckled. He paused, standing in the middle of the room, and checked his watch. "What could be taking Lindy so long? She should have phoned long before now."
Rush studied his own timepiece. "She’s only been gone a few minutes. Relax, will you?"
Steve honestly tried. He sat on the edge of the sofa and draped his hands over his bent knees. "I suppose I’m only getting what I deserve." His fingers went through his hair once more. If this continued he would be bald before morning.
The national news came on and Rush commented on a recent senate vote. Hell, Steve didn’t even know what his friend was talking about. Didn’t care, either.
The phone rang and Steve bounced off the sofa as if the telephone had an electronic device that sent a shot of electricity straight through him.
"Answer that," Rush said, chuckling. "It might be a phone call."
Steve didn’t take time to say something sarcastic. "Lindy?" he demanded.
"Oh, hi, Steve. Yes, it’s Lindy."
"What’s wrong with Carol?"
"Well, for one thing she’s having a baby."
"Everyone keeps telling me that. It isn’t any deep, dark secret, you know. Of course she’s having a baby. My baby!"
"I mean she’s having the baby now."
"Now?" Steve suddenly felt so weak, he sat back down. "Well, for God’s sake she should be at the hospital. Have you phoned the doctor? How far apart are the contractions? What does she plan to do about this?"
"Which question do you want me to answer first?"
"Hell, I don’t know." His voice sounded like a rusty door hinge. His knees were shaking, his hands were trembling and he’d never felt so unsure about anything in his life.
"I did phone Dr. Stewart," Lindy went on to say, "if that makes you feel any better."
It did. "What did he say?"
"Not much, but he said Carol could leave for the hospital anytime."
"Okay…okay," Steve said, pushing down the panic that threatened to consume him. "But I want to be the one to drive her there. This is my baby – I should have the right."
"Oh, that won’t be any problem, but take your time getting here. Carol wants to wash her hair first."
"What?" Steve shouted, bolting to his feet.
"There’s no need to scream in my ear, Steven Kyle," Lindy informed him primly.
Steve’s breath came in short, uneven rasps. "I’m on my way… don’t leave without me."
"Don’t worry. Now, before you hang up on me, put Rush on the line."
Whatever Lindy said flew out his other ear. Carol was in labor – their baby was going to be born anytime, and she was styling her hair! Steve dropped the phone to the carpet and headed toward the front door.
"What’s happening?" Rush asked, standing.
Steve paused. "Lindy’s with Carol. Carol’s hair is in labor and the baby’s getting washed."
"That explains everything," Rush said, and picked up the phone.
By the time Steve arrived at the house, his heart was pounding so violently, his rib cage was in danger of being damaged. He leaped out of the car, left the door open and sprinted toward the house.
"Where is she?" he demanded of Lindy. He’d nearly taken the front door off its hinges, he’d come into the house so fast.
His sister pointed in the direction of the bedroom.
"Carol," he called. He’d repeated her name four more times before he walked into the bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of the mattress, her hands resting on her abdomen, taking in slow, even breaths.
Steve fell to his knees in front of her. "Are you all right?"
She gave him a weak smile. "I’m fine. How about you?"
He placed his hands over hers, closed his eyes and expelled his breath. "I think I’m going to be all right now."
Carol brushed a hand over his face, gently caressing his jawline. "I’m sorry about earlier… I felt so ugly and I didn’t want you to see me until I’d had a chance to clean up."
The frenzy and panic left him and he reached up a hand and hooked it around her neck. Gently he lowered her mouth to his and kissed her in a leisurely exploration. "I love you, Carol Kyle." He released her and lifted her maternity top enough to kiss her swollen stomach. "And I love you, Baby Kyle."
Carol’s eyes filled with tears.
"Come on," he said, helping her into an upright position. "We’ve got a new life to bring into the world and we’re going to do it together."
Sometime around noon the following day, Carol woke in the hospital to discover Steve sleeping across the room from her, sprawled in the most uncomfortable position imaginable. His head was tossed back, his mouth open. His leg was hooked over the side of the chair and his arms dangled like cooked noodles at his side, the knuckles of his left hand brushing the floor.
"Steve," she whispered, hating to wake him. But if he stayed in that position much longer, he wouldn’t be able to move his neck for a week.
Steve jerked himself awake. His leg dropped to the floor with a loud thud. He looked around him as though he couldn’t remember where he was or even who he was.
"Hi," Carol said, feeling marvelous.
"Hi." He wiped a hand over his face, then apparently remembered what he was doing in her hospital room. A slow, satisfied smile crept over his features. "Are you feeling all right?"
"I feel fantastic."
He moved to her side and claimed her hand with both of his. "We have a daughter," he said, and his voice was raw with remembered emotion. "I’ve never seen a more beautiful little girl in my life."
"Stephanie Anne Kyle," she told him. "Stephanie for her father and Anne for my mother."
"Stephanie," Steve repeated slowly, then nodded. "She’s incredible. You’re incredible."
"You cried," Carol whispered, remembering the tears that had run down the side of Steve’s face when Dr. Stewart handed him their daughter.
"I never felt any emotion more powerful in my life," he answered. "I can’t even begin to explain it." He raised her hand to his lips and briefly closed his eyes. "You’d worked so hard and so long and then Stephanie was born and squalling like crazy. I’d been so concerned about you that I’d hardly noticed her and then Dr. Stewart wrapped her in a blanket and gave her to me. Carol, the minute I touched her something happened in my heart. I felt so humble, so awed, that I’d been entrusted with this tiny life." He placed his hand over his heart as if it were marked by their daughter’s birth and she would notice the change in him. "Stephanie is such a beautiful baby. We’d been up most of the night and you were exhausted. But I felt like I could fly, I was so excited. Poor Rush and Lindy, I think I talked their heads off."
"I was surprised you slept here."
He ran the tips of his fingers over her cheek. "I had I to be with you. I kept thinking about everything I’d put you through. I was so wrong, so very wrong about everything, and yet you loved me through it all. I should have known from the first that you were innocent of everything bad I’ve ever believed. I was such a fool…such an idiot. 1 nearly ruined both our lives."
"It’s in the past and forgotten."
"We’re getting married." He said it as if he expected an argument.
"I think we should," Carol agreed, "seeing that we have a daughter."
"I never felt unmarried," Steve admitted. "There’s only one woman in my life, and that’s the way it’ll always be."
"We may have divorce papers, but I never stopped being your wife."
The nurse walked into the room, tenderly cradling a soft pink bundle. "Are you ready for your daughter, Mrs. Kyle?"
"Oh, yes." Carol reached for the button that would raise the hospital bed to an upright position. As soon as she was settled, the nurse placed Stephanie Anne Kyle in her mother’s arms.
Following the nurse’s instructions, Carol bared her breast and gasped softly as Stephanie accepted her mother’s nipple and sucked greedily.
"She’s more beautiful every time I see her," Steve said, his voice filled with wonder. The rugged lines of his face softened as he gazed down on his daughter. Gently he drew one finger over her velvet-smooth cheek. "But she’ll never be as beautiful as her mother is to me right this minute."
Love and joy flooded Carol’s soul and she gently kissed the top of her daughter’s head.
"We’re going to be all right," Steve whispered. "Yes, we are," Carol agreed. "We’re going to be just fine – all three of us."
