Читать книгу Make Way For Babies! - Laurie Paige - Страница 11

Ally discovered Rose wasn’t at the clinic when she stopped by the administrative office after signing the insurance forms and paying the hospital bills. The older woman had gone home with a migraine.

A tremor of unease ran over her. Her mom-in-law was supposed to help her with the twins that evening, in case she had trouble getting them settled.

She could manage. After all, babies slept most of the time. She had a fresh supply of formula in neat little plastic pouches, the twin bassinets were ready and boxes of diapers and infant gowns were stored in the closet.

“Is Taylor still here?” she asked Rose’s secretary.

“She’s checked out. She said to tell you she had a paper to turn in tomorrow, but would be in touch.”

Ally nodded and smiled as if she didn’t have a qualm in the world about taking home two babies and being responsible for them for the next eighteen years…all by herself.

She suddenly felt young and vulnerable, the way she had at eleven when she’d arrived in Buttonwood, with only her clothes and a favorite doll, to live with her aunt. Or when she went off to college, living in one room in an old Victorian house and working two jobs to make her own way.

This was a far cry from those days, she reminded herself. She was an adult and a child psychologist. She knew all about children. Sure, from a textbook standpoint, a less confident part of her replied.

Yes, well…

She hurried down the corridor to the nursery. Rachel Arquette was on duty. The nurse was pretty, young, single…and pregnant. She wasn’t saying a word about the father. Although Ally had heard the gossip going around, she didn’t believe for an instant it could be Dennis Reid, who was chief of staff at the clinic. He was old enough to be Rachel’s father, for Pete’s sake.

“Rachel, hi,” Ally said upon reaching the desk. “How are the twins?”

Rachel put away the folder she’d been reading. Although she smiled, her eyes had a certain harried look. Ally had always felt a kinship with the quiet nurse…maybe as one lost soul to another?

She pushed the thought aside as another nurse bustled out of the nursery. Ally smiled in relief at seeing Nell Hastings on duty.

Nell had taken care of the twins at the birthing. She was a delight to work with—calm in an emergency, soothing and kind in her dealings with nervous mothers and fathers, and simply wonderful with newborns.

“Well, here’s our mom,” Nell said cheerfully. “Hope you had a good night’s sleep.”

Her eyes twinkled with humor. Nell was such a contrast to her older sister, Blanche, who was one of the town’s two main gossips.

“Are the twins ready to go?” Ally asked with more poise than she felt.

“Yep, fed, burped and changed. The little angels are sleeping. Finally,” Nell added with a chuckle.

Ally’s heart lurched. “Did they have a restless night?”

“A tad,” Rachel spoke up. “They’ll be okay.”

“I’ll help you out to the car,” Nell volunteered. “Are you parked at the front?”

“Yes. I signed all the papers before coming up.”

“The office called up clearance.” Nell bustled off. “Let’s get the babies. You have any questions?”

“Not that I can think of.”

Ally took one baby, her hands shaking just a tiny bit, while Nell carried the other. At the car, the nurse strapped them into the infant seats with the skill of long practice. The darlings slept right through the process.

“Well, thanks,” Ally said.

Nell patted her back. “Sleep when they do, if you can. Tuck them against you if they get to crying. They’re used to sleeping in cramped quarters.” Her smile was reassuring.

“Right.”

Ally drove off at five miles per hour, suddenly afraid that someone was going to hit her car and injure the twins, afraid she wouldn’t see them in time, afraid she wouldn’t notice a red light and would run through it….

Her knuckles were white all the way to the cottage. She parked at home with a sigh of relief, as if she’d completed a major and dangerous feat.

Unbuckling Nicholas, she carried him into the house and gently tucked him into a bassinet, then returned for Hannah. Both slept peacefully throughout the transition. Ally checked that the baby monitor was on, then tiptoed out of the nursery and into the kitchen.

Well, there was nothing to this, she decided four hours later, checking the sleeping twins for the umpteenth time. She’d been worried for nothing. She could relax.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang. She closed the nursery door and dashed lightly into the living room. Her eyes widened when she recognized Spence outside the door.

“Hi,” she said, opening up and letting him in. “What are you doing in this neighborhood?”

Stupid question. His mother lived a quarter mile up the road. He was on his way there, most likely. He was dressed in blue shorts and a polo shirt. She noticed that his arms and legs were very tan. She imagined him playing golf or tennis with all the attractive single women at the apartment complex.

“Providing dinner,” he explained. “I didn’t know if you would remember to eat, this being your first night with the twins. I brought over sandwiches—beef tongue, sliced eggs, kosher dills and hot mustard with a touch of garlic.”

Ally hid a smile. Spence prided himself on his gourmet touch with sandwiches. His friends thought his combinations were weird. Spence cheerfully ignored their comments.

“Oh, thanks. That was thoughtful of you. The twins are sleeping, so everything is fine.”

“Great. Got a cold beer? It’s a furnace out today.”

Ally stared after him while he walked in, closed the door and kicked off his sneakers. He headed for the kitchen. She followed, her mind in a whirl.

“I don’t have any beer. Have you been playing tennis?” she asked, placing the bag of food on the table.

Another stupid question. It was none of her business.

“No, helping Johnny put in a drip system over at his place. Claire wants to do a native plant garden. Your aunt knew a lot about that stuff. I told Claire you could give her some advice on what to plant.”

He helped himself to a can of soda and rubbed the icy container over his forehead before popping it open and taking a long drink.

“Well, I know a little,” she admitted. “My aunt let me help her pick out plants. How are Claire and Johnny doing with their new baby? Lucy—isn’t that her name?”

“Yes. They’re doing okay. Johnny says she’s sleeping all night now. You want a root beer?”

When she nodded, he plucked one from the fridge, nudged the door shut with his hip and settled at the table.

“I’m starved,” he continued. “Don’t bother with a plate for me. I won’t need one.” He dug in.

Ally put two paper plates on the table anyway and took a seat across from him. She felt funny with him there. It was the first time they’d been alone since…since…high-school graduation night.

Heat rushed to her face for no reason. That ill-advised episode was behind them. She would be wise to forget it had ever happened, just as he had.

She took a sip of root beer, then unwrapped the other sandwich, touched again by his thoughtfulness. The inexplicable tenderness she’d experienced toward him at the hospital returned.

From the baby monitor, she heard soft noises, as if one of the twins was restless. She tensed, but neither cried. They were certainly sleeping a long time.

She wanted to comment on this, but Spence had made it clear with his brief responses to her questions about the other couple that he wasn’t interested in discussing babies and such. The silence stretched between them. He didn’t seem to notice.

Irritation pricked at her. She knew it was perfectly irrational, but his hearty appetite and indifference to conversation made her angry. She was jumpy with the sleeping children in the house. It would have been nice to discuss this natural state caused by being a new parent. Once, she wouldn’t have hesitated to pour her heart out to him.

But not now.

After eating the meal, she tossed her used plate in the trash and sipped the root beer. Spence polished off his food in short order.

“Ahh,” he murmured. “I might make it through the night. Got any dessert?”

“There’s sherbet in the freezer, cookies in the pantry.” She frowned as he rummaged through her shelves.

“Nonfat,” he said, reading the label on the cookies with a grimace. “What’s wrong with good old-fashioned butter? Has everyone gone mad?”

He was teasing. She knew that. It didn’t make her feel any better. “Some of us have to watch our weight,” she informed him rather tartly, although she forced herself to put a smile behind the words.

He swung around and looked her over from head to foot. “Do you watch yours?”

“Yes.”

The heat poured over her again as his eyes continued to study her. Once she would have told him all her worries. Not that she had any great ones, she quickly assured herself. She was just jumpy because of the twins.

“Do you think the twins are sleeping a long time?” she asked, then wished she hadn’t.

“How long have they been asleep?”

“Since I brought them home from the hospital.” She glanced at the clock. “Four hours.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound long.”

“Babies usually eat every three or four hours.” She stared at the monitor, then the clock again.

Spence narrowed his eyes and observed her for a long minute. “Well, let’s go look at them.”

She stood when he did. He motioned for her to lead the way. They walked down the short hall. Since he was in his socks, he made no sound at all. She tried to walk as softly.

After easing the door open, she tiptoed across the nursery and surveyed the sleeping babies. Her heart melted. They looked like cherubs, sweet and innocent and trusting. She smiled at Spence and pointed toward the door. They quietly left. He closed the door behind them.

“What are you thinking?” Spence asked, a curious note in his baritone voice as they returned to the kitchen.

“How innocent they are. How trusting.” She shook her head. “I don’t feel worthy of it.”

“Mom said you would make the perfect mother.”

Ally glanced up at him in surprise. “You discussed me and the children with Rose?”

“Of course.” His eyes locked with hers. “She worried about you during the winter. After Jack was gone. She said your grief was very deep and very lonely.”

Ally looked away from his probing gaze, feeling the strange loneliness descend on her again. She didn’t understand it at all.

“He was at work. Alone. We had both worked late that day. I didn’t think to check on him when I got in and he wasn’t home.”

She stopped, wondering if she’d given too much away about the last months and years of her marriage. She would never discuss her relationship with Jack with anyone, especially Spence. Although he had never said anything, she had always sensed his disapproval of the marriage.

“Let it go,” Spence advised. “It was an accident, one of those things that happen and you can’t do a damned thing about it because it’s too late.”

The harshness of his voice startled her. She wondered what had happened in his personal life to make him speak in that tone of unrelenting certainty and bitter regret.

Sympathy stirred in her. She had imagined him swinging lightly from girl to girl, the way he had in high school, and never settling on one for long. Maybe he had been hurt in the past. If so, he hadn’t shared it with her or Rose or Jack, not that she knew of.

Not that he would share anything with Jack. The two brothers had represented the epitome of sibling rivalry and the very opposites in personalities.

Where Jack had been introspective and intent, a man who took responsibility seriously, Spence had been carefree and laughing. Not that Spence was irresponsible. Far from it. He just had a more tolerant view of the world. He had made life bearable during the difficult time when she had come to live with her aunt. He had shared his family with her—

She shied away from the past and its memories. There was the future to think about. She had the sole responsibility for those two darling twins. Life would be far from lonely from now on.

Giving Spence a radiant smile, she said, “I’m sure Nicholas and Hannah will keep me far too busy to dwell on the past and its mistakes, whatever they were.”

“Such as your marriage?” he asked in a deadly quiet manner, his eyes fastening on her again.

For a second she couldn’t move or think. He had thought the marriage was a mistake. Hurt flooded through her, exposing pain she hadn’t realized she felt. Maybe an orphan hadn’t been a good enough match—

No, Spence wouldn’t think such a thing. It was something else, but she didn’t know what. As she stared at him, perplexed by the hidden nuances of his words and expression, his face softened.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

She didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”

“Nothing.” His face assumed its usual devil-may-care grin, effectively hiding the inner thoughts he guarded.

At that moment, a soft snuffle came over the monitor. It was followed by a wail. A second cry chimed in.

She and Spence laughed at the same time.

“Looks like you’re going to be busy. Duty calls, Mom,” he teased. “Need a hand with the feeding?”

“Yes.” She led the way to the nursery, wishing she hadn’t sounded so grateful.

“Okay, how do you do this?” he asked cheerfully, watching as she scooped Hannah into her arms.

He mimicked her gestures. Returning to the kitchen, she heated the formula pouches in warm water just enough to take the chill off. The twins wailed the whole time.

“Okay, Uncle Spence, let’s see how well that famous charm works in this situation,” she challenged, handing him one of the pouches.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “The McBride charm never fails. Remember that.”

She didn’t have to. She had never forgotten, she realized as they settled into the chairs. The babies stopped crying and nursed hungrily.

“Hah, that’s how you stop the screaming,” Spence stated in satisfaction. “You plug up the holes.”

Watching him with Nicholas, that funny feeling came back. This time it reached all the way to the core of her being. Be careful, she warned herself without defining exactly what the danger was.

Thirty minutes later, they put the twins back to bed—fed, burped and diapers changed. Spence handled that part with aplomb, too.

“How did you know to come over?” she thought to ask when they settled in the living room to catch the news on television. “You didn’t just happen by with two of your famous gourmet sandwiches.”