Baby Comes First (14 page)

“Not yet.”

“Go see her. Make sure she has all her
fingers and toes.”

“I will.”

Hannah yawned. “And if you don’t like her,
we’ll take her back to the grocery store to get another one.”

The nurse’s eyes widened with concern,
thinking that Hannah was hallucinating from the drugs.

Luke explained, “That’s a joke.”

“As soon as you feel up to it,” the nurse
said to Hannah, “You need to walk around.”

“Walk?” Hannah laughed. “You’ve got to be
kidding. My legs feel like macaroni noodles.”

“You don’t have to do it right away,” the
nurse said. “You can wait an hour or so, but you need to walk
before you eat dinner.”

“Good. I am hungry. What’s for dinner?”

“Chicken broth and rice. You have to eat
something light for your digestive system.”

Hannah made a face and turned to Luke. “I was
hoping for a steak. Maybe you can smuggle in a chocolate
milkshake.”

He looked at her, amazed by her inner
strength. She looked exhausted, and he knew she was in pain, but
she still managed to find humor in her situation. He was a lucky
man. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“No outside food for twenty four hours,” the
nurse reminded sternly.

Luke said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Hannah laughed, then said, “Ouch, don’t make
me laugh.”

Much later, Luke stood in a tiled hallway,
looking through a glass wall at the nursery. Rachel Lynn Jamison
lay in a little plastic bassinet labeled BABY GIRL JAMISON. She
looked red and wrinkly, and incredibly small. She wore a little
knit hat on her head, and a long sleeved sleeping gown that covered
her hands.

As he watched her kick her little feet, he
felt an overwhelming joy. Suddenly, it didn’t matter to him that
Hannah had gone to a sperm bank, that she hadn’t told him that he
was the biological father. All the resentment and anger he had felt
before, faded away.

Rachel was a tiny little miracle, their
daughter, and he would always be grateful to Hannah that he had the
chance to be her father.

#

Hannah spent four days in the hospital,
surrounded by fresh flowers. Every time Luke came to visit, he
brought another dozen roses and some sort of toy for Rachel. “The
nurses are going to think you own a florist shop,” she teased
him.

He bent down and gave her a quick kiss. “That
might be a good idea, depending on how many kids you plan to have.”
He held out his hands for the baby, and she gave her to him.

He bounced Rachel gently up and down. “How
many brothers and sisters do you want, hmm? A dozen?”

Hannah groaned. “Easy for you to say. Don’t
promise her anything I can’t deliver. Right now, I’m happy with
one. I don’t want to even think about having another for at least a
year.”

Luke flashed her a smile. “You’re the
boss.”

Hannah melted with that smile. Since the baby
was born, he seemed happier, more comfortable with her. He’d even
taken some time off from work -- which was extremely rare for him.
“What about your caseload?” she’d asked.

He shrugged. “I have a few hearings, but no
trial until January.”

She knew from past experience that most
lawyers disliked going to trial during the holiday season.
Conventional wisdom said that juries were either generous or
cantankerous as Thanksgiving and Christmas approached. But Hannah
didn’t care why his work load was lighter, she was merely grateful
that he chose to spend the time with her.

Luke held out a rattle for Rachel to grab.
She took it and brought it up to her head, clonking herself above
one eye brow. She started wailing, and bonked herself again.

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing, yet,”
Hannah said. “Take the rattle away from her.”

Luke tried to pry her tiny fingers off the
rattle. “She’s got it in a death grip.”

Hannah watched them, pleased by the way Luke
had bonded with Rachel. At first, she’d worried that he might be a
distant father -- one who gave presents but wouldn’t change the
diapers. Now she worried that he’d do too much, and never let her
have a turn. He wanted to hold Rachel almost every minute.

Dr. Armanzo dropped by to check Hannah’s
progress and to sign the release papers. “When I was having babies,
we used to stay in the hospital a full week, but now they want
everyone to hurry home.” She shrugged philosophically. “I suppose
that’s progress.” She handed Hannah a stack of papers. “You have a
list of instructions, but the main one is: don’t lift anything
heavier than the baby.”

“That’s going to be difficult. I’m moving
into Luke’s house today.” Hannah saw the confusion in the doctor’s
eyes and said, “It’s a long story.”

Luke jumped into the conversation. “Don’t
worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t lift anything heavy.”

“Good.” The doctor smiled. “If you’re
concerned about anything or have questions, give my office a call.”
She smiled at Luke, “I’m sure you’ll both do fine, and I’ll see you
in six weeks, Hannah. Congratulations again. You have a beautiful
baby.”

Within an hour, they were driving to Luke’s
house in Highland Park. Rachel sat in a new baby car seat in the
second seat. Hannah turned around to look at her. “Do you think
she’s comfortable?” she asked.

“She’s sleeping,” Luke said.

“I don’t want her to be cold.”

“She’s wrapped up better than an Eskimo.”

He was right, and Hannah knew she sounded
like an over protective mother, but she was nervous. While she was
pregnant, she’d read numerous parenting books, and over the past
few days, she’d learned how to actually breast feed and care for
Rachel, but she was still a little anxious. Hannah sighed.

As they neared Highland Park, the homes
became larger and the yards more meticulously manicured. Luke drove
into a quiet, tree lined cul de sac. He pulled into the circular
driveway of a magnificent Spanish styled home with stucco walls and
a red tiled roof. It looked as if there were servant quarters over
the four car garage. “Here we are,” he said and turned off the
engine.

Hannah caught her breath. “Exactly how rich
are you?”

“Rich enough,” he said lightly, then added
seriously, “If you want to see last year’s tax returns and my
investment portfolio, I’ll get you a copy.”

“I knew the firm paid its partners well, but
are you worth millions?”

“A few,” he said modestly. “My year-end
bonuses are usually good, –”

No wonder, with the big money cases he’d
won.

“-- and my investments have done well.”

Hannah still couldn’t believe it. She’d
married a millionaire. She remembered what her mother had said when
she was growing up.
It’s just as easy to fall in love with a
rich man as a poor one.
Hannah started to laugh.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“I’m surprised you didn’t make me sign a
prenuptial agreement.”

He frowned. “You’re not thinking of getting a
divorce, are you?”

“No.”

“Then we don’t need a pre-nup,” he said
flatly. He looked at her closely, as if trying to read her
expression. “Money is only a means to an end, Hannah. It can’t buy
happiness.”

Perhaps not, Hannah thought, but then again,
she’d never tried.

He walked around to her side of the car to
open her door. She let him help her out. Then he opened the other
door and reached in to unfasten the straps of Rachel’s car
seat.

Hannah wrapped the blanket tightly around
Rachel and carried her to the front door.

Luke unlocked the door.

He didn’t carry her over the threshold, but
Hannah didn’t expect him to. Once inside, she looked around with
wonder. Everything in the house was some shade of cream color: the
walls were antique white, the plush carpet a pale wheat color, the
furniture was mostly dark wood with pale upholstery. There were a
few potted plants and accent pieces to provide some visual
interest, but the entire mood was one of suffocating elegance. It
looked more like a movie set than a home.

“Do you have a housekeeper?” she asked.
Somehow she doubted that Luke ran around with bleach and a
toothbrush every evening after work.

“Someone comes in for a few hours every
morning, but if you need more help, we can arrange that. I’ve
already asked Mrs. Parker to cook for us.”

That was good. Normally, Hannah enjoyed
cooking, but right now, she wasn’t up to it. “How many living areas
are there?”

“There’s the formal living room, the den, the
media room, the library, and the sun room.”

Five. “Do you have an office?”

“Yes.”

“And a swimming pool?”

“Yes.”

No doubt there was a separate laundry room,
too. “And how many bedrooms?”

“Six, not counting the nursery.”

Only six? Hannah let her breath out slowly.
Luke’s house was much more than she had anticipated. She asked,
“Where’s the nursery?”

She followed him through the equally
monochromatic family room, past a cavernous kitchen, to the master
bedroom. The master bedroom was large with a light gray stone
fireplace in one corner. On the other side of the room was a
doorway that lead to the nursery.

The nursery was furnished all in white –
gleaming white furniture with white lacy linens.

“What do you think?” he asked.

I’m in another woman’s house. Gloria’s
house.

“It’s lovely,” she said carefully. Completely
not her taste, but lovely, none-the-less.

“The important thing is that we’ll have
enough room here.”

There had been enough room at her house. His
could house a football team. Hannah felt overwhelmed. Logically,
she knew she shouldn’t be intimidated. She sank down in a rocking
chair. Rachel stirred, so she unwrapped her and set her down in the
bassinet.

“Feel free to change whatever you want. Bring
in your furniture, paint the walls...”

“I will,” she told him. “But not right away.
I want to get settled first.”

“Good idea.” He pointed to the bedroom. “Mrs.
Parker helped move all your clothes while you were in the hospital.
I had her put them in the master bedroom, because it seemed more
convenient to the nursery.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “I think we should
share a bedroom.”

He smiled. “I’m glad.”

Rachel started to cry. “What does she need?”
he asked.

Hannah unbuttoned her wool coat. “She
probably needs to be fed, then changed.”

“Is there anything I can get for you?”

“A large glass of water, and after that, I’d
like a sandwich.”

“I see what I can find,” he said and headed
off toward the kitchen.

Rachel cried louder, impatient for Hannah to
bring her to the breast. In a minute, she was drinking happily.
Hannah leaned back against the rocking chair and sighed.

She had a big task ahead of her. It was going
to take work to turn this decorator show piece into a home. It
would take a few days for her to know her way around without
getting lost. Maybe she should get a ball of yarn and tie it to the
bassinet so she could find her way back like Theseus.

She smiled down at Rachel. “It’s going to be
okay,” she told her. “We’ll be happy here.”

CHAPTER
TEN

Rachel cried.

Hannah groaned. What time was it? She
squinted at the digital clock next to the bed. Three-twenty a.m.
She’d only been asleep for an hour. Rachel had been awake at one
o’clock, also, and had taken more than forty minutes to nurse.

Hannah glanced at Luke, who slept peacefully,
oblivious to the noise. It wasn’t fair. How could he sleep through
her crying? She was tempted to nudge him with her foot and make him
wake, too, but there was no point in making them both sleep
deprived and miserable.

Hannah staggered out of the king-sized bed
and plodded to the nursery, where Rachel lay in her bassinet,
screaming. Hannah picked her up, checked her diaper, which was dry,
then sat with her in the rocking chair.

Feed on demand, Dr. Armanzo had said, but
Hannah didn’t know if she would survive feeding Rachel every two
hours.

Theoretically, Rachel was supposed to learn
to stay awake more during the day and sleep more at night, but so
far, after a week, that still hadn’t happened. Rachel was a
determined night owl, and Hannah felt as if she were sleep-walking
through her days.

If it weren’t for Mrs. Parker’s help with
food and laundry, she would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion by
now. How did other women do this?

Hannah held Rachel to her breast. The baby
latched on and began to nurse. Hannah yawned. “Hurry up and eat,”
she said softly. “Mama wants to sleep.”

Later, Hannah woke with a start, as Rachel
was lifted from her arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Luke said quietly. The dim
overhead light showed that he hadn’t bothered to put on a robe. He
wore pajama bottoms and his broad chest was bare. “You fell asleep
while nursing her.” He placed Rachel gently in the bassinet and
miraculously, she didn’t wake.

“Is she all right?” Hannah asked, worried
that she might have dropped her.

“She’s fine. You were asleep, but your arms
held her safely.”

“Thank goodness.” Hannah adjusted her
nightgown and smoothed her hair with her hand. She walked back to
the master bedroom and avoided looking in the mirror over the
dresser. She knew she must look like death warmed over, but she was
too tired to do anything about it. “What time is it?” she
asked.

“A little after five.”

His alarm clock was set to ring at six. “Are
you going to try to go back to sleep?”

He nodded. “If I can.”

She slid into her side of the bed and rolled
over on her side, with her back to him. She adjusted her pillow,
trying to get comfortable, but it was impossible. She rolled over
onto her back and sighed, staring at the ceiling.